Usa stormed out of her house, fury in her veins. It wasn’t until the mage had grabbed her arm, burrowing his thick fingers into her dark skin, that she realized he followed her. Foot traffic in the street stopped as his voice shouted above the noise.

“You do not understand, Usa. The king wants you at the palace. He will not take no for an answer. Your parents will not take no for an answer. Think of the riches you can bring them. Stop being selfish.”

“Selfish? Selfish? Since the day I could walk, I’ve done nothing but work for them! It’s time I work for myself. I deserve to be happy; I deserve to walk my own path, not the path shown to me.”

“To work for them was your obligation. To work for the king is your duty.” The mage hacked her back to the side of the street.

“An obligation I’ve done my entire life. An obligation the king would never understand. Unhand me, now.”

“No. The king made it very clear what he wanted me to do should you deny him.”

“The king can go-”

In the fluid language of anima, the mage speaks. His voice is a hoarse whisper that is heard in the sudden stillness of the moment. Symbols light up her arms, her neck, her bare legs- everywhere across her body. Blacks spots cover her vision, and pain manifests in every. Single. Place.

***

Anima. The source of all magic in the country, in the world, in the universe. To have the ability to wield it- called animai- is to have power you do not- and will not- understand. Many have tried to describe, but Usa has never felt that words do the power of Anima justice. No one has the prose to describe how having the power of Anima feels.

Taking it away though- that Usa can describe. Because that memory, along with its scar, is not something easily forgotten. To lose your animai is to lose yourself; it feels like the breath within your body is taken. For a moment, you don’t breathe. For a moment, you are not you; you are nothing, and nothing is you. For a moment, the world does not exist. You don’t exist.

And then-

It’s over.

And you’re left with something more than scars. You’re left empty. You’re left without a purpose.

***

Usa stands in a cave now, atop a tall hill covered in trees. With a brittle hand on her cheek, remembering when it all went wrong, she looks out at the village below. In her mind, she wants peace again. She wants to go back to being the innocent blue-eyed girl whose dreams would launch her into the sky. Her parents disowned her, the village girls threw rocks at her, everyone turned their backs on her. Shortly after, the king announced that anyone who would not work for the crown for at least one year would be punished. Usa suspects something is going on in the castle. Something dark.

But what can she do about it?