The Lamp of Star and Storm

"Tell me they're lying, Ravellan."

Ravellan bowed her head, letting her blonde hair fall to cover her icy, glowing eyes. Solhei sucked in a breath, already knowing what the silence of her sister meant.

"You did. You did. You promised me you wouldn't- 'Vell, you promised me!"

Ravellan only sighed. Her sister was right, but...

But what if someone else had gotten their hands on the raw magic. What if someone else had turned it into something just as destructive and far easier to use?

At least this way we can hide it. Lock it up somewhere, and never let it be used again.

"Why?"

"To keep anyone else from using the magic there."

"So you made something that could level a solar system in seconds flat?"

"The Lamp's command word is beyond obscure."

"But it exists! Because you just had to go behind my back and build the stupid thing in the first place!" Solhei shouted, pacing back and forth in the room she and her sister shared. Her jet black hair was probably completely free of tangles by now, but fingercoming was a nervous tick she'd had for years.

"The Lamp of Star and Storm is a lot less dangerous than-"

"But it's dangerous! It's beyond dangerous! You- you built something that can be used to summon a starstorm, Ravellan, you- you could use it to kill billions."

"But I won't!"

"And who's to say nobody else will!?"

"Solhei-"

"NO! You- you built a gun that could destroy civilizations- entire planets- with one shot! ONE! And- and there's insurance, there, for whoever uses it! Because it won't hurt them! Just everyone in a hundred million mile radius! Why couldn't you have just left the magic where it was!? Why couldn't you have just listened to me?"

Ravellan curled her lips into a snarl, storming over to where Solhei stood.

"Because if I didn't use it then someone else would. Someone worse. The Lamp of Star and Storm can be locked up. It takes saying something that's not a word in any language to activate that starstorm, instead of 'kill them all'. I saved us! I saved everyone! Yes, it's a weapon of unimaginable power but weapons can be left rusting in their sheaths! As long as I don't use it, and you don't use it, the chances of it ever being activated are so small that I might as well have built a completely nonmagical oddly shaped teapot!"

Solhei drew herself up to full height- a good six inches above Ravellan's head. The raven-haired girl squared her shoulders, setting her jaw the same way she did every time she filled in another line on Ravellan's long, long list of sins.

"You have doomed billions by creating that thing."

"And how many more have I saved!? How many more are never going to suffer under tyrants because I stole that magic when I had the chance!? How many people will be fine!? HOW MANY!? HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL BE PERFECTLY ALRIGHT BECAUSE I REALIZED AT THE LAST SECOND THAT YOU WERE WRONG!?"Ravellan screamed.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"

"WHY NOT!? BECAUSE SOME WILL DIE ANYWAY!? OR BECAUSE THE PERSON SAVING WORLDS FINALLY ISN'T YOU!?"

For the first time in her memory, Ravellan saw Solhei take a step back first. Whenever the two had been mere words away from throwing punches, it had always been Ravellan- always been Ravellan because Ravellan was the naive peackekeeper, Ravellan was the comedic relief, Ravellan wasn't a threat.

Maybe she could have become a threat to Solhei, right then and there. Maybe she could have landed a hit, and seen a twinge of fear in her sister's eyes every time someone told Ravellan she wasn't worth the effort of fighting.

Maybe she could have.

But she didn't.

Ravellan stayed where she was, watching her sister step farther and farther away, shaking her head like she'd just watched Ravellan go mad.

Solhei turned around, striding to the door to their bedroom.

"This isn't over, Sol. You don't get to just bury this one like all the others," Ravellan growled.

"I know it isn't over. But if you'll excuse me, I have to call a council meeting to discuss how we're going to deal with the existence of a weapon that can destroy everything we've worked for with one piece of gibberish."

Solhei closed the door behind her.

Ravellan was still glaring at it long after the echo had faded.