Juliet

Seth jumped in front of Emma in an instant and crouched, watching the figure, his eyes glowing a fierce red. However, something emerged from the shadows that he did not expect. A girl around their age emerged from behind the tree, frightenedby Seth's show of aggression. "Please.. I didn't mean to scare you. Don't hurt me, I am sorry! I mean you no harm, I need to talk to you and your..friend," the young girl said, trembling with fear. Seth suddenly felt bad for jumping to conclusions but he was on edge since Emma's parents were murdered. He didn't want something to happen to Emma, too.

Seth stood up and his eyes went back to brown. "I am sorry, my apologies. We have had a," he paused then looked at Emma before she spoke up saying, "we've had a stressful day." The girl seemed to calm down when Emma broke her silence, almost in relief. "Emma, right?" The girl had blue eyes like Emma, but she was dark and curly-headed. If you had looked at them side by side, you could have sworn that the two girls were sisters because of the shocking resemblance they bore.

"How do you know my name?" A sudden sense of dread washed over Emma, for a second she thought that maybe Seth had been right to worry but then the girl reached out her hand. "I-I'm Juliet, you don't know me but... we are related. Like you, I have powers as well. I... see things." Juliet was as pale as a ghost from anxiety. She was terrified that the young couple would not listen to what she had to say even though it was extremely important to their survival. Juliet took Emma's hand and their palms both glowed similarly to each other, but Juliet's was pale lavender where Emma's was light-blue. Emma's breath caught in her throat. "Juliet, if we are related like you say, why have I never heard about you?"

Emma knew that what the girl was saying was true, yet she couldn't understand what was happening or why she'd never met her relative. "We were separated a long time ago at birth, I am your sister," Juliet said and then looked down at the ground. Emma was shocked. "My what?" Emma was blind-sided by the fact she had just found out that one of her relatives was alive, not only that, but it was her own sister. "Juliet, how old are you?" Emma's lip quivered. She was about to burst into tears because she already knew the answer. "I'm 13, I'm your twin Emma..." Juliet mumbled and Seth backed away a bit awkwardly, letting the two girls have their moment. Emma didn't hesitate. She hugged Juliet impulsively. She couldn't help herself, she had been reunited with her twin after all these years.

Juliet and Emma both cried together, and hugged each other close. It was the most joyful Emma had been in as long as she could remember. After the girls could regain their composure, Emma said, "Juliet, do you know about Mom and Dad? They.. They're dead." Emma looked down, feeling terrible that she had to ruin the moment, but Juliet stopped her putting her hand on her shoulder and looked at her seriously. "Emma, what I'm about to tell you is going to shock you‌. Those two, they weren't your actual parents. Your grandfather George, he told you the stories right, the stories about the Alkonost and Sirin?" Emma was floored by the first statement, too floored to hear the rest. "They what? What do you mean? Not my real parents..?" Emma stared at Juliet, dumbfounded by what she had just said.

"Emma, your grandfather wasn't who you think he was‌ either. Do you remember the stories? About the Alkonost. Do you remember the creation of the Alkonost and Sirin?" Juliet was dead serious, Emma realized and thought back to the stories her grandfather told her. "The.. Are you telling me what I think you are?" Emma knew exactly what she was saying. Her grandfather was not simply an old man who told her stories of the Alkonost; he had created them himself. "Yes, Emma. Your grandfather was a ‌powerful man once. He was known throughout the world for his abilities as the greatest magician of all time. He was the wizard from the stories he told you." In Emma's heart, she knew it to be true, but at the same time, everything Juliet had said was incredibly hard to take in, especially all at once.

Her parents weren't her parents, and her grandfather was a wizard, what next? Would Juliet tell her ‌they were the Alkonosts from the story? That's exactly what Juliet said next. "Emma, your grandfather is our creator. He created you, me, and that..." Juliet's voice trailed off and Emma put her hand over her mouth and gasped. She knew what had killed the people she called mother and father; Sirin. "Sirin." Emma's head spun but Juliet gently grabbed her arm. "Yes, Emma. That thing that killed those people you called your parents. His name is Sirin. He is our half-brother. When he found them, he was looking for you. He tried to question them, but when they wouldn't tell him where you were, he got angry." Angry was an understatement. He ruthlessly slaughtered them.

"Angry? You don't murder people when you are angry. At least I never have and I get angry incredibly often!" Emma suddenly felt her temper flare, not at Juliet but at Sirin. How could she be related to such a monster, a monster that would kill innocent people just because he was "angry?" Emma spat on the ground in disgust. Juliet backed away and let her have her moment. She was entitled to her anger. She couldn't imagine how much Emma was hurting inside. "Emma, he has to be stopped. That is not all he has or will do. If he is not stopped, a lot more people will have a worse fate than those who you once called parents."

Hearing how evil Sirin was made Emma sick to her stomach, and she walked up to the nearest tree and punched it as hard as she could, not thinking, and she rested her head against it. "Juliet, how do we stop him? How do we kill him?" Seth heard the mention of Emma killing someone and immediately chimed in, "what? Kill someone?! Emma, you aren't capable of killing a fly, let alone your half-brother." Emma spun around, her hands and eyes glowing with an incredible amount of rage. So much rage that Seth immediately knew he had over-stepped and became scared.

"I-I didn't m-mean it Emma, I'm sorry–I just.. Today is a lot for me. I don't know what to do anymore or how to help," Seth trailed off and then broke into tears and sat down burying his head in his hands and Emma knew she had gone too far. "Seth.. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to." Seth got up and walked off, and Emma knew she couldn't stop him. She had screwed up everything.

Emma cried and turned to Juliet. "I have to go after him. I wish I could explain. I am sorry I will be back as soon as I can." Before Juliet had time to reply, Emma ran off after Seth. She soon found that she was too late. He was gone and before she knew it she became hopelessly lost in the thicket of woods too. She didn't think they were as vast as they were, but what seemed like a small thicket of woods turned out to be an expanse.

Emma trembled, then broke down and cried. She was scared and alone in the woods with her half-brother trying to kill her, her first love probably hated her, and she didn't even know where her sister that she had just met was. Emma curled into her knees and sat for a long time.

Then, suddenly, she heard footsteps and the familiar flapping of wings.