"This house is unoccupied, so we use it to hang out sometimes." Said Zen, as we walked into the house. "Would you happen to know if this place had any bandages?" I asked, looking around the house, familiarizing myself with the surrounding the way I usually did. "Yeah" Zen said. "They should be upstairs somewhere." He retreated upstairs to retrieve them. His two companions seemed kind of wary around me, like they wanted to say something but chose to ignore me instead.

I was never one to be good at interpreting others feelings, but that was the message I was getting. Oh well. I thought. I don't care.

A while later, after Zen retrieved the bandages, and I finished wrapping up our wounds, Zen introduced me to his two companions. I thought that the air between us would be awkward, but they surprised me with their friendly auras, and sense of humor. Instantly, I began to feel comfortable around them, sensing that they could accept me. I was just starting to feel at ease, when Zen asked me a really intimidating question, setting me on edge again. "So why would a talented young herbalist run away from home?" He asked with a snide grin on his face. Once again my heart went into lockdown mode, and I replied with, "The reason is unimportant."

As I quietly gazed down at the floor, thinking that if only my hair could have somehow been a different color, would things be different?

Feeling uneasy, I excused myself from the room, replying with, "I need some air." My wings had been cramped anyway, whilst stuck retracted inside my back. I thought it would be useful to kill two birds with one stone. I could escape the tension for now, knowing that he would further press the issue, and fly about to relax and stretch my wings. I stood up from the cushiony couch, and stepped outside. Alongside me, Zen followed behind, and I really wished he would leave me alone. Now I couldn't escape the tension, or stretch my wings. I couldn't let him know I was a fairy, so I would have to further wait to stretch my wings. After all, I still barely even knew the guy, plus he could be quite cocked at times, so I wasn't sure if I could trust him.

"Why are you following me?" I asked, waiting for a good response, though I expected him to lie to my face, and say something stupid. "I couldn't just let an injured girl go all alone into the forest. That would be very un-gentleman like of me." Yeah, right! I thought. He just wanted to be nosy, and find out why I left home. Well, I thought, if I give the perfect response, then he'll no longer have need to follow me! Calmly taking a breath I said, "I'm actually very used to being in the woods." I replied. "I spend a lot of time in the woods while studying herbs. I told you I was an herbalist, right? I actually quite like it here. The air flows differently here than it does in the city." I said, glancing up at the sunlight, and the clear blue sky.

"Yeah, it's very beautiful in the woods." He said warmly. Putting my arms downs, I stumbled for a breath. His comment had taken me by surprise, and I gazed warmly back at leaning on a nearby tree. "Those were your honest feeling just now, right?" I asked. We smiled at each other, and I started realizing that maybe Zen was just a really sweet person who hides behind a rebellious facade. "She seems like a nice person." Whispered Kiki, into the ear of Mitsuhide. "Yeah, I think we can trust her, she seems really sweet." He replied. "Ouch!" I said, rubbing the back of my head. "What happened?" Asked Zen, seemingly worried.

"Oh, don't worry. A chunk of hair just got caught in a branch." I said, trying to untangle it. I had tried to cut my long, red hair before being unable to follow through with it. It seems that a chunk of my hair still was cut off in the process. "Zen, can you just chop that piece off for me?" I asked, looking up at Zen. "Wait, could you have possibly tried to cut your hair, before realizing that you following through with it?" Zen said, with an amused look on his face, and a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Wait. Wait." He said. "So, I can't just cut off a girl's hair you know." He said smirking. "If you tell me the reason why you wanted to cut your hair, then I might just be willing to do it." He said staring back at me laughing. "You're a terrible person." Disappointed at his snide remark.

But in the end, I had told him how I was forced to be the concubine of a snotty, rich kid, and didn't want to be treated as a prize or something like an apple from a fruit seller. "Therefore I decided to leave, and give him a taste of what's it's like to not be able to get everything you want." I finished. I looked over at Zen, expecting pity, or shock, maybe even disbelief. But as soon as was going to turn to face him, I saw him laughing his mind off. "Excuse me, but did you find something funny. I just st shared a heartfelt story with you, you know?! I don't see why you be laughing right now!" I yelled, fuming. "Sorry." He said wiping a tear from his eye. "But man, you did well. Giving that stupid loser what he deserved." Oh, I sure did. I thought proudly. "You know, it's your lucky red." He said. "Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, confused what he met by lucky. "Each color has a meaning, and red is supposed to represent fate." He said. "You may not like it now, but you red might lead you to something good when you least expect it." He said smiling now. "Wow" I said, amazed. "You have an amazing outlook on things, Zen." "Wow, finally some respect." He said laughing it off.

We headed back to house where I distractedly gazed up at the sky, thinking maybe everything would got better somehow. "What's this?" I heard Zen said, holding up a basket wrapped in purple cloth. "Huh?" I said. "That's the same ribbon I used to tie my hair." As Zen shook the basket, The cloth fell to the ground revealing a beautiful display of bright red apples, decorated with surrounding white roses.

"Huh? Wha… but how…." I choked out. It couldn't be true. The thoughts began flooding my head, soon consuming me. My fate is playing out exactly as planned. The whole getting poisoned by evil family. These apples were poisoned. I was sure. But, forgive me god. Zen, I had to change my fate. You even said I was in charge of my fate. Things had to change, and even if it meant giving this innocent guy this cruel fate instead, I had to do it.

"Shirayuki, you okay?" Zen asked peering over my shoulder. Yeah, I murmured, walking back inside. "Sorry, Zen were the words my heart whispered as I graded an apple, fidgeting with it. "So, you're from Tanbarun." Zen said, seemingly concerned. "How bad was it that you had to flee the country?" Zen, asked voice raised high. "Well…" I said hesitating for the next part. "It's because of who he is." I looked over at seeing Zen intently staring at me. "The first Prince Raji." I said staring down in shame as I said his name. "That royal moron!" Zen screamed. Filling with newfound rage, I yelled back, "Yea! That stupid prince is so ridiculous that even all the neighboring kingdoms know about his tantrums! He is the disgrace of our kingdom!" I was shaking in my very bones, sickened at the very thought of him. Glancing over at Zen, I saw how he had formed a trust with me. I really didn't want to betray him, but I am a selfish person. I picked up an apple eying it in my hand.

Glancing over, I decided to toy with his feelings. "Hmm… This apple is starting to go bad. Guess it's no good to anyone." I let out a sigh. Pain engulfing my face. Zen looked at me with sympathy and I felt so hurt to do this. Sorry God for my sins. I silently prayed. Zen came over and bit the apple. "See?" It's still delicious. There was no going back. Zen began coughing and gagging, before he began to stagger in his steps. "Shirayuki" he looked at me. "Don't eat the apple. It's poisoned." Thump! He fell to the floor cold and lifeless.

I began to frantically search for a medicine though I knew it'd be hopeless to save him. Seconds laters, the door burst open and on the over side was a cold menacing face glaring down on me. "It seems the wrong person ate the apple…" He said, still smiling. "There is an antidote, so if you want to save your little friend, you'll have to come with as His Highness' concubine." Zen was still alive and there was an antidote. It was my fault for him getting poisoned so I really should take responsibility. I knew Prince Raji was an idiot so escaping might not bed too hard. It was so hard to give up my freedom though. But I knew if I let Zen die, the guilt would forever haunt me. "I'll go."

To Be Continued….

Btw, I'm really sorry that this took me forever to update. I haven't really been working on this story lately but I hope y'all can enjoy this new chapter of Fate:Recreate