"Handel, stop! We need to get out of here now, you can get the book later!" A loud feminine voice called over the sound of the howling wind.
Valerie peeled her eyes open and staggered backwards in surprise, one second she was in front of a winged prince and the next she was in...her living room...but different.
Livelier, even.
There were flowers in the living room for God's sake! The last time Valerie suggested flowers in the house, she was grounded for a month!
A family portrait of a ridiculously familiar girl and a wild haired guy, smiling and holding a grinning, toothless baby was on the wall.
There were fluffy throw pillows on the couches and a lush rug under the center table and we're those sausages in a plate? Nicole had been vegan since Valerie remembered!
"Ok what's going on?!" Valerie asked aloud.
There was heavy wind at the windows, threatening to break it down and the worst part was that she could remember all this happening! It was like someone was refreshing her memory.
"Nicole! Where is the book?!" A male voice roared as heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs, Valerie went to the foot of the stairs and watched as the wild haired guy from the portrait marched down in fury. He had to be about Valerie's age. "Where is it?!"
Valerie moved out of the way because he looked angry enough to shove her out of his path.
A flustered girl with black hair came down after him, that toothless baby girl in her arms.
"Handel, please, the hurricane, they said it's coming closer and we need to protect our baby, you need to forget about that book!" She cried.
Valerie froze, Handel? Nicole?
"Dad?" Valerie asked, watching him take out the cushions of the couches in his angry search.
"Dad!" Valerie called louder but no one seemed to hear her, it was like she wasn't there!
"I threw it away okay?!" Nicole screamed and Handel froze before turning to her.
"What?" He whispered as his blue eyes widened.
Nervously, Nicole put the baby who was undoubtedly Valerie into a nearby cot, avoiding her husband's eyes. Baby Valerie started to cry.
Suddenly, Handel sighed in relief.
"Where did you hide it?" He asked.
Nicole's voice was small "I didn't..."
"I KNOW you Nicole!" Handel yelled and Valerie jumped along with her mother.
She looked down with defeat "It's in the kitchen cabinet--" Handel rushed to the kitchen immediately "--but what could you possibly want it for? The hurricane, Del! Handel! Listen to me..."
Valerie went to the window, lightening flashed and thunder boomed in response. The wind was howling a strange tune as the trees swayed, struggling to stay upright. The rain beat at the glass and Valerie was sure she could see it cracking.
The grey clouds held a promise, a dangerous, heavy promise.
"You guys have to get out of here!" Valerie said though they couldn't hear her.
Baby Valerie was still bawling with neglect.
"Wow," Valerie sighed "I really was an annoying baby"
"Handel, please"Nicole said for the upteenth time, she was sobbing now "we could get flooded in here, or worse, the house could collapse on us and I can't leave you here because I love you! And you love me, you love us..." Nicole paused, watching him pause his search too "...right?"
He turned to face her, holding the familiar brown and gold book in his hands.
"Del, I asked you a question!" Nicole said and it went so silent that the howling wind was painfully loud, even Baby Valerie stopped crying.
"Ouch" Valerie said "awkward" Although it did sting slightly, knowing that her father never loved her, she suddenly felt pity for teenage Nicole.
"I care about you and that's why I'm doing this, I know how to stop the hurricane!" Handel said, his eyes trained on the Maorouka in his hands.
Suddenly, Nicole became a hurricane, anger was swimming in her eyes and dripping off her words as she spoke "You've gone crazy, Del" she spat "you plan to stop a friggin' hurricane with a book, with a f**king book!" At the last word, she snatched the Maorouka and flung it at the window.
The throw was strong enough to smash the glass and let the book soar into the raging wind.
Handel took a short glance at her and went out through the back door while Nicole took Baby Valerie in her arms and went upstairs.
Valerie knew he wasn't coming back.
The most extraordinary thing happened after that. In only a few seconds, everything...changed.
The noises stopped completely, the air went still like there wasn't a hurricane in the first place. The grey clouds remained though, just like the Halsburg sky Valerie had always known.
The flowers drooped and wilted in a matter of seconds and she watched as their brown petals dropped to the floor.
The portrait on the wall changed too, where there was once a happy couple with a cute, blue eyed baby, there was only a serious faced girl with her grinning baby in her arms.
Valerie could hear Nicole's loud sobs from upstairs.
She was just thinking about going upstairs too when the room started to go in and out of focus. She felt woozy, and she couldn't remember anymore.
Blinking severally, she watched as the scene changed and soon she was back infront of Prince Artemas who still had her head between his hands.
"Oh my God" she whispered as her knees gave way, the girls caught her and lowered her to the grass gently.
"What did you do?!" She groaned as her head pounded with a terrible headache.
"I apologise, Chosen One" The Prince Artemas said kneeling in front of her "but it was necessary, I showed you one of your memories as a baby and let you see it through the eyes of an outsider."
"Th-that's not possible, I was a baby" Valerie said. Her headache was almost unbearable now.
"True, which is why the memory was so far down, but I found it and gave it to you, I want you to understand" The prince raised his hand to her temple and massaged it with his thumb and it felt like he wasn't rubbing her temple, but the actual spot in her head where the pain was.
It was like wiping chalk off a blackboard with a clean duster. And it felt really good.
"How did you do that?" Valerie asked as the pain slowly reduced to nothing. She watched him as he concentrated on what he was doing, her cheeks were on fire since he was so close to her. At her question, his grey eyes met with hers and her entire face flared up.
"The mind and memories is my specialty, the abilities to control any mind and create memories come from right here" he touched his own temple and got up.
Valerie stared at him with wide eyes, "you can see everyone's mind and...control it?" She asked a little fearfully.
"Indeed" he replied "but do not worry, wingling, I only use my abilities for good and good alone" He said with an air of dismissal.
"How am I sure of that? Huh?!" Valerie challenged, rising to her feet "how do I know you're not using your psychic powers on me right now?!"
"I solemnly swear" he said holding her eyes even though she was glaring at him.
"I don't care what you solemnly do! My life is perfect right now okay? I'm not the chosen one or whatever I mean...ugh, I want to go back home" Valerie yelled and almost immediately, the Maorouka landed on the grass in front of her feet, she picked it up.
"Valerie," Dansé said with pleading eyes "we need your help"
"And do not lie to yourself" Mayi said with her authoritative voice "you know things are not normal in your land, everything that happens here affects your world. Your life has not been normal since your father started his attacks on Oscavia's capital."
"He has attacked?" Valerie found herself asking.
"Yes, he is killing soldiers and finding means to spread diseases" Dansé said sadly.
"I can't" Valerie said "I can't face him... but I'll...I'll think about it" she took one glance at Prince Artemas who was looking back at her, studying her every move.
"Bye" she whispered before saying the exit spell and letting the wind carry her to her room.
🌅🌅🌅
Nicole seemed angrier than usual on Sunday morning, but so was Valerie, in fact, she was furious.
She was furious with her mother for lying to her or rather... keeping the truth away. She had only told her that he disappeared during a hurricane, she never said she knew why he disappeared, she acted like her father left because he didn't want her, no one was supposed to lie to her child like that.
Valerie pushed her full plate forward and cleared her throat. "So, Nicole," she began "when do you intend to tell me the truth? Aren't I old enough?"
"What now, Valerie?" Nicole asked, irritation coating her words.
"The truth about Handel, when are you going to tell me?" Valerie asked and Nicole looked up from her vegan meal, a mixture of surprise and sadness crossed her expression before a smouldering amount of hate replaced them. A heavy feeling in her gut told her that it was all for her.
"You're implying that I lied?" Nicole asked.
"No of course not, mother, you only kept part of the truth from me," Valerie said, sarcasm dripping off her words "aren't you surprised I found out"
"Yes I am very surprised, I never knew you were this smart" Nicole said, seething "I did know though that you were incredibly stupid, how dare you talk to me like that?! You are grounded, for two months!"
"Yes, that's it, ground me. That's all you ever do as you wallow around in hatred every day, you don't even hide the fact that you hate me!"
"You want the whole truth?" Nicole asked, riding from her seat like a cobra about to strike "well here it is: Everyone hates you, Valerie. Haven't you noticed? Hmm? You walk around, sticking your nose everywhere without looking at the terrible world around you. Think about it, those bullies at school that hate your guts, that nerd who picks on you? And don't think I don't know about your crush on your art teacher, the man has to beg you to get out of his sight, what about Sophie? When is the last time she called when did you last see her?"
"Sophie's... Sophie's....sick.." Valerie stammered.
"Oh really? Too sick to pick up the phone and call her 'best friend'?"
"S-stop!!" Valerie cried, she could practically feel her heart breaking.
"And then there's your father, who just couldn't handle your existence, and I, who has to look at you every day and night and remember him" Nicole snarled. "You both are just so alike, all you do is paint and paint and...paint..."
Valerie watched Nicole and could practically see the cogs turning in her head. She knew what she was about to do!
"Nicole, no!" Valerie screamed as her mother raced up the stairs, she was heading to Valerie's room, to her paintings!
Valerie stumbled blindly after her, she scraped her knee on a stair but it didn't matter, her mother banged the door to her bedroom open and Valerie made it just in time to see Nicole tear down handfuls of the art she had glued to the wall.
"Nicole stop!" Valerie screamed as she tried to grab her mother's arm but Nicole's fury made her stronger and she pushed Valerie to the carpeted floor.
"You deserve this! Next time you won't dare cross me!" Nicole roared angrily.
"Okay, I'm sorry!" Valerie screamed, holding on to Nicole's leg to stop her from moving "stop, I won't be rude to you anymore, I'll do whatever you want, I promise, just stop!" but she kept on ripping Valerie's paintings off the walls, her first drawing, the pencil sketch Sophie made for her on her thirteenth birthday, the first most realistic lion she had ever painted, all the paintings she had gathered ever since she knew how to hold a paint brush, Nicole threw them all out the open window.
"No!" Valerie sobbed, standing to her feet to gather the paintings Nicole hadn't touched yet "you can't do this to me, you can't ruin the only thing I love!" When Nicole grabbed the palette intending to snap it in half, Valerie rushed at her and snatched it before she could.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!!" She screamed at her mother, she probably sounded like a three year old but she didn't care, not right now. "That's enough!"
Nicole glared at her with eyes glazed over with anger before storming out the room, slamming the door so hard that it bounced back and hit the wall.
Valerie went to her knees, set the palette and the few paintings she had saved next to her and started scooping neon paint from the rug, back into the jars. Nicole had knocked over the box in her fury, luckily the Maorouka was right at the bottom.
"I hate her so much" Valerie sniffed and wiped her eyes and nose with her soiled hands. She was mad at herself for crying but she couldn't help it, her art was her one true love.
It was the only thing she had going for her now that Sophie wasn't her friend anymore.
She looked up at the mirror and caught a glimpse of her sad expression with a huge neon pink smudge all the way from her eyes to her mouth.
She laughed sadly at her reflection and it turned out to be a bad idea because the laughter eventually turned into tears.
When her tears were exhausted, she leaned on the frame of her bed and thought about Mayi's words.
It was crazy to think that her father, Void, or Handel or whatever he called himself, was the cause of all this negative energy. But somewhere in her heart, deep, deep, DEEP, deep, deep, deep down, she knew the Oscavians were being truthful and maybe she was the one to stop him.
Slowly, she raised the old carton box upright and took out the Maorouka.
"Inem wa ix Oscavia" Valerie said.
She was going back.
🔊🔊🔊
Alright! Let the real adventure begin!! Get ready to meet new people and be amazed!
I have a lot planned for this book, its so much that I can't even figure out how to make them all into one big storyline, lol.
So, what do you think about Nicole? Do you think she's some grumpy old lady fart or that it's The Void's fault?
Don't forget to comment!
Rhodes.