Where did this girl come from? Was she the one who saved them from drowning any further? Cort swallowed, and said, “I-is that even possible? For you not to have a name?”
Paula was wondering what her resemblance to the girl they saw in the very end of their dream meant. Was she really her? It can’t be, can it? That was probably six or five hundred years ago. There was no way it could be the same girl. She had to believe in science.
With both of their thoughts scrambling for a rational answer, the new girl stood there mildly amused by their confusion. It was funny.
“Tanin and Cort.” The named teens froze at the sound of both of their names.
Cort was the first one to speak, “How do you know our names?” it was the most cliché thing to ask, but it was one that he wanted answered.
“Do we know you?” Paula asked suddenly. Was she part of their class? Can’t be, Paula and Cort knew every girl there. Perhaps she was part of their school. They were very popular so it would make sense if a girl like her knew their names.
The girl looked away from Cort to gaze upon Paula, “I’ve finally found you.”
Both Tanin and Cort’s hearts started to race, “Th-those words…” Paula took a step back, her eyes wide with fright, “That’s what he said…!”
Hysterical laughter erupted from the girl’s mouth, “Hahaha! Your reaction is so… amusing.” She placed her hands on her hips and smirked at them.
Cort stood in front of Paula, “Who the heck are you?! Don’t mess with us, this isn’t funny!”
A chuckle was heard from the deranged girl, “I’m not messing with you… It’s true, I’ve been looking for you for years now. Isn’t that right?” her eyes changed. They had no irises and nor did they have any pupils. Just white. “Yes it is right! You’re always right!” and then they went back into their normal form.
“What the heck is going on!?” Cort yelled. It was already late, and the moon had disappeared into the clouds. There was nothing to give them light. Where did she go? He felt a tap on his shoulder.
“My, my, for a person who had just bathed in the ashes of Tanin Seniripic, you have not gained her personality.” Paula and Cort looked at each other, ashes? “Right you are. When Tanin the Founder was burned alive her ashes drifted away in small rivers, and settled in the largest lake of the City Tanin. When you both made contact with her soul it activated what destiny has always had set out for you.”
Both had a hard time believing the words of a girl they had just met, “Skip the context.” Cort demanded. He couldn’t see. There were no more candles to help them.
The moon was free from the covers of the clouds, to reveal that the girl was standing an inch away from their faces, “To put it simply, little boy, Paula here is a leader. A princess if you want it to become all magical. My dear little Cort, you are her betrothed.” This sparked a reaction in his face,”I’m guessing from your blush that you like that very much.” Her eerie eyes closed slowly while she grinned and stepped away.
Indeed, a red hue covered his cheeks, and Cort flamed with anger, “Shut up! How could Paula be a princess and me her… b-betrothed!?” he didn’t want to look into Paula’s direction, afraid to see her reaction.
In the dark, the girl circled around them and whispered into their ears, “I’ve been waiting for both of your births for six centuries.” They did nothing to stop her.
A crack was in Cort’s voice, “Y-you’re the girl we saw in the end of our dreams? You were talking about something starting.” He felt her breathing down the back of his neck, “You look exactly like her… the only weird thing is that you haven’t aged a bit since the last six centuries.”
Since nightfall had already began, the wind had become stronger than it was in the afternoon. Howls caused by the wind haunted the lake, and the trees’ branches swayed in a violent way. There was no moon and all was dark. Limni Lake’s waves crashed onto the wooden dock, making them freeze in its cold.
The unknown girl laughed, “That was no dream! It was a vision! It was a vision about how Tanin, the last leader died.” The town founder Tanin Seniripic was a Princess. If so, how does that make Paula a princess?
“Please explain everything to us in detail.” Paula asked in a timid voice.
This was crazy, “No!” Cort yelled, and grabbed Paula’s hands, “She’s obviously crazy, we can’t listen to anything she says!” it was dark.
“You sly dog, I am not your betrothed.” A voice that was clearly not Paula’s was heard, “Why must you hold my hands?”
“Cort, what are you doing!?” Paula yelled from where she was behind him.
That girl pushed them once again into Lake Limni, but its waves were far stronger than before and they couldn’t swim against them, “Both of you WILL shut up and listen to me!”
They were underwater, and it was darker than before. Pitch black. Paula and Cort held each other’s arms while they made sure not to breathe in any of the water, while the lake pushed them back and forth under its waves.
The girl’s white eyes shined in the dark as she swam in circles around them, “Telepathy… it’s one of the wonderful thing a normal pitiful human can’t do.” Her voice echoed in their minds. It felt like thousands of dangerous creatures were swimming nearby including her, “You are a leader of an entire species… one that you have neglected for CENTURIES! You’re ancestor Tanin ran away to live with humans, and what did that get her? HER DEATH! I am an immortal. I am the one in charge of finding the next heir, and after all these years I have accomplished my mission! HA! Oh… don’t hold your breath, you can breathe underwater, dummies.”
Sure enough, they were able to.
She continued to speak, “You both are now DEMONS! Monsters! Freaks! You will never fit in with the rest of those overrated humans! They will kill you! Murder you! Didn’t you see what they did to Tanin?!” why? Why was she saying all these things?
Belief in the fantasy. It sounded ridiculous, but it was what both of them felt.
“Think of the power. You are a royal, Paula! You have unimaginable power! Those before you had the strength to destroy a whole mountain, and this was without the slightest bit of effort!”
Paula covered her ears, she didn’t like this, “Stop! Stop it! If the royal were so powerful, why didn’t Tanin the Founder defend herself!?” telepathy? How was she doing this?
The girl’s hands were felt touching her arms, “She was FOOLISH! She believed that the humans were kind, and that they would be able to live with a MONSTER like her! She wouldn’t escape, no, even though she had thousands of chances! Tanin was soft. She was WEAK!” her voice was raspy, it was terrifying to listen to.
A small sob could be heard from Paula, “Please… don’t talk anymore!” arms circled around her enveloping her in a warm aura. It was Cort, and he said nothing.
The water had started to boil in temperatures unnatural for this time of the year. It was hot.
A hiss came from the white eyed girl, “Hot! Hot!” she turned her eyes to where Cort was, “Betrothed one! Stop it at once!”
“Not gonna do that, you creep!” yelled Cort. It was him causing the boil, and it was him making it even hotter. Soon, fire was created underwater. A fire surrounding both Cort and Paula. They were able to see again, and it was not a pretty sight.
The creatures that they had felt were not fishes. They were hands. Thousands of hands swirling around them. They were now burning. “Agghh! You will come back to me! You will see! You will seek me out! For now…” a whisper, “I must leave…” with that everything was gone, as if there was nobody there to begin with.
With their new light, the two swam upwards and with the fins that they had acquired they fought the force of the lake to reach the dock.
Tired, they both rested at the wooden panels, “I… I want to go home.” Paula was no longer communicating through telepathy. She stood up and put on the clothes that she had previously discarded, and went towards her bike. The moon was already out.
Cort sat up and looked at her direction, “What are you going to do when you go home? Are you going to show your face to your parents?”
Paula stopped walking but she didn’t turn to Cort, “…I don’t know…” after those three words she climbed on her bike and headed home. Cort did the same a few minutes after.
When Cort had arrived to his small suburban home he sneaked his way into the house through the back door. He saw his mother sleeping on top of the couch. It was a good thing. Now she wouldn’t be able to see what kind of freak he had turned into. How was he supposed to explain everything to her?
“Cort.”
He stopped in his tracks at the sound of his mother’s voice. He did not turn around to meet the gaze of his furious mother, “Yes, momma?” he said quietly.
There were no lights on, and only the light of the moon that came from the window fell on his form. His mother would not be able to see him properly, and probably won’t ever notice the difference.
“Where were you?” her familiar and soothing voice asked.
He did not move a muscle, “I was out.”
“Out where?”
“With a new friend.”
“Who?”
He looked down and clenched his fists, “Her name is Paula.” He answered.
He could just see the small but very noticeable twitch that her mother made when he said 'her', "A girl huh?" daaarrrnnnn was he going to get in trouble? She clicked her tongue and sighed, "If you go to your room quietly, I won't ask anything else." Hi
Cort did what his mother told him to in order to avoid any injuries. When he arrived in his room, he took off his clothes and switched into his bedtime clothes. He would not be able to sleep that night.
Paula arrived in her mansion home, and parked her bike into the garage just outside the gate. Using a key that her mother had given her, she went on the porch and started to climb on the many vines that covered the mansion’s walls. Sneaking out was not new to her.
She stopped at the third floor and opened the window that had light blue curtains, and went through it to enter her neat white room.
Changing into her gown, she looked at the mirror. She thought nothing. Her mind was blank. Like a soulless person, she tucked herself in bed to sleep. Like Cort, she did not have much rest.
A wish was made that night. A wish that hoped that everything that happened had all been a dream.
When morning came, Paula stared up into her ceiling. She had only gotten at least three hours of sleep. Silently, she walked like a doll to her mirror with her eyes closed. Breathing in, she opened her eyes.
She was human.
Never before had she felt this amount of relief flood throughout her entire body like a drug like no other. Laughter came from her mouth as she twirled in her night gown, “Thank God!” she could continue living her normal life again. It was all a dream.
After she had changed her clothes, she went into the dining room humming a song. Paula waited for the servants to serve her breakfast, when suddenly her parents came into the room. Surprised, she stood up and greeted them, “Welcome mother, welcome father.” They usually left for work before she had even left her bed.
Her parents ignored her welcome, and sat at the dining table. Her mother was checking her phone while her father was reading the newspaper in his pad. The typical life of Paula.
Disappointment was something she no longer felt. Paula had gotten used to not getting a reply for years. She tries really hard to impress her mother and father, but still, nothing is working.
She had top notch grades, impressive etiquette, and extra talents and skills, but there was nothing that she could come by that Paula could master in order to impress her father.
They did not say anything to their daughter. It was as if they did not even have one. Like there was not a thirteen year old girl in front of them with their genes and blood eating her expensive plate of food.
“Mother, father, big sister!” yelled a seven year old boy’s voice. He was rushing into the dining room.
He had pearl white hair, almost the same color as Paula’s, which he kept in a short ponytail and ocean blue eyes. He was wearing his school uniform; a dark blue jacket with white buttons, matching pair of pants, and white trimmings.
“Mikroteros…” said Paula’s father. His very voice stopped everything that had been occurring, “Don’t be late again.”
Mikro was Paula’s younger brother. He sat in his place on the dining table and nodded, “Yes father…”
Finally looking away from her phone, Amarella decided to speak with her children, “How have both of your grades been doing?”
“I’m doing very well mother! In fact, I’ve got the highest score in math, science, and English!” Mikro said proudly.
“Only in those subjects?” said his mother.
Mikro changed his face expression from happiness to fear in just a few seconds, “Yes…”
“That’s nothing to be proud of, Mikroteros. Look at your big sister, she has the highest grades in every single subject. None were neglected. Follow her example.” Paula felt pride in receiving what little praise she had gotten from her mother, but felt guilty that this caused her beloved baby brother pain.
Her brother stayed silent and waited for his own platter of food to come to him, “Yes mother…” was all that he could say.”
After this small conversation between mother and son, breakfast went by normally. Normal in this family meant silence and a tense atmosphere.
It was a few minutes after their meal that her mother and father went to work. This left Paula and Mikroteros a moment for each other.
Mikro was putting his books and materials in his bag, and so was Paula, “How are you doing, little brother?” she asked concerned.
A click was heard when her brother locked his bag, “I’m fine, big sister…” he put on his bag on his back and gave Paula a kiss on her cheek, “I’m off! I love you!” he left the house with her waving him goodbye.
“Have a fun time in school…”
That was only something that she said to her brother to encourage him. Don’t take it the wrong way, it’s just that Paula knows that Mikro does not have any friends. The stress of needing to reach up to their parent’s expectations has Mikro focusing all of his time on studying.
Paula knew that the kids in his class would become friends with him in less than one second if they could, but he just doesn’t have the time anymore.
To be honest, she is exactly the same and so she does not have the right to complain.
Putting on her own bag, Paula headed out for school. The difference between her brother and her was that there was no one to say goodbye.
Cort groaned as he woke up from his slumber. He went inside the bathroom to take a shower and brush his teeth, but when he looked inside the mirror he nearly fainted at the sight.
“AAAAHHHHH!!!!” he screamed once again. How could he not? He still had the same appearance as before.
He started to panic, how was Cort going to be able to go to school looking like this? What could he say? Maybe he’d just lie. Hi. What do you mean? I don’t look like a mutated mutant fish, I don’t understand what you are talking about. Sorry, but I have to get to class.
Panicking, he thought that he should go back to Paula for help. It was the best idea that he could think of. He quickly finished brushing his teeth and put on clothes that would cover just enough of his image; a red bean colored hoody, baggy jeans, and sunglasses. Before his mother was able to see him, he went outside in search for Paula.
Usually, Paula would ride in a fancy car with her chauffeur, but she decided that riding on her bike would be a fantastic switch from the stuffy vehicle. It was a beautiful day, and it should not be wasted by looking out through a window.
Paula was just calmly biking her way to school when suddenly someone tackled her from out of nowhere. She fell down from her bike and onto the heard cement of the pedestrian lane, many scrapes and bruises came with her.
“Paula!” that voice, it was Cort, “You have to help me!” he was shaking her shoulders back and forth in an attempt to catch her attention.
“Cort!” he was hurting her a bit, “Cort, let go of me!” Paula pushed him away until he fell down opposite from her, “It hurts!” Paula looked at her small wounds, oozing small drops of blood.
With his hand placed in his head, Cort once again grabbed her, “Look at me!” he yelled pulling down his hoody. Still the same fins for ears, shiny skin, and black eyes.
Wasn’t it all a dream? “C-Cort… your face!”
Cort’s palms her placed in each side of her cheeks, “How come you’re human again? How come it’s only me?!”
Paula took his wrists, “W-we need to go back to Lake Limni!” ignoring the small pain that came from her bleeding injuries, she got on her bike and headed bag to the Lake where Tanin’s remains rested.
Before Cort had thrown himself on Paula, he was riding his bike. The sight of her made him feel relief, and so he rushed to her. He left his bike and caught her before she could leave his sight. Right now, Cort went back to retrieve his bike, and follow Paula.
They biked their way towards Lake Limni as fast as they could, not caring that this meant that they were skipping a whole day of school. They arrived at the small dock where they had experienced something that no one else has, and looked around. That girl with no name was not here.
“Come out of here! We know you’re hiding!” Cort yelled out for the whole forest to hear. It was not as if anyone was there other than that demon. Cort continued to call for the unknown girl for a long time until his voice was hoarse.
Worried about her friend, Paula brought him to sit down on the grass, “What if she isn’t here?”
Coughing, Cort shook his head, “No, I know she is here. If she really does want you to go to the demon world or whatever to become their leader, then she would wait for as long as it takes until you would come.”
Paula patted his back in a means to help him, “Well, she did say that she knew that we would come to her… do you think your condition has something to do with that?”
“I’m sure of it… she’s a weird demon, she must’ve put some whacko spell on me!” he stood up and spied through the forest’s leaves and branches, looking for some small movement, “I want her to get rid of this! I can’t go back to living my normal life if I stayed this way.”
Guilt stabbed Paula in her heart. With her left hand she rubbed her right arm, “I’m sorry, Cort.” She was looking down, “It’s my fault this things became this way. If it wasn’t for me then you would still be having fun as usual, living your high school life the way you wanted.”
“Don’t talk that way, Paula. I know you feel sad, but don’t beat yourself up just because of it.” Cort looked at his appearance in the water, straight back at the demon’s black eyes, “I kind of got myself into to this mess anyway…”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Paula asked. She was a bit confused.
Cort rubbed his hand against the back of his neck and looked anywhere that was not Paula, “W-well… I kind of… followed you here.”
“Well of course you did, I allowed you. You asked permission and everything.”
An embarrassed blush covered Cort’s cheeks, “N-no… that’s not what I meant. You see… P-Paula… I’ve been your loyal stalker since I’ve seen you…” he did not want to look into her eyes to see her reaction, “Let me just get this out. I’ve… l-like you for a long time already. To be perfectly honest, when that witch said that I was your betrothed I felt very, very happy! It was like I just won the lottery…” gathering his courage, he looked her in the eyes, “…but a hundred million gazillion times even better.”
A confession? It was not the first time that Paula has gotten one, “C-Cort…” a stalker. He was a stalker. Paula did not know what to feel about that. Uhhhhh...
His bravery was gone. “Stop! I know what you’re going to say! Let’s just make this business and try to find a way to get the witch’s attention! I got it!” he turned away from her.
A laugh was heard, but it came from neither Paula nor Cort. “No need to do any more stupid stuff to get my attention, idiot.” It was her. She was standing right in front of them, or eerie eyes and everything, “You probably are the first ever boy to ever confess his undying love for the heroine a few moments through the story. You both are so entertaining it is ridiculous.”
Cort ground his teeth, “There you are, witch!”
Said girl scoffed, “Witch? Let me tell you that I am more high class than those pitiful ugly demons. I am a wanderer.” She stared at the two teen’s expressions and laughed once again, “You have not even heard about the wanderers? You guys are utter idiots! I can’t believe that you two are the future leaders of the demon race! A wanderer is a human who has angered God in a way that forced him to turn us immortal, making us wander the earth with no way of dying.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? You won’t ever die, so that means that you would get to do more things than a human can.” Cort said.
Cort must’ve hit a nerve, because the nameless one’s smile was wiped off her face, “A mere seedling like you could never understand, you’re all just Neanderthals.” She gave Cort a glare and jumped into the water, “Follow me, I know why you’re all here.” With that one sentence she dived underneath the water. Having no other choice, the two followed after her. It was morning, so at least Cort and Paula were able to see underwater. The nameless girl was swimming deeper into the lake.
One glance to Paula allowed Cort to see that she was slowly switching back into her demon form, “Paula… you’re turning. Are you sure that you want to go on with this? You finally had your normal life back.”
Paula smiled at Cort and continued to swim, “I want to help you. My life was not what you would consider normal or satisfying in the first place.”
Nameless turned back to observe the two. They’ve certainly figured out the way of telepathy, and has even learned how to keep her from listening. From the corner of her eye the girl was able to spot a shine, there it was. With a strong kick with her legs, the girl shot like a bullet underwater towards the object.
“How is she able to swim that fast!?” Cort yelled through telepathy. It was amazing. Paula did not answer his question and both just swam faster in order to catch up. What they saw surprised them. They thought that it was impossible for them to be surprised anymore, they have after all gone through a lot.
The nameless girl used whatever power she had used on the both of them the night before; the thousands of hands. These black hands scattered around and swept the dirt on the lake floor, revealing a gate. How was it that nobody has ever been able to see this? After all the scuba tanks that had searched for Tanin the Founder’s remains?
“Don’t be so amazed, this is nothing compared to what you would see…” Said the faded voice of the girl, “In the Demon Realm.” The doorway was huge. About half the size of the lake. With her thousands of black monster hands, the wanderer held the large metal wheel that would supposedly open the door.
The wheel was huge. It covered have of the door. How in the world was that little girl going to be able to open it? These were the thoughts of both Paula and Cort. Apparently, all it took was one strong turn from thousands of hands.
When the door opened it started a whirlpool, causing the lake’s water to go into a state of chaos.
The girl with no name turned to her with a grin so wicked, “Come in!” she yelled. It was not like we had a choice, because both of us were sucked in by the current of the water. Unable to swim away, all we were able to hear was the girl’s witch like cackle.
ns 15.158.61.7da2
