(A.N. Hey guys, so to hopefully clear up some confusion from the last chapter I made an extra long one this time! I really hope this helps just a little bit! If you guys find some mistakes, comment below and I'll go back and fix it up, but I swear I won't mess up so badly like last time where I had to go delete a bunch of chapters and start over! Hope you enjoy!)
************Emily POV************
It was annoying to be stuck in a cage for so long. When Fliour woke up hissing and yelling at Emily from her own cage, it made it almost intolerable. The woman yelled all kinds of profanities at Emily, and with each one that came it grew harder and harder for her to continue to meditate.
“Fliour, that is quite enough.” Fliour immediately stopped as Ron walked out to the two. Emily sighed and stopped meditating and turned around to face Ron. He had kept the two of them in that cage for three days now, and each day was filled with Fliour’s constant yelling.
“Can I come out now? I need to go clean my house and work on a few chores,” Fliour begged, but Ron only glared at her.
“Not only did you lie to me, but until I can manage to break this damned block in my mind both of you will stay here!” He growled. Fliour quickly shut her mouth and turned back to glare at Emily, who in turn kept her back to Fliour and ignored her.
Ron left the two, and as hours passed with food and water given to the two of them, Emily noticed just how hard Ron fought to get his memories back. She felt bad, but she couldn’t even help him. Only fighting the block himself would he be able to retain anything.
She couldn’t understand how Fliour had managed to get ahold of such magic to even create a small bit of a block. With Ron’s strength, he should have been able to break it easily. Emily’s suspicions that Fliour was not who she seemed to be had grown over the past few days, for only an incredibly strong mage could have done such a thing.
That day, Fliour seemed to be in a mood more irritating than normal. She continued to glare at Emily, but instead of frowning at her when Emily would take notice she was doing as such, she would smile. It was the smile that really pulled on her nerves, and after a few hours of it she had finally completely turned her back to Fliour.
Instead, Emily turned her attention to the cottage. No noises came from it, and she never saw Ron move. She knew he was in the living area in a meditating position while attempting to break the wall in his mind, but with each passing hour she only grew more anxious. She truly couldn’t understand what was wrong.
A flash of light suddenly burst from the window of Emily’s bedroom. It caused both Fliour and Emily to jump, but Emily noted the look of complete shock on Fliour’s face. It wasn’t like it was dangerous, she knew exactly what it was.
As Emily suspected, Ron left to see what it was, and it seemed like no progress was made from the confused look on his face she saw through the window. Emily glanced at Fliour and was surprised to see her pressed up against one side of her cage with pure fear.
It was like a small bomb of realization went off in her head, but with no evidence on her theory of why she was panicking Emily knew she couldn’t truly prove it. While Ron walked outside with a letter in his hand, and Fliour looking more terrified, she couldn’t shake the notion from her head.
“This came for you. I don’t know how it got here, but since it was in the other room that looks to be filled with your clothing, I had to have allowed it for some reason,” Ron said as he handed Emily a letter through the bars of her cage. She perked up the moment she noticed the handwriting and accepted it.
Ron stood next to her cage, and as Fliour glared jealously at Emily from where she sat she started to read the letter.
“I’m pleased to hear you’re happy. I know you don’t want to hear it, but because I am your older brother it’s my duty to tell you NO SEX. Not that you’ll listen to me, of course. Either way, I will kill you, both figuratively as well as literally, if I find that you do end up sleeping with anyone there.
Now, for the reason I send you this letter.
Since the last time I contacted you, the meeting I spoke of had an attack on it. Three abnormals had come out of nowhere and killed three members from other guilds, and I’m beginning to fear for a second war. If it wasn’t for the two of us being abnormals ourselves, it might have begun already.
I need you to be ready for anything. From what I’ve gathered from the one abnormal we kept alive, they are creating an army of abnormals and creatures like goblins and trolls. It seems they hunted me down specifically, and if they went after me then I fear they will go for you. Tell that man, Ron if I remember correctly, that he must prepare himself for whatever may be coming.
Please, reply as soon as possible. I fear that Destamos is coming for you. I won’t allow the same fate to happen to you as it did our parents. I love you, my little sister. Stay safe.
Sincerely, James.”
Emily’s face turned white at the sight of Destamos’ name. An Elder as strong as Ron was after Emily’s family, and with Ron’s mind block she wasn’t so sure whether or not it would be safe for her to stick around.
“Who’s Destamos?” Ron asked, shocking Emily out of her thoughts.
“S-she’s someone who will destroy this place just to find me. I need to leave as soon as possible,” Emily cried as she jumped to her feet. Ron was taken aback by her sudden jolt of energy, but seemed to not understand what the issue was.
“If this woman gets close, then I will surely notice and attack accordingly. As I’ve said before, until I can rid myself of this mind problem, both you and Fliour will stay here, whether or not Analicia says you’re not the culprit here. I won’t risk taking chances by letting either of you go,” Ron growled.
************Ron POV************
To Ron’s surprise, the woman was not backing down. She stood up and walked right up to the cage’s bars and glared at him in an anger so fierce it may as well have been a look made of razors.
“At the moment, I can care less about your damn rules. Ron, unless you want every single person on your island to die, let me go home!” Emily yelled. Even Fliour was shocked at her reaction to what Ron had said.
“Do you know who it is you are speaking to, girl?! As long as you are on his island, you will not speak to me that way! My strength is beyond that of yours, I protect all here and not one person can defeat me!” Ron cried out as he held himself up tall and proud, trees bending at his will and vines sprouting from the ground to surround him.
Naturally, he didn’t like showing off. But what that woman said really irritated him to no end.
“And I acknowledge that! The problem here is that Destamos is just as strong as you, possibly even stronger! If my brother is right, and she truly is on her way to find me, then not only is the island in danger, then so are you. I don’t care how old you are, you don’t know the new ways the world works. You are stuck in the past!” Emily growled back.
The thought of someone being just as strong as him made Ron stop and think. He knew he was strong, and because Emily brought up his lack of knowledge of the present and how things work on other parts of the world for the past hundred years or so, he knew she was right.
“What do you expect me to do, then? Allow you to leave? If you are correct in what you say, then wouldn’t that put yourself in danger? The letter did say to tell me to prepare myself for battle,” Ron added. To both his and Fliour’s surprise, Fliour having been watching in silence, Emily just started laughing with her face turned down.
When Emily looked back up at Ron, tears were streaming down her face. She was smiling with such sadness, Ron almost opened the cage to rush in and hold her on instinct. He caught himself just in time from doing so, but because of that instinct he suddenly felt a crack in the mind block be created.
“I understand what may happen to me. What will probably happen to me. Those of us second generation abnormals who escaped the evil ways all live with that, but it’s a reality I need to face. If I die, then I join my parents and the fate that should have been mine a long time ago will take me. But if you die as well, I won’t forgive myself,” Emily whispered.
“I don’t intend on letting you die,” Ron said as he knelt down and reached through the bars of the cage to wipe away the tears that left a stain on her dirt covered face.
“But if she doesn’t leave and this woman does show up and kills us all, then what?! You’ll stand a chance, but we’re like chickens waiting to be slaughtered! Let her leave, if she dies what does it matter?” Fliour hissed. This finally set Ron over the edge.
“Have YOU forgotten the day I took you in? The day I fought for you all? You’ve grown spoiled and lost your mercy. Where did that caring Fliour go that I helped and protected?” Ron asked as he crossed his arms and faced Fliour. She glared on back.
“By the gods, are you so oblivious to anything but the world? You don’t know anything about emotions in that thick head of yours! No, I don’t forget, but you don’t accept my love in any form!” Fliour yelled as she kicked the cage as hard as she could, creating a small dent.
“Yes, I may be oblivious to all others’ emotions except yours! Is it so hard to accept that I don’t love you!” Ron cried as he stood to his feet in anger.
“Fine! Then I will leave the island instead! Maybe then you’ll realize just how much you need me, and I’ll be able to get away from you! Send me somewhere else, somewhere I will never have to see you again!” Fliour whimpered as she forced herself to control her breathing.
“Do you truly wish to leave?” Ron asked in a low tone after a few minutes. He didn’t expect this out of her, especially since he knew she loved the island.
“Yes! Even after giving you that damned potion that woman gave me, nothing about you has changed!” Fliour hiccuped as tears streamed down her face.
“...what woman?” Both Ron and Emily asked simultaneously.
The question made Fliour cry even harder. Ron crossed his arms and waited for her to be able to calm down for her to answer. He knew it had to be her, but he also wasn’t able to truly pinpoint it to her. So with her admittance to what she did, Ron felt relief and hope that he would be able to gain back his memory.
“A month ago, I had gone back home and found someone who I had never seen before sitting on one of the chairs in my living room. She had a magic so powerful, I wasn’t even able to move fast enough to grab a weapon. Her face was covered, but her figure and voice was that of a female, so I just assumed as such.
I couldn’t speak, but she herself began to talk and to my surprise she offered me a gift. A potion powerful beyond limits such as yours, one that would allow you to forget a certain period of time it’s owner wanted a person to forget. Like the time you had gotten to know Emily. It was even supposed to make you love me.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
In exchange, I had to bring back Emily’s head on the 34th day as a payment for a potion that powerful. Naturally, I accepted. When you looked sick, that’s when I took action. But all it did was give you a mind block,” Fliour growled in anger, as if she had the love part of the equation stolen from her.
“Who gave it to you? Did you get a name? Anything to show she was here?” Ron continued to press on, but fear was beginning to grow in his heart for he didn’t even notice anyone else come onto the island. He was starting to think Emily was right, that there were others stronger than even him.
“She called herself Gruel. That was all, but the vial is hidden under those floorboards you keep the other medicine under,” Fliour explained as she looked around in fear.
“Today is the 34th day, isn’t it?” Emily asked, her own voice laced with fear. Fliour simply nodded.
************Emily POV************
The name Gruel didn’t ring a bell in Emily’s mind, so she assumed it had to be someone under Destamos’ control, or some other Elder. Either way, she knew it was dangerous. Fliour had made a mistake, but at the same time she had a feeling if she had not accepted then Fliour would have died herself.
“I’m calling the alarm. Fliour, was there any antidote at all?” Ron asked as he reached down and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and let it slowly slip through his fingers, the dirt changing to a black sand and hardened once it touched the ground once more.
“No, none that I knew of. You have to fight it, but if she was right about the strength then it will take you quite awhile to break it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a good few weeks for you to get through it.” Ron growled in annoyance at her words, but continued to work with the ground as what looked like a circle of black sand was created around the two cages.
“I understand you’re upset about your memory, but we need to be prepared to fight,” Emily whispered.
“Fine, but we’re not done here,” Ron sighed as he started to walk back to the cottage.
“H-hey! What about me? Are you just gonna leave me here?” Fliour wailed. Emily winced at the sharpness of fear in her voice and felt both pity and sorrow.
“I’ll be here with you, so you won’t technically be alone. If that woman comes here, then we both go down. You’ll get your wish in a way,” Emily sighed as she sunk back down to meditate once more. Fliour turned to glare at Emily, but it seemed even she knew it was useless to try and argue.
It was at that moment that Cahal and Analicia showed up with Jessica holding a bundle of clothes in her arms. When Cahal landed, with Ron giving him a look of uncertainty, Jessica was the first to jump off.
“Are you ok? When Analicia showed up with Cahal, we weren’t sure what to think. The village went into a slight panic when they showed up together, and Analicia came to me first. Is it true what Fliour did to you?” Jessica asked as she ran over to where Emily had just prepared herself to meditate.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Emily said. Jessica turned around and noticed Fliour in the other cage, then she became threatening.
“I don’t know what the hell you did, what you planned on doing, and I may not be as strong as you in most forms but I swear if you try to pull shit like that again I myself will drag you down to the bottom of a lake and drown you,” she hissed, her skin shifting to her natural scales before Emily waved her attitude off.
“Don’t start fighting, you will have more than enough to worry about soon.” Analicia took the bundle from Jessica and looked at Emily curiously.
“What do you mean by that?” She asked while handing Emily a cloak made of thick, green canvas-like material. As Emily smiled and wrapped it around her neck, Ron answered.
“Analicia, I want you to go back to the village and tell them to prepare themselves for battle. Have the women who are pregnant or have children go underground, but the rest who can fight are to be fitted and be ready.” Analicia looked as if she wanted to question why he wanted her to do so, but she stayed silent and followed directions for once.
As she climbed back onto Cahal, both looked at Emily with a worried expression. Cahal gave a loud war cry as he unfolded his wings and took to the sky with Analicia holding on. When they were out of sight, Ron turned to Jessica.
“I need you to stay here and watch the girls. Don’t let them out of the cage, or you yourself will face consequences. This block in my head will have to wait; for now my people need me. If anyone you don’t recognize shows up, and I don’t seem to notice, scream my name. I will come immediately.” Jessica nodded at his orders.
Ron turned and ran in the opposite direction of the cabin.
“Wait, Ron where are you going?” Emily called after him as he ran.
“To the rose bush! Nobody must touch him!” Fliour snorted and laid on her back. Emily and Jessica looked at her in confusion.
“What’s so funny?” Jessica snarled at her, still in obvious annoyance.
“I suppose you can say he cares more for that bush in a way than us. He left us here to die.” Emily sucked in a breath at her words and felt disbelief filled her. But as time ticked by, minute by minute, and soon hour by hour, she felt doubt slowly start to replace that.
************Ron POV************
The rose bush was precious to Ron. It was something that the island seemed to depend on now, as if it gave off a life that it thrived on where Ron couldn’t provide for. He barely came upon it when he immediately knew there was something wrong.
It was why he had run off so suddenly. He had felt something off while dealing with the girls back at the cabin, but he didn’t know what it was. As he came upon the bush, he realized what the issue was. There was someone there, someone he felt he recognized but couldn’t tell just how.
The closer he got to the figure in red who was knelt by the bush and seemed to be examining a rose, the more fear he felt in his heart. He noticed the look of her, and by the time he realized he had stopped walking Ron knew she had sensed his presence as well.
“I’m not here to kill you, nor your little group of people who live here. I’m here on orders by Elder Gordon to retrieve the girl you hold captive at the moment. The one who goes by ‘Emily’. I AM intrigued by what you have here, though. I’ve never seen nor heard of anything like it. I would love to take a rose with me,” the woman said as she slowly stood to her full height.
Long, silver hair draped down her back over the knee-high red dress she wore. Black flats seemed to disappear against the same colored leggings she wore. He could tell she wasn’t a hand-to-hand combat warrior, but one who used magic so powerful she seemed to not feel the need to wear armor at all.
Even Ron wore armor. Seeing someone who probably dealt in more battles than he had on a daily without caring to wear protective gear made him as cautious as possible, something he had never really had to do.
“What does your master want with her?” He asked slowly as he straightened up himself.
“She is the daughter of two old...traitors of our kind. Naturally, a punishment needs to be dealt to her for their deeds. It’s like teaching a lesson of respecting your elders. Now, as I’ve said before, if you would just hand over the girl-”
“So you can punish the innocent? No. I don’t know if you know who I am, but I don’t allow such things to happen. Nor do I appreciate someone coming on my land without permission. Here’s what you can do to I don’t kill you. Turn back now, and don’t come around anymore. Or, if you choose not to do that, then I will do as I must to protect those here,” Ron said calmly.
The woman simply laughed and crossed her arms. She shook her head and slowly started to walk towards Ron, who in turn positioned himself in a fighting stance.
“Of course I know who you are. You’re famous for your wrath on those who harm the innocent. But let me tell you, King of the Island, you may know of the Earth from when you were born, but you have no idea of all the ways it works now. Basically, you’re quite old school. If you truly think you can take me on, then let’s have a go. But you won’t win,” she added as she came face to face with him.
“I won’t give you the pleasure,” Ron hissed. The woman stopped smiling and frowned. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be listening for something, and at the same moment Ron struck out with a dagger in hand as fast as he could the woman caught his wrist and twisted it at a speed much faster than him.
Ron gasped as she twisted his wrist until it snapped, the bones breaking with a sickening crunch. He dropped the dagger as she pulled Ron’s face close to hers with a smirk.
“Nice try, but you’ll have to do better than that if you think you can fight me. If you won’t give me the girl, then I’ll just kill the other two who are will her and take her by force.” That was what made him snap.
“No. You won’t. You’ll be dead before I allow such a thing.” Vines, creatures made of the earth, boulders shouldering up from the ground to turn into orc-like being, and even the air around the two of them had whipped up into a storm.
The woman looked around in excitement and awe, as if she had wanted to fight him in the beginning. She then waved her hand and out of the shadows of the trees crawled her own creations; things straight out of nightmares crawled out of them and into the light where they stood and hissed at Ron.
“Then if you truly care, fight for them.” The howls of the creatures from both sides could be heard from all points of the island as clear as day as they clashed, Ron and the intruder both turning into blurs as they battled with magic and weapons.
************Emily POV************
“Dear god, what is that noise?!” Jessica yelled over the clanging and howling.
“Something’s wrong! Let me out of the cage, I can’t use my magic in here!” Emily cried back.
“Don’t do that! Remember what Ron said?!” Fliour gasped as she covered her ears. Jessica ran to Emily’s cage and used her claws to break the bindings on the door to it.
“Ron seems to be dealing with his own issues right now! We need to head to the village, they might need our help!” Jessica said as she pulled the door open. Emily stepped out and helped to get Fliour out. When she stepped out, the two women looked at each other.
“For now, we have a truce. Let’s get to the village, and fast!” Fliour yelled over the noise. Emily nodded, and the three women started to run as fast as they could to where their friends lay in wait for battle.
None looked back as a shadow slowly pushed its way out of the ground from under a tree and started to pursue the unarmed group as they ran.