chapter twelve
powerful magic comes with bad consequences
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TWO WEEKS.
Two weeks since Annabelle came back to life and she's not uttered a word about what happened, drowning herself into training and magic. Silva and Rosalind were both insistent that she have a few days off to recharge, most people where but she ignored them and continued to work herself to the core, biting back any exhaustion and just fighting the entire time.
Truth be told, Anna was drowning in her own mind, her thoughts sucking her up whole, falling into the void. Powerful magic comes with bad consequences, she should've learnt that a long time ago. It doesn't help the fact that she is wondering why Sebastian killed her after everything, he still killed her. It pained her to think that their bond was all just fake.
She fights roughly against a third year, violently with her sword, slicing it through the air with a whooshing sound and knocking the third year to the floor, holding the sword just before her stomach. Anna doesn't even help her up, sliding her sword back into her holster and walking away. The girl sits down on the bench, pulling her water bottle out of her bag and almost drinking the whole thing down.
"Anna, go take a break, please." Silva sits down beside her, giving her a firm look, "You are exhausted and you've been fighting basically non-stop since it all happened." Annabelle rolls her eyes, shoving her bottle into her bag and walking away. Silva jogs after her, "Anna! Stop." Anna rolls her eyes, turning around to look at Silva, "What is wrong with you? You've been in a mood for the last two weeks, cmon."
"Maybe it's because I was killed by one of the people I actually trusted." Annabelle cocks a brow, "I trusted Sebastian and he just... he just killed me." She squints up at the tree line, "I was dead for almost an hour, I shouldn't be back but I am. I find it unfair how I'm still fine and others are injured, like Beatrix and Musa."
"Powerful magic comes with bad consequences, Anna." Silva tells her, stepping closer. "You've used strong magic to pull yourself back and it's come with ever lasting consequences, your special --"
"I know I'm special! Everyone has been telling me that since I was a baby!" Annabelle yells, people turn to look at the commotion, "Anna, your the last ever Dark Fairy, you're special! You lived for a reason! You're this and that, I'm sick of it. I literally just want to fight and not have to worry about being a Queen or being the Dark Fairy. I'm sick of everyone asking if I'm okay, practically begging me to rest, I'm perfectly fine."
Saul sighs, watching as she walks away. The day moves by slowly, Annabelle ditches her classes, locked away in her room and just drawing, she has a short nap, awoken by a nightmare. It's when she heads out to get another cup of coffee, Anna finally exits her room. She's dressed in plaid navy blue and white pyjama bottoms with one of Riven's back hoodies over the top and her hair in a bun. She looks like a corpse, her skin pale and her cheeks sunken in a little, her eyes darker then usual and rimmed with exhaustion bruises.
Everyone is stood in the common area, moving things. "Did a bomb go off in here?" Anna asks, stepping over the carpet Flora and Terra are moving, her fluffy socks a little slippy on the floor.
"Sorry. We needed a bit more space for Musa's convergence ceremony." Aisha raises a brow at Musa, who frowns in confusion.
"My con - what ceremony?" The Mind Fairy chuckles nervously. Musa has completely lost all of her magic, however her wounds have healed quickly and she's back on her feet but is stuck on chore duty for Rosalind.
"Actually, before we, um..." Terra announces, nervously running her fingers together, "Before we start that, uh, we haven't all been in the same room for a few days. Now that we are, I've got an announcement. It's not bad or weird. I mean, ma-maybe it is weird, I don't think it's weird. Uh, also, like, it's um... it's not a big deal. It is a big deal to me, but I don't need a celebration or a cake. Not that you'd get a cake. Um..."
Flora steps forward, placing a comforting hand on Terra's shoulder, calming her panic stumbling of words. The blonde runs a hand up her sweaty forehead, she breathes out heavily before, "Uh, so, um... I'm gay." Annabelle bites back a smile, "There's a part of me that's always known that I was gay, uh, and now I'm sharing that part of me with you. Uh, so kindly adjust your perceptions of me accordingly. Uh... cool, okay, so, um, I need to move this carpet, so if someone could give me a hand, that'd be really good."
Stella places a foot on the other side of the carpet, stopping her from moving it. "Terra." Stella walks forward, hugging the other blonde tightly. The other's join in, hugging Terra. The Earth Fairy sighs in relief, happy that her friends are so accepting.
"This is really nice actually." Terra chuckles.
"I suppose, you know, this mean we're officially your wing - women now." Stella nods, stepping backwards and placing her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, we're gonna snag you a lady." Musa laughs, a bright smile on her face. Anna grins, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, snagging a lady's a heteronormative paradigm I'm not certain to ascribe to." The blond Earth Fairy smiles nervously, shaking her head a little.
"Oh, really? I'm sure you already have your eye on somebody." Flora dances her eyebrows up and down, chuckling.
"Do we know her?"
"Who is she."
"We need popcorn."
"Is she pretty? Is she good enough for you?" Anna asks, setting the boundaries.
"I will need approval." Stella nods her head firmly, looking sternly at Terra.
"We're forgetting why we're here. This isn't a coming out party. This is a Musa and her magic party, so let's all maybe just start on that." The Earth Fairy quickly changes the subject, getting it off her crush.
"A Musa and her what party?" Musa asks, on edge about getting her magic back. "Can we j...just track back? What's... what's the party for me?"
"Well, this carpet isn't gonna move itself." Stella announces, she looks at Anna. The girl rolls her eyes, helping Stella carry the carpet back into Bloom and Aisha's room. Once they set it down, Annabelle lets out a grunt of pain, touching her hand to her stomach where the pain of the stab wound still is. For some reason, her wound has healed but it's still painful. Anna lifts her hoodie, looking at the jagged scars where the sword was driven through her, just underneath the scar from the Burned One. "Oh, that looks gnarly, Anna. Did it destroy anything?"
"Not that I know of." Anna shakes her head, leaning against Blooms desk, "It just hurts whenever I move anything too heavy, probably where it's still healing."
"You could really do with some rest." The Dark Fairy goes to speak but Stella gets there first, "I know, everyones telling you to get rest and sleep and stop training but Anna, have you looked in the mirror recently? You look like a corpse. Cmon, what's going on?"
"I... I can't sleep." Annabelle whispers, biting on her bottom lip, her voice trembling a little, "Like, I physically cannot close my eyes and sleep without being haunted by a nightmare, wether it's from last year, this year or my childhood. I feel like I'm drowning, Stel, and the only way to surface is drowning myself into my training. Sebastian betrayed me, I trusted him and he broke that trust. God, I hate him so much."
"We all hate him for what he did to you, Smalls." Stella walks forward, wrapping her arms around Anna and holding her tight. Annabelle feels herself calm at being in Stella's embrace, like she does with Riven and Sky and she lets her guard down, Anna feels safe in Stella's presence. Her eyes close and she hugs Stella back, pressing her face into the blondes shoulder. "I can't know what it's like to be like you but what I do know is that I know what it's like to have everyone know who you are, to be stared at when you walk down the street and whispers about you when you say your name. I'm here for you, Anna, always."
The fairies sit in a circle, "Not looking a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but... how dangerous do you expect this little exercise to be?" Musa asks, holding the crystal as she sits down on her pillow.
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat this." Aisha answers, sitting down as well, "We're mainlining raw magic here, so, yeah, it's risky, but... I have faith in us. Let's do this."
Anna sighs, shifting on her pillow a little, feeling slightly nervous. Terra walks towards them, holding a large stone. The Dark Fairy frowns in confusion, "Fair warning. I'm trying something new. A bit of mineral magic, so no judgement. All right, now, let's do this."
Bloom lifts her hand, flicking out her fingers from the tight fist and a ball of flames raging from her palm. Aisha looks down and gathers water, creating it into a whirlwind and up into a rainstorm. Terra pulls her stone into a smaller stone, almost like a crystal. Vibrant green vines dance up Flora's hands, a green glow coming from them. A bright ball of light hovers above Stella.
Annabelle hesitates, her hands resting on her knees, palms faced upwards but nothing seems to happen. "Anna?" Aisha asks, holding her rainstorm. Anna closes her eyes tightly, letting out a small breath and then a small cloud of shadows pools in the air between the middle of her hands, growing quickly and becoming larger when she opens her eyes, glowing brightly.
Annabelle looks down at her creation, the shadows swirling together into an orb before growing bigger when she moves her fingers a little. "Alright everyone, now pull it in." Anna draws her hands together, a small energy orb of a white colour forming between her hands, one facing upwards and the other downwards directly aligned with one another. "Okay, Musa, open yourself up magic, like normal. The rest of us, open yourself up to Musa."
Nothing seems to be happening though, not for a long while. Musa opens one eye a little, waiting for something to happen. "Should I be feeling something?"
"Yeah?" Aisha looks around, "Is everyone focusing?" Everyone nods, "Try again."
"Nope. Still nothing." Musa sighs a moment later. The magic from each fairy falls, Aisha looks to Anna and Bloom who are sat next to one another. Annabelle sighs, biting on her bottom lip.
"I think, maybe, we don't have quite enough power." The Water Fairy explains, looking at Bloom and Anna with a knowing gaze.
"The Dragon Flame?" Bloom asks, dipping her chin forward. "Are you sure?"
"Only if you can control it." Aisha nods.
"I can control it." Bloom smiles a little, speaking as if it's the most obvious answer in the world and the question was stupid.
Annabelle clears her throat, drawing in a sharp breath, "Uh, you won't be needing me then if you have the Dragon Flame." She goes to get up but Stella tuts, shaking her head. "What?"
"You are more powerful then her, you're staying" The blonde orders, waving her finger around. Anna sighs, shaking her head a little before getting onto her feet, the other's follow. Annabelle bites on her bottom lip, moving her feet apart a little and holding her hands out, her palms facing each other and just past shoulder width. Her eyes flutter shut for a moment before opening wide, a bright light forming between the middle of her palms, hanging mid air.
She clenches her jaw, feeling the magic surge through her bones, so much power for such an unworthy mind. Annabelle's eyes glow brighter as the energy orb begins to form, the same thing from the Stone Circle happening. Black shadows extend from her hands in tightly woven tendrils, growing the orb with black energy around the bright light, the tendrils of energy looking as if their sucking in the energy from the outside.
Anna struggles to hold it, the power making her knees weak and her bones ache. She raises her gaze, looking at Musa, "Let's try this again." Musa nods, Annabelle spots slight panic wash over but continues on, drawing her hands back a little and then pushing them forward, the tightly woven tendrils of energy flying from the Flame of the Dark One hovering before her and into the convergence crystal, Musa's forced back, her feet sliding against the wooden ground and the crystal held tightly to her chest, the crystals glowing brightly.
The Alexander girl feels the energy, stronger then ever, she feels like she's on top of the moon, like she's flying. "It's working right?" Aisha asks, everyone else's magic being sucked towards Musa.
"Somethings working. I can feel my magic. It's powerful." Stella agrees, nodding her head and swallowing thickly. Annabelle blinks quickly, struggling to hold the amount of power she is, licking her drying lips and moving her footing.
"Same. I've never felt like this." Flora agrees, a little confused.
"Musa, I'm gonna give it one more push." Annabelle breathes, her chest heaving up and down.
"Hang on." Musa gasps, struggling to hold the crystal but Annabelle can tell it's not that.
"Musa, we're so close. We can do this." Terra insists. Anna watches Musa panic, her eyes darting around in terror. She doesn't want her magic back. It's a sudden realisation but Annabelle can understand, Musa has to endure every single emotion from everyone around her 24/7 and it must be exhausting. Anna bites on her bottom lip, not wanting to force Musa's magic back on her.
"Hang on." The darkly haired girl panic, blinking quickly feeling her magic beginning to work again.
"Just concentrate, Musa. I promise." Aisha adds.
"I said stop!" Musa yells, dropping the convergence crystal onto the floor. It clatters against the wood and the magic dies away, however the fairies eyes still glow. Anna stumbles forward a little, the sudden weight of her magic making her feel weak.
"What happened?" Bloom asks, confused.
Musa shakes her head, walking past Bloom and out of the circle, "It wasn't working." She swipes up her bag from the floor.
"It was working." Aisha insists, knowing it was working. Musa's already gone before she could say anymore, Annabelle sighs. The fairies, except Anna, all shake their heads in disbelief and confusion.
"Wait, why are you still holding onto magic?" Terra asks, looking around at the others, seeing the glowing eyes.
"I'm not." The Water Fairy sighs. Annabelle scoffs a little, shaking her head and walking after Musa, slamming the door behind her. "What's up with her?"
"Yeah, she's been acting all bitchy since the lodge." Bloom nods, crossing her arms over her chest. Stella rolls her eyes, placing her hands on her hips, "What?"
"Maybe she's been acting all bitchy because a person she trusted literally killed her. I know you haven't been around for to long Bloom but when Anna trusts someone, it a whole lot of a bigger deal then you could ever think." Stella storms off into her room, slamming the door. Bloom rolls her eyes, following Aisha into their dorm.
Annabelle walks through the corridors, some people give her strange looks as she isn't wearing any shoes and is still in her pyjamas but not many people give one, it's pretty normal for Anna to be roaming the halls with no shoes and in her pyjamas. Anna walks towards the Specialist area, finding Musa sparring with Riven. She frowns a little, watching Riven stop Musa from falling into the lake, gripping her arm tightly.
Anna walks up the steps, chuckling lightly, "You picked the wrong person to spar with, he's shit." Musa looks towards Annabelle and rolls her eyes, walking away from Riven and beginning to gather her stuff, "Hey, Musa."
"Anna, please, I know you've come to give me a lecture just --" Musa shakes her head but Annabelle stands in her way of going down the stairs.
"I'm not going to give you a lecture. I just want to talk. Riv, will you give us a second?" He nods, gathering his stuff and leaving the platform. Musa sets her stuff down with a sigh, waiting for Anna to say something but the Dark Fairy sits down on the edge of the platform, looking down at the lake and her legs crossed beneath her. Musa sighs after a moment and sits down beside her.
Anna speaks after a moment, "Look, I'm not gonna say that I understand what you have to go through 24/7 but I don't, I could never understand what it's like for you to feel every single person's emotion ever single second of every day more then your own. But, I understand why you don't want your powers back, that I can understand because if I could wish for anything in the world, it would be to get rid of these stupid powers I have and just be a normal Specialist but I can't."
The girl pauses, looking at Musa and then reaching for the girls hand and taking it in her own, "Listen, I support your decision of not having your magic and I won't participate in anything else trying to get it back, I promise. But, you have to understand that if it turns out killing Sebastian is the only way to get your magic back, I'm going to kill him. There's no question to it, he killed me, he literally drove a sword through me two times and watched me die. However, if it turns out that you do get your magic back, I'm going to help you in every way possible so that you can control it, turn it off when you feel and aren't constantly channeling that magic.
"I also have a few connections to get them runic bracelets that stop a fairy from being able to access their magic, they're pretty painful at first but if you don't fight against it, overtime they stop becoming painful and you just adapt." Musa nods her head, bitting on her bottom lip, "I'm here for you, Musa. You're literally like my bestfriend, your probably the most chill person in the sweet and you have great style. However, not such great taste in guys."
The darkly haired girl chuckles lightly, shaking her head. "Can say the same for you." She juts her chin towards Riven who is watching them from a bench nearby. "No, I'm joking. He seems like a good guy and you two are literally the cutest." Anna sighs, laying her head on Musa's shoulder. "You really love him, don't you?"
"Yeah, I really do love him." Annabelle nods, chuckling lightly but her mood falls when she spots Terra walking towards them, "Uh, oh. She doesn't look happy."
"She's probably gonna give me a lecture about something." Musa sighs, getting up and grabbing her stuff, "Better run before I get shouted out or get stuck doing Terra - robics." The Mind Fairy chuckles, jogging down the steps and walking away. Annabelle sighs, getting up and walking down the steps towards Riven.
"Haven't seen you yet today." He grins, standing up and walking towards her, "Been a while since I've seen those fluffy socks as well." He nods his head towards her socks. Anna rolls her eyes, shaking her head lightly. "Did a Scraper nibble on your shoes instead of your magic or was it Rosalind adding them to her weird collection of body parts?"
"Neither, I just forgot my shoes since I was ditching class and, like, finally following people's orders of getting rest." Anna looks to her side, pursing her lips. Riven tuts, shaking his head and taking her hand, walking down the pathway.
"Ditching class. Such a naughty girl, might have to speak to you about that later." Anna gives him a light shove, not letting go of his hand however. Her dark eyes follow Musa and Terra up the path, a soft gasp leaving her lips when she watches Musa sink into the ground, trapping her in the stone path.
"Terra!" Anna shouts, breaking into a sprint towards the two fairies. "What are you doing?" Her eyes glow black, however, Anna doesn't realise. She stops at Musa, touching the girls shoulder and tapping her foot on the solid ground. "Seriously, what the fuck!"
"Smalls, calm down." Riven steps cautiously towards her, setting his bag on the ground. Anna looks to him, confused. "Your eyes, they're glowing."
"What? No they're not, I'm not using magic." Annabelle furrows her brows, pulling her phone out and looking into the black screen, spotting the glowing eyes. "What the fuck?" They slowly fade away as her and her anger sizzles down. "But, Terra, still, why are you trying to trap Musa?"
"I... I didn't do this on purpose. There's something wrong with my magic." Terra frowns, "With yours too, I understand that you get angry easily but your eyes don't usually glow like that." Anna rolls her eyes, "No, I didn't mean it as insult, I'm just saying."
"Thanks, I know I get pissed off easily but I can't really help it, Terra. Just go figure out what's wrong and don't be forever, we have enough problems as it is." Anna shakes her head, waving Terra off and turning to Musa. The blonde walks away, muttering an apology to Musa before she goes. Riven and Annabelle stay with Musa in the middle of the track, Riven runs back to his room to grab Annabelle a coat when she gets cold and grabs a pair of her shoes that she left in his room leaving the two girls on the track.
"You know, I always thought being a Specialist would be like hell, constant training and always being in pain but it looks pretty cool and especially what you do." Musa speaks, looking at the Specialists train before turning to Anna who sits on the left side of her, legs crossed beneath her to try keep her feet warm. The Dark Fairy frowns a little, "Be a total badass."
"I'm not a total badass." Anna shakes her head, looking down at her fingers. Musa furrows her brows in confusion, "Andreas told me when he first became to head Specialist or whatever, that everyone has a weakness, the weak just give into it. I gave into my weakness and it got my killed, twice. I'm weak, Musa. I get pissed off easily and I give into my weaknesses."
"Anna, you are not weak." Musa dips her chin, trying to catch Annabelle's gaze, "You are the strongest person I know, you've literally been through hell and back. You lost your parents at such a young age and had a fake memory imbedded in your mind about your mother's death, you didn't know who you father was for seventeen years of your life, you've had to fight the darkness inside of you for, like, ever. You've spent the last five months without your mother, do you know what kind of courage that takes, not knowing what happened to her or where she is?"
"My mom died almost two years ago and I felt her last breath, I felt yours as well, the day we killed that Burned One. I felt all of your pain and I've felt it ever since I've met you, you have been drowning in your own head for so long. You are not weak, who ever thinks you're weak are dumb, you are strong, resilient and one hell of a badass. Even Riven will agree with me." Musa nods her head.
"I'll agree with what?" Riven announces, sitting down beside the two girls.
"That Anna is a total badass and she isn't weak." Musa looks to Annabelle, she averts her gaze but turns to Riven when he shoves her.
"Annabelle Esmeray Raven Alexander, I have told you hundreds of times that you're not weak, you are perfect and literally the strongest person I have ever fucking met. I've literally seen you at your worst and you still came back from it, you were stood on the roof and you stepped away from the edge, I watched it happen, I didn't even touch you when it happened, you did it yourself. I just pulled you back a little more so you didn't trip off because I know what your like, Clumsy Anna."
Anna rolls her eyes, "If you say that shit about yourself again, I'm gonna break up with you." The Alexander girl scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief. "I will, I will break up with you. Actually, I'm keeping this jacket and these feet for myself, you don't get them." Riven lifts the pair of black ugg boots, "So pretty, these will defiantly go with my outfit. What do you think, Musa? They go with my outfit?" He holds them up to his chest armour and poses, pouting his lips and doing the peace sign.
Musa giggles, shaking her head, "You look so stupid."
"Hey." Riven shakes his head, "That is rude and hurts my feelings." Annabelle laughs, a smile spreading across her face. "Right, there's that beautiful smile. Someone snap a picture before I goes again." The Dark Fairy breaks into fits of laughter, laughing with Musa and Riven until her stomach aches. The group sit in the middle of the track for what feels like hours, waiting for Terra to return.
A group of Specialists come jogging down the track when Craig, a second year, yells, "Get a bloody room!"
"Fuck off, Craig!" Riven yells back, flipping him off as the Specialist jogs away.
"They hate us, dont they?" Musa asks, jutting her chin out towards them.
"Well, of course they do." Annabelle nods her head, looking to Musa, "We're sat in the middle of the track."
"It's obnoxious." Riven adds, nodding his head. Musa smiles at the Specialists, it's small and subtle but the two Specialists spot it. The moody brunette frowns a little, "What?"
"It just that... I can see that they hate us, but you have no idea how nice it is that I can't hear it." Musa grins, excitement in her expression. Anna lets out a small breath, enjoying the excitement in Musa's face, she looks at peace. Her phone buzzes on Musa's lap, the girl lifts her phone and reads the message, "Terra is on her way back."
"She's not kidding, you know?" Riven looks down the track, waiting for the familiar blonde walking happily toward them, "She won't stop until you get it back."
"What am I supposed to do about it?" The Mind Fairy looks between the two Specialists, helpless about the situation.
Riven looks down and shrugs a little, "Tell her the truth?" Riven suggests, squinting a little. Musa frowns, confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Musa." The moody brunette scoffs, looking at Musa and cocking a brow. "I know what happened." Anna furrows her brows in confusion, "I lied before. You weren't unconscious. I got there a few seconds before you were attacked. I saw you come out, I saw you... give it up." Musa runs her tongue along her teeth, looking at Annabelle who is looking down the track, "Look, I would've stopped you, but I got attacked myself, and by the time I fought them off, it was over."
Musa sighs, relief striking her face, "You both have no idea how hard it's been. My whole life, I've --"
"Of course we dont. Nobody does." Riven nods, gesturing his hands towards the school. "Your life is your life. You can live it how you want. Fuck everybody else. The thing is; I'm pretty sure people will understand that."
"They won't." Anna shakes her head, squinting towards her boyfriend. "It may be different for you, Musa, but for me... it was living hell trying to be a Specialist and a Fairy. I was told, you can't be a Specialist, you're a dainty, fragile Fairy. You're a fairy, you can't be Specialist, they aren't meant to coexist as one. You don't get to pick what you want to be, you are what you're born as, I had to fight to be what I am. It was Farah that gave me the privilege to train as a Specialist but I only started training in the arena eight years ago, before then I was doing it in secret at Silva's house."
"I proved everyone wrong when I was thirteen and I took down one of the highest ranking guards the Solarian Army, yeah I got two broken ribs and a broken leg but I proved them all wrong. They don't understand what it's like for Fairies who don't want they're magic because they get magic they're happy with, I'd get rid of my magic in a second if it was a choice, I'd have those torture bracelets back on if they weren't so bloody painful. They don't care what you want to be, they never will."
"She's right. I don't think they'll understand." Musa nods, catching Annabelle's glassy gaze which quickly moves downwards when Terra comes joyfully walking towards them.
"Ready for extraction?" The Earth Fairy asks.
"Please don't tell anyone." Musa looks between the two Specialists and they both nod in agreement.
"We'd better hurry. We've got of a bit of a situation with Bloom." Terra announces, the stones crunching beneath her shoes.
"When have we not." Annabelle sighs, getting to her feet and stretching out a little. Riven gets up as well, picking up Musa's bags off her feet and helping her back up. Terra works her magic, removing the stone from trapping Musa in the ground. Anna says a quick goodbye to Riven, kissing him goodbye before following Musa and Terra back to Alfea where they meet Sky, Aisha, Flora and Stella at the entrance. It's getting dark quickly, Aisha holds the convergence crystal and they all look on edge. "What's going on?"
"Hold this and discharge your magic back into it before we tell you what's going on." Aisha holds the crystal out but Sky doesn't look so sure. Anna takes it into her hand but pauses before channeling her magic.
"Tell me first, I wanna know." She looks between the fairies.
Stella bites on her bottom lip, stepping closer, "Are you sure? Because you're magic is on edge right now and if you loose your temper you could do some real damage." Anna is even more confused but nods her head, "Rosalind killed Dowling." Everything seems to stop around her, time slows and Annabelle can't hear anything. She can see Stella's lips moving and the looks of worry from ever one of the others but she can't hear anything, it's like something had exploded.
"What?" Anna manages out, her voice braking and the tremor hanging in the air. "What -- what do you mean?" No one says anything, no one confirms it and no one deny's it but by the look of their faces, Annabelle knows. "No." She shakes her head quickly, her voice barely a whisper, "No, you're lying. No, Farah, she's -- she's not dead."
"We're not lying, Anna." Sky steps forward, Annabelle takes a step back, retracting almost. Tears well along her water line and she shakes her head. Anna can't breathe, her lungs are frozen in cement, not working air through her system. "I'm so so sorry." Everyone expects her to be angry but she isn't, she's angry for only a moment.
Her eyes glow black, violent and strong, the magic coursing heavily through her veins but once she channels it, the magic dies out and the crystal falls from her hands. Anna goes crashing to the ground, everything to falling around her, her whole world collapsing. "No, she can't be dead, she can't." Annabelle sobs, shaking her head, hot tears dripping down her cheeks quickly. Musa wishes for her powers back in that moment, to heal Annabelle's pain, to stop her from it all, to shield her from it all.
Anna's heart breaks, completely shatters beyond repair. Her sobs of pure pain echo through the grounds of Alfea, bouncing off the walls and hitting the ears of the other empaths in the school, the minds of the telepathic and the hearts of her friends who watch Annabelle Alexander, a strong, hardass Specialist completely break, everything inside of her hurts, she can't breathe. Stella has to look away, sniffling back her own tears.
No one goes to comfort her, not exactly sure how to comfort her. She's already lost so much and the hope that Dowling was out there somewhere was keeping her sane but now that Farah's gone, Annabelle wasn't sure what to do with herself. Suddenly, tight, familiar arms are around her shoulders, holding her tight, someone crashing to the ground beside her. Annabelle doesn't even care who it is, she turns towards them and lays her head against their chest.
It's Riven.
His familiar heartbeat pumping in her ears, banging against his chest plate. Annabelle sob into his chest, balling his shirt into her hand and holding onto him. "Go." Riven nods to the others and they nods, walking away from the scene. Sky looks back one last time, biting back his own tears for his bestfriend, wanting to stay with her but he couldn't. She had Riven, she'd be okay.
Annabelle isn't okay though, she isn't sure if she'll ever be okay. Everything is falling apart around her and she can't fix it, she can't fix any of it. It hurts so bad that she can barely even comprehend it, her pain is too much and in that moment where she stares up at the beautiful sky, the orange glow setting across the horizon from the large sun on the edge of the tree line in the distance with her pain filled dark eyes, she lets her pain take her alive, sucking her up whole and then it all goes and all that stares out at the beautiful sky with emotionless dark eyes, like everything had gone.
She let the darkness take her.
VI'S NOTES:
musa and anna are going to be the best of friends and if rivusa happens next season, im gonna just make them best friends and yeah, they're gonna be like an unstoppable team. but a little sad moment at the end and i'll explain in more detail what happens to anna next chapter, next chapter. but yeah, basically. anna's gone dark, or she's going dark...