Previously
Signaling them to be quiet, Helia made his steps and movements as quiet as a mouse as he tip-toed his way over to the front of the alter, where Bloom remembered from Sunday masses where the priest would stand and preach, then turned left to the alter, near the crystal-glass windows where a figure, covered in a gray, bland-looking cloak, her face covered by the hood pulled over her head, back turned to them.
Helia approached her quietly and slowly approached her, not wanting to do anything to scare her off or to bring any alarm to her, and then quickly came off with the cloak in a heartbeat. Gasps escaped the mouths of three people behind him while he only took in a sharp breath as he was face-to-face with a face he thought he would never see again.
"Flora?"
"Who…who are you?" the girl asked in a low murmur, her eyes held with great sadness and fear, filled with un-shed tears.
Murmurs in disbelief, eyes popping wide as an eye can go, and shaking of the head was all happening behind him while he was in front of them, as if trying to block their view of her, as he was too speechless to think of a proper sentence.
After all this time he finally found his beloved, which he was too happy for words to describe as he stared at her, but the longer he stared at her the longer he could see there was something no quite right with her.
There was no mistaking the girl sitting in front of them was their nature girl, but in a way she wasn't the same girl they remembered who said goodbye to them as she stepped away and performed the spell. For starters, by the shock and fear look flashing in her eyes showed she had absolutely no clue who they were. She didn't recognize them at all, especially Helia who suffered from heartbreak, and not only but she also feared them, as if they were going to bring harm to her or do something much worse than that.
By her appearance, Helia had to question whether or not she was properly taken care of. Yes, she was still beautiful as a rose and more importantly was still a teenager instead of being a little kid like he feared, but besides the fact her breathtaking eyes held shock and fear of them, her long caramel hair was tied into a sloppily-done bun being hold by a piece of slim vine, she was dressed in a knee-length whitish-gray sleeveless dress that looked like it was made out from a cotton blanket and had a braided rope-like belt tied around her waist and her feet was barefooted.
While Helia was lost at words he wasn't sure what to say to her, Bloom took a step forward toward a fearful Flora, who was cowering away till her back was arched against the cool glass of the window. "Flora, don't you recognize us? It's us. Your friends, remember? Bloom and Layla. And Helia, the man you love. Don't you remember it all?"
Instead of answering the question, anger started blazing like wild fire in Flora's green eyes. "Raven!" she called out.
"Who in the name of Christ is-Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Before he could even blink, Alaric was slammed hard on his back, on the cold and hard ground, and was being attacked by a small bird, who despite her size was one tough bird and had a strong, sharp pecking beck.
"Flora, listen I know you're scared but we can help-" Helia was cut off by her.
"Leave me alone!" She grabbed her cloak back from him, but not before swinging a insanely strong kick to his private, which caused all thought to be erased from his head as he got down on his knees and fell face-first to the ground, and showering Bloom and Layla with millions of pollens, blinding them. Quickly as she took her cloak and flee from the scene, raven pecked Alaric one last time, taking a big snap, before she went out and followed her.
"Well, that went well," Bloom said after she and Layla recovered from the surprise attack. With all those pollens surrounding them, it was so hard to see anything and some got into her eyes, watering them a little.
"I don't understand," Helia said through his pain as he got up, wincing a bit. "Why doesn't she remember us?"
"Oh, are you okay, Alaric? Yes, I'm fantastic. It's always amazing to have a maggot bird use my face as an all-you-can-eat buffet, thank you very much for the deep concern." Alaric's beautiful face was badly scarred with rough scratches at nearly every inch, inflicted with harsh bruises and drips of blood spilling from the severe wounds.
Layla rolled her eyes at his sarcasm, thinking again how ridiculous and childish he was acting. "You didn't bother to care when bad things happen to us, so why should we care when bad things happen to you?"
Alaric glared at her, making a mental note to himself to get back at her when the time was right. Turning his head toward Helia, he said "Don't forget when I said I knew where you friend was, I never said she would be the exactly same girl she once was when she was spilt from her own soul."
"Alaric!" Bloom exclaimed, frustrated. "Enough with your mambo-jumbo crap and please let it all out. What the heck is going on with Flora?"
"Your friend may have not been destroyed once she performed the prophecy of her birth, but that didn't automatically mean she was going to be the same girl, the same gentle-loving, nature-power Flora you all remembered her as. She has changed, though I myself am not entirely what is in her that changed but I have a pretty good hunch. When the part that was Flora was spilt from her soul and escaped to this unusual setting, something inside was erased. Memory would be the key concept. I believe, after witnessing the little stunt she pulled on Miss Snappy and red-head, she knows she has powers and has control over nature, but everything else that has happened in her life and everything and everyone once familiar to her is now erased."
"So what do we do now?" Layla asked. "She won't go with us if she can't remember everything but we have to bring her back. Only problem is I think she and her bird will attack us the moment she sees us again."
"She's scared, Layla," Bloom told her. "She almost…like a child in a way, a little and innocent kid trapped inside the body of an eighteen year old girl. She just needs some time."
"Time, I'm not entirely sure if you noticed, redhead, is not on our side," Alaric retorted. "Believe it or not, we've been gone for almost a day and we're in nighttime now. I give your friend till sunrise tomorrow to come and show herself at the crack of dawn; otherwise I'll hunt her down myself, compel her, and bring her with us. There's no telling how much longer your friends can handle Libitina."
"There's no way in hell you're compelling our friend!" Layla snapped.
"First off, in case you haven't noticed your friend doesn't seem to remember meeting you all. Second, I've had to up to there," Alaric gestured his hand two feet above the top of his head. "With you and your snappy attitude. Believe me, sweetheart, you don't want to cross paths with me. You'll only live to regret."
"Is that supposed be some kind of threat or promise?" Layla frowned as she and Alaric were face-to-face, both wanting to do awfully horrible things to the other. "In case you forgotten this whole mess is your fault-"
"I'm already aware of that, Miss Mighty one. You always remind every ten seconds."
Layla continued on, as if she wasn't interrupted. "Because you were seriously obsessed with some girl who never loved you in the first place. What's the real reason why you want to help us bring down the same girl whose shoes you'll lick in a heartbeat if she asked you to? Was it because you were upset she thought you were a pathetic, little man who wasn't even worth of being her play toy?"
The urge to smack her right across the face, with more than enough force to send her flying toward the ground was so strong he even held up his hand for position. The moment his hand was only a second away from being smacked against her cheek, Alaric stopped himself just in time and wordlessly stared into anger-blazing yet panic eyes of the princess Layla, feeling like he was back in time and having another heated discussion with Lauren, whom personality and attitude was so much like her descendant it was mind-boggling. He took in a deep breath, reminding himself to calm down, as he lowered his hand and then pointed his sharp finger at Layla. "Consider that your first and last warning to never push your luck and cross my path. I may not have done things as brutal as Libitina, but I certainly have my share of doing disturbing things to people I loathe. If you be one of them…well, let's just say things will not end so lucky for you and it would bring such pity to Tides if something were to happen to the so-called beloved princess."
"Guys!" Bloom stepped into the middle and placing her hands on their chests, pushing the two apart from each other before things would start to get real ugly. "Look, if we really want to stop Libitina, then we need to start working together instead of killing each other. Because you got hit by lava gushes, Layla, and I got hit by that energy blast, it's going to take some time for our Winx to regenerate again. So until then, I say we make a campsite around here to stay the night before we leave."
"Fine." Layla said, still glaring at Alaric.
"Fine then." Alaric snapped with a cock of his head.
"Alright then," The two may not see eye to eye and be each other's favorite person, but it was still a whole lot better they agree to at least not kill each other. "Helia, what do you think?"
They all turned around and save the young hero was gone from sight.
"Where did he go?" Bloom asked, glancing around.
"Three guesses," Alaric said as he held up three fingers. "All the same and I'm pretty we all have a pretty good hunch to the answer."
While the others were planning what their next step was going to be, Helia sneaked away from the scene and took the back door out of the church, his eyes glancing around the outside to see if there was anything left behind indicating to where she might have ran off. But found nothing. Frustrated, he kicked at the ground beneath his feet and murmur vicious curses under his breath.
He couldn't believe it; it was all still too surreal. Flora was not only still alive, but he saw her only a few moments ago. Only problem was she didn't know who was she and had no clue who he was. Although he was aware she wasn't at fault, she didn't remember anything about him or the precious thing they shared together.
"If you're anywhere around here and can hear me, please know we won't hurt you. We would never do anything of the sort to you. I would die before I lay a hand to hurt you. We're going to be staying at the church till early tomorrow, then we'll leave. I would really love it if you came so we can talk, but it's still your choice if want to."
When he heard no reply, Helia sighed and then returned back inside the church with his friends. As soon as the door closed behind him, the caramel-haired girl emerged from her hiding place, with her raven bird sticking close to her, and leaned her left side against the church wall, staring at the spot where the blue-haired young man was just at. Raven was gently pecking at her from behind, as if to say it was time for them to move on before they were spotted again. Only she couldn't, not yet when her head was spinning with thoughts and feelings and she was feeling more confused than ever.
Flora? Was that who she was?
It was the first time she ever heard the name before, but it had such a strong impact on her. It would echo repeatedly inside her head, stirring up unusual flashes in her head starring a girl who looked an awfully like her, churning her stomach from the mix of odd feelings bubbling inside her and ready to burst from her own skin. Everything was so confusing, her head felt suddenly so full it was close to exploding.
Behind her, Raven was chirping a bit louder than unusual and pecking her more, losing her patience.
"I'm coming, Raven," she murmured, still staring at the spot where the man disappeared from.
He was a bit odd to her and strange, but there was no denying he was one of the beautiful men she has ever met before in her life. A face breathtakingly allure and flawless, beautiful midnight hair tied into a low ponytail and looked so fine enough to touch and run her fingers through it, and a body so lean and muscular, looking so good in that uniform he was wearing she was blushing from the thought of it.
He was odd yet beautiful, but she had a gut-wrenching feeling in her stomach she met him, actually known him from somewhere before.
Get up.
The voice was brittle, harsh. Musa winced from the sound of the brutal tone, turning to her left and snuggling her body into a ball, wishing it would go away.
Get up.
She groaned, turning her body to the right side, shutting her eyes tightly and wanting nothing more than have a few more moments of much-needed rest, or preferably hours, before she's forced to wake up again.
Get up!
This time the owner of the voice skipped firmly talking, turning her voice to full-blast yell central. Musa sighed, admitting defeat and finally opened her eyes. The first thing that came into view was the blooded sky, the smell of thick, black smoke intoxicating the air with its' foul stank, and destroyed building remains towering over her. One of one the remain building was her double, Dark Musa, swinging her left leg back and forth as she sat on the building, glaring down at Musa with amusement laughing in her red eyes and a smirk worn on her face.
"Morning, sunshine," she smirked. "It's such a beautiful day today, wouldn't you agree? I don't really find any need for you to be up. I'll kill you right where you stand."
Musa shrieked and flee, as if her life depended on it-which it did-as her twin shot two double, powerful blasts from her hands, nearly hitting her. Dozens of sonic and sounds blasts were following behind her, which she was barely avoided getting hit by inch, and fled to a building where she could see her friends were all together and gathered around.
The moment she landed on her feet and went over to join them, she motioned them to be quiet. Moments passed and still nothing could be heard. They all breathed in and sighed in relief.
"How are you guys holding up?" Musa said, only to get answered by groans and glares to let her know exactly how they felt.
"It's officially," Stella said. "I never, ever want to have a birth sister or even a twin sister if she's going to anything like Dark Stella. Because if I do, then I'll be living in one hell of a nightmare."
"Thanks to psycho me," Roxy said, whose Winx outfit was looking less beautiful like the first time they saw it and more torn-up and could nearly pass as ratty rags. "I almost lost my love for animals, because all the spells and attacks I throw at her she throw right back. Only harder."
"It's pretty much the same way we're being treated by all our psychos," Tecna said. "We need to regroup and think of some plan to beat them."
"No offense, tech girl," Riven snapped, earning himself a round of hard, not-in-the-mood glares. "But I have a pretty strong feeling no planning or going over stupid calculations is going to help us deal with those psychos."
Timmy sat down on a rock, bringing his head down in shame and shaking it as he ran both hands through his hair, which wasn't looking too hot right now. Tecna went over to give her boyfriend some comfort, but when she tried putting her hand on his shoulder he shrugged it away like he couldn't even stand the touch. Sighing, he said "Riven's right. I gotten enough bruises, punches, kicks, and hits from psycho Timmy to know data and calculation aren't going to help us. Then again, I think we all found out that the hard way from our fights."
Like Timmy, the boys weren't looking so hot themselves. Harsh bruises on their outer appearances, cuts and scars inflicted on their faces, and their Red uniform featured many tears and rips. The girls' fairy dust could heal anything, but the only problem was there was so much healing it can do before it was impossible to do anything. Like the guys, the girls were also suffering from harsh bruises, but it was mostly bruises inside them that were causing them the real pain, and their Enchantix form was close to becoming more like rags with so many shards and tears.
"Come on, guys," Sky said. "We can't give up. Bloom, Layla, and Helia are no doubt going through hell right now being with Alaric, but we can't let them down. We can still pull through, distract Libitina for as long as we can, and buy them enough time to find Flora and bring her back here."
"Oh, I don't think so, pretty boy," Everyone frozen into place from the chills of that voice, looking at one another with fear and panic in their eyes, automatically gulping lumps clogging their bone-dry throats before looking up and seeing all their twins hovering in their sky. Arms folded across chest or hands placed on hips, dark smiles spreading across their faces, and their red eyes glowing with evil wickedness.
"In fact," Dark Brandon continued. "There has been something going through my head while I fought pretty boy's friend."
"What?" both the psychos and non-psychos asked in unison.
"There's some sneakiness going on and I think our queen wouldn't be so happy if she wasn't aware it was happening right under her nose."
"You wouldn't dare!" Sky growled.
"Oh, but he would." Dark Nabu answered.
"But of course," Dark Sky shrugged. "Brandon doesn't like spilling secrets and the rest of us don't like telling them."
"Well, all of us except for psycho Stella, who always love sharing juicy gossip," Dark Roxy and Stella's twin shared a smirk, then Dark Stella winked looked down at them before flying off to Libitina, who was sitting on a brand-new throne more fantastic and bigger than her old one, watching the show unfolding before her.
"No!" Stella and the girls quickly fired their most powerful spells at Dark Stella, with the guys' help firing from their blasters and Nabu shooting energy blasts from his staff.
But the psycho was too quick and reached Libitina, forcing the gang to watch in horror as psycho Stella leaned in close and whispered the delicious information to Libitina, the smirk on her face growing more vicious and wider as she told every single word.
The gang held onto each other tight, shutting their eyes and saying their final prayers before meeting the eye of death. But they didn't expect the next moment to happen next.
Libitina absorbed the new information she had been told about the sneakiness, which was one of things always getting under her skin and always resulted deadly consequences for someone else, and nodded her head. She then dismissed the case with a wave gesture of her hand, shaking her head only slightly before cocking it to one side. "Yes, I already know."
"Huh?" they all said, arching their eyebrows, confused.
"But how did-"Stella said, only to get cut off by Libitina, who was darkly chuckling under her breath as her infamous sweetly dark smile was spreading across her face, curving up the corners of her lips.
"I'm disappointed in you insects. Your relatives may have been annoying to deal with, but at least they weren't entirely ignorant of my ability and what I can really do with my powers. I'm already aware that a mere part of my reincarnation still exists and your friends and the reincarnation of Julio are embarking on a journey to get her back to this world, with the help of that treacherous Alaric. If there is one thing I despise most of all is traitors, who are going to wish they never crossed my path."
"It doesn't matter what the hell you do to us, witch!" Sky yelled. "My girlfriend and our friends will find Flora and bring her back. And there's nothing you can do about it."
Libitina laughed again, more brutal and colder. "That's rich, little boy. Real rich. I may not be able to stop them physically, but my powers can reach the underworld and make little surprises for them."
She closed her crimson eyes for a moment, and as she opened them again they were luminous and bright as the silvery moon. Only she wasn't looking at the gang and her mind was far, far away from Magix, now at the heart of the underworld. Looking at the double-sided doors where she felt the others' presence inside and glared at the statues guarding the doors, smiling as she thought they would make the perfect toys for her new game.
Those lava creatures may not have been able to finish the game for me, she thought, as streaks of blackness were wrapped around the statues, covering them from toe to head, transferring some power to them and making them her warriors. But I somehow doubt they'll have that much luck with these creatures.
She giggled mischievously as she watched the statues' dead eyes glow bright red as blood.
With everything decided about tomorrow and how things will go down, they decided to rest up at the Church, which was no hotel and the greatest place to stay at but they were going to have to bear with they got. Bloom and Layla were resting up at a row of alter in the middle, right next to each other, with Layla lying on her back and often changing her position, mumbling and groaning in her sleep, while Bloom was sound asleep and her body curled up into fetal position. Alaric was sleeping inside a golden-bronze, brad engraved coffin, taking up the most comfortable place to sleep in.
His eyes were closed and his facial expression was soft and peaceful, the kind of face expected to be seen as someone was in slumber, expect Helia wasn't exactly sure he was really asleep. Alaric was probably just going through thoughts filling his head with his eyes closed, so he wouldn't have to see another dark, hatred-filled glare reserved for him.
Helia was still awake, too anxious to even think about sleeping. He lit up all the candles inside the church, including the ones in chandeliers, with a pack of matches he found lying around and the lighter he quickly took from Alaric when he wasn't looking to shed some light in the depressing place. He then sighed, satisfied, sat down at near the glass windows, which was the exact place where he found her, and wrote in his journal he brought along for the journey in case he needed something to do. He hasn't written in the book for over eight hundred years, yet the feeling of holding it again his hands was so familiar and more right than ever.
March 23, 2010
I never thought I would write in this book ever again, but I'm glad I am. It's good to have something familiar to hold onto as I got through this horrible time. Years, centuries even have passed since last I've written in this very book and time has changed. Some things are the same they were when I was Julio and there are some things that are very different. In this lifetime I am known as Helia Gabriel and my family is still exactly the same, which I'm sad said to say hasn't changed that much. I met great friends, who are the greatest friends a man can hope to have and are actually descendants of my dear friends from the past. They are so much like their relatives, every one of them; it's extremely hard to tell who from whom. I still go to Red Fountain, although I still don't believe in the need of fighting and battling. But most importantly, I found my true love again. The reincarnation of my darling Rose, given the name Flora, a name that is just as beautiful as Rosalina. The resemblance between her and Rose is quite extraordinary, in same ways the two girls are exactly alike, but in other ways Flora is incredibly different from Rosalina and I mean that in a good way.
He went on and on about the day he met Flora, just like he saw in his dreams, more magical than he pictured it would.
I will admit I was ignorant of the past that very day, but the day Brandon came over to me and introduced me to his friends, the very second my eyes were locked into the breathless emerald greens belonging to the most beautiful, lovely girl I ever seen before in my life everything was immediately erased from my mind. Before that day, I knew I never met her before but feelings I never felt before were bursting inside of me and the only thought that came to mind was I knew I seen that lovely face somewhere before. Even though I couldn't quite remember where.
He continued writing about more times and moments he met with Flora and shared with her, writing about all the good times they had together and their love grew even stronger than before. Unfortunately he also had to write in the unpleasant moments, which mostly had a certain evil demon featured in the moments. He wrote about everything from the day Flora met Alaric to how she became the portal used the unleash darkness and evil.
All of this horribleness, this pain and suffering, had to happen all because of Alaric's and his cold ways and his selfishness. He was so obsessed with Libitina and blinded by what he felt for her, he couldn't think of anything else and in the end the poor sucker had to learn the hard way that when it comes to Libitina, you can never count on she'll keep her word or her end of the deal. As shocking as this may sound, he's the one helping us bring Libitina down with intentions no one else would ever guess.
Helia stopped writing for a moment as he looked up at Alaric and a flashback of what happened between them not too long ago flooded into his mind.
"You're aware I can still feel your eyes watching me," Bloom and Layla were sound asleep, exhausted from quite the adventure they had for one day and decided to hit the hay. Surprisingly for once in his life, Alaric didn't say anything and went over to lie in the coffin. Helia didn't feel like sleeping for obvious reasons, so he was just sitting down on the ground and setting his gaze around whatever needed to be seen. He hasn't even realized he was staring at Alaric and for only who knows for how long till he was pointed out.
"In fact," Alaric continued, stretching out his arms and sitting up. "I've received enough glances from strangers in my lifetime to know they can't help but stare me. Of course, mostly I got those looks from women and since you're a man, or whatever species you are, I don't know what to make of it."
As much as Helia wanted to tell Alaric to stick his crude comments up somewhere else, he wasn't in the mood for it and decided to be the adult, turning his direction toward somewhere else and keeping his mouth shut.
"As much as I know love to say to I'm flattered you think I'm that attractive, I really think it's honestly sick and disgusting," There was still no response from him, which was slowly turning the smug smile on Alaric's face into a disappointed frown. "I think I can guess what's upsetting you. Upsetting you so much you don't shoot an insult back at me, which to me is an alert meaning something is wrong and the universe from be a second away from titling."
"If you are such a wise-ass and think you know everything, why not try to guess to what's going through my head." Helia snapped.
"Gladly. It's not so hard to tell what's going through your mind since there's nothing really there in the first place, dim-wit."
"Would it seriously kill you to not call me dim-wit?"
"Actually, yes it would. Although it does depend on something else," Alaric shrugged. "Will there ever be a chance you'll finally stop referring me as the devil-demon?"
Helia met Alaric's hard glare with a cold look of his own, cold enough to freeze a heart with one glare. Given the looks on each other's faces as they had their stare-off, an obvious answer was delivered to that question.
"I guess we're going to be stuck with our nicknames forever then." Helia said.
"Guess so," Alaric replied. "I'll be known as devil demon and you as dim-wit forever and ever, for probably all eternity. Unless, for example, there will come a day when we're both crazy drunk and actually agree to be friends, thinking we can work out a friendship and put everything in the past behind us."
Helia nearly spit at the thought of something so disgusting and surreal. There was no amount of liquor in the entire universe or the most powerful magic that can make him easily forgive and forget everything horrible Alaric caused in his life. There was nothing in the dimension that can ever make the strong, deep hatred he felt towards the devil-demon go away, could erase how the mere sight of him already made his stomach churn in disgust, and hearing his name caused fury to fire in his veins.
Helia was so consumed with his heated, hatred-filled thoughts; he nearly didn't hear what Alaric was saying. He was able to snap back into reality to hear the last part of Alaric's sentence, "She's hasn't completely forgotten you, you know."
"What?" Helia asked, confused.
"Flora, remember her?" Alaric arched his eyebrow, mocking him. "The suppose love of your life and is reason of your existence? The reincarnation of the almighty and powerful Libitina? And I believe is a Pisces, because she was born on March 13. Ring a bell?"
"I meant what you just said, jackass!" Helia snapped.
After making a comment about how touché Helia was acting on defense and smiling a bit to himself he got a reaction from him, Alaric repeated himself. "I was saying the reason why you were so upset was because of what happened with your precious flower girl. She might have been a bit...more aggressive toward you than usual, but she hasn't completely forgotten about you," Watching the hatred in Helia's face slowly melt away, he continued. "You have to understand everything the poor girl once knew now lays in her sleep, resting in the back of her head and in her memories. Even though she doesn't recall some things, like you for example, right now, the memories are still there in her head."
Helia listened to Alaric's words for a moment, then nodded his head, considering them. "It's not that-" He cut himself off by taking in a breath and letting it out in a sigh, bringing his head down and looking down at the marble ground. "It's not that. Even though things didn't go exactly like I hoped they would, it's not the real reason why I'm so upset. The reason why I'm so upset is because of everything else."
Alaric stared at his rival for a full minute or two, studying him and listening to his words. "Care to elaborate?"
Helia wasn't exactly sure why he was talking about his thoughts with Alaric, but it did make him feel a bit better talking about what's been bothering him with someone. "I know that no matter what I say to try to convince you, you'll always think I was the biggest idiot in history for what I did to Rosalina. I suppose my intentions were selfish, but to me they seem almost right because I loved and cared about her so much. I failed her in the past and I knew we both would be reincarnated again, so…I also killed her because I can hoping I'll be able to protect her in the future and make sure the past wouldn't come back to haunt us."
Alaric shook his head, scratching his chin with a distinct, thoughtful look on his face. "A wise man once said those who don't learn from history are always doomed to repeat it. The whole reason why you and I are here together is because of one girl. A beautiful, indescribable yet selfish and manipulative girl we both were madly in love with but she was never ours to begin with."
As much as it pained Helia to admit the truth to himself, he saw Alaric was actually right. As shocking as it was, the man he hated was actually right. Rosalina may have loved him before all of this happened and might have also felt something powerful she couldn't quite explain toward Alaric, considering how long she kept him around, but not anymore. She was done with emotions, done with sympathizing with someone else and having emotions, which she saw as a complete and total waste. She only wanted them as her dolls, something to occupy her while she was bored and needed something to amuse her. She loved to kiss and cuddle with one of them, knowing the other was there and seeing the look of jealousy and hurt on his face, just to satisfy the needs of her games.
"The thing is…" Helia said, and then stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking again. "Rose thought the only reason why her friends and I were always protective of her was because we saw her as a little girl who always needed to be rescue. She wasn't aware we all thought she was the strongest out of all of us. She always kept herself together when things got rough and would the only person you could to never lose her cool when things would turn for the worse. She had such brightness within her, was easily able to light a room wherever she went, and had powers over Nature and Earth, which is a pretty strong power if you ask me. I knew she was strong and more than capable enough to handle herself, but if anything was to ever happen to her I would never forgive myself. I was so protective of her because I loved her so much and didn't want anything to happen to her. I just wish she knew that."
Silence fell into the moment, filling between the two men. Helia was still looking down at the ground, starting to find the sight a bit comforting in a way, as he cracked his knuckles, which seemed to be the perfect way to relieve his thoughts. Each time Alaric heard the crack, it was the sound of breaking bones to him, which was becoming irritating to him. To deal with the sound and the awkward silence, he grabbed a spare cigarette, thankfully dry, and lit it up. He stuck it in his mouth, took in a good breath in and felt the thick smoke filling his lungs, and as he opened his mouth, a steam of smoke was trialing out form his lips.
"When Rosalina had the power of the Midnight Raven, I immediately blamed you," As Helia spoke again, Alaric stopped with his smoking affairs and turned his attention to him. "Blaming you seemed so natural and easy, because it seemed like such a thing you would do if you wanted to. But after what you told me back at Sunnyvilla Paradise, I'm been doing some thinking. About what you said about why Rose took the power in the first place; it was because she was tired of us seeing her as some little girl. Sometimes when I'm alone, I always wondered if I just explained to Rosalina the reason why we were so protective of her, the reason why I acted like some bodyguard around her, then maybe things would have turned out different. It's no more your fault than it is mine. If I let Rosalina knew, then none of this would have never happened."
Alaric didn't a make comment. Instead he was focus on another activity and following a routine: only taking a puff of his cigarette, titling his head back to release a stream of smoke, and repeated the step again. Helia wasn't too surprised he didn't make a comment. Knowing Alaric, he was no doubt gloating about this right now and feeling so smug and happy with himself.
"I don't even know why I bothered to tell you," Helia muttered. "Seems pretty clear you don't care at all."
Alaric kept smoking and smoking his last cigarette till it was done to a tiny snub butt, crushed the butt in his hand, reducing it to ashes, and sprinkled it onto the floor beneath him. He stared at Helia for a while, not saying a word, and sighed while rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "There is no person at fault for what happened in the past. No other person's fault except for Rosalina. She was the one who knew exactly what she was getting herself into, let her jealously and selfishness get the best of her, and letting those very things became her downfall. It's no more your fault than it is mine."
"But-" Helia started to protest, only to get cut off by Alaric.
"If Rosalina truly loved you like she thought she did or how you claimed she did, then she would have realized why you and your friends were so protective of her. It was only because you all cared about her so much. She was too ignorant not to realize that, too blinded at the chance of getting the ultimate power to see or think of anything else. You shouldn't feel any guilt of what happened in the past because none of it was your fault. There was only one thing you were and are guilty of and that is loving her, which is a crime you and I already committed on a life sentence. Maybe even longer."
Helia looked up to meet Alaric's eyes and was shocked. Usually in Alaric's black eyes, often times there were nothing but blackness, most times coldness and smugness, or deep-filled iced glares. But this time, his black eyes were filled with genuine understanding and remorse. He was actually showing he was not only listening, but he was also showing some understanding. And that could only mean one thing.
"Rosalina did something horrible to you," Helia commented, watching as shock was flashed across Alaric's face, then the shock and the genuine emotions slowly died out, molting to cold and hard stone impossible to break through. "I know you're just going to tell me since this doesn't concern me, I should mind my own business. But I guess you can say I have a curious mind."
"Didn't your mother ever teach you to let you that curiosity kills the cat? Take it from me, it really does."
Helia should have met that crude comment with one of his own, but instead waited patiently for Alaric to start talking. If he was really acting this snappy, then that meant Libitina did something to really hurt him badly.
For what felt like nearly a century, Alaric stayed silent and looked at Helia for the longest time. He didn't say anything and glared back at Alaric, not planning to back down. After awhile of staring and becoming irritated, Alaric broke the silence by finally sighing as he turned his gaze away and told him everything that happened between him and Libitina, but left out some "risky" details he knew what made Helia really steam.
When he was finally done talking, he said nothing and fidgeted with one of the buttons of his tailored suit, still looking pressed and fresh like it was just out of the dry-cleaners instead of being wore on all day for fighting. While he was fidgeting away, Helia was now the one quiet. He wasn't sure what to say because there was nothing he could really say about it. Except that maybe Alaric really got burnt and Libitina was far more cruel and harsh than the two men thought she was.
"Wow. Alaric, that…I'm-"
"I didn't tell you what happened because I wanted you to feel sorry for me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not the kind of man who likes to be the one people feel sorry for. I find pity and sorrow pathetic and irritating," Alaric said, still fidgeting with his button and not wanting to look Helia directly in the eye. "I only told you so you would get off my back of being unfair and all that other garbage. Besides, there really is no reason to feel sorry for me because I most certainly don't. I like seeing that little breaking-point moment as a learning experience with learning lessons behind it. For example, never let something, like love, blind you from seeing and knowing what's really going on. And make assumptions and hopes on uneven possibilities."
"Still…I will admit I kind of, sort of thought you would always have something like that coming your way for everything you done-"
"You certainly mentioned that more than thousands of times. And that was only yesterday. All the other times you told me I would always get burned are countless."
"But still…it hardly seems fair."
Alaric shrugged, saying "We live in a world, a complete universe where unfairness seems to happen everyday and at every corner you turn. Life itself isn't fair, yet you and I are still expected to live in it. The moment I met Rosalina, life I always thought was so dull and worthless suddenly became worthy and pricless. I wanted her so badly, more badly than anything I ever wanted before in my entire life,"
That Helia already knew, but said nothing and learned to Alaric as he continued to talk.
"I grew so obsessed with her, loving her and wanting her more than the last day, nothing else mattered anymore. All I ever wanted was for her to return my love, but instead I ended up getting burned. More badly than I thought I would. Maybe I should have cried or choke up a bit, but instead I was steady and firm as a rock. A complete statue. But that moment was a bit of a wake-up call for me to finally snap out of my silly delusions and see what is real. I also learned a few things. Libitina is and always will be a self-centered, manipulative bitch who will never get tired of playing her sick games, I was blinded by what I felt for her and hoped I would finally get her to love me I ended up being labeled as a fool, and you and everyone else were right about something. Looking past their identical looks, Flora and Libitina are not anything alike."
Helia shrugged. "I guess you could say that they could or might have been alike if you compared Flora to the way Rosalina used to be like."
Alaric shrugged himself. "Except we both know what became of the seemingly, sweet and innocent nature fairy. She became the most powerful and darkest witch in history. So funny how people you never expected to change can easily be transformed overnight. A moment seems more like though."
Helia could have gone the smug way and gloated Alaric finally gotten what he deserved, but looking at him now he decided against the act. Although the walls surrounding Alaric were roughened with sharp spikes and hard as icy-cold stone, he could still see and read glimpses inside. Glimpses showing pain and betrayal, which meant Alaric was feeling way more pain than he was letting on and was obviously still hurting from Libitina's rejection.
"So, what do you plan to do after when all this ends?" he asked.
There was a sudden blankness dawning in Alaric's eyes, which could only mean he hasn't thought that far ahead. "I only thought about helping you all get Flora back and showing Libitina no one makes a fool out of me. The rest of what I plan to do will probably come to mind later as we go through the rest of the journey."
"So does that mean you don't think you might come back to stay at Magix?" Helia said.
Alaric's response to that question was a questioning look with his left eyebrow slightly arched. "Would you honestly like it if I were to stay Magix?"
The two glared at each other, then slowly the silence between them was broken by Helia suddenly overcome with laughter and chuckling. After awhile of listening to him laugh, laughter was becoming contagious and it wasn't long before they were laughing together.
Alaric wiped a tear from his eye and let out a breath, trying to calm his laughter box. "If it wasn't for the fact I found you to be such a dim-wit and detest you so much, I would have almost liked you. Almost."
Helia nodded and a small smirk was slowly playing on his lips. "And if it wasn't for the fact I find you to be the biggest pain to my ass, a sharp throne to my side, and I hated you so much…I would have found you a little less irritating than you were."
Alaric nodded himself, respecting that. "I never thought in a million, billion years I would ever say this, but...I believe you and I just shared a moment."
"I guess we did." Helia shrugged.
"This just seems so surreal."
"I completely agree."
"Feel like completing this sweet moment by hugging it out?"
"Not on your life, devil-demon!"
They stared at one another again and were laughing together again.
We haven't exactly become friends and I thought we'll never, ever see each other as allies, but we did share a moment. It honestly felt good to have a civil conversation with Alaric instead of him putting on his jackass act and us throwing insults and crude comments at each other back and forth. I learned a bit more about him than what meets the eye. To be honest, I think we have a little more in common than we thought we did. We both were badly betrayed by someone we both loved and cared about, didn't come from the best families, and the very thing that connects us together is the love and longing we felt for a girl we found out in the end was nothing but selfish and cared for no one else but herself.
Helia thought back to the experience he went through when he fell into the lava, a test ritual of hell to see if he would really give into his temptation and set himself up for an eternity of suffering and misery. The oddest thing about it was, unlike the others who went through the same process as he did, fate or some other supernatural force decided to lend him a hand through his temptation. To show him there was someone else, besides Rosalina, who needed and deserved his love and protection even more.
More like a test to see which one of the two loves he had in his life was truly the one for him and was his real true love.
Love is truly a funny thing. Most of the times it makes your stomach feel like it's filled with butterflies and knocks you down hard on your face. Often times it's a drawn force, a pull to someone else that attracts you like a magnet. Mostly it's an indescribable sensation you never thought you would feel for someone else. The funniest thing about love is how often it's like you're living a story out from a romance or is a game played by a sneaky player. It's something people often fall in and out of, sometimes finding more than twenty loves in their life. Or in my case, you're still in love with your original lover and developed a new love for a new one. Falling in love with the same girl who was the reincarnation Doppler-ganger of your first love.
There is a part of me will always love Rose. No matter how many times she may have hurt me or the horrible things she has done in the past, a part of me will always love her forever. I thought there was no one else who would ever replace Rosalina, but I was proven dead wrong. Because there is a bigger part of me, practically all of me, that loves Flora. People might only assume the only reason why I love her so is because of her resemblance to Rosalina. But that is not true. I will admit the remarkable resemblance between the two of them is incredible and is what drawn me to her in the first place, but that's not the reason why I love her. Rosalina might have been a wonderful girl in the beginning, but she made up her mind of what she was doing and never once regretted her choice, though it cost the lives and pain of so many people including her old friends. Unlike Rosalina, Flora will never do anything to hurt me on purpose. I know she isn't manipulative and doesn't play mind games to her own satisfaction. I know she would never betray people for her own sake; instead she would risk her own to save another. I know she will never let anything, not power or jealously, change the person who she is.
One way or another we are all, including Flora, going to leave this place and go back to Magix. We will go back to help our friends, finally defeat the angel of darkness once and for all, and by God's will we will make sure this horrible, hellish nightmare will finally be put to seize once and for all.
Writing that last statement, Helia closed his book.
It was close to early morning and he still hasn't seen Flora at all. Alaric said they had to leave early in the morning to get back to Magix and if Flora doesn't come by then, then Alaric will hunt her down and compel her with a glare to come with them. Alaric was pretty powerful with his hypnotist eyes, and he has tested it out on Flora before, which was an unfortunate success.
Alaric may think that was the simplest way for her to come with them without resist and easily, but that didn't mean Helia was all up for it. Truth be told, he hated it.
"I guess we'll have to find out in the morning." Helia murmured as he closed his eyes and sank into deep, warm unconsciousness. But soon the spell was broken as he suddenly heard noise.
He still kept his eyes closed, his posture limp and relaxed, and his breathing going in a regular pace and was kept at rhythm to give the appearance of sleep.
He heard the sounds coming from all the way back, at the front of the entrance. They were the sounds of footsteps coming closer and closer, coming closer to him. He felt a presence standing next to him, towering over him, and felt the gaze of their eyes settling on his face.
The person got down on their knees and traced every feature, every inch of his face, which looked so peaceful and beautiful in the person's opinion. Often times the hands would run fingers through his hair, sometimes acting bold as he they cupped his face in their soft hands and caress his cheeks, but slowly used a slender finger to brush against his lips repeatedly. And he could smell the sweet scent of their cool breath.
He quickly gripped onto the person's hands and opened his eyes, finding himself staring into green eyes. Green and teal blue mixed together, going into a much deeper connection and gazing at into each other for what felt like such long hours yet seemed so small and short.
But soon the moment was cut off short as green eyes were slowly becoming distinct and the spell was broken as she turned the other cheek. She was confused and scared, unable to properly explain or handle what sensation exploded inside of her. She was sure she had never had those kinds of feelings before, but the way it was so unbelievable and familiar gave her the impression she felt it before. A long time ago or a distinct dream she couldn't quite grasp.
"I-that-was-" she stuttered, not sure what else to day but could feel the strange feelings growing inside of her the longer the stranger's gaze was locked on hers and the longer she was near his presence. She didn't know what else to say, so she did the one thing she was sure someone else in her position would have done.
She took off running.
Again.
"Flora, wait!" Helia cried after her, immediately getting to his feet. It was by a great miracle she slowed down her pace and stopped in front of the entrance before she was completely out of the door.
She might have stayed, but she didn't make a response. Helia understood he was going to need to convince her more of his word.
"I know you're scared. And really confuse right now, but you have to believe me when I say I will and would never do anything to hurt you. I would rather die than do anything to bring harm to you and that's the solid truth. Please, you have to believe and trust me. You did once before."
There was still no response.
"Please Flora."
She looked over her shoulder and took in a deep breath while trying to make her face a cool, unreadable mask. "Who are you?"
"Helia Gabriel. It might not be a name you recall right now, but believe me it's familiar to you."
And the oddest thing was he was right. The name actually was familiar to her. Too familiar. "What exactly do you know about me?"
Helia couldn't help chuckling under his breath a bit, smiling softly at her so she wouldn't get the wrong impression he was laughing at her. "It's sort of complicated to explain. The best way to explain is with a story. A real-life tale about a girl who was a lot like you."
"Can you tell me the story?" she asked in a timid, unsure voice.
Helia nodded and walked over to her. When her eyes were filling with fear and panic, he stopped himself as he saw a good length away from her. He stretched out his hand toward her, offering her to take it. "Can you trust me?"
Flora bit her bottom lip as she shook her head, watching the hope in his eyes die out into devastation. She has a lot of good reasons not to trust him, most of them having to do with he was a stranger and strangers were never people who deserved trust. But she couldn't deny something deep within her was saying he was different and she could trust him. For whatever crazy reason, she went along with that feeling. "I do. I trust you."
A smile spread across his face, and then he led her to the spot where he was at till now and they both sat down on the ground.
Flora hesitantly rested her head on Helia's lap after she was overcome with a strange yet strong urge, lying on her side. She felt tension stiffening beneath her cheek, meaning he was surprised like she was by the certain move. "I hope you don't mind, do you?"
It felt so strange yet right to feel her next to him again. He hesitantly placed his left hand on her hair and waited for her reaction, wanting to see if she was comfortable with it or if he was crossing a line. Moments passed and still nothing, which left him with the thought she was comfortable with it. "No, not at all."
With his hand still placed on her head and slowly stroking her hair, he began to tell the tale. "There was a girl named Flora. She was beautiful and amazing, lovely and sweet as all the flowers you can imagine, and was unlike any girl I ever met before. Being the fairy of nature, she has complete control over Earth. She used that amazing power to fight along side me and our other friends, brave and strong amazing other fairies and Specialist heroes, against evil. We weren't always victorious in some of the battles, but always came out on top of the war. Flora loved the power of Nature and loved Nature the way a mother cared for their infant child. She used that power to fight for good and against evil, but most of her life she always felt there was a dark side growing along side with her. A dark side she learned more about with the arrival of her eighteenth birthday, and she was opened up to a new world and focusing back on the past…"
As he went on telling her the story, Alaric opened one eye quick to see what was all the ruckus was about and was a bit surprised to see the scene happening in front of him. He frowned a bit as he watched the way Flora was cuddling close to Helia. He might be over Libitina, but that didn't exactly mean he was all cheery about watching Helia and Flora acting so cute and couple-y together. It was sickening to him, not to mention infuriating.
He could be the jackass and ruin the moment by doing something obnoxious but funny. Although it would be more obnoxious to them but more funny to him.
I could also compel her while I'm at it to stay me some time, he thought.
He could have easily done something for his own fun and he already had over hundreds of ideas running through his head about what he could do, but he decided not to the longer he watched them.
Helia, for the longest time since Alaric seen him, actually looked happy and relaxed. And it was all because of the girl lying on his lap.
Alaric was actually going to be the grown-up for the moment and let them have theirs, but he wasn't going to watch it.
Rolling his eyes, which had to be the hundredth time he done that today, and sighed, the beautiful blonde-haired man closed his eyes and went back to sleep. Being immortal he really couldn't sleep, so he settled with letting his thoughts run wild inside of him.
A/N: This is one part of two-part chapter finale, which means the next chapter I post will be the final one of dark angel. Thank you guys for all the great ideas, reviews, and favoriting. I always thought I would never be a good author, but thanks to you I see I was wrong. For the next chapter, I hope you'll like it the way you liked this one.
Peace ;)
