A/N - Read important notice at the bottom please!
Day 7
Chase sighed, as he looked up at the darkness of the tarp above him and Matthew. The purple-ette (Is that a thing?) stole a glance at his friend who was sleeping peacefully next to him. Suddenly feeling jealous that his friend got his sleep but he didn't, Chase pouted. So, in need of some sleep, he went to a tactic he had lost not a few weeks ago.
He started counting sheep.
Chase closed his eyes and began to imagine white fluffy sheep jumping over a fence. A smile on his face, he began to count out loud in a low whisper,"One... two... three..." By ten, the boy can already feel sleep take-over him. However, just before he could fully fall asleep, he heard footsteps.
His eyes snapped open, instantly becoming cautious of his surroundings. Slightly propping himself up with an arm, he inspected the camp. More footsteps were heard, and the boy began freaking out,"What if it's a monster? What do I do then!? More or less... what if it's that Nova guy?!"
Chase heard the footsteps coming nearer, freaking him out even more. A figure then came into view, and Chase instantly recognized it as Rosa. In relief, he sent out a sigh, before looking up at Rosa with a smile,"Oh Rosa, you do not know how much yo -" He stopped talking, when Rosa just passed by him.
"Rosa?" He asked, confused as to why the girl was ignoring him. She wasn't sleep-walking for her eyes were open - Chase knew that much.
Though it was hard to see anything in the dark, at closer inspection, Chase could see Rosa holding something in her hands.
The boy didn't say anything more, as he watched Rosa go through the bushes where Zach had gone through when he found Meghan.
Out of curiosity - and since he couldn't sleep anyways - Chase got up and decided to follow the blond girl.
~~~~~
The moonlight shone brightly through the bars of the dark room, as Nova stared at the unconscious Oliver. The brunette was back to his old spot, detained to the wall. Finally getting bored, Nova returned to his room.
However, he didn't head to his bed to sleep. Instead, he went to his porch and stood outside, letting the moonlight bask him. He smiled and looked down at the village. There were few people still out, but most of them had already returned to the safety and warmth of their homes.
His eyebrows scrunched together, and his face turned to one of sour taste,"Warmth? Safety? We didn't have that back then..."
The boy was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't hear the door to his room open and close, nor did he hear the footsteps that stopped beside him. He only noticed when a voice silently asked,"What is our next plan of action, sir?"
Nova was quiet for some time, before responding with -,"Nothing... we will let those Zodiacs-to-be do their job. Once they find a piece, we will make our move and get the piece from them,"
The guard nodded, before turning around and leaving. Nova looked sadly down at his hands that were folded on the railing of his balcony. He remembered a conversation he had earlier with Oliver while he was still awake.
"Why are you doing this?!" Oliver had asked him.
Nova didn't know what so say, and only responded with,"You won't understand... you don't know how it feels like to lose everything you have in a single day..."
Oliver hadn't said anything else after, and they were in an awkward silence, just staring at each other.
Now thinking about it, Nova was brought back to the memories of his past...
~~*~~
"Jeez Nova, you're not going to catch up to me like that!" Iris yelled, running farther and farther away from the boy.
Nova was already breathing in heavily, as he tried to run faster to catch up to the blond haired girl,"Iris, wait up!" He pleaded, reaching out a hand for her. He was so focused on catching his friend, he didn't see the rock jutting out of the ground, making him trip and fall face-flat.
Iris noticed this and stopped running. With a sigh, she jogged back to Nova who had now sat up. The boy was hugging his legs to his knees, while he sniffled. At closer inspection, Iris realized that Nova was on the verge of crying - after noticing the tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes.
The blond sighed, and sat cross-legged across from Nova. She stretched out an arm towards Nova and said,"Give me,"
Nova squeezed his legs closer to him,"No..."
Iris glared at the boy, and repeated,"Give. Me,"
When Nova denied, Iris rolled her eyes then harshly grabbed his hand, flipping it over to show his palm. On Nova's hand was a small cut, stained with a little bit of blood. Iris looked around their surroundings for whatever did this to him and found a sharp rock.
Still holding Nova's injured hand, Iris picked up the culprit rock. She shook her head as she stared at the rock,"Why do they even have rocks like this here?" Throwing the rock behind her, she looked at Nova,"At least you didn't get cut on the head,"
Iris then stood up, dragging Nova up with her. Walking past Nova, she took the lead and began walking back to the castle.
~~~~~
Once they were in the castle, Iris had rushed Nova to the Healers room. Upon reaching the room, Iris had locked the door, making sure no one else would enter.
She then began to search around the room. Nova watched Iris as she scurried around the whole room. He looked down at his hands, ashamed that he'd let this thing happen to him. Or worse, let his friend take care of him.
Iris finally returned, placing a cloth bandage, some alcohol and cotton next to Nova. She took some of the cotton and added a little alcohol it. Once Nova saw that, his eyes widened as he tried to sneak away, but next thing he knew, Iris had her arms on either side of him.
"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, glaring at the boy.
Nova gulped, and returned to his spot,"Well Iris, don't you think it'll hurt if you put that on my cut?" He asked, a slight whimper evident in his voice.
Iris sighed and rolled her eyes,"Of course it would hurt! But if we don't clean it, your cut can easily get infected even with the bandage,"
At this, Nova sighed in defeat and gave Iris his injured hand. The blond set his hand palm-up, gently resting it on her own. She hovered the alcohol-covered cotton over Nova's injury, but before she placed it on the cut, she looked up at Nova, an evil smile her face.
"You ready?" She asked. Nova gulped and hesitantly nodded. Then, without warning, she placed the cotton on Nova's hand.
~~~~~
Throughout the whole castle, the only thing that the castle workers heard were loud screams of pain from Nova. However, knowing that Nova was with Iris, they didn't question it.
~~~~~
Tears of pain were on the verge of falling off of Nova's blue eyes as he stared at his bandaged up hand. Iris stood in front of him, her hands on her hips as she smirked triumphantly.
"Where did you learn to do things like this?" Nova asked jumping off the patient's bed.
The two of them walked out of the room.
"Learned it myself! Also...common sense duh!" Iris laughed, hitting Nova slightly on the shoulder.
"Yeah...but we're only eight years old,"Nova stated,"I don't know about it and I have a feeling others our age doesn't either,"
Iris sighed, then shrugged,"I guess I learned from my mom. I would see her do it, and I guess that's where it came from," Iris let out a little laugh after her explanation.
"You want to become a Healer?" Nova asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.
"Of course!"Iris yelled as if it was the most obvious thing in the world,"Not all of us have our entire future of success planned out for them, you know?"
Nova sighed,"Not all of my future is planned out, you know? Who knows, maybe something will go wrong? Maybe I'd get hurt and die or be unable to fulfill my duty,"
Iris laughed and pointed to Novas bandaged hand,"Not with me around you won't!" They shared a laugh, and once that died down, Iris grabbed the bandaged hand and slowly caressed it with her thumb. Sighing, Iris shook her head,"What would you do without me?"
The boy smiled at Iris,"Nothing," He stated bluntly. He chuckled and his friends confused expression,"Because I wouldn't even be alive without you!"
Iris looked at Nova with a shocked expression, before letting out a soft smile,"Jeez.... what are you talking about?..."
~~~~~
Hours had passed and Nova was now laying in his bed, just on the brink of sleep, when suddenly his mom charged into the room, a box in her hands. At his moms sudden appearance, Nova shot up in his bed and looked at his mom.
She held a worried and scared expression as she grabbed Nova's hands and began running.
Nova, who was confused on his mom's actions, looked worryingly up at his mom as she dragged him along,"Mom, what's going on?" He asked quietly.
His mom never got to answer, for a shower of screams of violence or fear filled the air, scaring Nova. His eyes wide, he looked up at his mom who glared at the hallway in front of her - though the fear was still evident in her eyes,"Mom!? What's going on?!" When his mom didn't answer, Nova tried again.
Despite all of Nova\s pleas, his mom still didn't answer and continued to run.
After a few minutes of running, Nova had realized they were in the dungeons. After reaching a certain area of the dungeon, his mom began to feel around the wall, until she pushed a hidden button.
At that, a camouflaged door opened to reveal a small hidden room in the wall. Picking up Nova, his mom placed him in the small room, then got the box,opening it to reveal Quetzoloa's symbol item.
"The Ophiuchan Necklace!" Nova gasped, staring at the big necklace that was now in his mom's hands.
She nodded as she placed the necklace around his neck,"My son, take this necklace and stay here, alright? This necklace will protect you. It will do anything for you. It will even stop time for you,"
Novas eyes widened,"Mom, what are you -"
The young boy never got to finish his sentence, for his mom enveloped him in a tight embrace, tears falling down from her eyes. Once she let go, she cupped her son's face and kissed him on the forehead.
"Live for me, my son,"
Nova's eyes widened and he tried to reach for his mom, but she already closed the door, leaving him all alone.
~~~~~
Hours passed, and Nova sat crying in the small hidden room, trying to comfort himself. All around him, he could hear yelling, screaming and weapons clashing. It was a scary thing for an eight-year old like him to face by himself.
Finally, all the screams and sounds of war ended. Nova waited a good hour before leaving his safe room. Once opening the door, he whimpered as he was faced with a bloodied face of a dead soldier on the floor.
Cautiously walking around the body, he slowly looked up to see blood and bodies everywhere. He tried his best not to gag at the scent of blood, as he held one hand to his nose and mouth, the other gripping his necklace tightly.
Gripping the necklace, he remembered,"Mom! Dad!" He then ran past all the bodies, on the way to find his mom and dad. The only place where he thought his parents would be would be at the throne room.
Upon reaching the throne room, he gasped at the sight of the number of bodies. There were about two at the door, some scattered around the room, and a bunch surrounding the two thrones.
Nova could tell that the war had raged on in here. Walking towards the room, tears instantly streamed out of his eyes as he saw the thrones.
Both his mom and dad were sitting there, holding hands as a smile was placed on their lips. They looked peaceful. Peaceful and dead.
Nova ran up to them and embraced them in a tight hug. However, instead of the warmth that he longed for, he only received a cold response of nothingness. He stepped away and smiled, trying to wipe away the endless flow of tears.
He turned around and began to run away. Nothing was left for him in that castle anymore... no family... no friends... nothing but dark and happy memories. However, at his current destination, there still might be hope. She might still be alive.
Once exiting the castle, he stopped running at the sight. Smoke filled the air, the reek of blood hung around, stinging his nose. The feeling of gagging returned, and he held a hand to his mouth once again. Shaking his head, he continued to run.
Upon reaching his destination, he wasn't surprised at the destroyed house of Iris. However, he looked around, searching for the blond girl. Unwillingly, he walked throughout the rubble of the house looking around for his friend.
Finally, for what seemed like forever, his blue eyes landed on a tuft of blond hair. In an instant, he rushed towards the hair. He began freaking out once he saw all the wood and rubble on top of the girl. With all his might, he moved the weight one by one, until the girl was free from all the rubble on top of her.
However, once she was free, Nova screamed. Right through Iris's chest, was a big, sharp stick. It missed the heart just barely and was covered in Iris's blood. Despite knowing that there's a 99% chance that his friend might just be dead, he still shook her slightly, trying to wake her up.
"Hey, Iris. Iris?" Nova pleaded, trying to wake up the girl.
Like a miracle, the girl slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her friend,"Nova?" She croacked, her voice close to nothing.
Nova smiled widely, as the tears began to fall once again,"Iris! You're - you're alive!"
"Am I?..."Iris asked quietly, as she directed her gaze towards the wooden pole going right through her.
"Yeah!"Nova whimpered. He then got up,"Let me find help!"
Before Nova could leave, Iris grabbed his hand, making him turn towards her. Nova was confused as Iris only smiled at him and shook her head,"Iris?"
"Nova...please stay,"Iris pleaded, tears now slowly falling from her eyes.
"But I need to get someone to help you!" Nova countered.
Iris shook her head once again,"Nova... I'm a hopeless cause... and I doubt you'll find anyone alive in time..."
"But Iris..."Nova started, looking with wide eyes at his friend,"If I don't get anyone to help... you'll..."
Iris only smiled in response, patting the spot beside her,"And I want you by my side when it happens,"
Nova stared with wide eyes at his friend, before hesitantly sitting down beside her nearly dead body. They sat in silence before Iris spoke,"That necklace..."
"Mom gave it to me before they got in the castle,"Nova explained quietly, still doubting his decision.
Iris smiled and nodded,"It will help you survive..." She stated, to which Nova nodded. Another silence fell upon them when Iris then began to feel the last of her life slowly draining out of her. She took this chance to give Nova a request,"Hey... Nova... I don't have much time left.... can you promise me something?"
Nova's eyes widened at Iris's statement on her life, but responded to her request,"What is it?"
"Keep Quetzoloa going..."Iris stated,"Don't give up on this place... revive it. I don't want this place to be lost in history..." Iris's eyes slowly began to dull, and the tears in Nova's eyes fell harder,"That necklace will help you revive our lost land...
Nova nodded his head, as he hugged Iris the best he could without speeding up her death,"I will..."
Iris smiled one last time,"Thank goodness..."She mumbled, before she took her last breath, and died in Nova's arms.
~~~~~
The boy spent the next hour crying next to Iris's lifeless body, pleading for her to come back, or for things to return to the way it used to be.
He then spent the whole day making a grave for Iris and burying her on the hilltop where they first met. Her grave was only made of wood, as her name was carved onto it. He searched the grassland not so far away for flowers and made a flower necklace, hanging it on thepoorly made wooden cross.
Then, he started to work on the promise he made Iris. He scaled the whole land of Quetzoloa looking for survivors, luckily finding enough to create a small village on the peaceful grasslands.
There, he found out the cause for his countrys fall. Zodiaca.
~~~~~
"Sir?"
Nova snapped out of his thoughts, and turned around to see his guard looking at him,"Yes?"
"Are you alright?" His personal guard - Daniel - asked. Daniel then pointed towards Novas face,"You were crying, sir,"
Nova touched his face and he felt the wet and sticky feeling of the tears he unconsciously shed during his emotional state. He then shook his head and wiped away his tears,"I'm fine," He grumbled.
Daniel nodded,"Well... I came here to inform you of some... interesting news,"He stated, a smirk barely evident in his face.
Nova nodded,"Lead the way,"
~~~~~
Chase walked around the trees, trying to fight away the sleep that is now trying to take over him,"Rosa? Rosa?" He called out, trying to find the blond girl.
He then reached a clearing that had the moonlights shine shining through the leaves of the trees. His eyes widened at the sight in the middle of the clearing.
Rosa lay, unconscious on the ground as a pink glowed enveloped her. Of course Chase cared about her, but at the moment, something else caught his attention.
Right next to Rosa was the thing they've all been looking for.
The first key piece.
~~*~~
Alright, so, school is starting tomorrow on Tuesday. That being said, it will be harder for me to update and write, so if I don't manage to update a chapter in time,please understand my situation. I barely finished this chapter in time, to be honest.
However, I will try to finish chapters before the deadline, and if I don't please understand! It really pains me to say this really, but school can't be helped. I'm sorry to you guys, but for me, I prioritize the school before my stories, so I hope you understand. However, that doesn't mean that I will ignore my stories for 10 whole months.
Again, I hope you guys understand. I don't know whether my update schedule can stay the way it is with school in the way, and I apologize.
But I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter anyways! Buh bye!