Chapter 72
Cryleas And The Crystal Falls

.:Violet:.

Just like how she remembered when she was six, the Crystal Falls was beautiful as well as Cryleas. Cryleas was a small vintage village that was perched right next to the Crystal Falls. The Crystal Falls was basically a waterfall but large, aqua and pink crystals were at the bottom, giving the place a sense of beauty and light. The village was perched on the water with silts supporting it up. It was odd how Violet used to live on the water yet her parents never taught her to swim.

"It's weird how I used to live on water yet I've never learnt to swim."

"I think I know why."

"Why?" She asked Kai as they walked to the village.

"The Crystal Falls is called the Crystal Falls for a reason; sharp crystals are lined up at the bottom of the lake. Your parents probably didn't want to risk you cutting yourself." Kai told her. When they got closer to the village, they both saw little kids running around with paper kites in their hands. "It's no wonder why your mother was a jewel crafter; she has an unlimited amount of crystals."

"Yeah but I don't understand why would those punks would want to steal from my parents and kill them when they could just rob the lake." Violet sighed softly but she stopped to look around.

"Do you even remember what your house looks like or where about it is?"

"I supposed it's the one that is unoccupied."

"Very helpful…" She heard Kai say sarcastically.

Most of the houses were two stories; it was rare to find a one story house. Since this village is the main source for crystals and other gems in the mine that is located behind the waterfall, the citizen of the village are fairly wealthy. Buying a house in this village costs a lot so there weren't that many residents but enough to run a community. Each house was made out of cream bricks and white marble giving the village a light and elegant look. When she and Kai turned the next corner, they found themselves turning into a market lane. Seeing how many people were buzzing around, the ninja of air slipped her hand into Kai's and felt his hand tighten.

"Don't let go alright?"

"I won't." She promised Kai and they made their way through the crowd of people.

Some were kind enough to move out of the way but some wouldn't. A couple of the younger ladies would bash their eyelashes at Kai while a couple men would give her the look. Not liking the fact that they're getting a lot of unwanted looks, Violet wrapped herself around Kai's arm. This caused the single men and women to look around seeing they were both taken.

"Excuse me, are you lost?"

They both heard an elderly voice. Violet observed the woman. She had to be in her late sixties, her greying brown hair was pulled into a neat bun and her aqua eyes peered through the glasses that were perched on the tip of her nose. Seeing her eyes trigger something in Violet's brain that made her gasp.

"Andrea?" Violet asked with uncertain in her voice.

"And who might you be?"

"Violet, I was the little girl that lived next door, daughter of Megan and Christian Emerson." Violet informed and she watched as the lady's eyes widen with recognition.

"V-Violet? Where have you been?" Andrea cried out and walked towards them with her arms extended. As an instinct, Violet let go of Kai and went into the embrace of the older woman. It felt familiar that it nearly brought tears to Violet's eyes. "After I heard you were placed into the orphanage, I was going to adopt you but problems rose up. Then two years later, I was told you vanished!"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know anyone wanted to take me in so I ran away and lived on the streets for ten years but someone took me in and here I am." Violet tried to console the woman and when she looked back to Kai, she saw a look she knew too well. 'Care to explain?'

"Look at you; you're so beautiful, strong and- oh, who's this?" Andrea, has finally took notice of Kai.

"Oh umm… This is Kai." Violet replied and she waved her hand to bring Kai over with a soft smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"Wow, that's rare to find a man with manners; you got yourself a good one."

"Andrea!" Violet cried out in embarrassment and she saw a bright red shade enter on Kai's face.

"Grandma! Grandma!" The ninja of air then heard a young voice called out. When she looked, she saw a boy about the age of twelve came running to them. "You need to see this!"

"Alright darling. Can you give me a minute?"

"Of course." Violet smiled as the old lady got pulled away from her grandson.

.:Kai:.

If there were two words that could explain Kai, it would be hot-headed and curious. Very, very, very curious and now, his curiosity is at its highest peak when Andrea came up to them.

"Ummm… Who's Andrea?" He asked as he moved right next to Violet, so close that their arms were touching.

"Andrea was my next door neighbour. She used to look after me whenever my parents were out on business trips… I've completely forgot about her." Violet sighed softly. Kai brought her into his arms and rested his head on top of her's.

"This is hard for you, isn't it?"

"It is… Andrea's really kind though. I can remember when she used to take me on walks, tell me bedtime stories when I had to stay over… It's brings back a lot of good memories. But at least Andrea will be able to show us where my house is."

"Yeah." He mumbled.

When Andrea came back with her grandson, Violet kindly asked if she could show them the way to Violet's old house. Kai was relieved when Andrea said sure. After they said their partings, the old lady mentioned that there's a spare key on the door sill and then she left. But one look at Violet's house left Kai speechless. The Morden Victorian house was much bigger and grander than the other houses. The large, two-story house was a cream colour with a soft, dark blue roof. The driveway to the house was bordered with hedges that haven't been maintained in a while. Weeds have also managed to find their way through the cobblestone driveway. On the right half of the front garden (the driveway in the middle) was a large pond that had algae and over-baring weeds but some crystals. On the left side, to Kai, it looked like a garden but in the middle of it, was an impressive crystal sculpture.

"It… Sort of looks the same." He heard Violet say.

"Wouldn't someone steal the crystal sculpture in the garden?"

"Everyone in Cryleas is rich and wealthy… sure my parents were the wealthiest but everyone in Cryleas is also honest. Those punks must have come somewhere else…"

Kai directed his attention back onto the house, only to realise that there were some vine growing on the side of the roof, reaching for the roof but there were small orange flowers on them. The two made their way over to the door. The chestnut wooden door had paint peeling and the diamond handles was scratchy and grimy. The ninja of fire looked over to Violet to see her hand reaching for the handle.

"You know, I used to always jump to reach the handle, now I can reach it with ease…" And then Violet proceeded to reach for the key on the door frame.

"Need help shorty?"

"Shut up…" The girl hissed back at him but Kai laughed as he grasped the brass key. He handed it over to Violet.

"You should open it."

The ninja of air nimbly nodded her head and Kai stepped back to allow her full access to the door knob. She inserted the key into the key hole that was below the door knob. As the key turned, the lock clicked to single it was unlocked. He watched as Violet took a deep breath and twisted the door knob.

.:Violet:.

The door opened with a creak and a groan and immediately, dust rushed out. Coughs were sounded out behind her.

"You may want to stay back a bit." She warned Kai, seeing how the dust was disturbing to him.

When Kai obeyed her and moved out of the way, Violet flicked her wrist towards the house and immediately, she saw a gush of wind blew inside, picking up the dust particles. Only seconds later it came back. Violet commanded it towards the over-grown garden and let it drop there. But the ninja of air averted her eyes back to her house. The sight of it brought tears to her eyes. Not only had it reminded her about the sweet memories she had with her parents but the day they died. It seemed Kai sensed her crying because large, strong and comforting arms hug her from behind.

"I-I'm fine… It's okay." She whispered and walked into the house, away from Kai's comforting hug.

The floor board creaked underneath her feet, making an echo in the house. Never before had she ever been afraid of her own house. When Violet looked to the cream walls, pictures frames of her and her parents were hung up. With a sad smile, Violet walked over and plucked a frame off the wall.

It was a picture of her sitting on her father's shoulders in the local park. Both of them had huge smiles.

"I-I'm going to look around alright?"

"It's your house; you can do whatever you want."

At this, Violet walked away from Kai to inspect the rest of the house. It seemed the police have been in here for the evidence and removal of some stuff because the food that used to be in her kitchen as no longer there but all her mother's sculptures were still in the house. After Violet checked downstairs, she headed for the stairs but loudly gasped to see that there were blood stains on the floor board.

"Violet?!" She heard Kai yelled out, followed by his heavy footsteps. "What's wrong?"

Speechless, the parentless girl moved to the side to let Kai see.

"Oh…"

She didn't understand. If the police or someone removed the food to prevent mould from growing, why didn't they remove the blood stains? The blood that would have belonged to her father? Violet quickly jogged up the stairs so she didn't have to look at the stains but instead, she found move so she followed them. It leaded all the way to her parent's room. When she opened the door, she found more blood on the floor. The punks must have dragged my father up the stairs and into my parents' room, where my mother hid me. Then they killed her…

Violet left the room and closed the door behind her. She slowly slid down the door and to the ground with her eyes closed. Was this really the best idea; to go back to revisit the memories?

"Violet?" She heard Kai's voice right in front of her. Opening her violet eyes, Kai was crouching in front of her with concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, no…" She muttered truthfully. "I thought I would find something important, something that could help me. Instead, I keep reliving that night."

"Hey, this is normal, trust me. Every time I go to my parents' room back in Ignacia, I would always remember watching my mother fade away with the illness. What doesn't kill you make you stronger?"

"Depends. Whatever doesn't kill you might make you wish you were dead. You heard of that before haven't you?"

"Well… Yes… But that doesn't apply to this situation. What I'm trying to say is don't let it get to you. Just keep remembering all the fun times you had instead of the worst otherwise all those good memories won't be there anymore because you mind would be flooded with the horrible ones." He told her and poked her forehead. She managed to pull off a small smile.

"Can you help me up then?"

"Of course." Kai beamed and pulled her up. This time, the two of them looked around the house together. Like what Kai said, Violet kept trying to remember the good memories instead of the bad and she found it really helped. At one point, they stopped in front of the closed door of what would be Scarlett's old room.

"Which room is this?"

"I think its Scarlett's old room… My parents always kept it locked and I've only seen it once when I found out that the little voice in my head was actually my sister." Violet answered and she opened the door. She was surprised it was unlocked but then again, the police would have investigated this room as well.

The room was exactly the same how Violet saw it in Scarlett's first world. The wooden floor boards were an oak colour and the wallpaper that was pasted on the walls were a warm yellow with red autumn leaves blowing away by the wind. It was the same pattern. On the floor, there was a red rug and there was also a bed with a desk nearby. Violet pulled away from Kai and slowly made her way to the desk and saw the three photo frames. The first one contained the drawing the Scarlett drew. The second one was Scarlett as a young child and the last one was the family portrait.

When Violet looked back to Kai, she saw him holding a large porcelain doll. The fair doll was wearing a ballerina costume, its golden locks were placed in a high ponytail that cascaded down to its back but its eyes were a bright orange.

"It's fairly heavy for a porcelain doll."

"Let me see." Violet said and she took the doll off Kai. He was right, the doll was heavier than average. Violet started to inspect the doll in case if there was anything inside. She dug through the hair, clothes and shoe but there was nothing. This time, Violet sat on the small bed and tried taking the head off. "Can you give it a go?"

"Sure." Kai answered as he sat down next to her. The bed dipped underneath the two but with ease, Kai took the head off. "There's something inside."

"Really?" Violet took the body of the doll and looked down the next to see a thick roll of paper inside. It seemed her slim fingers were still too big to fit through so she tried to get it out with her element. "I can't get it out…"

"Here, let me." The man next to her offered. With no luck, she passed it to Kai. He tipped it upside down and shook it violently with his hand hitting the top of it.

"I don't think that'll work." Violet informed but the brunette shook his head.

"It will."

"It won't." She argued but then the roll of paper slipped out to her amazement.

"It did."

Trying to ignore the triumphant smirk Kai wore, Violet bend down and picked up the old paper. When she uncurled it, she was amazed at the length and how it was able to fit in.

"No wonder why it didn't want to come out." Violet muttered. Like always, the ninja of air skimmed her eyes to the bottom of the page and she gasped when she saw who signed it.

"What is it?"

"It's… a letter from my father."

Sorry for the cliff hanger but I was going over the word limit. And I'm so sorry for the long update! I was tackling my writer's block, it was pretty serious hence the reason why the update is sort of late. Since I need to get ready for school and I want this posted, I don't really have time to post my thanks to everyone so THANK YOU and please review.