(Context for the flashback)
Liviana (to envy)-Almyra
Ulysses (one who hates)-William
Marius (manly)-Kian
21st Century
Making my way outside, I spot Kian carrying what appears to be Almyra's limp body in his arms. I keep a safe distance from them as I quietly follow them to his car, watching as he carefully sets her down in the passenger seat. He hastily buckles her in and closes the door before running around, jumping into the driver's seat and taking off down the road.
I chase after the car, following it out of the city and onto the main highway, making it easier for me to track them while running through the woods. I could be following them on the road in my own vehicle, but I have always loved a good foot race. I take an educated guess on where they're heading and bolt through the trees, running towards his house to wait for their arrival.
About an hour later, I look over from my hideout in the trees, finally spotting their car pulling into the driveway. Doing my best to stay hidden in the tree, I lean my back as far as I can against the hard bark behind me. I listen carefully as I watch Kian get out and walk around to Almyra's side, opening the door for her and they walk inside.
Not soon after they disappeared inside the house, I hear the door open as they step out together, walking to his garden. When I look over they seem to be having a tomato fight, how fucking childish. I roll my eyes and slump back against the tree, waiting for all of this to be over.
When it finally started to die down and get quiet, I peeked around, not seeing either of them anymore. Then suddenly a bright glow started to illuminate the house from the inside.
Confused, I jump down from the tree, inching closer to the house, only to realize that Almyra's powers are back and starting to show.
"Fuck." I mutter to myself as I rush to kick the door open, only to see no one in sight.
"Well. This is not good." I sigh to myself as I walk around the house, searching for any indication as to what happened, but find nothing of too much importance inside, so I move my search to the backyard.
As I scan the woods, I notice a bit of movement in the distance and quickly rush over there to find Kit waiting for me.
"So… We have some bad news. First thing, Almyra has somehow managed to get her powers back. Second thing, both her and Kian have disappeared and I have no clue where the fuck they went." Kit looks at me cautiously, a slightly frightened and concerned expression crossing his face.
"You're right, that isn't good at all. Do we need to send a search party out for them?" I smile in response and shake my head.
"I'm pretty sure they're no longer in this time. I have no clue how far back they went, but I don't remember seeing them. We need to come up with a plan for when they pop up again, especially now that Almyra has her powers back. It's only a matter of time before she realizes what's going on and learns how to use them again. Go round up all of my favorite people and bring them to me. I'll wait inside." Kit nods and disappears into the night.
Strolling back into the house through the kitchen, I began thinking about Almyra and all the times she showed her betrayal towards me and I overlooked it. I wander around, rummaging through Kian's things. For as long as Kian's been around for, everything he's collected throughout the years is very boring and sentimental.
"Ah, what's this?" I ask myself as I come across a slightly hidden locked door in Kian's master bedroom.
With a small amount of force, I manage to burst through the door, revealing a whole room dedicated to Almyra and her past lives. I take a closer look around the room, taking in all the pictures of the two of them together, pictures of just her, drawings, notebooks, random keepsakes that have very little sentimental value to me, but are very important to Kian.
"Damn, I really thought this room would've been a lot more interesting than this." I huff as I turn around, slamming the door closed behind me and walk back into the living room. Strolling over to the couch and sitting down, I think about the beginning of the three of us. Myself, Marius, and then of course, Liviana.
***
"They're back!" I shout as I look up, seeing soldiers starting to appear in the distance. Standing up straight, I look around to see everyone coming out of their houses and walking into the street, smiling and cheering for the return of their loved ones.
Scanning the growing crowd of soldiers for Marius, I grow disappointed until I finally spot him as he steps out from behind a taller, huskier soldier. Seeing him, relief floods through me instantly, my smile growing as he gets closer.
"Ulysses, it's good to see you, man!" He pulls me into a hug when he's at arms length, then pulls back, "You look a little different… Anything happened lately while I've been gone?" I roll my eyes and he begins to laugh.
"Nothing much, man. It's been pretty boring without you here, honestly." We start walking together as his arm stays hanging around my shoulders.
"What about you?" I glance up at his face, seeing a flash of pain before he quickly covers it with a smile.
"Ahh, we had a lot of triumphs and a lot of defeats, but here I am and that's all that matters, yeah?" He smiles, dropping his arm, doing a quick spin, keeping his eyes fixated on a girl that was dumping water into the street.
The girl has long brown hair, her bangs pulled back away from her face with small gold clips. Her long, light purple tunic topped with a darker purple stola. Gold boat shaped hoops hanging from her ears, matching a very thin gold chain draped around her neck with an onyx gemstone attached. Glancing up, she meets Marius' stare, giving a shy smile before turning around and walking back inside her house.
"Did you see that girl, Ulysses? She was the most beautiful thing!" I give Marius an 'are you serious?' expression as he shoots a goofy smile back at me.
"Why don't you just go ask her out then?" I mock, jokingly.
"You know, that's actually a great idea. I might just do that." He smiles, patting me on the shoulder as he takes off towards the house.
"Well, what the fuck have I done now?" I sigh to myself.
***
Hearing a sudden knock at the door jolts me out of my thoughts. I hastily get up and go peek out of the window, sighing as I move to open the door.
"Kit, why the fuck did you knock and where is everyone?" I question, letting him inside. Kit goes straight to the kitchen table, unfolding and laying down a bunch of crinkled papers.
"Oh, they'll be here soon. Long travels and such, ya know?" He chuckles to himself as he turns around to face me, "I have some good news about the two love birds." He says, beckoning me closer as we both look down at the papers before us.
"What are these?" I ask, picking one of the pages up, inspecting it closely.
"Those, my dear friend, are details about Kian and Almyra during the war." Kit says proudly, watching me.
"Yeah, this is old news, dumbass. We were all there when this shit happened!" I smack him over the head harshly with the paper in my hand and then use it to shove all of the papers off the table in his direction.
"Find me something useful next time, please and maybe think twice about what you're bringing me." I sigh, turning around and hearing Kit rush out of the house, slamming the door closed behind him.
***
"Hey Marius! Come here, we have to show you something!" I yell as Liviana giggles behind me.
"What are you two up to? This better not get anyone in trouble, especially not me. I'm a high-ranking officer now, guys!" Marius yells from the distance as he pushes around a bush and into the small empty clearing. He looks confused as he surveys the area for Liviana and I. We stifle our laughs as we crouch down together behind a tree.
I give Liv a slight nod and her face lights up with a huge grin. She cups her hands together, bringing them to her face and whispers a few words into them before gesturing out towards Marius. A gust of wind flies towards him, unbalancing him and almost causing him to fall over.
"Guys, come on! What are you doing?" He yells, growing slightly agitated as he quickly spins around, thinking he's spotted us, but instead he sighs. He continues to look around the clearing as Liv and I look at each other and silently giggle.
As Marius starts to slowly walk towards the other side of the clearing, I look at Liv and we both nod as we separate. We both head in the direction Marius is going, but hidden by the trees and bushes so we're not able to be seen.
When Marius reaches a large bush at the other side of the clearing, Liv and I are waiting behind it, watching him and plotting our next move. He slowly tries to peek through the bush and when he reaches his hand inside, I grab his arm as Liv and I jump out and scream, scaring the shit out of him.
"What the fuck guys?!" Marius says, exasperated, grabbing his chest and leaning over towards the ground. Liv bursts out laughing and I watch her, smiling as I start to laugh with her.
"Oh, come on now, 'Mr. Roman Soldier'. You have to be tougher than that." She giggles, smirking as I see Marius looking up at her with a mischievous grin.
"Shit.." She mutters under her breath as her eyes go wide and she starts to back away.
"Lord have mercy." I mumble to myself as Marius jumps at Liv and tackles her to the ground before she could get away from him.
I chuckle, making my way over to them, looking down at them struggling to pin each other to the ground to avoid getting tickled by the other.
"So, Livi and I," I say as I gently tap her side with my foot, "still have something to show you and it HAS to be kept a secret. Okay, Marius?"
Marius' eyebrows scrunch together in confusion as he lets Liv go and she slumps down on the ground beside him to catch her breath.
"What's so serious that it has to be kept a secret?"