Chapter 86: Conflict
BOOOM!
The explosion shattered the evening quiet as a massive blade of wind collided and combusted with a shield of ice, sending crystalline fragments and air pressure waves rippling around.
"Maria," Carmella breathed, having just returned from the disciplinary office where she’d been sanctioned for her earlier actions. She’d taken a shortcut around the building used for physical training and the one where second years had their Alchemy practical classes, when she suddenly found herself ambushed.
Maria stood twenty feet away, her usually neat white hair now wild and disheveled, falling in thick waves past her shoulders. Her almond eyes, normally bright and determined, now burned with something far more dangerous. She wore her standard academy uniform - a fitted dark blue jacket that hugged her curves, the white shirt beneath slightly torn at the collar from whatever confrontation had preceded this moment. Her pleated skirt swayed as she shifted into an aggressive stance.
Carmella quickly jumped back and took a defensive position, her hands instinctively going for her bow. It wasn’t because of fear. No, it was because of what she sensed clearly in Maria’s eyes: madness. Pure, undiluted madness. The girl was emitting such a great deal of bloodlust that it was only a matter of time before the authorities arrived, and this... this didn’t make any sense to Carmella.
Why was this girl so mad about it? It wasn’t her business in the very least. Had she changed targets from Ansley to that Asher guy? That thought alone was building something up in her, that grudge she’d originally held for Maria slowly turning into genuine hate.
She’d always resented Maria, thought she was lucky to be engaged to Azalea. If it were her in Maria’s place, she would have had more right to act. If Azalea couldn’t get over his obsession with Isa, Carmella could have used more aggressive methods to keep him away from that woman. With time, the young man would no longer be able to approach Isa, whether out of fear or exhaustion from the repercussions his approaching her would bring. After all, Carmella was far stronger than him. She could have slowly changed her approach to something more gentle, and with time, Azalea would have forgotten Isa entirely. It just needed the right methods.
Yes, that was what she believed, and that was why she’d come to hate Maria. The girl had an opportunity to be engaged to someone so rare, someone genuinely kind-hearted and lovable - unlike Ansley, who wouldn’t let her rest. But Maria couldn’t see it, blinded by the outward appearance Azalea always kept, never really looking deeper.
Carmella had been the one forcing Maria most of the time to go look after Azalea when he sustained heavy injuries from fights. Few of his injuries were from Alchemy-related accidents - it was mostly him fighting back against guys who insulted Isa or someone close to him, and being floored every single goddamn time. Eventually, she’d hated seeing him that way, so she’d gone ahead and traumatized most of the weakling shits who started trouble, giving Maria the middle finger as she became more aggressive in her quest to win Azalea for herself.
But it had been too late. Before she could really tell him the words in her heart... the incident had happened.