Rose 2.23: It's time to go home

     After not wanting to say goodnight to Tiffany, I walk into the kitchen to see that Clark has made spaghetti without burning it or turning the pasta into a giant log, looking like a single noodle.
     We all decide to ignore the fact that we're sitting at a table and decide to hold the plates in our hands as we eat. After all, Ashley left her textbook on the table, and everyone knows how spaghetti sauce can stain.
     Skye talks about his dream, and Clark acts like he believes him when he says it's real.
     "So, you're married?" Clark asks.
     "Yes," he answers.
     I get in, "What about Carmen?"
     He looks uncomfortable. "I'm going to have to tell her. She'll think I'm nuts, but it's still the truth."
     "Were there really dragons? As in, huge, reptile-like creatures that breathe fire?" Clark asks in an amazed way.
     "Yes," Skye answers like he's distracted. "I'm so worried! I left Lorelei with two of them: one injured but the other was the one they all called 'Mother.' And the way that elder elf lady acted, she's probably the most powerful one out there." He tosses the plate upon the table, suddenly not caring about the textbook. "What if I no longer have a wife to go back to?" His head rests in his hands with his fingers pulling at his hair.
     Skye being married is taking some getting used to. It was okay when Fiona and Link got married, they're older than me, but Skye? That's strange.
     My phone rings, and I see it's Willow. I get up, answer it, put my plate in the sink, and speak to her. She cancels our date for tomorrow and doesn't give me a solid reason why. I have no choice but to accept the cancellation.
     I play the part of "boyfriend" for Shauna this weekend, but I can't keep my mind off Tiffany. Every time I touch Shauna, I feel like it's wrong, and this upsets me. She's such a sweet woman that needs to be told she's beautiful, but I feel empty telling her that even though she smiles that tender smile.
     On Monday, I sadly pull out my phone to ask her to meet me somewhere. I know I need to end this now.

     "Hi, Donny," she breathes into the phone, and my insides stand up like an exclamation point at the sound of her voice. She's always been so good on the phone.
      This is going to be hard.
      "Shauna, I was wondering if you'd like to... meet me at the bowling alley?" I ask. The nice, noisy bowling alley, a good choice.
      "Oh. Um, no, I can't actually. I really need to study for finals."
      "Perhaps we could study together," I offer. I can put this off for later, right? I shouldn't break it off with her while she needs to focus on studying.
       She giggles a sexy giggle, and I walk over to lean my head on my arm on the wall.
       "But you'd just distract me the entire time like you're so very good at doing. No, I think I need to study alone," she says quietly, and my imagination places her lying on her back in her bed with her hair framing her face while she twirls a small strand of it in her soft fingers.
      "Then when can I see you again?" I ask, and I worry I momentarily lost control of my voice and let the lust in it show through.
      "I'll call you later when I think I'm better prepared for finals. Then maybe we can 'run over' everything together," she says suggestively, and my mouth waters when I think about how much of her I'd like to 'run over' with my tongue.
      "Don't take too long," I say with a small smile, and we say our goodbyes.
      Then it hits me.
       What?! How could I let that happen?! That's not how that was supposed to go!
       I breathe out quickly through my nose and run my hand down my face, deciding that Shauna is too good on the phone.
      There must be something in the water because both Tiffany and Willow blow me off as well. I have plenty of time to study.

     Skye tells me he's certain he failed his final. He says it doesn't surprise him since he'd forgotten the material and was hopelessly distracted the entire time. I get the feeling he's just going through the motions, waiting to go home to see what Giselle has concocted.

     Happily, I tap the backs of my fingers against the paper as I think, There. This is a good way to look at my ladies blowing me off so they can study! Perfect score once again!
     A little angry now with all three of them, I don't call them. Soon, it's time to go home.

     When we get home, Skye is heartbroken that our mother and sister haven't figured out how to open a portal into his wife's realm. They say they found another one with a seaside village, but they couldn't find Lorelei.
      He breaks up with Carmen, but then he acts listless. He's impossible to live with over the next few days.
      Then, just as we'd all started giving up, Giselle surprises us with a happy squeal from her alchemy lab.

    "So, I'm going to walk through the wall?" Skye asks after Giselle explains what she plans to do.
    "You act like you don't believe me, big brother," she snaps, her short temper showing through.

     "I want to," Skye says wistfully.
     "I just need one last ingredient," Giselle says. "I figured out where I messed up last time. I need some of your hair, not mine. It'll connect us right to her."
     Skye turns his head and looks at our sister with renewed respect as he says, "That sounds like what she might've done! Giselle, promise me something first."
     "What?" she asks curiously.
     "Do this again one day once you've grown up - with your hair, and go there. I think you'll like what you find." He smiles brightly. Then he pulls out some of his hair to hand to her.
     Giselle does her thing, and sure enough, the wall looks like it opens up. Before us walks a very startled, beautiful woman holding a baby in her arms.
     "Skye!" she exclaims before she starts speaking in a language I've never heard.

    He lets out a happy breath and says, "I'm coming." Then, he quickly hugs us all goodbye, and it finally hits me: I will probably never see my brother again. Mom and Dad cry, but they look happy. Giselle quickly rips a bit more of his hair out before placing it in a small, plastic bag.
    "Just in case," she explains after Skye lets out an 'ow!'
    He laughs and steps through the portal, taking the baby from Lorelei's arms after he hugs her. The portal remains open while he walks inside the small house, and we see one final glimpse of him holding his son.

     "It's good to be home, Pedro," he says to the baby before the wall becomes just a wall again.

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You may have noticed this in the background behind Donny as he spoke with Shauna on the phone. I had them all take pics of themselves and each other and place them around the house they rented. I don't plan on sending them back to the same house (how boring!), so I thought I'd leave the pics there as a "we were here" kind of thing:

To wrap up Skye's story:

As soon as Eingaia came on the scene with Falknir, the pendant around Skye's neck booted Skye back to his realm, back to class. The Father Falknir spoke of took over his body. The Father had long ago foreseen the many wars, and, although no one knows why he waited this long, he knew that he would need Skye in order to finally bring peace and balance to the valley (in order for the proper sequence of events to play out). Not even Eingaia knew about the body snatch until balance was restored, which got accomplished through Skye's "winning ways." Then, the ancient dragon revealed himself for whom he really was, and Lorelei fainted from shock. Assured that Skye would one day return to her, she found out she was pregnant, went through the pregnancy, and delivered while waiting for him to come back. Then, as we saw, he did.

I confess to pure laziness in not doing that as a chapter. I could've... and done it in Lorelei's p.o.v. But I would have had to force myself to do it, and coming up with that fantasy mini-plot was like pulling out my fingernails. I guess that's obviously not my genre, at least in this point of my life. I didn't want needing to get those pics done to cause this story to lag because when I started it, I promised myself I wouldn't make myself work hard at it.

Still, I thought I'd at least say what happened so as not to leave anything unresolved. :)

Click here to go to 2.24

Rose 2.22: Missing you

Skye

     "...and so that's why they make it so consumers have an easier time reaching the radio buttons while keeping their eyes focused on the road in front of them," a voice drones on.
     I wake up with a start and find myself sitting in class. What?! I think in a panic.
     Was it all a dream? I think with my heart racing, and I reach up to run my hand across my chin... that has a scruffy beard grown on it.
     No! It couldn't have been a dream! I'd never be able to grow a beard this fast! No! I didn't dream Lorelei. I'm married! I have to bring peace between the dragons and the elves!
     Don't I?
     My heart aches from the possibility that everything I thought I'd experienced was only a dream. After all, I had been reading a lot of fantasy books lately.
     But it was so real! I think desperately and feel my hairy jaw, intensely wanting to believe everything really happened.
     Class ends, and students file out. I remember that Donovan has this classroom after me, so I hope to find him in the hallway.

     His eyes widen when he sees me, I guess in reaction to my jaw. I'm suddenly extremely glad that I've never been able to easily grow a beard because if I had been able to, I would feel heartbroken. This beard is my only assurance that Lorelei is real and out there somewhere.
     You have to believe that Lorelei is real and out there somewhere. You're married. You're a negotiator for peace and balance in that world, I try to tell myself as I approach my older brother.
     I tell him about what's happened to me, and he listens as I explain how I seemed to have experienced weeks of time in that other world and yet only about half an hour here. He looks at me like he thinks I'm crazy.

     "We all have crazy dreams from time to time. The other night, I dreamed I was a flying fish in love with a mermaid. Mermaid! Can you believe it? Whoever thought mermaids were real?" he asks.

     My shoulders slump and I say dryly, "Mermaids are real, Donovan. They've come out of hiding."
     "I thought I dreamed that too."
     "You need to get better sleep."
     He suddenly smiles at me. "Like you, eh? I'd like to spend weeks with a beautiful elf maiden too. May I borrow those books? Maybe I can."

     "This is not a joke, Donny! Look at my face! Do you not see my face? When have you ever known me to grow a beard like this this fast? According to this world, I was clean shaven except for the patch just this morning, and now look at me!"
     "I admit the beard is strange, but... all that you tell me is strange too," he says slowly.

     "And I need to get to class. Maybe call Mom. She might be able to explain it," he finishes, looking uncomfortable.
     He thinks I'm crazy.
     I agree and head "home."

    I get there and find Clark in his boxers, playing Warfield X.
    "Get that tank over here! I found a bug! I found a bug!" he eagerly yells into his headset, not even noticing I walked in the door.
     I shake my head at my roommate and call Mom. She tells me that she'll try to figure out what to do. She actually believes me; I'm so glad! Giselle grabs the phone from her and says that she read something about inter-dimensional portals.
     "But I need time to research it, so just stay there for now," my little sister says. I never thought I'd hear the word 'research' come out of her mouth.
     "But how do I know that decades won't pass in her world until I see her again?" Thank goodness she doesn't age fast.
     "That doesn't matter. If I can do this, it won't be much more of a stretch to get you as close to time there as I can. Regular laws of time and space don't apply here, remember?" she answers.
     "If you say so. I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"
     Maybe Lorelei can pull me back to her herself, I think with a small amount of hope, thinking that she could make the spell like she'd done before. I go and lie down to try to force myself to take a nap, hoping I'll wake up in those ruins again. I miss her terribly.

Donovan

      My little brother's strange problem slips out of my mind when Shauna walks into the classroom. She's been telling everyone that I'm her boyfriend, and I need to talk to her about it. However, I doubt that here during class is the right time and place.
     Class takes forever, and when I try to corner her afterwards to talk, she complains of needing to quickly rush up to the restroom.

    So, I cross the street from the quad and order myself a chocolate muffin at the cafe. After the woman hands me my order, I see out of the corner of my eye Shauna walk in.

     "Donny?" Shauna asks. "Why did you leave? I came right back downstairs and then saw you were gone. Did I do something wrong?"
     I quickly turn around to reassure her. "Wrong? No. I was hungry. Would you like something?"
     She asks me for a chocolate muffin too since mine looks good, so I go and buy her one. We annoy the woman sitting with us that's trying to read, but the place is suddenly packed. When we finish eating, we get up, and I walk her over to the quieter side room.

      "Something's bothering you," she says when I turn to talk to her.
      "With your parents coming this weekend..."
      "Hold on a sec," she quickly interrupts me and turns to the side to put her bookbag down on one of the empty couches.
      I'm suddenly reminded that right upstairs is where Tiffany told me that she didn't want to see me anymore unless I'd date her exclusively. Now, I have a date with her tomorrow night. I really don't want to mess that up, but right now, I have Shauna with me.
      Shauna turns back to face me. "You're not cancelling on me, are you?" she asks in a small panic.
      I smile at her a small smile and say, "No, of course not. I wouldn't do that to you, but I was wondering if you understand that this is only a show for your parents."

     "Y-yes, of course," she replies like she did think it wouldn't be an act--that she thought I was, in fact, her boyfriend like Tiffany heard. She smiles to belatedly try to hide her embarrassed surprise.
     I smile back at her and say, "You know I think you're beautiful, smart, creative, sexy, and caring, but I don't want a girlfriend at this point in my life."
     "I know," she says quickly and looks down and off to the side. "Why did you feel you had to say that?"

     "Because a little birdy told me that's not what you said to someone else," I respond.
     "Oh," she answers and then smiles a little. "I just wanted her and someone around us at the time to think you were."
     I laugh happily and hold her face in my hands to kiss both her cheeks. She now claims to have said all that on purpose to throw off Tiffany. Whether or not that's true, I like her preemptively jealous reasoning.
     "Perhaps," I say, still holding her face, "come up with something else to say. Hm?"
     She breathes a sigh of relief and nods her head as much as she's able. I lean in and linger on her lips for a while before I take a step back.
     "I have to go, but I'll see you this weekend," I say and kiss her sweet face once more.

     The next evening, Tiffany comes over, and I quickly take her upstairs.

     I hope it's not my wishful thinking, but I think she missed me as much as I missed her. Her flowery scent draws me to her like an addict to his favorite drug. When I hold her in my arms, my entire being sighs with relief.
     Tiffany. Tiffany; she's really here! Why did I let her get away? Even when I was without her, she still managed to sneak her way into my thoughts. Tiffany Tiffany Tiffany. It's always been Tiffany.
     I groan when I discover she wears that flavored lipgloss again. I normally don't like lipgloss; it gets in the way of a woman's natural lips. But with her amazing smell combined with the way she tastes, I love it.
     Tastes... I ponder how she tastes elsewhere, and I groan again.
     "It's so good to have you back, Tiffany," I say quietly to her.

    "Am I back?" she questions, and I pull back a little in confusion.
    "Yes. Of course you are. Where else do you think you are at this moment?" What else could she mean?
    "Right now? I'm starting to make out with you on this couch, but I know you. This doesn't mean anything to you, so I'm wondering what you mean when you say that you're glad I'm 'back.'"
     I shake my head quickly in confusion for a split second. "Doesn't mean anything to me? How can you say that?"

    "What are your plans for this weekend, Donovan?" she asks.
    "I'm pretending to be Shauna's boyfriend, but that doesn't mean anything-" I stop myself.
    She's right, I think in stunned silence. She lightly strokes my face while I try to make sense of everything.
    She whispers, "This weekend, I won't matter because you'll be wrapped up with Shauna in this cruel game you're playing."
    "Of course you will matter! You don't understand!" I quietly snap. "You all matter. Even when you didn't want to see me anymore, you still mattered."
    "So, tell me how this weekend doesn't mean anything but yet Shauna matters," she requests calmly.
    "The act doesn't mean anything," I try to explain to both her and myself.
    "My point is that this right now won't mean anything to you by this weekend."
    "No," I say and let out a hard exhale, "this will still mean something." Something starts happening to me. A foreign feeling of suddenly wanting no one but Tiffany winds itself around my soul like a vine growing around a lamppost. I don't feel trapped but grounded, stable.
     I have to stop seeing Shauna after this weekend, I think sadly, not looking forward to hurting that sweet woman that deserves someone better than me.
     "What will it mean then?" Tiffany asks, bringing me back to the present moment.
     I've been thinking too much and not kissing her enough.

     She makes a little, surprise noise when I kiss her instead of answer her question. I plan on answering her question, but just not yet. I want to enjoy her mouth some more first.
     When I leave her lips to let her breathe, she reminds me, "What will it mean?"
     I answer her question with my lips on her throat, "It will mean a very nice memory to pull me through what will probably be a very trying weekend. It will mean something that I'll want to happen again, the sooner the better. It will mean that after a long time missing you, I got you back in my arms again, my Tiffany with the sapphire eyes that have captivated me since the first day."
     "Captivated?" she asks.
     Of all the things to pull out of my speech, she picks that, I think in an irritated fashion.
     "If I was so captivating," she continues, "then why did you need the others and still do?"
      Right now, the only one I 'need' is you.

     I quickly lift her hips and push her shoulders back, capturing both her wrists at the same time. My hips settle comfortably between her legs, and I silence her expected cry. She needs to learn just how I 'need' her, at least for the moment. I need her more than now, but I'll leave that up to my future self to handle later.
     She lets out a frustrated moan as I work my hips against her, and I know I'm chipping away that prudish, frigid persona of hers. I moan a plea.
     "Donovan," she whines while I give her body what it wants. Then, a vindictive gleam shows up in her eyes in addition to the hazy one put there by what I do to her, and she asks, "Does Willow like it when you do this to her too?"
     I go back through my memories and realize something. I don't think I've ever done this to Willow. Instead of saying that, I ask, "Willow who?" I have to smile when Tiffany angrily fights my hand holding her arms above her head.
     "Is that what you've said about me? 'Tiffany who?'"
     Still smiling, I answer her, "No. Nobody gets jealous like you do." I playfully run my nose down hers before lightly kissing her pouting lips. Suddenly, I remember I have a date with Willow tomorrow night, and I wonder how I can get out of it.
     Perhaps I could talk with Willow, and we could mutually agree to stop seeing each other. We haven't been seeing each other much lately anyway. For all I know, she's dating ten other guys in addition to me. She'll be fine.
     "I think you like me being jealous," she snarls.
     "Mhm. It's sexy, and it shows me you care," I say and run my hand up under her shirt.
     She sounds very sad when she says, "But you don't care."
     I look down into the most beautiful eyes on the planet and say, "I do care, probably more than I know."
     "Then prove it and get off me," she snaps.

     Smiling, I do as she asks and then help her sit up. I think it's funny how she looks like she might not have wanted me to stop doing what I was doing after all.
     "Is that better?" I ask facetiously, reading the struggle on her pretty face. Then I lean towards her and turn my nose into her hair, and I kiss that place behind her ear.
     "Why can't I stay away from you, Donovan?" she asks like a plea.
     I breathe in her scent before I say, "For the same reason I can't stay away from you."
     "No. You're just fine without me," she argues.
     "I don't think I was. You would call me or accidentally text me and throw everything out of balance for a while until I could recover," I tell her honestly and gently plant kisses on her neck.

    She pulls away so she can turn her head and look at me. "What am I doing? I should go. We can't make each other happy." She moves to stand, but I almost roughly pull her back to me.
     In explanation, I say, "Give... give me a little time, a very little time, before you walk away again."
     She shakes her head no. "You can't give me what I want."
     I jump headfirst into those beautiful eyes as I say, "I think I can. Give me time, Tiffany."
     She agrees but also says that she needs to leave for now. I sadly tell her goodnight at the front door.

Rose 2.21: I always win

Skye

 

     They knew I was coming. I was in that dragon lady's vision, my name at least.
      I'm meant to be here. That's really kinda cool. No, very cool.
      I'm going to succeed. I'm going to end the eons-long feud between the dragons and the elves. Surely, I'm going to succeed.
      I always win. This is going to work!

     Falknir, Lorelei, and I continue on our travels, and soon, Falknir realizes that I don't trust him around my wife. I think he finds this funny. Funny or not, I don't leave him alone with my wife again if I can help it.
     After a few weeks' travel, we arrive back in Dragon Valley. Falknir "sweetly" points out that he could've made the journey in a matter of hours had he not had to go by foot.

     Lorelei informs us that we have arrived at the perfect time. The town is having its monthly meeting, so we make our way to town hall.

     The second we walk in with Falknir, a panic ensues, at least from the elves. It takes the humans in attendance a little more time to find out what's going on, but then they all leave as well. Children cry at seeing what they'd only heard about in their more-scary bedtime stories. Parents pull them away, validating their fears, before they leave with them in their arms.
     The only ones who stay are the three elders that sit at the front table. They look pissed off.
     "How dare you interrupt the town hall meeting with this filth!" the guy in the middle says like he's not afraid. The woman next to him looks at him like he's a bit looney but that she also doesn't disagree with him. The guy on the left merely glares, waiting to hear what I have to say.

     Feeling somewhat official, I reply, "I come with a delegate from the dragons." I can feel Falknir watching me with curiosity.
      I was born for this moment.
      "Their kind isn't welcome here," the dude in the middle says, still sounding irritated.
      Then, the guy on the left speaks up, "And you knew this!" He points directly at Lorelei.
      That's the same guy that performed our marriage ceremony! He seemed almost nice then, well, almost. He was a bit haughty, but I thought it was an elf thing.
     "What do you have to say for yourself?" the guy asks my wife.
     "I..." she begins.

     "Speak up!" the dude in the middle yells, and I start getting angry. None of them look at me. The lady still watches the ass next to her, and the blue guy has a peculiar expression on his face as he looks at my wife like he's also trying to look past her.
      Sounding more confident, which makes me happier, Lorelei answers, "I warned you of this, but you wouldn't listen."
      "So you bring them to us to make your prediction a reality?!" Middle Dude snarls.
      Falknir stays curiously quiet.
      I decide to answer the mean old man's question. "No. We went looking for them to hope to convince them to stop the attack, which, by the way, they were planning. Eingaia sent Falknir as Her representative."
      The woman finally speaks. "You were in the company of Eingaia and lived?"
      Uh, she didn't seem that dangerous to me, but then, she was predisposed to expect something out of the ordinary.

     "Thirty thousand years have passed," Falknir says from behind me. "It is time the dragons retake what is theirs."
      "We thought you were dead," the woman says. "And we have cared for this valley much better than your kind did in your day. It certainly smells better from what I heard as a child."
       The mean old man in the middle says, "And we have no intention of forcing our residents to displace themselves to appease a small number of disgusting, smelly lizards!"
      Falknir smiles a wicked smile back at the man and says, "Then I will be happy to relay your message to Mother... after I show you what happens when you don't abide by a treaty!" He quickly walks out of the building, and an ominous, screeching roar sounds from just on the other side of the outer wall.
      Someone comes running into the room, a guard, and the blue elf guy tells him, "Alert the defenses. It's time." The guard dashes off.
     I'm furious.

      I storm up to the head table, lean against it, and say, "Have you lost your minds?! And here I thought that elders were supposed to be wise!"
       The man merely looks at his hands and calmly says, "Child, do not meddle in affairs which aren't yours."
      "They've become mine! People are going to die just because you refuse to negotiate!"
      The blue man speaks, "He wasn't interested in negotiating either."
      The other guy continues, "There will be only one death tonight, that of a green dragon."

     "And that will solve everything? The rest of them will come prepared to kill."
     "And we will be ready for them, as we have been for centuries."
     I think of something. "You said you thought they were all dead."
     "We didn't want to be unprepared nonetheless," the female elder replies.
     "Well then, what happens when they all die? As I've learned it, this valley is about balance. You cannot have that if only one side controls it."
      She responds, "We've done it this way for millennia, who are you to appear out of nowhere and tell us right from wrong?!" She then stands up and has guards escort me out. They ignore my shouted warnings as the guards push Lorelei and me out the door.
     My wife turns to me, "We have to stop him!"
     "How?" I ask. I assume she means Falknir since the elders inside are apparently too shoved up their own arses to listen to reason.

     The sound of screaming and the smell of smoke permeates the air the closer we get to the town center. "If only there were some way to get him to stop without killing him!" I hopelessly beg my wife as a huge, wooden ballistic missile gets hurled through the air from an enormous crossbow-shaped catapult. Falknir artfully twists around, avoiding it, before launching a counter attack, breathing a line of fire at the machine before the elves can reload it. Most of the soldiers avoid the blast, jumping off the parapets, but one isn't as lucky. The stench of burning flesh reaches me as the man screams as his own, now red-hot, armor scorches his skin.
     "Skye," Lorelei says, pointing to my necklace. I pick it up a little to look down at it. Where at one time the pendant's eye glowed red, now it glows green.
      My eyes meet hers, and I don't feel in control of my own body as I race over to grab a simple bow from the firing range. Lifting out a plain arrow out of the quiver slung on a post nearby, I take aim.
     "Stop this tantrum now," I hear myself snarl before I fire.
     The once-ordinary arrow leaves behind it a silver streak before it hits Falknir in the shoulder, and he falls from the sky.
     I always win, I think, and for the first time in my life, I don't think it vainly but curiously.
     "The well," Lorelei tells me quietly before grabbing my hand. She pulls me behind her, once again aggravated at my slower speed as we run through the woods into the surrounding hills.

     When we get there, we quietly walk into the ruins of the old temple. Ahead of us, Falknir sits holding his side and shoulder in obvious pain.
     "Do not come any closer, or I will attack. Even wounded, you're no match for me. You live because of my own curiosity and out of respect for your wife," he says in a chilling voice.
     "It was my arrow that shot you down," I tell him.
     "I am aware of that," he says as he stares at a magical fire burning from nothing. "And I will be healed when my Mother gets here."
      "So, they're on their way," Lorelei says behind me.
      "Yes. Now, we have a right to attack. They're not abiding by the treaty, and their people will suffer for it."
      "What treaty anyway?" I ask since it's never been explained to me. I think to myself that if I understand the treaty that perhaps I can still find a way to stop the impending catastrophe.
     "Thirty thousand years ago, the dragons and elves made a treaty that stated that the elves could care for Dragon Valley so that the dragons could go out and purge the world of the human scum that invaded from another realm. We thought it wouldn't take us long, and we didn't need to fight two wars: the one against the elves and the one against the humans. So, we gave the valley to the elves, knowing that they would take it, thinking that thirty thousand years would seem very long to them.
     "What we didn't count upon was the surprising stamina and determination of the human race as a whole. They bred like rabbits, and although we decimated the population several times, they found weaknesses in us one-by-one. What used to be hundreds, now is only five. We retreated to the hot springs to wait out what was left of the thirty thousand years. We would honor the treaty.
      "Now, the time has come for us to retake our lost land. That is all we want: to live here where it all began. And we don't want filth that doesn't belong."
      I speak. "It didn't seem to me that Eingaia thought I was filth."
      "As I am, she was curious. Why would the pendant come to you? That necklace was lost very long ago, not even She could find it."
       "What's so special about it? I found it on the ground, not hidden at all," I say.
       "You didn't find it. It found you. Its magic stems from the dawn of time. My Father once wore it around his neck. He took it off and hid it, saying it was part of a plan. Soon after, He died."
      "It leaving him caused his death?" I ask in a mild panic, wishing I'd never put the thing on all of a sudden.
      "I don't know. He seemed accepting of something I found horrifying, and I blamed the pendant. I confess to trying to destroy it one night a few weeks ago, but it stopped me and protected you in addition."
      "But you said a moment ago that I was no match for you. If I have this protection, then I can only conclude that you were wrong," I say.
      "Fine! You wish to attack me?" he snarls as he gets up.
      I take a step back and remember why I came here. "No, actually. Your destruction of the town needed to be stopped is why I attacked earlier. I still think there can be peace."
     Falknir wearily sits back down. "You were there at that meeting. You heard their words and saw their eyes. There cannot be peace."
     Suddenly understanding, I say slowly, "You're right. There can't ever be true peace, but there can be balance." Even though I'd said something similar to the elven elders, I'd never before considered the difference between peace and balance.
     I hear a voice behind me say, "Wise words for one so young."
     Falknir smiles, and I notice a golden glow start filling the ruins.

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I can never get the tattoo locations mod to work properly on a regular basis, so Falknir's cool facial tattoo disappeared on me. Also, yes, I realize that Lorelei must've taken a moment to quickly change clothes while the town burned down around her ears.

Sorry for the long stretch at the end with no pictures.

Rose 2-20: Responsibility

Skye

     After a little convincing, Lorelei and I finally set out on our journey to try to find the dragons. We went north since it seemed the most logical to her. The farther we traveled north, the more the villages consisted mostly of humans and less and less elves. We stopped at a few inns along the way to listen to the locals tell their tales about the fire-breathers.

     The farther we got, the less Lorelei could understand what was being said because the dialect altered. At least, that's what she told me. I could still understand everything. She told me that when I spoke to them, she heard me speaking in the local dialect. That confirmed my suspicions that the way I worded my wish at the wishing well was brilliant in a way. This gave us hope that if we should happen to actually find the dragons that I'd be able to speak with them. Maybe if they discover that I can speak with and understand them that they'll give me more than half a second's notice before roasting me into a charcoal briquette.

      I work hard at refraining from asking the repetitive 'are we there yet?' question. I realize she knows only little more than I do.
       We happen upon some hot spring, and Lorelei approaches the boiling water.
       "Those are very hot springs." she says and watches the steam rise off them.
       "Yeah." I say brilliantly. "I wonder if they overflow." I look down at the ground beneath our feet. It looks scorched. Hm...
       "Do you notice the ground, Skye?" Lorelei asks me while digging the toe of her boot into the hard soil.

       "You're going to tell me it's burned, and not by the springs." I answer.

       "You see how this looks like a place they'd choose, don't you?"

       I look around. It's gorgeous here with the waterfalls of cool water splashing down into the bubbling hot spring and creating a fine mist ... that stinks ... sulfur ... Even with the stench, it's pretty here.

       "We're probably on the right path." I say optimistically.

       "I don't know. That last barkeep said how they've not shown themselves for generations. Granted, those are human generations he meant, but still... the only information he had was based upon legends and folktales."

       I scratch the back of my head. This isn't the first time Lori has tried to talk me out of this venture. She's afraid. The other night, she tried to tell me that she didn't think that we were headed in the right direction, that we should've gone south instead of north, or maybe even east.

     "I have a good feeling about this." I tell her reassuringly. Sure, I'm nervous, but I also have a sense of confidence going through me occasionally with the knowledge that I must've been brought here for a purpose. Maybe I can be the 'leader' that Lorelei asked the cosmos to bring to her.

     Lori starts mentioning how we could try to find a path to the top of the cliff to get a better view of the surrounding area when the pendant around my neck starts feeling hot. It's something I found on my way to town that day I got my tattoo, and I thought it was a good sign for me to try to convince my wife to take this insane journey.

     "Skye!" she suddenly exclaims, looking at my necklace.

     "What?" I ask and pull the heated pendant off my chest to have a better look. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the eye of the dragon has changed to a reddish color.

     I laugh a little, not really knowing what to make of this new development. "Maybe that means something."

      "You dare." I hear from a voice to my right. Lorelei's eyes widen dramatically.

     "You." the man says again as he walks towards us. Lorelei freezes in place in fear. The man has strangely-red skin and markings on his face.

     He also looks to be wearing pants that I'd swear were black jeans, but I haven't seen jeans in this dimension anywhere.

      He circles around us. "You ... you're not even all elf. And you ..." His eyes cut to me for a second. "You dare to walk here. A human." 

     Suddenly, his gaze zeros in on the necklace I wear. "Where did you get that?!"

     "I found it." I answer him, getting irritated. I have a moment of satisfaction when I see that the person wears a surprised expression on his face. 

      I think we found the dragons.

      "How did you learn this language? Who taught you?" he snaps.

      He turns to my wife and snaps, "It had to have been you."

      "She can't understand you, and no one taught me." Is he the only one? After I address him, he acts annoyed that he has to look at me again

      "One of the things I can't stand about elves: their willingness to mate with animals." he says while looking at Lorelei with disdain. Then he quickly looks angry as he snarls, "Well?"

      Lorelei shakes her head and looks like she wants to cry.

      "I told you. She can't understand you." I growl.

      "Skye." Lorelei whispers loudly to me, obviously trying to get me to calm my temper.

      He looks at me fully and asks, "Your name is Skye?"

      What does that have to do with anything?

      "A human. And you wear the pendant." he says in a disgusted voice. "Follow me."
      "Where?" I ask, not trusting him even if he may be what we've spent weeks looking for.
      He turns to me, and I think he has a raised eyebrow -it's hard to tell with those markings that don't really look like a tattoo on his forehead- as he says, "Follow me, don't follow me. Either way, I don't care really, but if She hears about me destroying you after finding out this information, fury won't be adequate enough a word to describe Her."
     With that, he turns on his heel and walks away.
      "Who is 'She'?" I ask, trotting up behind him to try to keep up with his very fast pace.
      "Don't bother me with your questions. If you want to know then keep up." He laughs maniacally and disappears. "Are you coming?" I hear asked ahead of us on the trail.

     

     After being driven half crazy by the irritating red person dragging us all over creation, we finally make our way to the top of the waterfalls, a journey that I'm sure could've been much simpler if he wasn't such an ass.

      "After you." he gestures with a sinister smile, and we leave the trees to walk down into a small bowl. Before us stand more, um, dragons. In the books I read for fun, sometimes the dragons would have a humanoid form if they chose. I guess that wasn't an original idea.

     What am I doing?! This is insane, I think as I can feel Lorelei look over at me trustingly. I'm sure I've lead us to our deaths. The small, sinister chuckling of the red creature behind me doesn't do anything to instill confidence inside of me. In fact, if this turns into a fight, my last act will be taking a crack at him.
     Every one of them is a different color. Although the child is also green, she's lighter than the one standing in front of her. I wonder if the one in front of her is her father. Two women stand together and watch us approach with interest. The pink one looks irritated if nothing else while the yellow one looks curious.
     "What have you brought us, Glauron?" the yellow one asks. The two off to the side take no interest in us at all and appear to be enjoying their shared conversation instead.
       "I found some strays, and they followed me home. Can we keep them?" the irritating creature behind me says in a mock-child voice.
       "Mind your tone." the pink lady snaps to him. I instantly like her even if she looks disdainfully at me.
      The yellow-skinned... um, on closer inspection it looks like gold ... woman says to me, "You wear the pendant. Come here."

     I decide to wing it.
     Something about the person before me makes me do a small bow before I say, "My name is Skye." Well, it meant something to the red dude.
     Immediately, the pink lady behind her's jaw drops open before she says, "It doesn't matter. It can't be." The gold woman doesn't look fazed by her outburst as she studies me.
     "You speak." the gold woman says, completely ignoring the one behind her. I go on to sort of explain my experience at the wishing well.
      "Wishes do come true." I say with a smile and a shrug to finish my story and then want to immediately die of embarrassment for ending it that way.

     "Imbecile." the pink lady says and turns to walk over to the gold woman's other side. "I had to have been wrong."
      "Hush, sister." the gold woman says. "How can you say that when he matches every description you gave?"
      "I didn't know he was going to be human... and bring a mixed elf mutt with him." she snaps.
      The gold woman ignores her and goes on to explain that the pink lady foresaw my coming here. Then, she looks curiously at Lorelei and turns to speak with her.

     "And you possess the same gift as Peluda." she tells her.
     Lorelei panics and throws her hands up to ward the woman away in fear. I guess she thought all she'd have to do would be to stand and listen to a conversation that she wouldn't understand.
      "It's alright." I tell Lori quietly.
      "Don't insult me, sister." the pink lady, um, Peluda -and why is that name familiar?- says.
      "She doesn't understand me." the gold woman says. "The stories I hear are correct then. They stop teaching their children the old language in favor of the new one."
      "I'm afraid I don't know." I answer her what was apparently a rhetorical statement.

     "Tell me your story, child." she addresses my wife, and Lorelei looks surprised like she can understand her. My guess is correct as Lorelei shyly tells the woman she knowingly calls Eingaia about her vision. I try to keep up.
       When Lorelei finishes, I say, "We come here hoping to avoid this."
       "But we wish to regain our homeland. Can you blame us for this?" the green man says next to me in a deep voice.
     "Surely there's a more peaceful solution." I say with controlled earnest. "The elders now even doubt your existence."
       The gold woman, Eingaia, says with a sense of finality, "Then you will go back with them, Falknir, to discuss our terms and remind them of their responsibility." She turns to the green man as she says this, and he looks resolved to do as she says.
       I'm honestly surprised more discussion doesn't take place. We soon find ourselves ushered out of Her presence and escorted by this Falknir as we walk back down the mountain -- taking much less time to do so than the ascending odyssey.

     We find a clearing of sorts. I guess some tree-cutting had been done to achieve this. We also find some ruins on one side of the clearing.
      We need supplies, and I don't know what else to do but leave Lorelei and the green dragon together at camp while I head off to the nearby village to do a little trading/shopping. Falknir can't come with me, he'd cause panic at the first sighting of him.

      I hurriedly complete my business in the village and return to our campsite, making sure I'm not followed.

     As I approach the solitary light of our lantern, I hear Lorelei giggling. When I come to the clearing and can see them, neither of them notice me even though Lori tells me I'm about as subtle as an ogre when it comes to announcing my presence. The two of them are obviously engrossed in some tale that the dragon tells my wife.
     "Fell right out of the sky. That was the last time he ever tried to pull that stunt.. at least with me." Falknir says, sounding like he's bragging.

    If I didn't know any better... No. They're ancient enemies even if the two of them are getting along... getting along a little too well. He's not being obvious about it... Maybe I should be.

      I walk up to the campsite and swiftly sit down next to my wife to greet her, completely ignoring 'green scales' in front of us. Lorelei acts a little surprised, but she doesn't try to pull away at least. I guess I'm being obvious, but I don't want to leave any doubt in that man's head who's wife she is.

     "So what were you all talking about?" I ask quietly in Lorelei's ear.
     Before she can answer, Falknir says, "I'm going to rest for a while."
     He climbs a tree. I think. I think that was climbing. Lori explains to me that he wants to do that to keep an eye on things. I have to wonder what else he's watching.
      And I'm supposed to create a peace between two nations when I'm already wary of my companion from the other side.

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I feel I must apologize for the incredibly-lame attire I gave my dragons. I could've gone on a CC hunt, but deep down I'm incredibly lazy. And this is just a legacy after all. ... and a side-story of the legacy at that. To create their names, I did a tiny google search and smushed together names I found on the first site I found. Then, I actually googled the names I came up with out of curiosity. red scales hahaha.

Click here to go to 2.21

The next chapter (newer post) starts another random legacy: Uncomplicated :)