Burntout

Amoris

Andromeda Claire Holloway

The blue flames burned against my eyelids, imprinting on them when I closed my eyes. With a sigh, I finished tying my hair up with the scrap of fabric I had ripped off of my old dress, pinning back a lock with the hairpin I had kept with me. Regulus' shirt that I found lying in his room fit loosely around me so I tucked it back into the pair of mahogany pants I had found in the chest located at the foot of the bed. The bed Regulus was currently still sleeping in.

It hadn't been a dream even though my conscious had told me it was at the time. I had woken up with his arm around me, his head in the crook of my neck, and his pine scent, the very one that lingered on his shirt, in my senses. He was a restless sleeper, muttering inconceivable things. The only words I had caught were no, Theodore, power, pawn, and finally-

Please, Andromeda.

I was a light sleeper so I had caught that phrase in its whole, him telling me something, begging. I hadn't slept much either, his screams still echoing in my mind and the same image of flickering blue fire mixed with blood. The blood shining on a sword, crimson red and being pulled out of a slumped body. The figure was blurry but I couldn't scream, my throat choked up by the smoke.

"But why?" I asked myself out loud, my mind flashing back to last night, the question burning as brightly as the fire in my dreams. He had loved...me? But why did I have no memory of it unless...

I gasped as a sharp pain shot through my head and instead of seeing the blazing fire, I saw the image, the one of me looking up at someone. Except I could see the person now and the sight of him made me stumble backward.

Regulus.

Regulus was holding me in the image, clearly reflected in the mirror. His arms were snaked around my waist, holding me close to him as I looked up at him with a smiling face. Suddenly, my perspective changed and it was like I was seeing it through my eyes. Regulus was looking down at me, his lips slightly parted and his eyes not as coy as they were now. No, he was gazing at me with love in his eyes, hope, and affection.

Love looks pretty on you, darling.

The voice spoke in my mind again and my eyes flew open. I quickly closed them again, tuning into my thoughts and another voice spoke, the one too quiet to hear before now speaking with such affection.

Amoris, my lovely Amoris.

The voice was his, Regulus'. I coaxed the voice to speak louder and it kept repeating the phrase, calling me Amoris.

"Amoris," I said softly, testing the word on my tongue. A nickname, he had a nickname for me. He was calling me love.

"What did you say?" a voice broke through my thoughts. Regulus gazed at me, sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes open wide.

I looked at him, the new knowledge dawning over me, "Amoris. Amor. Love."

"Y-you remember, I-I thought y-you didn't-" he went silent and I could feel tears glimmering in my eyes.

"I remember."

He looked at me, sadness in his eyes, "And calling you that almost got me killed." 

He picked up the black shirt I had left for him on the bed and walked out of the room.

*

*

*

The leaves crunched loudly underneath us, the worn shoes I had found in the bottom of the chest feeling odd on my feet as I was lost in my thoughts.

"He called me Amoris," I thought to myself once again as we walked through the seemingly endless woods. We had been walking for about two hours now Regulus hadn't spoken to me since the realization, walking behind me. I looked behind me and he cast his head down, not meeting my gaze.

Frowning, I looked ahead and saw a glittering river in a clearing. I felt my dry lips, thirst suddenly overcoming me and without thinking, I made my way towards the water. The kindly bartender had given us small waterskins in compensation for the extra price Regulus had paid, along with a small container of iodine to purify any water sources we came across.

Small fish swam along with the lazy current, their scales catching the light coming from the sun. They cleared as I dipped the waterskin in, clutching the container of purifier in my other hand. Remembering the instructions, I carefully put in two drops, and then closed it to let it sit for at least half an hour.

Regulus came beside me and without giving a care about the fish, he plunged it in. With a startled shout, I pulled it out of his hand and dumped its contents out. A poor fish swam out, fighting against the current before I carefully dipped a hand in and righted it so that it could return to the school.

"You nearly killed it!" I looked at Regulus. I could easily kill someone but I wasn't going to let a helpless fish die at his hands.

"You didn't say that when Theodore was stabbing me!" he yelled back and I threw up my hands.

I glared at him, realizing I had instinctively put my hand on the hilt of my dagger, "I don't even remember that."

He pulled the waterskin out of my hand, "Don't lie to me, Andromeda."

"How am I lying if I don't remember something?"

He shook his head, "You're really playing dumb? What do you think I have nightmares of? Theodore. Stabbing. Me."

"Dumb?! You're calling me dumb? You're the one who looked dumb sobbing about me hurting you!"

"Don't flatter yourself." he hissed but it was too late because I felt all of my anger and frustration welling up inside me. Forcefully, I shoved him into the water just to watch-

A wall of blue fire formed between us, about 10 feet tall and as blue as the ones seemed in my dream.

I scrambled backward and gazed at it, dancing colors of blue, licking at the water's edge. It was going to burn Regulus.

Without thinking, I thrust my hands forward again like I wanted to grab the fire. I pulled my hands towards me, the blue flames still towering but dying down. I released a breath as I watched the fire retract, my feeling of anger replaced with a feeling of awe as the fire settled into a small flame on my palm.

I held the fire up and watched it flicker in and out, not burning my hand but tickling it. I looked back at Regulus, who was watching me with a look of shock. Gazing at the flame I whispered quietly, "So this was the power I forgot, huh?"

____________

A/N:

A chapter for you, my Ravens! I love the name Amoris and it ties into Andromeda's name so I HAD to use it!

Now we know her power and she almost killed Regulus with it but, oh well! :)

Remember to vote, comment, and read!! #VOCOR

-Rae