8 ~ Shock, Anger, And A Little White Lie...A Chapter by Felicity's Eve Star must make the ultimate decision when someone she never wanted to lay eyes on again makes an appearance. But how will Ethan feel about this new character and his offer to Star? Half Estius…half Elcos? But she slays demons, as an Estius does! Was that all an act? Has she been planning…to kill me?
I am as silent as stone, unable to
move or speak. "Come on, Ethan. Say something! Or do something. Look,
I am so, so sorry that I didn't tell
you sooner! You may do anything you like. You…you can yell at me, o-or tell me
to get lost, or try to kill me with Scyrath, I don't care what! Just-" I
cut off Star's string of punishment options by placing my hand over her mouth,
effectively silencing my partner, who looks as if she is about to cry. "You
talk too much, you know that?" I say good-naturedly as I lead her to a
bench under a lamppost casting its light onto the ground, like the many others
that line the horse trail we have been walking along. Our work is complete,
unless a few more demons dare to show up, and dawn is still far off. “First
I want to hear your whole story, okay? I am not going to judge you, I promise.
Just don’t cry, alright? Come on, where’s that strong-willed, annoying little
sister of a partner that I came to know?” I say, smirking, and she laughs, a
few tears spilling over and sliding down her flushed cheeks. “Thanks,
kid,” she replies deviously, wiping
her tears away with the back of her hand and elbows me in the ribs gently. She
sniffles a little and de-transforms. I do the same and set Scyrath on the bench
next to me. Star continues to hold Athvor, though, and gives me a grateful
glance and a little grin. I just cannot believe that she is
evil, that she would want to bring harm to me. She isn’t like that; I can feel
it. “Here I go,” Star begins. I nod at
her encouragingly. “My mother was an Elcos and my
father was an Estius. A demon-maker and a demon slayer. Pretty twisted, huh?
They loved each other so much, and I was the product of their love. But…” she
stops and looks down and her black bangs, a sharp contrast to the rest of her
snow-white hair, cover her deep purple eyes. “It’s fine if you can’t go on. I
get it. Let’s go back to the stables or just climb trees or something; use our
powers just for fun,” I say understandingly and stand up. Star then grabs a fistful of my
t-shirt, preventing me from walking away. I flick my teal bangs out of my eyes
and turn around in surprise. “Please,” she whispers. She turns
her head to look at me, and in her eyes I can detect a soundless, yet desperate,
plea. Her eyes silently cry for help, wish for someone to listen to her story,
and hope for that person to understand. “Continue,” I sigh as I reseat
myself next to her. “So, after I was conceived, both
the Estius and the Elcos Counsels agreed that I should be disposed of
immediately. My father objected, saying that he would do anything to keep me
alive. I would love to meet him, but he died in my place. My mother was
banished to the human world. I have never met her in my life. I think that she
was stripped of her powers.” Star then takes a deep breath. “Ethan, I came here for two
reasons. One, to become your partner. And two, to find my mother and get some
answers. I need to learn some things about myself and if there are others like
me. I want nothing more than to find my destiny. I’m desperate here,” she says
strongly. I
lost my mother. I miss her so much. I just cannot even begin to imagine being
deprived of meeting her. Suddenly, I feel the urge to help
Star. I want to support and help her in finding her mom, and her destiny. No, I
have to help her. “So I stayed in an Estius orphanage
until I was ten, getting my education and learning the ways of the world. Then
I was kicked out and had to live on the streets from then on. From when I was
little and until today, the Estiuses and Elcoses have been fighting over me.
Well, my power is what they are really after,” Star says. “Wait. What power?” I ask
curiously. “I am able to absorb any Estius’s
or any Elcos’s power and shoot it right back at them. Plus, I am able to
communicate with demons; and if I wanted to, I could probably tame one. I fight
for the Estiuses, even though either side doesn’t treat me very well. I work my
butt off for those guys, but after a battle, I am left there to bleed and get
my own treatment. I was given enough money to get by, but since I’m with you
now they’ve stopped sending me payments. “Here’s some other weird stuff about me. So,
you know how an Estius can play any instrument perfectly from the moment they
first pick it up? Yeah, it takes me a few days, but I catch on fast. Plus, I
will live a little longer than a normal Estius. “Oh, and I think I can also preform Infusions with certain demon types, but I
haven’t had a chance to test that out yet. I’m not sure why, but I can feel my
own abilities at times,” Star says brightly, leaving me shocked. “Are you really that powerful?” I
ask in awe. I have learned that Elcoses each
have a little demon-pet of sorts that is the “alpha” of all of the other demons
that that Elcos has created or is in possession of. But only the most powerful
of Elcoses are able to Infuse with their demon-pets, gaining their demon’s powers
for a time. I’ve heard that Estiuses usually do not need to transform for most
tasks, but one task that they do need to transform for is taking down an
Infused Elcos. “Yeah. As I learn more and more
about myself, I sometimes wonder if one of my sides is more dominant than the
other. But no worries, Ethan. To assume this position as your partner, I need
to remain an Estius. And that is exactly what I plan to do, no matter what the
Elcoses bribe me with to get me on their team,” Star says cheerily, clamping a
hand down on my shoulder. “Well, as long as you’re on my
side, I accept you fully for who you are. And we’ll find your mom, I’m sure of
it. I am really sorry, by the way. I’m sure it was rough, being pushed around
all your life. Is it okay to say that I’m here for you, or will you take
offence to that? You know, being a strong, independent woman and all that,” I
say, holding out my hand to her. “No way, it’s fine. And thanks so much;
I was worried that you would totally hate me. But I will always remain on your
side, Ethan,” she replies determinedly and grasps my hand. We shake hands and
smile. “Was there anyone who was nice to you?” I wonder aloud and Star stiffens. “Oh, sorry! Is that a touchy
subject for you or…?” I trail off. “No, no. I’ll tell you. So one day
this gang was chasing me, I was fourteen by the way. But these guys were
planning to sexually harass me, otherwise that would’ve been just another part
of my less-than-fabulous life. They had me cornered and the leader was going
for the neckline of my shirt. Then, the pervert was suddenly thrown twenty feet
and this strange man was standing in front of me, shielding me. I’m sure the
guy wasn’t hurt; you know how us Estiuses are, although he deserved it. “The gang ran off, and the strange
man, he was only a few years older than I was really, took me back to his house
and patched me up. He told me to stay with him and that he would protect me
with everything he had. I repaid him by looking after him and his house while
he was away at work. He listened to me and my troubles and stories of my past.
He told me that he did not care what I was, as long as he could be my friend.
As long I could accept his faults, too. “Slowly,
but surely, we began to fall in love with each other. I was afraid at first
because he was a full Estius and I was only half. What misfortunes would be
brought to us if someone were to find out? But again and again, he told me, “I
will protect you”. “He even gave me a name. He called
me ‘Ava’, saying that a beautiful girl needed a beautiful name. There wasn’t a
single instance where he would call me ‘5617’. Not one. “Do you want to know his name?” she
inquires, looking at me seriously. “Sure, why not?” I reply. “Amoro,” she answers and I leap to
my feet in surprise. I turn around, looking her in the eyes. “Amoro? As in the Amoro?
As in one of the most powerful Elcoses ever
Amoro? He tricked you! He wasn’t an Estius at all! He was an Elcos in
disguise!” I say loudly, outraged. I
can’t believe that there is someone so cruel out there!
“Bingo,” Star replies dejectedly.
“He works for the Elcos Counsel. They thought that my dating an Elcos would
make me want to switch over to their side. He told me of his intentions one day
and begged of me like a dog to go with him, pleaded with me to stay by his
side. But…I just couldn’t. “I felt angry, betrayed. I couldn’t
believe that he had only used me to get what he wanted. And I couldn’t help but
wonder how many other relationships he had on the side. I mean, he was pretty
darn hot, had a nice body, a charming voice. And his eyes were gorgeous. Jeez,
he could make any lady fall for him, that freaking womanizer!” Star says
angrily, her voice rising. She’s ranting now, but it’s good to let that stuff
out sometimes. Besides, I could rant with her.
I’ve always had a bit of a temper, and this Amoro guy is really starting to
tick me off. “But that’s all in the past now.
Just don’t freak out or anything when an Estius or Elcos councilman comes along
asking for me. The only thing they want is to beg with me or bribe me for
access to my powers. Oh, and for your information, when that does happen, I’m
not home. Got that, kid?” Star asks, standing up and looking me right in the
eyes, enunciating each syllable of “I’m not home” with a poke to my forehead. “Okay, okay. But first, please get
out of my face. And second, stop it with the “kid” thing why don’t you! So
you’re older than me by a day! Why am I the kid, huh?” I demand loudly. Star giggles and steps back. “You looked like you were going to punch something back
there when you heard of Amoro and his trickery. So…I decided to get a little
rise out of ‘ya so that you can vent, too. And I see that it worked,” she says craftily.
“So…we’re
cool?” she asks. I can detect the hopefulness in her tone. “Absolutely,”
I reply, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “Hey, quit
that!” she says, laughing as she lightheartedly swats my hand away. Suddenly, Asia comes bounding up
the path, barking like mad. She appears to be chasing something. A bird,
perhaps, considering the way she has her head tilted back. Then, something lands on my shoulder.
But as soon as it touches down, it leaps into Star’s arms. “It’s a cat!” I say in surprise. It looks like a simple, shorthaired
cat, its silver fur sliced through with black stripes. A splash of white
decorates her chest. A tabby. But on her back are black bat wings. As I look closer, the cat’s eyes
are a bright red, and it’s stripes form more of a design than just fur
coloring. A
demon! I ready Scyrath, about to
exterminate the thing. But Star says, “Stop! I know this cat.” As if in confirmation, the cat
meows softly and rubs its head against Star’s neck, purring loudly. Star
said that one of her unusual powers is being able to communicate with demons
and that she is able to tame them. Could this demon-cat be a little friend of
hers? “You know how every Estius and
Elcos has a little shape or symbol to represent them and it shows up as an
accessory or design of some sort in your transformation, right? You, know. Like
mine is diamonds and yours is chains,” Star says quickly, and I nod, not knowing
where she is going with this, but extremely curious. “Look.” Star holds up the demon to indicate the black and red-jeweled
collar around the supernatural feline’s neck. From it, hangs a red and black
“X” charm. “This charm
is Amoro’s object of recognition. He’s got x’s all over his transformation and he
always wears a red choker necklace with the same charm, whether he is in his
transformed state or not. Ethan, this cat is Amoro’s alpha demon!” Star
exclaims and we both freeze. “Erselva,
do you know where Amoro is? Erselva is her name and she took a liking to me
while Amoro and I were dating. She didn’t have the wings visible though, and
her demon aura was disguised so I was unable to tell what she was,” Star
explains to me while looking around. Erselva
mews softly before flapping her wings and taking flight, circling Star and me.
Asia had calmed herself down, but now she is glaring at a large oak tree,
snarling and her hackles rising. A whistle
sounds, and Erselva flies up the tree to perch on someone’s shoulder. The
person strokes her head gently before leaping to a lower branch, the light from
the lamppost revealing his face clearly. The strange
man has black hair; natural-looking, bright red streaks accent the shiny,
well-groomed locks. His eyes are as red as fresh blood. He sports a
white shirt with a red collar and wears a hood-less, scarlet-colored jacket.
Elaborate, flame-like black designs crawl up the sides of his jacket and his
sleeves are somewhat sliced in two at the top, loosely laced together with
black ribbon. This reveals a strip his toned arms. He wears
black pants and boots a lot like mine in my transformation; although, this man
is not in his transformed state. Crimson, fingerless gloves are what he has on
his hands, and silver and gold bracelets adorn his wrists. He seems to
radiate power and since his white shirt is fitted, I can kind of make out how
well muscled this guy is. I allow my
eyes to travel upward to his neck; I have already glimpsed the red Regalia on
his forehead. He wears a red choker with an “X” charm hanging from it, the
black jewels glinting in the light. An exact match to the cat on his shoulder’s
collar… “Amoro…” I
whisper. “Ava!
Haven’t seen you in a long while,” he purrs as he leaps to the ground
gracefully and begins to saunter towards us. He is tall, too. Geez, Star
was right. Everything about him, even his voice, just screams, “I’m sexy and I
know it.” “M-my name
is Starshine now. Star to those who really know me,” Star proclaims. At first
she whispers it, then says it louder a few moments later. All of her confidence
seems to be draining from her, like someone just pulled a plug. “Alright
then, Star,” Amoro says, chuckling
gently, coming to stand a little ways away, then turning to face us on the
trail. Asia begins
to snarl at him again, but is silenced when Amoro shoots her a death-glare. She
whimpers, tucking her tail between her legs. “That’s
Starshine to you!” Star growls. “Okay,
okay! Got ‘cha, kitten. So I heard that horse was your day-form. Is he your partner? That is much too bad.
You must be pretty ashamed to be around him, seeing how he named you something
so unbecoming,” Amoro smirks and gestures to me. He says ‘he’ like it’s a joke.
Like I’m a joke. I am beginning to get really ticked off here. And why the heck
does he talk like he’s royalty?! He has an elegant, cocky voice that just makes
me that much more annoyed. “I love the name. I really do! Now cut to
the chase, Amoro. Why are you here?” Star says roughly. She is still sounding a
tad bit under-confident, but it’s good to know that her bite is returning. Erselva
flies over to us once more, this time holding a letter in her small jaws, which
she gives to Star. She then lights down on Asia’s head. The dog brightens up a
little and wags her tail, giving the cat a canine smile. Star opens
the letter and begins to read aloud, letting me look at what is scripted on the
fancy stationary over her shoulder. “5617,
“We,
the Elcos Counsel, have come to the decision that we will allow you to be given
the materials necessary to conduct research on your half-breed self. We have
been informed that finding your destiny is what you most desire. You finding
out more about yourself will be quite a good start.
“Do you not have these questions:
How is it possible for an Estius and Elcos to breed? What other powers do I
possess that I am unaware of? Is one of my sides more dominant than the other?
Are there, perchance, others like myself? And many more, we assume. And we can
help you answer them!
“Have you predicted what the one
condition is? If you guessed that you must join the Elcoses and use your powers
to support us, you are absolutely correct!
“And one more thing. We need you to be
tied to us somehow so that you don’t go running off, dearest.
“And so we have decided that you
will marry Amoro. You two have been in a relationship before and he still seems
to fancy you a bit, so this shouldn’t be too hard.
“Oh, and by the way. If you accept
his proposal, we will allow you to see your mother for the first time since you
were just weeks old.
“Do drop by and give us your answer
as soon as possible. But really, how could you possibly resist this offer? I
hear wedding bells in your future!
“We’ll be waiting… Sincerely, Zedvara, High Elcos Cousilwoman
Zedvara
“And I hear the sound of Athvor slicing your
body in two, Amoro!” Star shrieks as she gives the letter to me, Athvor
beginning to glow purple. The light it is engulfed in is highly destructive. She rushes
at Amoro, Athvor morphing into a large sword, adorned with lilac jewels. The
blade glows with that same violet light. I stand
there, gripping the paper tightly, crinkling it, and allowing this to fully
sink in. She won’t accept their offer, will
she? I mean this is the moment she has been waiting for. But she will only have
her wish of finding her worth granted; she can only see her mother once she is
tied to the Elcoses through a marriage with that jerk?!
Suddenly, the Athvor, in its
de-transformed state, lands on the ground beside me. I snap out
of my shock to see Star, her hands tied behind her back with what looks like
glowing red rope. Amoro grips
her shoulder with one hand and holds what I presume to be his weapon in it’s
de-transformed state, a red x, black designs and gems encrusted on it. It is
glowing like a red blaze. I try to run to her, but something
is holding me back. The ground is glowing under me and my feet are rooted to
the ground. It’s a
spell of Amoro’s, I just know it. I look around frantically. Asia ran off a
little while ago and Erselva has returned to her master’s shoulder. I reach for
Scyrath at my belt and mentally smack myself when I realize that it is still
lying on the bench where I left it. I look up
and glare at Amoro, who has just pulled a ring box out of his pocket. “Now we can
do this the hard way, or the easy way, Ava. Just take the ring, accept the
proposal and I’ll let you go, okay? I don’t want to hurt you! I never did and I
am so sorry for the hurt I have
caused you. Please. It’s what you have dreamed of, right? Being allowed a
chance at uncovering your true self?” Amoro tries to reason with Star, who is
struggling in vain. “Give her
one good reason, Amoro! One good reason why she would accept something so stupid! I already promised her that I would help her find her mom, and her destiny! Now leave. Her. Alone!” I yell, letting my rage to get
the best of me. I can feel
the bond holding me in place beginning to melt away. I pull myself away from
the spell’s clutches and race over to the bench, snatching Scyrath and turning
it into an already loaded bow, breaking the manacles that encase Star’s wrists
with an arrow after she turns as much as she can to give me a better view of my
target. She squirms
out of Amoro’s grasp and leaps away from him. When she
nears me, I grasp her wrist and pull her behind me, shielding her with my body. I
transform, Scyrath glowing a deep blue, and turn my head to look back at Star. Her violet
orbs are wide and she is trembling, frozen in terror and utter shock. She is
gripping my shoulder tightly and I am getting the notion that I am her only
support right now, her hand on my shoulder steadying her. I hate seeing her so vulnerable. She isn’t like this at all!
“You had
best not get in my way, Ethan Cardwell. I was ordered to take her by force if
someone interferes. I think that this will be better for all of us if she is
the one to choose where her loyalties lie,” Amoro smirks again, but I can see
in his eyes that he is practically begging me to intervene so that the option
to force Star into submission will be open to him. There must be something that I can say! I
need to be in a position that actually permits me to interfere. “Don’t tell
me that this shaggy-haired stable boy is your boyfriend, Ava,” Amoro laughs and
Star clenches my shoulder tighter. I resist
the urge to flick my long bangs out of my green eyes. Okay, so maybe I do need
a little hair trim. But, boyfriend?
Star and I…dating? Now that is
gross and not to mention utterly disturbing. She is like a sister to me! But I could be her… “No. But I
am not only her demon-slaying partner, but also her bodyguard. The Estiuses
issued me to her in order to protect her from Elcoses and other people like
you. So my job allows me to
interfere,” I declare fiercely. But deep
inside I am freaking out. Does he know? Can he tell that I’m lying?
“Ethan…” Star mutters warningly. “This
should be enjoyable. Let us fight this out, shall we, Ethan? Erselva! Infusion!” Amoro summons his demon-pet
and the bat-winged cat leaps from his shoulder to the ground and begins to grow
bigger and taller until she is the height of the top of Amoro’s head. Not only is she bigger and taller,
but also Erselva’s red eyes are glowing, and her fangs have lengthened and
thickened until she resembles a saber-tooth tiger and her claws are massive.
She flaps her enormous bat wings until she is hovering above her master. The Infusion begins and the demon
begins to glow. Bat wings grow quickly from Amoro’s shoulders and his red eyes
and his and Erselva’s X charms begin to glow. Amoro
proceeds to murmur a spell that darkens the forest a bit. He has performed a
soundproofing incantation. No one should hear a thing. I step
forward and out of Star’s grasp, ignoring her pleas for me to stop and actually
think about what I am doing and whom I am up against. “I’m your
bodyguard, remember? Leave this to me,” I say reassuringly, winking at her and
giving her a sly smile. Then I turn
to face my enemy, who is now hovering above the ground, his bat wings offering
him the option of flight. Amoro is infused so I should remain
transformed. “Are you
ready to be shown who the real alpha
male is around here?” Amoro sneers, readying his x-shaped weapon. “I hope
that you are prepared to face defeat,” I reply, smirking, and the battle
begins. © 2013 Felicity's EveAuthor's Note
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Felicity's EveAboutNote: I know that lately I haven't been posting a lot of writings that I feel comfortable sharing, but I'm trying to let more lighthearted subjects make poems and stories of themselves. It's just a ma.. more..Writing
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