*Since stories I was just reading gave me the "feels", I decided to post a new chapter here. Because of something called "Cutepups failing to post so many feels in this story and series- //sob". Seriously, the "feels". Just, like, why.*
*So many interesting concepts I still have to do. I hope this chapter is interesting enough. Gah.. I love hurting my characters so much. So many evil author thoughts, hehe.*
*Enjoy the chapter!*
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DAWN
"Ugh, what's taking them so long? They were supposed to give Duke to me already. Where could they possibly be?" I complain as I stir the spoon in the teacup. They always did what I told them to do. They are like my personal servants- my lovely servants.
In the meantime, I made some new tea for when he decides to show up. His favorite- mint tea. I lift the spoon out from the depths of the tea and raise it right above the cup. The perfect mixture of water with a tinge of a warm hazel brown to form that soothing tea color, and those crisp and neat mint leaves floating throughout the tea- some resting on the bottom of the cup, some touching the surface, some floating in rhythm with the flow of the tea itself.
With, of course, the exceptionally sweet aroma of the most wonderful herbs and spices. Being the earth Elemental Power, I have a way of using the finest plants in existence.
And of course the best-of-the-best leaves have to be used for him. He deserves the best-of-the-best and nothing less. I even saved him before- in his reincarnation form, I mean- when he had that heatstroke in the emptiness. He had Twinkle, and she couldn't do a thing. Saying she deserves him- ha! She knows absolutely nothing about our past, my past with Fierdan.
Poor, poor Fierdan. Having to go through such extreme pain to be prepared for his Elemental Power, fire. The most intense and painful- to self and others- Power. Mastering the art of flames.
And on top of that having so many people eager to tear him apart. To get a glimpse of his epicness, to understand, to avenge the deaths he uncontrollably caused. Whatever the reason, they all want to exterminate him permanently in the end.
I'm the only one who can protect him. No matter what the cost. Even when he hates me more than anything in the world, I still love him, will still protect him from the horrors of the world. Always.
Twinkle will never have what Fierdan and I have. So what if their Elemental Powers have a spiritual past which connects their spiritual forms in the closest ways possible? She'll never love him as much as I do.
In our original forms, he was my first friend. I thought I was all alone, surrounded by the black. All the black. I was so confused about where they all went, why they formed a blurry image in my memories.
I didn't know what happened at all. Except that a moment I once knew I had parents, and a moment later not remembering them at all. One moment by my side, the next nowhere in sight. Only remembering my name, Dawn.
So young, so innocent. I never once forgot his bright amber eyes, the only bright thing in the darkness. Even when he had that murderous glint in his eyes aimed at me, I never forgot that day. That day we met.
He was so excited when he saw me. His bright eyes and big smile lit up his face like fiery sparks. "Y-You," he had stuttered, "You are alive. I-I'm not alone anymore."
I was crying in the sea of black. Then he came right in front of me and said, "Hello! Why are you crying?"
And I wiped my eyes and stared at him. "I... I... I don't know what happened to them. Where are they? Why can't I remember them? Are these black forms them?"
Then he said, "I don't know where we are, and I can't remember anything before being here either. You are the first person here who is just like me... alive."
Then I sniffed, "We only have each other now, you mean?"
And then he beamed down at me and said, "Want to be friends?" followed by giving me a hug while I nodded my head.
I don't know how long we've been silently like that until he asked, "Do you remember your name?"
I hesitated and said, "Dawn."
And he replied, "Well, I'm Fierdan."
"F... F... Fee-ear-dan?" I stammered, and then he told me how to pronounce it correctly- Fierdan.
And that's how Fierdan and I first met. Twinkle will never understand that about us. Our connection of being alone in the dark. I need his living form, Duke, more than ever.
No one has a closer clue to his true past but me. Not even Twinkle.
I stop staring into the tea, and I look straight ahead in the direction of the cliff.
I'll always be here waiting for you to come back and be how you were back then. I'll never stop waiting... for your return.
CALLIAH
"You are gonna do what we tell you to, darn it!" he yells and then kicks my side.
"T-Taurel," I whisper, "You truly are insane."
His left eye twitches as he says, "W-What did you say? Come on, get up you darn vixen!" He yanks my right paw, forcing me to my feet.
I reply with more courage in my voice, "You can do whatever you want to me. I'm never gonna do that to him."
"Yes you are! You are gonna torture your so called son and break him apart. You're great at doing that already, so stop refusing to cooperate!"
I stare at the rest of them who are surrounding me and Taurel in a circle. All their sinister faces. Sparkle and Finny holding paws and snickering. The rest of them giving me deadly glares.
A few minutes pass before Taurel says in an exasperated voice, "Fine! I'll do it myself then since you are a stupid, uncooperative, useless vixen!"
The adults murmur among each other while Sparkle and Finny just stare straight at me. Then Risak goes up to Taurel and whispers in his ear. Afterwards, he smiles at me.
"Okay then, Calliah. I have a less... umm... heinous task for you. How about instead of doing the torturing and experimenting yourself because you're too much of a darn coward, you get rid of that memory-wipe spell you casted on Duke. You see, we have to know the true extent of his power, his murderous intent, before we can go any further. We have to be prepared for him. You understand, don't you?"
I simply say, "No."
Taurel simply responds by knocking me down to the ground once again. Punch after punch to the sides of my face, he yells suddenly desperate, "You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Calliah. Do you have any gosh darn idea who Duke and Fierdan actually are? They're ticking time bombs! They have to be ridden of before they explode! They're gonna destroy not only this world, darn it! They have to be stopped immediately!"
Oh, the Fierdans? Oh, they're ticking time bombs alright. And I'll just wait until that glorious day when they both explode and make this corrupted world finally end once and for all.
DUKE
It turns out I wasn't crying for hours. It was only a few minutes, really. I guess all the agonizing pain I was feeling just made time feel way longer.
It also turned out that the government fake that barged in on me intentionally hurting myself and getting dressed- that creep- didn't exactly die. Well, his finger that touched my black flames died.
Actually, the other government fake ran into my room almost immediately after I began sobbing on the floor of the room. He pulled out a pocketknife from one of the pockets in his suit, and swiftly chopped off the inflamed and throbbing finger. I guess he couldn't feel his finger being chopped off because he was unconscious and didn't shriek or anything. I guess having the finger that had the black flame deadly poison in it being removed from the rest of his body saved his life.
That government fake is still unconscious. This one, however, is staring at my black flames that are still shooting out from right underneath my shoulderblades at my spine like wings. Just like the other one, he shows obvious interest in my black fiery wings.
"Black flames," he murmurs, "the most beautiful color of flames. They look quite stunning on you, my Fier... I mean Duke sir. Mastering flames is a true art."
I lick the blood that's pouring out of the cuts on my right wrist and say, "Just remember not to be a stupid fool and to not touch the black flames like your buddy over there did. I'm not really in the mood for killing someone today."
For some reason, the taste of my blood feels so good on the tip of my tongue. When I lick the blood from my wrist dry, I bite the palm of my paw. Heck, maybe so many people want to break me apart because they want my blood. My... delicious... blood.
He cuts off my thoughts about wanting to drink all the blood in my right paw so it can feel numb, just like my soul, by suddenly saying, "Duke, you are quite something. A big something! You're like a demigod... if Zios was an actual god I mean. But you're still quite something, Duke Fierdan. By the way, what do the "D" and "U" in your name stand for?"
I look up from my paw at him. "What the heck are you saying? Duke doesn't stand for anything. It's just the name Fierdan decided to name his reincarnation, which is me. It's not an acronym or anything."
But he only says, clearly deep in thought, "Hmm, maybe the "D" and the "U" stand for what the "K" and the "E" mean in one of those ancient Jamaasian languages or one of the languages of the Ancients."
Now looking down at the floor, my black flames moving with the flow of air, I get flashes of Twinkle. Seeing flashes of her in my head keep me silent.
Until the government fake says, "You know you were created to be a puppet that's only supposed to know the evil in the world and become it. Even your name, Duke, proves it. The "KE" standing for "Kill Everybody". It's in your very nature to be cruel and heartless."
I blink. "Are you saying I'm only Fierdan's bad traits? Because you're very stupid then. Fierdan was never cruel and heartless. It was--"
"Oh, but who actually did the killing in the end? It was him, your past self, and you can't deny that."
I continue to stare at my feet. "It was never his fault. It's Zios and Mira's fault. It's their fault, it's theirs, they caused this hell!" My black flames move more quickly.
He traces his index finger along my jawline and makes me raise my head to look him in the eye. In a sly voice he snarls, "It's about time you stop blaming your heinous actions on your parents, new Fierdan."
I don't know what is in this guy's fingertips because ever since he touched my face, I've been suddenly feeling nauseous. I say, "M-Mira was never my mother. I... I--"
Without warning, he slams his fist into the left side of my face at the jawline. I feel my teeth ringing in my head due to the impact. Blurry images spin in my head. I grab my knees and cough.
"Stop lying, darn it! You're not gonna escape this time! You can't escape any longer, darn you!"
I start coughing up blood. I feel like I'm dying inside, but my black flames are still shooting out just as strongly as they were a few minutes ago.
What the heck has gotten into me?!
"I can escape any time I like. You can't stop me, you helpless fool. I can do whatever the heck I like."
Then I'm knocked to the ground. I then feel being dragged to the door, the red shirt draped over my back.
Once we leave the building, he snarls, "Now it's about time I take you to Dawn."
Dawn...
The haunting dreams of me brutally killing her come to my mind. All the blood, all the fire, all the screams.
"No!" I scream as he drags me across the ground. "Don't bring me near Dawn! Please... don't."
He just rolls his eyes. "Stop complaining! You are gonna be with Dawn and do whatever she wants you to, and that's final!"
"You don't understand!" I cry out. "You have to keep me away from her! I'm gonna hurt her so much! Just... under--"
He smiles at me. It makes me very uncomfortable. "Oh, you're gonna hurt her alright."
"I don't even love her!" I blurt out. "I'm with Twinkle now, gosh darn it! I'll never love her as much as I love Twinkle!"
"Oh, you're funny, Duke."
After nearly a half hour of being dragged, he suddenly yanks me upright. "We're here, get up!"
Still feeling sick, I stumble to my feet and stand up. I cough up some more blood.
"Oh, before I go. Gotta tell ya something. It was really great of you to let my partner touch your black flames. They really are deadly and toxic... how lovely."
And just like that, he started walking away. Finally feeling my black flames diminishing, I put on the red shirt.
Wait... What happened to my black outfit?
As an answer, the government fake throws my black clothes behind him as he continues to walk away.
I immediately put the black clothes over the red. What's the point of looking dressed up in fancy red clothes when you already look like a wreck on the inside and outside?
After a few seconds of standing there and doing nothing else, I hear footsteps coming from the direction of the mountain in front of me.
Her bright green dress comes into my sight. Then her dusky brown hair, not tied up this time. No hat covers her eyes this time either. Her eyes are just as bright as those visions I had all those weeks ago.
"Hello," she says as she brushes her fingertips on my cheek. The feeling of leaves gently brushing against my cheek as they swiftly fall down fill my mind as she touches my face.
Just like falling leaves...
"I missed talking with you," she murmurs, her soothing breath now on my neck.
Suddenly, all thoughts about Twinkle disappear. I hear myself saying, "I missed you too, Dawn. I missed you so badly."
She giggles so sweetly. Mesmerized by her eyes and her touch, I look straight at her. Just looking at her feels like my cuts and bruises are fading away. It's like she's healing me by just standing there and touching the right side of my face.
"Take off your jacket, you must be burning hot," she whispers. I nod and take off the black jacket. As well as the black shirt.
Dawn smiles at me. "So this is the shirt they planned for you to wear, eh? Well, I don't really care about that. You don't really look that good in it. Take--"
Before she can finish her sentence, I nod. I take off the red shirt.
The purple and black flame that covers my heart is still slightly glowing. Not as brightly as before, but it's definitely still glowing.
She traces a finger on the tips of the flame and whispers, "Black flame. I'm guessing you're asking for explanations about it?"
I finally say, "Yeah. So can you?"
Dawn closes her eyes and nods slowly. "Yeah, yeah. Of course I can."
Suddenly, I feel her soothing and minty breath on my lips.
Again, what the heck has gotten into me?!
I kiss her, feeling the taste of mint rush into my mouth. And then I do it again and again.
TWINKLE
I open my eyes and suddenly scream. In this strange new place with a stranger staring at me.
"Hey," the black fox in her weird black clothes says.
"Who the heck are you?" I demand.
She just laughs. Her bright black eyes are giving me the creeps. Her laugh is too. "I'm Black Raven!" she cackles. "Who do you think I am? A, you know--"
"Okay, okay! You're Black Raven!"
"Yeah, that's me. I can form into an actual raven, but I'm usually just a... umm... fox. Yeah, fox. I also teleported you here, if you've been wondering."
I begin to look around. The room we're in is pretty cold too. I rub my arms. "Where'd you take me to, Black Raven?"
She smiles. "Oh, just call me Raven! You don't have to call me anything fancy, girl!"
I just stare at her blankly. Then I say, "Uh okay, as I said, where are we now?"
"We're in your and your sister's castle. Duh!" Raven laughs and points up at the wispy clouds on the ceiling.
I blink at her. "My uh what?"
"Your castle, silly! Just like how your boyfriend had one in his past life, so did you. Do ya have any idea how you two met in your first lives?"
"Umm... no," I admit, "I didn't even know I was also a real reincarnation like... like they are."
Raven just lets out a laugh. "Of course you are! All you guys are! You're part of the gang too, Twinkle!"
I nod and stare at the icy blue walls. "The pattern is quite astounding," I comment, "It looks very complex. Who made it?"
Raven simply replies, "You did of course."
Suddenly, Raven stands completely still with her smile no longer on her face. "Oh dear..." she breathes, worry in her voice.
"Twinkle, I am so sorry. It's your puppet boyfriend."
Then the images pop up in my head. They're real pictures. They... They...
"How could he?!" I choke out. "He... He told me he loves me an infinite number of times over her. I-It doesn't l-look that way!"
Raven simply replies, "Guys are such jerks, Twinkle."
I just nod my head and sob into her neck.
A few minutes later, she whispers, "I'll always be here to support you, my dear Twinkle."
I should've known it wasn't gonna last forever. No one truly loves and cares about me in the end.
