Ezra grabs me into his arms like a fragile child, and pounces into the air.
"Are you stupid!?" I shout in protest, kicking and slapping his arms. He lands on a thin tree branch that sways, just a hair, under our weight. "You scared the living daylights out of me!" I yell in horror, still freaking out over my racing heart and panicked nerves.
"Daylights? Who do you think you are? A G-rated children's show?" Ezra smiles wickedly at me and I hate what it does to my heart and cheeks.
The trees stretch into the air to aim for the moon, daring to touch the top of the sky. Their height is incredible, and their branches' distance from the ground is terrifyingly high. Compared to the ones on Earth, they challenge the height of mountains and even surpass great towers. I refuse to look down and give in to the terror of falling.
"They're already headed this way." Ezra glances behind himself and nods once, "Alright, time to go." His grip on my body tightens and he sprints through the air. His black hair flaps around in the wind, tangling itself in all different directions. His silver stripe even mixes with the rest of his hair for a few seconds in-between sprints. His eyes are brilliant colors of red and violet in the moonlight. Against his hair and skin, they blaze brightly, lit by a passionate fire inside him along with a magical luminescence that shines through his irises.
"I must warn you." His gaze remains fixed ahead. The foot landings of the other guardians are too soft to hear behind us. This time they're following Ezra.
"Don't get the wrong idea, I can very well handle things on my own." I shoot him a look of confidence, ignoring his persistence to treat me as a doll. "I'm stronger than I look." At my remark, Ezra bursts into laughter like I had said something absurd. "What? I am!" I protest his reaction.
"As if. As you are now, you could hardly throw a knife." A crooked grin spreads his mouth into a smooth line. How could the old me truly consider making herself forget everything that made her who she was?
"What was I like?" My question conjures Ezra's eyebrows to raise, "Before I forgot everything?" I add to clear up his confusion. I watch the emotions roll over his face in a wave that, if I had glanced away for a second, I would've missed. I swear I saw regret and sorrow, revealing a tragic pain in his features that hasn't truly disappeared.
"You need to know something," His voice intensifies and his eyebrows pull together. "Things will only get darker from here, and the knowledge of what's been happening the past centuries will be shocking to you." His right foot lands on a thick branch and he pushes off of it in a split second, sending us flying through the air again. "You must remember: do not show fear to anyone." His eyes break from the forest and direct themselves at me. "You must be a wall of solitude." His pupils shoot daggers into mine, sending a fiery heat to my cheeks. Those eyes seek to demand a promise from me to obey his command. It's such a strange transgression, like the intimacy is all wrong, as if Ezra couldn't be serious even for a minute. But here he is, being sincere.
I haven't had any time to take in the wild events of the past day. It's all been occurring so fast that my mind is just hopping over everything in an attempt to keep up and not trip and fall behind. This whole new world has opened up before my eyes, like a life I haven't known. I've only just returned and I can't bare to accept this life as a futile one. I also can't help the overwhelming feeling of obligation I have to this world, to resurrecting it. I don't even know where the strong sense of accountability came from, but I can't subdue it. I want to find out what happened to the people, to the city, to my guardians, and to my family. I want to remember what I used to know.
My eyes follow trees as they appear and disappear behind Ezra and I. Every now and then I spot Rayce or Kappie leaping into the air to follow us closely. Steele leaps quickly to sync up with us and joins by Ezra's side. I guess he and Haruka must've heard us taking off again and decided to come back.
"It'll be a three hour route to the Cave of Words. We'll have to take refuge for the night, soon." Steele neglects to look at Ezra, his yellow eyes remain on the forest landscape in front of him. "It is imperative that he is found as soon as possible." Steele attentitively avoids running into branches and sharp leaves. Rayce leaps into range and also joins by Ezra and Steele.
"I've lost scent of them." He says in a light and cheerful voice. His demeanor has altered into a battle ready state, replacing the overly childish admonitions with very subtle seriousness. "Haruka and Kappie double checked for me." The moment he glances at me, his tough exterior falters, his smile and wide eyes force a grin on my face.
"Thank you Rayce, I think we'll sleep in that house just outside of Redinon tonight." Steele asserts, pointing to a dark object in the distance. Rayce nods once and falls back with Haruka and Kappie.
Memories pop back into my head, the violent ones from before, when I was at school. Now that I think those were recollections of things that have happened, I'm terrified. I killed people and I don't remember who they are and what they did to deserve to die. My heart aches, like I owe it to them to at least grieve for their loss, but no. I don't feel a thing because I don't remember it, and I'm getting tired of my lack of memories.
Steele's voice snaps me out of my spiraling mental path, "We've arrived." He stoops to the ground below at the same time as Ezra. That dark object is now a house, a massive house with balconies and pillars and grand windows plus decorations plastered to the outside walls. A person must live here. "We'll set up a secure perimeter-"
"Shouldn't we ask permission to stay at someone's house?" I raise my eyebrows in question at Steele. He abruptly stops talking and his jaw drops a bit. The other guardians glance at one another in a confused frenzy. I don't think my question was that out of line.
Steele says something after a moment of hesitation, "I shall...secure our allowance to take refuge at this estate for the evening then..." He bows once and leaves towards someplace in the near distance. His formal behavior makes my skin crawl, not knowing his true self is enough to make me cringe at how scary he must really be.
Ezra sets me down gracefully, taking his sweet time to release me. I realize his intentions after the fact and aim to smack him in the ear, only to fail when he catches me by the wrist. "How'd you get so fiesty?" His eyes narrow. My teeth grit and my eyebrows furrow to hide my embarrassment. Ezra begins a fit of laughter only angering me more. "You're so cute." Ezra manages to add through snickering. The way he says it makes the word demeaning. I open my mouth to object but my stomach churns.
Up to this point I've had too many mood swings to count, several moments in which I've been too confused to even ask questions, and now I have a dangerous destructive faculty inside my body that I don't know how to control. For a little while it's been dormant, thank god, but I know it will rise again. I'm not sure if I can control it, and I don't know if what happened in Linkai city will happen again, against my will.
"It'll take us three hours to get to the Cave of Words by foot." Kappie states, shaking his feet free of loose soil. "We should leave a little before dawn-"
"We're walking?"
"No, that's sprinting time." He replies to me with a stern tone, "It's hidden by a fortress that only you can enter."
"I'm pretty sure he will be waiting for you there...If you remember who you're looking for..." Rayce adds, touching his small index finger to the corner of his mouth. "Which poses a problem since you do not appear to have your memories yet..."
"You'll know." Ezra interjects, jumping into the conversation. A light shines around him at a blinding brilliance before he switches back to his spirit guardian body. His brother does the same, transforming into the blood stained tattered waistcoat and trousers that were previously in perfect condition. They both look at me and already know I'm puzzled, "We change into these bodies so that we don't use up the strength of our Zodiac bodies in a wasteful manner."
I nod and look down at my own attire, not a scratch on me nor a thread out of place. Just dragon blood paints a few parts of my robe. I feel a pit in my stomach, a sprouting seed of guilt. They've protected me thus far while majorly injuring themselves in the process. I've only been a nuisance in return from not remembering as much as I need to. My eyes close and I tilt my head up towards the night sky.
I wonder if the stars near this planet are the same ones near Earth, or if I'm in a whole new galaxy. It's strange believing I'm human, when really I'm something else entirely. I open my eyes and just stare and the twinkling lights in the sky. There's so many of them, plus the swirling rainbow colors of the galaxies I could see in Xatrai.
I reluctantly look away from the stars to Ezra's stomach at the flicker of light reflecting off the blood. His injury is healing, but I can still see a tear across his chest and torso from battling the dragons earlier. I've neglected to look at it due to the gruesome image of the ripped apart skin and flesh, but as I take a moment to gaze now, I can see a difference. It healed much quicker while he was in Zodiac form, but now that he's back in his spirit guardian body, it's taking longer to mend. It requires security to clot.
I look down at my unscathed sleeves, my teeth rip the fabric at the opening near my wrist, ready to somehow return the favor of their protection. I tear at the fabric in a sort of coil pattern to extend its length. Feet land on the ground and send a stiff vibration through the dirt, Haruka, Kappie, and Rayce have finally caught up to us, and all of their eyes are on me, tentatively observing my actions. I don't waver, even under the scrutinizing and judgeful eyes.
The ripping continues up the green material until my entire arm is bare. I yank the sleeve off completely with a solid tug and hold out the ribbon I've created. I tug at the green ribbon to stretch it out, and begin to wrap it around my hand. I waltz over to Ezra and stand before him, holding the fabric in my palm.
I reach up to slip off his waistcoat, and in any other situation I could see this being awkward. But there's this air around me. It comforts me, urges me to take care of the people who give up their lives on a daily basis, just for me. I could never get used to them, I could never be so grateful for their sacrifices, and I will never stop appreciating them.
Ezra doesn't move an inch as my hands find the gory injury across his stomach, his face is inexpressive and his eyes remain pointed at mine. Even though he's slender, his body is still built like a fighter and made for protecting me. Something, I know now, that has been conditioned in all of my guardians since they were born. Being with me altered their entire lives and futures forever.
There's no going back for them, and I've only just realized that fact.
My hand holds the end of the ribbon to the tip of the gash at his shoulder. It's a thick material, and holds up against the blood. I slowly wrap it around his torso like a bandage, making sure his injury is completely covered. When the fabric runs out just before the end of his long slash wound, I tuck it under itself.
"I'm sorry it wasn't long enough to completely conceal your injury..." I touch his hip lightly to acknowledge my shortcomings. I glance up to all the eyes blankly staring at me as if I've done something inconceivably crazy. "Should I have used bandages? I didn't think we carried around a first aid-"
Ezra grabs my hand and lifts my chin to meet his eyes. He speaks in the most serious tone that I have heard come out of his mouth thus far, "Never put someone like me...before someone like you." His eyes darken, and the bad boy aura I'd been experiencing from him springs back into the present. He drops my chin and retracts his hands from me. "I am to you as a maid is to her master. You shall not think otherwise." His eyebrows pull together and he straightens up, pushing his shoulders back. The older language slips into his vocabulary again like an old habit.
I can tell instantly that the menacing past he's experienced is the only reason to be a bad boy or a bitter soul, and he's both. I know what Dessy would say on this matter, "He's hard to get, hard to keep happy, and always a challenge. He's a rebellious rule breaker." He's shrouded in darkness, and I'm worried it's contagious.
He steps back to turn away from me and vanishes into the trees. I reach down to pick up his waistcoat after his figure disappears from sight. My fingers hesitate, and I stand there, frozen in confusion. I don't know if I should try to keep him from running away and I don't know if what I did might've just offended everyone around me. I brush off the dirt and grime from the fabric after it had been lying on the ground. The blood is damp, spotting the lapels and front buttoned panels. The fabric in my hands is practically strips of what it used to be, speaking volumes to what Ezra's done for me today alone. I fight the helpless emotion crawling up my throat.
I look over to Kappie's injury now, and notice it isn't nearly as horrific as his brother's, but it's still really gruesome and hard to look at. I reach down to my other sleeve to tear it off when Kappie seizes my hand. His grip is tense around my fingers.
"I'd really rather you not destroy your beautiful clothing to aid in my recovery." Kappie touches my cheek and I see his eyes darken like Ezra's, "I will be okay, Lady Akira." He bows softly, kissing the top of my hand. "Please do not worry about-"
"But I do. I mean...I don't think you're incapable of taking care of yourself I just..." The words come out before I can stop myself. I fight my face from blushing, forcing it down with the most strength I can muster. I feel embarrassed for feeling intimate emotions for people I hardly know. It feels like my brain still retains the emotional memories, but I can't recall why those emotions are there.
Kappie freezes. His eyes widen upon looking at me, I struggle to say more. Leaving long pauses between words to think of new ones, "I'm not weak...I have a purpose here...even though...I can't remember anything...I don't want you to think I'm ungrateful..." I leave my sentence dropped off. I'm not even looking at him right now, I'm not looking at anyone, just staring at the ground. The grass here is just like the grass on Earth, same dirt too.
"We're stronger than you think." Kappie's hand finds my chin and tilts my head up. He straightens his back and looks off in the direction Ezra disappeared. The sorrow in his gaze lures out a sadness inside of me. The black hole silently stirs in my gut, enticing an unwarranted reaction to spill out of me. I fight it harder, forcing down any response that would make me vulnerable to the mercy of the relentless darkness.
Steele suddenly enters the clearing we've been waiting for him in, and informs us, "They have allowed us to stay in the spare guest house on the far North side of the property."
"My apologies for my lack of concentration. I will secure the premises." Kappie gracefully spins on his heels and takes off, leaping through the trees.
"We have to tell Ezra." I mutter. Steele turns his head to acknowledge me. He then looks around for Ezra and after spotting a dead giveaway, Rayce's depressed facial expression and eyes turned toward a certain direction in the trees, he understands. Steele knows instantly what had happened as if it had happened before, numerous times.
"If he's left on his own accord, he will come back on it as well." He states, glancing at me once and walking off in the direction Kappie dashed. Haruka pushes past me to join them, igniting my animosity towards him.
"I thought that was very brave of you." Rayce says when we're alone among the trees. I look up at him in confusion; It takes a minute for him to read my expression and understand it before he says anything, "You do know you are of a higher status than us...?" His eyebrows raise at me and his childish mannerisms pop back into play. When all I do is stare back at him blankly, he continues to explain in an exaggerated tone of voice, "We are your servants and bodyguards. We do as you say and protect you at all costs even if that means we end our lives in the process." He shifts his body to stand before me, face to face. "For you to sacrifice anything, even if it's just your sleeve, for us...it's absurd!"
"Is it truly so outrageous that I care for your well being?" I question him. "Did I not used to do such simple things to show you that I care about you?" My memories have been taken away to the point that I neglect to even remember vital things like rank and status of who I am or what I am. I can't even recall how to properly act around people. It makes me sick to my stomach, ashamed of who I've become. I feel like a robot whose buttons have all been mashed at once and has begun to malfunction. My internal motherboard is on the fritz.
"I...don't know...We're just not used to it I guess..." Rayce replies. I wonder why Ezra responded as dramatically as he did. "It challenges us to think we cannot take care of ourselves. We need you to believe in our well being and strength, not worry like a parent."
He continues to speak but the sound becomes a haze of white noise in my ears. I open my mouth to speak, nothing comes out as his blue eyes trap mine for a long moment. If I look closely, it appears as if waves move in his irises. His pupils act as the beach that waves rise and fall on. The ascending and receding of the water sends me into a trance.
Thick green grass blankets the landscape for miles, growing straight up towards the sun. The blades sway in the breeze, dancing to a silent rhythm. In the distance, mountains rise up out of the flat lands, surrounding the horizon like a never ending canyon. Earth is home.
I look around myself, curiously searching for my friends. They always play hide and seek with me, but I'm constantly the one to look for them. I skip around the meadow of grass and small flowers, ignoring the game we play. I feel like the luckiest little girl in the world to have such great people in my life. I treasure them like my own family.
My small white dress billows rapidly, whipping my skin. I find the boulder that helps me to see all of the planet from standing at the very top. Once I climb the great distance I shout to the world, "I, Akira Sheeno, will finally turn ten in three months!"
"Oh really?" Kappie says cheerfully as he and Ezra pop out of hiding. I shriek in excitement as Ezra runs toward me. He lifts me up under my arms and swings me around in a circle. He sets me down gently while I continue to laugh.
"You mean your thousandth birthday is in three months?" Kappie puts his hands on his hips. He and Ezra wear their hair in identical fashion, solid black and messy, so long it dangles past their ears. The location of colors of Kappie's eyes are the opposite of Ezra's.
They're so pretty, like pretty marbles I want to collect and keep forever.
"You know we're practically sixteen so you're like our little sister." Ezra adds. Kappie smiles sweetly in addition to his brother's comments. It's obvious in their hopeful smiles that they have yet to mature, both mentally and physically, to become the men they're destined to be, the men I can't wait to see.
"I don't want to be your little sister!" I yell back at them. Kappie's smile doesn't waver, and it even catches on to Ezra like a contagion.
They grin at me and whisper loudly so I can hear, "I think it's time for the tickle monster!" I shriek in excited horror. I jump down from the boulder mountain and run from them as fast as I can. Ezra rushes up to me and catches me in his arms playfully. He holds me while Kappie starts tickling my stomach and sides. I scream in a fit of laughter, rolling and squirming around like a kitten thrown into a bath.
"Ezra Dean get over here right now!" A woman yells fiercely from somewhere nearby. Her voice slaughters our childish amusement in the short moment she roars.
Ezra freezes and the light in his eyes drains instantly. The smile I love to see vanishes, only to be replaced with a too-familiar dark expression that, as a child, I don't quite understand.
Kappie and I sit on the cool grass, watching Ezra drag himself to his mother.
"One day I am going to help him." I say out loud. Kappie looks at me with curious eyes. "I will avenge Ezra."
My eyes flicker open to a candle lit chandelier dangling overhead. Only four boys stand around me upon my waking. I move my head around to look at each of them and notice their expressions read anticipation in different, but unique, ways. This has got to stop happening.
"Are you alright?" Rayce is the closest to me, squatting on the floor right beside my head. "You were...talking in your sleep..." His eyes dance over to Kappie whose arms are crossed over his bare chest. His lips are pressed together and his eyebrows furrow in concern. I couldn't feel more embarrassed for what I might've said.
"I think I remembered something." I respond to the stares, "It wasn't much but..." I shut my eyes tightly, anxious for my upcoming question, "How old am I?"
"You're sixteen." Kappie replies.
"Just sixteen?"
"Sixteen hundred years old."
My mind empties itself of any and all rational thoughts, "There's no way that's true." The words slip out under my breath. It's not humanly possible to age over a thousand years. I'd have to be some kind of immortal being or a creature that's not human.
"She still doesn't remember the most important part." Steele straightens himself and rubs the back of his head, "It would be an unwise decision to inform her at this moment in time." His short, dark, cinnamon colored hair resists to move under his hand and fingers. His facial features are the most matured of the group, his slightly larger nose and sharper jawline age him well. Surely he too would be over a thousand years old if I am.
"He's right," Kappie adds, holding my eyes with his, "for now just hold onto the fact that you know how old you are. Be proud of yourself for remembering that much." He attempts to encourage me, but his voice reeks of disappointment. He was the one to remind me, I still couldn't recall my own age properly.
I can't keep letting the confusion and anxiety take over my mind. Especially if all it does is send me into a coma. Something needs to change, I need to change. I need to be the girl they knew I was, the girl I assume I am. I'm tired of the internal fighting and the ignorance and everything in-between. I'm just sick of it, ignorance could not possibly be bliss to anyone.
"We need to go to sleep now if we have any hope of leaving just before the sun rises in the morning." Steele assets, drawing attention away from my memory failure.
My index fingers rub my temples as I glance around, admiring the mansion sized house. I assume it's the main quarters on the property Steele mentioned earlier. The large room is quaint with older attributes and furnishings. I lie on a large rug made of fabric as soft as pure cotton. The only light emanates from the candle lit chandelier I woke up to. The walls are painted dark neutrals and the floor is mostly wood with grand runners along the winding staircase. A thin layer of dust covers the dark furniture and wooden tables. This mansion is abandoned, the walls hold empty nails as if decor had been hung there once before. The halls seem to stretch great distances further into the mansion. There could only be double digit rooms in this massive house. But it's plain, nothing decorates the walls or the furniture. I wonder who exactly Steele talked to, or if he kicked them out so we could stay here. But that doesn't explain the emptiness, maybe no one was here in the first place.
Steele was just humoring me.
"Where are we sleeping?" I ask now that the exhaustion hits me. I feel as though I could fall asleep right here on this rug. After all that's happened today, I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up to Dessy's big yellow eyes and bright white smile and the school nurse's ceiling.
"We're pairing up!" Rayce smiles. He squats even lower to lay down and rest his head next to mine on the rug, "Just between you and me," he whispers excitedly, "I wouldn't pair up with Steele, he looks scary in his sleep."
"If you don't mind..." Kappie adds, extending his feet out and stretching his arms over his head. "I'd love to take the master bedroom." He yawns and sits down on the other side of me. "You can pair up with me if you li-"
"No she can't!" Rayce replies for me, and now I silently wish for a blanket to hide the silent giggles coming from my mouth.
Steele, in his almighty size, lays down near my feet, on his back. He folds his arms over his ribs and crosses one foot over the other. His eyes are a deep yellow color, like citrine or amber. He yawns and closes them. Relaxation makes its way through his body from every breath he takes, more and more his face falls into a peaceful expression that I can't help but admire. He really is a beautiful man, even though he hides it through a stern attitude he never seems to shake off.
"Are you sleeping right here, Steele?" I question him, watching the rise and fall of his chest as he lies on the wooden floor. There's no way that could be comfortable for him.
He rolls his head over to the side, facing me with squinted eyes, "It is closest to the door so I may hear any intrusions." He rolls his head back to position.
"I'd rather sleep outside." Haruka narrows his eyes away from my line of sight. A low growl comes from Steele, like an objection to Haruka's protest. Haruka blows his bangs out of his eyes and reluctantly changes into his Zodiac form. His Aries body is the most magnificent of the guardians I've seen so far.
His skin is vibrant and gleaming, a wondrous gold color. He wears a black longline cardigan, consuming most of his body. His legs are sheltered by tight black trousers cut off at the knee and tapered to fit tightly to his calf. The belt fabric he wears is a vibrant diamond white color. Luminescent emerald eyes stare at me with an empty look of indifference. The moonlight plays with the metallic accents in his skin and hair, sending rays of color all around the room.
He's breathtaking.
"Beautiful..." I whisper. Haruka's head tilts, hearing what I've mistakenly said out loud. All the other eyes are on me, waiting. I clear my throat, "Um...I mean..." I buckle under the pressure of his examination of me. There's nothing I can say to recover from admitting my admiration for his Zodiac form. He just stares at me with confused but cautious eyes. After several minutes I begin to squirm under the pressure.
"Well I'm gonna go to sleep now." I claim in false confidence. Haruka doesn't flinch or blink. "You should sleep inside, not outside..." I mutter a bit louder, hoping to get through to him. He seems to hold more of a rebellious spirit than Ezra. "And I'm sleeping by myself." I stand up to turn on my heels to search for a bedroom upstairs to sleep in. I don't need them to protect me while I'm asleep; besides, I don't fully trust Haruka to keep me from harm.
My feet carefully carry me away from the living room. I begin my journey up the staircase and realize the iron railing is also lined with dust, a very minimal layer. I wonder why Steele hadn't really talked to anyone inside this place, and why he only claimed he did to soothe my mind. I won't be able to sleep tonight, thinking of the people who up and left this house.
I settle on the first bedroom in sight, walking into what looks like a young boy's room. I neglect to flick on the lights just due to my fear of finding something personal that wasn't meant for my eyes. The bed is cold and the sheets stiff, a deserted room in a discarded house.
Nevertheless, I force my eyes to stay shut, but I lie awake, thinking.
I can't help but pray I can find what I'm supposed to be looking for at the Cave of Words tomorrow morning. I hope I'll be useful to my guardians, leading them away from the danger that seeks me. Tomorrow, even though I have no idea what I'm looking for, I will try my hardest to help, to give my life to saving theirs.
I question the possibility of how I could be centuries old and still retain the appearances of a young girl. I repeatedly play the flashback of memory I saw earlier. From what I can figure, Ezra and Kappie used to be so innocent and cheerful like the way Rayce is now.
I wonder if I took their light away from them just like how I must've taken the light from Haruka. I've stolen their lives for my own selfish needs all these years. No wonder Haruka hates me. I'm surprised Rayce doesn't despise me for taking him away from his family forever. My desire to know everything eats at my sanity bit by bit every minute. The sickness in my stomach churns, mutating into the black hole again.
As frightening thoughts circle in my head, my black hole dives into my sleeping state of mind. I don't dream, I have nightmares that take hold and refuse to let me go. They keep me from escaping, from awaking and falling back to sleep safely. It feels like free-falling in an endless pit of liquid thicker than water. I'm suffocating in this devouring darkness.
I find myself in one of the nightmarish dreams, opening my eyes to Xatrai, with the falling petals and deep rainbow colored sky. A girl stands in front of me, my same height and size, thin without looking emaciated. She looks like a young girl grown up and stretched out a bit. Ash hair flows past her hips, and she wears a white hooded vest with armor over her breasts and torso. A black fabric belt of weapons hangs around her waist also adorned with plates of armor, it dangles on one of her hips.
Her legs are protected by white thigh high socks and a garter belt visible under her thin black robe which hides under the vest and armor. Black combat boots rise to her mid calf, and her upper thighs are bare along with her stomach, visible above the crooked belt. Her hands are protected by black gloves with metal accents. She looks deadly, mimicking the style of an assassin.
"Who are you?" I ask the girl with wide, curious eyes. Her two black swords hook into the belt on either sides of her hips. I wonder how many times she's used them.
Her voice is small but powerful, radiating with authority. I recognize the thin face and pointed nose and chin, identical to mine.
"I'm the girl you used to dream of being, and the girl you'll soon become." She answers.
I step into the pond and hike over to her. Up close her eyes are shadowed by dark circles of sleeplessness, the ash colored eyes that I'm used to seeing in the mirror have long been replaced by blackness. The ebony irises blend in with her pupils, bordered by an illuminated line of light the color of fire. Her eyes are blazing with power.
"How could I have wanted to become this?" I ask, touching the tight material wrapped around her body, acknowledging the hard metal protecting her heart.
"How could you not?" She asks with the assurance of a badass know-it-all, "I'm trained in every aspect of defense, I'm just as strong--if not stronger--than my guardians, and I've destroyed lives that have threatened my own." She rambles off her accomplishments, my accomplishments. "And I've become ruthless and powerful. I'm exactly what we wanted."
"But you're empty inside..." I attempt to meet her gaze, nearly impossible without seeing her pupils. "It looks like the black hole has consumed you from the inside out, you've become heartless!" My face contorts to horror, "You're a killer-"
"Correction," She interrupts in a crisp voice, "I'm a warrior." She strolls in a circle around me, "I end those who threaten me, and those who threaten my guardians. I've given up on pretending that I'm human so I've ditched all of the irresponsible emotions that a human is limited to." She begins toying with my hair between her gloves fingers, "We wanted this from the very beginning..." She abruptly stops and leans into my face, inches from my ear, "The moment we found out what They did to us."