chapter 1 - my name is...
cosmic art series - masterlist here
She’s a girl, they scoff in disbelief. Like that diminishes her worth. Like it dooms her quest for recognition from the start. (It does) Like that’s all they will ever need to know to judge and find lacking.
She’s a genius, they sneer in anger. Like that cheapens her accomplishments. Like she owes her victories to a cheat code everyone else had the good grace not to use. (Only worse) Like that’s all they will ever need to know to judge and find lacking.
It seemed like they were thoroughly divided in their opinions.
The people either loved her or hated her. There was rarely ever an in-between.
Etienne never had trouble disregarding the cesspool of gossip. Training her eyes to focus elsewhere was manageable. Showing indifference was simple enough. What did they know about her? She never understood, however, why people were this way.
Despite this slight downfall, being the sister of the Wizard King had its perks. Especially for a nine year old.
Etienne effortlessly made friends with the Royals and Noble families. Of course, that included the House of Silva, the House of Vermillion and the House of Vaude.
“I wonder when my Magic will come…” Etienne hummed as her fingers threaded along her friend’s messy silver hair.
“It better come soon,” Solid replied, conjuring up a sphere of water around his hands, “Ow! Don’t tug.”
“Sorry! I’m done now,” she said, stepping back to admire her handiwork. She handed him a mirror, “It’s called a dutch braid hairstyle. If you grow out your fringe, you can leave that and the rest of your head in a loose hairstyle.”
Solid ran a finger through his braids and secretly admired the tangled mess of curls, “Guess it’s not bad.”
“What is?” Nebra asked, cocking a brow. Her attention elsewhere, she had her hands outstretched in front of her as she attempted to strengthen her Mist magic. Etienne’s eyes sparkled with awe when the mist engulfed them whole before apparating away.
“I just braided Solid’s hair, isn’t it pretty?” Etienne’s eyes gleamed as she presented her work.
“Very pretty,” Nebra snorted, “Who knew Solid could look so decent?”
“You should wear this hairstyle for your birthday party tomorrow!” Etienne clapped her hands together in excitement, “What a way to celebrate turning ten, right?”
“I-It looks nice, Solid-nee-san,” chimed a little voice in the corner.
“Shut up, no one cares what you think,” Solid snapped.
“You don’t have to be so mean to Noelle,” Etienne murmured.
“Etienne, this is family business,” Nebra warned.
“But …” Etienne trailed off. Her eyebrows scrunched together in hard thought, brainstorming ways she could possibly end this argument. As far back as she could remember, Solid and Noelle had never been in the same room and not fought before. Fought wasn’t quite the right word for it. It was always one-sided on Solid’s part.
Solid made his way towards Noelle, a disdainful look on his face as he snatched up her toy. Tears ran down Noelle’s face, “P-Please stop, Solid-nee san…! Please give that back.”
“Solid…” Etienne started.
“You can’t even protect what’s important to you because you’re weak,” Solid spat.
Beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. Noelle could only tremble at what was about to unfold, “Stop!”
One strong tug was all it took for cracks to spiral down to the doll’s body. He strewn it aside and smirked contentedly, “If you’re upset then get back at me.”
“Solid, stop it!” Etienne was far too late to react. By the time she said this, the doll had been irreparably broken, and so had Noelle.
“Huh?! What are you gonna do about it?” He goaded angrily as he glared at her, “Why the hell are you defending her?!”
Solid would never admit this, but he prayed Etienne would back down. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. She would never do that, and he knew. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Yet at the same time, he didn’t want to hurt his pride either.
“No fighting, both of you!” Nebra scolded.
“How could you say something like that?!” Etienne demanded, “How can someone progress when all they get is destructive criticism?!” She stood in front of Noelle in a protective stance. Noelle looked up at Etienne’s back with her big, round eyes. This was the point where she started to think of Etienne as a role model. She swore when she was older, she wouldn’t let anyone get hurt like she did.
“You really want to go up against me, Etienne?” Solid challenged, “You’re really choosing that useless garbage over me?”
“Yes, if you don’t stop this! God, Why are you being so… difficult?! … And so… So terrible today?!” She aggravated.
Solid’s eyes grew wide at her remark, “H… How dare you?!” He shot out his hand, creating a cluster of needles from his water magic, “Do you realise who you’re talking to?!” Without thinking, he shot them at her before realisation hit him and his face contorted in pure fear.
“Solid!” Nebra scolded, standing up so quickly she knocked over her chair.
Etienne’s breath hitched, “W-Wait, why are you attacking?! S-Stop!” She quickly whirled around and held Noelle, using her own body as a shield.
And at that point, Etienne’s world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds. The taste. The smell. Everything was just gone. She paused trying to hold back the strange feelings rumbling inside her but she couldn’t. She felt a disproportionate amount of power surging through her body. So indescribably powerful that she feared her body couldn’t take it.
The needles lost their form and spilled onto the ground, staining the carpet wet. Noelle gasped. Nebra stumbled backwards so forcefully she had knocked down a vase. Solid’s knees buckled as he dropped to the floor. His screams came from a place or terror, telling of a mind lost in absolute fear. It carried on for a split second before he disappeared.
Regaining her composure, Nebra knelt down next to Etienne and shook her shoulders violently, “Etienne! What did you do to Solid?! What did you do?!”
Etienne froze. Her hands tremble and her eyes water as she reached her hand towards him. “C-Can’t you see he’s trapped in a black hole? He can’t get out…” She said barely audibly.
“What?! Black hole?! Where is he?! Etienne!” Nebra cried out hysterically, “Nozel! Help!”
“I…” Etienne could feel the sweat drench her skin, the throbbing of her own eyes, the ringing screams vibrating in her ears, and the thumping of her heart against her chest. They couldn’t see this horrifying thing? It was so clear in her mind -
She held out her hand in shock. Pulsing from her fingertips is a strange, bright light. She watched it flicker, changing colors from amber, to ruby, then back to gold. She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palms.
“Un… Undo,” she choked out.
Solid reappeared and collapsed onto the floor, spluttering and gasping for air. He clutched his throat, his eyes trailing through the rest of his body. He stared at his trembling hands, “W-What happened…? N-Nebra nee-san? … Etienne?” The emotions rushed through Solid’s eyes so quickly Etienne barely had time to register that his confusion had turned to fear, and then ultimately to pure anger.
“What the hell did you do to me, you freak?!”
Nebra let out a sharp exhale, her mind still trying to comprehend what had happened, “You… You can’t even control your powers, you’re just like Noelle… You don’t belong here! You tried to kill him! Solid could have died!”
“W-Wait… She was only trying to protect me!” Noelle tried, only to receive a scathing glare from her siblings.
“And you dare call yourself by the Novachrono name? You should be ashamed of yourself,” Solid seethed.
More and more contempt words flew from his mouth that she never thought she’d even think, let alone say out loud. Solid knew instantly the look in Etienne’s eyes that they’d hit their mark. In that instant their relationship shattered into glassy shards. Nothing would ever be the same again.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” She stammered, frightened by how he was looking at her.
“I don’t care! I hate you!”
“You … hate me?” She trailed off. And that was the point where she felt her defenses crumble into nothing. Hearing someone she cared about say those three words to her broke open the walls she had tried long and hard to support. The walls that acted like some sort of noise cancelling buds to reflect all the ugly sneers and all the vileness people launched her way. They didn’t know her, so their words didn’t matter. If it were her friends… Then they must be true right?
His eyes were a knife in her ribs, the sharp point digging deeper. Where there had been love was an emptiness, but not in any vulnerable sense. Uncomfortable with the void, he had filled it with an emotion he was more at ease with - raw anger. The unmoving gaze was accompanied by deliberate slow breathing, almost like he was fighting something back and loosing.
She could have imagined it, but she thought she might have seen a hint of regret in his eyes before she let herself out.
