Chapter 2

- Return of the Priestess -

I opened my eyes to find myself at a very familiar place; surrounded by woods, luscious grass, and in the middle of a clear patch.

I sat up and looked around with a smile remembering the weird yet sweet memories of this strange world. After taking in another breath of fresh air, I stood up, lugging my backpack over my shoulder, and walked forward; the only direction the guards had led me when I first came.

It was hard not to smile seeing the familiar red gates. Looking up I could barely make out the figures of the guards a top the gate looking down when noticing my presence. When the first pair of eyes landed on me, I waved widely without saying a word. Whoever it was, told his buddy about me and soon I had three pairs of eyes staring at me.

"Who are you and what's your purpose here?!" he shouted.

"Same routine, huh?" I told myself before answering. "I'm Emerale and I've come to visit the prince!"

They seemed a little confused and glanced at each other whispering to another for a second then looked back down at me.

"There is no prince!" the guards yelled back down.

I was flabbergasted and scared. "Oh no… Roido… did he die?"

As these thoughts ran through my mind other possibilities started racing through my thoughts. Maybe I was taken back to a different time or maybe a completely different universe… though I immediately doubted that because it looked too right to be wrong. Finally, I settled my question with another question.

"Then who is the king?!" I shouted back

"Six months ago, the former prince, Roido, was crowned king!" he answered. "Why?!"

I relaxed but got excited at once. I thought it was wonderful that he became king! But what about his father? What happened to him?

"Oh, than I came to visit the king!" I yelled.

"What's your name?!" another guard shouted running over to see me.

I was a bit confused but replied anyway.

"Um… Emerale!" I confirmed.

"Holy—! You came back?!"

I jumped but felt relieved that someone remembered who I was which meant not only would it be easier to get in but also it reassured me it wasn't a different time or an imitation world.

The man who knew my name quickly told the guards, or reminded them, of who I was. They all jumped when the man explained and they scrambled around shouting to open the gates. One stopped and looked down at me.

"Should we tell the king of your arrival?!" he asked.

"No! It should be a surprised!" I answered.

I smirked thinking of how he'd react. Most likely smile childishly with a glitter in his eyes then run up and hug me tightly shouting his warm welcome in my ear, deafening me in the process.

When the gates opened I walked in and the crowds instantly began whispering with happy smiles and voices full of hope.

As I approached the palace the guards in front of the gates noticed me coming and tensed, taking in a deep breath, a bit nervous and/or excited. I wasn't paying attention to them. I was examining the familiar crowd's atmosphere and the familiar yet majestic palace of the fire clan. But when I reached the gate, I forwarded my attention to the guards bowing lowly in front of me.

"Milady!" they both said.

I rolled my eyes only being there five minutes and already having guards bowing at my feet.

"Please, no bowing," I told them irritated. "I'm not that much superior." (Also meaning I am superior. Bwahaha! Na, just kidding.)

"Sorry," they said.

The gates opened and I entered with one of the guards trailing behind me. I didn't mind though.

Examining the familiar hall, I began recalling moments with Roido and Enick and unintentionally smiled. The guard noticed but didn't ask anything.

The doors of the throne room opened before me revealing the redness from the last memory I recalled and calmly, even though I was just about ready to jump out of my skin, I walked about ten paces away from the stairs which led up to the throne's chair where Roido sat asleep.

"Your majesty!" the guard shouted.

Roido perked up and looked around confused.

"Wha—?!" he asked jumping.

"Someone's here to see you," the guard explained.

The king calmed and looked down where I stood, staring up at him with a warm smile. A look of shock overcame his expression and filled his eyes as he slowly took a deep breath and held it trying to keep himself calm.

After a minute or two, he finally stood up and spoke.

"Guards, leave," he said, not removing his eyes from me.

When they were gone, Roido stood stone still just staring as if shock kept his lips sealed and muscles locked. Perhaps just waiting for permission like a robot because it only took two words to unlock him.

"Hello Roido," I said still smiling.

As if hearing and seeing me talk startled him, he flinched, but then his eyes softened and he frowned.

"Hello, Emma," he stated a bit melancholy.

My smile faded into a confused and pitiful look seeing him so sad, but after a few seconds of staring again, Roido's eyes began watering heavily although it was clear he was tugging the tears back.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He started breathing a bit faster then ran up to me, finally releasing the tears, and hugged me as hard as he could. (Nearly choked me.)

"Why'd you leave…? Where'd you go…?" he whimpered. " I was so lonely…"

I hugged back gently and sighed.

"Sorry," I told him. "I was homesick. I just wanted to be home for a bit…"

When he didn't answer I was wondering if he would forgive me but then he chuckled a bit and let go of me. He had a warm smile on his face now and he wiped the tears off.

He cocked his head slightly to the side and his ruby earrings jingled.

His ruby eyes still matched the earrings and necklace and, even though he was king, he wore the same headband tied to the side along with very similar clothes too. Only this time, he wore black cargos and a black t-shirt showing the muscles on his arms, which I never would have guessed he had under that bulky sweatshirt he used to wear.

When he noticed me examining his clothes he laughed drawing my attention to his face.

"Not a king's outfit but I like this better," he told me.

I shrugged, "I don't know, but I'd prefer this over a king's outfit any day."

He chuckled again and gave me another big hug only this time he picked me up off the ground and twirled me around laughing. Surprised by this, I held my breath and waited nervously for my feet to be on solid ground. When he did put me down he gave a final laugh then grabbed my hands.

"Are you staying?!" he asked excitedly, holding my hands together in his own.

His wide smile and hopeful eyes made me feel bad that I had only planned to stay for the night at most, so, I smiled back and nodded.

"I was going to ask to stay the night," I told him.

He lost a little of his smile and the glitter in his eyes dimmed.

"So, are you staying…? For good?" he asked.

I sighed and shook my head.

"If I got homesick last time it's going to happen again. I'm only staying for the night." I told him reluctantly.

He looked a bit confused at first but then he frowned and his eyes darkened as his gaze fell to the floor. He released my hands and let his fall to his sides. He turned his face away and sighed, very disappointed, but then something lit up his face renewing his smile and cheery mood.

He grabbed my hands, once again holding them together with his, and kissed one of them with a grin. It surprised and confused me. Perhaps it was just a king thing.

He gave me another hug then smiled at me again for the three hundred thirty-first time.

"A night should be enough for him!" he said, but before I could ask who, he had a look of realization and looked at the nearest clock. It was 2:50 Pm. "and he'll be here soon!" He turned back to me, quickly ordering, "Quick! Get ready for lunch or maybe put make up on!"

I glared at him.

"I don't wear—!"

"That's nice! Just make yourself pretty!" he stated pushing me down a hall.

When I was out of sight, I stood stone still trying to figure out how and why I would make myself pretty as Roido had so bluntly said, and who's this guy he wanted me to meet so badly? I didn't know so I just brushed my hair. A couple minutes later a couple guards told the king "he" was here giving me no hint as to who "he" was. Then Roido, after dismissing the guards, ran over to me with excitement, practically jumping up and down like a little kid.

"Okay! He's here! So when I snap my fingers you come out!" he told me. "And no peeking, got it?"

I nodded, now anxious to meet this person. Roido had never been so excited about a visit before so it must be a person he really liked and I had never seen. Unknown to most people I, as passive as I may have looked, enjoyed meeting friends of a friend.

Roido sat back in his chair only seconds before the doors opened. As curious as I was, I did what I was told and didn't peek in even though it was like nails on a chalk board not to… but then again, nails on a chalk board never bothered me so I guess that's not a good example.

Either way I listened hoping to get a hint of the name while listening for the signal.

"Hello!" Roido greeted gleefully. "Haven't seen you for a month!"

"Yeah, well, I've lived," a voice said.

"Hm… that voice…"

"You don't look too… rested. Couldn't sleep?" Roido asked.

"Not very much."

"Still thinking about a certain something?"

Whoever it was didn't answer that, although I felt the atmosphere darken.

"Thought so," he said snapping his fingers. "Then you'll like this."

Hearing the snap, I emerged from hiding because I eagerly wanted to see who it was but when I actually saw the person I didn't know who it was at first. They looked so familiar it was killing me not know who but when I realized I nearly shrieked from excitement and almost passed out from holding my breath to stop from shrieking. Why? Because it was…

"Enick?" I practically whispered.

I didn't recognize him at first because he'd let his hair grow out and he had a beard and mustache growing. What hinted me big time was he was wearing his cloak again.

After staring back in complete shock for a second, he turned and pulled up the hood. Roido, still smiling, pat his brother's back.

"I'll leave you two alone," he said entering the closest hall.

In fact, he never really left. He was out of the room but he just hid in the hall and watched from there. Ignoring the idiot I smiled and walked down to Enick who seemed to hide his face in shame like a little boy who was guilty about taking a cookie without permission. I gently lifted his head and turned it to look at me. Then I pulled off the hood and examined his, once again, emotionless face.

I realized that his brown hair had turned black and the majority of his uneven long hair reached his shoulders. His eyes were still a dark, almost black, gray. That and the look of loneliness inside them were about the only things that were still the same. I also noticed what Roido had meant by he didn't look well rested; he had the darkest rings under his eyes.

"How've you been, Enick?" I asked with a smile.

His expression changed from apathetic to horribly ashamed which wiped my smile right off.

"Enick?"

He pulled up his hood again and turned away.

"Hey… Emerale…" he almost whispered.

At first I didn't understand why he was acting so closed up but then I remembered that a year ago, the night I decided to leave, Enick had slapped me and told me to leave so I came to the conclusion that he thought he had driven me away.

I smiled and gave him a hug. He jerked a little, a bit surprised and unused to hugs, then when I let go he looked at me and hesitantly removed his hood.

Reexamining his over grown features, I smirked, "Let's give you a haircut."

He looked at me a bit surprised but before he could object to anything, I already had started dragging him down the halls. Meanwhile, as I dragged him along, I began digging around my memories trying to remember where Enick's old, or not old, room was.

Enick suddenly grabbed the hand that was pulling him and jerked hard; pulling me back into his chest, face first.

I looked up at him a bit dazed and confused but managed to mumble a confused person's question.

"What?"

He raised an eyebrow but then pointed at the door to the side.

"Um, that's my room." He stated. "Did you forget?"

I shrugged and pushed myself onto my own two feet instead of leaning on him. After I pulled him into his room and threw him on his bed, I looked around for scissors, a hairbrush, and razor.

After that futile attempt, I remembered that I had those three things with me, so I tossed my bag on the bed, sat down next to it and began rummaging through it. First the razor came out along with the reason I even had it with me. A friend needed a good razor so I packed it and let them use it during study hall then never took it out of my backpack. Next, out came the hairbrush, which I always carried around just in case, then the scissors, which I had just bought for school then ended up not using.

When all the stuff was out I pushed the bag to the side, sat behind Enick and started brushing his long uneven hair.

He sat there silent, just staring ahead without an objection to cutting his hair like most men I knew would.

After a couple minutes passed, I started cutting his hair. At this moment, he decided to say something.

"Um… Emerale…" he stated.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you…"

"Huh?"

"For coming back I mean…" he explained. "I didn't really want you to go… so… I'm sorry for saying that…"

I smiled and chuckled a bit.

"I know," I told him.

"Then… why'd you go?"

I shrugged, "Well, I was really stressed and a bit homesick so, I went home for awhile."

"Well, I'm… glad you're back…" he hesitated to say.

At that moment I finished cutting his hair and turned around to put away the brush and scissors but when I turned back, Enick had finished ruffling his hair making it look just like it did a year ago. I stared at him confused and when he turned to face me he seemed even more confused than me.

"W-What?"

I shrugged again, "Didn't know you put so little effort into your hair."

He sighed and looked away with no particular expression.

"Yeah, well, never cared that much," he explained.

I picked up the razor with a bit of a smirk making him a bit nervous.

"Do you know what shaving cream is?"

"Yeah…"

"Do you have any?"

"Yeah…."

"Give it to me."

He just stared at me.

So, to summarize what happened, I forced him to give me the shaving cream, wrestled with him just to get it on, then, I literally had to tie him down to put the blade to his face. Turned out it was just a big game to him. He didn't know how else to interact with me so he decided be a pain in the butt as long as he could.

Either way, he stared into the hand mirror and examined his smoothened face numeral times.

"Do you know how we get facial hair?" he asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Um… it grows…"

He smirked, amused with the answer, but then looked at me lowering the mirror.

"It only grows when a male is emotionally stressed," he said losing his grin. He looked at the ground with a sad look. "I was… so depressed… I couldn't even think… I just sat in my room day after day… doing nothing…"

He bit his lip as tears started forming in his eyes. I just stared with a pitiful look as he pulled up his hood to cover up the fact he was crying.

"Is there something I can do?" I asked him.

He seemed surprised and looked over at me.

"W-Wha…?"

"Ya know, to make you feel better," I told him.

He lowered his hood again with a look of thought on his face.

"Actually… there is… one thing…" he said, not removing his eyes from the ground.

I smiled and waited for him to tell me but then my head started to throb and my vision became blurry. I closed my eyes hoping that'd get rid of the pain but when it didn't leave I placed my palm against my forehead pressuring the skin a little hoping that'd release some of the pain.

It got worse and worse and then I laid down on my side trying to figure out what's wrong with me. If I had had my eyes open I would've saw the fear and worry on Enick's face.

"E-Emma?" he stuttered. "S-Something wrong?"

"Think I've got a migraine… not sure though…" I told him with a hint of pain in my voice.

"Do you want a doctor? Just in case?" he asked, calming down a little.

"Yeah, that's probably the best thing to do…"

He got me under the blankets with a pillow under my head and ran out immediately. I may not have seen it, but I could feel and hear the panic and worry in his voice.

When the doctor checked, turned out I was right, just a migraine. I guess it was weird how fast it came and that's what made Enick so doubtful but the doctor said all I needed was rest and so he left it at that.

Roido was now in the room also. I only knew that at the time because of the spearmint smell that filled the room. I never told anyone until now but he smelled of spearmint and so did his room. Enick, very oddly, smelled of wintergreen. (Heh, like smelling like spearmint isn't odd?) And what of the doctor? Well, mold.

When the doctor left (Along with his mold) I opened my eye and peeked at Enick who sat on the edge of the bed with a worried stare burning a hole in the ground. I went to say something but when I told my mouth to open my brain was struck with more pain. Thankfully, Roido decided to comfort him, which surprised me.

"She'll be fine," Roido reassured him. "If she survived a bullet to her shoulder than a head ache shouldn't kill her."

Enick gave him a quick glance then nodded slowly showing he knew already. If I could've, I would've smirked. Even though he said he knew and agreed I could tell it wasn't consoling him at all.

Another minute passed with an awkward silence clinging on the end of the conversation; weighing it down so it'd be impossible to continue. Roido, again, tried to bring up a conversation with his brother.

"Um, you feel like doing something?" he asked.

"Not really."

They both stopped talking not having anything to say.

"Nothing at all?"

"No."

Again, Roido had nothing to respond to that with and so no conversation started up.

"Um… something you wanna eat?"

"Not particularly."

Roido raised an eyebrow then sighed.

"Fine, talk to ya later."

When he left Enick's eyes saddened and he looked over at me not changing his look.

"Now I remember…" he stated sadly. "Why I got mad at you and hurt you…"

He touched my arm gently and rubbed it for a moment but then stopped.

"I can't believe I'd ever hurt you… especially over something so stupid… like love…" he half said to me. He looked away. "Like I said then… it'd only make sense that you'd love him…"

I couldn't take listening to him beat down on himself so no matter how painful it was I opened my eyes and spoke my mind.

"Enick," I said catching his attention. He looked over at me surprised. "I know you were hurt then and I'm sorry but don't cling to the past. Besides, that night I was just feeling really depressed because of how homesick I was. I guess I kissed him because I thought it'd make me feel a little more loved."

He leaned over and laid his head against my cheek while wrapping his arms around me.

"Would you have kissed me if it was me, not him?" he asked.

I smiled thinking about this.

"I think I would've… I'm not sure." I answered honestly.

He closed his eyes.

"Why, though?" he asked tiredly. "I just don't understand… do you love us both or something?"

I chuckled, "Well, honestly, you both are very cute in the way you act."

"But how—?"

I pat his head, "Roido's childish and you're very sweet."

He finally smiled but tears suddenly formed and ran down his face.

"Are you okay?" I said rolling onto my back.

In a shaky voice he replied, "I'm just so glad you're back…"

He buried his head into my chest and began crying out loud. I couldn't help but hug him.

"I'm glad to be back too…" I said closing my eyes.

My head was torturing me and it only made it worse knowing that I was going to be leaving the next day. After a couple moments he stopped crying and his tears dried but his breathing pattern was slow so I could tell he was about to fall asleep.

"Feeling better?" I asked, still with my eyes closed.

He nodded the best he could, "Yeah…"

"Good…" I said just before falling asleep.

He opened his eyes and pushed himself up a little to look at my face. He smiled and kissed my cheek before lying back down with the same grin and falling asleep also.

Roido peeked in a moment later but instead of feeling angry at Enick for sleeping in the same bed as me he smiled warmly and chuckled thinking it was kind of sweet for Enick but when he thought about it he realized he had always been sweeter to me than anyone else so he left just as quietly as he entered. His smile faded though.

"I guess… I'll have to wait another year..." He told himself solemnly.