Chapter 16

"Where...am I?"

Amay voice rung out as she slowly opened her eyes. As she looked around, she saw nothing but a black void. She looked down at her now bare body before she fully realized she was falling into a crimson ocean. She didn't panic but felt a sense of relaxation as she was plunged into the red liquid. Her body began to sink lower and deeper into the ocean.

"Did it happen again?" She asked herself. She felt her heavy eyes fight to stay awake as she stared into the endless red void that seemed to stare back while it kept dragging herself in deeper.

"There's no need to be scared." A voice called out to Amay. It was as if it was coming from every and all direction around her.

"That voice. I heard it before, but...Who's calling for me?" Amay asked as her body felt unnaturally calm. She felt as if all her worries and painful thoughts left her body and were replaced with a warm and soft sensation. It was as if she had fallen into a warm pool or received a warm, passionate hug from a friend she hasn't seen in a long time.

"Ssshhhh. There's no need to know who I am; all you need to know is that I will always keep you safe." The female voice spoke in a soothing tone as she comforts Amay. "Just relax and let me take care of your worries."

"Why...why would I be worried? When..... I have you." Amay told the voice. She felt herself fall into the trance of the voice and the warm feeling as she began to forget about everything in the outside world.

Amay watched as a pair of black tendrils began to arise from the deepest part of the abyss through her tired eyes and slowly made their way towards her. As badly as she wanted to be scared of it, part of it felt familiar to her. She even felt her arms extending open to welcoming the unknown figure to her.

"That's right. We have only each other to worry about. Let me embrace you and take away all of your worries. Will you let me embrace you?" The soothing female voice spoke to Amay again as Amay was nearly engulfed by the black tendrils that seemed loose, flowing almost like hair in the water.

Amay watched as the figure began to take the form of a woman. It almost seemed as if she was mirroring her, even going as far as to hold her arms open, wanting to complete the embrace and hold each other to become one.

Before Amay could even touch the woman's fingers with hers, she was quickly pulled away from her. While she felt her body violently fight against the pull, she mentally could do nothing but watch as her body kept being pulled. It was as if her body wanted to be with the woman. However, she just watched as the woman's form faded away and the black tendrils retracting further back into the ocean.

Amay watched as her body broke the tension of the water and began to float away from the vast, ever-expanding ocean. She watched the red ocean move further and further away into the black void until it was a faint red glow. Her body began to turn as a warm white light soon began to engulf her.

A loud gasp of air left Amay's mouth as her eyes shot open, and she frantically began to look around. She then started to feel a stinging sensation and pain on the right side of her face. Tears filled her eyes as she started to cough uncontrollably as many different emotions began to flood her body. This caused her to fall to the ground as her tears left her to touch the grass.

"Amay -Are you alright?" Elizabeth asked with a scared look in her eye. Her hands trembled as she pointed her bow at her friend's head. While her left hand held the bow's base, her right started to sting as she held the string. She was unsure if she was back to normal or not and feared what she would have had to do if her slap didn't work.

"Please, Amay. I need you to answer me." Elizabeth told her friend with a tremble in her voice. Although her face was emotionless, her eyes told a different story as she carefully watched her friend's every movement. Her hands trembled even more as Amay's silence grew more.

As Amay looked at the ground with her wide eyes, she was still trying to process what she felt and that voice. All while trying to gather her barring.

"Did...Did...I hurt anyone?" Amay asked in a concerned voice as she was preparing for the worst. As she waited for the news, her body tensed as she noticed that her tears were blood.

Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. She immediately lowered her bow and took a step towards her young friend. A wave of comfort came to her mind, yet she knew they were not out of the woods yet.

"No. I had Martha take Lucas into the house. They're currently waiting on my word to know if it's safe." Elizabeth said, crouching down to better communicate with Amay and noticed the droplets of blood.

Amay didn't say a word as she just sighed. A wave of relief and pleasure came over her because she didn't hurt anyone, but she still felt guilty. "I didn't mean to," Amay said, feeling as if Elizabeth was disappointed in her again.

"Amay...I...I know." Elizabeth hesitantly said as she raised one hand to try and touch her friend, but her hand hesitated for a moment. Her hand was shaking from fear, but she took a deep breath and tried to rub Amay's head.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!!"

Amay suddenly erupted as she slapped Elizabeth's hand away. Her own hand gripped the ground tightly as she felt anger towards her friend so suddenly.

Elizabeth was taken back by this and froze for a moment as she didn't expect her to do that. She brought her hand down and remained silent. She didn't hold a grudge or anger for her friend's sudden lash out, but she did feel guilty and knew why she did so.

"Just...don't touch my head," Amay told her in a much calmer voice as she continued to hold the ground.

"Okay. Would you like me to heal you?" Elizabeth asked as she sat on her friend's left side. She silently waited for her to say something before she did anything else.

Amay slowly nodded her head as a way to say yes, before turning, then lowering her head on Elizabeth's lap. As a white light engulfed her hand, Elizabeth slowly placed it on Amay's head. A small gasp escaped Amay's mouth as she felt a warm yet pleasant sensation cover her face and body from Elizabeth's touch.

Elizabeth looked down at her friend with a sad look painted on her face. This took her back after their first mission together. Amay had got badly hurt, and she had to heal her because she didn't have that much blood in herself to do so. Elizabeth also noticed that the black hair that tried to take over Amay's head was now backing off and leaving her with now pinkish-white hair.

"Lizzy?"

"Yeah?" Elizabeth said, looking down at Amay as she focused on healing her face.

"Do you think I'm a monster?" Amay outright and without hesitating asked her.

Her sudden question made Elizabeth pause for a moment as she thought about it. She thought about it before a giggle left her mouth. "We all are, my dear friend. But we have each other to look keep each other together." Elizabeth said, rubbing Amay's head.

Amay giggled as well as she agreed with Elizabeth, even if she knew she avoided her question. Yet, Amay was fine with it. She began to relax on Elizabeth's leg as she thought about her fight against Martha.

"I lost the fight against her, didn't I?" She asked Elizabeth.

"Well, she has been training with me after everything, so it was only natural. But I would say you're just rusty with everything." Elizabeth said, playing with her friend's hair a little. "Also, I would suggest you apologize to her for all the times you mistreated her."

"Hmm, Maybe later," Amay said, growing a smug smile on her face and looking away. She then felt Elizabeth pinch her cheek and pull, causing pain to run all over her face. "Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Okay, I will."

"Why do you harass my daughter so much?" Elizabeth asked her friend while stopping.

"I don't know," Amay said, acting a little childish before bursting into laughter.

They both shared a laugh at her response as the sun continued to shine over them. After a while, Amay got up from resting her head on Elizabeth's lap. She let out a long sigh as she turned back to look at her friend.

"Thank you, Lizzy. For that." Amay said, looking away, almost embarrassed.

"What are friends for," Elizabeth said, giving Amay a soft smile as her short friend covered up the gap in her shirt to hide her scar.

Elizabeth then watched as Amay went back into the house and fell onto her back, sighing. She thought to herself about how close the situation was. If she didn't act fast, this could have ended a lot worse. Elizabeth's hand started to tremble from the thought and the memories of the incident. No matter how much she calms her nerves, she worried about her friend so much.

"Maybe we can help her this time." Elizabeth thought as she looked up into the bright blue sky as the warm light bathed her. She had hopes that with a fresh start on her training. Maybe. Just Maybe. They could help her control that power instead of locking her back up, or even worse.

"Just maybe."

That night, Amay and Lucas stood outside the door of Martha's room.

"Are you sure about this?" Lucas asked Amay.

"Yes. This is something I must do." Amay said, letting out a sigh as she nervously approached the door. She was rehearsing what she was gonna say in her head over again.

"Then why did you bring me along?" Lucas asked, unsure of the plan or why he was needed.

"Because I need you to work as the person that keeps the peace between two rivals," Amay said, looking up at him with a smile. "Besides, if you do this, I won't scare you and let you sleep in your own bed tonight."

"A negotiator? And I would like to have my alone time again." Lucas said, rubbing the back of his neck. He then felt his side from the night she punched him in the side for turning over to face her. "If that's what I need to do, then fine."

"Great. This just needs to go well for our deal to work out." Amay said in a low mumble. "Now knock on the door."

"What!? Why don't you knock on the door?" Lucas said, looking down towards Amay.

"Because you are my negotiator. You have to start the agreement." Amay said, looking back at him. "Now, knock on the door."

"That's not how a negotiator works," Lucas told her. However, they were immedetily stopped to see the doorknob move.

They watched the door open to Martha in a towel with her hair still dripping wet. A sharp exhale left her mouth as she glared at the two bickering outside of her door.

"What do you two want? I'm trying to do my hair." She told them in her monotoned voice as she barely had her door opened enough to peek inside.

Amay then elbowed Lucas as her face began to turn a little red. Her movement caused Martha's eyes to turn towards her brother to speak.

"Right. Um...Martha. Amay would like to talk to you about an agreement." Lucas said quickly thinking on his feet. "May we come in if you are not busy?"

Martha looked at him and then at Amay. She then closed the door on both of their faces. Both Amay and Lucas looked at each other for a moment figuring that was it. Lucas gave her a shrug before starting to walk away.

"Come in." Martha's voice yelled out from behind her door.

Lucas let out a sigh as he turned back around, while at the same time, Amay took a deep breath as she opened the door to Martha's room. To their utter surprise, her room was actually quite nice. Martha had a lot of teddy bears on her bed. A desk with a table. She had pictures of herself and Elizabeth, and her with the whole family on the desk along with a small cactus for a plant. She still had the poster Lucas had given her for her birthday. She even had a picture of the very first drawing Lucas had given her when he was only 5.

"Whoa," Lucas said out loud as he didn't realize how cool his sister's room was. "Man, this is an awesome ass room." He said, realizing that she even had a small scented candle going off.

"Don't touch anything," Martha said as her back were to the two. She was searching for a shirt to wear since she had only her socks and panties on.

Amay faced turned bright red as she avoided looking at Martha. She then looked towards Lucas, who didn't bat an eye at the situation and was too focused on her room. "Don't you find it weird that she's putting clothes on in front of you?" Amay said in a low tone avoiding looking at Martha, who was still looking for a shirt but mainly asked Lucas.

Lucas heard what she said and looked at Martha, who was in her underwear, then back to Amay. "So? She's my sister." He said, answering Amay back. "I wasn't even paying attention to that. Besides, I've seen her naked, and she's seen me naked. Kind of what happens when you have a sibling. You honestly just toon it out and don't make it weird. Ain't that right, Martha?"

"Yup," Martha said before finding a black shirt and slipping it on as she went to sit on her bed. When she sat with her legs crossed, she took a deep breath before looking at them both as she exhaled. "What do you want to talk about?" Martha said in her usual voice as she began to comb out her long black hair.

"Well, Amay-" Lucas was about to say when Martha cut him off.

"Not you. Her." Martha told him as she used her comb to pointed from him to Amay. She turned her full attention to Amay as she wanted her to say what she wanted. Her glare caused Amay to fiddle as she silently continued to comb her hair.

"Well...I...was wondering....since we ended our fight..and you....won. Even though I'm rusty." Amay said, coughing on winning. "I...was wondering if you would you be my sparring partner to help me get back into shape to be his Demi-partner?" Amay said, kind of twiddling her thumbs a little as she felt uncomfortable asking her.

Lucas was sort of surprised to believe that Amay actually asked for help. She always struck him as someone who didn't want to ask people for help and would do things on her own. Knowing this gave him some respect for her.

Martha watched as the short figure struggled to get the words out as she pulled a knot out of hair. "No," Martha said as she allow her hair to flow down her back.

"Oh, come on! Did you even give it a second thought?" Amay annoyingly responded when she said no.

"I did. But my answer is still no." Martha scratching her head while rubbing the inside of her ear.

"How come?!" Amay asked, stomping her foot on the ground. "What do I have to do to get you to agree?"

Martha paused for a moment from looking at her fingernails. A fully annoyed look came across Martha's face as she looked at Amay for a solid moment. "Lucas. Get out." Martha said in flat tone with a hint of anger.

"Don't have to tell me twice," Lucas said, immediately turning and getting his ass out there.

As soon as the door shut behind him, Amay was left alone in the lion's den. Martha then got off her bed as a frown came across her face. Martha began to walk towards Amay with her fist balled.

"Do you have any idea how much you made my life a living hell? And then you have the guts to get mad at me for saying no for not wanting to spare with someone to bullied me as a child." Martha said as her green energy engulfed her hands. "The fact I humored you and allowed you in my room is a blessing. So don't you dare think you can come in here making any damn demands." Martha said with anger coming filling her voice.

"I know- Amay said but was immediately shut down. Amay found herself backed up into a wall as Martha loomed over her.

"Shut the hell up. You are in no position to talk." Martha said as she slammed her hand over Amay's head. She had Amay trapped with nowhere to run or avoid her. She was at her mery. Martha's eyes turned green as she looked deep into Amay's red eyes. "You want to know what you can do to have me be your sparring partner. Do you really want to know?"

Amay swallowed as she didn't back down to Martha. "What?" She said, waiting to hear her demands.

"Apologize." Martha coldly told Amay. "I want you to apologize to me and mean every single word. If you do that and something else, I will spare with you and help you control your problem. "

Amay was taken back by this for a moment and let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I bullied you as a child. I should have acted a lot better and treated you with the proper respect you deserved. I'm jealous and proud of the woman you became in my apscent." Amay confessed to Martha as sincerely as possible. She could feel Martha's eyes judging her words and her every moment.

Martha slowly pulled away as she silently turned around and went to her bed. She bent down low to grab something from under her bed. As Amay just silently stood there.

"So is that a yes...or no?" Amay asked honestly confused as she saw Martha pull out a trunk of some sort.

Martha opened the trunk to reveal it was filled with all sorts of candy, snacks, and anything sweet. Even soda She then looked at Amay for a moment. "I accepted your apology, but it's going to take time to make things alright between us. However, this could be a start. I will be your sparring partner." Martha said, tossing Amay a soda.

Amay caught it with one go as she looked puzzled about this whole situation. "What's with all of this?" She said, very confused about Martha's jester.

"Because I want to talk to you about the second part of the arrangement. So have a seat." Martha said, looking down for a moment. "It's about my brother." She confessed to her.