Duality

part seven

By the time she made it back to the hut, grumbling to herself, the sun had risen and Anna was asleep, or at least pretending to rest. Mila sat against the wall, arms folded, and tried to forget most of what had happened.

She sincerely hoped he wouldn't be back.

Shadows crept along the floor until she felt the pull of the moon. Without thought, she lifted her arm, watching as everything grew dark except for where the moonlight reached. A patch of light from the window landed on her foot, and another spot found Anna's face. It did nothing to wake her, and so, Mila continued waiting.

The moonlight had shifted to the middle of the room when Anna rolled to her other side.

"I can hear you thinking," Anna muttered to the wall.

"Good, you're up," Mila said, unpeeling herself from her spot. She'd begun to worry she would start sprouting roots if she sat there any longer. "I asked him about how we permanently die, and he answered."

Yawning, Anna managed, "Oh?" and turned so she faced Mila.

Briefly, Mila hesitated, wondering if she'd jumped into things too soon. Deciding she'd waited long enough—all day, really—she happily informed Anna, "There's none. Not until there's balance between light and dark or something, anyway."

And everything else that had happened really didn't need to be talked about. Mila would strive to forget his warmth. Feeling lighter, Mila stood and stretched. "Now that we can't kill each other, I'm thinking maybe he won't come back."

"Wait," Anna said on an exhale. "You believed him?" She started laughing, the sound throaty from her vocal cords still waking up.

Arms in the air, Mila looked down to Anna, chuckling on the floor. "He said he had no reason to lie," Mila said softly, lowering her arms. He'd seemed honest at the time, but then, he was confident and self-assured where she was not; it was easy to believe him.

"Except that he wants to take your power first," Anna argued. She sighed and Mila lowered her gaze, knowing what followed. "He's hiding something. Is that all you talked about?"

"Basically." Mila was glad Anna couldn't see how her face probably pinked. Try as she might, she needed more time to get the memory of yesterday out of her head. In case Anna could sense temperature spikes, Mila took a step away.

Whether Anna noticed or not, her suspicions had been raised. "You were gone for a while. What else did you do, then?"

"Oh, well," Mila faltered. "I, uh, ran."

Anna's right hand pressed into her temple like she had a headache. "Mila—" She cut herself off. "Never mind. What matters is that when you see him again, you get the truth from him. And I don't care how."

He'd implied he would come back, but Mila still hoped he'd see reason. "I don't think he'll see me again," Mila tried, examining the ends of her hair.

"Mila, I'm not going to argue," Anna said firmly. "You need that information."

"Right," Mila said automatically, knowing that's what Anna wanted to hear. After silence had fallen, she asked, "How, exactly?"

Disappointment radiated off of Anna. "I've been training you for situations like this." Mila remembered nothing about if he kissed her, but didn't say so. "Get creative: threaten the town." At Mila's audible gasp, Anna amended, "Or torture him. Whatever."

"Torture him?" Mila sputtered. "If he dies—"

"I didn't say to kill him, though you could," Anna said, sounding too thoughtful for Mila's sanity. "You can cut him up a little, leave him wounded. Maybe even threaten to kill him, so he spills what he knows."