And this is where something just has to go wrong. Yes, I was waiting for it to happen, and it came. Well, this moment came crashing down. Cordilia ran towards us after breaking apart. She stopped before us, panting, frantically trying to tell us something.
"Cordilia, what's wrong?" I exclaimed, trying to support her.
"Juliet… she's… missing!" she shouted, through her desperate gasps for air. I looked at Francisco, panicked.
"What? Where did you see her last?" I asked.
"She said she was going to pick flowers hours ago and never returned. Oh Scarlet, what are we going to do?" she screamed, now sobbing hysterically.
"Did you check where she normally goes to pick flowers?" Francisco asked behind me. Cordilia shook her head no.
"I don't know where she goes!" she sobbed. I looked at Francisco and then took off running.
"Scarlet!" he called, running after me.
"I know where she picks flowers, so I can check there! I'll be back!" I called, Francisco stopped, knowing I'd take care of Juliet. I sprinted as fast as I could to the old ruins that held Juliet's irises. I tripped a few times, but refused to stop. I couldn't let something happen to Juliet. I'd never forgive myself. I ran up the old stone steps, the panic fueling me. I slipped as one of the steps gave way. I had little time to grab the stairs as I fell. Dangling above the world around, I struggled to hold on. My fingers were slipping gradually, bringing me closer to my fall. No, no, this would not be my end. I refused to let it end here. I tried to pull up as hard as I could. I lifted myself onto the ledge again, relieved I wouldn't fall. I felt the stone under me slip. I shut my eyes as tight as humanly possible, praying I wouldn't fall again. Of course, karma hated me. The stone fell and with it, so did I. I instantly screamed, trying to grab onto something. Suddenly, I landed in a man's arms, on a dragon horse. I looked up to see who it was.
"You should be more careful Scarlet," said the stern voice of my cousin, Tybalt.
"Thanks Tybalt. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead!" I replied with a grin. He still gave me the same stern look.
"What were you doing up there anyway?" he asked. I couldn't tell if he really wanted to know or not.
"I was going up to look for Juliet. She's gone missing and I thought she'd be up there, picking irises," I responded. He looked at me, panicked.
"She's missing?" he shouted.
"Yes, now if you could steer your horse that way, we can look for her," I replied, pointing to the garden of irises. Tybalt instantly flew up there and landed, helping me dismount. I ran around to the other side, hoping to find her.
"Juliet! Thank dear Escalus you're alive!" I shouted, running over to hug her, completely ignoring Romeo. "Do you have any idea how worried we were? Cordilia is in tears because she's so panicked! You almost gave me and Francsico a heart attack once Cordilia told us you were missing! What is wrong with you? Are you trying to worry us to death? Do you want me to die of a heart attack before I tell you about my night with Francisco?" I yelled, panting to catch my breath afterwards.
"No. Scarlet, I simply lost track of time. I'm sorry," she responded. I cried into her shoulder.
"I almost fall to my death and the best excuse you can come up with is 'I lost track of time'," I chuckled. She abruptly stopped and looked at me. My dress was torn up a bit and was covered in dirt. My arms and legs were scratched up as well with a bit of blood here and there.
"What happened to you?" she exclaimed, taking one bloody arm and looking at it. She looked horrified.
"I slipped several times. The last time almost cost me my life considering I would have fallen to my death if Tybalt didn't save me," I exclaimed looking back at him. I saw him pointing his blade at Romeo. I ran over to save my sister's boyfriend. I got between him and Romeo, putting my arms out to defend him.
"Not you too. He's a Montague! He could have been trying to kill Juliet just now!" he yelled at me. I gave him a stern look.
"Romeo would do no such thing. He's a good kid. He loves Juliet just like you and me and would do nothing to harm her!" I yelled. Tybalt glared at me and I returned the stare.
"I will kill him. He will die!" Tybalt yelled, his sword still pointing at me. I swiped one arm around and knocked his sword out of his hand and into mine. Pointing it at Tybalt's neck, I glared at him.
"No he won't. Not today. Now back off," I shouted. Tybalt obliged and turned to leave. I threw his sword up so the handle was facing him. "Tybalt, your sword." He turned, glared, and swiped it out of my hand, cutting it a bit. I winced, but he turned before he could see it. Tearing off a piece off of my dress, I wrapped my hand.
"Thanks Scarlet, he'd kill me if you hadn't have stepped in," Romeo said, laying a hand on my shoulder.
"Eh, that's Tybalt for you, but don't worry kid. I'll make sure you live despite how much our family and friends hate you," I smiled. He laughed nervously at this. "Well, we should be going. Cordilia will have a heart attack if we don't get back soon," I said, walking towards to stairs, but stopping after remembering the stairs. "Romeo? Would it be too much of an inconvenience if you could fly Juliet and I to ground level? The last time I took the stairs, they almost killed me." Romeo nodded, helping Juliet, then myself onto his dragon horse before mounting it himself. The dragon horse started upwards, but went down past the collapsing stairs. Juliet looked over at the missing steps.
"Scarlet," she began, but I just gave her a nervous laugh.
"You really have to expect this kind of crazy, stupid, life threatening stunts from me. I mean, you are my sister," I replied. She smirked and rolled her eyes.
"You almost fell off of that?" Romeo yelled at me. I gave him a bored look.
"I believe I just said I did child. Learn to pay attention," I replied. We landed and Juliet and I hopped off. "Thanks for that Romeo. I didn't want to risk falling to my death… again."
"Anytime Scarlet. Good bye you two. Don't kill yourselves getting back," he chuckled. Juliet put her hands on her hips.
"Excuse me Romeo, but I won't kill myself getting back," Juliet corrected.
"I'm more concerned about your older sister, Juliet," he laughed. I shrugged.
"After today, I would be worried about me too," I replied. After another round of goodbyes, he took off, leaving Juliet and I to walk home.
"So what was this about your day with Sir Francisco?" Juliet asked. I suddenly remembered I had used that in my angry questionings.
"Uh, well, I figured out Francisco is the Velvet Rose," I started. Juliet's face lit up.
"Really? I knew he was in love with you! So, what did you say?" she asked. I gave her a confused look.
"What do you mean? He never really asked me anything," I replied. Her look told me that's not what she had meant.
"No, what happened?" she asked. It looks like the natural love for all things sickenly romantic ran in the blood.
"Well, he tried to play this little game with me, trying to drag this thing out for an extended period of time. I figured out it was him and was really pissed because it seemed like he was just making fun of me, playing with my emotions. So I yelled at him, he kept telling me all of this romantic stuff like 'If I am the sun, I want you to be my flower' and he kept telling me he loved me," I began.
"That's so sweet! What happened next?" Juliet exclaimed.
"So we went back and forth, him showering me with all this romantic talk and I just kept telling him that it was just all a sick cruel joke and then before I could protest, he kissed me," I said. Juliet's eyes lit up like fireworks. She squealed, hugging me, already arranging our wedding.
"Oh Scarlet, this is so great! You two are just so adorable! What theme do you want? I was thinking a big white wedding," she stared. I laughed at this.
"Juliet, slow down! I didn't say I enjoyed it! I never even said I returned the feelings," I reasoned. Her mood dropped. I gave her a sly look before grinning. "It was the most blissful moment of my life." This brought Juliet back up, congratulating me.
"There's one problem though," she cautioned, worrying me.
"And what might that be?" I asked.
"The white wind," she replied. I burst out laughing, earning me a concerned look. "Aren't you worried? He's madly in love with the white wind too! Don't you hear him gush over her as if she were the best thing since sliced bread?"
"I'm not concerned at all. Juliet, I am the white wind," I replied, laughing. She looked at me as if I had gone mad. She let the silence grow for a few minutes, trying to let it sink in.
"Then… if you're… then Sir Francisco… Oh my Escalus, you have to tell him!" she exclaimed. We were in the theater now so I hushed her.
"I can't. He'll think I'm a hypocrite! If that happens, he'll hate me for all eternity. I can't do it Juliet!" I explained. She looked at me again, as if I was mad.
"If you don't tell him now, his anger towards you will only grow with time! Scarlet, please just tell him," she pleaded.
"I'm scared Juliet. I'm scared of what will happen," I replied. I took a deep breath and sighed. "I'll tell him when I deem it the correct time. Please, don't tell him." Juliet hesitated, but still nodded. We walked down to our rooms. Juliet went into hers as I walked down the hall to mine. Sir Francisco waited out side my door, looking as angry as I had ever seen him.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, holding up my white mask.