Memory

Aera tells about herself and remembers...That she once loved Evan. And how much he really loves her.

I woke up in a small shack, laying on a thick straw bed. My stomach hurt as if I had been punched repeatedly there. I tried to sit up, trying to fight the sharp grazing pains that were shooting through my stomach. Hearing my whimpers of pain, Evan appeared out of nowhere and gently said, "Aera, lie back down. Here drink this," and he handed me a foul-smelling, black, watery liquid.
"Drink it? So you can finish me off? Since the arrow didn't do the job?" I gasped through the pain that was worsening.
"Finish you off?" Evan said, eyes narrowing. "Why would I do that?"
"Because-because-ahhh!" the pain had become almost unbearable.
"Because I lo- I mean, loathe you, right?" Evan said, seemingly oblivious to my pain, his grass-green eyes softening.
"Yes," I managed to sputter out. "And you-gasp-just want the throne of the-gasp-Royal Influence!"
"What?" he growled, his eyes hardening again. "If that's the way you feel then fine, I'll leave you here. And because I care, here's a blanket because it gets very cold in the night." Evan dropped a blanket, transformed into a shadow, and stormed out of the small hut.
I sighed, both in pain and exasperation, feeling tears run down my cheeks. I decided to drink the foul-smelling liquid, since I would die of hunger and pain anyway. I gingerly raised the bowl and took a sip. Though the liquid scalded my tongue, it tasted sweet, like raspberry mint tea. I slowly drank the liquid, cherishing the taste and sinking back down into the mattress, crying openly.

Why, I thought, does it have to be this way? Evan was a Shadow A'polon, or in the Gods' and Goddess' eyes, a Shadow Demon. Rumors told that he had done somthing terrible, but I doubted that any of them were true.. And me? I made the mistake of falling in love, no, being born. Though I tried to deny it, my mother indeed was the Lady Moon, Selene. When I was born, my father came and took me away from Mount Olympus, where my mother's clan lived.. He took me here, to the A'polon lands and raised me as a Belle A'polon, the most beautiful A'polon. When he found out that I loved Evan, he banished him from the city of Tenebrae, and reminded me that I was to marry the prince of the Hael A'polon, Avdin. My father then had a palace, The Araceli, built for me and locked me in it. But he couldn't isolate me, and during my confinement in Araceli, my feelings for Evan changed, for I had been brain washed to think that this was all his fault and to resent him. But my father couldn't live without my help on his various secret missions, so he pulled me out of the Araceli and sent me on my way to spy on the cities of the Southern Araea to make sure that there were no rebels. So far I had see none; so here I was, freezing to death, abandoned, and nearly dead.

"I hate you Evan. I hate you father. I hate you Selene." I whispered. It had gotten colder and the thin blanket wasn't nearly enough to keep me warm. I sat up, feeling only a little pain where there had been a killer jolt before. I noticed that I was only down to my under garments and saw my clothes neatly folded over near the farthest corner from me. I also saw that these was a small purple scar, the mark of a poison Hael arrow, near my navel. I quickly realized that Evan had saved me and that the attacker might still be lurking around. I threw off the blanket and sprinted, as quietly as I could, over to my clothes, and quickly slipped on my trousers, boots, my tunic, and my cloak. I slipped on my bow and arrow and strung the Ivy belt that hung my sword around my waist. I could feel something approaching me, though I wasn't sure what. My Third Sight suddenly opened up, adrenalin and magykal energy coursing through my veins. I pulled out my sword and incantated on it, forcing a small amount of gremlin poison that was held in the dragon scale blade to pour through the passageways inside the sword, effectively poisoning the sharp, platinum, jewel-encrusted blade to become very, very, very, lethal.

"Show yourself," I commanded, my Third Sight rapidly becoming God Sight, the vision of heat seeing. There was no one there, my God Sight confirmed.
Then I saw it, a small dark purple haze, moving at the top of my vision. "Show your self,"I commanded again, my voice a mix of bitterness, hatred, and fear.
"Why should I?" a voice sneered. "After the way you treaded me after I saved you from that Hael hykun."
"Evan, I'm sorry-"I started to say, but he cut me off.
"Shhhh," he said, as I felt a mist like thing approach me. Evan slowly started to materialize beside me. "We are being watched," he said slowly. "Are you armed?"
I nodded, unable to say anything because my heart had sped up again, the calming effect of Eros leaving me.
I looked around, my true fear and power returning. On the corner of my vision, I saw a red speck dart across the room. Because that was enough to alert me, in one swift move slipped my sword back in the holder and shot an arrow to the red speck.

I missed.

For a moment, it seemd as if I had only imagined the speck, but then, it started to get bigger; a bright red in the center, and a deep purple on the edges. It would've been human, except for the two ram's horns cruling out from the sides of the head.

I could never mistake those rams horns.

"Avdin," I whispered as my God Sight suddenly died.

Hearing the name of the Hael, I felt Evan tense.

Avdin appeared in front of us and grinned when he saw Evan and me, glaring.

He walked over to me, using long, graceful strides that were quite unusual for the normal Hael.

He approached me and we stood face to face, his eyes filled with hunger.

Hunger for me.

"Mygnar, love," he said in a rich, velvety voice as he bent down to kiss my hand.

"Do not," I growled. "Call me that." I jerked my hand away from his dark lips.

"Please," he said. "We are to be wed. Certainly, you don't want know more of your bethroed?" He slipped an arm around me.

Before I could react, Evan pulled me away from Avdin and pulled out the sword hanging on his waist. "She doesn't need anymore than she has," he growled. "If you want the Princess, you shall fight for her."

Avdin smirked, "Very well. This should be quite interesting."

"It will be."

What were they doing? I thought. I could fight my own battles.

"You don't need to fight over me!" I yelled.

"Why not?" asked Avdin. "You, Princess Aera, do not deserve such filth. He is a lowly tutor, and you the Princess of the Belle A'polon. I cannot stand to see the way he looks at you. The way his eyes gleam with lust. And the way he looks at you as his possesion. A thing to be owned. Like the Greeks of Mount Olympus."

Evan was furious. He lunged at Avdin with his sword yelling, "I AM NOT ONE OF THEM!"

Avdin fluidly pulled out his own sword and blocked the attack. "Aera, you are to be wed to me and me only."

"She can make her own choices!" Evan yelled, as the two began a full fight.

No! I couldn't see this!

On one hand, Avdin, my childhood friend, my only and only true friend, who, although had become so much more over-protective and commanding, still loved me, even though he knew my roots. And on the other hand, Evan. My young tutor that wasn't much older than I was. He was smart, funny, and could rival any of my older brothers.

I pulled an arrow from my quiver, strung it on my bow, and pointed it at the fighting A'polon.

"If either of you make a move, whether it be anything, I will shoot and you will die. I am not worth fighting over!" I yelled.

Evan laid his sword down. "You are all I have Aera, you are my everything," he said, softly, so only I could hear.

My bow and arrow fell from hy hands, as the effects of the prainwashing dissapated. At that moment, I realised how much I really loved him and more inportantly...how much he loved me.

Avdin laughed.

"You are joking, are you not?" he said, between laughs. "Aera is not fool enough to fall into your false love. If you truly want her, then you must fight like a true A'polon!"

I couldn't watch this. I couldn't, just couldn't.

I ran outside of the hut to the shelter of the trees, trying to focus on the sounds of the nearby Xha river, instead of the fierce fighting that I knew was going on inside of the little hut.

I was close to the border of the Southern Araya, the forest that dominated most of the south Belle A'polon lands. The Xha river, which branched into the Ahava River, ran south west of me and the city of San-Gyuun was quite close, although the small town of Kyor was closer. I decided to try and forget the fight for me and walk to the Xha River, where the tallest trees grew.

As I walked along the forest, using only sound and instinct to guide me, I started feeling that something around me wasn't right. Realising that I had left my bow and arrow back at the hut and that long range fighting would be deadly, I pulled out my dagger and held it in a defensive position.

"Who's there?" I whispered, whishing my Third Sight would kick in.

"No one you should be afraid of," said a musical voice above me.

"I mean it. Show yourself, otherwise I shall be forced to fight you."

The voice laughed, something sounded like soft wind chimes. "Do not fret," it said. "The is no cause for fight, for I shall willingly show myself."

I breathed a sigh of relief and lowered my dagger. I wasn't up to fighting and doubted I would be for a while. "Where and who are you?" I whispered.

"Oh Aera," came a reply like a soft breeze, "You are just like your mother, are you not?"

"What?" My mother?

She was...Selene.

"I see you are confused. Do not worry, I will reveal my self now."

From the tree directly in front of me came a soft purplish glow, slighly out of place in the greens and yellows of the Araya. The glow wasn't the tree, I realised, as a woman walked out from behind it.

Reviews

Great idea! I like your characters!

[Vannah]

cool...