When I say that being intimidating to people where they stay clear of your way is sometimes astonishing, I do not mean literally everyone. I've been trying to ask for help ever since I left, but no one wants to talk to me. They all think that I'm Fay, which makes sense considering I look like her, but it also doesn't make sense because why would Fay want to walk around out in the open like this? Wouldn't people either stir clear of her like they are doing now or try to defeat her? Thank god, I haven't had anyone try to fight me. I don't want to hurt anyone. Also, Fay and I have two different sets of powers: ice and fire.
Granted, I have not shown my fire powers only because I feel they would be even more scared. They may not register that I am not Fay and that I am out to hurt them, so I have not even tried.
But walking around this forest with no sense of direction was killing me. How am I supposed to find Ryan and Meadow and the final destination like this if I had no clue where exactly I was going? I haven't had a single memory occur since the last one. I wonder if that was it. That was the last memory I would receive before the final one. No. That wouldn't make sense. Clearly, Fay did more than this before she lost control.
Also, is it a wrong time to say that I am pretty hungry? Food was the last thing on my mind, and now that I have nothing better to do but wander around aimlessly, I might as well find something to eat.
"Excuse me. Do you have-" I started questioning a couple of human creatures, but they, too, hurried off before I could even finish my sentence. I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.
"Please stop running away from me! I am harmless." I hissed. More to myself as no one would be able to hear me anyway. Taking a deep breath, I continued down the path, looking for anything edible. Finding something edible is quite challenging when the whole forest is destroyed.
Alright. Maybe not the whole forest, considering everyone needed to eat somehow. But no one wanted to help me, so I needed to help myself instead. A couple of these trees had some fruits perched on them, but I am not that strong to shake them down. Teleporting may work, but am I really going to teleport back and forth for some fruits?
If anyone thought I was going to say yes, then they are entirely wrong. Because I did not teleport. I climbed the tree instead because I do know how to climb trees. What child didn't try to climb a tree when they were little? Picking off various fruits from different trees, I went to a lake. There were a bunch of lakes everywhere. Convenient if I do say so myself. Sticking the fruits into the water, I washed them clean before finding a place to sit against a tree. Making sure I had a view of the lake and everything else around me, just in case, I set the fruits in my lap and started eating.
Apples. Berries. Kiwi. Oranges. In the human world, I eat these all the time, but here. I have no idea what they do to these fruits, but they are phenomenal. I should have grabbed some more if I knew how good they would taste. But what I grabbed would do for now. I need to find somewhere to stay. Or, hopefully, bump into my friends. Getting back onto my feet, I dusted my clothes off and stepped forward to start walking, but suddenly, a hard pressure hit my back, causing me to fly forward and hit the ground.
"Man. What the fuck!?" I grunted, pushing myself back onto my feet and dusting myself off again. Slowly turning toward the source of my fall, my eyes widened at the sight before me. To say this man was gorgeous was an understatement. Gorgeous but dangerous.
The man was built like a god, wearing nothing but pants to where I could see all the mythical tattoos covering his chest, abs, and arms as well as some coming up his neck and stopping at his face. There were gauntlets on either side of his wrists. His long blue hair followed down his back, and his yellow eyes glowed angrily. If it weren't for his pointy ears decorated with earrings and his long horns that curved back, I would have never guessed he was a dragon.
"I am sorry. This must be a misunderstanding. Who-" I started, but the man charged at me, and before I could blink, I was grabbed and thrown back into the tree I was sitting at. The impact had me gasping as I fell forward onto the ground. This man was strong. Hella strong. I gasped and coughed, pushing myself onto my knees as I rubbed my back. The man approached me again, kneeling to be at eye level.
"Ilinnevel tarhun kren, Fay." You do not belong here, Fay. The man responded, and even though I had no idea what he was saying, the sharp tone of his voice sent chills down my spine. Gaining my composure, I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I have no idea what you are saying, but I am not Fay!" I corrected, standing up now. The man followed my movements but made no move to continue the fight. Suppose this event was supposed to be a fight. I craned my neck to look at him, daring him to do something—still nothing. I could walk away. Continued my original plan, but no, this man pissed me off. He attacked me without any warning. Moving past him, I acted as if I was leaving, but as soon as I passed him, I turned and swung my leg up to his head. It was grabbed before it could even make contact.
"Dov wahlaan." The man smirked. Nice try.
I gritted my teeth, yanking my foot out of his grasp, causing me to stumble backward. That gave him an opening as he swung his fist into the side of my face. It wouldn't have hurt as much, considering I'd already been punched in the face before, but this man was wearing gauntlets, so the impact hurt even more. I stumbled back, my hand flying up to cup my cheek.
This man was brutal. Punch after punch. Kick after kick. He did not let down. I tried to defend myself as best as I could. Using everything Sevyn had taught me, this man was stronger. Faster. More efficient. And neither one of us was using our powers.
"Wait... I am so dumb." I grumbled to myself, clutching my stomach. I charged at the dragon, and he held his arms out in preparation, but that was fine. Purposely charging past him, I turned my body and flung my hands to the side, sending him aflame. I pumped my fists in the air, smiling. I was not trying to kill him, of course, but at least cause some burning to his body. Make him panic and roll around, maybe even jump into the water to get the fire out. But when I actually focused on the man, he remained completely calm. So calm that it scared me. He just rolled himself on the ground before hopping up like nothing happened.
There were a couple of burns on his body that would most likely scar over, but I couldn't be happy about that. This man took my fire like it was nothing. It's almost like he bathed in such heat. But there was a flicker of confusion in his eyes. I stumbled back again until my back hit the tree, and I slid down exhausted. I needed to keep fighting, though. I couldn't let this man win. All that I have done just to be defeated by a gorgeous dragon in human form? No fucking way.
But my body refused to move. I was in too much pain. Everything was hurting and aching. All I could do was watch as the man approached me. But he didn't grab me and swing me around. He didn't slam me into the tree as many times as he would have wanted to. Instead, he kneeled and stared at me. Stared at me as if he was trying to figure me out. My eyelids were becoming heavy. My body was giving out.
"Arianna?"
My name was the last word I heard before everything went black.
...
Arianna and Fay have been bickering back and forth over the same topic. Who was the strongest?
"Girls." Meadow started, placing her hands on her hips as she watched the twins bicker.
"Clearly, I'm the strongest! I've been practicing and learning much faster than you have." Arianna argued, rolling her eyes as she didn't understand why this was an argument in the first place. Fay gritted her teeth as she stomped her feet.
"No! You've been doing something behind my back. I'm pretty sure I would be the strongest if you weren't cheating!" Fay argued back, stepping forward. Arianna stared at her twin in disbelief.
"What? That makes no sense. How do I cheat with my powers!?" Arianna stepped toward it as well.
But before either could attack, Meadow stepped between them and flicked their foreheads.
"Ow!" The twins winced in unison, rubbing their foreheads. Meadow took a deep breath before her facial expression turned serious.
"Enough fighting! You guys are equally as strong. There is no 'who is stronger'. Yes. Arianna has been practicing much more than you do, Fay." Meadow explained, looking back and forth between the twins. Fay growled before opening her mouth to interject, but Meadow held her hand up.
"I'm not done. Fay, you are just as equally strong as Arianna. You don't practice as much as she does, nor do you pay attention enough when I teach you guys. You only focus on when the lesson is done and not what the lesson can teach you. So, how can you get any better if you don't try? Now, I don't want to hear any more of this. Let's continue where we left off, please". Meadow clapped her hands together as she stepped back before motioning for the twins to start.
But what she didn't notice was the tension between them was still floating in the air. And so the fight began.
Fay sent crystalline shards flying through the air. She created barriers of ice to shield themselves from the searing heat.
Arianna unleashed torrents of scorching flames. Her hands swung wildly in front of her as she threw fire after fire, eventually getting pissed off at the amount of barriers Fay continued making, so she charged forward using what she knew best. Her legs. She swung her legs, breaking the ice and aiming for Fay's head.
The clash of elements created a mesmerizing spectacle of steam and smoke as the ice and fire collided. The ground cracked and hissed as the two forces clashed, each determined to prove the dominance of their element.
"Enough! That's enough." Meadow called the fight off, but neither twin heard her. They continued their ruthless fighting. Meadow took a deep breath before entering the middle of their battle and held her arms out. The twins immediately stopped, not wanting to hurt Meadow.
"What has gotten into you guys?" Meadow questioned before shaking her head as she didn't even want them to answer. She crossed her arms as she looked at the destruction around them. It was okay, considering they have done this before. It was the whole reason she picked this spot every time. It was away from everyone, and nothing was of importance here that they needed to worry about.
"Regardless... How did we do?" Fay breathed out, running her fingers through her hair.
"Did we do well, Meadow?" Arianna tilted her head to the side curiously. Meadow did not answer for a second. She stayed, staring off into nothing. Finally, she turned her attention back to the twins.
"Minus the fact that you guys are taking out your anger toward each other even though you guys are siblings. You should be getting along and wanting to be stronger together." Meadow started. Fay scoffed, crossing her arms now. Meadow raised her eyebrow in confusion. "Something matters?"
"Stronger together, huh? Right. So we can lead our home town. Lead the other rare twins so there will be no more destruction." Fay explained. Meadow's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah. We know about that. That's what you have been hiding from us. Our powers are so strong we could destroy this world if we wanted to. So we are trained to control. We are the chosen ones. No other twins were good enough. But you guys found your perfect pawn."
"You guys are not pawns."
"Cut the bullshit, Meadow! We are fucking kids. Teenagers. Being trained to be leaders of our race instead of just being kids." Fay shouted, clenching her fists to her side. There were specks of ice flicking out of her. She took a deep breath, turned, and walked away.
"I am sorry for her outburst." Arianna apologized, bowing her head. Meadow turned toward Arianna now and smiled softly.
'"It's okay. How did you guys find out?"
"Fay wanted to sneak into Mother's office. We were able to get into one of the lock drawers, and that's when we found the stack of papers." Arianna explained quietly, keeping her head bowed. "Fay was furious and destroyed everything. She made me destroy the office, too. We got caught and grounded for a bit. I did not get grounded as long as her as I was dragged into this, but still.."
Meadow nodded her head in understanding. She looked back toward where Fay had walked off to before digging. She walked over to Arianna and hooked her finger under her chin, lifting it so they were looking at each other now.
"I should have told you guys sooner, and that is my fault. But we are not allowed to tell. For fear that..." Meadow trailed off, but Arianna knew what she was trying to say. "Anyway.. you guys did well today. I saw a lot of improvement, but just for future reference... Considering that you like to use your legs a lot, you know you can create fire around your legs as well? That could come in useful with the way you swing your legs. I'll teach that to you in the next lesson."
"Remember, your whole body is fire."