Reina
His eyes glazed over as he stood up abruptly and walked towards the falls. I followed but he seemed out of sorts so I just played under the warm splash of the falls. He continued ignoring me until one of our squad members arrived. The boy was as tall as Eric, blonde and blue eyed. He seemed to be close with Eric. I immediately felt weird because I hoped Eric would be a very special friend. It hadn't occurred to my little mind that he probably had other close friends especially males. Feeling stupid I tried leaving but got confused trying to figure out a way out.
The boy patted Eric's shoulder, said something that made him give out a low chuckle and then both their eyes snapped to mine. I looked at everything from the water, to the grass, rocks and even the castle in the distance apart from the two males gazing at me. Shyness was a part of me I always hid diligently. My mask was going up in a second. It made me impenetrable as a dense forest and protected me from having to face things that hurt so much. Denial or self preservation? I was too young to feel this strong but then, my abilities meant I got the truth straight up and it was up to me to adapt or perish. I chose to adapt because no one deserved to be shunned, despised and insulted as a child. As soon as I could understand, I realised I was extremely different and dangerous. No one liked little explosive harmful girls thus the mask, the impenetrable fortress within. Walking down memory lane was going to embarrass me even more so I watched the two boys walk towards me with nonchalance.
"My name's Caleb. Must be tough being the youngest Guard member. Do you...",The blue eyed pale haired boy said.
"She's extraordinary, what do you expect? Has control over her gift and all." Eric chipped in.
I looked in his direction and just ignored him.
"Nice to meet you Caleb. It's tough but I'm tougher." I looked at Eric who was trying to read my thoughts. He was meeting blinding light instead of clearly worded threads of thought. Caleb smiled at me, "You are tough, little and pretty with the deepest dimples in the kingdom. Smile more Dimples. I'm officially your personal person."
I smiled but shied away as his blues searched mine.
"In other news we will be having lessons this afternoon. Our squad is made up of Unrestrained royals. The Enigmas were badly hurt but they'll heal", Caleb said as he sat next to me.
Thinking about my match with Gabriel made me smile, "They underestimated us and they deserve what they got. "
"Remind me not to get on your bad side. I have a Mind royal family festival coming up. Want to come? He played with loose strands of my dark hair tickling me in the process. I giggled and slapped his hands.
"Sure I'll come. I'm from the heart family. What about you?
"Mind. Is it true your family has a special ability to notice mate bonds before maturity?
"I've heard about in their thoughts. I just don't understand it well. And I wouldn't dare ask."
"Feel free to ask me anything Reina", He whispered next to my ear. Something growled but before I could find out what, Eric started coughing.
"You okay?" I touched his arm but he glared at
me.
Caleb had a strange look on his face like he wanted to laugh as Eric glared.
"Caleb, don't you have somewhere else to be? Eric snapped.
"Aren't you supposed to be explaining your new found ability to Zane?", Caleb smirked.
Was he mad that Caleb seemed to like me?
"See you later Princess", Caleb murmured. I flushed at the nickname since only Eric used it. His eyes flashed with anger as he stared at us.
"Laters Caleb", I smiled.
Seeing one so strong lose control was always cause for alarm. His withdrawal hurt especially since I thought he would share with me what had happened since I helped him regain control. Eric was my first real friend, someone I could trust and yet he probably had many other friends, was just taking pity on a little girl who had endured a fair share of cruel thoughts, harsh rejection and then list went on. Thinking about how his friends all listened when he spoke and how the contestants all revered him at the try outs I realized I was not good enough to think of him as my best friend. As I twiddled my thumbs, I felt Eric brush his mind against mine. It always felt like I was rolling chocolate balls on my tongue when he did that. The feeling made me feel so safe, happy and loved.
"I'm sorry I didn't explain what was going on with me earlier", He squatted just beneath the rock I was seated on and placed his forehead on mine. Warmth flooded my body every single time we touched. I did not pay much attention to this detail because it felt right. His fingers played with the loose brown strands of my hair as he murmured,
"I've never been so out of control before. It makes things harder for me. I'm not able to see and understand emotions in other people. It's even harder to process what I'm usually feeling. Today Nate's thoughts were demeaning you. He thought you were a weak five year old which made me want to crush him. I know that when we train, taunts are to be expected but somehow I lost all rational thought. "
"I understand better than most. I've fought so hard not to feel, listened to my mother beg me to make my power submit. I've even taken potions to limit my abilities but still I lose my way. Just as you promised to be beside me no matter what, I'll be by your side always", I touched his hair, placed my lips on his forehead as he murmured with his eyes closed.
"Come our classes will start soon."
Blue waves tickled my skin and when I opened my eyes, a very angry Commander and King stood in the room. We were in one of the rooms allocated for study in the palace.
The tall man named Zane stared at me then shifted his gaze to Eric's.
"Leave us Reina" , the King ordered.
Eric held my hand, his eyes demanding I stay. I shook my head and left. As I waited for the afternoon classes to begin, Caleb startled me by ruffling my hair,
"Reina, come we are about to learn about our ancestors."
Caleb led me to a spacious room labelled the Unrestrained.
Drake had managed to excel at the tryouts. He had passed all three tests with flying colors. I had hoped he would not make it. His eyes locked with mine as I took a seat at the back. He smirked and spoke loud enough for me to hear. "Our little lighter destroyed an Enigma. We should be afraid."
My pulse quickened as he spoke.
"A little girl who makes males bitter. He was fried on the inside and too ashamed to cry."
The other boys laughed, some jokingly warned,"watch it Drake."
'Sweet sounds, Winding waters, smooth smoothies, Calming calls, Red roses...' Words made me think, so I thought up a storm.Words cleared my confusion. So I envisioned a book I had read last night and recalled every wonderful part of the fairy tale. A Princess meeting a blue eyed Prince Charming.He saved her from misery from a vindictive witch for a mother. I was right at the part where they danced, embraced and ...
A chair crashing onto the tiles awoke me from my fantasy. Drake was on the floor, a woman stood at the front of the room, her hands glowing. I gaped. She was too beautiful to be real and I had not seen any female commander so far. Silver hair framed her face and flowed down her back. Her black leather two piece outfit looked regal. Her eyes were an electric blue.Not as striking as Eric's but still very blue. I almost smiled but then her mind brushed mine and I froze. She was mega powerful.
Everyone else froze as she made contact.
"I would have loved to introduce you to your studies in a less dramatic way but we are a dramatic lot so why go for conventional when the times require spontaneous?" Her voice was like a rope around my mind pulling me to adore her.
"Sorry about all that you are feeling. I am unrestrained too with abilities you will learn about in detail since this entire week we will be learning about our ancestry and our royal families. Needless to say this area of discussion goes with the manifestation of different royal gifts and abilities and lots of demonstrations too."
My power glowed with my excitement. She chuckled,
"I'm thrilled to see your enthusiasm Lighter."
I blushed as every eye in the room took me in.
"Drake, you will learn to respect every single person in this room especially the five year old who made you scream, understood?" He quickly said, "Yes Commander." Some sniggered as they remembered the tryouts but kept a straight face. My mouth corners twitched.
" You will all be expected to discover all the tidbits of information I'll intentionally leave out. Our learning will be interactive and practical. To speak, touch the orbs on your desks. Each orb is specially made for an individual. It's an easier way to communicate with each other."
Enzo touched his orb and communicated his query.
"My name and everything about me is a tidbit of information I'd love to see you fill in tomorrow." Her smile was like a warm hug. All the boys seemed to be in love with her. Only the calm and collected boy seated beside me seemed unaffected by her. She touched a device that turned the room into a theater. Images appeared on the wall and sound followed.
For generations, the Royal Kingdom has seen all manner of abilities and gifts. The three royal families have been blessed by the Creator with distinct markers. Gifts that set them apart all with a purpose to aid, defend and evolve. Heart, Mind and Spirit were nothing without unity. They all worked together to make the kingdom flourish. The Heart Family royals were reknown for feeling too much and the mind royals accused of feeling so little. The spirit royals were a perfect balance and yet they often gave in to their darker sides which then infected the other families. Such corrupted royals were called the Darkind. The Royal rulers were given more power to subdue the chaos that the dark royals inflicted. Over time, the Darkind turned unrecognizable, betrayed the kindgom and vowed to destroy all of Royal along with the rest of the multiverse. Their thirst for power plagued the multiverse. Many Royals and Loyals died fighting them and peace reigned.
To date the Royal Guard seeks out the best from every breed of royals and from every family. Trains them to be the defenders of a proud land. Royal fights to defend the rest of the multiverse from the Darkind that we consider our own regardless of their betrayal...
The lights came on and the images of the Darkind and their deeds frightened me so much that I grabbed Eric's hand.
"Wh..wh..what if...? I stammered.
"Don't worry, you'll never be a darkind."