They both stared at each other, Elle stared at him in shock and fear; her hands desperately trying to hide her face from him while he just stared at her in confusion.
"I can explain!" Elle blurted out, waving her hands around frantically while Ansel just raised one eyebrow.
"Yeah Amanda, please explain" he threw the shawl on the desk and crossed his arms staring at her intensely.
"So yesterday I was at the cove and Ansel... Wait" she paused raising one of her hands, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion and realization "did.. did you just call me Amanda?"
"Yes? That's your name or did you change your name overnight?" He asked, moving over to his chair.
"But.. I mean no, but" Elle ranted,
"Are you okay? Did someone hit you in the head?" He placed his hands on her forehead but Elle hit it away, shifting a bit further from him.
"No, this morning has just been crazy" Elle said, regaining her composure "why are your eyes changing colors?
"I can't walk anymore, I'm so tired" Elle voiced out, completely spent after walking for over 30 minutes.Mamock turned to her with a glare and clenched fists "I told you that you don't have the right to complain, right?" Elle raised her hands and shook her head furiously."No.. I mean yes, you did tell me but you didn't tell me it's this hard!!" She whined causing Mamock to scoff."This isn't your first time of doing this! You should have known""Well I forgot!" Elle defended sharply."Why does this have to happen every year" she muttered quietly, sitting on the floor besides Elle "you act like it won't be a big deal to go to the warehouse, but then in the process you are the first to complain"Elle sighed, she didn't know Amanda was like this but it all works out in her favour anyway "well, you can't blame me for trying to be optimistic about this"Mamock released a deep breath and shook her head, rubbing her hands on her face "this
"Rus we have to go" Ansel said desperately to Rus as the thunderstorm kept getting worse."Hold on Ansel, the girls are wise. They won't go to the warehouse in this weather, they are probably hiding or resting somewhere" Rus said, burying the last treasure chest. Ruri overheard their conversation and moved closer to them, nodding her head in agreement with Rus."Amanda might be a little reckless but I trust Mamock will keep her in cheek" Ansel sighed, walking around with his hands on his forehead."Guys, I know. I just have this bad feeling" The other two turned to each other with raised eyebrows and slowly nodded their head.Rus cleared his throat, drawing Ansel's attention to him "well, you're Ansel. If anything bad was to happen you would have seen it""Need I remind you that I can't see everything, especially if it's a thing of choice?" Rus released a deep breath and looked at Ruri; who just shrugged "you know what? I'll just go check on them a
Mamock and Ansel stared wordlessly at a now lifeless Elle, both unable to speak or move. They stood on her bed side with tears streaming down their faces, each silently blaming their self.Ansel wiped away his tears and ran out of the building while Mamock just slumped and sat on the floor, tears still rolling down her face."Where is she!? Amanda!?" Mamock immediately placed her hands on her ears, covering it at the sound of Ruri's voice.Ruri ran into the room but halted at the sight of her friends dead, she choked out a sob before slowly walking to her "Amanda" she called out softly and patted her hair "you can hear me right? Amanda!" She called out louder, this time shaking her body.Rus immediately pulled her away from her as soon as he ran inside, "Ruri, she's.. she's gone" he whispered softly into her ears, trying to keep the tears from falling "we can't do anything about it now"All three of them stayed there with glossy eyes fixed on Elle,
"where am I?" Elle asked looking around the unfamiliar environment. She was surrounded by cherry blossoms in the middle of nowhere with the petals falling softly but never touching the ground."Hello?!" She called out again this time in a louder voice."Hey Elle" a soft voice called out softly to her and she turned around immediately, almost tripping on her own feet at the sight of the girl dressed in a corset gown "I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you" the girl quickly apologizedElle nodded her head slowly, unable to speak out of shock as she stared at the girl before her. The girl looks almost like her but her hair was less curly, has green eyes instead of her brown ones, shorter and has freckles all over her face."You're beautiful" Elle muttered in amazement, her mouth slightly open as she kept staring at the unknown girl who now has a shy smile all over face."Thank you" Elle nodded, smiling nervously at the girl; who is a complete stranger
"Lay down carefully and slowly," Mamock said as she helped Elle lay on the bed. "Common! I'm fine already, stop acting like this." Elle complained, refusing to lay down. She stared at the four people in her room that were looking at her with worried eyes "look, I'm fine! Nothing hurts, just let me go back to preparing for the festival." "No!" Mamock, Rus and Ruri chorused together. She sighed and laid down on the bed angrily. Mamock stared at her for a while before she sat down beside her on the bed "listen Amanda, the guardian's slash is not just something you recover from, you nearly died!" She exclaimed, holding Elle's face. "Scrap that Mams, she actually died. Whatever happened is still shocking," Rus added. Ruri sighed and sat beside Elle when she noticed nothing they were saying was affecting her, "Amanda, you are human. You tend to take more damages than us and get more affected, so please just rest. We can handle everything by ourselve
"Dinner is ready!" Mamock shouted and before she could say another word, Rus and Ruri ran downstairs in their pyjamas and sat beside each other. "Woah, you both always amaze me at the speed at which you come downstairs for food, but will never do anything to help prepare it." "What can I say? We're amazing like that" Ruri said and bumped first with Rus. Mamock rolled her eyes at them and went back to dishing out the food, Ansel walked into the dining room a minute later "Thanks for cooking Mams" he said with a smile. "My pleasure," she said, while subtly glaring at Ruri and Rus who were busy looking at their plate filled with rice with so much happiness on their face, not bothering to thank her "where's Amanda?" She asked after filling up everyone's plate with food. "I'm here, I'm here," Elle said rushing into the kitchen in a short nightgown, she plopped down beside Ansel giving everyone an apologetic look "I was taking a bath when you announced that
Elle placed her hands on Ansel's chest, making him open his eyes "Umm.. You're.. you are too close" she stuttered out.Ansel immediately took a few steps back from her, embarrassed by what was about to happen "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean..." he apologised but Elle stopped him halfway."It's fine, no apologies needed," she said, forcing a smile on her face.He looked at her for a while before nodding his head stiffly "right, no apologies. Sure""I should go back now," Elle said and ran upstairs, locking her door the moment she entered inside.Ansel stood rooted in the kitchen, staring at the place she was standing a while ago before rushing off to his room."Ahh! What was that?" Elle asked while fanning her face and breathing through her mouth. A smile suddenly light upon her face, "he looked so hottt" she squealed and buried her face in the pillow."I'll be sure to never forget this moment, even tho it will never happen again," she mu
THREE DAYS LATER"I hope you're ready," Ruri asked, stepping into Amanda's room with Mamock behind her. A gasp left her lips and her eyes widened after seeing Elle."You're just waking up?!" Mamock asked in a loud voice, disbelief written all over her face seeing Elle still in her nightwear.Elle rubbed her eyes sleepily and slowly sat up from the bed "why are you guys acting so surprised? you know I never wake up early. And why are you both dressed up?" She asked, lazily running her eyes down their outfits.Ruri stood shocked before slowly turning her head towards Mamock "Did she just ask what I think she just asked?"Mamock nodded stiffly, she rushed to the bed and started checking Elle's temperature "are you okay? Did you damage your brain or something" she asked grabbing Elle's face.Elle stared at her quizzically before pushing her hands away from her face "Mamock I'm fine... What's the deal?" She turned towards Ruri as she asked the qu
The creatures stood before the graves of those that they lost during the fight, all dressed in white paying their last respect to them. "It is indeed unfortunate and painful that we lost our loved ones to this fight, but let us not remember them with sad thoughts but by their heroic deed," Ansel said to the creatures who had tears streaming down their eyes "the ritual has been completed, let us all go home and morn them in the comfort of our homes" he concluded and everyone started dispersing, going their separate ways. He stood there looking at the creatures till the cemetery was empty and he then turned towards Elle who gave him a sad smile, "let's go" he said and stretched out his hand which Elle took gratefully as they both walked to the cove where the wolves, the turned vampires, Ruri and Demi were all waiting for them. Elle cleared her throat the moment they got to the cove, drawing their attention to her as she s
Elle stood there glaring at Anthonio while he kept looking at her with a smile plastered on his face "let her go" she said with clenched teeth, making Anthonio's face morph into a scowl."Last I checked, I don't take orders from you," he said in an angry tone making Elle take a few steps back in fear "I should have just killed you a long time ago, you wouldn't have become a problem now and you will probably just be resting with your parents" he stated and Elle's eyes widened."What did you just say?!" She asked in a low and angry tone, her eyes darkening."Ahh, I never told you," he said and smiled at her "I'm not your father and Anna is not your mother. You are a stolen child." Elle whimpered when he said that."Where are my parents?!" She managed to voice out, trying to swallow down the pain in her voice.Anthonio pointed two fingers on his forehead and made a shooting sign "Dead, dead and dead. They were stupid enough to refuse the deal I made t
ONE WEEK LATERElle was sleeping peacefully when screams and stampedes woke her up, she immediately sat up on her bed and started looking around frantically when a heavy knock came on her door.She stood up from the bed, dressed in the shorts and top she wore to sleep and took the wristwatch that Mamock got her and rushed downstairs, manipulating the watch into a sword on her way down."Who is there?" She asked leaning on the door with the sword raised up, ready to swing."Elle it's me Ruri! We are under attack!" Ruri shouted, almost out of breath. Elle immediately opened the door and rushed out."What did you just say?""We are under attack, the realm warriors are upfront trying to keep it under control" Ruri explained as the both of them ran off together."What about the others? Have they been taken to safety?""Mamock is in charge of that, we have to hurry Elle," Ruri said and increased her pace."Is it Anthonio?" Rur
Ansel stood in front of Elle, patting her head softly "Are you ready?" He asked in a low tone and she nodded reluctantly.Today is the day they will be going back to their time frame, she spent the entire night with the others having a slumber party and it was her way of saying goodbye."Let's leave already, I might change my mind if we spend a minute longer here," Elle said, trying to lighten up the mood. Truth be told, she doesn't want to go back, this time frame is a lot more lively and peaceful and she doesn't have to worry about a thing, but then she can't just let everything fade away because of her selfishness.Ansel smiled at her and pulled her into his arms "either way, you will still have to go back. You don't belong to this time after all" he said to her, rubbing her cheek softly."Shut up"He let out a little laugh before he started muttering something making Elle gasp in pain
Anthony stood before the mirror, adjusting his tie till he was okay with it. He looked at himself one more time before taking his phone and briefcase and walked downstairs.Anna stood in the kitchen, looking a lot thinner and paler than before, Anthony placed a quick kiss on her cheek and sat down on a dining chair "Good morning, is the food almost done?" He asked, placing his briefcase beside him."Oh yes, it's done. Give me a minute" she said, bringing out plates from the shelf. She immediately dished out the pasta and placed it before him "here"He looked at the food and gave her a warm smile "You aren't eating?" He asked when he noticed there was no plate in front of her.Anna sighed and shook her head "No, I'm not really hungry"Anthony dropped his fork and grabbed her hand softly "Is this about Elle again?" He asked in a soft voice, making Anna release a deep breath. "Listen, I'll find her and I'll kill her for making you go through this, and
"So let's get started with mind manipulation, I knew from the beginning that this will be the hard part for you," Ansel said to Elle, they were both seated in his office."So you were planning to make a full appearance once I've mastered the two other abilities?" Elle asked with an amused smile."Well, you can say that. You mastered the other two with little to zero help, so my guess is this won't be as hard as I thought it would be" He said, standing up from his chair and walking over to her picking up a book."You already know that everything is run and controlled by energy, am I right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and Elle nodded in agreement. He smiled and placed the book before her "can you see or feel the energy of this book?"Elle looked away from him and fixed her gaze on the book "I can't see it" she said and placed her hand on the book "but I can feel it" a smile lit up on her face, as she cares
Elle opened her eyes with a smile gracing her face, the memories of last night flooding her mind. She covered her face with one of the pillows and squealed into it "He is so sweet" she muttered, taking the pillow out of her face and cuddling into it."Breakfast will be ready in 10 minutes!" Mamock shouted, pulling Elle out of her dreamland. She released a deep breath, the smile not leaving her face as she walked into the bathroom to freshen up. She dressed up happily, humming a song as she walked downstairs."Good morning!" She said in a sing-song voice, dishing out the vegetable dish into her plate. The others looked at her in surprise, while Ansel was trying to hide his smile.She kept humming a song while stuffing herself with food, the others kept glancing at her and back at each other, "um... Did anything joyous happen that we don't know of?" Rus asked, making Elle glance at Ansel before shrugging her shoulders"Not really..." She said and returned t
"Here's your schedule for today," Ruri said, handing Elle a piece of paper "you better get to it, cause you have lots of stuff to do"Elle glanced at the schedule and grunted, she already had a rough morning with handling two hungover girls and making breakfast for everyone. She was hoping to get extra hours of sleep, but as luck would have it she can't."What about you and Mamock, can you guys handle your schedule with the hangover and everything?" she asked when Ruri was about to walk away."We'll be fine. We took the tea syrup and we just need to rest, and our work has already been added to either your schedule or Rus' schedule" Ruri said, batting her lashes and before Elle could say a word, she ran off.Elle stared at her retreating figure with her mouth open, and eyebrows scrunched up "I swear, those girls would be the death of me," she ran up to her room and changed into something suitable for the day's activities."So first things first, vis
"Elle! What just happened?" Ansel asked rushing towards Elle, inspecting her body with wide eyes. "I'm... I'm... " Elle started, her eyes on the fallen branch. She took a deep breath staring at Ansel "what just happened?" He looked at the tree branch with a small smile, then turned towards Elle "We'll talk about this later, let's get back to the party first" Elle nodded with her eyes closed. She opened it back and smiled at Elle "let's go then" Ansel smiled at her and they both walked back into the party. The party was on full blast when they walked back in, the soft beat of the drums has been replaced by a band singing on top of their voices. Various creatures were simply dancing away at the centre of the field, while most stood by the corner drinking and people watching. "Where have you guys been?" Ruri asked in a loud voice, trying to talk over the buzz "come on let's go dance" and without waiting for a reply, she dragged the both of them i