Twelve years ago
Priya was running around in a park. It was winter; so she was dressed head to toe in warm clothes. She had long hair that reached her waist however, on the field, she wasn't alone.
A woman with medium length light auburn hair, stood to the side watching Priya. Her violet eyes were a perfect match with her hair and pink lips. It was just the two of them on the field
"Mum?" Priya called out to her and the woman who had been staring in a far distance, looked at Priya
"What is it?"
"That man....has been staring at us for a while now" Priya said while pointing at a man with deep burgundy hair on his head, a beard and sapphire blue eyes
Priya's mother froze when she saw the man looking at them. There were several alarm bells ringing in her head and telling her to grab Priya's hand and run. However, before she knew it, she had fallen on the ground while bleeding from her eyes, nose, mouth and ears
"I made a mistake" the man said as he licked the blood on his fingers "So she wasn't a dragon keeper nor was she a witch. A descendant of a mage who doesn't even know they're one. What have humans been doing for the past century"
"Mum? Mum" Priya cried as the white snow turned red with blood
At eight years old, Priya lost her mother to an unknown cause of death. She denied her mother's death again and again, until she lost all memories of what had happened that day. This was a memory that had returned to her after she had wholeheartedly accepted her mother's death.
******
Present
Beginning And End Library
Priya's eyes shot opened and she let out a groan as she sat up
"You're finally awake" Sloane said and Priya's eyes turned towards her. Sloane was sitting at the table eating. "I was starting to worry"
Priya then remembered what happened before she passed out "Worry? Sloane, I'm more worried about you. Is your body alright? Did you see the floating book with no title?"
Sloane smiled before looking at Priya and Priya's mouth almost dropped. One of Sloane's eyes had turned silver and the whites of both eyes had turned black.
"Are you alright?" Priya finally asked "Your eyes. What happened to your eyes?"
"I can't see anything...well, I can't see like usual" Sloane explained "My magic is leaking out and creating something like a zone. In that zone, whatever my magic touches, I can see it. This library is limiting the size of the zone"
Priya had already approached her and was sitting opposite her. She then waved her hands in front of Sloane's face
"Can you not do it like I'm blind? It's unpleasant" Sloane said and Priya stopped
"Sorry"
"Don't worry about it. Just eat we're going out"
"To where?" Priya said as she picked out her utensils and ate
"The training field. I'd like to see how large this zone can get"
"Hopefully, nobody will notice you and your weird eyes" Priya said and Sloane stuffed a spoonful of the meal in her mouth
*****
Out on the training field
It was already late at night but Nathan and Allen were the only ones on the field training. Once again, as Allen tried to land a punch on Nathan's face, Nathan moved his head back before grabbing onto Allen's arm and slamming his fist dead center on Allen's face. Allen's head swung back and he stumbled until he fell to his knees.
With that punch alone, Allen's nose and mouth had been busted. However, that wasn't the only punch that had broken a part of him. Allen had some of his ribs broken some hours ago and his leg had been dislocated multiple times.
Allen's nose was bleeding as it healed just like the rest of his body had done over the past couple of hours but not without him coughing up a mouth full of blood
'This guy is really ruthless' Allen thought as he glanced at Nathan 'You'd think being with Sloane and Mackenzie would change him for the better. But, He's even worse than before. Especially when he's mad'
"Can you still stand?" Nathan asked as he helped Allen up
"Shit. I thought I'd die" Allen said as he took his hand and got up "You know, your emotions are very visible through your punches" he pointed out as he limped over to a seat Nathan created and sat there "If you're-"
"That has nothing to do with you" Nathan said instantly as he sat down next to Allen and rested on his hand
"You know-"
"Hey!!!Shirtless boys!!!" someone shouted and Allen instantly shut up and looked in the direction of the voice. Alexa was waving at them while holding Mackenzie's hand and pulling her towards them
Mackenzie's head was lowered the whole time as she held a book tightly to her chest while walking towards Nathan
"What are you doing out here?" Nathan asked, still in a foul mood "And where did you get that book from?"
Mackenzie raised up her head and her eyes turned yellow "Dad, behind you" she shouted
"What?" Allen asked as Nathan grabbed him and jumped aside with him
In between the two seats, a keyhole appeared and the sound of a door being unlocked was heard. The rest of the door began to shape and then, a it opened where the two chairs were meant to be.
"A door?" Alexa wondered before looking at Mackenzie "How did you know such a thing would appear here?"
"The book mum left me contains skills of dragon keepers. It was in the letter" Mackenzie explained
"Someone's coming through" Nathan said with a frown and then, the first person to walk out from the door was Sloane with Priya right behind her. The door instantly shut and locked itself after Priya passed through.
"It feels good to be outside again" Sloane said as her zone began to spread out from her body and everything inside the zone was touched by her magic
Sloane had wrapped a bandage around her eyes so nobody would notice its color however, as soon as Nathan and the others were touched by the zone, her body froze.
"Sloane? Are you alright?" Priya asked but as soon as she stuck her head out from behind Sloane, her eyes landed on Nathan and Allen. She slowly turned her head towards Alexa and Mackenzie. "Oh...shit" she let out
"Mum" Mackenzie was the first to react as she ran and hugged Sloane with tears streaming down her eyes "I missed you so much"
"I was only gone for a day" Sloane said but then, she felt Alexa hug her from the side
"Everyone was worried about you two" Alexa said as she glanced at Priya "Timothy almost went nuts without you"
"Because his life is on the line if I die" Priya murmured as she crossed her arms
"Nathan, doesn't seem so happy to see me" Sloane said as she smiled in his direction
"It's not about me being happy or not" Nathan said "What I want to know is, where have you been? Why is there a zone with your magic everywhere? And what the hell happened to your eyes while you were gone?" he asked as he let go of Allen while Mackenzie and Alexa pulled away from Sloane
"Where I've been is none of your business. The zone too" Sloane said in a serious tone "I wouldn't even have left where I was if not for wanting to test it out. As for what happened to my eyes, why don't you come over here and take the bandages off yourself" she said and Nathan's frown deepened
Hearing her say that to Nathan, Alexa and Mackenzie slowly moved away from Sloane while pulling Priya and Allen did the same with Nathan. Nathan began to pace about and take deep breaths while he combed his hands through his hair.
"When did she get the liver to say such a thing to him?" Allen asked
"What are you talking about? She's always been like this" Mackenzie said "Especially when she's angry with someone"
"Angry? Did those two get into a fight?" Allen asked
"He must have pissed her off last night" Alexa explained "Everyone heard them shouting"
Nathan finally stopped pacing around and glared at her "Come here" he said
"I-" before Sloane could finish what she was saying, she found herself only five feet away from him "How did you-"
"I was beating Allen around using it" Nathan said as he closed the distance between them "I'll ask again. What happened to your eyes?"
Sloane sighed before reaching behind her head and taking off the bandages. When they were off, she slowly opened her eyes and Nathan had a dreaded look on his face
"Did you try-"
"I didn't" Sloane said "When I woke up, it was like this and magic was leaking out of me. That's how the zone came to be and in short....I can't see anything with my two eyes"
"Shit" Nathan let out as he combed his hand through his hair
"It most likely has something to do with what's happening to me but, the more I use magic and the more my body gets stronger, I feel more...freer...than usual" Sloane said
"So, have you come back?" Nathan asked as she wrapped the bandages around her eyes again
"I didn't come back, Nathan" Sloane said "Throughout these two years we're spending here, I'm not coming back. At least not until I get my memories back"
"What did you say?" Nathan asked as he tried to grab her wrist
"No, listen to me" Sloane said while moving her hand away "You don't understand anything. You don't understand what it feels like to not remember your parents or even the members of the family who raised you. You don't understand what it's like to live a normal life one day and then, suddenly, you're living through hell, fighting in a war you don't even know has something to do with you. You don't understand what it's like to have to face someone who everyone is saying, is related to you, just because they're the bad guy. You don't understand what it feels like to not know anything and be guided like some puppet"
"I...You-"
"Those aren't even real words, Nathan. I've always acted like I'm fine with all of this werewolves, vampires and magic nonsense but, I'm scared" Sloane said "Trust. That's all I'm asking for. Just like I trust that everyone will follow and protect me with their lives. I want you to trust that I'll become a queen who won't succumb to death so easily"
"You came all the way here to clarify that?" Allen asked as Sloane tightened the bandage around her eyes
"Not exactly" Sloane said with a smile "Like I said earlier, I've come to test out the zone. Technically speaking, the eyes you see aren't my real eyes" she gestured towards the sky "That's where my eyes are right now. I have a bird's eye view of everything inside this zone. But to think it would cover the whole castle and the field"
"That's really amazing" Alexa said "Especially because of the size of both the field and the castle"
"Yikes" Sloane let out
"Someone's coming" Priya said as she ran towards Sloane "That's our cue to leave, Sloane" she took out the key and unlocked the door
"I finally got to come out of the library" Sloane said as she headed back towards the door
"Sloane" Nathan called out and she turned her head to look at him "I do trust...you won't do anything stupid"
Sloane looked surprised for a while before a smile appeared on her face "I know" she bowed before taking Priya's hand "Please continue to take care of me" they both ran through the door and it shut, and disappeared
Dante and his wives came out from the palace running as the zone was lifted
"What happened here?" Dante asked and Mackenzie took a long glance at him before scoffing and heading back inside the palace 'She's still angry at me?' he thought as he glanced at Mackenzie
"Sloane was just here" Nathan said "Her and Priya"
"Then, that zone-"
"It was Sloane's" Alexa said, interrupting Tory
"She really is serious" Rielle's said "The seal on her memories is slowly weakening"
"She came to ask for our trust that she'll be fine" Nathan said "I trust her"
"Me too" Alexa said
"Listen here..." Zoe said angrily "...That seal was put for a reason. Yet, when she came, you didn't stop her from leaving? Don't let your personal feelings cloud your judgement"
"Right back at you" Nathan said while glaring at her "I have never let my personal feelings cloud my judgement. Sloane and I are different. She's pure white while I'm not. I know she can control the devil's bloodline when the seal has been released" he walked towards her "What you're afraid of, is the devil's bloodline itself. Don't let fear cloud your judgement" he growled before walking around her and heading inside. Alexa and Allen looked at each other before shrugging and leaving the field
"If I once thought that she would do something stupid, as her council member, I'll make up for her mistakes" Alexa said "Good night"
"Dante, aren't you going to say something?" Zoe asked
"Nathan's right" Virginia said "Believe it or not, our bad experience with the devil's bloodline is what's clouding our judgement. They trust their queen. If anything goes wrong, they are sure to take responsibility for their actions" she turned around, about to leave "I need to take care of Zel. Excuse me"
'As expected from the woman I chose as the first wife' Dante thought "It's late. Let's get some rest" he said
"Yes"