"Oh, I am so sick of him. How much longer do I have to carry on with this?" Mia said to a man in the dark room.
He stood dressed in a black garment with his back turned to her, he crossed his hand in the front and stared at the burning fire in the fireplace quietly.
"Say, something uncle." She added,
"There is nothing to say." He turned towards her gently.
He was an old man with grey short hair and deep eyes. His voice sounded dangerous but calm.
"All you need to do is follow the plan" He added, walking behind her.
She licked her lips angrily, turning her head before moving her body as well to behold him.
"He doesn't love me. Doesn't even wish to try and it— kills me! Every time he rejects me.
Swallowing my pride for that every damn time diminishes me in my own eyes." She told him.
"Sacrifices must be made." The man said, starting the open window.
He seemed to have his eyes on the moon in quietude.
"There needs to be another strategy." She said,
"What are you not telling me, Mia?" He turned towards her and the moon revealed his eyes. They were as white as his hair.
"Nothing." She said,
"Nothing? Why then do I hear these whispers from the spirits about a girl?" He inquired.
"What girl?" She asked,
"The one you helped him save." He said,
"Keira?" She became curious, moving a step closer to him.
"Do you not know who she is?" He asked her again.
"I do." She replied defensively.
"Then why did you keep it away from me? You thought it to be less important? Or you just didn't want me to know because of your selfish interests as always?" He said to her,
"I was going to tell you." She said,
"You weren't. I have always known you to be voracious still I don't know at what point I failed to realise you are stupid too. To believe I wouldn't find out." He said,
"What do you want with her? We have a plan and it never involved a pure one. Why the sudden interest?" She asked him in a confrontational tone.
"Why — would anyone be interested in a pure one? Her death will give dominion of her body falls into the right hands, this you know." He said,
"The plan is to wed Landon and be the queen of the seven kingdoms. After which we get him out of the picture, and do what we want with the power we have got." She said to him,
"Do you know who I am?" He asked her.
"Don't sound like I could forget." She said,
"It seems you have. Perhaps you need a reminder." He told her.
"I don't need anything." She told him.
"What do you want with her?" he asked her.
"That shouldn't be—" She responded.
—"What do you want with her!" his voice got louder and she paced backwards a bit.
"I want —her body! Yes! There you have it! When I kill her and she dies… I want to take over her body and rule.." She answered.
"No, greedy one. You wish to be God once you have the title of queen and then be invincible to even me just so I cannot stop you and no one can when you decide to prove why your parents never loved you." He told her and walked past her.
"I don't need their love. Good thing they are dead." She said,
"With the power of god, you will bring them back and enslave them—revenge," he said,
"Whatever they get, they deserve." She said,
"Loathful. Such an attribute will condemn you before you condemn the world." He told her.
"The girl—is mine." She stated.
"Then I guess your words are clear enough." The man said, spreading his arms in a bid to attack.
She seized his hands from where she stood. It astonished him beyond explanation and his eyes could tell.
"Impossible." He said,
"Do you have the slightest idea how ambitious I am?" She told him with a smirk on her face while she slowly walked to where he was.
He tried to struggle, to free his hands from whatever magic she was using but it wasn't proving successful.
"No need to try. You won't—win." She assured him.
"I will go to any length to achieve my purpose. And if you or anyone wishes to stop me, I will not hold back my wrath." She told him, peering into his eyes.
"Overly confident." He told her.
"But am I alone?" He added,
She turned.
And out of the darkness came forth creatures in the form of men but the appearance of a beast.
Horns curved forward on their heads, pale skin, wolf eyes, long faces, and fangs proceeding from their mouths on both sides and dropping downwards to their jaws. Terrible Creatures they were and she was surrounded.
————
"Life was once simple," Keira said while looking through the window. It was morning.
She had her eyes looking across the road. The club she met the stranger. She had her memory do a playback of how it all went down and heaved a sigh afterwards.
"It isn't the end of the world," Naomi said,
Keira turned to her and walked to where she stood.
"My Life is off!" Keira responded in a rather upset tone.
"Then switch it back on. None of this was meant to end you." Naomi told her.
"I cannot and will not blend where I am a target," Keira replied.
"You were a target even in the former world," Naomi said,
"Enough!" I— have had enough of you two. Keira, it's high time you suck it all in and move the hell on and you, Naomi, quit treating her like she was a damn child. " Willow said,
She had been sitting on one of the chairs by the table and not too far from the door at the other end of the room.
"But she is a child! " Naomi replied to her.
"I am not! " Keira yelled.
"Well, you act like one!! " Willow threw in.
"This is your new life and whether you like it or not, it is the life you will live from now henceforth else you want to die before you get laid,
I am tired of explaining this to you over and over again, what do you want from us? Breast Milk to pet you into bringing your fussiness to an end? " Willow said,
Keira's heartbeat had increased by the rate that built up inside of her but knowing that there was truth in her words and that she couldn't offend them, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard to pass the message.
"You are way too hard on her. " Naomi turned to her.
"It's what she needs now. People tell her the truth without sugarcoating it to suit her taste bud. " Willow told her.
"She had been through enough. We should be more loving in our words and actions." Naomi said, marching up to her.
"You think it is you who loves her the most because you never say no to her or scold her as a mother would? " Willie asked her.
"When our sister died, she became our daughter and we became her mothers!" Naomi said,
"We never had kids, we weren't able to. Maybe it's our destinies, maybe it's just—science." Willow said, getting on her feet and walking to where she stood.
"It isn't your fault, and neither is it mine. Just because we are responsible for her and take her to be the child we never had doesn't mean we should stop at love.
She needs the truth at all times, reward and punishment. Seriousness in discipline or else we will lose her like we lost her mother. " Willow said and then left.
————
Keira had gotten to the passageway and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she walked on.
She was exhausted, her eyes rolled about like one who had intentions of throwing in the towel. Where could she go? She was confined to that prison her aunties wanted her to see as home.
Not too long, she was called back to consciousness from her thoughts.
"Off to another club? " Landon spoke standing by his room door.
She hadn't noticed or he just appeared out of nowhere.
He was dressed in a black sleeve shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbow and had on a pair of trousers.
She turned her face to his and could tell she had been in tears. Somehow he felt it but wouldn't show it. Why should he feel it?
She ignored him and wanted to continue walking.
"Wait. " He said and her steps paused.
"I want to show you something." He told her.
————
He had driven her to somewhere empty. It was supposed to be a beach but no one else was there, it looked abandoned.
"Where is this place? " She asked, walking ahead of him slowly while looking around in curiosity.
"It's a beach I think. " He replied, walking behind her.
"Doesn't look like one. " She told him.
"Why? " He asked her.
"What do you mean why, can't you see? It's—empty. Has no beauty, It's all alone, with no people, and the ocean seems still, like the birds even avoid it, look at the sky, what sort of place is this? Why did you bring me here? " She inquired.
"You seem disgusted by its presence. " He told her.
"That's because it was meant to be something and is not. " She responded confrontationally.
"Indeed. " He said, peering into her raging eyes.
"The ocean—it's pretty isn't it? " He asked,
"What good is its beauty when it doesn't fit? " She told him.
He smiled and then walked ahead towards the ocean. He took a squat position once he was close enough and dipped his hands in the water.
"What are you doing? " She rolled her eyes.
" Come see. " He said,
Reluctantly, she walked over.
He brought his hand out and stood on his feet.
"What are those? " She asked, seeing the tiny blue crystals.
"Where you come from, the water is water and land — a place. But this is what you get when it rains in Vepó." He said to her,
"Hold on. Are you—saying, there is a kingdom down there like here? Like a water kingdom? " She became bright at once. Smiling as she spoke, excited, impressed.
"You had thought it shouldn't be here but now you see nothing is without purpose.
There is beauty in everything ugly, hope in everything that exhausts you, light in places you find dark and there is a reason for every event.
You should be glad you are here. This place is what you'd see in the movies only they don't do it justice enough.
Come on, let's take a walk. " He said, stretching out his right hand.
She placed hers in his and he turned towards the ocean. She did as he did and he took his right foot in.
It felt like they had walked through a door that led from button to top and then everything that down became normal.
She blinked her eyes seeing the beauty of the kingdom, it was a city made of water but they were breathing just fine. She marvelled.
"Why does this remind me of Aquaman and the red-haired girl? " She said, looking around.
He smiled.
"Not to worry, you aren't Atlantean. Here, water is air, so you can breathe just fine." He told her.
"I'm breathing underwater. I am f*king breathing underwater! " She sounded extremely excited.
"This is just the entrance. Let's take a view of the city, shall we? " He told her.
———
"Aunt? " Mia called out having entered Lisa's room.
"Oh, love, come in. " Lisa said from her dressing table.
"Sorry to disturb you. I just wanted to know if you have an idea about Lan's whereabouts, I can't find him. " She said,
"Oh, I don't, anything the matter?" Lisa inquired.
"Not at all. I just wanted to give him feedback on an assignment he gave me. " Mia said,
"Well, I am sure he will be back in no time. " Lisa smiled at her.
"Yes. Mia voiced with a smile as well, exiting the room.
Walking in the passageway, her eyes dimmed with rage and her fists tightened. She went back to her room and shut the door.
Blood-stained clothes lay on the bed. She placed them on her thighs as she sat and then caressed them like it was a puppy or cat.
Her head remained firmly upwards and her eyes showed she was deep in thought or was she trying to find him with magic as well?