Chapter 53: Lethal Stalemate

Mika felt Charlotte’s arms loosen as she pulled back from the hug, a thoughtful frown settling on her features. She stared down for a second, clearly chewing on something in her mind, then slowly looked up at him, eyes narrowed with a strange seriousness.

"At first..." She said. "I thought Mama was being too harsh. Like...too cruel. I mean, who just pushes a kid off a sword and lets him fall like that?" She paused dramatically, and Mika gave her a look like he knew where this was going. "But now that I think about it..."

She slowly pointed a finger right at his chest, expression grave. "The real one at fault wasn’t her."

Mika blinked. "Huh?"

She jabbed his chest with her finger. "It was you."

He stared at her, his mouth parting slightly in disbelief before saying in disbelief,

"How in the world is this my fault?! I was thrown off a sword against my will! If anyone needs jail time, it’s her!"

He pointed back at Yelena, while she just tilted her head like she was used to this sort of accusation and chose not to react.

But Charlotte only shook her head, unfazed.

"It’s not about who threw who. Or what happened." She leaned closer, tapping his chest again, firmer this time. "It’s about trust. About how much you trusted her."

Mika furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, Mika...She’s been your guardian your whole life." Charlotte interrupted gently, her tone strangely warm now. "She’s the one who raised you. And you should’ve known her. Known her better than anyone."

"...Known that no matter what happened, even if her life was on the line, she would never let you fall for real."

Mika blinked at that. His lips parted, as if to argue, but no words came.

Charlotte continued, softer now. "I’m not proud to admit this, okay? And honestly, it’s kind of sad, but if it comes down to choosing between you or me..."

She pointed to herself, then trailed off, glancing briefly at her mother.

"...She’d probably still choose you."

Yelena looked over at Charlotte at those words, her face unreadable, neither agreeing nor denying it. She just watched.

"That’s why..." Charlotte went on. "You should’ve trusted her more. Even if she threw you off, you should’ve believed in her. Trusted that she’d catch you."

"If you had that trust, you wouldn’t have been so scared. You wouldn’t have...you know...peed your pants or anything." She added with a teasing grin.

Mika rolled his eyes. "Of course I trust her. Who else could I trust if not her?"

But he stopped himself before going on, his face faltering. He lowered his voice.

"But when you’re falling to your death...and you’ve got nothing to hold on to...you’re not thinking about that. All those logical thoughts disappear."

"All that’s left is the feeling that you’re gonna die. That your body’s gonna smash against the pavement...Especially when you’re just a little kid."

Charlotte tilted her head slightly. "Sounds like a you-problem." She said plainly.

Mika scoffed. "Wow. Thanks. Very insightful."

Charlotte shrugged. "I’m just saying, it’s your fault for having such a weak mind back then."

"Oh, come on." His brow twitched, before he stepped forward, frustrated. "Easy for you to say. You weren’t the one falling to your death! You weren’t flying off a sword like a ragdoll, screaming and thinking you were gonna be a puddle on the ground!"

He thought that’d make his point. She wasn’t involved. She wouldn’t understand.

But instead of backing down, Charlotte’s eyes lit up.

"Oh...Oh, that gives me a great idea." She said ominously, and Mika’s stomach dropped.

"What...idea?" He asked warily.

She smirked and began backing up. Slowly. One step at a time.

"Charlotte. What are you..." Mika raised a hand. "Stop moving. You’re getting close to the edge."

But she didn’t stop. She kept going, all the way to the edge of the sword. The platform was narrow, and the drop was terrifying. Mika’s heart skipped a beat.

"I’m just proving a point." She said sweetly. "You were right. I really can’t speak on it without experiencing it first."

"Charlotte, seriously, step back. You’re going to fall." He warned, his voice sharp.

But she just smiled wider.

"Right now." She said calmly. "I trust you, Mika. With all my heart. More than anyone else in the world.".

"...I even trust you even more than I trust Mama." She added boldly, flicking a glance at Yelena.

Yelena raised her brows, but remained silent, arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold like a quiet spectator.

"And that’s why I’m going to close my eyes and jump off now. And I’m not going to scream. I’m not going to shout."

"I’m just going to fall, because I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that when I open my eyes..." She closed them dramatically "...I’ll be safe. In your arms."

"Charlotte, don’t you dare—!"

Too late.

With a final and her eyes closed and a smile on her face, she leaned back and tipped herself over the edge.

And plummeted down to her demise.

From Mika’s point of view, it was as if the world had gone into slow motion.

He looked down just in time to see Charlotte, completely serene, gently falling from the clouds, drifting downward like a feather caught in a breeze, only instead of grass or snow, she was on a direct course for concrete and traffic.

If no one stopped her, she’d go splat, smack in the middle of the city, right where all the cars were zooming past like death was on a schedule.

Mika, however, was not panicked. He wasn’t even mildly alarmed. His expression was one of sheer annoyance.

He sighed hard, rubbing his temple like this was the fourth time today.

"That little vixen..." He muttered, staring at the tiny figure of Charlotte floating downward. "What the hell is she doing now?"

With exaggerated irritation, he slowly turned back toward Yelena, who was standing at the front, surprisingly relaxed for someone whose daughter was freefalling toward a very violent, very public death.

"Yelena..." Mika called out with clear irritation in his voice about Charlotte’s antics. "Go down and catch your daughter. She’s going to become a pancake on the pavement, and unless you want her on the front page of every news outlet, with a body so mangled even you won’t be able to recognize her face, you better move."

He expected urgency. He expected panic.

But shockingly, what he got was Yelena gently twirling back like she was doing ballet, an angelic smile on her lips. She then gave a casual shrug of her shoulders and said sweetly,

"Why should I?"

"Excuse me?" Mika blinked.

"She’s your responsibility today." Yelena explained as if they were talking about walking a dog, not saving a plummeting human being. "You’re the one she appointed with the duty of saving her. If anyone’s going to catch her, it should be you."

She tilted her head and stared at him like he was the crazy one for even suggesting otherwise.

"She’s your daughter, Yelena." Mika’s face twitched. "Your biological daughter. Maybe consider saving her from this absolutely idiotic stunt?"

He then gestured downwards furiously.

"I mean, she’s halfway to the ground, and she’s not even screaming, she’s humming! Do you hear that? She’s calmly falling to her death like she’s floating in a goddamn musical number."

Yelena still didn’t move an inch. She simply looked up at the sky, eyes soft, expression almost proud.

"She’s my daughter..." She said quietly. "And that’s exactly why I won’t interfere. I respect her decisions."

Mika’s mouth dropped open. "She’s falling to her death. This isn’t about respect. This is about gravity!"

"She said she wanted you to save her."

Yelena replied, hands behind her back, expression unreadable.

"She trusts you. She believes that if she ever truly needed help, you’d be there. That’s why I won’t go. Because if it’s not your hands that catch her, it wouldn’t mean anything to her."

Mika let out the most guttural sigh in the history of sighs. "Oh my god, it’s not time for this kind of philosophical nonsense!"

"She’s proving a point." Yelena added casually. "She always does this. If you keep going along with it, she’ll keep jumping off swords, rooftops, gods know what next. Today it’s a giant floating sword. Tomorrow? An airship."

"I know!" Mika groaned. "That’s exactly why you should go get her, yank her up by her hair, and give her a good, firm spanking for this nonsense!"

Yelena shook her head, still calm. "I’ve tried. Many times. She never listens. But if you save her, and you tell her not to do it again...she might actually listen. Maybe not entirely, but it’ll at least reduce how often she does these things."

She smiled knowingly, like she was reading from a manual titled "How to Tame Your Ridiculous Daughter: Volume VI."

Mika stared at her.

Yelena smiled.

They stared at each other.

A standoff.

Then Mika broke the silence with a shrug.

"Fine...Then I’m not saving her."

Yelena’s smile widened. "Oh?"

"I’m not budging." He said firmly. "I’m staying right here. No matter what happens, I won’t move."

"You’re really going to let my daughter die right in front of my eyes?" She asked, looking like she was wounded. "Your precious childhood friend, the girl you’ve been through everything with...you’re going to let her go splat?"

He tilted his head. "Of course not."

She blinked.

"I have no intention of letting her die." He said with a smirk. "Because I know you won’t be able to hold back. You’ll save her yourself. That’s why I’m not moving."

Yelena’s brows rose slowly. "Really now? Because I also don’t feel like moving. I’m feeling lazy today. Tired legs. And I know you won’t be able to watch her fall. You’ll definitely do something before she hits the ground."

Mika grinned. "We’ll see about that, shall we?"

And so the standoff solidified.

Mika and Yelena stood shoulder to shoulder, arms folded, smirking smugly at each other in absolute deadlock, while Charlotte continued her slow, peaceful descent toward the concrete jungle below, eyes closed, humming softly, completely unaware that the two people who loved her the most were playing chicken with her life just to prove a point.

A stalemate with a life on the line that was going to look like a abstract painting on the pavement if they neither of them gave in...