Chapter 28: Who is Olice?

The other, Silver Bane’s bonds turned to dust and she fell to the ground, yelping as she hit the floor of the arena. When she raised her head, there was no trace of her previous vile expression, no this was the face of a girl who was quite innocent, the face of Olice.

Then a hurt look came onto her face, Olice was shocked, that face didn’t fit with the sneering jeering other that Olice knew.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Silver Bane asked. “You aren’t me, you’ll never be me!”

The other was practically crying.

Before she could reply to it, words appeared in the air above them and a booming voice followed.

“LOYAL SUBJECTS OF YOUR GLORIOUS BARD-KING”

No name, the Bard-King had no name! Susasov felt a shiver in his self at that truth impacting him. It was hard for a magifactured being to be at the level of will that a name would stick. Ka, in comparison had not been able to refer to herself as ‘I’ or similar things, but she had a name before she had become one of Olice’s familiars. It wasn’t something that Susasov had thought about for a long time, but not even the leader had a name.

“WE ARE GATHERED HERE TODAY FOR THE BEST OF TIMES, A TRIAL!”

Deafening cheers reverberated through the arena.

“WE HAVE BEFORE US TWO BEINGS THAT LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME! ONE IS THE BALEFUL SILVER BANE!”

There was gasps and then boos and hisses.

“THE OTHER IS, WELL SOME BEAST-CHILD OR ANOTHER, IT DOESN’T MATTER! THE TRIAL IS THIS; ONE OF THESE TWO HAS TO PROVE THAT IT ISN’T SILVER BANE… BUT OF COURSE THEY’LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH WHATEVER ELSE WE THINK OF TOO, SPEAKING OF THAT!”

There was a screech and the ironbird king flew out above Olice and Silver Bane.

The flow of magic grew more twisted around it and hooked patterns began to form, draped across the metal wings of that spirit’s body. It burned white, and its core-head spun, like a blazing fireball.

“A CURSE! WHICHEVER PROVES TO BE SILVER BANE WILL BE TORN APART BY A CURSE!” The Bard’s magic shouted with glee.

The ironbird’s core-head stopped and the fire condensed into sixteen eyes shining like stars, pronouncing judgement on Olice and Silver Bane. Almost like they had just slipped off, the patterns, the spells that had been on its wings slipped off. These crooked and knotted hooks intertwined, and then as soon as they split off with a hiss like that of a snake, they shot right into their targets Olice and Silver Bane.

It happened so quickly that Ka, Gander and Susasov could not do a single thing about it. That however was one of the terrors of curse magic. Depending on the curse it was, defending was not even possible.

“PLACE YOUR BETS!” The booming voice cried.

Gander muttered darkly, but no amount of foul language would change the fact that the current limits of his power kept him from keeping the curse from Olice. He opened his mouth to say something to the spirits, but no words came out.

“AH AH AH! NOBODY BUT THE BEAST-GIRL AND SILVER BANE CAN SPEAK!”

Olice however was confident that she could easily prove that she wasn’t Silver Bane.

“You!” Olice stopped, surprised, her voice had a booming quality to it, not totally unlike that of the bard’s magic.

It was clearly some part of the curse, so that the spirits of fortune could without mistake hear Olice and Silverbane.

“You can’t be me, you don’t have all my familiars!” Olice said.

“You are a terrible copy!” Silver Bane said. Then she pulled a hand over her shoulder and she was clothed in a crimson cloak that looked just like Ka, not only that, but her shadow stirred and a shadowy staff in the shape of what looked like Gander popped out.

Completing her ensemble was a glinting amulet that looked exactly the same as Olice’s. Silver Bane grasped onto this and a three-headed greenish aura loomed over her.

“I’ve always been alone, alone and strong, just like papa was, he gave me all these gifts! Oh I get it now, why you are always doing this. You are lonely, you want to be loved, like I am! That’s why you made those silly puppets! That’s sad, but I’m me, I’m not going to let you take my place!” She said.

“I-I’m not lonely! Father loves me, and Mother, and Uncle Baylthom love me! My familiars aren’t puppets!” Olice objected.

“They don’t love you, they love me! I’m Olice, you are Silver Bane!” She said.

“You aren’t! T-then I” She faltered.

She thought it was going to be simple. It was obvious. She was Olice, but… how did she prove that. She hadn’t thought this through, she hadn’t time to think it through, her head felt strange.

“I’m not letting you take my place! Not something that did all those horrible things you did! I’ll escape this place, I’m not letting some like you that eats the eyes of these poor spirits get out!” She said.

“What, I didn’t do anything, I just came to this place, stop lying! I didn’t even know you eat the eyes of those spirits! Ha that’s it, that was something you would know Silver Bane!” She said, quite flustered.

“Oh please, I heard about it from when they caught me, they read me out a list of your crimes!” She replied.

Olice stepped forwards.

“You aren’t even trying now! Look, your form is slipping!” Olice said.

Olice looked at her hand and sure enough, it was becoming more claw-like.

The ground did not even feel solid beneath her.

“What, no, I’m… I’m not a fake! I’m Olice, and my friends, Ka, Gander Susasov, they are real!”

“Just give up already, I’m not going to let you steal my parent’s love! You are Silver Bane!”

She struggled, feeling something slipping from her, then it came to her. Words she had heard before.

A memory on the verge of being stolen from her.

“Don’t be afraid, just hold onto this truth, no matter what it says to you, there is only one person who can be you. That is you child. You’ve done well in surviving.”

It was Zhadar who said it, Olice had met that person, back when she was with Toro. Olice clung onto the memory like a drowning person does a bit of driftwood.

Another shard of a memory followed.

“She speaks true, Mistress” Susasov confirmed. “The other will try to break you, get you to reject yourself or think that you are not who you are, chlan of its kind are lies”

“I’m not alone, not lonely, not now!” Olice said. “I’m not you! I’m me!”

There was conviction in Olice’s voice! Would she slay the other with this glimmer of hope?

“Even if everyone thinks I’m Silver Bane, that doesn’t change! I can’t explain who I am, but I know who I am, I’m Olice. I’ll never be you!”

The other drew back, hissing.

“YOU’LL NEVER BE ME EVEN IF YOU TAKE MY PLACE!” Olice shouted.

It twisted under these words, hiding its shape in its fake cloak.

Olice was not finished, the fog in her head was lifted, she could breathe easily.

“I can’t prove it, but I don’t need to. I am me. Nobody else! No one! Not you never you!”

Finally, Olice flung back into the face of the other some true words that it had accidentally spoken.

“You aren’t me, you’ll never be me!” Olice said, triumphant.