A/N: Yes. I know. It has been a VERY long time. Eight months. On the bright side, I finished my bachelor's degree, moved in with my fiancé of (almost) three years, relocated to a new town two hours away from my hometown, and got a new job. Admittedly, life has not been perfect. My fiancé has an addiction that I knew nothing about until moving in with him, and now we're both attending therapy... Secrets in a relationship are always nice, especially when you're locked into an apartment lease, am I right? Not to mention, adjusting to being away from my hometown has been difficult. Not knowing anybody besides my fiancé has been lonely. To say the least, my life has not been quite what I expected. Writing this chapter has been a helpful way soothe my soul.
This chapter did not follow my original vision. I realized that it has been ages since journeying to Earth, and I also realized that there are many gaps that were left in the early chapters of this story. I thought I would take some time to fill in the gaps and explore Damiana's character a little bit more. I had a lot of fun straying from my original vision a little bit and digging deeper into my main character. Let me know what you think of it! Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Note: The previously I created should be a good refresher after eight months without a new chapter. If you need to refresh your memory, please read. If not, feel free to skip it.
Previously...
It took days of preparation and three long weeks in isolation with the people of Whisper Valley, but Damiana and Speedy survived the tumultuous Dabnodian winter known as the frost. Neither Titan could have anticipated the drastic changes that their time in the tiny mountain village would bring. Damiana was not an ordinary child who was admired by a kind queen, but she was being trained as the future Queen of Dabnod by a tyrannical ruler. The truth was nearly too much for the girl to bear.
Prophet Veng, a wandering trader from the Fire Lily Tribe in the tenth province, is the person who shifted Damiana's focus. A prophecy was shared during their final night in the yertkitz - the prophecy of Dabnod's fiery destruction. Prophet Veng had been spreading the truth of this prophecy for many years and had been met only by skepticism. Even when sharing that Dabnod's destruction was a scant three months away, Whisper Valley's skepticism persisted. Knowing that the old prophet was entirely correct, and not wanting any of their newfound friends to perish, Damiana and Speedy showed their support during a moment of courage.
They'd boldly confessed the truth, admitting not only their belief in Dabnod's coming annihilation but also sharing Damiana's story of survival. The girl showed Black Shadow's damaged rift machine to the villagers while she and Speedy described its function. A rift had opened during the Titans' battle with Black Shadow, they'd said, and it pulled them five years into the past. Dabnod does not exist in their time period because it had been destroyed in the war with Tamaran exactly as Prophet Veng predicted. Damiana had watched it vanish from existence, which is why she currently resides on Earth.
Sadly, their warning earned few positive results. Not a single person from Whisper Valley decided to leave with them and the Fire Lily Tribe. In fact, the worst-case scenario occurred when Tenna banished the Titans from her household later that evening.
Then, when life seemed incapable of becoming worse, Prophet Veng dropped an Earth-shattering bombshell. In order for Speedy and Damiana to travel with the Fire Lily Tribe, it is required that they marry to ensure an easier journey amongst the traditional Dabnodian populace. After much bickering and disagreement, Damiana and Roy agreed to label their union as a "temporary partnership". Though, neither adolescent is eager to follow through with the arrangement.
Meanwhile on Earth, Black Shadow's hideout within the abandoned mines deep beneath Metropolis has been destroyed. The remaining Titans from Jump City and from Steel City have retreated to the Titans East Tower along with Saeran. Adriel has been labeled as a traitor and they have him in custody. The Ground Badger has tried explaining his predicament to no avail.
Will anyone leave Whisper Valley with Speedy and Damiana? Will the two follow through with their temporary partnership? As for the Titans, will Adriel remain in confinement or will they hear what he has to say? These questions will be answered, but will more be raised? Continue reading to find out.
Part IV: Unraveled: Chapter Forty-Four
Earth: April 7
Steel City
Saeran tried to sleep last night but couldn't. Adriel's words kept ringing through his brain like a resounding gong.
"Saeran, please listen to me! All of you, listen to me! I didn't die when Dabnod got destroyed, and it's because of Damiana and Roy. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of others are also alive somewhere because of them. They knew that doomsday was coming, and they told everyone they met to evacuate. When they told me to evacuate, I heeded their warning."
He doesn't want to believe the Ground Badger. Adriel could be a lunatic, a liar, and a sociopath, and the water user would be more than happy to believe that theory. The tears that streamed down the man's cheeks during his explanation makes Saeran's theory difficult to swallow, though. Extremely difficult.
The only thing more difficult to swallow is this cup of coffee. He brewed it as the instructions suggested and added two spoons of sugar and four tablespoons of creamer. It still tastes awful. But as physically exhausted as he is, Saeran knows that he isn't going to be able to sleep. He may as well ingest caffeine to keep himself awake. The microwave clock reads 4:11AM. Never has the water user woken up this early without a bank robbery dragging him out of bed.
"I hope Damiana is sleeping better than I am," he whispers. If she isn't dead, anyway. Even if Dabnod hasn't detonated yet, the Dabnodian wilderness is treacherous. Larkacks and wild phoenixes lurk everywhere. Not to mention, there is not a single place outside of the first province that would be even remotely happy to see a Noble Lady. If Dami isn't dead, then it is highly probable that she was imprisoned by conspirators against Queen Guayusa.
"They knew that doomsday was coming, and they told everyone they met to evacuate." He can't stop from inwardly scoffing. That is such an insane reason to put Dami in harm's way! Why would Adriel send his baby sister back in time to warn people to leave Dabnod? Surviving the planet's destruction isn't a blessing. It's a curse of heartache!
"You can't sleep either, huh?" Posture stiffening, Saeran turns to see Beast Boy rummaging through the fridge. Before he can respond, the shapeshifter continues. "It's okay. Sleeping is too hard now that we know saving Firelight and Speedy is lose-lose. If we save them, we're dooming hundreds of lives that Adriel says they protected. If we don't help them, they might blow up. We spent hours figuring out what to do after Raven teleported you to your room to stop you from killing Adriel."
Ah, yes. That irritating memory from less than twelve hours ago is still fresh. The instant he broke free from their grasp in an attempt to strangle the Ground Badger, he'd been forced into his guest room like a naughty child. It makes perfect sense that they actually took what Adriel had to say into consideration. Who knows? Maybe they also released him from his cell and gave him lavish accommodations.
"You don't really believe Adriel, right? If you do, then the Teen Titans are far too forgiving."
Astonishingly, it is not Beast Boy who replies. Robin and Starfire take a seat on either side of him at the table. Starfire's bell-like voice is perturbingly grating.
"Your assumptions are wrong. We do not believe Adriel entirely. Trusting him blindly would be foolish. But would it not also be foolish to disregard his claims and act on our own accord? The situation we have found ourselves in is tedious at best. Finding the optimum solution will take time and deliberation." Round, green, eyes gawk at the ponytailed water user pleadingly. "I understand that this situation is most difficult for you, but you are not merely Saeran. You are Frostbite, our ally. Our deliberation on a course of action would greatly benefit from your help."
Saeran snorts derisively. "What is there to deliberate? We need to find a way to open a rift so that we can get Dami and Speedy back! That is clearly the best option! Why don't we ask Aqualad and Bumblebee? Dami and Speedy are part of their team! They're certain to agree with me."
"Actually, they're just as on the fence as we are. If Adriel is telling the truth, and if Firelight and Speedy did meet him in the past, then Bee isn't sure she wants to pull them back to the present."
"What? You have to be kidding!"
The Boy Wonder's statement seems impossible. That is, until the Titan's East leader confirms it. She enters alongside Aqualad, Cyborg, Raven, and Mas y Menos. A disheartened sigh escapes the water user's lips. Apparently, his cup of coffee started an early morning Titan meeting.
"No, Robin said it right. If Firelight and Speedy are supposed to be there, then pulling them back to the present sounds risky. Taking them out of Dabnod's past could mess up our current timeline. We could make it so they never met Adriel in the past, so that Firelight, Frostbite and Adriel never get off Dabnod, and it could create a future where Black Shadow wins. I hate to say it, but the only reason Black Shadow hasn't won yet is because Adriel destroyed his hideout at the Metropolis Mines. Creating a timeline where Adriel doesn't come to Earth might mean creating a world where Black Shadow wins. If we do decide to take the risk of bringing them back to the present, then we have to do it at the right time."
"Black Shadow told us that his machine went through the rift with them," Cyborg adds. "I'm sure Firelight and Speedy can put their heads together and figure out how to repair it. Once it's up and running, we can see if we can lock onto it and set the coordinates for the East Tower in the present. It'll be hard, but there should be a way to lock onto it from here."
Saeran takes a large gulp of coffee, primarily to keep himself from shouting. For a split second, he wishes that it were a shot of whiskey instead. When he finally speaks, he thankfully isn't shouting, though his voice sounds strained. "This is the big plan you've come up with after hours of discussion? Waiting and watching to see if they're able to repair Black Shadow's machine? We could stare at those coordinates on the map for days without seeing anything indicating an oncoming rift!"
"We don't need to keep watching for days," Bumblebee retorts. "Just a day or two. They went through the rift on April 5th, and Adriel said they'd be back in a few days. I say we wait until the end of the day on April 8th, and if the machine isn't fixed, we'll pull them back to the present ourselves."
Aqualad adds, "It doesn't matter how we're getting them back. Just know that we're getting them back. And even if he what he's saying turns out to be true, Adriel isn't getting off easy. He isn't leaving his cell."
For once, Saeran has nothing to say. He simply grimaces in rage. Whatever it is his baby sister is going through on Dabnod, he prays to the Fates that the Titans' incompetence doesn't prevent her from returning here safely.
Dabnod
Whisper Valley
"Sweet Fates, how did I get here?!"
Damiana asked herself this question three months ago when she first joined Titans East. She asked this question again one month ago during her astonishing return to Dabnod. The same can be said for last night when she'd gone to sleep in the village gathering hall alongside complete strangers from a wandering tribe of merchants. Sleeping somewhere besides the yertkitz or in front of Tenna's fireplace seemed completely foreign. Then again, nothing is more foreign than the mother who would doom her child to a fiery death prior to kicking the kind people who warned them out of her home. Damiana has decided that Tenna is one of Dabnod's greatest mysteries.
Of course, none of those occurrences seem able to compare to this momentous occasion. A stunning, white, arch crafted from the wood of the trees that surround Whisper Valley is what she stands under. Purple vines weave their way through the structure, looking less like overgrown weeds and looking more like delicate latticework. The arch marks the entrance of the village. The townspeople litter the earthen trail on one side and the merchants from the Fire Lily Tribe loiter on the opposite side near the foliage of the forest. Tenna isn't amongst those attending from Whisper Valley, nor is Caen. This doesn't make Damiana sad or angry, though. All the would-be Queen can focus on is Raezik who stands in front of her and on Roy who stands beside her.
The red-haired archer does not wear a brown tunic or a maroon parka, but an emerald green tunic, black pants, and brown leather boots. Clearly the garments are freshly laundered, and the boots polished. From less than six inches away, Roy smells strongly of soap. Damiana is adorned every bit as lavishly, no thanks to Aika. The doe-eyed girl showed up this morning along with several women from the Fire Lily Tribe, and they shoved her into a sapphire blue gown with flowing sleeves. That was only after they'd washed her and slathered her entire body with some sort of odd lotion. Now her skin smells like berries. Not to mention her hair. Damiana is not sure who retrieved them or where they came from, but there are gems woven throughout her soft, clean, curls. The gems sparkle and shine as bright as crystals.
If she cared about being a gorgeous bride in the slightest, then she would be elated about her beauty. If she were happy about marrying Roy in the slightest, his physical appearance would be making her feel positively giddy. Unfortunately, Damiana doesn't care about any of this. If anything, the fact that the two of them are standing beneath the arch in front of Raezik, who holds a single piece of rope, makes her so nervous that she may faint. Not only does he hold a piece of rope, but there is also a small table set up with parchment, a quill pen, a vial of ink, and a stone goblet filled with elixir. These ceremonial trinkets are all it takes for the girl to realize how inconceivably real this wedding is.
"Do we really have to go through with this?"
"If it would make our journey easier, we could always pretend to be married. We don't have to have an actual ceremony."
They'd tried talking Prophet Veng and the rest of his tribe into cancelling the wedding a scant twenty minutes ago. It was to no avail.
"What? No! Absolutely not! You will not be allowed to feign marriage! Not if we expect the Fates to bless us during our journey. You will either get married or not get married, but you cannot do both!"
That was the dismal and premature end to that attempted bargain. Now here the adolescents stand, both of them shivering in terror as the Head of Whisper Valley begins the ceremony.
"People of Whisper Valley and people of the Fire Lily Tribe, thank you for coming. Three weeks ago, we gathered together to witness a human become a Dabnodian by sharing in our hardship and working with us for survival. On that day, Roy was no longer a human from planet Earth. Instead, he became Roy of the Flying Arrow Clan. Today we will witness the opposite. Not a human becoming a Dabnodian or a Dabnodian becoming human, but two species coming together as equals. Today we have Lady Damiana of the Fire Phoenix Clan and Roy of the Flying Arrow Clan joining together under the sacred bond of marriage."
Applause is what causes Raezik to falter. Wild applause comes from the Fire Lily Tribe and muted applause from Whisper Valley. This is not surprising. Considering their ludicrous rantings in the yertkitz yesterday, the people of Whisper Valley likely won't be happy to see them unless it is their retreating forms sauntering down the mountainside away from the village. Claiming to be time travelers from the future who have seen the destruction of Dabnod certainly didn't win anybody's favor. Especially not Tenna's, considering how she still isn't seen amongst the crowd.
"In the presence of the Fates and in the presence of I, the Head of Whisper Valley, I ask Lady Damiana of the Fire Phoenix Clan to take her sacred vows. Do you, Lady Damiana, vow to take Roy of the Flying Arrow Clan to be your loyal partner during the best of times and the worst of times, in safety and in danger, in times of plenty and in times of scarcity, until the Fates separate you in death?"
Nothing takes Damiana more by surprise than Raezik reciting this vow. Tearing her eyes from the expectant faces in the crowd, the girl turns toward a gaze wracked by significantly more anticipation. Raezik appears apprehensive, and he should. Everything from her plum-colored curls to her storm-colored irises, to her petrified frown, screams the answer that is felt within both hearts. Yet, the answer everyone desires still manages to escape her lips.
"Y-yeah, alright. I v-v-vow to take Roy as m-my l-loyal partner."
Raezik sighs in relief prior to looking at the redhead. He is scowling irately, looking more similar to a ten-year-old kid forced to do an unpleasant chore than a groom on his wedding day. When Raezik repeats the sacred vow, the girl is suddenly just as nervous as the bearded man and the onlookers.
"Roy, do you take Lady Damiana of the Fire Phoenix Clan to be your loyal partner during the best of times and the worst of times, in safety and in danger, in times of plenty and in times of scarcity, until the Fates separate you in death?"
One second passes. Then five. After that comes ten seconds, and then thirty. The archer no longer looks agitated, but is now sweating profusely. If Damiana didn't know any better, she would swear that she is about to get stood up at the altar. When he finally speaks, she expects him to say, 'Not in a million years!' or 'Hell no! I'd rather die in the explosion!'. Whether the girl should feel thankful or disappointed is a mystery, but miraculously, Roy's response is different from her expectation.
"Sure. Fine. Whatever. I vow to take Damiana as my loyal partner."
Disappointment is superior to gratitude. If it wasn't, the would-be Queen wouldn't feel the slightest pang of irritation at Roy when Raezik smiles and stretches out the rope. Having witnessed several weddings as a little girl, Damiana raises her left hand practically on autopilot. Meanwhile, she makes subtle eye contact with Roy and motions toward his right hand. He raises it robotically.
"You will now be bound by the rope of destiny and drink from the honored goblet together. Similar artifacts were blessed by the Fates and brought good fortune to Yil and Yik, the first man and woman. May they bless your marriage and bring good fortune to you."
Roy and Damiana do not have time to lower their arms or to run despite how badly they might want to. Before they know it, their wrists are bound tightly together by the rope, and they are being led toward the table. The elixir in the stone goblet smells sweet. When Damiana raises the goblet to her lips, she is at least thankful that the beverage that will bind them together as husband and wife doesn't taste awful. Roy takes a sip immediately after, clearly wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. When they are finished drinking, another round of wild applause breaks out.
"You are now in the presence of Roy and Damiana of the Flying Arrow Clan!"
Along with clapping comes various shouts of congratulations. The loudest shouts come from Aika and Linden who stand a mere ten feet away. Those from Whisper Valley have already begun departing. The Fire Lily Tribe, on the other hand, can only be calmed by Raezik.
"Those who have gathered may disperse while the newlyweds sign their Marriage Certificate and while the bride adorns her new arm band."
While the ceremony felt like a horrifying reality, everything afterward feels like an preposterous daydream. The sound of retreating footsteps, congratulatory wishes, it is all faint as if the noise were coming through a wall of glass. Even Aika, who pats Damiana on the shoulder and says she looks beautiful in the dress that was borrowed from her, seems like a mirage. Once the three of them are alone, Raezik's instructions for them to sign their marriage certificate transforms this illusion from a daydream to a galling nightmare.
Roy and Damiana reach for the quill using their combined limbs. Somehow this simple, orange, plume weighs heavier than lead. Never has crimson ink glided across pallid parchment more sluggishly, as if their souls are being signed away to Satan. If Roy and Raezik wouldn't find it peculiar, Damiana would laugh dryly at the realization that their souls are not being signed away to the devil, but to each other. Yet, this reality seems equally dreadful. An occurrence that makes providing their signatures doubly frightening is that the color of the ink changes the instant the quill is returned to its inkwell. It shines bright gold for the slightest instant before fading to black.
"W-what the hell was that?!"
The gargantuan village leader stares in disgust, as if Roy is asking for the answer to two plus two. "You signed your Marriage Certificate. It is a sacred document blessed by the Fates, so your signatures are permanent. I would be worried if your signatures didn't do that!"
As familiar as she is with Dabnodian weddings, Damiana has never witnessed the signing of a Marriage Certificate. This new knowledge that signatures are permanent is jarring. How permanent can ink and paper possibly be?! Certainly, it would be as easy as ripping the paper to shreds or throwing it into a fireplace. Just because she and Roy are married now doesn't mean that they have to stay married, right? Two stupid signatures can't possibly hold that much power!
Before Damiana can protest the ludicrous idea that a meager piece of parchment is binding and indestructible, Raezik is thrusting a polished, copper, bracelet into Roy's free hand. It is smooth and well-crafted, glittering as it reflects the early morning sunlight. Embedded into the copper is the rough design of a bow with an arrow resting against the bowstring. The image is filled with bronze. Already understanding what she is required to do, Damiana reaches for her right upper arm using her bound hand. The golden cuff with the copper fire phoenix slides off with ease. With a tedious and hesitant touch, (strange for a person like Roy in any other setting), he slides the new armband on in the old one's place. The Fire Phoenix armband is put back on, but it is now beneath her Flying Arrow armband.
Raezik unbinds their wrists, but Damiana barely notices. Her arm feels far too heavy, not with metal, but with disheartenment. Did she really just marry Roy? This is so impossible! Two months ago, she was scowling at the pimp who strutted into Lola's Café like an arrogant peacock. Now she's married to the guy! True, the dynamic certainly isn't the same as it was on the day that they met. Roy is her teammate, friend, and the guy who provided her with her first makeout session. She likes the arrogant archer as a person now, and he has earned her respect. That doesn't mean that she wants to marry him though! Sweet Fates, what did they do?! Is that marriage certificate seriously permanent?! Why do the Fates continue to curse her?!
Walking down the earthen trail away from Whisper Valley an hour later doesn't feel like the victory she assumed it would. It is true that they have the Fire Lily Tribe to travel with, so that's convenient, but the stupidity of what they did outweighs any convenience.
"Getting off Dabnod alive is worth every possible sacrifice. Remember that, Roy!"
This is the mantra that Roy repeats to himself. Sadly, there is not a single ounce of comfort in these words. They'd decided on a temporary partnership that ends the instant they return to Earth, which was the single aspect of their agreement that forced Roy to say, 'I do'. With as authentic as the ceremony felt, however, their marriage suddenly appears much more binding. What kind of wedding vows were those? In the best of times and worst of times? In safety and in danger? In times of scarcity and in times of plenty? Until the Fates separate them in death? Those vows are scarier than any of the vows he'd heard while attending Earth weddings!
Then there is the uncanny strangeness of their marriage certificate. Ink is not supposed to glow, and it can't possibly be permanent as Raezik suggests! What is permanent supposed to mean? Does that mean that they are still married even if the certificate itself is destroyed? That the Fates will view them as married and will punish them if they try to annul the marriage? If the Fates can give Prophet Veng accurate visions of the future, then they certainly must be real enough to inflict punishment. What could he possibly have been thinking by signing that marriage certificate?! Perhaps he and Dami should have risked traveling to the first province on their own…
Damiana's face, bedecked by a bitter frown, suggests that she feels similarly. The girl makes an odd vision. Although the sapphire blue wedding dress from earlier has been exchanged for a brown, animal skin, dress, the glittering gems remain woven into her tresses. When standing close, she also smells strongly of a sweet, enthralling, aroma. It reminds Roy vaguely of strawberries. The Lady of the Flying Arrow Clan is clearly a breathtaking bride, even without her lovely gown. If Aika's goal was to make Damiana utterly irresistible, then the young mother did an excellent job. Which is why the frown on her face is so peculiar. Never has the archer witnessed a grimacing bride. Yet, Dami's reaction to being married is comforting. Thankfully it isn't just him. They are both horribly distraught.
Dami leans against a large cart filled with supplies for the Fire Lily Tribe's journey. The newlyweds are ready to leave, as is every solitary member of the Fire Lily Tribe. The only person who isn't ready is Prophet Veng, who is scouring Whisper Valley in search of villagers who wish to accompany them. As Roy draws nearer, her frown morphs into a forced smile.
"Don't let the ceremony or our glowing marriage certificate disturb you, Roy. This is still only a temporary partnership to make getting back to Earth easier. Once we're home, our marriage is over."
"You don't have to explain this to me. I married you and signed the certificate, didn't I? Whatever we have to do to get home, I'm willing to do it."
This doesn't stop dread from penetrating his gut, but at least Damiana no longer appears depressed. She gives a deep, shaky, sigh before removing a piece of thick, yellowed, parchment from a crate within the cart. It is a sloppy, hand drawn, map. The sphere that is sketched is clearly a rough image of the entire planet. Astonishingly, the only land within that sphere is a single, large, continent and a scant two islands. The rest of Dabnod seems to be a single, colossal, ocean. Damiana gives little heed to the ocean or the islands. A forefinger is placed on a section of the landmass where the Dabnodian symbol for "Eight" is scrawled.
"I don't know if you heard, but Prophet Veng said that we're traveling to the village of Emmek. It is only a day's journey down the mountainside. Emmek marks the boundary between the ninth and eighth provinces. The rest of the stops we will be making are marked here, too. If we ever have questions about where we're going, we just have to refer to the map. Prophet Veng gives a copy to each family."
Curious, Roy studies the map. It does not appear that they will spend much time in any one location. Only a handful of settlements are marked whereas dozens of roads are marked. The section that truly catches his eyes, however, is a province marked with the Dabnodian number "five". This entire province is colored black with the rough image of orange flames drawn there. Province Five is not massive, but it isn't small, either. The fact that this entire province is marked as destroyed is chilling to say the least.
Passing through the fifth province must be taboo, because no stops are marked. Instead, there is a stop marked on the coastline of Province Six where a boat is drawn. Dotted lines lead up the coast to Province Four, where it seems the boat will carry them. Honestly, the archer is disappointed. Seeing the ruins of the fifth province would have been fascinating.
Of course, not as fascinating as the first province. There is no number marking it. Rather, this province is labeled "The Capital" in scarlet ink. The most detailed section of the map is the capital, seeing as a meticulous palace is sketched with silver ink. Roy doesn't notice any of the stops that are marked here. All he can think about is the lone fact that this is Damiana's childhood home. Seeing the place where she was raised in isolation by Guayusa the Death Queen will be worrisome, but also enthralling. Peering at the girl, he notices that her gaze rests on the Capital as well. Rose red curls are streaked by the tiniest traces of gray.
"Now that I'm seeing the map, I realize that it will be a long trip. As much as we hate it, it's good that we got married. I don't think that we could manage the trip without the Fire Lily Tribe."
As Roy views the map in its entirety, it suddenly sinks in exactly how right the girl is. Although Dabnod is nothing more than a single continent, the continent is massive. They could easily end up wandering in the wrong direction without assistance. Toward province ten, for example, instead of the Capital. Getting lost in province ten would be the end for them, as the vast wilderness appears roughly the size of Russia. Even if they go slightly off course, the error could take a week or more to correct, and that week could cost them their lives.
Their wedding vows force Roy to groan internally. The rope that bound their wrists together triggers a sharp wince. As for the memory of how the ink glowed upon the parchment of the marriage certificate, this practically causes physical pain. Yet, as agonizing as the reality of their marriage is, it is truly, one hundred percent, necessary.
"Yes," the redhead concurs sourly. "I didn't realize how huge Dabnod is. It kills me to say this, but we're completely useless without help from these people."
They observe the map silently for what feels like an eternity. Reaching the modern provinces will take eons and locating the necessary parts to fix Black Shadow's machine will take additional eons. With the considerable amount of stress that they are experiencing, perhaps marriage will be so minimal that they will forget that they're spouses.
"Take time to rest, everybody! We leave for Emmek Village shortly, and we will not take any breaks!"
Prophet Veng's command fills both of Damiana's hearts with relief. Their journey will be incredibly long. The sooner they leave, the better. Not a soul from Whisper Valley is seen amongst the group of tribal people loitering at the village entrance, but the aching pain in her chest is long past. She has done her duty and warned them, as have Prophet Veng and Roy. If everyone wants to stay behind to meet their doom, then who are they to stand in their way?
Shoving all thoughts of this backwoods mountain village aside, Damiana's stormy gray eyes rest anxiously on the hand-drawn Capital City. The notion of returning to her childhood home fills her with dread. What will she see in the Capital City now that she is no longer under the Queen's and Royal Council's watchful eyes? The concept is disconcerting to say the least… And to say the most? It sounds horrifying.
"Damiana. Roy. There you both are."
The voice that breaks Damiana completely free from her inner thoughts is none other than Tenna's. Ironic, considering how she'd decided to forget about the people of Whisper Valley. It is not only the mountain lady who has come to greet them, but also her son. Trailing behind the duo are Linden, Aika, and their tiny daughter. The girl senses Roy's stance stiffening beside her.
Although her hair is mint green and perfectly normal, Tenna grunts in provocation. "Caen will not go about his day peacefully until he sees the two of you one last time. Know that I have not come here of my own accord." Sharp, silver, eyes pierce through them like cutlery. "Caen, I've brought you all the way to the village gate exactly as you've asked. Come say goodbye."
Caen pounces on Roy with an embrace that leaves him staggering. Meanwhile, Damiana's features shift from stormy gray to midnight blue. Her gaze doesn't break from Tenna's for an instant.
"We didn't share our story to ruin your lives, you know. Roy and I want you to keep living. We want everybody to keep living."
Tenna sighs, but not angrily. It sounds as if the stresses of the world are being exhaled from her body. "I know. As much as I hate to say it, I know. The evidence you've given us makes it impossible not to believe you. Linden and Aika believe you, too."
Midnight blue transforms to lime green. "Really?! You actually believe us?!"
"Are you that naïve? Of course, we believe you! You're the spitting image of the Death Queen's apprentice, the only difference being that you're older. Not to mention that crazy gadget that you revealed to the entire village during the frost. Saying that you're from five years into the future….and that you've survived Dabnod's destruction….is oddly believable when taking the time to consider the facts and piece the line of events together."
"Then why did you kick us out of your house last night?"
It is not Tenna who answers, but Aika. Her hair and eyes, typically a lovely shade of butter yellow, are blacker than soot. The fourteen-year-old clutches to her newborn babe desperately, as if hoping that love for the child will be enough to stop Dabnod from detonating.
"You had to leave last night. We're sorry. Linden, Tenna, and I needed to think. It's not that we don't believe you or that we aren't thankful for the warning – we haven't any reason to doubt you. The problem is, now that we know that Dabnod will be destroyed, deciding how to proceed is difficult."
"We have been thrust into the midst of a no-win situation," Tenna proclaims. "If we stay, we will get to live out the rest of our days in the place that we love, but we die. Leaving Dabnod will ensure our survival, but at what cost? Living on another planet as an alien after watching our home explode sounds far more traumatizing than it's worth! Especially for Caen and Rini who will never get the opportunity to grow up immersed in their culture."
"Damiana – I'm sorry. Queen Damiana – you were eleven years old when Dabnod was destroyed. If you want us to evacuate, tell us more. What was it like for you on Earth when you first arrived? Tell us, do you think fleeing is worth it?"
Aika's eyes glitter like obsidian stones as she makes the inquiry. As for Tenna, Caen, and Linden, they stare restlessly. Damiana, who'd been preparing to move forward on this journey without anyone from Whisper Valley, finds herself speechless. It has been years -half a decade - since she thought about her first weeks on Earth. The fact that so long has passed since thinking about it is not an accident. The beginning was by far the hardest. Damiana senses as her locks become as black as Aika's, and as her irises turn darker than Earth's midnight sky during the new moon. Roy rests a hand on her shoulder, though she barely notices.
"I'm not sure if you want to hear about my arrival on Earth. It was rough. Life got better over time, though. How my life got better is what you should hear about. Not my early days living on Earth."
Linden raises a skeptical brow. "We want to hear everything, Queen Damiana. It would be unfair for us to leave our home if we aren't aware of exactly what we will be getting ourselves into."
"My experience may not accurately reflect yours. There are dozens of planets that the space pods could send you to. There is no guarantee that you will end up on Earth, and if you do, there are a lot of places with different cultures. That alone will make each person's experience different. You will each have someone with you, too. I was by myself for five years until meeting Roy."
"Don't make excuses," Tenna retorts. "Just tell us what you've experienced. Guayusa the Death Queen would never program her space pods to send Dabnodians to dozens of planets. It is more likely that there are a dozen planets at most, if not ten or fewer. The chances of us ending up on Earth are probably greater than you think."
Damiana considers this. Adriel and Saeran somehow ended up on Earth. Why wouldn't the others if they agree to leave? And regardless of differing cultures, their first weeks on Earth will always be hard. For the first time in five years, the girl allows her mind to wander to that day. The dark void of space transformed into the blinding light of day as her space pod was sucked in by the gravity of a tiny, blue, planet. First plummeting, and then crashing, for a split second there was intense heat, and then stillness. Along with the stillness, there was the familiar warmth of sunlight. Damiana remembers that she'd taken time to enjoy that warmth. In her gut, she knew that the moment she exited the space pod, nothing in her life would ever be pleasant again. Suffering was going to come.
A tear trails down the girl's cheek against her will. Her gut had been right. While the first weeks had been pure hell, suffering had persisted for half a decade. If Tenna and Caen leave Dabnod, as well as Linden and Aika, their fate will be the same as hers no matter the distinctions.
"Alright. Since everyone insists, I will tell you about my arrival on Earth. If you end up on Earth and not another planet, what will affect you the most is
*Flashback*
The air. It felt different in her lungs. Heavier. Thicker. When inhaling, it stung. When exhaling, it made her wheeze. Damiana collapsed on the dirt outside of her space pod in a fit of coughs. Everything was too bright. It could have been hours spent drifting through the void of space. Or perhaps days. Maybe as long as a week. Really, Damiana couldn't tell. All her time had been spent weeping and sleeping, the darkness acting like a comforting embrace. Now, weeping and sleeping was no longer an option. The space pod had arrived at its final destination. Earth. The planet that was determined to be her new home. Of course, it didn't look like home. Not at all.
Not the slightest hint of purple was in sight. Tall plants surrounded her, but the coloring was odd. Tall, green, stems with, yellow, stringy, tufts attached. No hills or trees were seen in the distance. There was nothing besides tall green and yellow stalks. The plants towered over her, and they were arranged into perfect rows. A person could become lost forever amongst the towering maze of vegetation.
Once she'd stopped coughing, the thick air becoming easier to inhale, the eleven-year-old had turned her gaze toward the sky. Her greatest hope was to find the comforting colors of blue-violet and soft peach backdropping fluffy, rose-colored, clouds. No comfort was found in the sky. It was pale blue with wispy, white, clouds floating across it. Though she was no longer coughing, this didn't help much, because she'd started crying. The sky was strange. The ground was strange. Nobody was around. Earth was strange and silent. More than anything, she'd yearned for Mama and Saeran and their little cabin only to be hit by the fresh realization that all of that was gone. Damiana had wept bitter tears for what felt like a century.
"Look! There it is!"
A boy's voice shouted so loudly that it forced the despairing girl into an alert state of readiness. It wasn't the familiar, poetic, speech that the child had come to know as the Dabnodian language. The language was one that Damiana had read in books but never heard spoken aloud. An Earth language called English. The boy was tall, likely around Saeran's age. Four other boys and three girls were with him. They were dressed in unfamiliar clothing. Their pants were sewn from rough, blue, fabric and had holes in the knees. As for shirts, they were heavy and long-sleeved with hoods attached. The young humans stared at Damiana as she sat huddled beside her space pod. She was wearing her blue dress and was clutching the bag Mama had packed in her arms. As they continued gawking, the girl held to the bag tighter. The humans' stares were stunned.
"Wow! A ship from outer space!"
"Aww! It has a tiny alien! She's so cute!"
The humans had drawn nearer. Fascination was written on each of their faces. Damiana felt less like a child and more like an exotic creature at a zoo. She'd tripped over their foreign speech while mentally translating, yet the girl still understood plenty. No help was to be found amongst these aliens.
"Cute? What do you want to do, keep her as a pet?" One of the boys scoffed. "I bet she's worth money! We can probably sell her to the government for cash!"
"No! You're sick and evil, Rob!" a girl had exclaimed.
Damiana hadn't dared to stay. Would it truly be possible to be sold to bad humans? What would they do to her once in their possession? Terror was overwhelming. Practically against her own will, fire blazed from her fingertips. The boy threatening to sell the child had been consumed by the inferno. As for the others, they'd sprinted faster than spooked uikin. Damiana, too, had ran.
Running is the best possible way to describe what life became. That evening she kept moving until locating a shelter. The shelter was dark and cold. Weird creatures with hooves, long mouths, and flowing tails that swatted at insects were housed there. Crates of round, red, fruit were stored there as well. Damiana vividly recalls eating six of them before shoving as many as possible into her bag. An uncomfortable night of sleep in a foul-smelling stall is what ensued afterward.
Early the next morning, so early that the sun hadn't yet risen, enraged hollering roused her.
"That must be the alien that cremated Rob! Wendy, go get my gun! We need to kill this monster!"
The girl didn't mean to – she really didn't. Of course, intentions don't matter as much as results. Gun was a word that was entirely unrecognizable, although kill was not. As for scowls and waving fists, these are decipherable across all cultures. The middle-aged couple had meant to cause severe harm. Certainly, they meant more harm than the boy human who'd intended to sell her. Yearning for safety, she'd shot fire at the two and fled. Little did Damiana know that the entire barn burned to cinders.
The whole town tried to execute the little girl, believing her to be a horrendous space monster. Aliens had taken to the streets with strange weapons that shoot metal, now known to Damiana as "guns" or "firearms". Those without firearms carried clubs, which Damiana currently calls baseball bats. For four days straight, the child hid in the basement of an oblivious bachelor. He would leave for extended periods during the day, enabling her to climb upstairs in exploration. The gentleman's home was a haven of knowledge.
More than once, the television was turned onto the News Channel when the homeowner left. In less than an hour, Damiana learned that she'd landed in a country called "The United States of America" that was split into smaller sections known as "States" and "Towns". The United States of America wasn't split up too differently from Dabnod. Dabnod's single continent was called "Dabnak". Dabnak was split into provinces, and those provinces into villages. Despite the planets being different, the way Earth and Dabnod split its land into regions was very similar. Previously, The Capital City in Province One had been her home. Now it looked like the village of Pinewood in the State of Illinois was her location.
The first morning she'd watched television sticks in Damiana's memory similar to how a child always remembers their first day of elementary school. There was so much to learn that it had been overwhelming! Commercials were what dumbfounded her the most. In an advertisement for Pinewood Family Foods, the commercial described the market as "proudly selling quality, homegrown, products to Pinewood's 432 inhabitants for more than sixty years!". Damiana raised a brow. Four-hundred and thirty-two was not a lot. Especially compared to the tens of thousands of people that the Capital City had supported. Not to mention Earth's gargantuan cities that daddy had told stories about.
More television, as well as stacks of newspapers and pamphlets left scattered about the house, answered the unspoken inquiry about how the settlement was so small. Apparently, the Village of Pinewood was known as a "farming community". Small farming communities are common throughout the United States of America, Damiana had learned. Based on a travel pamphlet left on the coffee table, as well a newspaper titled the Chicago Tribune, larger settlements existed. Bigger towns were nearby, some of them with populations of several thousand. The biggest nearby settlement, however, was a place called Chicago. Damiana wanted to go there.
The village of Pinewood was small, and the humans had continued searching for her. Damiana was horrified that an attempt to live there would end one of two ways; with her death, or with the village burning to the ground. Chicago was bigger; the travel pamphlet stated that there were over two million people there! In her young mind, the girl thought that blending in there would be easier. There would be more places to hide and more places to get food from. Not to mention, if she were spotted by an unfortunate onlooker, all she would have to do is fade into the crowd. With the things that the television talked about, finding a way to blend in with the people here would not be hard.
Clothing commercials and sitcoms showed what people on Earth commonly wore. T-shirts, blue jeans, and sweatshirts. Sometimes people wore nice clothes like suits or dresses, but only if there is a party to go to. A sitcom with kids in high school revealed that girls were supposed to wear bras, but being only eleven, Damiana didn't think that a bra would be necessary. Chicago might also have a larger variety of clothing to choose from, the girl had assumed.
Getting to Chicago, however, had been incredibly difficult. Damiana hadn't had a clue how to travel! Television told her all about cars, but she didn't know where to get one or how to drive one. Television also told her about airplanes, but those were for places all the way on the other side of the Earth. Chicago seemed close. It was only when she'd heard the homeowner talking to someone on what he called his "phone" that she'd learned how to get there. Thankfully she'd spent four straight days watching television and learning hundreds of new English words, otherwise she may never had understood the conversation he'd been having.
The basement was drafty and the box of crunchy, bread-like, wafers she'd stolen from a cupboard in the kitchen was starting to run out. Dozing amongst dusty boxes and exploring odd knickknacks was becoming dull. The homeowner hadn't left his house that day, and Damiana had been growing desperate for him to depart. So desperate was the girl that she'd crawled halfway up the stairwell in hopes that she might hear fading footsteps along with the retreating rumble of his car's engine. Thankfully, what the girl actually heard was better.
"No, Steve! I don't care if you already mailed me the bus ticket! I am not spending the day in Chicago with your Aunt Pearl!" A pause, and then a loud groan. "No! For the last time, no! I am not sitting on a bus for three hours with a creepy old lady resting her head on my shoulder! What if she wants to get a room with me and spend the night once we're there? I'm not a young man anymore, but I'm definitely not old enough to jump in bed with the captain of the shuffleboard team!"
Anything that had been said after that was unheard. A bus! Damiana had watched a show the previous afternoon. It was the sitcom with the high school girls who'd bought the bra. In that show, they frequently rode the bus to get to places like the mall or to friends' houses. They also rode a bus to school, but that one was a different color from the city bus. The fact that she could buy a ticket for one of those busses and be in Chicago in only a few hours sounded amazing! Even better was that Damiana didn't have to buy a ticket, because the lonely bachelor didn't want his. Later that night, the girl crept upstairs, stole the travel pamphlet off of the coffee table, and snuck back downstairs to the basement. Attached to the pamphlet was a stub of paper labeled Greyhound Ticket. Attached was a bus number and a time of departure, and on the pamphlet was the map of a place called a Greyhound Depot.
After taking the ticket, her journey was difficult. No more than fifteen minutes after sneaking out of the bachelor's basement, an enraged human had fired a gun. Damiana ran for her life into a nearby cornfield, and she kept running for what must have been many hours. It was not just one, but an entire group of civilians trying to execute her.
"She murdered Rob and burned down the Jones' barn! Don't let that innocent face fool you!"
"Kill the alien monster!"
Eventually they must have given up, because Damiana came out on the opposite end of the cornfield and hid in a tree without anyone discovering her. Unmistakably, the girl has remorse regarding the remainder of her actions that day. Another house was found, and praise be to the Fates that it was empty! Damiana had taken anything that seemed useful. Fruit and crackers from the cupboards, money from a dresser drawer in one of the bedrooms, and a girl's hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. The clothing was too large, and the money was scant – only fifty dollars. Thankfully, it was sufficient.
Right as Damiana had finished changing clothes and shoving the blue dress into her bag, the owner of the home returned. It was a woman in her middle thirties who'd screamed in bloodcurdling terror at the sight of the alien monster. Damiana hadn't bothered defending herself. Instead, she revealed her fire and threatened to burn the house down unless the woman took her to the Greyhound Depot.
Damiana's first English sentence sounded very strange, thinking back on it. Her words came out: "Take me in your car to the Greyhound Depot with the busses! If you do not, your house will be burned!". It took a couple weeks for her phrases to sound normal to human ears, and a few more weeks for her Dabnodian accent to vanish. One thing that never did vanish from that encounter was her abrasive personality. In a moment of fear and desperation, aggressiveness was born, and since then it has been nearly impossible to make it go away.
Now that she is thinking about it, her abrasive outer shell never went away after that because it worked. The human lady wept and blubbered for the entire twenty-minute drive to the Greyhound Depot. Damiana also demanded that she not inform anyone of her location, otherwise she would summon an alien army to attack the town. That seemed to have worked, as Damiana was able to board the correct bus nearly five hours after her arrival at the Greyhound Depot without any issues.
The village of Pinewood was not the first incident where humans reacted poorly to her. Damiana lasted for six days in Chicago without making enemies. It was on the seventh day where trouble began. It was cold in Chicago. Constant wind blew through the streets between the towering buildings, and sometimes it rained. Once the fifty dollars ran out, she was also hungry a lot. Not many people offered food, and if possible, she tried not to steal. Stealing would have made the Fates angry in addition to making the owners of the stores angry. Twice during that week, she ended up stealing from food vendors, and both times she pleaded with the Fates for forgiveness while eating.
Oddly enough, it wasn't stealing food that caused trouble. In a homemade shelter for the homeless, in a drafty highway overpass cluttered by tents and stained blankets, Damiana tried to make it warmer. She used her fire to warm herself, as well as three homeless women and two men who were gathered. Screams of fear was the result. It wasn't her color-changing features that frightened them, neither was it her odd manner of speaking. It was her fire.
Being accepted into that homeless community was challenging. Although her hair and eyes did not frighten them, it did baffle them. While her odd manner of speaking made them chuckle, it also made them leery. They asked who she was and where she came from. Damiana was honest. She said she didn't have a home or a family and needed other people to be with so that the crowds, tall buildings, and the freezing temperatures weren't so scary. After deliberation, the other homeless people accepted her. It shattered both of Damiana's hearts to pieces when all of her hard work at being accepted was destroyed by something as simple as a meager flame.
Damiana left that part of the city for another. After that, she never tried gaining acceptance from any more humans. Hair dye is something that she'd seen advertised on billboards. It looked convenient for her situation. Damiana took several boxes from a store shelf, locked herself in the shop's bathroom, and effectively colored it.
Colored contact lenses were more laborious to obtain. Damiana went into a local library to search for information about how to change her eye color, and contact lenses were the solution. They were expensive, though, and she was unable to find a way to start using them for several months after learning of their existence. It was a woman who'd bought them for her. Damiana responded to a dog walking advertisement posted in a newspaper, and instead of money or food, Damiana asked for contact lenses. She'd bought her two large cases of green. When those had run out, the girl had located a costume store that sold contact lenses in the same color.
Life became easier once she'd started dying her hair, and doubly easy after obtaining contact lenses. Nobody asked about her strange appearance. Nobody stared at her in public. Nobody trembled fearfully because she might be an alien. During a few rare occasions, she'd tried using her fire. Sometimes it was because she was cold. Other times it was because she thought she could trust someone and used it for fun, such as by roasting marshmallows. Each and every time, people were instantly horrified.
Damiana cannot recall how long passed in Chicago. Less than six months, but definitely longer than two. Regardless of the precise timeframe, Damiana remembers that she'd left the Windy City after frightening too many people. The mother of the children for who she roasted marshmallows tried to stab her with a knife, and one time when she'd tried to warm herself, an old lady pepper-sprayed her. Rumors of these incidents began spreading in certain areas of the city, so she figured it would be best to leave. Upon leaving Chicago, she'd used her fire as little as possible.
One year passed. Then two years. A third year came, and then a fourth. Before Damiana knew it
*End Flashback*
"Five years passed. Most of it was honestly a big blur once I learned to blend in. I stayed in one city for a while, and if someone got too close to the truth about who I really was, I would relocate to another city. With my hair dye and contact lenses, a long time would pass before anyone got close. A lot of people also thought that my name sounded odd, so I was also able to keep myself better hidden by changing 'Damiana' to 'Leila'. After a while, I didn't have to draw attention to myself by stealing, either. I earned money by babysitting, cleaning, and walking dogs. I could buy clothes from thrift stores and get cheap food from gas stations to feed myself while I was on the streets.
"I'm not going to lie. Being homeless isn't fun. I crashed in the midwestern United States and traveled mostly in the north and along the east coast. It gets cold there. Being homeless in the winter is awful. Not as awful as the frost, but still awful. Some nights I could feel my entire body going numb, and I couldn't sleep. I had to get up and move around so that I wouldn't get too cold. Parks don't have a lot of warm places to sleep, but alleys were okay. Dumpsters smell awful, but they keep the snow out. If you're near a Walmart, those are open all night, so you can always go in there, too.
"Just don't make a decision based completely on my experience. There are some humans who are okay with aliens– Roy is one of those. I just got bad luck by ending up in a redneck farming town with gun fanatics. Fire is also the scariest element that the Fates could possibly give me, and none of you are fire users, so you have that working in your favor. Again, please don't assume that my experience will be your experience. Adriel and Saeran both ended up on Earth after Dabnod's destruction, and neither of them were ever homeless. Adriel teaches belly dancing classes, and Saeran ended up fighting crime as a superhero. What happens to you after you flee the planet depends on the deck of cards that the Fates hands you. Adriel and Saeran got a good deck of cards, and I got the bad one."
Pain blossoms in the young queen's chest at such heavy memories. The dusty smell of the man's basement while she hid from the people wanting to murder her. Looking out of his basement window to see guns and baseball bats. Watching the local News Channel to see that the people wanted her dead or alive. Arriving in Chicago, a place far bigger than the tiny town, only to discover that not a single human would dare help an alien. That could mean involvement with the government, or perhaps the child was hostile. Learning to hide in plain sight. Learning the art of aggression. Learning to survive. Those skills that were learned during her first weeks on Earth are more than Damiana ever wanted to learn.
Roy keeps his firm grip on her shoulder. A single tear that she tries to keep concealed slides down Damiana's cheek. He wraps an arm around shoulders that are cascaded by raven curls. Meanwhile, the throng stares. Aika and Linden quiver like horrified lambs at the slaughter as they cling to Rini. Caen, who had previously been hugging Roy, is now clutching the Noble Lady's skirts while sobbing.
"L-Lady Fire Phoenix, I-I'm so sorry that those terrible things happened to you! You must be so sad!"
Raven tresses are suddenly streaked by gold. "It's okay, Caen. Getting through all of that was hard, but I lived. The moment I landed on Earth, I promised myself that I would live, so I did. And like I said, it did get better. I met Roy and the Titans East, so it turned out okay."
Surprised that Tenna hasn't said anything, Damiana turns to face the mountaineer. Mint green hair has transformed into a deep plum that has never before been seen on Tenna. As for her eyes, they are pure black. Both of the girl's hearts almost suffer simultaneous heart attacks. The mountain lady has tears leaving wide streaks down each cheek.
"Damiana, as a mother, I could never allow my son to be homeless on an alien planet. I don't understand how your mother did that to you. You were only three years older than Caen."
"Yes. I was. But I survived. Caen has you, so he will definitely survive if you decide to come."
Silence ensues that feels eternal. Tenna glowers at the violet grass beneath her feet, hoping that nobody will notice how distraught she appears. Aika and Linden look from their daughter, to Damiana, and then at each other while Tenna searches for the answers within the dirt. The first to break the silence is Linden. He does it while trembling.
"Queen Damiana, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I refuse to evacuate with my wife and infant. We would rather die on Dabnod as a happy family than bring ourselves to a place where we could live as homeless wanderers. Thank you for the warning, but we are unable to come."
Damiana sighs heavily. In some dark, twisted, way, she completely understands their rationalization. It saddens her when Linden and Aika don't say goodbye. They merely retreat from the village gate. Completely and utterly stupefying, however, is that Tenna doesn't follow. She takes a deep breath and meets the girl's gaze with sooty irises.
"I may change my mind later. I could always turn back or settle in a new town for a change of scenery. I'm not making a guarantee that Caen and I will get on a space pod and exit Dabnod's atmosphere," Tenna grumbles loudly. "But… we will leave Whisper Valley with the Fire Lily Tribe. If not to join you, then at least to think about it."
Tenna made the decision to leave Whisper Valley in the nick of time. The mountaineer returned to her cabin to hastily pack a few vital necessities. Upon returning, she'd had to dash down the mountainside to catch up with the Fire Lily Tribe's caravan. Once they were safely walking alongside Roy and Damiana, the woman paused with her son to gaze at the arch that gracefully marked the entrance to Whisper Valley. Tenna was born in Whisper Valley, got married in Whisper Valley, birthed all of her children there, and learned that she was widowed there.
For the longest time, Tenna's life has felt over. The love of her life. The father of her four, precious, baby boys. Tenna's lifelong friend who always teased her and always had a joke. Tenna's husband, Ult of the Jawirth Clan, had died in battle against the Tamaraneans. Nothing had felt worth it after Ult passed away. When two of their sons passed as well, and their third son joined the war, it felt as if both hearts had been torn from the mountaineer's chest. Why would the Fates be so cruel? How could life possibly be worth living?
It amazes Tenna how the Fates answer all questions – even the unspoken questions for which no answer was requested. The Fates threw Damiana of the Fire Phoenix Clan and Roy into her lap. "Life is worth living", the Fates seemed to whisper. A small child, determined not to die at all costs, forced herself to survive on another planet. It meant five years of hunger, of cold, and of hiding, but an eleven-year-old girl managed to do it. Why? "Because the Dabnodian people mustn't vanish from the universe" the Fates seemed to whisper.
Tenna doesn't want to. More than anything, she wants to stay in the single home that she has always known and die there. Life still doesn't seem worth it. Yet, the urge to keep moving forward gnaws in her gut. Even if living seems like pure hell. Even if there might not be any light at the end of the tunnel, there is something worth living for. Whatever it may be, Tenna is now determined to find it.
A/N: As I always say, I will do my very best not to go too long without updating. College is finished, I have a permanent job, and I'm settled into my new home, so I am not nearly as overwhelmed as I was in the past. That being said, I will do the best I can to finish this story. I will attempt to wrap up Part IV in the next five chapters, and I plan on making Part V relatively brief. I'm ballparking anywhere from ten to fifteen more chapters in total. After all these years, the end is finally in sight!
Another chapter should be coming in the not-so-distant future. Thank you for your continued interest in "Firelight"! :)
Forever and Always,
OCQ