Fan Fiction ❯ Earth's Reflection, My World ❯ Sacrifice ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Neouri couldn't look at her mother. "What?"
Her mother looked at her again, shame in her eyes when she said. "I lied to you. I lied for you."
Neouri felt like her chest was closing in on her. Yet at the same time, she felt. . .exhilarated.
"I know I am not your daughter by blood," She said. "So how can I live a lie?"
"You're not what you think you are." Her father stated bluntly.
Neouri nodded. "I know what I am." She whispered.
Her father's eyes widened. "How could you? We hid it from you-"
She shook her head. "You tried to hide it from me. But, this is my body. I know everything about it. Strengths, weaknesses, timing, speed." She curled her lips in a smile. "All of it."
Her father paled. "Do you know what you are?"
She reddened, and averted her gaze to the table. "Yes. I have seen myself." A vision of that dreadful day, the day she turned fourteen filled her head. The vision of the horror she had become when she looked into the mirror.
And that was only the beginning of what she suffered the rest of the night, and what would happen once every first moon.
Her brothers watched her oddly. Her mother's eyes were filled with tears. Her father's filled with pity. "And?"
The prodding came from Vance.
"I look like a monster."
Silence filled the room. Then Eede leapt up and cried out, "NO!"
Surprised by his denial on what she looked like, when he had never seen her, she became mildly upset. "And how would you know!?" She shouted back. "You've never seen it! You've never seen me! Look at this!" she indicated the situation. "I feel like you betrayed me!"
"I did!" He snarled. "I betrayed you! It was either you, or Oderia, and I chose Oderia!"
That didn't make a lick of sense to anyone but Xel.
"Oderia?" her mother said. Then her eyes lit. "That's where Na'ena came from!"
"Na'ena?" Everyone looked at her.
"Neouri," Her mother's gaze softened. "Na'ena was your birth mother."
Neouri didn't even blink, nor did she demand an explanation.
Xel did that for her. "Explain woman. Now." His voice was harsh as he commanded the woman, her flinch clearly visible. It was Neouri's glare that made him silent, and Eede's pinching.
Her mother smiled as she stroked her daughters hair. "I remember her. She looked a lot like you, but with big luminous eyes that were more yellow in color. She was a lot paler than you too. There was something unusual about her when she came into our home that stormy night. She held you in her arms, a small bundle of cloth which encased you.
"We found her wounded, terribly. We had to take her to our home for the ambulance to find, but she said she wanted no help, she asked for it when it was needed. She wouldn't let you out of her arms either. She always said, she loved you and shed always be with you. She truly loved you in order for her to do what she did. She ran away, she fought, she escaped every known horror, with you in her belly and her arms. Then, she only saw one way to escape it."
"You." Neouri saw her parents nod.
"She gave you to us, and gave us her dearest secret." Her father said. "And she was able to prove it too. She transformed in front of us-"
"You wouldn't believe how terrified of your mother we were." Her mother said smiling through her tears. "But, we trusted her, and she us."
"Was that all she told you?" Eede and Xel asked.
Her father shook her head. "She told us she was escaping from Oderia, she didn't say from what though."
Xel sighed. "She was seeking a way to end the war." His gray eyes looked over at her. "You see, Neouri, you're carrying within you a very powerful gem. It was given to you from your father, or so we suspect, but the problem is, you were a bastard. He never claimed you, yet you are the only child left alive from his brood."
Eede continued, sulkily, never meeting her eyes. "Your other siblings are dead, or missing. And we knew that your mother had to be the one your father gave it to. But, the authorities in our world found her and. . ." His eyes misted when he looked at her. "Oh, Neouri, your mama's dead."
She shook her head. "She was never a mother to me. She protected me, and gave birth to me, yes, but that was all she's ever done for me."
Xel nodded. "I'm not sorry you feel that way." He muttered.
"What about the gem that you spoke of?" She asked. "What is it?"
"It's said to be Angel Tear." Xel said. "Or, Ourivai . It has the power to make any living creature more powerful than it's originally supposed to be. There are a lot of people in out world who want it because we are torn apart by war, and whomever possesses such a gem, will be the strongest in the land, and all other kingdoms will surrender."
Neouri pondered this for a moment. "So, I have the power to take over the world?"
"If you have the gem, yes." Xel answered.
Her brothers glared at Xel through the entire questioning. "Will she return to us?" Vance asked.
Xel shrugged and looked her over. "If she stays with us, then yeah."
"What if I don't want to go?" Neouri asked. "What if I say I don't care, and want to stay here?"
Xel shook his head. "Then I would drag you little girl." He said. He leaned over on the table. "This is not just a matter of you, Eede, and I. This is a matter of a world that's torn apart by destruction."
Neouri glared at him, her eyes shooting dark arrows. "But what does this world matter to me? I care for my family! I will stay here with the people who have loved, and raised me!" She stood up, her voice raised to a shout.
Eede was shaking nervously as his brother leapt to his own two feet and shouted, "What about your birthplace? What about your remaining family there!?"
"I keep telling you!" Neouri shouted. "They never raised me! Hell, you said I was a bastard! Here I have people who love me!"
Xel reached across the t able to grab her when her brother said, "Neouri! You have to go!"
Xel paused, and Neouri looked at her brother strangely.
Vance looked like he wanted to cry. "You have to go, Neouri. People need you. Other people, not us." He took a gulp of air, and smiled weakly. "Go to where someone needs you. We'll be fine."
Neouri's eyes watered. "Vance I-"
He shook his head. "Just go!"
He turned around, and left the house. Darien chased after him, calling his name.
Neouri looked at her mother and father. "I will go then." she said, "I will go where people need me."
"Pack some clothes, honey." her mother said, she was sobbing relentlessly now, and Neouri noticed her fathers tears went unchecked.
"Take care, love." Her father said, his voice weak, his brown eyes revealing a broken heart. "And remember, we love you."
She turned around, but Xel grabbed her. "You'll need nothing."
"But I-"
"We are leaving now."
Her eyes widened. "I don't have a chance to say goodbye to my family?"
"They never were your family, merely your keepers."
Neouri's eyes widened. "Why you-"
Xel only gave her a look, and she was silenced with a cuff over her head.
Her last thought before blackness over took her was, The were the only family I've known.
* * * * *

Xel carried her over his shoulder, and was muttering about how heavy she was.
"That's the least of our worries." Eede said from behind him. He was glaring at his brothers back, as he saw the way Neouri's head and arms dangled over his shoulder. "When she wakes up, she's gonna raise Hell."
"At least it's for a noble cause."
Eede had grown to care for Neouri, and even though he loved his brother, he hated when he was like this. "Just because you've never known what it's like to be taken from a family, or you haven't felt that pain doesn't mean you can go off and steal someone else away from theirs. No harm would have come to her and her family!"
"As long as Oderia is safe, then other families won't suffer the loss of their family members."
"They could have made peace for themselves!" Eede snapped.
Xel turned around, and glared at him. "That would have taken too long, and too many lives!"
Eede looked at Xel suspiciously. "Why do you care now? You always told me you didn't care whether or not Oderia blew up was no concern of yours. Why now?"
Xel turned around and continued walking. "When the first bolt hit's the ground, capture it."
Eede was so engrossed in arguing with his brother, he hadn't realized it was raining.
Eede loved a good storm. Lighting whipped through the sky, thunder crashed, and the winds howled. This was a storm caused by magic though. It was a different from the type you'd see Mother Nature make. Although, not really.
Eede could sense the first bolt of lightning like it was a part of him.
"A little further up, Xel."
Xel knew where it would strike, and his brother immediately followed behind him.
The blue lance of light struck the ground where the two stood. Xel felt the tingle to his toes, Eede's hair stood on end.
Then, they were gone.

* * * * *