--Edited (4/4/16)--
Thank you so much for 260+ reads!! Can we shoot for 300?
"When the moon found the sun he looked like he was barely hanging on, but her eyes saved his life, in the middle of summer"
||Thana||
The more I think about it, the more I think about how we weren't supposed to have met.
How easy it could have been for me to have stayed in the castle, living the torturous life of being a royal "no name". How I should have been there, readying for my wedding with my fiancé. Yet, I took the leap of faith and ended up in Teran forests. But how easy it could have been for me to find another tree branch, or maybe a bush, or run away. It would have been so easy to not have met them. In seconds, everything changed . Everything in life has a reason for happening, whether to stay or teach us a lesson. Even though I regret putting them in danger, I wouldn't regret actually meeting them. Because not only have they so far stayed, but they had also taught me something. It's pretty funny how smallest thing could change your life forever.
I don't know if I wish I could have met them in a different time, or place, or maybe in our next lives. Because no matter how many lives you live, people who are meant to be, romantic or platonic, will always find each other. Yet at the same time, timing shouldn't matter if people care about each other enough.
In that moment, it was like all hatred I could ever feel in my life had disappeared. An overwhelming amount of love swelled in my heart as I looked at my three sleeping allies. I've never met people who could make me smile, or laugh, or just not hate every single aspect of my life so much.
Ruby had taught me that no matter how tough things are, put a smile on your face and enjoy the things you still have before they disappeared. She taught me the power of friendship and love is stronger than anything—though I'd known her for almost four weeks.
Nico, who I doubt cared for my presence at all, made me realize that you can be a strong, stubborn person while having a soft side and caring about someone with all of your heart... no matter how many times he rolled his eyes and claimed Ruby was a nuisance. If making sure that Ruby was ok when he wasn't sure wasn't a sign of caring, I'm not sure what was.
Ace taught me that hard work counts. No, he hasn't actually done any drastic changes, but all this time he has been training and practicing. Sure, at one point it was to kill me. Though it still saddens me, I can't help but admire his determination.
His eyes flickered up and down, golden specks peaking through his eyelids. I smiled. We had a long day, and by the looks of it they were no knights looking for us in the immediate area. As a result, we set up a small fire thanks to Ruby, rested against rocks, and relaxed.
I was the last to fall asleep. I couldn't sleep, my mind was to nervous at the thought knights were nearing us, no matter how many times Nico had to assure me with his newfound abilities. So, my mind drifted off to other things... like how much I've grown (which isn't to much) and how much I love them, even after knowing them for such a short amount of time. Completely platonic, though.
Ruby propped herself up against a rock, lightly snoring. Her chest heaved up and down against Nico's back—he was cold and shivering in his sleep, and Ruby was practically a fireplace. Sleepy Ruby had good intentions, but I'm sure when fully rest Ruby and fully rested Nico wake up, they won't be happy to know they were cuddling against each other. Maybe Ruby wouldn't mind to much, but Nico would throw a fit. That boy had quite the temper.
I held my hand against my mouth, trying to hold back a laugh.
A cold breeze suddenly blew towards me, blowing my hair in the opposite direction. Sighing, I pulled my knees close to my chest and lay on my side, shivering from the cold air. A green leaf flew pasted me, making its way to Ace's forehead. It landed ever so gracefully, yet his eyelids jolted up. My dark eyes met his golden ones.
He picked the leaf off his forehead after noticing it. "Wonder how that got there."
"The cold air must have blown it."
"I see." His tired voice said. "Hey, Thana, are you cold?"
I looked down at my arms, noticing goosebumps. Hopefully he hadn't noticed them, the darkness of the night surely would have made it difficult to notice. "Not in the slightest."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
His lips thinned. "Well, I'm freezing."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." He said, looking at me. "It's amazing how cold I am, actually. I'm shivering."
"It doesn't look like you are."
"You probably can't see to well, it is quite dark out."
"I can see enough, you know. The fire light may be dimming but you're close."
"Speaking of fire, am I the only one who notices those two over there?" Ace pointed to Ruby and Nico, who were sleeping soundly next to each other.
I laughed. "No. I noticed too."
"Hahaha, good. But I swear, if Nico-"
"I've known him for a short amount of time, but I think I know that Nico would never."
"I know, I know." Ace paused. "Anyway, back to me being cold."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think if you lay next to me in my arms, I won't be cold anymore?"
I smiled. "I think so."
||Beth||
For the past few days, I've been making short visits to Arthur's study. I learned secrets the royal family never told its people- like the story of Elire and Ivan's disappearance, and the fact that they weren't biologically the king's children. I learned the story behind Ultipotence- how the royal family's ancestor who took the crown, Lamia Verne, was secretly an Ultipotence wielder.
As I slipped on my shoes, I decided to go up to Arthur's study tonight. It was always fun, Arthur taught me to read better, and reading the books was more fun then I could ever imagine.
"Where do you think you're going?" Owen hovered over me. His messy hair and outfit suggested he was getting ready to go to sleep, only thing was, I wouldn't be joining him.
"Sorry, your grace. I have things to attend to."
His malicious laugh echoed in the room. "What things? You're a useless assistant, what could people possibly want from you?"
It was true, barely anyone in the castle actually talked to me. I was the weird Aldeman girl who attended their princess's fiancé. I wasn't very well liked, despite the fact that Tera and Aldema are known for being alleys. I tucked a piece of short, curly blue hair behind my ear.
"Things."
He grabbed my hand and pulled me into an embrace. "Bethany. You're my assistant, so you listen to my rules."
I closed my eyes. No one has called me Bethany in years.
"My apologies, your grace. I just have things to---" I screamed and pulled out of his embrace. I fell backwards hard onto my back. I landed on the stone with a hard thud.
Owen's angered expression made my stomach twist. He yanked my wrist hard and slapped me in the face. My head turned to the side. I felt a burning sensation on the whole left side of my face.
"What are you going to do now, Bethany?"
Tears formed in my eyes. "I'm sorry your majesty. Not tonight."
His mouth tilted upwards into the smirk I despised so much. "That's more like it."
||Leona||
The coldness of the night left goosebumps on my arms.
We were trekking through the battlefield; Elliot, Rilynn, Tristan, and I. Hopefully, in the middle of the chaos in the battlefield, we would be able to sneak over Tera's border like Empress Adair wanted us to do. There was no way in hell I would disappoint the Empress.
I turned to my left, noticing the bloody battle occurring. A tall Teran man held his sword up high up in the air, a head sticking on the top of it. Looking down, a headless body with an Erwyn uniform lay limp. It was no doubt we were losing.
The tall Teran man looked over to me, his dark cold eyes piercing me through the dirt piles and heightening flames. Blood dripped from his forehead. I cringed.
"This way, guys." Tristan whispered, tiptoeing behind a rock. Elliot, Rilynn, and I followed, light on our feet as well. A breeze blew my ponytail to the side, flapping back and forth in the wind.
I put my sword in its scabbard and rested both my hands on top of the rock. I peeked over to the long narrow barricade that separated Erwyn from Tera. We needed to get over there without getting caught.
I looked over to my comrades. Tristan looked calmed but nervous, much like I. He crouched next to me, peering over. As for the other two, they sat on the ground practically in tears. This was much expected from Rilynn, but Elliot? He was naturally a shy, nervous fellow, but on the battlefield he usually put on a serious face and attacked the situation head on. I don't know why he decided to be scared now, when we needed it the least.
"Alright. We just need to get over that barricade, then we're home free." Tristan said, turning his head towards me.
"Not necessarily. We could still get caught while we're well into Tera's lands." I pointed out.
"Thats why we'll get disguises."
I rolled my eyes. "What, we're just going to strip naked once we're there and grab some leaves or something?"
The corners of his lips tugged upwards. "As much as I would like that, sweetcheeks..." He hurled his satchel over his head and threw it on the rock. It was opened, cloth noticeably hanging out of it. "I came prepared."
I smiled. "Impressive, Tristan. Didn't think you'd think it threw like that."
He bowed. "Thank you, thank you."
"But where are we supposed to put the armor and swords."
His face turned pale. "Shit."
"Yeah."
"I guess we'll figure it out when we get there." He closed the satchel and hurled it over his head again, the strap landing on his shoulder. "If we get there."
"Don't joke like that. Can't you see we have two fragile beings in our presence?"
"Shut up." Rilynn spit.
"Rude, but ok."
Elliot stood up and dusted the dirt off his back and butt. "Guys, we have no time for this. Let's just get this over with."
I nodded my head. "But how are we going to get there?"
By the time the question got out of my mouth, Tristan was already over by the barricade, attempting to climb it.
"WHAT THE SHIT, TRISTAN."
I felt like I was just rambling on about things that didn't exactly fit to well together at the beginning of Thana's POV. Kind of proud but at the same time I don't know. Feedback?
Also, I'm beginning to work on a new story. I won't be publishing it until my last fanfic is over, or this story is closer to the end most likely. I might put a blurb in future chapters if you're interested.
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