Amazing cover image made by Shreya_VA <3
__________________________________________________
Another day, another long, boring car ride with her mom, Lauren, in the front seat driving in complete silence. It doesn't matter how many times Naomi asks her to turn on the radio, it's never gonna happen.
Every day for the past two years it's been like this. Her mother insisted on always driving her to school instead of taking the bus, despite having to drive all the way from their home in the city of Riven to Wrightendell, a whole city over just to get to school.
It's annoying, but Naomi can't really blame her after what happened. It was in Wrightendell where her father died, after all. The city has always had a higher crime rate than anywhere else in Eutria. That's where the rogue Hexes seem to enjoy hanging out. And it was the rogue Hexes that caused the fire that took the life of Edgar Morris.
The Imperium was insane to think that giving half the population 'superhuman powers' was a good idea. Sure, the majority of Hexes work towards helping others with their abilities, but in any scenario where people are given power, there will always be those who only want to cause harm. Not to mention the unspoken class divide between the Hexes and the 'lowly' regular humans.
Naomi stops her train of thought the moment she realizes that in her boredom she began pointing out the obvious flaws of the government power that rules over the continent. Moral of the story; shit's fucked. Moving on.
She tilts her head to the side and peers over the back of the driver's seat in front of her, peeking over her mother's shoulder. "...So... I was wondering if... maybe Kitty and Oliver could come over tonight? Just for a bit, if it's okay?" she asks. Through the slightly frosted windshield, she can see the school, Wrightendell High come into view.
Lauren shrugs with defeat and nods. "...I don't care. I'm going out tonight so it's not my problem," she murmurs and turns into the school parking lot. Naomi nods her head and sinks back into her seat with a sigh. The car comes to a stop and her mother just waits without even glancing back at her.
Forcing herself to muster the will to face another boring day of disdainful glances from the self-righteous Hexes of upperclassmen and teachers who always look so stiff and austere that you wonder how they manage to teach with the pencils shoved so far up their asses, she opens the car door and steps out into the cold winter air.
Naomi glances back at her mother and nods. "...Have a good day, mom." She flashes a small smile. Her mother just nods and pulls away as soon as Naomi shuts the door.
With a sigh, she turns back to the school and meets it with apathetic enthusiasm. Just two more years and she can be done with this shit. Then she can finally move out and go live in Nerawin with Kitty and Oliver. She just has to make it two more years.
Easier said than done.
By lunch period, Naomi is already inclined to kindly request directions to the nearest cliff. But alas, asking people questions would first require social skills. And people who notice her existence.
"What up, muffdriver? You look like you could use a joint."
Well, there's that one. Naomi lifts her head from the lunch table to see the living carnation of the saying 'it's not a phase'.
Dressed in mostly black with baggy pants that have chains looping around her legs, and a black sweater with an 80s Kool-Aid ad printed in a splash of colors. She's wearing spiked black platforms with a blasphemous amount of buckles. Her messy black hair is tied up in two large buns on the top of her head. Her green eyes are behind a terrifying layer of fake lashes and eye makeup that is way beyond Naomi's ability to comprehend or describe, so just leave it up to the imagination. Most people who meet this riot of a woman usually do.
Naomi shows a weak smile. "Hey, Kitty. I wouldn't say no if you're offering," she chuckles. Kitty groans.
"Oh, I was hoping you had some. Damn. So much for that plan." She plops down into the stool beside her.
Kitty throws her lunch tray filled with fries and a slice of sausage pizza down on the table and shovels a handful of fries into her mouth. She takes one and points it at Naomi. "Where's your lunch?" she asks with the tone of a disappointed mother. A tone Naomi knows all too well.
She rolls her eyes and grins, snatching the fry from Kitty's hand and stuffing it into her mouth with a cheeky grin. "Look at that, I just finished," Naomi chuckles. Kitty frowns.
"You need to eat more. Have my pizza," she says and slides her tray to be between them.
Naomi shakes her head. "I'm not hungry," she says.
Kitty growls at her. "Naomi Harriet Morris. If you don't eat this pizza I will force you to watch as I see how many bananas I can deepthroat again. High score is still three, wanna make it four?"
Naomi slowly sinks back with wide eyes, trying to purge the cursed memory from her mind unsuccessfully. That was a day she will never forget. The first time she witnessed the true power of Kitty Garcia.
"Kitty, you promised to never do that again. Naomi and I still have nightmares about it... All the therapy did nothing."
Naomi and Kitty look back to see their resident shy pretty boy. Wearing black jeans and a sweater vest, layered with a brown flannel coat that a fish could drown in, the sleeves hanging well past his hands. He's wearing plain black tennis shoes and wide round glasses over his hazel eyes. His dark brown hair styled messily in a way that only he could pull off.
"Oliver. I made that promise when I was stoned out of my fuckin' gourd. It doesn't count. Besides, I won't have to if Naomi just shoves this fuckin' pizza in her mouth and eats it. Choose, Naomi. Either I deepthroat four bananas, or you deepthroat this piece of pizza. There is no in-between." Kitty stands up on the stool and crosses her arms, towering over her friends.
Oliver lowers his head and glances around. "Kitty, get down... we don't want to give the Hexes any more reason to think we're weird..." He slowly lowers into the stool on the opposite side of Naomi.
Kitty shakes her head. "I am so tempted to start dancing like a stripper simply to spite you and your worrying. They already think we're weird. And you know what?" She grins and steps up to the center of the table, throwing her arms out at her sides and looking over the cafeteria.
"I'm a fuckin' freak with a pound of cocaine in my backpack and a hentai collection in my locker and I'm not one bit ashamed to admit it!" she announces as loud as possible, earning the attention of pretty much everyone in the room.
Oliver puts his head down and buries his face in his coat. "Not again..." he grumbles.
Naomi sighs and lightly tugs on one of the chains on Kitty's pants. "Get down you fucking psychopath or I'll stuff you in a locker myself."
From a table to their right, there is a round of laughter from a group of upperclassmen. Hexes at that. One girl with platinum blonde hair tied back in a tight ponytail motions to Kitty for a boy beside her with spiked ginger hair to look. "Get her down," the girl sneers.
The boy chuckles and nods, turning his attention to Kitty but she stands firm. "Try it, snobby fucknut! I dare you!" she spats.
"Kitty..." Naomi warns in a low voice.
Kitty scoffs. "Why the hell should I be afraid of speaking my mind? Just because of some conceited pissflaps with so-called 'powers' tells me to? Naomi, aren't you tired of this bullshit, too?" She looks down at her friend.
Naomi sighs and nods. "Well, yeah. They're always being self-righteous cunts. But that doesn't change the fact that they can incinerate us with the snap of their fingers. Or send us flying out of Wrightendell all the way to Tratend," she says.
Kitty rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Come on." She reaches down and grabs Naomi's arm, pulling her up onto the table with her. "In case you didn't hear her over the sound of your pompous Hex orgy, maybe now it'll be clearer. Now, Naomi. What was it you said about them?"
Naomi grumbles and huffs. She stares at the Hexes and then looks back to Kitty. "Can I get down now?" she whispers.
Kitty shakes her head. "No! Naomi, come on. Really?" she whispers back sharply.
Naomi shrugs. "I just want to steal more of your fries. I don't need this."
The Hexes laugh again and the ginger boy sneers at her. "Yeah, grungy. Come on, let's hear it! What could a nobody like you possibly think of us?"
Naomi frowns and glares at him. "Fine... you want to know?" She crosses her arms and scrunches her face. "I said you're all self-righteous cunts! But the truth is that you are no better than anyone else!" she shouts.
"Um... Naomi, Kitty... get down..." Oliver tugs on Naomi's pant leg. She looks down to see a teacher headed their way.
"Fuck." She quickly climbs down and tries ducking under the table, but ends up hitting her head on the wood, earning more laughs from the Hexes.
Kitty looks to the teacher. "Try it! I'm not moving," she exclaims.
"Yes you are," the ginger boy says from behind her and a strong force of wind shoves her off the table and face-first onto the floor at the teacher's feet.
Oliver gasps and gets up, helping Kitty stand. "Are you okay? That looked painful," he asks.
Kitty laughs. "I was dropped many times as a kid. My skull is indestructible."
Naomi gets up as well and joins her friends at their side. They all look up at the teacher. He gives them all a stern glare.
The next thing they know, they're standing outside the school after earning themselves the annual prize of suspension. They've really got a winning streak; this would be about the third time this semester.
"Once again, Kitty. You get us kicked out of school. Good job." Oliver frowns and crosses his arms. Kitty beams and pats his shoulder.
"Well yeah, I just gave us a free pass out of school for the week. You're welcome, by the way. Fucking ingrates," she scoffs playfully.
Naomi looks down. "There's no way my mom's going to give me a ride... she's probably already wasted at the club by now..." she groans.
Kitty smiles. "I can drive you home. After all, we were gonna hang out, anyway," she says.
Oliver shakes his head. "I will drive. After all that, I don't trust you behind the wheel." He snatches her keys from her pocket.
Kitty rolls her eyes. "Only if I get shotgun and call the music!" she hisses and starts rushing towards her van that looks like the satanic rendition of the Mystery Machine.
Feeling a weighing apprehension she can't place, Naomi follows them into the van and slides the door shut as she takes her seat. Her stomach is in knots for some strange reason that lingers the whole way home to Riven.
They arrived at Naomi's house around dusk, with the sun slowly sinking in the winter sky, with the slight snow gently falling to the ground. As they exit the van, Kitty eyes the house to the right of Naomi's. "Hey, have you seen anything of that weird old kook, yet?" she asks.
Naomi shakes her head. "Not really. I really thought he was going to move out in a manner of days, seeing as he didn't bring anything but one box. But six months later, he's still here. So long as he doesn't sacrifice children or drink the blood of puppies, I'd say he's fine." She shrugs and starts walking towards her own house, trying to fish her key out of her coat pocket.
Oliver jogs up to her side. "Do you even know his name?" he asks. Naomi shakes her head again.
"Nope. Though I think I remember mom calling him 'Mr. Wood' at some point. She tried talking to him once, but it clearly went nowhere."
Before she's able to grab her key, her phone starts vibrating in her other pocket. She quickly reaches in and pulls it out, eyeing it curiously and flipping it open. "Naomi, why the hell do you still have that old ass flip phone?" Kitty snides.
Naomi scoffs and turns away from her. "Because, unlike some people, I have an acquired taste for classics," she says.
"Since when do people call you? Is it your mom?" Oliver asks. Kitty rushes up and joins them. Naomi shakes her head and stares at the number.
"It's... the police?" she questions.
Kitty laughs. "Shit. Naomi, what the hell did you do this time?" She pats her back playfully.
Naomi frowns. "Maybe harbor a raging lunatic with a pound of cocaine in her bag," she deadpans and answers the call, holding her phone to her ear. "Hello?" she asks and crosses her free hand over, tucking it in the crook of her arm for warmth and waiting anxiously.
"Hello. This is Detective David Shields calling from the Riven Police Department. Am I speaking to Naomi Morris?" the detective says.
Naomi tenses. "Um... yes. Is there a problem?" she asks and glances at her friends, who show her curious eyes of anticipation.
"I am calling because we received anonymous calls from downtown reporting a traffic collision on the east side of Jensen street. I regret to inform you that Lauren Morris was found dead with alcohol in her system this afternoon behind the wheel of her car," he explains.
Naomi's heart freezes and her face pales. She slowly turns and looks at Kitty and Oliver blankly. "...what...?" she breathes out, her breath shuddering out in the frigid air.
"We are aware of the incident that transpired in Wrightendell when your father, Edgar Morris, died in the burning factory after the Hex raid. Rest assured, we will be sending an officer out to collect you and bring you to a home where you can stay until you turn eighteen. They should be arriving around tomorrow afternoon, so have a bag packed. I am sorry for your loss, ma'am. Have a good day," and he hangs up.
Naomi slowly lowers the phone and drops it, letting it hit the wooden porch. She just stares off at nothing with empty eyes.
"Naomi? What's wrong? What did they say?" Oliver asks.
Naomi looks at him with shattered eyes. "...my mom is dead..." she shudders, hearing the words from her own mouth only makes them more real. It isn't terribly surprising as Naomi had warned her mother numerous times about her drunk driving, but now that her worries have come true it almost feels like a nightmare that she's waiting to wake up from.
Kitty gasps and instantly throws her arms around Naomi tightly hugging her against herself and stroking her long black hair. "Oh, sweetheart... I am so sorry..." she whispers gently.
Oliver joins in and covers Naomi's other side, wrapping his arms around both girls. "...Is there anything we can do?" he asks.
Naomi shrugs meekly and leans away from them. "...I don't know... an officer is going to come here tomorrow to bring me to a home... I... I don't want to go to an orphanage... I don't... know what to do..." She starts blinking back tears.
Kitty stands firm. "Well... Oliver and I are technically adults. You could just move in with us," she says. Oliver looks at her.
"Can we do that? Can we actually adopt her?" he questions.
Kitty shrugs. "I don't see why not," she says.
Naomi keeps her head down and the two look back at her. "Hey... maybe you could just use a distraction right now... we'll figure something out later..." Oliver smiles sympathetically.
Naomi sniffles and looks up at him through blurred eyes. "...Like what?" she asks in defeat.
Kitty purses her lips and looks back to Mr. Wood's house. A slightly amused gleam flashes in her eyes. "The crazy old guy left his window open. In the middle of January." She grins and looks back at her friends with mischievous amusement.
Oliver cocks a brow. "So?" he asks.
Kitty crosses her arms. "Come on. It's fucking freezing out here, and he decided to leave the window open? What if, hypothetically, Naomi here lost the key to her house. We're stuck out here. And, oh look! An open window that will let us in and give us warmth against the bitter cold of winter. It's a matter of life and death, here." She turns and starts walking towards the open window.
"Kitty!" Oliver exclaims and chases her.
Naomi shrugs and picks up her phone, following her friends over to the side of the house. "Honestly... at this point... I don't even care. The police are coming for me, anyway. So what's the harm?" She places her hands on the windowsill and tries jumping up, but the window is too far off the ground.
Kitty kneels down and hooks her fingers together. "I'll boost ya," she says. Naomi nods and steps away from the wall. She steps into Kitty's hands and is hoisted up over the lip. From there, she crawls through and drops to the floor on the other side in the house.
"You look around, Naomi. We'll wait here. Call us if you need anything. Or if you find this guy's got a massive porn stash. In which case, I call dibs," Kitty chuckles.
Naomi sighs and turns away from the window, looking around the dark house. It's as she had expected: empty. Save for a few folding chairs leaned against the far wall of the kitchen and gathered dust in the corners. The floors are all wooden and creaky, making it very hard to sneak around.
What am I doing...? This is so stupid... Luckily it doesn't seem like he's home. Naomi groans quietly and stands up, walking towards a staircase leading to the second floor. It's so dark she nearly walks into the banister, but she manages to maneuver her way around it and slowly ascend the steps.
They bring her to a long hallway, all the doors shut except for one at the very end. Through all the darkness, from this room is the only light in the entire house. From behind the ajar door is a soft green glow pouring out into the hallway by a few inches before fading to the dark.
Slowly, Naomi walks towards the door. Ignoring every creak of the floorboards that follows each careful step she takes. She reaches the door and carefully pushes it open, revealing what was giving off the glow.
In the center of the room is a glowing green orb of some sort, settled on a metal pedestal with wires threading out of the side, hooked up to some box with an array of buttons and switches. Aside from the strange orb and machine, the room itself is empty. All the windows are blacked out completely and boarded up, and beside the box machine thing is some kind of map to a place she had never heard of or seen before, but it's impossible to read in the dark room.
Instead, she just grabs the map and tries to look at it, but she can't see with the darkness. She turns around and looks at the orb again, seeing the green glow. She moves over to it and holds the map in the light, only to see that the map almost looks like something out of a video game, with the old paper and uniquely shaped landmasses, but she doesn't recognize whatever this place is.
She apprehensively looks up at the orb. Something about it seems strangely... alive. Being closer to it, there is definitely something unnatural about this thing, the way it radiates heat and almost pulses as she draws nearer, as if it's pulling her in, calling her to it. Unconscious to the feeling it gives her and the absent control it has over her mind, she starts reaching her hand towards it.
From downstairs, she hears a door slam, then frantic footsteps growing louder, but Naomi remains entranced by this object so she pays the sounds no mind. The door flies open, slamming against the wall and Naomi throws her gaze back while still keeping her hand extended towards the orb.
Mr. Wood runs at her with a panicked fear lacing his emerald green eyes. His dark grey hair and beard in the dim green glow from this device almost makes him look like a crazed wizard from one of Oliver's DnD campaigns. He reaches down and grabs her shoulder. "NO! STOP! Don't touch the rift! I need it to find C—"
Whatever he was going to say is stopped as Naomi's hand lands on the orb. She feels a jolt rush through her body and a spark shocks her hand.
The whole room is lost to a bright flash of light, the only thing she hears is the shattering of windows as the wooden boards break away, then all her other senses are stripped away from her as the white light fades to darkness.
When she finally regains consciousness, she hears birds chirping and feels the sun shining down on her face. The air is warm, not what she was expecting in the middle of winter. But beneath her, she doesn't feel snow. She feels the poking of grass and twigs and a soft breeze floating through the air.
She opens her eyes and squints against the bright blue sky. A flock of birds soars overhead, scattering throughout the forest. Naomi slowly sits up and looks around, but is unable to take in her new surroundings as shouting grabs her attention.
"I can't believe you did this! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get my hands on that rift?! It wasn't even the right one! And now, because of some stupid kid, I have to start all over! You have no idea how much this is going to cost me!" Mr. Wood paces back and forth, flailing his arms out as he shouts.
Naomi looks at him sideways. "What? What are you talking about? Where are we?" she asks timidly, her eyes darting around the forest clearing where she lays.
Mr. Wood growls and shakes his head. "...'Where are we?' You shouldn't just go touching ancient technology if you don't know what it does! We're in—"
Cutting him off, a powerful gust of wind rushes through the air, rustling the forest and blowing leaves off branches. A dark shadow passes over the clearing swiftly, with massive, scaled wings and bones jutting out through the black leathery hide. It's quickly gone, leaving Naomi staring up at the sky with wide eyes. "...What... was that...?" she breathes out and looks to Mr. Wood.
He grumbles and nods. "That was a Drynthar... a dragon." He stuffs his hands into the pockets of his brown trench coat and watches her with gruff annoyance.
Naomi slowly stands up, staring at him. "...Where the hell are we?" she asks again.
Mr. Wood sighs and nods to her pocket where she has the map. She pulls it out and studies it. In the center of the map is a large continent shaped in almost a claw, and beneath the landmass is the name. "We're on Aramora." Mr. Wood turns away, staring off into the forest.
Naomi looks up from the map and back to the sky. The leaves are finally beginning to settle from the force of the beating of the Drynthar's wings. Not sure what else there is to say, she lets her mind work for her while she sits back. A wide smile grows on her face and her eyes light up.
"...Fuck yeah."
_______________________________
______________________
Notes:
Welcome to Aramora! A brand new story that I've been wanting to start writing for about a year now and now I'm finally here. I am extremely excited for the things I have planned for the future of this story and others to come. I also want to thank the great Aloe once again for designing Kitty Garcia and Oliver Hill, as well as help name this new story.
Map of Aramora by me. :)
You don't need to memorize the map, it's just to use as reference for the story moving forward if you want. There won't be a quiz at the end, I promise. ;)