"Argh!!" The goon who assaulted Charlotte had his kneecap broken, inverted with her telekinesis while the other held his own. "I didn't think that you would be so skilled with your abilities, lady. Maybe you could join us here; you won't have to worry about wandering around, looking for a place to sleep." The man whose skin was now iron stated. The fire elemental weaver was now crumpled in a corner, clutching his leg as he shot deathly glares at Charlotte.
"I'm fine, though I appreciate your offer." Charlotte said with a mocking smile, ready to tussle another round. 'I can't let this person get close to me. Not to mention his skin is harder to cut through unlike the fire guy.' She concluded, her gaze narrowing as the man too made his own calculation of Charlotte.
"ARRRGHHH!!!!*
*Thud*
A body from the floors above was sent crashing hard onto the ground floor, brains and blood splattering all over. The two momentarily glanced at the mess made before looking back at each other.
*Whoosh*
The iron-skinned man lunged at Charlotte, aware of her strengths and weaknesses, while Charlotte, not to delay, pushed the man back. "Not this time!" The man molded his feet to the ground, his figure now resolute under her telekinetic push. "Is this all you have? If so, then I'm sorry to say, but this fight is already over!" The man flashed an ear to ear smile, now snaking his way to Charlotte, his legs melded to the ground.
'I guess he isn't that dumb!' Charlotte's eye landed on the elementalist weaver behind her opponent before an idea popped in her mind.
*Whoosh*
Using his already broken leg, Charlotte ripped the tibia off the downed man and plunged it into the back of her opponent. The latter paused as he felt something hard poke him before looking back. "You sneaky bastard!" He grunted, grabbing the tibia that barely dug into his metallic skin and threw it to the side. "Did you think that could put me down?"
*Thud*
Another body from the upper floors crashed onto the ground; the two didn't bother sparing a glance. "My fucking leg!!!" The fire weaver cried out, clutching his leg as a fountain of blood sprayed and glistened on the floor. "I'm going to fucking die!! Somebody fucking help me!!" His cries earned a scowl from his partner. "Shut the fuck up already, can't you see that I'm in a fight?!"
Charlotte, using her telekinesis, jumped meters back, reassessing her situation. 'To think that would be nothing more than a scratch to him. Do I really have to kill him? But even if so, how?' Her eyes darted around before another idea came to mind. 'How the hell did I not even think of that?' A smile formed on her lips as her attention went to the man oozing blood on the floor. Collecting the blood, she bathed the iron-skinned man in blood.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" The man shouted, barely able to talk from the shower of blood. Charlotte wore a confident smug as she continued her blood bathing of her opponent, draining the man on the floor of his blood until there was nothing left. As for her opponent, his movements grew stiff, a look of confusion and rage washing over his face. "What the fuck did you do to me?!" He shouted at Charlotte smirking.
"A little bit of science is all." The man shortly after threw up mouthfuls of blood onto the floor. Charlotte watched, not with joy at the man's death but easing at her chest. "Looks like you proved me right, Charlotte." Andrew's voice drifted into her ears, the figure gently gliding from the floors above onto the ground floor.
"What?" It was then that it hit her: two people dead at her own hands. "I guess I really killed them." Her words contained a strange calmness that she didn't know she possessed. "I heard that guilt came with this, but so far I don't feel it." She added, her gaze sweeping over the two indifferent before a voice interjected from the side. "Charlotte? You! You killed those two! I saw you!" Elara pointed an accusatory finger at Charlotte, her tone laced with fear.
"I did, but so what? Who knows what they were going to do with you. I had no other choice." Charlotte's tone, with a hint of mild annoyance. "You're a killer, just like him!" Elara went on as Charlotte covered her face. Elara's outburst was akin to a headache she didn't want to deal with. "I don't want to deal with this prissy attitude of yours, Elara. Tell me! Tell me what you wanted me to do there!"
Her hands outstretched, a look of sheer disbelief etched on her face. "You're here calling me a killer as if I didn't just save you!" Charlotte's words took Elara aback . "Do you hear yourself, Charlotte? You just killed and now lashing out at me like it's not a big deal! You killed two people; as much as I'm grateful, I can't just overlook that!" Her eyes landed on Charlotte's figure, unsure of who she was looking at.
"Hah!" A frustrated groan came out of Charlotte's lips, her figure pacing back and forth. "Since it bothers you I killed, what did you want me to do in that situation? Andrew wasn't around for you to throw it all on him, so tell me?!" Elara wanted to throw a reprimand at Charlotte, however, no words came. "That's what I thought, so don't take the moral high ground if you didn't know what to do in that situation."
Elara looked at Charlotte, really looked this time. The eyes were the same, the face and lips and the figure; there was nothing wrong, however, the Charlotte that stood before her was nothing like the one she knew. "Do you feel any form of regret after killing them? Perhaps victory in that sick mind of yours?!" Charlotte paused and recalled. "There was no joy, just my body easing after the fight was over. The smile I had a means of expressing the relief I felt, not because I enjoyed killing Elara."
Putting her hands up, Elara didn't want to hear it. "It's clear that the two of you were following me and I would like it that the two of you stop. Just let me be already!" Elara stated, on the verge of tears as she stormed out. Charlotte, similar to Andrew, watched her leave, the former wishing to chase her and the latter disinterested. "What is wrong with me, Andrew? I don't want my relationship with Elara to be ruined!"
Charlotte shot up, her gaze landing on Andrew, who was ready to take his leave. "Charlotte, do you remember what I told you back with your parents? Are you sure that you feel to make amends with Elara, or do you feel obligated to? Looking at you right now, you don't have the smile a person would have after killing another, just functionality and easing of tension in your body."
His words made her fall silent before he walked to the exit. "We can go back; that's enough for this week." His figure exiting the complex left Charlotte alone with the bodies sprawled all over the ground. She looked at them, took a whiff, and grimaced. "I feel disgusted, but without the smell, it doesn't bother me at all." She clenched her fist, a faint sensation of pain echoing across her nerves, only for it to fade. "I felt it, but why doesn't it bother me now that Elara's gone? I should cry right now, and yet here I am, unbothered."
She looked at hand, diagnosing as if the answer was etched on her skin. "Is there something wrong with me?" She asked herself, making her way out only to meet Andrew's figure waiting for her outside.
"You're what your fellow humans call a psychopath. One that deluded itself into thinking that you could feel, so you acted the parts, the moments, acted the laughs…" His voice lowered. "…acted the pain." He paused, the tension thickening. "Your lie of thinking you're normal has long expired, and you know this. You've always known this but refused to accept the truth."
His tone lacking conviction, just stated what he saw before ushering her a hand. "You can chase after Elara and make your empty apology; after all, isn't that what your mind is screaming to you? Or you could embrace this. You don't have to be a killer your mind may portray; you're doing what you have to for your survival."
She looked at his hand, the same hand that had roped her in back then. 'Has he always known this and has been waiting for me?' She recalled the grip of his hand, tight for her to feel his sensation but not possessive. 'This bastard!' She mused as she took his hand. His grip was something she couldn't forget. "Your promise of the melody, I have yet to hear it, Andrew." The two walked back to the beachside mansion, hands coupled akin to lovers.
"You wish that it's what you've been looking for, to make you feel." She didn't deny it as a chuckle left her lips. "I'm curious, Andrew, just wishing to see what it would make me feel." Her head tilted and resting on his rigid shoulder.
. . .
The days that followed went by smoothly, Brittany and Drissel arguing during their training while Andrew and Charlotte seemed to grow closer, something that left a bad taste in Brittany's mouth. "You don't have to glare, you know. It's ugly!" Drissel said, jolting Brittany out of her head and her gaze breaking from the pair's figure. Andrew and Charlotte were on the beach, perched on a cliff busy with their lesson. "So what? I thought you were here to make my life hell, not gossip with me." Brittany snarled, her low attitude now souring.
Drissel looked at the two, her gaze sharpening. "They're not a bad couple after all; they have way more similarities than you have with Andrew." Brittany palmed her face. "Did you come here to tell me once again that Andrew and I aren't a perfect couple? If so, then you can spare me the banter already." Her eyes rolling, her figure plagued with exhaustion from her training. Drissel hadn't gone easy with her; if anything, her orders grew more and more absurd while all Brittany could do was bear with them.
"As much as I would love to nag you to death, there's something I want to tell you, Brittany. Andrew doesn't love her, nor does he love you or me. As a matter of fact, he loves much less values no one. We could all die right now and he wouldn't bat an eye." Drissel, noticing Brittany losing interest, let out a short sigh. "What I'm saying is that you're not supposed to love him, Brittany. He's not some prize you get to win or some blank canvas you get to paint to your desires onto. He's simply present, a constant that changes those around him. He will never love you despite how much you try to convince yourself."
The air between the two fell silent, Brittany looking to the side as Drissel brushed off the dust, leaning away from the rock Brittany was using as a place of rest. "Thus, the sooner you get Andrew out of your head as someone you can teach to love, the less disappointed you'll be." Brittany narrowed her gaze on Drissel, who had her simple smile masking what seemed to mask something morbid beneath.
Andrew and Charlotte were manipulating the ocean water, hauling huge gallons of water like toy blocks and aimlessly moving them around before letting them crash back into the water mass. "That will be enough for today; we'll pick this up tomorrow." Brittany looked at Andrew and Charlotte, their movements in synchrony, the air carved between the two as if meant to be.