VERMILLION: The fall of Zaleon

Chapter 19

Reigar’s feet moved faster than ever with the excitement of seeing Priscilla again, and while he was not sure what he would say to explain himself and his presence, for the first time in his life the shy boy who had been deemed unpopular had taken a leap of faith and trekked towards Tetran territories like it was the most casual thing to do. His fated pair had been doing the very same as she moved forward, using her legs rather than her wings so she wouldn’t get spotted. She remained silent, hearing her heart thumping in her ears and blocking out the sound of Pietra having casual conversation with the girl. Nervousness had conquered them both as they decided to put themselves in immense danger of getting caught, nevertheless, they did it anyway, their gut pushing them to do so. 

Though when the pair suddenly bumped into each other, literally, and stumbled backwards, falling on their bottoms, the first reaction either of them had was of anger. That was, until their eyes once again fell on each other, and they found themselves lost in a sea of fantasies and content, until Pietra interrupted them by approaching the boy, flapping her small wings. 

‘Reigar, are you alright?’ She asked with concerned, and the Doirekh nodded his head at the little Pixen, smiling at her. 

‘I am, thank you’ he responded, getting off his bottom and approaching Priscilla before offering her a hand up. She took it, graciously, and blushed furiously as their gazes met once she had been lifted off the ground. The physical connection had initiated a new kind of bond, one that would only strengthen with time, and there was no going back from that now, whether they liked it or not. ‘What are you doing here?’ He asked her politely, deciding this would be the same way to begin his apology to her. She looked around frantically at Pietra, thinking of what to say, though Pietra had made the decision to commence that response for her. 

‘Actually, we were just coming to-’

‘Explore nature’ interrupted Priscilla with a panic, and the boy nodded, even though he didn’t really believe it. Something about the way she had responded had told the boy that she was perhaps there for the same reason he was. Pietra looked with a glare at her companion, though the Fairen ignored it, keeping her attention on the boy in front of her. ‘What are you doing here?’ She then countered nicely, and saw the smallest of smiles pop up on his face. 

‘I actually came here to try and find you’ he was brave enough to confess. She blushed even more, her face turned red with embarrassment and she tried to push away the grin on her face as much as possible. Pietra had suddenly begun noticing things between the pair that made her face scrunch up oddly, and she remained silent, wondering whether it would be useful to tell the pair that they were mates at this age, or wait until they were older, much older. 

‘Why would you want to find me?’ She asked in response, trembling to hear the answer  he was going to give her. 

‘I wanted to apologise for yesterday. My behaviour with you was rude and unacceptable. I never should have said all those mean things about you and tried to show off. The truth is, I’m not the best flyer, I can barely hold my dragon for longer than a minute, and I fell onto Fairen territory by accident’ he revealed, and she couldn’t help but grin widely at his response. 

‘There’s nothing wrong with developing your form later. You shouldn’t have to prove yourself to your friends to fit in. Real friends will accept you no matter what’ she replied. The words coming out of her mouth had shocked him as they were the very words that his father had said to him not too long ago at all. She sure was something special, that much had been made evident to him, but he had no idea just how special she was. 

‘My father said the same thing to me yesterday’ he whispered absentmindedly, and her eyes widened in surprise. 

‘My father said that to me too!’ Exclaimed Priscilla, remembering how her father had given her the speech when she too, failed to fit in with her supposed friends. After that she too, had become somewhat of a loner, a little girl with her Pixen, that’s all she had left. Though at least she had her Pixen, and she was content with that. Reigar had had no true friends so far, but perhaps that was going to change now that he had met his true mate. 

They wondered how their friendship would even work, though didn’t question it as they began walking through the forest. Feeling more brave and comfortable now, the Fairen decided to reveal a confession of her own. 

‘You know, I lied earlier when I said we were just exploring. We were actually on our way to find you too’ she began, and this time it was his turn to be surprised. 

‘Find me? Why?’ He asked with excitement. 

‘To apologise about yesterday, I should have stuck around and helped you. Also I wanted to make sure you got home alright’ she responded, finding herself getting more and more comfortable with ease around him. With him, the quirky girl did not feel like she was being judged, like most of the Fairen community had done with her. With him, she felt whole, and happy. 

‘I got home alright, I just got home later than expected, my parents were ready to give me the lecture of a lifetime’ he commented, and she couldn’t help but chuckle at his response. 

‘What’s life like on Crest? I have always been curious to know! Pietra and I have tried to sneak up to the borders occasionally to have a peek, but every time we get too scared and end up returning halfway’ she asked, skipping around with him in the forest, as they walked to absolutely nowhere. This had certainly not been a part of their plans for the day, not to mention Reigar had to get home before his parents found out what he had been up too, though he kept his feet moving for the time being, knowing that eventually he would return, and the fun would end, and he didn’t want to let go while it lasted. He had a new friend and a new reason to go against his parents commands, and this time, he was more than willing to break them because it was worth it. 

‘I expect it’s not different from life on Tetra. We live in mansions of our categories-’

‘Mansions? You live in mansions?’ She interrupted, having never heard that before. He had also not expected her reaction, and had yet to learn about her kind. If the Amethyst didn’t live in mansions, where did they live? How did they live?’ 

‘Yeah, where do you live?’ He then asked out of curiosity, wondering perhaps that she lived in better conditions. To him the order of the hierarchy had always been a blur, and pointless, and so he had never bothered investing the time and effort to learn who was higher than who because in his eyes, they were all the same, for they all existed on the same planet after all, and breathed the same air. They all believed in the flame, and were children of the flame, so why did it matter where they lived or how they lived? His life was about to take a turn as he would learn the truth of his planet. 

‘I don’t live in a mansion! We Fairens just live in huts!’ She exclaimed, and her words had come as a shock to the boy. 

‘Huts? Why do you live in huts? Do you not have mansions of your own categories?’ He posed innocently, and the girl took notice, taking in his lack of understanding of his own community. 

‘We don’t live in mansions, silly. We are Amethyst, below you in the hierarchy? You Vermillion are at the top so you live the best lives. The Ivory are at the bottom, they live worse than us so I suppose it wouldn’t be fair for me to complain about this’ she stated, and a whole new portal opened up for the boy who had never before heard of the bizarre concepts of his planet. Part of the reason why he had never been enlightened this much before, was because he never paid attention in school and because his parents were too ashamed of telling him that that was how they governed the planet. 

‘I can give you money, I can ask my parents-’

‘No silly! Don’t do that! I don’t want money. Besides, even with money I can’t get a mansion, we don’t have mansions on Tetra’ she responded as they walked along, and she noticed just how much she had started caring that he was a Vermillion. He sure didn’t act like one, and didn’t rub it in her face that he had more than her. His offer to her made her heart melt, though she knew that it would be impossible for anyone to find out that a Vermillion and an Amethyst would be friends. 

The two kinds hadn’t interacted in centuries, and despite there being no clear unobvious barriers, no one crossed into each other’s territory in order to avoid a war that would surely arise if they did. 

‘You can come live with me! I can ask my father-’

‘No, don’t you get it, Reigar? Your kind and my kind, well they aren’t really friends. The Vermillion dislike the Amethyst and vice versa. It’s a complicated history, but one that’s lead to us living in a hierarchy divided by power. There’s nothing you can do about it, but it’s alright, I’m glad to know that the Vermillion are not all that bad’ the girl responded, obviously flattering him as he too, blushed furiously.

‘I wish there was no hate on this planet, and I could take you home and we could play all day’ he whispered nervously, and she smiled, grabbing onto his hand to stop him and pressing a kiss on his cheek. 

‘I have to go now, and you should probably head out too, you don’t want to repeat yesterday’s incidents do you?’ She joked with a smile. His smile fell, he didn’t want to leave her, and neither did she, but they had no choice, and they both knew it. He nodded, still thinking about the kiss she had placed on his cheek as he watched her turn around to walk away. 

‘Wait!’ He yelled abruptly, having one more question, without which, he could not leave. ‘Will I ever see you again?’ He inquired desperately. Her face dropped, knowing that it would be best to avoid the situation, and the drop of her smile had been enough response. Without a word, she turned back around, and flew away into the distance, leaving the man alone and sort of broken.

He could have broken down into tears if it wasn’t for the fact that he had to return home as quickly as he could, and having memorised the way this time, he sped off into the distance. 

Not knowing if he would ever see her again was the hardest part of returning home, where his mother and father watched him come home and smiled at him, appreciating that at least this time he made it back in time. They had no idea of his day venture out of their territory, for if they did they would have been furious, though they made an effort to ask him about his day at dinner. 

‘How was your day darling? What did you do?’ Asked his mother with a bright smile.

‘I just played with my friends, that’s all’ he began, desperate to bring up the topic he knew would be sensitive to talk about. Though for Priscilla, he did it anyways. ‘Mother, why do we hate the Amethyst and Ivory so much?’ His question had shocked his parents so much they had dropped their utensils halfway through eating. It had certainly been unexpected, though they had yet to suspect him of anything. His father and mother looked between each other, each wondering who was going to respond, until the father sighed and hesitantly decided to answer. 

‘It’s just the way it is, son. The hierarchy was created for a reason, we have more abilities than the rest, and therefore we have to live lives that are different to others. Other’s can shift into earth animal or fly or do magic, so they don’t need the life that we have’ he explained, albeit the gaps in the story were visible to their son, who was adamant on breaking that tension between the hierarchy. Of course, by the word of one man nothing would change, but what was to come certainly would change the course of history between the Amethyst and Vermillion. 

‘That’s not true. We can shift into dragons, and other people on Zaleon can shift into other animals, why don’t all the shifters live in one mansion, all the flyers in another and so on and so forth? Why can’t we create another order of running things. Isn’t it fair that we live so much better than they do?’ He asked, and his parents were too flabbergasted to say anything at all. The kid had gone from being a silent, obedient type to outright questioning his parents about something they knew not how to answer him about. What were they to say to him? That they didn’t mind living in luxury? That despite the differences, no one could do anything about it? That the word of two adults was not going to change the order of the planet? That most people on the planet, or on Crest, were hateful and prejudicial? How were they to justify to their 9 year old son that most people on their planet were full of hate when they loved him so very much? 

Reigar’s mother took over, placing a hand over her sons. 

‘Reigar darling, the topic is more extensive than you think, but you certainly won’t understand now, I promise you that. Just give it time and it will all make sense, alright? Now finish your food and go to your room, you need to get some sleep’ she responded politely, putting an end to their conversation. As much as he wanted to continue talking about it, he knew that no one would give him the answers he wanted, so he reluctantly nodded and did as his mother said, waiting to grow older and waiting impatiently for the day he would finally understand his world so he could change it to see his one Fairen again. 

As Priscilla dreamt of the nice encounter she had with her Doirekh, she drifted off, thinking that she would never see him again, and he would remain all but a memory in her mind for the rest of her life. Little did she know that the ropes of fate worked far more extensively than her imagination and memories. The same could be said for the determined Reigar, who would figure out a way to make it back to her, and sooner or later he would face her once again, older, better, and ready to experience the joys the flame had granted him. Till then, he grew, and got through his days with the memory of his Fairen. 

Years later the pair had remained in each other’s thoughts and memories, and while they hadn’t seen each other in ages, they knew they weren’t too far away. When the time came, however, it was Pietra’s duty to do what she had been waiting for for so long, and reveal to the pair that they were, in fact, mates. Though this had not gone entirely as she had expected. 

‘What? What do you mean the Doirekh and I are mates?’ Questioned and absolutely stunned Priscilla. The Pixen hid behind the pillow and repeated her words. 

‘You are, I noticed it when you guys first met, but I figured it might have been better to keep it from you until you came of age. Now that you are, I decided it was time to tell you’ She repeated, and the Fairen's eyes remained wide open. 

‘You’re saying that 9 years ago, when Reigar and I first met, you noticed that we were mates, and you didn’t tell me? Because you thought I was too young?’ She posed, now indicating to the little Pixen that she was in trouble. She trembled behind the pillow as she nodded, and said not a word more. ‘No, that can’t be, Vermillion aren’t meant to have mates though’ she stated to herself, confused whether she believed it or not. Pietra shook her head, and forced herself to squeak out her next words. 

‘I know they aren’t, but it’s true. Reigar is your mate, I’m sorry Priscilla-’

‘Petra, I don’t understand. You didn't’ want to tell me because I was too young, fine. I understand that, I was 9 years old. But it’s been 9 years! Why couldn’t you tell me when I was 13, or 16 even! Why 18? Why did you wait 9 years to tell me this? For 9 years I’ve been living in pain, having his memory in my heart, and not being able to do anything about it. Had I known sooner, I would have done something about it wouldn’t I?’ She asked, utterly frustrated. She knew she couldn’t stay mad at the little Pixen forever, especially not with the expression the little Pixen had on her face, though she couldn’t stop herself from feeling the overwhelming feelings she had bottled up from coming out all at once. Pietra thought long and hard, and wondered whether she should tell the truth or not, but she didn’t have much of a choice either. 

‘I know, but I was afraid, Prisci. He’s a Doirekh, a Vermillion, and you an Amethyst. How is that even supposed to work? No one is going to allow it! What if they find out and kill you?’ Pietra yelled, entering her panic mode as she attempted to get closer to Priscilla. 

‘I appreciate your concern Pietra, but that’s not fair. That’s not a decision for you to make. That’s a sacrifice for me and my mate to decide upon. You took away that right from me, you took away that feeling of love from me, all on purpose, knowing the joy it would bring me. Now, I don’t even know what I can do. He probably already has someone, what if he’s already married? What do I do then? For all he knows, he’s just an ordinary Vermillion with no mate! What do I do now? What if I’ve lost him forever?’ Panicked the Fairen, and her tears only brought more tears of pain to Pietra, who could feel all the pain in the world in her little frame as she watched her companion begin to sob her eyes out. 

‘Oh Prisci. I’m so sorry! I'm so sorry! Honestly, please forgive me. Oh Prisci I love you so much, I can’t bear to see you cry. Oh Prisci please, I will do anything, I will make sure he is yours Prisci, I promise. I’m so sorry Prisci. You’re my best friend’ sobbed Pietra next to the Fairen, and the sight of the little Pixen crying made Priscilla’s heart ache, knowing that Pietra would never mean the worst for her. The bond between a Pixen and Fairen was far too strong for Priscilla to hold anything against her little companion, and she stalled herself from crying, pulling the Pixen into her larger chest for a hug. 

‘It’s ok, Pietra. I love you too, I know you didn’t mean me any harm. I just wish you would have told me earlier, but I understand why you didn’t’ she began, and Pietra calmed down, holding onto her companion as tightly as she could. 

‘Oh thank you Prisci, and I am sorry, I truly am. I will make this up to you. I will make sure everything is alright, no matter the cost’ she responded, and it warmed the Fairen’s heart, who at that moment had put Reigar aside. 

‘We will figure this out, Pietra. We will go find Reigar, and tell him the truth. He is my mate, he can’t stop feeling things for me. He will love me, he has to. Hopefully’ she replied, and dived deep into thought about her mate’s reaction to seeing her after so long. How would he react? Would he believe her? Or would time flip the tables of fate against her, and take the right of love away from a woman who had waited for it for far too long?