((Any further rant will be held off until the end of this chapter or stuck in Fractured Soul: Deleted content. Moving on!))
Mella was up early the next morning. She walked downstairs to find breakfast and a note on the table:
Fragment-
I suggest wearing clothes you can train in. A dress won’t cut it. Don’t expect me to go easy because my parents think you’re special.
The note was left unsigned, but Mella could tell who wrote it. Only one person calls me fragment…wait, how could I read that?!
It made Mella confused. She looked at the paper again. The words were as clear as day. Just to make sure, she pulled a book off the shelf and flipped it open. The runes that formed words made absolutely no sense. What language is? Mella snapped the book shut, grabbed the note and food, and stomped upstairs. This was annoying. Not only did she have to be a spoiled child’s punching bag, but now her tattered memories only let her remember one language, one that wasn’t even helpful. Alex wrote with this too…I could read it…
Mella dug through the closet, searching for clothes she could train in, but it didn’t look like there was any skirts or leggings at all. Finally her eyes fell on the “boy clothes,” and realized why they looked so odd…and yet so familiar. They were the garb of the elemental soldiers. I guess that’s what I’m going to train in…
Mella pulled out the grey top, the black pants, and the boots. A sudden image flashed through her head: seeing the twins with the soldiers standing behind them, all wearing the same thing. Mella shuddered before blocking the memory out. I will never be like them.
Somewhere out in the library, minutes later, a door opened. “Fragment? Get down here!” Rin’s voice echoed upstairs.
Mella rolled her eyes as she clomped down the stairs and through the library to where Rin was waiting by the doors. She was wearing similar clothes, except her top was blood-red. Gee…I wonder what her favorite color is…I’m positive it isn’t red, Mella thought with a smile.
Rin’s eyes narrowed. “Something funny, fragment?” Mella shook her head, not knowing what might set her off. Rin looked at her one last time before turning around and walking down the hall. After a moment, Mella followed her.
They walked quietly through the castle. They passed a few people who looked like nobles. The silence was deafening. Rin finally yanked open a door and stepped into the room beyond. Mella stopped outside. Rin called out.
“Are you coming or not?” she asked as Mella’s shoulder burned warningly. Mella walked in, and the door slammed behind her.
The room was pitch black inside, and the silence from the hallway was here as well. After a while, Mella couldn’t handle the silence anymore.
“Rin?” Mella asked hesitantly. Something moved near her and she spun to face it, whatever it was, only to be met with inky blackness.
Rin’s laugh echoed around her. “You are really stupid, you know that? Poor Mella, she can’t see in the dark, she’ll trip over her own feet.” Something hit her legs, making Mella stumble and bang her knee on the ground. She gritted her teeth and stood.
“They I’ll take away the darkness.” Mella willed orbs of fire to ignite and light the room.
Rin was still laughing, but she had vanished, and it looked like the large room was empty, save for herself and something glittering on the floor. A dagger. Mella walked over to pick it up, then cried out in pain. A throwing star had lodged itself deep in her left arm. Myra and the guys had never hurt her when they practiced. This was all new. Gingerly she pulled it out. Immediately, Mella knew it was a bad idea. Her arm was bleeding heavily, and seeing it made her want to hurl what little breakfast she had eaten. C’mon, Mella, use your magic.
She started to heal her arm, and then her magic was cut off by the burning of her shoulder. Rin appeared next to her, her red eyes cruel.
“Pathetic. This is all you can do? You’re very slow on the uptake. Too slow.” Rin elbowed Mella in the stomach, making her collapse and gasp for breath.
“You…you fight dirty. Otherwise…I would show you what I could do.” Mella scrabbled for the dagger to swing at Rin, but Rin saw it coming. Rin grabbed Mella’s wrist and twisted it, making her let go. Rin leaned close to whisper in Mella’s ear, her ghostly white hair brushing her shoulder.
“I fight the way I want to fight, and I use my power as I see fit. And if you can’t handle this, without magic, then you don’t deserve to have your powers.”
Rin let go of her wrist and turned away, grabbing the dagger as she did. Mella knew she should just stay quiet, but she couldn’t help it.
“You and your power craze. If I didn’t know better, I would say your powers are pathetic, if you have to resort to this.” Mella said bitterly as she stood up. Rin tensed and spun around, something shining leaving her hand. Rin ran at her, her hand clenched in a fist. Mella stumbled out of the way before falling. The dagger Rin had thrown was embedded in her leg. Her shoulder was burning hotter and hotter, the fire spreading through her. Mella screamed. No pain she had ever felt before had anything on this agony. The world started to go black…
…But the welcome darkness and the numbness that followed wouldn’t come. The world was a blur of pain. Faintly, she heard the door open and close. Rin had left her, leaving the fire to rage. The scariest part of it all was Rin hadn’t touched her, and had caused all of her pain. The door opened again and two pairs of feet approached her. Someone pulled the dagger from her leg, sending a wave of pain up her leg. The other was roughly bandaging her arm and leg. Mella wished they would just leave her alone. The inferno was worse when they touched her. The two people grabbed her under her arms and dragged her out of the room, not even giving her a chance to stand.
Mella had pushed too far, and Rin had snapped, just like Roxas had warned her of. So much for being careful…Mella forced her eyes open and watched the feet of the people.
Someone new was talking. The feet stopped moving and were facing another person. Random words made it through the haze of pain.
“Mella…stupid…Rin…curse…library.” The two people shifted and the other person was holding her up, so she no longer saw the floor and she was on her feet. The fire started to fade away, back into her shoulder, until it alone and her wounds were burning.
“Mella? Say something…” It was Roxas. A small part of her wanted to recoil and get as far away as possible from Rin’s brother, but she hurt too much.
“I was…I was an idiot.” Mella forced the words out, trying not to cry.
Roxas flashed the barest of smiles. “Yeah, you’re right about that. Let’s get you back to the library so I can fix you up. You’re going to be fine.” They started slowly walking.
“Why is Rin so…so angry at me?” Mella said after a while. She bit her lip as pain traveled up her leg. It happened every time her foot hit the ground.
“I told you, she takes out her feelings on people. You are very good at setting her off. Hold on…we’re almost there.” They had been taking shortcuts. Mella didn’t really recognize where they were in the castle.
They started up the last flight of stairs. Rin’s anger poured into the scar, making Mella cry silently as the fire spread again. Roxas noticed her shaking and the tears running down her face.
“What’s wrong now?” He asked quietly.
“The m-mark…” Mella sobbed.
That same look of sadness and guilt from outside the city flashed through Roxas’s eyes, followed by pain and anger.
“Rin is taking this too far. What did you say to her? Was it about power?” Mella nodded as they walked into the library. “No wonder. She’s very touchy about that. Let’s take a look at your arm.” Roxas made her sit down near the stairs to the tower. Mella was silently thankful that she didn’t have to go upstairs. Roxas gently started unwrapping her arm. Mella looked away, not wanting to see more blood.
“It’s alright. It’s not as bad as it looks. I’ll be right back.” Roxas went up into the tower. Mella just sat there, wiping away her tears as the fire vanished again. She was sick of Rin. What did I do to deserve this? I know Roxas said she was touchy about power, but this…this is ridiculous. Mella hugged her knees as fresh tears fell. This was so unfair. She didn’t do anything wrong. She was just trying to remember who she was. Was that a crime?
Something crinkled in her pocket. Mella pulled it out as Roxas came back carrying a bunch of medical looking supplies.
“What’s that?” he asked. Mella looked down at it.
“It was a note from your sister. Um…what language is it, because I can read it.” Mella handed it to Roxas. He set down the cloth he was using to wipe away the blood before taking it. He looked it over before he gave it back and went back to trying to fix her arm.
“That makes no sense…unless…” Roxas fell silent. Mella looked at him expectantly.
“Unless wha-ow! Oww!” Mella broke off as Roxas started healing her arm. It was painful, like her arm was trying to sew itself back together. He stopped and grabbed a new bandage.
“Sorry. It’s better than it was, but Rin will notice if I fix it all the way. Anyways, Rin wrote that in Ramoric. It’s the language mainly associated with dark magic. How could you possibly know how to read Ramoric?” He tied off the knot and went to look at her leg.
“Because I would know why.” Mella snorted. Roxas laughed quietly. “What? What’s so funny?” Mella asked.
“It’s nice to know that Rin didn’t dampen your sense of sarcasm. This is going to hurt. Just a heads-up.” Roxas summoned a ball of sparkling blue flames. Mella looked away and bit her lip as the weird prickling burning sensation went through her leg.
“Relax, Mella. It’s over.” He tied a knot in a bandage and stood, holding out a hand to Mella. Hesitantly, she took it and gingerly stood up.
“Can you still teach me how to read?” Mella asked, limping as they walked.
Roxas pushed his hair out of his face and nodded.
“Yeah, I guess. Rin’s going to keep messing with your curse thing for a while. You’re probably dead tired, but she’s going to keep you awake.”
“Great…just fantastic. Wait…how would you know that?” Roxas had sounded like he was speaking from experience. His eyes darkened, but his tone sounded passably light.
“I have to live with her. I’ve been around her long enough to know how she manipulates people.”
“But-”
“Look, do you want me to teach you how to read or not?” He snapped, his eyes stormy and angry. Mella stepped back in fear, remembering Rin looking just like that, right before the pain swept over her.
Mella might have just been thinking of a memory, but Rin must have thought that was a perfect moment to set the curse ablaze again. Mella collapsed, nearly hitting the edge of a table.
Stop it!! She yelled in her head.
“I’m not doing anything.” Roxas said. Mella realized that she had actually shouted out loud. Mella sat there, shaking. Roxas tried to help her up, but she pushed him away.
“Just stop…” The pain faded out again, as she shakily stood up. Roxas pulled a chair out for her at the table.
“I’ll talk to her…she knows better than this. Which language do you want to start with? There’s Ivayan, Rhynish, and Zoranic.”
“Umm…I don’t know.” Mella didn’t see how this was going to work. The only reason she was learning how to read was so Roxas could explain without really explaining.
Mella’s eyes roamed over the books until they fell on a pale blue book with stars spiraling down the spine. Slowly she stood up and limped to the shelf to get it.
“What language is this one in?” Mella asked, setting the book down on the table. Roxas flipped it around to see the cover.
“It’s all in Zoranic. Do you really want to read this?” He questioned, one eyebrow raised. “It’s really dull. This book just talks about the elements and the spirits. It’s practically a history book.”
Mella nodded. “It helps to know your past so history doesn’t repeat itself.” Now maybe if I had figured that out a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t be in this mess…
“Alright…maybe this will make you fall asleep.”
“I thought you said Rin would make that impossible.”
“That’s my point. Seriously, you stayed with my cousin and his friends for three odd months and you still don’t understand humor?”
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Mella found herself slowly relaxing as Roxas explained the different runes the Zoranic alphabet used. A small voice nagged her in the back of her mind, the little warning bell that kept saying he was evil, that he was an enemy. But that was hard to believe right now.
He was right about Rin. Every few minutes it seemed the pain would burst forth from the starburst left by her curse and make it impossible to concentrate on what her twin was saying.
“So…do you think you can read this?” Roxas’s hand, speckled with ink skittered across a sheet of paper. Mella looked down and thought for a moment.
“ ‘Blue bookmarks…lead to answers.’ Is that…” Mella trailed off as images and sounds filled her head.
“Why do I have to learn this? Can’t we just start learning spirit magic?” she whined.
Bri handed her a book and a sheet of runes. “A good deal of the spirit spells need spoken words. You need to know Zoranic for them. It’s really simple. Go work on that for a while and I’ll start teaching you spirit this evening.”
She grinned and ran off, back to the library.
♥ ♥ ♥
After a while, she wasn't even looking at the sheet anymore as the language took hold. She had stopped on a page depicting a spirit.
"Why is it every time I come find you, you're always reading?" Drake was leaning over her chair, smiling like a dork.
"It's easier to hide in a book than to deal with everyone whispering about how I'm an elemental freak." She closed the book with a snap and put it away.
"Why don't you ask Bri when you go see her? I'm sure she knows."
They left the library, and headed out to see Bri.
Mella recognized where this memory led, and wished she didn't have to see it: the dagger, meeting with Bri, and the twins attacking.
Darkness finally consumed the memory, and Mella found herself back in the library, next to Roxas.
"You alright? You looked like you were about to pass out." He asked.
"I'm fine." Mella looked back at the book. The glyphs formed words clear as day: 'Elemental Magiks.' Funny, they spell 'magic' weird.
"Roxas, why did you attack Ivadona?"
Roxas froze as he was clearing up papers.
"How…how do you know about that?" he asked quietly. Mella rolled her eyes.
"Everyone knows…plus I keep seeing you and Rin attacking in my head." She left out the part where it felt like she was the one that was being attacked.
"You should ask my parents why." He said abruptly, as he made the pages in his hand ignite.
"But I'm asking you." Mella pushed on. She was going to ask more, but Roxas cut her off.
"Mella, get away from me." Roxas shook and blinked, and Mella saw his eyes start to turn red, as if someone had dripped blood into water. It was terrifying.
"What's happening?" Mella asked. Roxas shot her a glare full of pain and anger.
"I said GO!" he yelled, and Mella took the book and hobbled as fast as she could away from the shaking prince.
((you know what, yeah. I'm going to put the thing i was gonna say in this a/n in "Fractured Soul: Deleted Content." Go over there if you want to learn more about the story and, as always: Vote, Comment, tell your friends and followers. see ya soon! -M♪))