12 Breaking Scarlet

The boy's eyes stared at her intensely, they were blood red glued to her rain-drenched face. Silicia couldn't help but avoid his tight gaze; instead, she shifted to stare at her wet, muddy boots covered in rainwater. She was soaking wet. Her pretty sun-like hair was filled with the wet raindrops that fell continuously from the sky. The clothes she wore were ruined and sticking to her skin.

He laughed at her shy demeanor, watching her soak coldly in his ever falling rain. Something about his eyes was strange, unfamiliar, frightening. "Haven, is this, your friend?" He asked, his velvety voice curious and amused.

Haven, the girl who had the dark black hair and night colored eyes, shook her head. She glanced towards Silicia, shrugging. "I don't know who she is. She just fell from the sky right down in front of me."

Silicia looked back up at Haven. Haven had her hood pulled down to cover her dark eyes; only her lips and the tip of her nose were visible. Silicia clenched her fist again, remembering that these two 'kids' were playing around with magic in the middle of the night. It was strange that no adult was watching them. They were roaming free. Free to do as they please. They could have done anything, but they decided to nearly destroy a town with some red lightning magic!

She finally spoke her anger clear through her hissing tone. "Do you know how dangerous it is to be playing around with such powerful magic?!"

Haven laughed. "Chillax. He can't kill anyone." She turned towards the boy that still floated comfortably in the clouds. "I mean, not like he plans to anyways."

The boy smirked. "So, do you want to continue playing?"

Silicia stomped her foot on the flooded concrete ground. The muddy water splattered everywhere on her boots. Her body was cold, sticky, and drenched with water. It felt horrible. "No!" She shouted. "This game is over!"

Haven's lips frowned, displeased. "Go back home, adventurer."

"I'm not going anywhere until this game is over." Silicia's voice was demanding, harsh, yet there was no reaction.

The black-haired girl stood still like stone, her head angled directly at Silicia. She was barely moving. Silicia couldn't see her eyes from under her hood, but she knew she was watching, even without her optics. Her lips curved permanently in the shape of a frown. Her laughter from before was gone, lost, replaced by annoyance itching in her. It all showed in the way she held herself.

Although Silicia knew she'd pissed her off, she didn't budge. There were precious lives, precious futures, and precious beating hearts in this town. No childish game should ruin that. Ever.

Then the rain stopped, and the winds froze. The boy in the clouds came falling down from the sky at an alarming speed. He was falling fast, so fast, he was going to crash. He'll die falling from that height.

"Oh, god...Catch him!" Silicia dashed towards where she expected the boy to land. She reached out her arms, her expression clouded with hope and worry. She was going to catch him. Save him.

She was a minute too late. A soft breeze blew across her face as he flew down in front of her. He landed elegantly on his feet like he'd done it a million times before.

Silicia blinked a couple of times, pulling her hands to rub her eyelids. Were her eyes deceiving her? This boy, who was just falling to his death just a few minutes ago, landed perfectly on his feet. He was alright. She couldn't process that he was fine. No broken bones, no blood, no anything. He landed so swiftly, so delicately that the rain on the ground barely splashed.

Who was he? What was he?

The boy's face was only a few inches from hers. His breath was burning against her cold frigid ear. Silicia glanced up at his face. He seemed to be in a daze, completely unaware of his surroundings, breathing heavily. His eyes were half-open, half-closed. The crimson color in them was no longer present and replaced by deep endless black holes. His eyes now were the same color as Haven's. He looked as if he was about to fall asleep. His features were gentle yet defined and beautiful yet daunting. It was weird; Silicia felt as if the boy was about to die.

Haven's hand gripped Silicia's wrist tightly and pulled her back. Silicia stumbled backward, almost falling and tripping onto the wet concrete floor. Haven looked angry. Her face like a defensive cat, ready to claw her opponent. Her lips were still curved in her ever permanent frown, and her tight grip on Silicia had yet to be released.

Silicia grit her teeth. "What are you doing?!" She hissed, attempting to pull her wrist away. Haven's grasp on her was tight. So tight, Silicia felt like her arm was burning.

"Don't get too close to him," Haven whispered, her tone threatening and dangerous. "You'll get hurt." She finally let go, and Silicia could see her fingerprints engraved into her skin.

Silicia was wet, in pain, cold. The day was dark, and the sky was filled with dark muddy clouds. She had come here to relax but was met with this disaster. "I wasn't trying to," Silicia shot back. "I was trying to help. He was going to fall. I thought he was going to die."

Haven ignored her, walking closer towards the boy. She put her hand on his cheek, caressing him gently with her delicate touch. She bit her lip so hard it began to bleed. "And he might die," Haven said. She turned back towards Silicia. "Leave. We'll be ending this game tonight."

Silicia furrowed her brows in confusion. "What do you mean-"

"That's what you wanted, wasn't it?" Haven asked, her voice suddenly kind and sugary.

Silicia's eyes glanced between Haven and the boy. What was she saying? Silicia ran her left hand through her wet, damp hair. She opened and closed her mouth, uncertain of what to say. She had never been more confused in her life. "No... What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I mean. Go home."

That night, Silicia went home. She went home cold, drenched, dirty and filled with rage. She had wanted to stay to help the boy, but she knew she would only get in the way. Those two knew each other, and to them, she was an outsider. To them, she was nosey and poking at their personal business. Still, It angered her. It angered Silicia how she felt the sudden gloomy dark aura of a boy about to die, yet she didn't do anything.

No. It wasn't because Silicia didn't; it was because she couldn't.

Was he dead? The scene played in Silicia's head constantly, but she still couldn't figure it out.

'And he might die.'

That black-haired girl said he might die. What had happened? What couldn't she see? She was there herself, yet she didn't see the boy get hurt. She didn't see him get attacked. He just fell. He just fell, and when he fell, he lost all the power that made him appear intimidating and menacing.

A knock sounded from the door. Who was it? Could the Team be back from their quest? No... It was estimated that the quest that Team Aislinn took would take about three days. Today was only the second day they were gone. Who could it be?

"Come in—"

The door to her room opened before the words finished coming out of her mouth. Kenmer stepped in, his hands in his pockets and a big smirk plastered across his arrogant face.

"Sup."

Silicia rolled her eyes. She was standing by the small window, the palms of her hands resting on the ledge, dressed only in her undergarments and her long white nightgown that reached just below her knees. Silicia had gotten used to Kenmer barging into her room at times far past midnight. She no longer cared what she wore. They were best friends. Siblings.

Kenmer had a problem with going to sleep on time. Silica didn't understand what ran around in his head, but whatever it was, it ran around constantly. At night, he always came into Silicia's room, the only friend he had around his age, and blabbered about whatever he was thinking about. Even if Silicia was asleep, Kenmer would talk and talk and talk. Even if she didn't hear him in her sleep, all that mattered was the comfort of a friend.

Today, it was fortunate that Silicia was awake. She had come back from that disaster of an encounter to finally get herself cleaned and dried up. She was just about ready for bed, but still Silicia couldn't help but watch the bell tower through the only window in her room.

They'll come back, right? She wondered if she'll see them again. Those two weren't ordinary people. The boy's power was comparable to the heads of many Nova Kingdom houses. She wanted to know what happened to him. She wanted to understand him.

Silicia wanted to convince herself that finding the source of their power would protect the kingdom and the world. There was a part of her that felt that looking into them more was wrong. Maybe she was just nosey...annoying.

"Heh, why are you looking all daydreamy?" Kenmer's voice broke Silicia's daze.

She blushed. It was unlike her to daze off. Silicia was usually very focused and always in the right state of mind.

"Something's got you out of it. Wanna tell me?" Kenmer spoke softly, almost like he cared. He never cares. Well, not for her, at least. He always teased her, bullied her, putting her down in every way possible just to get his 5 seconds of glory.

Silicia laughed. "Tell you? You're joking!"

"If that's what you think." Kenmer shrugged. "I mean, I offered."

Silicia stared out the window again. Wandering her eyes across the town, watching the empty dark streets of the night. She wanted to see them again. The black-haired girl, Haven, and the boy… She had never caught his name. She wanted to see them again. The feeling was biting at her, chewing her, breaking her down. She felt she needed to know. She needed to know where his power originated from. Who they were. Why they were playing such a dangerous game in the night. Silicia wanted to know if the boy was really dying like Haven said he was.

"You're boring…" Kenmer groaned from Silicia's bed. He had stretched his limbs across the entirety of it and laid there as if it were his. Silicia didn't mind. She'd rather not argue with him since he always won.

Instead, Silicia decided to tell him. "I saw a boy with blood-colored eyes. They… they were so red…"

"I've seen people with red eyes, that pretty normal Silicia…"

Silica turned her body towards him. "No! Not like that! His eyes changed colors. First, they were blood red, then they were black. When his eyes were red, he looked strong and powerful, but when they changed, it looked as if he was dying. His pupils turned black, and he was dying."

She rushed up towards the edge of the bed. "Ken, oh my god, Ken," she breathed as she shook him with her hands. "YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!"

"Fine. Fine. Stop, please."

Silicia released her clasp on from Kenmer's arms. She looked at him pleadingly, adoringly, begging for any info he had on color-changing eyes. Her golden eyes begged for him to believe her.

"First of all, are you alright? Like, do I need to call Csillia or... were you just having a really really vivid, strange dream?"

Silicia fell to the ground in defeat. "Kenmer! You were supposed to believe me!" She groaned.

"I do, I do! It's just… what do you mean by dead?" Kenmer sat up. He looked down at Silicia, who lay frowning on the cold wooden floor.

"He was alive, breathing— but his body, his movements, his eyes were lifeless," Silicia paused, looking up into Kenmer's blue, blue eyes. "Unnatural."

Kenmer sighed and fell back onto the bed. "I don't know what you want me to tell you. All I can say is you're either extremely weird or hallucinating."

"You see, this is why I don't tell you things. You don't help."

She felt betrayed by his response. The thirst to know more ate at her, and Kenmer provided nothing. Useless.

Kenmer was the older one and the 'smarter' one, as he always claimed, but he did little to help her. Even at this moment, Silicia depended more on her curiosity than Kenmer's own knowledge.

"Whatever..." Silicia groaned, turning to her side. She still lay on the cold hard wooden floor. "Are you going to stay on my bed the whole night?"

"Yes," Kenmer replied, a matter of factly.

It was worth the try. Guess she'd just have to sleep on the floor tonight.

The clock ticked on, and slumber soon fell on Silicia. Her golden eyes that gazed out the dark, dark window shut softly. She had no dreams. Her mind was only filled with darkness and the fatigue of the day.

"Goodnight."

Silicia awoke that next morning to find herself in her bed. She was tucked warmly into the plain white sheets, alone.