I followed Maya and promptly stopped next to her, met with the sight of the burning city. I hadn’t been here often, but seeing my capital city in this state still affected me. Surprise appeared on my face along with confusion. I wondered how this could’ve happened when we had such a strong capital. What about this Full Blood was so special, so powerful?

“This is all... because of me, isn’t it? That elevator...” Maya whispered in dismay.

I heard a bloodcurdling screech come from the clouds. My breath caught and I instinctively stepped back as I noticed the monster flying in the sky. It had the exact same body makeup as the tangled mess of a Dualaratie I had encountered over a week ago, except it was formed into a well-defined shape this time. It must’ve been that thing that had destroyed the city.

“What... is that...” Maya whispered, her voice filled with terror.

“We’ve seen one before...” Cia said in a mix of awe and fear. “No. Not even. It’s way larger, and a different shape. Nonetheless, they’re... abominations.”

I glanced at Maya, who was crying, unlike me. I was much more worried about staying safe than whatever she was sad about. However, we both felt one thing the same: we were completely speechless at the sight. I hadn’t ever imagined that Dualaraties could bring this much destruction in just a few minutes. The only time I imagined such grim settings was in books, where I was safe from harm, not once in real life.

“Hellooo?” Cia said to get our attention. “We probably shouldn’t just be standing around... especially not near glass.”

I glanced at Cia and nodded, but Maya didn’t seem to hear, so I hesitated and then spoke up. “C’mon. We need to get like... somewhere else. Maya?”

No response. Some people really needed to learn how to ignore their feelings for the moment.

“I’ll lead since she’s...” Alette trailed off as she looked at Maya with an uncharacteristically concerned face. “Out of it. Grab her and bring her along.”

I reached for Maya’s hand but she flinched away and looked at us. “I’m okay, just, uh... shaken.”

I nodded in understanding and began following Alette down the hall, Maya a few feet behind. A quick, last glance at the doorway to the dungeons reminded me that the knights would still be trailing us. Hopefully, the work that Cia had done on the jails would be enough because we had left the radius of her Nasturtium. The Gnome had been freed a while ago—about fifty feet, as we had tested during our short journey here.

“Maya, put your boots on,” Alette ordered.

“Ri—” Maya was cut off as a man crashed through the window beside us. She yelped, though the Dualaraties flinched, and I sheltered my eyes instinctively—but also a little too late, though the glass didn’t fly toward us—as he hit the wall with an audible crunch, mixed with hundreds of overlapping noises from outside. We could hear roars, maniacal laughs, the crackling of fire, and of course, screams of terror.

“Well, flying men isn’t something you see very often... though he had a real shitty landing,” Alette said, not at all concerned, and probably not even jokingly. “Just follow your guide please.”

“We’re gonna skip over that?” Cia asked with anger in her tone. “What the hell is going on tonight? I heard Full Bloods are supposed to be bad but... he was launched at least a thousand feet. Move fast before a Dualaratie sees us and makes us look like that guy.”

“Yes, we’re going to skip over it. I’ll explain once we’re safe.”

“Where?” Maya asked as she put boots on she had fished from her satchel, obviously trying to take her mind off the gnarled corpse.

“The docks.”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you read the note?” Alette asked, annoyance in her tone. “It was on there... damn, you get shaken way too—”

“Hey,” Cia coldly cut her off with glowing eyes and a harsh glare. Surprisingly, Alette went quiet. “I doubt I know what exactly you two are feeling right now, but we need to go. It’s not like whatever mistake you made will kill you... well, I guess it could, but that’s not my point. One day you’ll be twenty years old and you’ll remember this day because it’s traumatic. Time never stops. It never has and never will, as much as you want it to. So please, stop trying to add more trauma to this day, and do what you came here to do: save me and Kiara.”

Her commanding yet serene voice stopped, and Maya shuddered once more before wiping her eyes and shoving on her other boot. I sighed in relief as she stood up, and I noticed Cia was smiling proudly. It seemed she wasn’t willing to defend just me, but anyone. A good trait to have.

“I just feel like... it’s all my fault,” Maya said as Alette led us down the hallway. “I should’ve listened to my father.”

“Maybe, but it’s way too late for that. The past is—” Cia faltered for a moment and her eyes looked distant for a split second. “Well, in the past.”

“Hey,” a male’s voice yelled from down the hall. “What the—”

I paled as I realized the knights had caught up with us finally. I sped up, assuming Maya would follow. We didn’t have an abundant amount of space between us, and he was faster than Maya and me.

“Get back here! The hell did that Faery do to our city?!” he cried out in rage.

“I didn’t do anything! It’s called a Blood Moon for two reasons!” Cia yelled back. “It’s red, and it kills people! I didn’t create a natural phenomenon of the world!”

“Liar!” he screamed. “My family is out there! My parents! My sister! If they’re dead...!”

“Why would I want that?!” Cia asked incredulously.

“Cuz you’re one of those things out there! A rogue!”

I felt unnecessary guilt as he yelled at us. I knew it made no sense to feel any guilt at the conclusions he’d made, but the fact that his family was out there weighed on me. I couldn’t protect them, and I hadn’t done anything to them either. Why did I feel guilty for stupid things like these that didn’t even relate to me?

“Ignore him and brace for the outside!” Alette warned as she fazed through a door.

I reached the door and quickly opened it, let Maya through, watched Cia fly out, and then I closed the door behind me. I turned to see a part of the city that was fairly untouched as it was in the center of the city, though the crimson light from the moon still managed to bathe every building in sight. The sound of the moving door handle urged us all on with a jolt, and we headed for an alleyway.

“We need to help people evacuate!” Maya suggested.

“There’s no time,” Cia and Alette said in unison, echoing my thoughts. I worried she’d try to escape, though her defeated sigh told me she wouldn’t.

“We’re going to the docks, right?” I asked Alette as she led us through the city streets.

“Glad you’re not a dumbass,” was all she replied with, when all I wanted were directions.

“Uh... yeah,” I replied unsurely.

“Shit. Pair of Faeries headed toward us.”

I stopped behind Alette and looked around for Cia, who was nowhere to be seen. Maya and I simultaneously glanced behind us to check for the knight, and we were met with him, as well as a wall that hadn’t been behind us before. When we wheeled around again, a field of flowers surrounded us. Maya gasped in surprise and began to give an order to Alette, only to have a flower shoot down her throat and begin choking her.

“What is your Faery doing?!” the knight asked in horror as a vine slithered up his leg, trapping him.

I ignored the knight as I panicked and quickly began pounding a hand against Maya’s back while holding her steady. It didn’t seem to work at all, and I had no idea how to properly dislodge objects caught in someone’s throat. Tears began welling up in my eyes as I panicked more and more.

“Cia! Someone help! Please! Alette?!”

I looked around and saw that Alette had been completely trapped by the flowers. Her arms and legs were tied up, and a thick vine covered her mouth. Then, I felt a vine tug one of my arms, and it pulled me away from Maya. I pulled against it to no avail and considered using my swords before realizing that my other arm was also stuck already.

“Hah! I love watching you humans suffer!” a feminine voice rang out from everywhere.

“It’s just magical, isn’t it, Cherry?” another voice said sarcastically. “I bet they enjoy our little magic shows so, so, so, much!”

“Help! Please...?!” my voice grew desperate as it called out to Cia. Why did they have to leave me as the free one?

“Hey, you left one’s mouth open,” the nameless Faery commented, as if my mouth being open were a very small problem.

“Oh, whoopsie! My bad!” Cherry responded with a laugh. Then my mouth was suddenly covered by a vine and I was even lifted into the air. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would.

“Now what? Rip her apart? After all, I especially hate anybody who’s got a Faery as their Dualaratie,” the nameless Faery said.

“Slowly, Sage. I want to see her suffer.”

“I like the idea.”

Two laughs filled the area as I felt vines grab my arms and legs. I felt the vine around my left arm pull until it was taut, and then, slowly, it kept pulling. I screamed into the vine and I tried to pull my arm back, but it was to no avail. I blinked away tears as I desperately flung my free limbs about.

“You guys are messed up,” a new voice suddenly said. “I love the garden, but not any of those evil plants—which is to say, your garden is crap and really shouldn’t exist. But no worries! I can help! I used to love tending to gardens! Uh, wait... what? Did I? Oh well, doesn’t matter.”

“Is that one insane?” Cherry asked.

“Definitely,” Sage replied.

“I’m not, but thanks for letting me hold your hands. Makes this mind-control thing a lot easier. Nasturtium,” the newest voice said calmly.

“Mind what?!” Cherry exclaimed.

“Mind-control, Cherry!” Sage said in a happy voice. “C’mon, join us! Oh, or would you like to join the humans instead?!”

“Oh! I surely—” Cherry suddenly stopped speaking.

“Geez. Almost went too far in talking to myself. Uhh, let’s see... stop that... and that... aaand, there!”

As the flower field and vines faded away, I fell a few feet to the ground. Maya and I began to gasp for air now that there wasn’t anything obstructing our airways. I stood up slowly with a hand against a wall and looked at Cia, who was holding hands with two other Faeries. She let go and glared at the two, who moved to flank her like obedient servants. Even after the jarring experience, I smiled in gratitude at Cia.

“Thanks,” I told her between breaths. I wiped the rest of my tears away.

“Yeah, that’s what I like to hear,” Cia said haughtily. “I was looking for earplugs so we wouldn’t be affected by Alette’s screams if need be, but once I got back I saw you being dragged across the floor by some vines so I had to deal with that.”

“Thank you... so much...” Maya gasped out. She also wiped tears out of her eyes and then stood. “She said Cia, right?”

“Sadly, my name got leaked, but I hope to hear lots of thanks from now on!” she laughed.

“Stop blabbering and let’s go,” Alette ordered. “More and more Dualaraties are spreading throughout the city, but at least that knight is—wait!”

“No, he’s still trapped, dummy,” Cia said as she pointed to the man, who had vines around him but could breathe now.

Alette ignored her and led us out of the alleyway and through the deserted streets. It was suddenly eerie to me how nobody was this far into the core of the city. There wasn’t even any smoke to smell. I led myself to the conclusion that every knight who must’ve tried retreating here had died. It was a grim realization, but the deaths of strangers en masse had never exactly affected me. Either way, I still felt shaken to be around this.

On the contrary, Maya seemed to be constantly dipping in and out of her emotions. I noted how she looked out longingly at the burning city. Her home. I absently wondered how many memories she had here, and how many were now burned to ashes. I felt a little bad for her. I certainly wouldn’t want to see my home burnt down, especially not my family, and I wouldn’t want to be running into the thick of those flames and smoke without being able to help anyone.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I was thrust out of the thoughts I had somehow immersed myself into as Cia stopped in front of me. We had stopped next to a burning, collapsed house as a Dualaratie appeared in front of us. It was a girl made of water that was at least two feet taller than me. She had no clothes, but her skin was completely smooth, so she wasn’t crude-looking. She was even beautiful in a way, with her long hair and lush figure, but the look of disgust ruined everything else.

“You. Girl with the red hair,” the girl said. Her voice had a bratty undertone to it but was commanding all the same. It reminded me of Cia’s voice, though even less mature.

I glanced at Maya, who had Alette standing protectively in front of her. I already had begun to let Cia do the talking, but she seemed to currently be thinking about something. Her eyes roved up and down the Dualaratie, and I kept silent.

“No words? Ah, of course. The Faery is too good to speak to ‘people like us,’ and you, summoner, must not have a backbone,” she spoke with spite.

“I have one, actually,” I responded sarcastically, surprising myself while trying to ignore the comment that dug at me.

“Shut up. I’m inviting you to the waters. Join me and my family—oh, except my mom, whose fate you can thank Ciara for—hundreds of feet below the water. We’d have a grand time! I’d make sure you and that girl both drowned as slowly as possible!”

“What?” I ignored her comments about drowning us. What did she mean by saying that her mom’s fate was Cia’s fault?

“Kiara, what?” Maya asked me with a mix of fear and confusion.

Alette, however, seemed to understand quicker. “Ciara... hasn’t existed for more than two weeks. And how do you know her name?”

“Oh? Ah, guess I spoke too much. Haha! There I go again...” she said lackadaisically.

“Okay, yeah. You seem... retarded. No helpful thoughts in that head, and it’s not like they went to your chest either... less size than even the redhead,” Alette commented with a completely honest tone. I first smirked in amusement at the offensive word but quickly found myself blushing at the comment.

“Alette!” Maya exclaimed, mortified.

“What? I’m being honest about her chest,” Alette said obliviously.

“Not that! It’s not polite to say—”

The girl made of water finally got her bearings and yelled. “What did you just say about me?!”

“I said—”

“Alette!” Maya warned.

She sighed. “Fine... I said what I believe,” she finished with quick words.

The girl made a noise between a growl and a shriek and raised her arm toward Alette and Maya, creating thorns of water that shot toward the two. Alette easily dodged, and Maya moved her head out of the way just in time, but a small cut still appeared on her cheek. I watched her reach her hand up and wipe away the blood with a grimace. I was sort of amazed someone of her status wasn’t fazed by that, yet was affected by everything else that had happened tonight.

“Vines,” I heard Cia say.

At the sound of the words, one of the Faeries raised her arms and vines climbed up and around the watery Dualaratie. She yelped and quickly squirmed her way out of the trap, her attention back on me and Cia. She glared at me and opened her mouth to speak, but then grinned as I noticed her eyes flicked to a spot behind me. My brain thought faster than my body, which left me on the ground a moment later, a werewolf looming over me. I was lucky my jaw hadn’t been shattered, but my mouth was still forced shut, making it a little harder to breathe.

“Kiara!” Maya screamed.

“I’d help but I’m dealing with the stupid water girl!” Cia said. “Besides, I trust you two.”

Maya stood there in a horrified trance, while Alette took initiative. “Watch ears! Mortalis Aria!”

I braced for the scream, which came a second later and caused the werewolf to yelp and look up, only to be met with a slash from Alette’s claws. I cringed as I watched its jaw move too far to one side from the force of the hit. The werewolf stumbled back with another yelp before lunging to the side and sprinting toward Maya. The Dualaratie collided, causing her to hit the floor with a grunt of pain.

“Shit!” Alette exclaimed as she flew forward and stopped the wolf from biting off Maya’s face. Maya was completely petrified.

I took the time to stand and take out one of my swords as Alette protectively floated over Maya. I glanced toward the watery Dualaratie before charging at the Werewolf with one of my swords held to the side. I trusted Cia to keep me safe from the other Dualaratie.

“Idiot! Watch that water girl!” Alette yelled at me as she clawed the werewolf to one side after it lunged.

I felt tons of sharp pain along my side before I could even look at the other Dualaratie. I tensed in pain and grunted out an “mmph” as I turned. I felt the water needles collapse and soak my clothes, and thankfully they only felt like slightly painful mosquito bites. I faced down the frowning girl who had her arms already braced for another attack.

“Vines!” I heard Cia order again. A wall of vines rose in front of me, stopping the next wave of water needles. “Sorry Kiara. She’s very—fast.”

I quickly ran out of the cover toward the Werewolf. Cia kept me covered while simultaneously forcing the girl to move as well. As a red mist appeared beneath the two Dualaraties, I felt myself begin to heal. I raised my sword to the side to prepare to cut the wolf, but she readily dodged backward, only to be tripped by one of Cia’s vines and stabbed in the chest by all of Alette’s fingers. At the same time, Cia trapped the water girl while she gawked at the dead Werewolf.

“Hey! That’s not fair! You’re just as annoying as I’d heard!” the Dualaratie complained as she dissipated into a puddle. “I’m giving up! Besides, I’ll be just as satisfied even if you don’t die by my hands.”

I kept my eyes on the puddle and heard her whisper something else, but it was too quiet to be heard over the crackling of fire and the screams of desperate, scared people. I took and gamble and decided the girl wouldn’t come back, so I turned to help Maya up. She didn’t even take my offered hand, so I groaned under my breath and took her hand.

“Ugh, why do water Faeries have to be so tiny...” Cia complained.

“Let’s just get out of here,” Alette said.

“Mhm,” I said as Alette floated down another alleyway.

We weren’t even halfway through the alley when a crash sounded beside us, a house or two down. The ground shook, almost knocking Maya and me off our feet. We scrambled out of the alley to see what it was as Alette cursed to herself from outside the alley. I emrged from the alleyway and, just a couple of houses down, spotted a massive stone golem on top of a house. I paled as I noticed something odd. The sky was completely gone, and that golem was dead—holes littered its body. I heard Maya gasp as I went pale and looked up at the bird-like monstrosity.

A gust of wind threw me off balance and I landed on my butt with a grunt. I felt liquid on my face and now-drenched clothes—it was blood. I looked back up at the monstrosity that covered half the sky, and smelled acrid smoke in the air. Nothing in real life should’ve had the pure aura to haunt me like that thing did. The previous monster had been scary, but it didn’t seem sentient, or like it belonged. This one though, it most certainly belonged to this world. That is what terrified me.

“Brunette... or redhead... you’re the one it wants dead,” a male’s voice whispered behind me. I didn’t turn, but a pale, thin man walked past me and brushed his spotless clothes off. He smiled, and his canines stuck out. A Vampire.

“All of us do,” another voice said, feminine, off to the side. I recognized it from the fight just moments ago.

“Vanessa, calm down,” the Vampire said with a laugh. He had a smooth voice and a reserved laugh.

“But she—”

The Vampire raised a finger to his mouth to silence the girl. I didn’t look. I didn’t want to look, and I barely even listened to their conversation. After all, that bird-like monstrosity was way too close to me. I heard crying from Maya, but other than that we both stayed still, too frightened to move.

“Get your damn hands away from Kiara,” I heard Cia say as she finally arrived. She must have once again been looking for ear plugs, though at this point I wasn’t sure speed mattered.

“Ah, but they’re nowhere near her.”

“I don’t trust your tricks, Dracula.”

I paused at the name. It was a famous name in many folktale stories from Dualaraties.

“Drac...” Maya whispered in fear as she cut herself off. It seemed she knew the name as well.

He sneered audibly. “You know my name?”

“It just came to me. Not sure why, though.”

“Hmph. Well, I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Hey!” Cia yelled.

The man turned into a bat and quickly flew away. I watched Cia in front of me as she turned to the girl beside me, Vanessa, but I didn’t once take my eyes off the giant bird, which loomed over me and Maya, its tentacles constantly in flux. I heard shouts closing in behind it, closer to the edge of the city, most likely from the knights who were now happy to have a chance to take the demon by surprise.

“And you. Vanessa? I thought I could’ve guessed your name earlier,” Cia spoke casually.

“I wish Dracula hadn’t told you my name, you freak,” Vanessa said as she began to walk away.

“A coward twice now, hm? I’ll have to look you up in the books.”

“What was that?”

“Coward,” Cia said, louder this time. She egged the girl on. “A no-name coward.”

“A what?!” the girl growled. I heard her tense to jump at Cia.

“Vines,” Cia said calmly, followed by the sound of vines quickly trapping the girl and muffling her voice but not choking her, but I heard a splash of water a second later. “Oh. She left again. Faded away... oh well. Let’s deal with that thing now. Anybody know why it doesn’t have teeth?”

Deal with it?! I wondered. We didn’t deal with the other one, so how would we—

I started to scream but stopped myself as I felt a burning pain through my side. It had attacked so fast that Cia had been able to finish her sentence before realizing anything had happened. She glanced over her shoulder with a grim, angry expression as a vine shot out of the ground and cut through the blood tentacle that had sliced a perfect hole in my side. I keeled to the side and started quickly breathing in and out.

I hadn’t ever felt any pain like this. It didn’t just burn, it felt like I was being eaten. I could feel and watch flesh shrivel up and die. I couldn’t compare it to any other injuries I’d had, as I didn’t usually get injured, but I knew it was worse than anything that could’ve happened naturally. My entire body began to hurt as if being stabbed from the inside over and over, and though I couldn’t even feel the area that had been stabbed, I could still feel the sensation of being eaten alive by a million animals.

I glanced down at the hole in my side, about an inch wide. I gasped for air as I applied pressure around the wound, not wanting to touch it and dirty it or make the pain worse. My thoughts completely dissipated except for the need to get rid of the pain. My body felt hot as my nausea left me, replaced by a darkening vision. I realized I would pass out from the pain in a few seconds if I didn’t do something to stop it, but I didn’t know what to do.

I vaguely heard Cia yelling my name, but she sounded distant. I saw a translucent field of red rise around me, almost like a mist, and I felt some of the pain begin to subside. But Cia’s Rose didn’t provide enough damage control. I felt some more power a moment later that turned the misty field from bright red to a dark maroon, though that didn’t help much either. It was as if she was fighting a bear with a twig. With the pain quickly becoming worse every second, I cried helplessly as I looked to Cia for help.

“Cia... help... please...!” I cried between breaths.

“I’m trying!” She screamed desperately. I was sure I saw tears in her eyes. “Nothing’s working...! And Alette is... where is that idiot!”

As I watched her frantically look between me and the monster ahead of us, ready to strike, I kept repeating three words in my head. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. There was no way I’d be giving up right now just because I’d probably die. I didn’t want to regret not trying my hardest. I held on, even as my vision blackened and the monstrosity loomed over me, tentacles prepared to strike. Sometimes I hated life, but I loved the ups and even the downs too much. I wanted to better myself as Cia had recommended, and I wouldn’t die just a day after that revelation. I wouldn’t give up. I would get back up.

Suddenly there was another tentacle through my leg. Another through my shoulder. And one more. One that passed through a small Faery. She screamed in pain and anger, ripping the tentacle from her chest, causing a purple liquid to spurt out of her. I watched her double over in the air in pain, barely able to even see her at this point. I watched her slowly look up at the monster who floated above us, its tentacles ready to strike. She wiped her tears, stood straight, and swept out her arm.

“Kill yourself, demon,” Cia ordered in a cold tone. Everything went completely quiet.

And then the moon split. The monster split.

My jaw dropped at the sight. The moon in the sky had split in two directions, one half lower than the other. It was painted a crimson red on one side, and perfectly white on the other side. The monster was in the same position as the moon. Half of it had been split upward, the other half in the same spot it had been just two seconds ago. For once in this forsaken night, everything was peaceful.

Translucent blue buildings appeared all around me, similar to the homes that already existed, except the new ones were more carefully made with motifs from every culture. The city stretched both out and up, though it stopped at some point far away, ceasing to exist outside of a dome-like shape. Something between me and Cia connected, and I knew exactly what this was. We weren’t just in a pocket. We weren’t even in Acujutu, exactly, a land inaccessible to humans. We were in the past.

As I admired the massive sight, I felt myself begin to heal, and could even watch the holes in me begin to fade away. I felt strengthened as if my speed and natural defenses had increased. I could tell Cia had activated Nightshade by the silver whisps of smoke around her body, except I could see her this time. On my right arm, I noticed every flower glowed brightly, casting a red, orange, and black glow onto the ground beside me. I also vaguely noticed a white light just above my left eye, where my Ethereon stopped. As I gaped at all the changes, wondering what had happened, Cia fell out of the air. No floating to her body like usual, just a normal fall.

The Moon blinked back to a full, crimson red and the lower half blinked back into place. I could once again hear fires burning, people screaming, and Dualaraties causing havoc. I looked up and watched the monster collapse, releasing a pool of blood two streets away that quickly flooded the area and approached me. In a daze, I scooped Cia up before the blood reached us, and then stood, now completely healed and even feeling invigorated.

“What the hell...” I whispered to no one. Blood flooded around my feet, and I noticed Maya had gotten up as well, just in time. She looked at Cia and me with a haunted face.

“Kiara... what...” Maya trailed off.

I glanced away, not even sure what had just happened. I spoke in a scared tone. “Can we go...?”

Maya nodded in agreement, seeming shaken in a different way than before. I glanced around for Alette and instead noticed the two Faeries from before were still floating around Cia, their minds still overtaken even though Cia was indefinitely out cold. After I noted them, I saw Alette float down to us with a scowl on her face, completely unshaken by what had just happened.

“Damn plan didn’t work. I couldn’t get the right pitch to boil its blood—well, body.”

“It’s fine,” I told her absently as I examined Cia with concern. The one person I’d finally been able to confide in was in a state I couldn’t be sure of. But my Ethereon still existed, meaning there was hope. She was at least alive.

“We’re still headed for the docks, girls. We’ll get a boat there... and go somewhere else. I’ll ask about that... thing later.”

We all nodded collectively and then began running toward the docks. Our feet silently splashed through the diminishing pool of blood, dirt, wood, and other various materials. I assumed we were all too shaken, confused, or both to talk right now. All we wanted was a safe place to be.

As we ran through blood-soaked alleyways and open streets, my mind dwelled on what had happened, and what would happen. I could tell something in Cia had shattered, causing her to do something that had drastically increased her abilities. Then, just as quickly as she’d activated that, it had been turned off.

I faltered for just a moment.

In those moments of ominous silence, I finally found another goal for myself. I promised that I would take this hole and climb out of it, no matter how many times I fell. I wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing about my insecurities anymore if there really was someone who would stand by me at all times, through every decision and every stumble. I was finally sure that there was someone in my life who trusted me, enjoyed being around me, was proud of my every decision, and would always lovingly push me on.

She apologized when she made jokes about me. She taught me things I hadn’t already known. She took care of me in a way that was both serious and funny. She was someone to talk to about anything, yet she didn’t solve my problems like I had hoped that sort of person would.

I still had no idea why words hurt me, or why I could be so hypocritical, or why I even hated when my mom ‘mothered’ me, but I wanted to stop being so quiet and instead speak up for myself without just getting laughed at even more. I wouldn’t take that hurt out of the world—it was an intrinsic piece to life—but I would find a way to balance kindness and cruelty. To make people understand how I felt without the use of some overwhelming force.

Or maybe that wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I’d find what I did want for myself, and I’d achieve that goal. I’d achieve it without hurting others. That’s what mattered most to me, and still does.

“I pinky promise,” I whispered to Cia. A sacred promise between human and Dualaratie.

End of Part One: Red, Bloody Omens