AMETHYST: The rise of Tetra

Chapter 9

    For once the pair were faced with a dilemma they had no idea how to fix. The Fairens had chosen to work with the Vermillion, and that was not the response they had been expecting. The few rogue members that had been valiant enough to stick to the pair’s plans had no choice but to face their inevitable extinction thanks to the rest of their kind that were making rash decisions based on prejudices and other idiocracies. Silence had been the only thing floating around the crowded area, and despite how much they wished to say, the couple remained speechless at the actions of these creatures. No other species on Zaleon had denied getting involved in a war this grand knowing the risks that they faced ahead. It seemed, however, that the Fairens very much did not care about their lives, only the hatred that was rooted deep into their systems. 

    Glancing between each other, it had become evident that they were losing this mission, and for the first time neither had a back up plan on how to get members involved on their side. The Fairens had stuck firmly to their decisions, and though it would cost them greatly, it would also be an issue for the others on Zaleon, who knew that the element of surprise would now be ruined if the Fairens trekked to Crest to join the Vermillion. Not knowing what to say or do, Eliana stepped back, for once letting her mate take the lead. He noticed abruptly, and balanced her out by thinking of the right words to use with the Fairens. 

    ‘You have made your decision: to join the Vermillion, so go ahead. I will not stop you, the only thing I will say is have fun dying. The Fairens have chosen their extinction over life due to a discrimination against the Ivory, so be it. If this is how low you all wish to stooop, then by all means, lead yourselves to your deaths. It will be one less problem for the rest of us.’ Terminated the Alpha, not knowing what else to say to convince the stubborn creatures to settle otherwise. Eliana stalked slowly towards the leader, who remained silent and unsure of the decision her people had made. It had been, of course, initiated by her own thoughts, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised she was leading herself to a suicide mission. Nevertheless, she remained silent, her spiteful attitude causing to stick to her decisions. Once the Hybrid leader approached Clea, she stopped, watching with a frown to get anything out of the eyes of the Fairen. 

    ‘You really are this stupid, aren’t you?’ she whispered mostly to herself. Clea had heard it despite how low it had been, and with it she released a humourless chuckle in response to cover up the humility of her own thoughts and conclusions.

    ‘Gonna miss us, are you?’ She questioned, thinking of the several ways in which  she could save herself from the Vermillion when the time would come, knowing full well that the rest of the planet would now be against her and certainly wouldn’t pull her out of the line of fire. Eliana smiled at the question, though it had a tint of its own cunning nature in it that genuinity. 

    ‘Oh no darling, it’s you that’s going to miss us. I could kill you right now, but I’d rather let the Vermillion do that slowly and painfully when you realise how poor your decisions have been’ with that, the leader came into action and turned around, facing the crowd that had yet to react positively to Razaar’s blatant curse. ‘Much like you will be soon, the Lycan Alpha has been a pawn for the Vermillion, he was promised protection and a promotion. He has neither. Instead, he’s dead and the Lycans are extinct. If you think the Vermillion care about you or are going to do things differently with you, then you are mistaken. If you cannot see that now, it’s because you’ve blinded yourself with hate towards the wrong species on this planet, but that is alright because eventually you’ll see your collapse clearly and you will regret it. My mate and I have fulfilled our duty by coming here, informing you of this and requesting that you join the right side. However, as my mate said, if you wish not to, then so be it. We will leave your territory unharmed and not look back’ the speech of the Hybrid leader had been much more efficient and effective than the words of the Alpha, and judging by the expression on people’s faces, the pair already knew that they were now coming to regret it. Though they had pleaded and begged, and all they had gotten in return had been shackles and rejections, and so the pair and Vulen dropped the barrier that divided the Fairen population from their leader, and with the strength in their hearts, knowing they were immortal, they walked right out of the territory luckily without any Fairen attacking them from behind. 

    Immediately, members had freed their leader from the chains that had been for the Ivory, and as Clea returned to her office, she began wondering what her plan of action would be. Approaching the Vermillion to conduct the conversation about joining them was already a risky move in itself, the outcomes of which were completely unknown and unexpected. At this point the leader had to consider the possibilities for herself more than she did for her people, knowing that her people were as dumb as she was, and on their word she would definitely never survive. It was hard to think of putting behind her ego to re-approach the leaders of Ivory and take them up on their offer, though it seemed like the only possible option in sight. The woman had struggled for a while, pacing and steaming off in her office room as she plucked up the courage to do something she had never before in her life done. 

    The mere thought of going back against her stubborn word was a game changer for the Fairens, and perhaps it would be a good way of cleaning the smeared and blemished reputation of a kind that was evil for no reason.

    Returning to the land of the Amethyst Witches had seemed like the most shameful thought for a pair that had been working relentlessly hard to achieve a success for the planet, though they knew they had done their best, and somewhere deep down in their hearts, knew the Fairen leader would have no choice but to return to them, as hard as the thought sounded. 

    ‘Why did you just leave? If they get in touch with the Vermillion, you’re done for, the element of surprise is gone and the war becomes just a tad bit harder. We should have forced them into this’ complained Vulen, worrying about the safety of his mate in all of this. Ever since she had become the leader of the Amethyst worry, his level of concern had increased immensely. He was extremely proud of her, of course, though wished no harm to come to her, and that would certainly be hard considering she would most certainly have to go off to war now that she was the leader of their kind. Nonetheless, the man had vowed to stick by her side no matter what, and would do everything in his power to protect her to the best of his abilities, even if that meant giving up his own life. 

    ‘We can’t force them, you saw that. In fact, if we forced them they would have turned on us anyways, and we perhaps wouldn’t have even noticed. This way at least we know what they are up to. Besides, I don’t think this is the final verdict of this mission. Something tells me that Clea will change her mind and return to us. If she doesn’t want to die, that is. Though, if they do get in touch with the Vermillion, then it will be just like fighting against the Lycans, they will probably get the Fairens to attack us, promise them the same protection they did Balthazar, and then fail.The only thing I worry about is them realising that I’m still alive’ mentioned the Hybrid leader, entering coven grounds, following Vulen towards the office of his mate and new leader of the Amethyst Witches. 

    The thoughts of how their friendship started crossed her mind, and as it did a certain aspect stuck out that had the leader raising questions of curiosity about a certain matter. 

    ‘Vulen, what happened to the Fairen that was constantly attacking you, Irina and her brother? How is it that she didn’t attack you today on her lands?’ The question had come as an unexpected remembrance to the coven leader’s mate, who reminisced over the intense memories attached to the torture of the Fairen before he recalled and voiced them,

    ‘She’s dead. After you guys left she tried attacking us several times, but Irina killed her. After that my brother-in-law awakened from his paralysis, and has gone back to living his life now. It’s why Irina was so happy when you guys returned, it only seemed to her that things were getting better and better.’ The revelation had brought a smile to Eliana’s face, despite the terrible fate of the Fairen. The pair knew that the Fairen had certainly had it coming, and having experienced her themselves, they were glad that drama was over with, especially since the Witches had more to deal with now than ever.

    Walking through the doors of the office, Irina and Zoraya lifted up their gaze to meet the ones of the pair that were destined for greatness. 

    ‘Well, what happened? Did she give in?’ Asked Irina with a certain eagerness that had ensured that she would be disappointed after hearing the occurrences of their mission. The three looked between themselves to decide a spokesperson, though in the end, Eliana took the lead as always, and proceeded to seat herself in the chair in front of the new leader and the old one, and put forward the details and verdict. 

    ‘Well the Fairens are stubborn, and as much as I thought I could flip them, I couldn’t. Clea tied Razaar and I up for a whole day for no reason, and even after we freed ourselves, chained her up, showed her the prophecy and tried to reason with her people, everyone still chose to side with the Vermilion than us. To conclude: we failed the mission’ informed Eliana, not being able to meet the gaze of the newest leader of the Amethyst Witches as she took a seat in exhaustion. 

    ‘I’m afraid I cannot say I’m surprised. The Fairens have always hated everyone, and that hatred overpowers everything in their lives, it seems even their own existence. What are you going to do now? If they join the Vermillion the element of surprise will be ruined’ mentioned Zoraya, having already had a large history with Clea herself.

    For once the Hybrid leader was at a loss of words, and had no plan in mind whatsoever. All that they had worked for seemed at the brink of collapse due to just one species, and as frustrating as it was, they needed a plan to rectify the issue.

    ‘Well that means we need to speed up the process, perhaps Razaar and I won’t have time for training. As soon as the Yolegs and Warmecks have joined, we will go to war’ announced the leader, having no other option but to speed up the process. The training had not been of complete essence to the pair as they were, after all, somewhat immortal. Though it would have been useful in order to protect all others on the planet with the appropriate skill to take over the Vermillion. Nevertheless, the pair had been grateful that all members of Ivory had managed to join them, and most members of Tetra had too, and looked forward to the Fairens learning their lesson the hard way. 

    However, before the thoughts became permanent in her head, Clea had already decided that she wished to do more to save herself, and that could only mean going against her pride, ego and word, and reconciling with the pair to save her kind from complete annihilation. She trekked towards the land of the Amethyst Witches with a distaste that she kept buried within herself. Facing the Amethyst Witch guards had been enough humiliation to begin with, she only wondered what it would be like to be face to face with the intimidating leader of Hybrids, who currently sat deep in thought, wondering what it would be like to jump into war recklessly, till the guard approached the office and knocked on the door to deliver the news. 

    ‘Miss Ygorov, Miss Levix, Clea Menso, leader of Fairens, is here to see you’ the mere words had lifted Eliana back onto her feet, and shoved within her an excitement that she had felt deep inside her body. It had been enough of a reaction for the guard to know that she was to be let in and escorted to the office, though when Irina nodded, the guard ran off to do exactly that. 

    ‘Looks like we haven’t failed just yet’ spoke Eliana, her smile lighting up Razaar’s face. The pair did not need to think twice to know that Clea had come to her senses, and perhaps they did not have to speed up their missions after all. Looking back at the rest, they noticed how impressed the leaders had been knowing that the pair had been the only people to ever bring down the prideful barrier of the ruthless leader of Fairens.

    As she stepped in through the doors, everyone had been ready to accept the changes that were about to be made. Despite being on Amethyst lands, Eliana decided to take the lead as she always had, and no one interrupted knowing she was best at it.

    ‘Clea, what brings you here?’ She questioned, pretending not to know what was coming. 

    ‘Don’t pretend like you don’t know what this is about. You know why I’m here’ spat the leader, finding it hard to swallow her pride. 

    ‘What changed your mind?’ Asked the Hybrid leader, folding her arms in amusement. The rest had remained silent, watching the interaction go down and enjoying the sight of Clea giving into someone inferior to her. 

    ‘I may hate all of you, but my people are...not that smart. I’d thought that they would make the right decision, and that way I wouldn’t have to. Though I see now that they are not capable of saving themselves. So I’m here, and I’m asking you to let me be a part of this war, to save my kind. Don’t get me wrong I still hate you all, I just don’t want to die’ responded the Fairen leader bluntly, a tone of annoyance lacing her voice. Her words had sounded sincere, especially given the fact that she was willing to insult her own people for it.

    ‘I’m glad you’ve changed your mind, this is for the best’ reassured Eliana, only annoying the Fairen leader more. The last thing she had wished for was to have a heart to heart with anyone else, and she was desperate to get this interaction done and over with.

    ‘Yeah, heart warming stuff. Can we please get on with the details of this war? When is it happening and how?’ Questioned an impatient Clea. The Hybrid leader shared a glance with Razaar, and returned to face the woman blankly, not knowing what to reveal. 

    ‘There isn’t much of a plan yet. My mate and I still need to travel to the Yolegs and the Warmecks. We will train and then we will attack when the time is right. All you need to do is inform your people of what’s coming, and get them training. Wait for us to get back to you with more details of the war’ highlighted the great Luna of Gloarian, reminding herself that they had yet to plan the details of the upcoming battle with more detail.Clea shrugged, stepping backwards as a sign of the escape that was to come. 

    ‘You guarantee protection for my people?’ She confirmed, accepting Eliana’s nod as enough insurance and deciding to take her leave. ‘Great, I will be leaving then, and waiting for your word’ she finalised, turning on her heel and returning from where she came from.

    ‘That seemed oddly easy. Are you sure she isn’t up to something?’ suggested Zoraya, not understanding why a leader as cruel as Clea would adjust so easily. 

    ‘What do you think she’s hiding?’ Asked Razaar, leaning with the insinuation of the ex-leader of the Amethyst Witches. 

    ‘Maybe she’s already working for the Vermillion?’ Her words had turned the room silent, though the more Eliana thought about it, the dumber the idea sounded in her head. 

    ‘No, she wouldn’t put her people at risk like that. As terrible as she may be, she’s never had to face the Vermillion before, and as daring as she may have seemed about it, she’s not. Inside she’s scared just like everyone else, and this is just her way of showing it. If she had an evil intention in mind it would have been obvious on her face or in her tone. She just seemed desperate to be out of here, and that is a sign of fear and shame. It only makes sense since she hates us all so much, she would feel humiliated at the thought of returning and requesting to take part in this war.’ Concluded the Hybrid leader, uttering the words mostly to herself. The room remained silent for the next couple of minutes as everyone took the information in before proceeding to move on to the next topic: the pair’s departure from their lands. ‘Razaar and I need to travel to the Yolegs tomorrow, would you happen to know who is in charge?’ Asked the leader, clearing her head of the Fairen drama. Zoraya nodded, looking through her cabinets for a certain file. She pulled it out, scanning through the document before handing it to the leader.

    ‘Ozak Ingor. He’s the leader of the Yolegs. They’re the nature controllers so they’re quite down to earth, I don’t think you’ll have any issues with them’ mentioned Zoraya as the pair looked through the document of his data.

    ‘Do you think they’ll be easy to rope into this war?’ Asked the Alpha, ready to move to the Warmecks and begin training. As useful as it had been to stick around and gather an army, the man missed fighting, and we wished nothing more than to return to the world of training and getting stronger than he already was. Being the warriors of the entire planet, the Alpha was excited to train with the strongest kind on Zaleon.

    Eliana, on the other hand, had been the least excited to train, knowing that the Warmecks would be tough to match the level of. The recruiting had been the easy part, as exhausting as it was, though training would only ensure their closeness from the grand battle that would decide the fate of their planet, and despite being born for it, she dreaded it just slightly. Nevertheless, with a straight face she carried on with the task at hand, and did her research before the pair would have to travel to conquer their next targets. 

    ‘He’s an intimidating man, that much I’m sure of, though he shouldn’t give you a hard time, he cares for this planet as much as you do’ revealed Zoraya, gathering all she could of him from the brief interaction she had with the man only once in her life. The pair called it a night soon enough, and returned to their guest room, where they would spend the last night before departure to their next target. 

    The journey to happiness had begun seeming endless to the couple, and they only wondered when they would be able to fit in time for themselves, to build their relationship the way so many already had. It had been an ironic situation to be in, despite being the reincarnations of Leopold and Cassandra, the pair had yet to spend proper time together, and mate, much like the Gods whose lives had been sent to turmoil because of their parents. Though the flame knew that the time would come soon, as it did it reminisced over the fond memories he shared with his beloved Cassandra before his departure, and how content they had been in a secret bubble that for years had been the only source of joy in their lives.

    The flame was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that the pair would end up living a life that beat that of Leopold and Cassandra, but the big question was: would the Vermillion allow it to play out?