finding her

She ignored him, not even giving him a chance. Right now, she didn't feel any remorse for killing them. Just like she had said to him, they made who she was. She could turn off her ‘light’ if she had any left after tonight. She knew she had added more red to her hands, but she didn't have it in her to care for right now. She tried being better for Edmund, hoping he could forgive her.

“What the fuck happened to you?!” Natalia, feeling drained, walked back to Edmund. She could hardly walk, feeling more exhausted than before. Her body felt the effects of what she did, and she was just seconds from fainting. She could still hear the screams inside her head, but she blocked them out. It wasn't easy.

“I found Tommy.”

Her answers were short as Edmund was quick to grasp hold of her, nearly enough lying her falling body weight on top of him. Ignoring his words as he dragged her to his couch, “You did? What the fuck did that bastard do this time. And what's with all this blood? Are you hurt?” frowning, looking at her state all he cared about was her and seeing her looking like this killed him inside, but she couldn't look at him; he then realised what had happened making him sigh softly as he gently sitting them both on a ratty old couch “He was going to take that child. I couldn't stand there....” holding back her tears feeling her throat getting tighter “I couldn't just stand there and let him.”

“Not like they did with me.”

She couldn't hold it any longer; her emotions were too much, and the dam broke, making Edmund pull her closer to him; she could feel her chest getting tighter, making it harder to breathe. “Hay Nat, I need you to breathe for me. Can you do that? It's okay; you're safe here,” he said, nodding in the crock of his neck, following his breathing the best she could.

It didn’t help that all she could feel was the sensation in her heart and the blood on her clothes. She felt dirty she knew she had pushed the darkness back now, all she could feel was guilt and it wasn't even because she killed Tommy she had waited so long just to do that but just haring Edmund’s voice, she let him down he's going to hate her and never want anything to do with her.

Thoughts were going through her mind, and she couldn't stop. She kept saying sorry repeatedly.

She knew her magic was connected to her emotions and needed to calm down before she lost any more control. “Natalia, I need you to listen to me. You're having a panic attack. You're going to make yourself sick. Can you listen to my voice?” Edmund's soothing voice, trying his hardest to keep his tears at bay and focus on the teen in his arms.

“Good, you're doing amazing. It is okay. I'll never leave you.” he reassured, ‘no matter what,’ keeping his breathing steady at best, but he noticed her hand was shaking and somewhat a glow inside her palm, making him wince. He knew what it meant; they would be in trouble if he didn't calm her. “Okay, good. Now, can you tell me five things you see?” Edmund asked, quickly allowing the girl to try and look, hoping to keep her mind busy away from the attack. He gave her as much time as needed, allowing her to name each item in the room that she could see best and allowed the glow in her hand to darken down, allowing Edmund to let out a sigh of relief. “That's good, Nat; can you count backwards from ten for me, please?”

“10-9-8-7-6-5”

After each breath, it took her a movement, and her crying slowed. The only thing that showed she cried was the tears that stained her face and continued hiccups. “I'm sorry.” a small whisper could be heard from the now silent room, only the tiny fire in the corner. “You have nothing to be sorry for; I'm just glad you're safe,” Edmund reassured, pulling Natalia tighter. “But I used....” “You had every right to protect that child. And Tommy deserved what he got to him. I wish I had been there. You shouldn't have been alone.” Edmund reassured the girl the best he could. He knew what Tommy had done, and it was just a tiny amount, but he hated that man. he could never help her fully, never knowing what had happened before. They meant he was happy enough that she trusted him with her secret.

He won't break his trust in her; it took a long time to earn it from the girl after she saved his life three years ago.

He remembers what she had done, saving his life.

After he was being too cocky, trying to hold his own against a bunch of the queen's knights. He had thought he could sneak into the castle and return with pride. He wanted to help.

Somehow, he was able to break into the strongest castle in the world and take the treasures that lay inside.

He was wrong

He didn’t last five seconds before he was spotted, and then all hell broke loose, and he was made to retreat faster than he had ever run before. It was a life-or-death situation; all the cocky confidence he had felt had gone out the window.

He remembers making it back to the Slums, hiding in the bar. People were already there. Considering it was a Friday night, you should have seen their faces, seeing a fourteen-year-old boy bleeding from his stomach and maybe making bad decisions. Hearing growls of nightmares making the hair on the back of his neck stand up when he looked out the window of the tavern, he was something he had never thought he would see; no one knew, but they still insisted. Only some people have the power to access the power.

The power of the beasts

He had hoped it was his imagining, but seeing the wolves the size of a house and eyes as blood red and gigantic wings behind their backs making them even more enormous than they were, The next thing he remembered was the lights had gone out, and everything went dark, not even James, who kept his mouth shut; you could hear a pin drop before flashes of lighting hit the sky, the ground shaking beneath him, shaking the building people gasped out in horror none of them knew what was happening. All he knew was the power he had felt that night, something he had never forgotten. It was like one second; he was running from a pack of guards, and the next beast was still around.

The morning had shown, and everyone returned to normal, but he could never forget what happened that night.

Some say it was all in his head, or everyone was too drunk to remember or care. It had only been a year since he moved there; he had no friends and barely knew anyone, only James, who said he could work for him. Asking him about that night was impossible. Every time he brought it up, he would dismiss it; James told him, ‘You should leave things alone if you know what is good for you’ It wasn't until almost two weeks later that he went on a walk at night, people would whisper never to leave your home and night make sure you lock them and never wander but if you must know he never listens at what he has been told. That left him walking around at night two weeks after the night of the attack when he felt that same type of power again.

And that was when he found her.

Natalia was holding two groups of people in the air in the middle of a fighting arena, surrounded by cheering people from around the world some he had never seen before just cheering on violence. He even could see people who had lived at the upper end of the city to see them cheering on the fight, which was surprising. Edmund couldn't see her face at the time, but the sheer power he felt had him in a hook. He could never forget that day.