Her eyes that got her in so much trouble, so much misery, so much pain… the jeweled eyes characteristic of her mixed kin, and that shone even brighter under the moonlight, while it looks a bit more mundane on sunlight.
The significant height difference didn't pass unnoticed by Emerald either, she's a tall girl in human standards, 1.77m, but that's lower than the average female height for witches and wizards, they are all tall. Very, very tall. Saoirse stood tall at 1.86m, and her mother, Dior, was definitely around 1.89m, just slightly taller than her daughter, but both considerably taller in comparison to Emerald.
"Em, you're here!" Saoirse beamed with a smile that made Emerald unphantomably more comfortable than Dior's. "Mom, this is Emerald!"
"Her eyes tell me that much," Dior purred sharply. "Changeling."
Emerald couldn't help flinching at the word, it was one of the most painful kinds of offense for a witch, even between mixed witches, because changelings were theoretically witch/wizard born with a monstrous blood-thirst nature that were sacrificed by their own family before they could even awaken their magic. All had jeweled eyes, but none were of Emerald's kin, and despise what most thought, she was not a changeling.
"Mom," Saoirse gasped exasperated, "don't call her that."
"She is a changeling," Dior said firmly, eying her daughter.
"I am not a changeling, Mrs. Geadasach," Emerald did her best to calm down her anger, clenching her hands around the handle of her bag. "Changelings crave for blood and mayhem, they are kids born with demonic spirits possessing their bodies. I am not a changeling."
Dior cocked a ginger eyebrow at Emerald, as if stunned that the girl had the audacity to talk back, instead of accepting her insult quietly, "Your canines… are fangs, your eyes are jeweled, you have caused mayhem every single place you've been to, and death follows you wherever you go. You may not crave for blood yet, but you are a changeling!"
Don't scream. Hold it. Don't lose your temper. Don't let it take over you again. Saoirse is here, you cannot hurt her, you cannot hurt her. Emerald fought against herself. "My canines are slightly elongated, they are not fangs, Mrs. Geadasach. I didn't cause mayhem, people tried to kill me and my magic protected me while I couldn't protect myself. And I have a blood phobia, I guarantee you, I will never crave for it."
But the woman didn't seem to listen to her. "I'm surprised that your magic hasn't killed you yet, given how you're 19 and with no control over yourself. Well, I have never seen a changeling live past 4 years old either."
"Mom, please," Saoirse groaned. "She's no changeling, she's my best friend. You promised, mom." Her words made the tension in Emerald's shoulders loosen up considerably.
I knew they were wrong about her. "I am sorry for my lack of social manners, Mrs. Geadasach. I am Emerald," she gulped, feeling abnormally anxious. "Born in a Pink Moon, 19 springs ago."
"Emerald what?" Dior pressed.
"Mom, let her be," Saoirse sighed.
"I need to know your best friend's full name to let her come inside my home, Saoirse Victoria Geadasach. Stop interfering. I know what's best in this situation!" She snapped at her daughter and turned to Emerald who felt her hands starting to shake. "Your full name, changeling. And do not dare to give me a fake one, or I'll know and feel offended. You do not want to offend me, I assure you."
"Emerald… Emerald Maya Lorenzen," she whispered, shaken.
Saoirse's eyes almost popped out of her face, "Lorenzen?"
"Hah, now this is interesting," Dior purred menacingly and finally opened the door of her home to Emerald. "A Lorenzen changeling."
"You are the daughter of,"
She stopped Saoirse, "Not anymore."
"Fuck, Em. Is that why you said you couldn't go to Alexandrini?"
"It's complicated," she swallowed, feeling suddenly wary. "Could you please, not tell anyone about me? I… I don't want to keep running. I'm tired," she clenched her jaw. "If they… if the Lorenzen learn I'm here, they will come after me. They always do, and I always have to run."
"Wait," Dior paused, "you are running away from the Lorenzen?" Her eyes narrowed in dismay. "Not from… not from any other family but from the Lorenzen? You're running from your family?"
"They are not my family," she hissed. "Not anymore."
"Shit," Saoirse covered her full heart-shaped red lips with her hand, "you're the Chancellor's daughter that got kidnapped!"
Emerald flinched, "I didn't get kidnapped."
"Weren't your name Emma?" Dior frowned.
"Emma was a… family nickname," she moved uncomfortable.
"How… how did you turn out to be a changeling?" Dior pressed.
"Ask the Gods that," she snapped. "And I am not a changeling. If you want to know how I turned out to be part of two thought-to-be extinct races, I do not have the answer to that. I didn't ask for this."
Finally, Dior sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, "I do not like your father," her words took Emerald by surprise. "He's the head of the reds in Alexandrini, I'm the head of the greens, and our kins don't like each other. He's with the blacks and with the goldens, part of the Phoenix faction, while I'm with the blues and with the purples in the Dragon faction. The whites are neutral forces that keep our balance. I would say the right word for what I feel for him is hatred."
She blinked, "You're not… pretending, right?"
"Nope," Saoirse chanted. "We are like cat and mouse. Rivals. Left and right. Straight up enemies who pretend to work with each other."
For once, Emerald found herself giggling, "Nyx above, this is the best. You won't tell them about me, right?"
"No. Right, mom?" Saoirse turned to Dior, she said nothing.
"Aren't you tired of running, Em?" She asked, with a maniac smile.
She took a step back, but the door locked with a move of Dior's left fingers in a silent spell. "You… you said you hate him."
"Oh, and I do. But if he's been hunting you for whatever reason you are keeping to yourself, I could use that to my advantage. Don't worry, I will not sacrifice or harm you, Em," the nickname spread chills down her spine being said by Dior. "How about we make a deal, Em?" She took a step closer to her, a crazed look in her eyes.
Hah, okay, maybe Jade and Peridot were right after all. Emerald took a significantly long step back, "What kind of deal?"
"Mom!" Saoirse gasped, but went on being ignored.
"My daughter told me you have been running away from country to country, losing your control, destroying everything, killing countless of innocents, jumping from fake identity to fake identity, stealing to survive. She said you were running from someone, but you didn't told her who, now it makes sense," in a second she was right in front of Emerald, her pointy nails long enough to be a weapon grabbing her chin and tilting her head up.
Dread ran down Emerald's spine, "Saoirse," she whispered through greeted teeth, "you promised me you would never tell anybody, not even your mother." Her voice was a hiss, and she couldn't help but to taste every word bitter with broken trust.
"It… it was the only way to get her to have you here, Em. I… I didn't know she would be like this. I… I knew she would have a hard time taking you in, because you're a changeling, but not like this, and I," she instantly covered her lips when she realized what she had just called her.
"A changeling?" Emerald gasped in horror. "You think I'm…"
Her words died in her throat when she realized she had been played. That Saoirse had lied to her every time she said she wasn't a changeling, that she believed in her. And that… that broke her heart.
"Em, I…" Saoirse swallowed. "It's just that… that you look…"
That only made it worse, "I look like a changeling to you? Do you think this of me from the beginning? Did you always saw me like that kind of monster? Even when you told me you didn't, you were lying to me?"
"Look, I wasn't lying. I am not scared of you, Em. You may be in denial, but you are a changeling, Em. But I firmly believe you are a different kind of changeling, maybe because we never saw any changeling live old enough to reach 19 years old, since you were not executed when you were little. Now I see that it was because you were the Chancellor's daughter, he must have wanted to see how you would turn out to be if you were left alive. But you are a personification of what the books tell about the looks of a changeling, Em. Your eyes, your teeth, your temper, your lack of-"
"Stop!" She yelled. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. You lied to me. I… I was fucking naïve to believe you. Jade and Peridot were right, they… they warned me," she cried, unable to hold the tears of anger. "I shouldn't have trusted you. I should have known having a friend was a luxury I was not deserving of. I should've seen it coming…" she looked at anywhere but then, "I… no one will believe me… they never did… you didn't… you…"
"Hey, hey, don't do that," Saoirse gasped. "I… I didn't betray you."
"Yes. Yes, you did," she hissed back at her, glaring, eyes broken. "And now you threw me at the hands of your crazy mother. Don't tell me you didn't thought about the possibility of her using me, Saoirse."
"I…" she swallowed. "I didn't think she would do it."
Emerald let out a bitter laugh. "So you did see this possibility. Even then you brought me here? And you say you didn't break my trust? Did you ever even really see me as your friend, Saoirse," she yelled, hurt. "Or did you see me as a monster from the beginning? As an opportunity to learn more about an exotic being like me?"
When she said nothing and took a step back away, Emerald felt like screaming, like exploding everything, but before she could do anything, Dior quickly moved her hands in a way unknown to Emerald, and before she could even take another breath, a forest green cocoon of intoxicating magic caged Emerald and her power as it began to leave her body in strong waves. And as she breathed the magical toxin, her body was forced to an unconscious state and her mind shut down.