Twinkle's Story: Chapter 59

TAUREL

I blink a few times before opening my eyes. 

Where am I?

Then he appears. He's still wearing navy blue just like myself. 

How dare he.

He comes closer to me. His paw is up at his face.

"Shh, shh," he says, "Do you really think we would allow you and your friend to go any further?"

He's aggravating me. "Oh no, he's not my friend. He's just my most loyal partner for the--"

"Aww, that's sweet," he says, cutting me off. My face gets warm.

I wonder where Risak is. He's probably in a state of euphoria since he was right and I was wrong. 

I sit up. That's when I really take notice of this guy's paw. 

"Your paw," I say as I focus on it completely mesmerized, "it's missing a finger." 

"Oh, that? It's nothing important."

That's where you're wrong. I can figure out the truth about your lost finger.

Where the finger should begin, there is something that looks like a black bruise. It's all black. 

Oh, this is too easy. Someone did this to you.

My eyes still locked on his missing finger, I tell him what I think. "Someone did this to you."

He averts my gaze. "That's right. My finger got very sick, and the only way to avoid getting more sick was if someone cut it off for me."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. I know who made your finger sick."

His shoulders tense up. I smile at him. 

"You touched black flames."

And only one person has black flames. Fierdan. No, not him.

"You've met Duke, I presume?" 

He hesitates for a moment before nodding his head. He keeps his head down.

"Good. That would mean you would know how much of a destructive monster the Duke Fierdan is." 

Hearing him suddenly laugh perplexes me. This isn't the time for laughter. 

"I only follow one person's orders. That person is definitely not you. I only follow Dawn's." 

"Dawn? What is the Dawn?" I ask, completely confused by what he means by this so called Dawn.

He looks up. "Why would I tell you? We're your enemy."

He pats my leg and then leaves the room. 

ARDERE 

"We should almost be there," I inform Duke. 

He's just studying a plant directly to the right of him, directly off the path. He looks over his shoulder to look at me. 

"Oh, cool," is all he says before turning his attention back at the plant. 

I sigh and go up to him. "Why are you looking at that plant?" 

Not looking at me, he says, "I'm trying to figure out what plant she uses. I doubt it's this one, but something about it feels familiar." 

I step away from Duke. I need a break from him just as much as he does from me. While he's looking over a neighboring plant, I sit down on a tree root. 

I think of my family. If they could see me now, they definitely wouldn't take me back in. Not even my sister would.

How can I tell them that I'm flawed? How can I tell them that I wasn't supposed to be a wolf but a fox? 

Oh and our father? He's plotting against me. I definitely wouldn't be allowed back home with him around. And then there's those guys. What if they stick around home, working with father?

Even though I won't be going back to that place, I wonder how Autumn and Mae are doing. I hope they're safe.

I take a quick glance back at Duke. All those months ago when Twinkle and I first met each other, we were just regular citizens. There was nothing special about us. Twinkle told me that she told Duke about our first encounter. Nothing seemed different about Duke either. 

His flames weren't activated yet. It amazes me how much of his memory was wiped. For so many years he didn't know so much.

He still doesn't know so much.

Those few seconds won't leave my head. When Duke first took off his sunglasses, a single tear rolled down his cheek. Only one line. 

I wasn't expecting him to become so dramatic. After all, I just thought it was unnecessary for him to keep wearing the sunglasses. 

Unless he wasn't directing that at me. Was he thinking about something entirely different when I heard him say that sentence? 

"This is what you wanted, right?" 

Was that directed at Fierdan? If so, what's it about? 

However, that's not why I can't forget those seconds. It's because when he said that, his left eye looked strange as he shed that single tear from that eye.

Duke doesn't even know what happened. He didn't bring anything up about it, except if he was just ignoring it.

Around the pupil of his left eye, there was a brief moment when the amber turned a distinct shade of purple. 

I look at Duke again. I don't approach him or tell him anything.

It's hard for me to imagine Duke looking the way he did in my dreams. 

This guy? Having the capability to be that powerful? It can't be possible, right? 

A figure hidden in the shadows. A gun positioned against his head. Shots fired. The eyes flashing open. Pure black eyes. A smile. 

"You can't kill me that easily," I heard Duke snarl, in the dreams I had.

All those dreams ended in flames. Black and orange flames. 

I take a deep breath. There's nothing wrong with taking a little rest. 

DAWN 

I go to the room I prepared for Twinkle to serve as a bedroom. It took me a few days for it to be ready. Going in, however, I don't find her anywhere. 

Exiting the room, I sigh. I see her holding a glass of water. 

"Twinkle, did you go to sleep last night?" 

She takes a sip of water and places the glass on the counter. I roll my eyes.

"Uh, I couldn't sleep again. Ha, ha." 

"You have to get sleep, Twinkle. You won't be healthy if you lack it."

She finishes the water. The empty glass slides down the counter. 

"I mean I couldn't sleep because of our conversation last night. Dawn, I'm so sorry for asking that."

This time I'm the one distracting myself. I put the glass away. 

"Oh, don't worry about it. You didn't know. It's fine, I swear." 

She twists a strand of blue hair around her finger. 

"No, it's not fine. It wasn't my intentions to make you cry."

I put a paw on her shoulder. I give a reassuring look.

"I know it wasn't your intentions. Thinking about my parents and not finding anything about them made me a little more emotional than I would usually show to other people." 

Twinkle gently takes hold of my other paw. I take my paw off her shoulder, and we go outside. 

"You don't show your emotions that much, Dawn. It's not healthy to bottle it all up inside. It's okay to show weakness."

I look at my feet and lower my voice. "I just want to know who my parents are. I want to know where I came from. It's like there's a road block in my brain. I know so much. Why not anything about them?"

She squeezes my paw, which makes me lift my head up. 

"You also told me you know a lot about our pasts. So I've been wondering, do you think you can tell me anything about mine? Like my, uh, first life? My better life?" 

I tell her to sit down. I sit down right after her. 

"Do you really want to know?" I ask.

She replies with, "Uh, well, yeah." 

I stretch my arms out behind me. Eh, why not make her brain explode. 

"Well, Twinkle, there's a lot I could tell you. Jamaa was a project that your mother worked on, which of course means you know nothing about the real world. You, me, Duke, your sister- every fox you know- are actually humans. Jamaa kinda, uh, altered that."

Her eyes widen. "R-real world? Jamaa isn't a real world? And what the heck are humans?" 

"I don't remember much about it. All I know is they look vaguely how we look, if you minus the fox features that is. Going back to my original point, there is also a group that's similar to us in the other world. Combined with those with Elemental Powers here with those way over there, you were the original leader. I mean here in Jamaa. Fierdan's brother is the leader in that reality. But what I'm trying to say is if we unite, then you would be the top leader." 

"I was a leader? Doesn't that mean I held more power than Duke and you?"

I laugh. She frowns at me. I stop laughing.

"Don't you know who you are, Twinkle? Your Elemental Power is the most special one of all. Two combined in one. Cold, blue fire. Ice characteristics. It's extraordinary." 

"And Fierdan has a brother in a world apart from him?" 

I nod. "Yeah, and he doesn't even know he has one. Memories of the human world were wiped from his and Duke's memories."

Twinkle gets up. She glares at me.

"You are such a mystery. How much are you hiding from us? Why would you keep all of this and more away from me? Away from the one you spent the most time together with? How could you do this to him?" 

I get up too. 

"Wiping their memories was for their own good. They don't have to know." 

My breath gets knocked out of me. I feel the grass brushing against my back. Twinkle has my arms and legs pinned down.

Then there's a big flash of bright blue light. I see the blue wings of ice and fire. Her eyes look in that way where only blue can be seen. Blue fire shoots out of every one of her claws. A blue aura surrounds her. Most of her hair is flowing in the wind behind her. I can't see much of it.

She actually looks very similar to him. She's the blue version of Duke. 

Twinkle even sounds similar to him. A chill runs down my spine. I'm not sure if it's because of fear or her power.

"I think I understand a reason why he wanted to kill you. Hiding and lying is what you do best. Right, you vixen?" 

I smile, tightening my grip on the green sword. 

"That's the spirit. Let's fight. You and me." 

I use the butt of the sword to knock her off me. When we're both standing, I go right up to her. 

I hesitate. It's starting to haunt me how similar she looks like Duke. It's as if she's him. 

Then I kiss her. 

Pressing the side of the sword against her throat, I whisper in her ear.

"The way I display my emotions in the easiest way is through love. Making it seem that kissing is only to show romantic love is completely stupid. Sorry to break it to you." 

TWINKLE 

I'm not exactly certain when a gear in my brain shifted from peacefulness to aggression. I feel like my actions are actions that Duke would do. 

You're distantly one of the same. One half him, one half you. You're more similar than you realized. 

I close my eyes. Shut up. Shut the hell up. Duke and I have barely anything in common. Leave me the hell alone.

Stop living in denial, Twinkle. It's true and you know it.

Still feeling the mint, I brush the side of my paw against my lips. When I'm done with that, I push Dawn off me.

That wicked grin on her face. It infuriates me. 

"I don't need a sword," I snarl. "I can hurt you without any."

"I'd like to see you try," she growls back. 

I fly up in the air. The tips of my wings brush against her right side before ascending. 

I dive down. Seeing my claws still glowing blue, I bend my paw. My claws dig into the side of her head. I don't let go until I see my paw at her jawline. 

At that point, I use my other paw to punch the other side of her head. 

After a flip in the air, I land on my feet. I take a few short breaths before looking at Dawn. 

Is she seriously clapping right now? What is with this person? 

"That's the spirit, Twinkle! Getting to know the extents of your Elemental Power can only be known through a violent situation. You're doing great!" 

Four lines have appeared on a side of her face. They were made by my claws. I left a mark. 

"I don't want this to be a game. I don't want other people to benefit from what I've done for myself," I snap.

My thoughts shift over to the vixen in school called Admiral. Oh gosh, I hate her. The constant bullying, the harassment- how did I allow all of that to happen to me? I was so weak back then. 

Now I wouldn't mind if she died. In fact, I hope she does. I hope she drops dead. 

See, Twinkle? Deep down, you have violent tendencies just like how Duke does. You want to seek revenge for people who have hurt you in the past. You want to actually fight Dawn, despite speaking casually a few minutes ago. You wouldn't mind if your opponents suffer from the pain you inflict on them. You are a killer at heart, Twinkle.

I never heard what Dawn said after that. 

Because I can only think of that last sentence. 

You are a killer at heart, Twinkle. 

DUKE

I watch Ardere exit the forest. This area feels familiar. 

"Are we there yet?" I ask him.

I don't need an answer to the question. The secret forest path that led from the center of fox territory to the southeastern coast of it has ended. We made it. 

My eyes skim over the plants on either side of the path. I look away from the ground and put the sunglasses back on. Not just because of hiding my face, but because it's going to be so bright out of the shade of the trees. 

"Yeah, those plants I pointed out before weren't the plants she used. They're a different shade of green, and they don't have the same texture."

Ardere says, "Mhmm," and then suddenly stops walking. I knock into him and immediately apologize. 

For Ardere, a wolf, to be standing upright must have been a challenge to learn. Walking in the same way I do must have been a pain for him. 

He nods his head. I smile, relieved. This boy is so chill. Not as easily heated as I can be sometimes. Those times are behind me.

That's only because Fierdan has confined Soulless, so they can't invade his mind. Fierdan hasn't needed anything of you either. That's why you feel like you have mental stability right now. Be thankful for it while it lasts. If it goes on for too long, you could possibly go back to hallucinating again.

I bite my lip. Oh no, not those again. With my brain constantly being invaded by Fierdan and Soulless, I forgot about those terrifying moments in the hospital. 

Now when I think about it, why was Twinkle in the hospital? Wasn't I in a far worse state than her? Especially mentally? 

Oh, that's right. The second phantom attack she endured. That was it. 

I wonder if she can handle phantoms better now. I, for one, am part-phantom. Part of my blood is phantom blood. And if she was to go back west and see her parents again, she would have to face the phantoms located all over there. 

I shake my head. What's going on? 

I run after Ardere. Even with the sunglasses on, everything seems way too bright. 

While squinting my eyes, I see a bright blue color. It stands clearly against the afternoon sky. 

"Twin...kle?"

A few minutes later, I realize that it's her. It's actually her. 

She looks so different. Where did her tail thing go? Where did her necklace go? 

"Ardere!" she shouts, bolting towards him. 

She picks him up. They spin in circles. 

After watching them spin around for a few minutes, I cough. 

Ardere jumps out of her arms and stands next to me as I face Twinkle.

The look she gives me is cold. 

"Duke," is all she says. 

She doesn't even hug me. She just walks back in the direction she came from.

I can't blame her. I just silently watch her go back. 

"Come on, Duke, let's go," I hear him say. 

I nod and follow Ardere.