Tale Never Told [Completed]

Chapter 16.

The fire was cracking soothingly. Fred kept his eyes on it, smiling childishly at the warmth it was giving him. Not like he had ever been cold, but it was pleasant nonetheless. The village was quiet and silent, the only sounds were the songs of night birds and chirping of crickets somewhere in the tall grass. Billiards of stars were shining brightly, but not to the point where they could interrupt sleep and peace of villagers.

The male sighed and let out a yawn, shifting a little on his make-shift bed of fallen leaves and hay that smelled better than anything he had ever met in his life. The Valley wasn't prepared for him and his friends, and while Chloe had insisted they slept in her house, he declined. It looked like this world not only didn't have bad weather, but it was just not capable of it! Still, the plants were strong and green, even without rains.

This was the Heaven.

Fred leaned closer to the fire, wanting to make his black clothes smell like smoke, that, for some reason, didn't hurt his eyes and his nose. Nothing, nothing in this world seemed to be able to bring him any discomfort at all.

Suddenly a twig snapped in the forest and he turned around, smiling when he saw Romeo walk towards him with a wide grin on his childish face. His lips had stains of hot chocolate on them, and a beautiful glowing butterfly was sitting on his shoulder, minding its own business.

"Hi." Fred moved away from the fire, giving space to the younger guy. He sat down and crossed his legs, the game of light and shadows made his skin appear dark, almost black.

"Hi." The redhead whispered back and let out a yawn. "Have you seen Xara yet?"

"Wasn't she with you?" The older man tilted his head and tried to feel at least some worry in his chest. But there was nothing, and it was supposed to be not okay. He knew that she didn't like it here, he knew that she could easily get into a fight with someone here and end up hated by the whole village. But he just couldn't bring himself to worry or to feel even a little nervous.

"We, uh, we separated." Romeo shrugged and reached his hand towards the fire. Small flames began to dance on his fingertips, making him smile and giggle at the warmth. "She said I could go explore the Valley but she wanted to stay behind herself... She doesn't like it here."

"I know, bud, I know." Fred exhaled in exhaustion and brushed his fingers through his long blue hair. "I just thought that if we gave her some time, she would start to enjoy it like I do. This place feels so safe, so protecting from the dangers..."

"What dangers?" The kid tilted his head. "We're almost invincible. There's nothing dangerous for us!"

His friend just shrugged and looked away. He couldn't explain it, couldn't explain the peace that settled over his heart in this place. Still, he truly wished Xara would agree to give their powers us and stay here forever.

"And what do you think?" He turned to the redhead, who was casually playing with the butterfly that seemed more tired and annoyed than anything, really. "Do you want to stay? Forever remain with these animals that love you so much? Never have to worry because your powers aren't strong enough to satisfy you?"

Romeo clicked his tongue and watched as the butterfly finally flew away. Then he glanced at his hands, smiling at them.

"I... I don't know." He sighed and confessed, trying not to look at the older male. He didn't want to see the dissapointment in his red eyes. "I mean... This place is awesome and I like it, but... I want to go home. To have fun with my own animals and monsters. Explore my powers, find out what I can do! And I can't do it if..."

The redhead looked down and rubbed his arms, feeling rather guilty. He knew that most of it was up to him, because he was the only one that could think clearly in the situation, but he just didn't know what to choose. He wanted both, and he didn't want to dissapoint any of his friends! Why couldn't he just make everyone happy? Why wasn't there an ideal solution that would appeal to them all?