The brush of the wind tickled her face, and she wondered in the back of her mind if she had forgotten to close the windows in her room. She tried to pull the blankets tighter around herself, but was met by nothing but air. She groaned, trying to tap around her to feel for them, but only solid wood greeted her. Wood? Wasn't she on her bed? She startled awake, her vision still blurry from sleep
The room before her was white, too bright for her hazy vision. She looked around her and noticed she had been sleeping on an unfamiliar bench. Where was she?
She almost screamed when she looked to her side, only to see an old man smiling brightly at her. Where the hell was she? And who is this man? Had she been kidnapped?
As soon as she thought those words, everything came back, and her last memory of Damian walking to the next room. She leapt to her feet, almost falling from the dizziness, before someone held on to her
"Careful," the person said, and she immediately recognized that voice. She turned to meet Anson's handsome face
"Let me go, where the hell am I?" she asked and dreaded the answer that came from the old man
"Luminara"
"No, no no no. You fucking kidnapped me"
"Such vile words from such a young girl," a feminine voice from the other side of the room said. She turned to be met with a familiar pale face and dazzling silver hair
"You"
"Hello little one, I'm glad we finally meet in person."
Lyla looked at the woman, really looked at her. Beautiful would be too simple to describe her; she was absolutely enchanting. Her pale white skin was flawless without any dent, scar, or wrinkle. Her small nose, lined with little freckles, added a layer of beauty to her, while her pale blue eyes, as radiant as the skies, made her seem nothing less than captivating
She had a face that could easily stop any man in their tracks. In Fact anyone who saw her would want to take another glance
She had a certain grace about her, a kind of sophistication that indicated she knew a lot and had been through a great deal of things, and her hair, the most alluring of all, was like the gentle glow of a mist-covered lake at dawn, reflecting light in subtle waves. Lyla had never seen a more beautiful woman in her life
The woman in question smirked as if she too, knew the admission that Lyla had just made to herself. She scowled and looked away, only to find a tall man standing a few feet from the woman she had previously learned was called the Keeper.
The man had red hair, which only seemed to grow a deeper shade towards the ends. He looked at her, finding it hard to hide the curiosity in his eyes as he held her stare, his hazel eyes shining. The man had light brown skin that was also flawless. How was it that their skin was so smooth? She wondered.
She shamelessly surveyed his muscular structure and broad shoulders, a body that was honed through sweat and hard work. She appreciated that. Her gaze trailed down his body, then back up. The man was not only handsome, but he was incredibly hot
She hadn't realized a smirk was on her face until someone snorted. She averted her gaze but didn't miss the man's proud grin. Damn him
Damn her actually, why was she admiring these people given the situation. She faced the two brothers letting her anger show, Anson looked everywhere else but Damian met her stare and she could have sworn she saw a flicker of apology pass through them before he held her in a challenging gaze, damned idiot
"I guess there's no use fighting now."
"No, there isn't," the Keeper said in a proud voice as if she had just won a challenge
"Do you always pride yourself on kidnapping people?" Lyla directed the question to the woman, "Is this what you do in your part-time? Send your little minions over there to do your dirty work."
The woman huffed in arrogance, "You were given a choice."
"A choice? You call that a choice. A choice between what? Readily following two men who came claiming that I'm some sort of a savior, that I should leave everything I know and care for behind just because of some stupid prophecy, or else they'd take me against my will. Does that seem like a choice to you?"
She faced each of the people in the room, waiting for any sort of retort, but nothing came, so she added,
"You know, you might have taken me. I might even be the one you're looking for, but you know what I wonder? What use is a savior if they're no longer breathing?"
The room fell silent, Anson's face paled, and Damian, who had been leaning on a wall, straightened. A look of shock was visible across all their faces, even the old man who had been silent and unmoving for the most part readjusted his position, they were all in alert
The keeper was the first to speak, caution displayed in her beautiful face, "You'd really do that out of spite?"
"Spite?" she laughed maniacally, "No…no, I'd do that for freedom."
Of course, she didn't mean it; hell, she didn't even know why she said it. All she knew at that moment was that she was so angry, and she wanted to remove that proud look from the woman's face. She had succeeded, but the method used made shame tighten in her gut
"My dear," the old man started rising from his chair. He looked to be around sixty, but somehow Lyla felt the man was far older
"I know the method we used was wrong, and there is no excuse for that. We are deeply sorry. I'm deeply sorry but I plead that you understand our situation. If you are truly the chosen, then it means our world is in danger of another great war, lives hang on the line, and our whole realm could very well be destroyed. We care for our world and our people. We can't have history repeat itself.
Please, my dear, I know you might never forgive us, but please consider our position."
Lyla did not pull her hand from the old man as he placed it between his palms, she only looked at him and the sad look he had and deep within her she knew she understood but was she to simply leave everything for a world she didn't know existed until a little over a month ago?
She slowly pulled her arm away and turned to face Damian. "What did you do to my family?"
"Nothing, they're safe, I only made them think you are in a college training program."
"So you messed with their minds."
"I just included that information; they believe you will be gone for a while and won't bother calling."
"And how sure are you it worked?"
"It did" was his simple reply
She wanted to be angry at him, wanted to scream at him for daring to do that without even consulting her, but she knew it was better that way, better that they thought she was safe. So she simply nodded
"How will you know I'm this chosen one?" she asked the old man, "I'm assuming you're the Pa…servant of the heavens."
The man chuckled, "Yes, I'm the Paisios, we'll have to go to the ancient chambers for that, the Astralyte stone will help ascertain if you are"
"So what exactly do I need to do?"
"You just need to drop a bit of your blood on the stone."
"Right"
Lyla felt stupid for asking. The fact that she was actually considering it felt absurd, but she just wanted to get it over and done with. If she wasn't that person, then well and good, she'd hopefully leave this horrid world behind and completely forget about it, but if she was, then… then…she didn't want to consider it