The Twins of Fate ~Part IV~

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

Word Bank:

abolish    extinguish    compensate   recompense

purchase    buy    detect    discover

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The Twins of Fate (Part IV)

by Teacher Christine

**Kingdom of Enchantments, Palace**

Staring at the night sky through the ceiling made entirely of clear glass, Genei bathes in the warm comfort of his luxury fur pelts on his enormous bed.  Genei hasn’t been this excited since he extinguished the reign of the fallen king, Sekai.  As Genei seeks out the stars, Vega and Altair, he recalls the legend of the two deities, Orihime and Hikoboshi, who were lovers separated by the Milky Way and could only meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.  The two stars that represent the two lovers eventually make his mind wander to the mysterious girl he is destined to love.  He shuts his scarlet eyes and tries to imagine how she looks like, to no avail, as even the most attractive female in the kingdom has never moved his heart of ice.

All of a sudden, Genei rises from his bed and makes his way to the adjacent room.  Genei’s pale hands shove open the large double doors and he finds Tomo sitting on the cushioned chair in front of the fireplace, reading a novel.  Tomo shuts his book immediately and rises from his seat and quickly bows.  He then straightens himself and gazes at his Lord with a curious look in his cerulean eyes.  “How may I help you, my Lord?” Tomo inquires.

Genei runs his fingers through his silver hair and sighs, admitting, “I can’t get the Fortune Teller’s words out of my head.  I feel alive, more alive than I have felt in the past 16 years.”  He paces on the rug in front of the fireplace and continues, “I want you to go out and find these Twins of Fate.  According to the Fortune Teller, these twins are the children of King Sekai and Queen Umi.  If the children look anything like their parents, they should have pale skin with hair and eyes as blue as the sky, or pale skin with hair and eyes as purple as an amethyst.”  Genei stops pacing and looks into the red and orange flames dancing within the fireplace and commands in a soft yet firm voice, “Find them and bring them before me, alive.  Also, make sure that the girl is not harmed.  Although she may be the end of me, she may be my fated one.”

Tomo kneels before his Lord and bows his head, his platinum blonde hair appearing reddish-orange as it reflects the flames, replying: “As my Lord commands, it shall be done.”

**Kingdom of Enchantments, Grassy Hills**

From the dark forests beyond, five figures finally emerge and approach Aoi and Murasaki’s group with caution.  Once they are only 12 feet away, the five male figures stop and address the group, stating, “Hand over the thief and go along your merry way.  Don’t even think about meddling in our affairs or else you’ll end up regretting it.”

Naito observes the five men standing before them and quickly recognizes the pursuers to consist of one Red Knight, two Orange Knights, and two Yellow Knights.  Luckily, the knights are in the lower tier of the ROYGBIV army, so they do not pose much of a threat to him.  Naito picks out the leader of the group, a Yellow Knight with a large build and a quiet demeanor, who silently sizes up Naito’s group with his cool black gaze.  Naito looks straight at the red-haired leader and inquires, “What proof do you have that this young lady stole anything from you?  She doesn’t look like someone who would pickpocket a group of intimidating knights, does she?”

The other Yellow Knight steps forward, with an irritated look on his face as his brown eyes seethe and he jabs a chunky finger at Doro, thundering, “That thief took my Mahou right from under my nose at the restaurant in the town past this forest!  She pretended to have an interest in me, and snatched my Mahou right off my wrist while I wasn’t paying attention.”  He runs both of his chubby hands over his dark brown hair, turns to Naito and fumes, “ How are you going to _________________ me for my loss?  You better give me more than just my Mahou and the thief.”

Doro starts to twirl a few of her pink strands around her finger and looks at him with disgust.  She sneers at him and rants, “I can’t believe you thought I’d ever be interested in a greedy plump pig.”  “You know this Mahou you claim to be yours,” she asks while dangling a thin silver chain with delicate swirly designs engraved on it between her fingers, “belonged to a girl in that town.  She promised I could _________________ it from her right before you stole it from her.”  Doro scoffs at the fat Yellow Knight and taunts, “Who’s the thief now, Pork Chops?”

The fat Yellow Knight shakes with anger, as his face turns a dangerous shade of red, showing how offended he is by Doro’s comments.  The Leader steps in and points out, “With the reign of Lord Genei, the buying and selling of Mahou has been _________________ed among those who have not proven their loyalties to Lord Genei.  Therefore, the transaction you and that town girl were about to do,” the Leader remarks while gazing at Doro calmly, “would have resulted in both of you residing in the dungeons.  With you alone stealing the Mahou, though, saved that girl from imprisonment and only calls for your arrest.”

After listening to the conversations long enough, Aoi clenches his fists, fixes his baby blue eyes on the fat Yellow Knight, and reasons, “I understand how Doro committed an offense toward you, Mr. Pork Chops, but you have to try looking at things from her perspective.  I do think that offenders need to recompense those they harm, but in this case, Doro isn’t totally wrong because she was just retrieving the Mahou that was stolen from an innocent, powerless girl.”

Murasaki puts a cool, delicate, pale hand on her brother’s shoulder and steps out from Naito’s and Aoi’s shadows, standing in between them and in plain view of the five knights.  She looks to the fives knights and chimes in, “I agree with what he said.”  Mofu, her white puffy snowball of a guardian owl, chirps in agreement while perched on her shoulder.  Murasaki coaxes on in her sweet, melodious voice, “How can you expect a bystander to do nothing when somebody is being wronged like that?”

Although Murasaki posed a question, only silence replies, as the five knights are paralyzed and stupefied by Murasaki’s presence.  Doro notes to herself how Murasaki’s ability to entrance others can come in handy, as she grins to herself at finding a dependable ally.  After an eternity seems to pass by, the Leader finally replies, “I’m afraid we can’t let this offense slide, young lady.”  His eyes soften as he continues, “Please step aside. We wouldn’t want to get you involved.” 

All of a sudden, a matching ring that is worn by all five of the knights start to glow and the knights appear to be listening intently to a voice that only they can hear.  With this distraction, Naito and Aoi exchange glances and nod at one another.  “Doro, lead Murasaki to the caves first,” commands Naito in a stern voice.  “I’ll bring Aoi soon after we deal with these knights.”

“Roger!” Doro chirps in a bright voice, as she turns in the direction of the caves and starts to pull Murasaki behind her.  Doro turns back and winks at the boys, yelling, “Meetcha there!” She then touches one of the many rings of Mahou on her finger to summon her flying broom, jumping on and stretching out an arm to help Murasaki up.  Murasaki pulls herself onto the flying broom with ease and secures herself behind Doro by wrapping her arms lightly around her new friend. 

The knights begin to stir as they register the information Tomo sent to all the members of the ROYGBIV army.  The Leader thinks to himself, the Twins of Fate who should look similar to their parents, the late King Sekai and the late Queen Umi, around the age of 16.  The two young beautiful strangers seem to fit that physical description.  Just as the Leader tries to seek out the beautiful fey-like creature with mysterious violet eyes, he witnesses her and the thief levitating on a flying broom.

Mofu hops off of Murasaki’s shoulder and hovers in front of her face, as if to say, follow me.  Mofu takes flight and disappears in a flash, and Doro leans forward as the broom shoots forward in pursuit of the white puffy snowball. 

The Leader of the knights retains a bit of the conversation he vaguely overheard the blackish-blue hair man say to the thief and pieces the information together.  Naito notices the Leader’s facial expressions and understands that the man has figured out that the caves nearest to their current location must be the ones in which the Mahou of Alternate Dimensions resides in.  However, before the Leader can command his knights to go to the caves, Naito and Aoi charge forward and attack the knights.

Aoi heads straight for Mr. Pork Chops while Naito heads right for the Leader.  Aoi lands a punch right in the center of Mr. Pork Chops’ stomach, causing the fat Yellow Knight to fly into the Orange and Red knights behind him, like a bowling ball ramming into bowling pins at a high speed.  “Striiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!!!!!!!” exclaims Aoi, as the knights fly far back and roll to a stop, apparently knocked out since they finally remain unmoving on the ground many feet away. 

On the other hand, the Leader narrowly dodges Naito’s skilled flame attack, avoiding being scorched at the last second.  After witnessing the two superpowers before him, the Leader decides to report the situation back to headquarters and uses his Mahou of Escape, disappearing from the grasslands and teleporting back to the palace. 

Aoi turns to look at Naito with wide baby blue eyes, inquiring, “Did that dude just teleport?” as he circles the plush grass the Leader was standing upon just a moment before in utter amazement.  “Teleportation exists here?” he further prods.

“Yes,” replies Naito, “and it is a rather troublesome skill for the enemy to have.”  “We must hurry and regroup with Murasaki and Doro before the reinforcements come for us.  Looking at that Leader, he went back to the Palace to call for more powerful knights to aid him on his mission to arrest Doro.”  Naito sighs as he looks in the direction of the caves, “The trouble is, though, Doro’s flying broom is quite fast.  How are we going to catch up to them before they reach the caves?  A sinister, ancient creature resides within, and it’s not safe for them to enter alone.”

All of a sudden, a gust of wind starts to pick up and the grass start to sing. 

BOOM!!!

A large impact, like a comet crashing into the ground, occurred just a few feet in front of the two, and Naito and Aoi cautiously approach to peer at the source of the crash.  A pale young boy with jade green shoulder-length hair and greenish-blue eyes, seeming to be around the age of six, gazes back at them.  “You are my master!?” asks the boy with a look of disbelief as he takes in Aoi.

Naito glances at Aoi and smirks, “Looks like you have a spunky Seiryuu, or wingless flying dragon, as your guardian Aoi.”

Aoi’s jaw drops as he gapes at the tiny green-haired boy, wondering how the boy can be a dragon.  Nevertheless, he flashes a brilliant smile at the tiny boy, dressed in a light blue yukata with golden lotuses embroidered throughout, and offers an outstretched hand.  He bends over, placing his other hand on his knee as he beams, “Nice to meet you! I’m Aoi, and I am super excited to have a dragon as my very own guardian!”

The tiny green-haired boy squints at Aoi’s outstretched hand right before he smacks it away.  “How dare you talk down to me like that!?  I am way older than you can ever imagine, even though I have a child’s appearance.  I cannot believe I have to serve an ignorant child like you!” the tiny dragon complains.

“Oh, I’m sor-,” Aoi starts, but then quickly corrects himself as he continues, “my apologies, oh reverent, ancient dragon.  It is a pleasure to have someone, as wise and mighty as yourself, serving me and guiding me.”  Aoi can’t wipe the brilliant smile from his face, as he then inquires, “What is your name?  Can you fly fast?”  His face turns into a concerned one as he remembers his sister’s plight, as he then asks, “Can you do us a favor and catch up to my sister?”

The green-haired dragon stares at Aoi for what seems to be an eternity before he finally replies, “It would enrage me if you start calling me weird names, so I will give you my name.  I am called Suigyoku.  You can call me Sui.”  Sui smirks at Aoi and continues, “I have extreme power over the realm of water and am unrivaled when flying in my dragon form.”

All of a sudden, a dazzling, warm light envelopes Sui’s tiny body, as he morphs into a humongous, majestic, wingless jade green dragon, around five feet tall and sixteen feet long, in the matter of a few seconds.  Sui beckons to Aoi and Naito with a three-clawed paw and urges, “Quickly hop on.  We will catch up to this sister of yours in no time.”

**Kingdom of Enchantments, Sinister Caves**

After traveling a few miles over the quiet grasslands, the warm summer night air gently tugs through Murasaki’s long baby blue curls as the flying broom comes to a stop at their destination.  Doro and Murasaki hop off the broom, surveying the area.  Mofu lands on Murasaki’s shoulder and ruffles its feathers while scanning the surroundings for impending danger.  Murasaki absentmindedly runs her fingers over Mofu’s fluffy snowball body and listens intently.  She turns to Doro and states, “Not even the sound of animals inhabiting the land can be heard.  This silence is eerie.”  Although usually calm and collected, Murasaki did not do well with horror movies, haunted mansions, ghosts, zombies, and anything creepy.

Doro looks serious for once, as she fixes her pink eyes on the largest cave entrance and answers, “I’ve heard rumors about the danger that lurks within these caves.  Any living beings that live around these caves are in hiding at nighttime since the dangerous monster that guards the Mahou of Alternate Dimensions is most active at night.”  Doro turns her pink gaze to Murasaki, as she commands, “Be careful and always stick close to me.  We’ll wait for your brother and Naito before we dare enter the caves though.  I’m not that dumb to jump headfirst into danger, unprepared and with little manpower.”

Just as Murasaki is about to agree with Doro, she _________________s a faint thumping in the land below her feet.  “What’s that?” Murasaki questions Doro, a little startled.

“What’s what?” Doro asks, puzzled.  

"The ground was thumping just now.  Didn't you hear it?" Murasaki asks while staring intently at the ground.

“I didn’t hear or see anything unusual.  What are you talking about?” Doro inquires as she scans the surrounding area more intently.

Thump…

         Thump thump…

                  Thump…

                           Thump thump…

        

The ground below Murasaki’s feet pulses even stronger, like a heartbeat.  “I can hear the pulsing of the land.” Murasaki murmurs in a soft voice.

“Wh-wh-wh-what do you mean by that?” Doro remarks in a shaky voice.

All of a sudden, Murasaki feels herself being pulled by some unknown force and her body flies straight into the caves.  Mofu tightens its claws on her shoulder and follows her in.

“MURASAKIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!” screams Doro as she hears the girl’s shriek. 

Murasaki is pulled into the darkness of the caves and passes through the cave walls and floors as if her body were an apparition, or ghost.  She feels herself going deeper and deeper, down and down, as if into the very heart of the caves.  When she finally comes to a stop, Murasaki takes a deep breath of the chilly air surrounding her, a stark difference to the warm summer air from above, and wraps her hands around her bare arms, as her white sleeveless dress does little to keep her warm.  As her eyes quickly adjust to the darkness, she peers around her and finds a pathway up ahead, lit by the glowing stalactites—which appear to be lit from within—hanging from the high cave ceiling.

Murasaki feels a slight tug in that direction and decides to proceed cautiously.  Running one hand along the cool and smooth yet bumpy cave walls, Murasaki keeps her other hand on Mofu’s tiny soft head and whispers, “Where do you think this path will lead us to?”

When Murasaki draws closer to the end of the path, which grows brighter and wider as she proceeds, she hears the constant dripping of water droplets falling.  Finally, she reaches the pathway’s end and discovers a large, serene underground lake reflecting the moon and the stars from the night sky peering through the opening of the cave ceiling, which is hundreds of feet high. 

Taking a closer look at the lake’s surface, she recognizes the stars, Orihime and Hikoboshi, and recalls the legend about the two lovers.  All of a sudden, the water’s surface begins to ripple and the shape of a young man with silver hair and scarlet eyes starts to take form.

        

To be continued…