Min landed heavily on her feet, losing her balance and stumbling to her knees. Steadying herself on the handle of her scythe, she surveyed her surroundings. She was no longer in the gray, familiar world of the Precinct; instead she was now surrounded by swirling white snow. It was a silent; deathly silent. Only a faint howl of the wind could be heard above the muffled weariness. She held out a hand and watched the flakes melt into her palm. She had seen snow before in the Precinct, but this was something else; this was a blizzard.

Her eyes caught a black silhouette amidst the white backdrop and she whipped around to find L straightening up behind her, his dark eyes trained on her.

“Nowhere to hide here,” he said softly above the whirling snowflakes. “For you and me.”

Min looked down herself. He was right; the both of them stood out like sore, black thumbs in the icy white, flat landscape. There was nowhere for her to run to – but then again she knew that this time she would not run. She gritted her teeth and tightened her hold on her weapon.

“Let’s do this.”

Without so much as a warning L flew at her, his blade clashing sharply against hers as he pushed her back in the snow. “Your silent façade sickens me,” he sneered into her face, and she pushed him away before taking a swing at him, which he dodged. “Your friends should know the truth about you.”

“You don’t know anything about me!” Min said defiantly, crouching down low before shooting forward.

“You’re right,” L said simply. He lifted a hand and Min found her body frozen. She struggled against the invisible bonds that held her, her eyes flitting back to him. He regarded her with a disinterested look. She looked at the ground, seeing his and her shadows drawn across the snow, threads flowing from his hand and holding on to her shadow with his. “And you know nothing about me either, it seems.”

Min smirked, then raised her scythe and cut through the invisible threads, then dashed towards him and gracefully somersaulted over his head, scythe slicing through the air. She felt a brush of air at her shoulder and turned, but didn’t react fast enough to defend herself from the slash that L aimed at her arm. She tried to return the attack but he flew behind her and cut at her back. She felt the cold blade slice through her skin and gave out a cry. She landed heavily in the snow, clutching at her arm as it dripped crimson blots into the pristine white, feeling the wind bite into the open wound in her back.

“I trained hard after you left,” L said quietly, as he paced around like a lion assessing it’s pray. “I swore that I would be strong enough to defeat you when I saw you again.”

“I never tried to be stronger than you,” Min retorted.

“No!” L snapped. “You were just born powerful!” So saying, he lifted his hand again and Min found a chokehold around , felt the air being squeezed from her lungs. L lifted her into the air as she struggled against the invisible force that strangled her, dropping her weapon to the ground where it lay silent.

“Does it hurt?” L asked quietly as he brought her into him, though her feet still dangled above the ground. “Does it feel like nothing will ever be right again?”

“Bryn… Brynhildr…” Min wheezed, white spots popping into her vision. Her blood felt warm on her hands, but she could feel herself fading away to a place where everything was cold and desolate. Her vision was fading… she lifted a shaking hand. “Brynhildr!”

L gave a small gasp and the suffocating pressure around disappeared. She fell to the snow, gasping for breath as her scythe fell beside her at her hand. It had jumped from the snow and cut through the threads at her command, and it now lay still and silent. “Summoning your weapon… How did you…” L whispered, staring at her. “How could you master it when you left before we learnt it…”

“You really did know nothing about me,” Min choked, looking up at him. She lifted her hand and sent threads towards his shadow, yanking it so his feet flew out from beneath him. He landed heavily, breathing hard. She knelt over him as her other hand picked up Brynhildr and aimed it at his throat. “Send me back,” she told him quietly. “This battle is over.”

“Kill me,” L breathed, wide-eyed and defiant. “Go on. You’re so close.”

“I’m not going to kill you,” she told him brusquely. “It’s over, L. Send me back.”

“Kill me!” he cried out, hands reaching for her handle. She yanked it out of the way and threw the scythe aside.

“Stop it!” she yelled back. “It’s over! I beat you! Can’t you see that?”

L stared wide-eyed up at her. “How could you?” he whispered, wide-eyed. “I worked so hard to beat you. HOW COULD YOU?!” he screamed at her, and she closed her eyes, hanging her head. He kicked her off and straddled her, his hands at . “I’m stronger than you!” he cried out, unsheathing a dagger from his thigh and holding it high above her head. “All these years that you’ve been gone, I’ve been growing stronger! I should have surpassed you by now!” He brought the dagger down, but found his arm stopped by an invisible force. Min stared back at him, a tinge of sadness etched into her eyes. L’s arm moved by its own accord, dropping the dagger into the snow while his other hand released itself from ; he then got off her and settled into the ground, where Min released her hold on him. “Why…” he whispered, eyebrows furrowed. “WHY?!” he screamed, and before Min could react he snatched the dagger up and pointed it at his throat.

“L, stop!” she cried, knocking him to the ground. He looked up at her, tears pooling in his eyes and sliding down his cheeks.

“Why?” he whispered, voice breaking in his throat, sobs racking through his body. “Why didn’t you take me with you?”

-

A memory.

“Hi,” the boy smiled at her, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. “What’s your name?”

She looked down at the tag around her wrist. Experiment 1, Batch 14. She looked up at the boy, at the twinkle in his eyes, and she smiled at him.

“I’m Min.”

He smiled back. “I’m L.” He sat down in front of her and crossed his legs, surveying the white walls of the room they were contained in. “Isn’t this place weird? Let’s stick together, okay?”

Min scrutinized him for a few seconds. “Okay,” she replied, with a shy smile.

He smiled back and looked around at the other children grouped around them. “I hope they let us go soon, I want to see my mum and dad.”

Min hugged her knees as she tilted her head to look at him. “What’s a mum and dad?”

L regarded her curiously. “Don’t you have a home?” he asked her in turn, childish eyes widening.

“This is my home,” she told him, blinking when he stared dumbfoundedly at her. “Isn’t it your home too?”

“Min!” a voice yelled behind her as she exited the training room, skin drenched in sweat and chest heaving. She handed her katana to the guard at the door, then turned to look at L, who rushed up to her with a giant smile on his face. “Guess what?” he asked as he slung and arm around her shoulders, guiding her down the corridor.

“What?” she asked as they made their way to the cafeteria.

“I heard they have a special surprise planned for us later,” he smiled at her. “I can’t wait to see what it is! By the way, how was training?”

Min looked him up and down. In the six years she had known him he had grown somewhat, though he still retained his childish features. Min knew in a few years when they were older he would look less like a child and more like the grim-faced men and women who marched through the halls of the Facility, a fate she knew would befall her as well, though it would still be a while more until she was ready. L had been five when she met him, and she guessed she was about his age. They were still but children in this world, though she knew that the moment she had been brought to the Facility she had ceased to be a child forever.

“Training was good,” she muttered. “I’m starving.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the cool female voice over the microphone. “Welcome to the first filter session.” Murmurs ascended on the gathered children. They were all almost identical in features, lean and dark-haired, although some were taller than the others. Min and L exchanged glances. What does that mean? he mouthed at her. She shook her head, the katana that hung at her waist. They had been given weapons upon entrance, and she didn’t like the implication it held.

There was a sudden scream from behind them and they whipped around to see what was happening. L gasped, his hand on Min’s shoulder. A monstrous, giant creature with a collar around its neck stood in the doorway of a previously concealed door, holding in each hand what remained of the girl it had ripped clean in half. Blood pooled beneath its feet as it huffed at them. “What the-,” L muttered.

“This is a battle for survival,” came the voice again. “Only the strongest will survive. Good luck, my children.”

More concealed doors opened around them, and more creatures emerged. They were huge, towering a good 4 meters above their heads. Min drew her sword surreptiously, glancing at L, who had done the same. He nodded at her as chaos erupted around them.

“Don’t die,” he told her, the jovial smile that usually graced his features replaced by a look of determination that seemed out of place on the face of a child. His eyes flashed gray at her.

“You too,” she said, catching sight of her own silver eyes in his. He nodded at her and then cartwheeled out of the way as a monster stampeded towards them, leaving a bloody path of crushed children in its wake. Min stared stoically at it as it roared and lifted two hands to crush her.

She closed her eyes and held her sword upright before her face. “Good night,” she whispered, and then let out a loud laugh as she leapt through the air and sliced off its head.

“Hey,” said a quiet voice, and Min sighed and closed her eyes.

“What, L?” she asked in a low voice, not looking at him.

“You have to stop resisting them, you know. I’ve heard people saying that they’ll lock you up soon, maybe even kill you.”

“I don’t care.”

“You might not care, but I do.” He grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “I care about you and I don’t want you to die. Just obey them, okay? Can you do that?”

Min scrutinized him, just as she had the first day they had met. They were 15 now, and she was sick of being subjected to endless tests. In another year she would undergo one more test to determine if she was good enough, and then there would be no more escape from this hell. He shook her slightly, and she searched his eyes. He was now several centimeters taller than her, and had grown a more masculine look. She was sure his eyes looked older than they had ever looked before.

“I don’t want you to die,” he whispered.

“I’ll try,” she replied, crossing her fingers behind her back.

She didn’t tell him that she was going to leave, with or without him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he was screaming at her, but she was unstoppable. The feel of warm blood on her hands, the knowledge that she would soon be escaping this hellhole… it was exhilarating. She stared down at him from her perch in the broken observatory window, the bodies of the guards slumped against the wall, blood oozing from the X’s carved into their chests.

He was the lone survivor in the carnage she had created.

She jumped down from the observatory, landing lightly despite the fact that she had just fallen the equivalent of three storeys. He was staring at her wildly, and was that fear she saw in his eyes? He opened his mouth to say something, but she had already turned away silently, treading her way to the exit. Nearly there…

“Why?” was the solitary echo around the room.

Min stopped, then turned to look at him. He had fallen to his knees amidst the slaughter around him, his eyes beseeching her. “Why didn’t you kill me too?”

Min walked over, standing above him. He seemed so small suddenly; as if they were longer equals. The silence around them was crushing. Min unsheathed her sword, raising it above her head. He cringed and squeezed his eyes shut, but she only sent the blade deep into the ground before him, the crack loud in the empty space.

“Because I don’t want you to die,” she whispered. “I’m sorry L.”

She ran that day. It was only when she made it to the surface and caught sight of her reflection in a window that she started laughing.

-

“I loved you,” L whimpered, staring up into her face. “Why did you leave me?”

Min sat back, hugging her knees as he sat up, crossing his legs in a painful imitation of the first day they had met. “Because,” she whispered, reaching out and touching him on the hand. “I didn’t want you to die.”

They sat in silence as the snow continued to whirl in silent flurries around them.

-

Urgh, hi everyone! It's been a while.

First, I'm so sorry for not updating, I just lost my writing mojo for a bit. But I'm back! And very much inspired :)

Oh, and in case it isn't clear, Min is younger in this story than in real life. Just saying.