The Twins of Fate ~Part III~

Fill in the blanks with the correct word AND circle the synonyms hidden within the story.

Word Bank:
 talon              claw               portable              transportable

intercept         interrupt          retain             remember

The Twins of Fate (Part III)

by Teacher Christine

**Kingdom of Enchantments, Palace**

Tap…tap…tap…tap.  Only the sound of Genei’s pale white finger thumping on the armrest of the throne he sits upon can be heard resounding throughout the throne room.  Not even the breathing sounds of the dozen Indigo knights of Genei’s renowned ROYGBIV army can be heard, even though their shadows line the perimeter of the enormous hall.  The hall itself seemed to tremble in fear.  “Call the fortune teller,” Genei commands his right-hand-man, and most loyal follower, Tomo, a Violet knight.

“As you command, my Lord,” replies Tomo, a tall young man with platinum blonde hair and deep cerulean eyes, as he swiftly exits the room and seeks out the fortune teller. 

Genei resumes to tap his finger upon his armrest as he grows bored waiting; throughout the many years of his immortal life, boredom seems to take up the majority of his time.  His mind wanders as he remembers the late King of the Kingdom of Enchantments and smiles to himself.  Sixteen years ago, King Sekai really put up a fight with Genei, as the battle between the two seemingly omnipotent individuals lasted for seven days and seven nights.  A frown forms upon Genei’s perfect, handsome face, as the memories he _________________ed of how their battle ended plays in his head. King Sekai, who was as strong and unmoving as the tallest mountain, cast a spell of deep slumber upon himself and his Queen, freezing their time and escaping the clutches of death.  Is there any other worthy opponent who can free me from my eternal boredom and move my heart of ice? Genei thinks to himself.  Further thoughts are interrupted as Tomo enters the throne room with the old fortune teller in tow.

Genei beckons the wrinkly, scrawny old fortune teller closer and asks, “Come and read my fortune to me, wise one.  I have grown bored of the throne I now possess.  Is there anything interesting that lies in my future?”

The fortune teller tugs at the chain around his neck and touches the tiny crystal, which transforms into a large crystal ball with colorful mist moving within its depths.  As the fortune teller recites a spell and moves his hands around and over the crystal ball, an image starts to appear.  The old man finally proclaims, “There is a young prince who will threaten your reign and rival your powers.  There is also a young princess who will melt your heart of ice and rule over you.  These Twins of Fate will be your downfall.”

Genei smirks in response and voices with excitement, “Things will start to get interesting around here then!”  Tomo glances at his silver-haired lord and sees the flames dancing within his scarlet eyes, anticipating how things will start to get complicated with his lord so excited like this.

**Kingdom of Enchantments, Grassy Hills**

A sharp pain continues to throb throughout his head as Naito stirs in his sleep.  The sweet scent of something fruity and floral soothes him as he reaches out a hand to rub his temple.  A cool breeze teases his midnight, blackish-blue hair as he tentatively runs a hand over the large bump, and hears a melodious voice softly ask, “Have you come to?  How are you feeling?”

Naito slowly opens his eyes to take in the sight of a goddess, hovering right over his face.  As he gets lost in the depths of her violet gaze, he suddenly realizes that he is resting on her lap and jerks up into a sitting position.  He suddenly regrets the sudden move, as a fresh wave of pain threatens to knock him out into a state of unconsciousness once again.  Once the pain subsides into a dull throbbing pain, Naito looks up and observes the land around him, noting that several hours have passed, as night has set in and the full moon is high in the sky.  “Would you like some water?” Murasaki questions as she offers a cup fashioned out of a large leaf. 

It appears that she made the water from the nearby spring transportable by forming a cup out of the material on hand.  Ingenious, Naito thinks to himself, as he thanks her and gulps down the cool, refreshing liquid. 

Murasaki smoothly rises from the plush grass and makes her way to her brother, facing the dark forest beyond, and hugs him from behind.  “Aoi, where are your manners?  Come join us and apologize to the poor man for knocking him out!”  Murasaki commands in a teasing tone.

Reluctantly, Aoi turns around and looks into Naito’s jade-green eyes and croaks out, “I apologize for the mishap that occurred earlier.  I just meant to take a closer look at the scroll.  I didn’t mean to bump into you, really.”  His eyes shift back onto his twin as he ponders,  “What still confuses me, though, is how powerful a little collision like that can be.  We already discussed how the difference in the gravitational forces of both worlds might be related to this sudden display in power.”

Naito nods his head in response, confirming their beliefs as he agrees, “With your bodies trained to endure the stronger gravity of the human world, your bodies are currently just barely being restrained by the force of gravity within our world.”  He points to his forehead and continues, “Which means landing a punch on me would’ve resulted in a much bigger mess.”

Just as Aoi is about to apologize again, a rustle and a flap of wings call the attention of the small group to the sky.  A small white fluffy snowball dives down and lands on Aoi’s head.  Aoi freezes and exchanges glances with his twin.  Murasaki motions for Aoi to bend down as she peers at the object nestled on his head.  Her expression suddenly brightens up as she takes in the fluffy, white puff as a baby owl.   She cups out her hands to the baby owl, which cocks its head at her and immediate hops into her palms as she coos, “You adorable thing.  Just how did you end up in my brother’s hair like that?”

Naito observes the tiny ball of fluff, nestling itself into the palms of Murasaki’s hands and replies, “It appears to have answered your call.  You see how attached it is to you already?  When you entered this world, it sensed your presence and flew all the way here to be with you.”

Aoi reaches out and questions, “I don’t get how this works, but does that mean I get an animal too?” Before his hand is able to pet the fluffy owl, it flaps its wings and extends its claws at him, as if to keep him away.  Aoi quickly withdraws his hands as he waits for Naito’s answer.

“Yes,” Naito retorts, “but her guardian animal seems to have answered the call first, and rather quickly at that.  Owls like these are found all the way on the opposite side of the world, and are known to mature into one of the stealthiest and most dangerous creatures of the sky.”

Aoi’s jaw drops at that comment.  He stares in horror at the tiny dangerous ball of fluff hovering in front of Murasaki’s face and nuzzling her cheek.  “Well,” Aoi mutters, “at least its on her side.” 

Murasaki runs a delicate finger gently along the white fluffy owl and muses, “I think I will name you Mofu, because you are so soft and fluffy.  Please take care of me!”

Mofu chirps in response, as if agreeing to what she said.  Mofu flies over to her extended finger, wrapping its _________________ carefully around it and perches comfortably, as Murasaki resumes to pet Mofu.

All of a sudden, another rustle resounds from the deep woods behind them.  “Is it my animal this time?” Aoi asks in an eager voice.

A young woman, appearing to be around Naito’s age, bursts out of the forest while riding on a broomstick.  As she travels closer to the group, her shoulder-length pink hair blowing about in every which way is seen to peek out from under her black magician’s hat.  When she reaches the group, her matching pink eyes assesses the group while she voices, “You don’t look like you’re out to collect Mahou.  However, you look formidable and can definitely help me when I get my hands on the Mahou of Pocket Dimensions.  Care to join me on my hunt?”

“Mahou?” Aoi asks, as he looks at Naito for clarification. 

Naito pulls out the fiery copper ring from the chain around his neck and responds, “It’ll be quicker to show you.”  All of a sudden, a ring of fire erupts out of nowhere and surrounds the young woman, who squeals at her sudden predicament.  Naito looks at Murasaki, who assesses the situation with a grave look on her face, and continues, “Mahou refers to enchanted jewelry, which have the power to do whatever it is enchanted to do.  My ring, for example, holds the power of flames.”

“And what of this Mahou of Pocket Dimensions that this woman mentioned,” Murasaki questions, while shifting her gaze from Naito to the young woman, standing stiffly as her eyes take in the flames around her.

The young woman explains, “It holds the power to make anything _________________, as this Mahou opens up another dimension that has a limitless capacity to store things.  In theory, the owner of this Mahou can even transport an entire city if it is sucked into the dimension within, and spat out at another location of this world.”

The twins’ eyes widen in fascination as they gaze at one another.  Murasaki reads Aoi’s expression and makes out his thoughts as, Makes a suitcase seem insignificant, and nods in agreement, with a miniscule smile forming on her face.

Seeing the twins’ interest on the Mahou of Pocket Dimensions, Naito remarks, “Thank you young lady, for inviting us to accompany you.  However, did you think about how revealing your treasure hunt would create complications, as others would seek out the Mahou like you are?”

The young lady shrugs and crosses her arms in front of her chest.  “Well,” she asserts, “this Mahou is resting within a very dangerous cave, so I would rather risk competition with humans after working with them to obtain it, than risk dying from the guardians protecting the Mahou.”

“I see,” Aoi mutters as he pieces together what she said.  “I am up for an adventure.”

Murasaki chimes in, “Same here, but we have yet to formally introduce ourselves.  I am Murasaki, and this here, is my brother Aoi.  The one holding you within flames is Naito.”

As Naito’s gaze rests upon Murasaki, he wills the flames to recede until they are completely extinguished from the young lady. 

Being released from the flames, the young lady takes a deep breath and takes off her hat. “My name,” states the young lady, “is Dorobou.  Please call me Doro!” she ends with a bow.  With an embarrassed grin, she places her hat back on her head and shifts her gaze back to the forest, adding on, “By the way, I failed to mention to you that I was being chased by a few members of the ROYGBIV army and they should be closing in on us any minute now.  I kind of snatched a Mahou from one of the knights,” she confesses sheepishly.  “Please _________________ them from capturing me, or else all of us will end up in trouble neck deep!”

Naito appears to be unfazed, as if he already anticipated the trouble Doro brought with her, and taunts Aoi, “This is where your punch will come in handy,” as both men take up protective stances in front of Murasaki.

To be continued…