Chronicles of Eden - Act V (39 page)

“The next one was purple. It made me feel like I was flying too, but I also felt more confident and had a surprisingly large sense of self-assurance in myself when it came to speaking to others.”

“Getting kind of creepy here,” Falla quietly mentioned as the other girls all looked to her with wonder.

“Those fours lights,” Daniel said looking up thoughtfully. “I don’t understand what they were or meant, but I could feel them shining on me even though my eyes were closed, and… and it was like they were channeling their rays right into me.”

The girls all watched as Alyssa examined her paper closely before she glanced to Daniel with a raised eyebrow in question.

“And then?”

“And then after they appeared, after that I felt like I was holding something in my hand. I wasn’t, I knew that, but it felt like I was. That’s when I asked you what should I do next. I didn’t know how to control or direct any of this power I was feeling, I didn’t know what to do with it.”

“You wanted to be stronger,” Alyssa recalled. “That’s what you said. You wanted to be stronger to protect us, like a knight.”

“I do, that’s why I’m learning to use magic,” Daniel reasoned with a smile at her. He then noticed all the girls were staring at him with wide eyes except for Alyssa, all remaining silent while he started to feel uneasy with their eyes locked onto him like this.

“Um, is something wrong?” he nervously asked.

“The fifth light you saw,” Alyssa said carefully. “What about that one?”

“Well, I saw that one appear after the other four. I was telling myself in my mind over and over again that I had to be stronger. I had to do this, so I could protect you all for a change. That’s when I noticed the fifth light. It was-”

“Red?” Alyssa interrupted, with Daniel faltering with his words as the witch looked back to her paper. “You saw red, like fire, didn’t you?”

“Wha… well, yes. How did you know that?”

“Did you feel the heat, Daniel?” Alyssa asked, with Daniel watching her with surprise as the witch slowly nodded as she understood now. “Did you? Was that fifth light feeling rather powerful and hot to you?”

“Alyssa? How do you know this?”

“Because that was my fire you felt, Daniel,” Alyssa said setting the paper down before him, his eyes looking to it and seeing the five emblems she had drawn along with the casting diagram of the spell he had cast.

“What do you mean that was your fire? What is this?” Daniel asked picking up the paper with puzzlement.

“Daniel,” Specca softly said. “Those lights you saw, those were us.”

“What?” Daniel said with a jump, looking around at the girls as they all watched him with wonder.

“The spell you cast,” Alyssa explained while pointing to the paper. “You channeled all of our elements. Specca’s water, Squeak’s strength, Falla and Luna’s flight, my fire, you even felt our souls and personalities. Specca’s gentle and relaxed mind, Squeak’s fortitude, Luna’s joy, Falla being a sneaky manipulator-”

“Hey!” Falla shouted out at her “What the fuck?”

“And my own reserves of magical power. Daniel, you drew your magic out with us, that was us you were seeing in your mind.”

“It was?” he exclaimed with surprise. “But… how could I have done that? I didn’t even know what I was doing in the first place. Is that even possible to do such a thing?”

“It’s called aura sharing,” Alyssa said tapping on the paper, with everyone looking to it as she slowly circled her finger around the five emblems before drawing it to the middle. “The spell channels energy from those you have a bond with, a connection that allows your being to join with others who are close to you and draw on from their own lifeforce.”

“In other words,” Specca clarified. “Your spirit touched ours, Daniel, and grew stronger from them.”

“Is that why we were so horny then?” Luna asked Alyssa, with Daniel looking to her with confusion from that.

“Um, what?” he said looking around at seeing the girls blushing and watching him timidly now.

“Well, Daniel,” Specca started before hesitating to continue. “See… we didn’t know at the time you were… touching us like that. But we did…
feel
it.”

Daniel just looked at her with puzzlement from that before glancing around at the other girls. After they saw he wasn’t following Alyssa started to speak again, also hesitating at first before forcing herself to continue.

“Daniel, that energy you got, it had to come from somewhere. And… well, we got a little
excited
when we built up that energy for you to use.”

“Excited?” Daniel questioned.

“We were horny as hell,” Falla bluntly stated, with Daniel looking to her with surprise as she smiled weakly and shrugged. “Just like that, boom, and we… well, were on fire so to speak.”

“You… but… huh?” Daniel asked with even more confusion.

“We got really wet really fast,” Luna admitted with a bashful smile.

“It was as if the night of the Dark Sabbath had come upon us,” Specca explained. “We… well we just went crazy, Daniel.”

“That’s where your energy boost came from, Daniel,” Alyssa said, with him turning to her with a stunned expression. “When you touched our spirits, the lights you saw and felt… that was our passion, our lust. Our love for you.”

“Your love?”

“What power is stronger than love?” Specca jested with a small smirk. “It may sound silly, but it’s true. Our love for you is stronger than one would believe, and now you’ve felt that love firsthand. You actually held it in your hand.”

“Those who love each other have a deeper bond,” Alyssa reasoned. “They can connect easier, their spirits can join more easily, and they can summon so much power and strength for those they love. If we all hated each other, Daniel, you would have gotten nothing from us. You wouldn’t have seen any lights or felt any power flowing into you like you did. But we all love you, so our spirits shared our energy with you when you called to them, without ever realizing it.”

“Which makes this event very unique, Daniel,” Specca mentioned before pointing to the paper. “This spell isn’t taught to many, because very few can use it. Those that can perform it or learn how to usually only have
one
partner they can draw their energy from.”

“You drew it from five,” Alyssa finished as Daniel looked at the drawing with wonder. “As far as I know that’s unheard of. In fact, I wasn’t even aware it was possible.”

“How did I do this?” Daniel asked looking at the paper with disbelief. “I had no idea I was casting anything like this, let alone anything at all. How did I make this happen?”

“You wanted to be stronger,” Alyssa reminded him. “You wanted to protect us. You wanted to be our knight.”

“Were you thinking of us when this happened?” Specca asked.

Daniel nodded as he stared at the diagram of the spell he apparently had cast, the symbols and shape of the casting ring seeming entirely new to him as he never saw anything like those during the event.

“I was. I wanted to learn to use magic, however I could, so that I could protect you. So I wouldn’t lose any of you. I wanted to do it, I had to do it. I knew I couldn’t fail with this, I couldn’t bear to lose anyone because I was too weak or powerless to save them.” The girls exchanged curious glances before watching as he held up his other hand and gazed at it distantly.

“I could almost feel something in my hand, like I was close to finding that power or spell to protect you. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t make out what it was, but I was so close that I wished with everything I had to realize what I could do.”

“Then what happened?” Specca asked.

“Then… I saw
them
,” Daniel said as he showed anger, with all the girls watching him worriedly now. “The gemini. Jovian and Jacqueline.”

“Not them,” Luna whimpered while Falla gulped nervously.

“I saw them… killing you all,” Daniel remorsefully confessed to them. The girls jumped with surprise as he looked down and closed his eyes. “One by one, they killed you all right before me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t fight, I couldn’t save you no matter how much I tried or how much you pleaded for me to come to your rescue. All I could do was watch as you all screamed in agony as they… they…”

“Daniel,” Alyssa softly said.

“I watched you all die, and then Luna and Falla were the last that the gemini held before me,” Daniel continued, with the girls looking to the sisters as they showed fear from knowing what might have happened to them then. “They were going to kill them. I could see both of you begging for me to help, scared, about to be executed by those monsters. I couldn’t stand it, I couldn’t stand seeing them take everything away from me like that.”

“What happened?” Luna nervously asked.

“I’m not sure I want to know,” Falla said shaking her head.

“I couldn’t stand it,” Daniel repeated while clenching his fists with frustration. “I felt so angry at them, I felt like I had to save you, that I was the only one who could. I couldn’t let them kill you too.”

“That’s what you said,” Alyssa spoke up, with Daniel then seeing her watching him with the sudden realization. “You yelled out ‘Don’t you dare take them from me’. I had never heard you sound so furious and powerful, the look you had in your eye took my breath away.”

Daniel nodded and glanced to the sisters, both watching him with wonder and open mouths now before he continued.

“I couldn’t let them die too, so I tried to attack with everything I had, I put all my strength into stopping those monsters from killing you before me.”

“Yeah, I saw that too,” Alyssa mentioned. Daniel looked to her curiously before she smiled in awe at him. “Don’t you remember? Before you passed out, didn’t you see the damage you did to the forest nearby?”

Daniel paused for a moment then jumped as he remembered.

“Wait, you mean…
I
did that?” he cried out. “But… how?”

“I saw everything, Daniel,” Alyssa said with an adoring smile at him. “You channeled all our energy into a sword. I never saw anything like it before, it was made of glowing light that you wielded like a real knight. You let out such a powerful roar before you swung with it and… well, you saw what happened after you did then.”

Daniel stared at her with surprise then looked to his hand while trying to comprehend what he was hearing.

“You mean that was real? I thought I saw a sword in my mind, but I didn’t think that was real. That was real?”

Before he could say another word about questioning whether or not that event was real Luna quickly tackled him down onto the bed with a tight hug and tears forming in her eyes.

“Daniel!” she cried out while holding him close. “You really tried to stand up to a Darker One for us? Really?”

“Not just one, but
two
!” Falla exclaimed with disbelief.

“You were willing to stand up to
two
Darker Ones for me and my sister?” Luna wailed while Daniel thrashed around beneath her. “You would really do that for us?”

“Technically they’re just
one
Darker One,” Specca clarified. “It just has two bodies, but only one soul.”

“You were willing to stand up to
one
Darker One for us?” Luna cried out while Daniel at this point had given up trying to get free and was just lying on the bed with a weak smile on his face. “You’re so brave, Daniel! I love you so much! I love you so much, just as I always have! I mean it, Daniel!”

“Wait, what?” he asked glancing to her curiously.

Luna nuzzled her cheek against his while holding him tightly before Squeak grabbed and yanked her off of him and sat her down next to the girls again, with Luna sniffling and wiping her tears away while she and her stunned sister watched Daniel slowly sitting up and looking at them with wonder.

“What did you say, Luna?” he asked softly.

“I love you,” she repeated with a gentle smile.

Daniel stared at her in silence for a moment before Alyssa cleared her throat, the boy then glancing to her as she watched him carefully.

“Daniel, remember what I said? You felt that bond with all five of us, that bond was our
love
for you.”

Daniel looked back to Luna then to Falla, with the red-eyed butterfly slowly scooting forwards as she watched him with amazement.

“You would really fight to protect my sister and me?” she asked softly. “You actually tried to… fight those horrible monsters to save us?”

“Well, they weren’t real then,” Daniel replied slowly. “You weren’t
really
in danger of dying.”

“But you still fought to try to save us,” Luna pointed out with an eager smile.

“Daniel,” Falla softly said as a blush formed on her cheeks.

‘He would actually stand up to those gemini to save us? To save me? I mean that much to him?’

“Falla? Luna?” Daniel said looking between the two sisters.

“They admitted it to us,” Specca spoke up, with Daniel seeing the nixie watching the sisters while slowly adjusting her glasses. “We overheard them talking, and then they told us the truth. They love you, Daniel. The fact that you drew from their spirit energy like you did is proof of that.”

“You two… love me?” Daniel softly asked the two butterfly girls.

“I do,” Luna said nodding a few times. “You saved me from being a bad monster, you taught me to be nice with the humans I meet in the world. You even came looking for me when I was lost. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, Daniel.”

Daniel watched her with wonder then Falla as the butterfly looked down and away while blushing more.

“Falla?” he asked curiously.

“I want… someone to actually love me,” she admitted before slowly turning back to him. “I don’t want them to be with me merely because of a lie I told them or me having to tie them down against their will to make them stay. I want them to… love me for who I am, not what I make myself out to be. I want what your mates have, Daniel. Someone who cares about and truly loves me. Someone who wouldn’t see me as a monster but instead a normal girl.” She then started to cry while showing a remorseful smile at him.

“Someone who would be brave enough to stand up to a Darker One just for me. Someone… like you.”