Fred watched the princess’ body drift down the lake before he was certain she had died. This had been a troublesome assassination. Not a difficult one because the princess could not fight but it had taken a lot of effort before he had been able to create this opportunity to murder the princess and that was mostly because of luck.

He had been given good money for this assassination and he had almost lost the target. He could imagine what would have happened to his reputation if he had not been able to kill her. But there wasn’t nothing to worry about anymore. He had fulfilled his mission and could not get out of this backwards kingdom.

Fred took out a pill shaped object from his pocket and threw it on the ground. He waited for a moment before a sound came from the direction where he had landed.

“Has it been done,” a voice came from the crushed pill.

“Yes. She is dead,” he replied. There was silence from the other side although he heard some scuffling.

“It seems you have brother Frederick. Return back to the temple. You need to be rewarded for your service to keeping this world safe by the leaders.”

“Nah,” Fred replied without pause.

“What do you mean, brother Frederick.”

“I mean, I’ve done my part and I’m not coming back.”

“I surely hope you’re joking.”

“No. I’m bored and tired of the Chapel. I deserve a break. I’m not coming back so don’t look for me.”

“Fred. Listen to me. Come back to the chapel. We can talk about things we can do to make you feel more comfortable. Maybe you can take a break. But don’t leave. Especially not now after all the Commune has done for you.”

“Shaun, I’m sorry but I’m not coming back. Disperse.” Fred said the key word to break the connection. He had been on this mission for one year and his time outside the commune had shown him a different world. One that he wanted to participate in. He felt sorry for Shaun and the commune but they would train another assassin. They always do.

Fred began to walk away from the lake where he had just killed the only princess of Legume when he heard a loud sound behind him. He quickly unsheathed his blade and turned to look back to deal with the person that might have seen the deed he had committed. To his surprise, it was the least person he expected to see.

---

Meanwhile, Choice drifted down the water, her blood dyeing the previously beautiful lake red. As her body hit the body of the lake, the bright light from the full moon pierced through the lake to her body casting a silver shine on the pool of blood. Choice hadn’t yet died but the distance was negligible, she was only a step away from death. Water entered her mouth, her nose and the open injuries on her body and a miracle happened.

As if something had heard her anger and rage, the wounds began to close up. Her body began to writhe and her body body began to glow. A dim silver light shone from the lake and met with that from the moon.

Choice’s eyes in opened in the water and she looked around her in wonder. She was very certain that she had been about to die but at that moment, she was filled with so much energy. She felt as if she was in control of everything and that every movement of hers would lead to a response from the world. Choice looked down at her hands and saw the wound at her wrist begin to close around the knife.

It didn’t occur to Choice to question why she was not drowning and she didn’t know why her injuries were healing. What she knew was that she could not allow her wounds to heal with the knife still in them. She raised her arm to her mouth and used her mouth to yank the knife out of her right arm. Yanking the serrated knife out of her arm was painful but for some reason the pain was muted and was within her tolerance.

Choice waited for the wrist to heal and moved her hand back and forth for a few seconds before yanking the other blade out of her other wrist. Then, she bent down as fluidly -and maybe even more- as she would on land and took the other serrated blade out of her ankle. Choice shook her ankle a few times and marveled at how quickly it had closed up and how she had felt no pain.

She let out a peal of laughter and pure joy. Choice was almost certain that she was have a delusion at the moment of death but at least it was one where she felt not as powerless as she had few moments ago. Choice made the decision to swim up to the surface and before she could even move she felt the water move her!

Now that she focused, she realised that she was breathing normally in the water and she didn’t feel any resistance from it. It was a crazy thought but could she control the water? Choice raised a finger and thought about making a water bubble appear at the top of the finger. To her surprise, it happened. She moved her hands and the water moved along with her thoughts.

At this let out another laugh of pure joy. Now she was closer to the surface so this was the sound that had alerted Fred. He turned around and to his surprise saw Princess Choice rising up out of the water. He stared in shock as her bare feet stepped on the grass growing by the side of lake. He was certain that he had killed her but he saw no injuries on her. This was the first time that previously dead person had come back to life in front of him.  ‘Shit,’ he thought, ‘no one said she was bloody magical.”

Fred brought out an item from his pocket. It was a magical defence item. He had gotten in years ago after scavenging a fallen mage apprentice and  had never used it before today. However, he knew that there was something weird about the princess.

Choice marvelled at her wrists and felt her neck to find evidence her injury but there was nothing, not even a scar. She had seen healing magic performed before but not even the healer at Perpetual could have healed the wound she had received.

Choice looked up at the light from the moon and noticed the silver emitting from her body. She looked curiously at it for a while to understand why she was glowing then heard a sound. Now, Choice had always had good senses being able to see better than others in the dark for example but after surviving the murder attempt, her senses seemed to improve. She cocked her head and listened for a minute to the sounds of the night. The swaying of the grass, the leaves rustling in the wind, thousands of insects buzzing and the sound of someone breathing.

She turned her head and noticed the man that had tried to kill her. For a second, Choice felt the sensation of her neck being slit open. Surprisingly, he hadn’t left the scene of his crime. He must have been certain that she was dead. She couldn’t blame him, she had been certain she was dead as well.

Choice wanted to rush up and him and use all the power she felt for something useful. But what stopped her was that he hadn’t run away. Usually when people don’t run away, it’s because they have something that they think can be used to fight back. Also, Choice wanted to ask him why he had tried to kill her. So Choice decided to wait for a few minutes and see what he would do. It was fine. Reviving hadn’t changed Choice’s character. She was still good at waiting.

Sweat dripped down Fred’s face at Choice’s stare. The defense charm created a barrier around his body that blocked most attacks but it ran on mana and since he was no mage, it was using mana that came with the item. Soon it would run out of mana and he would be exposed to whatever the princess came at him with.

He decided to take his chance and not wait. He had killed her before, he was sure he could do it again. Fred ran at her at his fastest speed. Before she could react he duck below eye length and slashed at her legs. He felt no resistance for her flimsy clothing and quickly leaped back after his successful attack.

When he stood up, he was surprised at what he saw. He could see the blood spilling from her legs but it was already healing! Fred knew that the mana remaining in the charm was draining quicker since movement took more energy that just standing still.

Choice glared at him and suddenly a spike of water stabbed towards him.. The barrier blocked the attack but the force of the attack was so great that he was pushed back a few metres. What the fuck.

“Why did you attack me?” Choice asked. Fred ignored her question and shot an arrow at her. This time the arrow didn’t reach her before some water splashed up from the lake to block it.

Fred made a face like he had swallowed something bitter.

“I said, Why did you attack me?” Fred ignored her question again. He was running out of time. The more time he spent talking to that freak, the less likely he was to come out of this alive. He once again rushed at her and when the water came in front of her to block his attack, he quickly moved to her back and stabbed her.

When the blade pierced through her back, Fred’s charm ran out. He rejoiced that he had been able to kill her just in time. He was certain that she was dead as he had pierced through her heart.

“So,” he heard a voice say, “Has that thing run out of energy.” Choice had noticed that there was a membrane that had covered the assassin and that it had been fluctuating whenever he moved or she hit it. She correctly deduced that it was running out of energy. So she had made him think that he had moved too quickly for her to notice so that he would use more effort to attack and use up more of the item’s energy.

Fred’s face paled when he heard her voice, he threw caution to the wind and tried to run. Unfortunately for him, he was right next to her. Still he didn’t understand how she had avoided his blow. He was certain that he had pierced through her. As he thought this, Choice’s figure began to fluctuate and his sword fell down into the pool of water made by the collapse of her figure. Right in front of him, a few steps away was the princess unharmed and untouched.

Fred began to despair. He had told the commune that he was not returning, so no one would come looking for him if he did not return. Still she didn’t know that.

“If I don’t return, the commune will come looking for me. You should probably let me go.”

“Hahaha. Do you think I am stupid. Since you have a group that told you to kill me, if I let you go. You guys will just come back and you will be better prepared for my powers. I might as well kill you now.” Fred could not argue with that knowledge still he wouldn’t give in to this monster. If he was going to die, he would do so with dignity.

“Well, if you know this, kill me. I’d rather die than tell you anything, you monster.”

“Monster. Me? I’m just a princess. Speak, tell me why this ‘commune’ is trying to kill me. Tell me why you said I’d give myself up if I knew the reason for my death. Why don’t you tell me now and we’ll see if I give up my life.”

Fred snorted and spat in her face. “I’m telling you shit. You might as well kill me now.” Choice wiped her face. Her eyes darkened and she looked at the assassin with real malice.

“Recognise this?” She asked raising up the serrated blades he had used to pierce her skin. She had kept them after removing them from her body. Fred glared at her. He knew that even if he died at the moment, he was going to the Hill because he had done the most to save the world. It’s all up to you now Shaun.

Choice raised up a knife and when she was about to bring it down, she hesitated. She had done a lot of things at Perpetual for survival but she had never physically injured someone before. Was she sure she could do this. Wouldn’t it be better to take him to her parents and see if they could get some information out of him.

Fred saw her hesitation and laughed mockingly. “I bet you’ve never hurt someone before. You probably don’t know how to use a blade. Why don’t you drop that knife before you hurt yourself princess.” Choice clenched her teeth and felt the feeling of her throat being slit again before she let the knife go and let it fall to the ground.

Inwardly Fred felt relief. While he said he wasn’t scared of death, he really wasn’t ready to go to the hill. There was a lot of things he had yet to experience. He was sure that the princess would take him to her parents and he knew how to escape from prisons. It wouldn’t even be difficult as the Legume Kingdom was really backwards.

“Do you know I’ve always liked water,” Choice said conversationally. Fred looked puzzling at her. What exactly is she trying to do now? “Water is really the only type of element that exist in three states. My healer once said that the element that killed mages the most while they were learning how to use magic was water because they always saw the calm, healing nature of water. People know fire is dangerous, wind is dangerous even earth is dangerous. But water, water is tranquil, water is safe. Really water is not safe. It’s dangerous. And it’s fucking everywhere.”

At this she lowered her face to his and followed the trail that his sweat had left on his cheek. “It’s in the air. It’s on plants and it’s your sweat. It’s in your blood. And me, I fucking control water. I can make your blood squeeze you from the inside. I can make your sweat become knives underneath your skin. And as most water users are healers. I can heal you from your wounds and start all over again. So you want to tell me what’s going on and just die or you want to suffer and then tell me what’s going on.”

Fred gulped. “Torture won’t work on me. And I bet you can’t do any of what you just claimed. I know some water users and they can only control water that they bring or from a large body of water. Your threats mean nothing to me.”

Choice smiled darkly. She’d had enough of being powerless and people underestimating her. “You’re right. Maybe I can’t control your blood. Yet. But this sweat all over your face. I just need to reach out and I can do this.” As she said this, she directed his sweat to go underneath his skin and she used it to stab into his dermis. As he screamed, Choice raised the knife again. A life for a life, a stab for a stab.

---

A few hours later, Choice felt satisfied at her work. She wasn’t good at torture but she instinctively knew how to heal injuries and she’d read a lot of books. It’d taken her a while but she thought she’d finally broke him. Now she wasn’t certain that the information she’d gotten from him was right but she didn’t have more time to stay with as the sun was coming up and  she knew that she’d have to be in the palace soon.

Now she looked at the bloodied body. After healing him countless times, his body had begun to stop healing as quickly as it used to.

“Is that all,” Fred rasped, “Are you finished. Can I die now.”

“Don’t be sad Fred. It’s nothing you did. I would have broken too. It’s not like you had any information anyway. All you knew what that I was dangerous and you had to kill me. You don’t even know where your Commune of Celestial Light is located. All that silence and pain for nothing. Oh well, at least I got some great practice out of it.”

Fred looked up at this woman’s cold face and dark skin. He knew that his leaders were right this woman was not good for anyone and would bring disaster to the world. He was just so sorry that he had not being able to keep quiet. Fred wanted to worry a==for the world and the commune but he didn’t have the energy to worry for himself. He knew that she had no use for him as she had stopped fully healing him minutes before.

Choice noted his silence and became aware of his despair. Choice wished she had more technical know how as she wanted to hurt him more. This was the closest she had ever being in her life and even though she was completely healed, she could still feel a shadow of a knife in her neck. She knew that she would never forget this moment and she would never forget his face.

“You should be proud. When I become Queen in the future, you will be essential in any retelling of my story, the catalyst for my growth.”

“Queen,” Fred scoffed, “That’s your goal. You want to become Queen. Well let me tell you this now, you’ll never become Queen. I can assure you of that.” Choice frowned at this statement and quicker than he could see, slit his throat. She’d already stabbed him in the wrist and in his ankle. It was time to finish her payback. Choice inspected his body and removed everything on him apart from his clothing.

She dragged his body to the lake and tossed him in. Fred began to struggle as he felt his blood flow out from his throat. He wasn’t the person supposed to have died her. She was supposed to have died. Choice used the water to hold him down in the lake until finally he stopped moving and the life slipped out of his body.

Choice waited a couple seconds before she was certain he was dead then let him float down to the bottom of the lake. There wasn’t any need to alert anyone to what happened. She would return to the palace before her disappearance was noted and she would come back later to check his belongings. Choice used his sword as a shovel and buried his belongings for future inspection.

As the sun came out, Choice walked away from the lake but only for a few seconds as shortly after she had a splitting headache and fainted to the ground.