Wow, 8 chapters already. I love writing this, and it is so great to hear all of the comments that you guys have for me!
Thank you all so, so much for your support, it really means so, so much to me.
This chapter kinda reveals a little bit more about her parents and their deaths, and also has both Jay and Daniel in it. ♥
So here ya go, enjoy! ^.^
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Chapter 8 - Safe.
"Adelle. Focus."
My grandmother's irritated tone broke through my concentration. I WAS focusing; it just wasn't working. Maybe it was because I was still frustrated at not knowing anything, maybe it was because I was still angry with her for not letting me attend the meeting, but whatever the reason, I just could not get my powers to cooperate with me right now. So it came as no surprise when my grandmother used the earth to create a hole that I promptly fell into up to my waist. Then she closed it on me.
"Why aren't you even trying Adelle? Just because you have suffered loss does not mean you can do everything half-assed. On the contrary, it is all the more reason for you to practice more, get better."
"I AM TRYING!" I screamed at her. "MAYBE, it's because I'm not 18 yet, and I don't actually HAVE my full power!"
"Ridiculous. Stop talking nonsense girl. Powers or not, you should at least be able to handle an old woman like me. We're done for today, I have better things to do then mess around here with someone who won't even begin to try to learn from me. Go get yourself cleaned up." My grandmother said with disappointment in her words. She turned and walked back into the castle, her guard following her. Only my grandfather stayed behind, helping me up and out of the hole.
"She's being so unfair." I complained, tears forming in my eyes.
"She doesn't understand what you are going through, darling." He replied, wiping my tears away, "I know that you are trying, and it will come to you much easier when you reach your full powers. Though you have the same powers, you have so much more to contend with then she did at your age, and I don't think that she remembers that. Remember, she loves you, and this is her way of trying to protect you."
"I know." I said grudgingly. He smiled at me and turned to follow my grandmother.
"Adelle," He said suddenly, turning back again, "We are both very proud of you. I hope that you know that." And with that, he was gone.
I did know that. I don't know what it was about her, but whenever I trained or practiced with my grandmother, or was even in the same room as her, to be honest, we ended up fighting. I couldn't help but feel like I was a huge disappointment to her, even though I knew that wasn't the case.
Midorians had power from birth, and at a young age could use all of the elements, but not very well, and their power was not strong at all. Once a young one turned ten, they specialized in a certain element, either Earth users; who could use plants and the actual ground, Water users; who could make rain, snow, ice and also bend and control the water around them, Air users; who were amazing flyers (the fastest we had) and could manipulate the wind, Fire users whose power included starting and controlling fires, and making lighting, and Spirit users. Spirit users were complicated: they could do various things, and nobody had the same ability. Some of them could read minds some see the future or the past and some of them had powers we didn't know of.
Our castle guards and knights' powers often weren't as direct as others. For example, Daniel was gifted with Air and what made him such a great fighter was that he was incredibly fast and could almost anticipate the movements of his opponents, thus striking before they even had a chance. I had no idea which of the elements made Jay such a great fighter, I hadn't asked him and he hadn't mentioned it.
Some people had more than one element, but more than two was almost unheard of. The exception was the royal bloodline. We had all five. I had always been confused as to why that was; it was too much of a coincidence. After having read Midoria's journals though, I had learned that she too had had all five, so maybe it came from her.
That was why it was my grandmother who had to train me. Nobody else could teach me to use my powers, and to balance them out properly. My grandmother was actually a pretty amazing fighter, and I was learning a lot from her, whether she addressed that or not. What made it so difficult was that because I wasn't 18, I hadn't reached full power, and so they were unpredictable and difficult to work with.
Thank God that my birthday was coming up, in just under a month. The only downside of that was the ball that came with my coming of age. It was a huge deal for our entire kingdom for me to reach full power, and so practically the whole kingdom would be there.
I was interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of metal striking metal. Looking around, I noticed Jay and Daniel sparring together on the practice field, and stopped to watch.
Woah. They were pretty evenly matched, I had to admit it. Both of them were concentrating insanely, focused on each other. As their blades hit, their bodies circled around each other gracefully. It looked almost as though they were partners in a dance, albeit a dangerous one. It was breathtaking to watch them fight; although I couldn't help but get the feeling that they were being more serious than they needed to be. The look of anger and hatred in Daniel's eyes was mirrored in Jays, and I guessed that this wasn't simply a friendly training session.
All of a sudden Daniel seemed to see me there watching, and was momentarily distracted. Jay, seizing his opportunity, struck Daniel from behind. The blow would have seriously hurt him had I not shrieked just before, causing Daniel to turn around and lift his sword just in time. Unfortunately though, he lost his footing, which gave Jay the chance to force him to his knees and knock away his sword.
"Alright, alright. You win." Daniel said grudgingly, pushing Jay aside, getting up and starting to walk away.
"Yeah, I do. Not such a wannabe now, am I? Looks like you can talk the talk, but not walk the walk. And THAT, my friend, is why I am going to be Adelle's knight." Jay sneered back at him.
"What did you just say?" Daniel asked, loathing in his voice, as he turned back to Jay.
"Stop it, both of you!" I cut in, before they could start fighting again. "We're on the same side here, guys. This isn't a war. And to be honest, right now, I don't want either of you as my knight if you are going to act like this. You are training to be knights of the crown. So stop fighting like children over candy and behave like them."
I was glad to see them both looking properly ashamed as I chastised them. Daniel turned to me, apology written all over his face.
"I'm so sorry Addie. You're right; we aren't acting like proper guardians. I just..."
"Don't. I don't really want to hear your excuses, either of you. I just don't understand how you could fight each other like that. Is being my knight such a big deal? If so, can't I have two? I don't see a problem with that."
"I do." Jay said, his eyes shooting daggers at Daniel. "I don't want to work with 'pretty boy' over there, who only got the opportunity to be your knight because his father is the head of the guard. He probably won't even tell you what he found out from the meeting that HE was allowed to attend."
"What are you talking about? Jay?" I asked, shocked.
"Why don't you ask him?" He replied.
"Daniel?"
"Adelle, I didn't tell you because I didn't want to upset you. You've been through so much lately and I -"
"I would have told her. She deserves to know." Jay cut in snidely.
"Jay, can you please leave us?" I asked, my voice shaking in my anger with Daniel. Jay looked at me, nodded, and walked away. I turned back to Daniel.
"Tell me."
He just looked at me sadly and shook his head.
"That wasn't a request, Daniel. That was an order. What do you know?"
He sighed.
"First of all, I don't know this for sure. It was a theory, the best one we've got, but it hasn't been proven yet. I was going to tell you when I knew for sure, Addie, I swear I was."
"Just tell me already Daniel."
"Do you remember that before your mom and your dad dated, your mom was going out with a member of the council named Irial?"
"Yeah. What about that?"
"Well, when they broke up, and your mom started going out with your dad, he was pretty pissed. Apparently he went mad and started threatening them, but never followed through with it. Of course, this was all before I was born too, so I wouldn't know for sure. What I do know is that when you were about 5, he tried to kidnap you. The guards caught him and stopped him in time, and he was banished to the far edges of the country. But he swore that he would come back and make them pay for what they did to him."
"What a whack-job." I said, but I was pretty freaked out about this.
"That's why you lived on Earth for so long. Did you ever wonder why you weren't up here with your kingdom? It was to keep your family safe, to protect you until you grew into your full powers and could look after yourself better. Nobody ever expected something like this to happen. No one in the history of our kingdom has threatened the throne like that. This is why he is our main suspect. As far as we know, he is the only Midorian with a motive to hurt your family. There have been rumors that he used dark magic, just like Kamen did. Of course, he hasn't been seen in years, so it's kind of hard to prove that he did anything."
I nodded silently. Could it be true? Could this man have murdered my family? I couldn't take it in.
"Adelle, are you okay?" Daniel asked, worry in his voice.
"I'm... not sure." I answered shakily. Daniel nodded and hugged me tightly.
"That's why I didn't want you to know this. Now you are going to worry about it. Please don't be afraid, Adelle. I'll keep you safe, no matter what. I promise."
I nodded into his chest, but disbelief was running through me. We had thought that my house was safe. We believed that this castle was safe. But was that really true? Or were my nightmares of death going to happen anyway?
Was anywhere safe?
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