Chapter Six — Skye
"This isn't real," I thought as I surrounded myself in my protective orb. "Rhiannon is dead. Mom is dead. I am all alone."
These thoughts kept swirling around in my head. For the past twelve years, I had come to terms with that statement. I am all alone.
Sure, Dad was still alive, but he's an abusive drunk who spends more time confusing me with Rhi than actually parenting. The only time Dad was sober was when we were too broke for him to finance his habit, and that only made his attitude and his abuse worse.
He blamed me for Mom's death. He spent so much time in a drunken stupor that he actually had himself convinced that I was Rhiannon, the girl with way too much firepower. I loved my sister, but always being treated as though her faults were my own has greatly changed my opinion of her.
A couple years ago, I'd decided I'd had enough. I left my father and changed my name. Brianna was no more; I was to become Skye Aqua, water mage, if I ever wanted to escape him and my torment. I taught myself magic from the textbooks I'd managed to secure and I'd found my way to Fairy Tail. I had to begin again; I had to leave it all behind; I had to forget my past.
And now that past has come back to haunt me. I had my suspicions about why Saphira and I look so similar, but it's evident now that I was no where near prepared to face the truth.
Saphira is my lost twin.
Saphira is Rhiannon.
Saphira killed our mother.
"Skye!" I hear Gray yell to me. He was hitting his fist against my barrier, but I can't bring myself to let down what little protection I have against Saphira."Skye, please! Let me help you!" he continues pleading.
With one final blow from Gray, I could feel my barricade collapse and disperse back into the stream. The rain poured viciously and I could feel each individual drop attack my skin. I was on my hands and knees in the shallow water, grabbing at my neck where my sapphire charm resided.
"Skye," Gray said concerned as he knelt beside me. He rested his hand soothingly on my back. "What happened?"
I raised my head and met his gaze. "I know why Saphira and I look so alike."
"That's great!" he said. "One less mystery for us to solve."
"No, it's not great," I explained. "I never told you about my past, did I?" he shook his head. I crawled over to the edge of the water and sat down.
"My name isn't Skye," I started. "My name is Brianna Parker. We weren't all that wealthy growing up, but we were pretty well off. It was just the four of us; Mom, Dad, me, and Rhiannon, my mirror twin. We did everything together. But then Mom died and everything changed.
"Rhi had accidentally set our aunt's house on fire while we were visiting them. The only one inside was Mom. It was an accident; she was a very powerful fire wizard and Dad couldn't find a teacher that would stick around for very long. She was just trying to show our cousins her magic, and she lost control. A bush caught fire and she and Dad were yelling and then next thing you know, the house was on fire. Mom didn't make it out.
"A couple days later, we were visited by the Council. They threatened to take her away, but Dad bought her some time. They let her stay for Mom's funeral, and then they took my sister away, calling her a menace and saying that she'll never be able to exist as a 'normal person.'
"Dad didn't handle it very well. He was angry and sad about losing Mom, and he turned to alcohol. We lost all of our money to his addiction. But the worst part was that I was alone. Dad would get drunk and abuse me both verbally and physically. He'd call me Rhiannon and say it was all my fault. After already losing my mother and my sister, I couldn't bear to see my father like that. That's why I had to run away.
"I was only about twelve or thirteen at the time. I grabbed some of Dad's books about magic and as much money as I could manage to find. I taught myself water magic, thinking that it was the most opposite to what caused me to lose everything. I found comfort in it, but I didn't get by very well without a source of income. I'd heard about guilds and thought it would be best if I joined one. That's how I found Fairy Tail.
"It was pretty rundown at the time, but it was the only guild that would take in an inexperienced runaway wizard like me, so I started calling it home. I changed my name so that my dad wouldn't find me, and that worked. Well, it worked until now, when everything started catching up to me."
Gray sat in silence as he processed everything. "So Saphira-" he started.
"-is Rhiannon," I finished. I brought my knees closer to my chest, thinking that it would help me hold myself together.
"No wonder she ran off," Natsu added from the other side of the stream. He'd been so quiet for once that I'd forgotten he was still here. "I'm gonna go try and find her."
"So what's with the necklaces?" Gray asked, turning the focus back to me as Natsu started running away from us.
"My mother gave them to us when we were little," I remembered. "She said that as long as we wore them we'd never be truly alone. Some good they did," I scoffed.
I reached to the back of my neck and fiddled with the clasp on my necklace. My shaky fingers were reluctant to cooperate, but they eventually managed to free me from my jewelry. I took one long look at the beautiful sapphire gem embedded in the charm. It was an exquisite necklace, evidently enchanted by my mother. I used to see her every time I looked at the gem; now all I could see was the matching ruby belonging to her killer.
I stood up and threw the necklace upstream. It entered the water with a small splash and started to float down the current as it sank deeper into the water. "What are you doing?" Gray questioned as he stood up next to me.
"What purpose does it have?" I asked cynically. "It was supposed to make it so that I never felt alone, and it hasn't done anything of the sort." I turned my back to Gray. "I've been alone even since my mother died, and no stupid jewel will change that."
"Why are you blaming Saphira for that? It was an accident. You know she never meant to hurt anyone; you said it yourself," Gray asked as he walked closer to me.
"Whether it was on purpose or by accident, she's still the reason my life was hell for so many years," I rebutted angrily.
"You think her life was any better? She was just as alone as you were. She also just found out her whole life was a lie," he said now standing behind me.
He was right, while she was the reason my mother was dead, she had never intended to hurt me. It wasn't her fault that she had no one to teach her magic. I grew frustrated because I had nowhere to place my anger. I couldn't really blame Saphira for something she never meant to do.
"You know I'm right, Skye," he said still waiting for a response.
I didn't know what to do with all of my pent up frustration. Part of me wanted to scream and the other was so depressed it made me want to just give up and turn my brain off somehow. My body's solution to the turmoil was to start bawling my eyes out.
I turned around and buried my head in Gray's shoulder without thinking. At first it seemed like Gray didn't know how to react, but once it had processed he wrapped his arms around me as an attempt to comfort me.
"What have I done? I chased away the only real family I have left!" I cried remembering how I felt when I lost her the first time.
"Hey, it's okay. Natsu is gonna bring her back," Gray said and just held me tighter.
"What if it doesn't work and I lost her again?" I continued crying into his shoulder.
"It's gonna work. Natsu may be an idiot but he's good at this kind of stuff. Plus, she's rather obviously in love with him so it won't be hard for him to convince her."
"I'm such a screw up!" I sobbed. He cupped my face in his hand and made me look up at him.
"You're the farthest thing from a screw up humanly possible. You're perfect. At least you are to me," he said and kissed me on the forehead. Face glowing red, I paused for a minute, unsure of how to react. So I simply decided to follow my impulse. I stretched up onto my tiptoes and kissed him.
All of my problems felt as though they had just melted away. I couldn't remember the sadness or the pain of my past coming back to haunt me. Gray seemed startled at first, but eventually just gave in.
I pulled away and opened my eyes. I looked down and saw my necklace once again resting at my feet, the chain getting caught on a rock. The gem started to glow brightly as I reached down for the jewel. As my hand closed around it, I could feel heat emanating from it. "Saphira," I whispered absentmindedly.
"What's wrong?" Gray asked.
Before I could explain the enchanted necklaces, Natsu came rolling down the slight hill and into the water. "Sap fire n rubble!" he rambled incoherently.
"Woah. Slow down, there flame brain. What's going on?" Gray asked.
Though I knew Natsu was talking, my brain couldn't seem to comprehend his words. I glanced down at my gemstone yet again, and I closed my fist tighter around it. I shut my eyes and gathered my thoughts. Saphira's in trouble and this necklace can lead to her. My outburst was the reason that she ran off; I need to make sure that whatever's happening, she doesn't go through it alone.
I returned the choker to its rightful place around my necklace and took a deep breath. I opened my eyes and ran into the woods, using the the necklaces' enchantment as my guide. I could hear Gray yelling after me, but I didn't care. I needed to save my sister.
I ran for what seemed like forever. The heat given off by the sapphire steadily increased, alerting me that I was going in the right direction. I rounded a giant oak tree and spotted two figures about 100 feet in front of me. "Saphira?" I asked breathlessly.
I saw both of the women turn to face me. The second woman sized me up as Saphira continued to stare at the ground. "Look who decided to join us, Saphira," the woman flicked her hand and Saphira attention shifted from the forest floor to me.
Saphira looked immensely different. Her bright teal eyes had turned a murderous crimson as they stared me down. Her skin took on an ashen tone and was dotted with scarlet dragon scales. She flexed her dragon claws maniacally and she equipped her leathery dragon wings. The red tips of her hair were violently lighting ablaze as she donned a malicious smirk.
"What did you do to her?" I questioned angrily. I could faintly hear Natsu and Gray slowly catching up with me. I gathered the rain around me into swirling orbs surrounding each of my hands, ready for a fight.
"Now, why should I answer you, my threatening little raindrop?" the woman responded.
"You're Lavond, aren't you?" I asked.
"Good to see that my raindrop knows the name of her killer," Lavond stated cynically. "Saphira?"
I barely had time to guard myself before she attacked. She continually ran at me with fists of fury and flame as I attempted to talk some sense into her. I just have to hope that this was the work of Lavond's darkness and that I didn't cause this change of character.
"Saphira," I yelled in between blocks. "I don't...wanna hurt you...This isn't...you!"
I was quickly exhausting my magic. I could feel my power draining with every strike I absorbed. My reflexes were slowing; I was barely blocking her attacks. I don't know how long my power will be able to protect me.
"We don't have time for this. Finish her, Saphira," Lavond ordered from the sidelines.
Saphira's mouth stretched into a unnerving smile, displaying her dragon teeth in the process. She ignited her right hand in a mix of darkness and flames as she readied herself to attack. I was moving sluggishly and I could tell that this would be the last blow. I looked deep into Saphira's eyes.
"I'm sorry for everything," I managed to say. Her fist came down as she sent all of the darkened fire at me. I could feel myself flying through the air and the crushing impact as my body finally met the forest floor. My vision hazy, I could feel unconsciousness enveloping me.
"I love you, Rhi," was all I could whisper before my vision went black.