“When I was younger my mother wanted me to train in the school just like you. Even though I was born into the royal family she wanted me to be formally trained by the best realms had to offer, and what better place than where they train to protect the realms. And that was where I met your mother.” I interrupt her, confused and bewildered at the thought of having a second mother. How would that even be possible unless I’m adopted or only one of their children?

“How do I have another mom? That scientifically makes no sense and I’m almost certain that’s impossible. Well unless you guys have IVF in Eatithra too.” She stops walking for a second to stare at me before continuing to walk again.

“What is IVF? You know what never mind, I should’ve known. You weren’t raised in the realms were you? I guess they thought it would be too easy to find you here.” She asks me and I shake my head no. I’m still confused on how I have a second mother though and how tis pertains to my question. Especially since she doesn’t know what IVF is.

“That makes a lot of sense. It wouldn’t make sense for you to not now about this realms biology otherwise. You see, gender in terms of contraception and birth don’t really matter here. Gender is, after all a social construct. And while all realms have gender, they just don’t mean the same things they do in Earth realm. After all, magic is pretty much all-powerful why wouldn’t two people of the same gender be able to have children?” She finishes and I nod my head in understanding. I had kind of forgotten abut the magic aspect of things and didn’t really think of how it could be applied in these situations.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. I hadn’t even thought about it like that.” I respond thoughtfully.

“Now your mother, well she was something special. I can see her qualities in you, especially pertaining to her bloodline. You’ve met your dragon already haven’t you?” She asks me and I stammer out a reply in response.

“Y-yeah, how’d you know that?” I ask her in confusion

“Well because your mother had one too. Who do you think you got the Draceonsa trait from? Me??” She sarcastically asks me rolling her eyes. In response I just chuckle and shake my head. What is it with these people and sarcasm?

“Anyways, me and your mother fell in love along the way in school. It was nothing as cliche as an enemies to lovers type of romance. Nothing interesting enough to read about but to me it was the perfect love story. We just clicked. We started out as friends and our relationship steadily progressed from there.

I knew your mother was my twin flame and vice versa. I had even brought her to meet my parents. And in our last year at the school, I had gotten pregnant with you. But then the king came, and while he wasn’t the king at he tome his parents were the reigning royal family of Eatithra. And that vile man, took her. He took her and never gave her back, even when I adhered to his wishes. And what did his parents do about it? Nothing. As a matter of fact they helped him do it.” She sobbed out at the end trying to hold herself together.

You could hear the emotion in her voice as she tried to keep herself together. You could tell that she had been hoding it in for sch a long time. There was never a chance for her to telly anyone her story. And contrary to popular belief sometimes telling someone about you're experiences, even if it’s just one person, really does help. And I know I there was nothing I could’ve done but I still wish I had gotten here sooner.

“Mom?” I question timidly. She looks at m and waits for me to finish whatever I had to say. “What were his wishes?” I ask her curiously.

“He wanted me for himself. He wanted me to be his queen.” She cried out no longer holding herself together. Just then there came a loud boom and the ground shook. Everyone in the group looked over in the direction of which the sound came. All of us who were in the castle knew what had just happened while the others looked curious.

I just muttered a quick “He got what he deserved” and the group began walking again as if nothing happened. Seriously, there’s something wrong with these people. They treated that as if it was a normal everyday occurrence. But maybe it was, after all these people are trained to fight and keep the realms safe. Hmm, I wonder how many of the students in the school aren’t even in Eatithra right now.

“Listen,Thalia, that man has actively ruined my life for so many years. My freedom was taken, I was isolated, and I was treated like a puppet. So believe me when I say that I absolutely hate that man. And that’s exactly why I don’t want you to allow your rage to win like that again.

Don’t become like he is otherwise your road to self-discovery would be for naught. If there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that hate is a powerful feeling and it can drive even the most controlled people insane. So please don’t allow that to happen to you. I’ve already lost your mother to this man and I can’t lose you too.” She says staring straight into my eyes to show how serious she really is.

I reach out and grab her hand to give it a small squeeze. “I have been working to control my emotions my entire life, sometimes not by choice, but nevertheless this I swear is true. I will not let rage and pain consume me, I can only assume how detrimental the isolation was to you and your mental health and at this time all I want is to be of help to you.

I’ve always wanted my parents to care and now I know that I know that you have all along, there is nothing more that I want from you.” I tell her, still squeezing her hand to show her my support. It may seem like I haven’t known her long enough to say these words but it’s true. All I’ve wanted was a loving parental figure who actually cared about me. And yes, it’s been a short amount of time but I’m sure she can give that to me.

“Now can you please finish the story? How did I get kidnapped, did the king not know you were pregnant?” I ask her letting go of her hand in favor of walking again.

“Oh, those are most definitely some interesting questions. Well, the thing is, the king did know I was pregnant but he thought it was his. I’ll never understand why since we never consummated our marriage or indulged in intercourse. Or rather if I had, for me it would have been less of an indulgence and more of a hindrance.

In hindsight, I guess it was a good thing he thought you were his. After all, that is how I safely gave birth to you. It was his obsession that he and I were true loves, souls intertwined that he believed I was having his baby. And who was I to tell him otherwise, I just wanted to keep you safe. If lying to that man kept you safe, well than I would have doe it a thousand times more.” She says.

I take a deep shaky breath before shivering at the thought of my mom even kissing that man. Was he truly so stupid to believe he was fated for someone who hated him or was he just that delusional? Besides there was no way that he adn’t known that mom had already met her twin flame, especially when he was the one who took her away.

“How you were kidnapped though, well that’s another story entirely. I suspect that the king somehow found out you weren’t his and threw a fit in a rage of jealousy. That man had a temper that couldn’t be managed even with outside help. He never hurt me though, well not truly anyway but I’m sure that he would have liked to believe that he did. After all, that man had a strong temper but physically, he was weak.” Mom tilts her head a bit in thought before looking ahead having noticed some people listening in on the conversation. I guess she had an idea on what to do abut them as she stopped walking and straightened her back. The others stopped walking and stiffened waiting to see what she was going to do.

“Let it be known that your king was a coward!” Her voice boomed seeming to echo throughout the forest. “He was a vile man who wanted nothing but dominance and control, two things he could never have because he was weak. But I swear to you, I will be the best queen in history from here on until the end of my reign.” She finished her face full of confidence. Even her aura radiated confidence and everyone stopped, quietly assessing her to determine just how true her words were.

Soon one after another students began getting down on one knee hand fisted above their chest. I’m sure the only thing you could hear for miles were the chants each person gave as they shouted out “Long live the queen! Long may she reign!” over and over again showing their loyalty and willingness to bow down only to her.

I look around in awe as I watch this transpire; speechless and captivated by the show of complete trust the people have for my mom. I smile taking it all in before mom tells them to rise and continue the walk back to Asunaa. As we continue walking I finally begin to feel a bit more familiar with my surroundings recognizing some of the small landmarks from what I first saw on the way to the castle.

“So what was that about?” I ask mom intrigued and curious about what just happened.

“I’ll let your dragon talk.” Mom replies to me. “ I can feel her restless energy. You should loosen your chains around her. I know you aren’t used to her and her presence that much but I assure you, you’re not fully yourself without her.” I let out a sigh knowing that she caught what I was doing before looking up at the sky.

“I’m not used to showing emotions. Heck, I’m not even used to understanding and feeling my own emotions so having to listen to another voice in my head is difficult. I know that things will be different now that I’ve finally united with her but I just need time, everything is moving too fast. I haven’t had any time to process what’s happening without another problem arising in the midst of the others.” Mom nods in understanding rocking back on her heels in thought.

“Think of it this way. Your emotions may have been locked away but your dragon herself-”

“Adira.” I interrupt. “Her name is Adira.” She looks at me incredulously for a second before clearing her throat and continuing to talk.

“Your emotions may have been locked away but Adira,” she emphasizes “has been completely locked away. She didn’t just lose a part of herself, she was also pushed back into the confines of your mind unable to find a way to communicate with you.

At least you would have stood a chance at a normal life but she would’ve had nothing. That doesn’t mean that your feelings are wrong or invalid because they aren’t, but you should also consider Adira’s as well.” I nod my head looking down in thought before taking a deep breath and allowing my body to relax as we continue to walk.

Adira’s chains are dropped and she’s finally able to speak with me again. I honestly didn’t mean to lock her up like that. It’s just that earlier when she talked to me it surprised me. All I could think about was completing the mission and I felt like she would be a distraction. I knew what I was doing, that’s for sure, and although I didn’t mean it in a bad way I’m sure she took it that way. I’m not blaming her for taking it that way though. I mean, I would’ve taken it that way too.

Adira begins to explain what happened and mom just walks in silence alongside us. Well, alongside me since Adira is a part of me, but still. Adira keeps talking and filling in things that mom may have left off but she never not once strays off-topic. I can feel that she’s hurt and doesn’t want to talk to me right now. And honestly I understand. I would be just as sad or maybe even more if the same thing had happened to me, especially by one of the people who should understand me the most.

We finally near the end of the forest, the outline of Asunaa in sight. Honestly, the only thing I want now is some rest. The rest of the group obviously feels the same way as we all speed up to get to the school grounds. Once we get there though, there are multiple gasps as we take in the sight before us.

Multiple bodies lay there on the ground both human and animal as some of our students clash against another group of people. We all stand frozen for a second before Natalia yells at us and we all jump into action. I rematerialize my sword that had transformed back into a bracelet on the walk to the village.

I run straight towards a tall lanky man with his back towards me and I slash him with the sword not stopping and moving on to the next person. A girl runs at me from the left and I sidestep her before I swing my sword at her. She blocks my sword with a long katana and then moves in to attack again. I swear I see a silver glint coming from in the trees before my attention is drawn back into the fight.

Her sword nips me in the side as I try to dodge another attack and I quickly stab her through the stomach before moving towards some of the injured students to help them fight.

Suddenly arrows are flying through the air and I look back to find the source before realizing it’s some of the Venandi we were supposed to be meeting here. I let out a small sigh of relief before turning back to find my next opponent. The fighting goes on for a while before I see something red flash behind me. I spin around and see my mom giving me a smug look before looking down. I look back at her with my mouth dropped when I see a man on the floor with a hole burned through his stomach.

I hear a loud roar after turning back to the battle. Looking up in the sky I see a large red dragon that looks distinctly like Kano. I let out a small sigh of relief knowing that he’s safe before turning back to the field. Once he lands the rest of the enemy that had managed to survive began to flee not wanting to be crushed by him. I let out a laugh and everyone looks at me crazily before I walk towards Kano and run my hands down his scale.

I hear screams and I look up seeing the people who tried to flee being mauled by creatures. I shudder before looking away. Yikes, well that’s some way to die. Certainly not the most favorable but I almost have half a mind to say that’s what they get. Then again everyone in a war thinks they’re on the right side. Although ambushing people and trying to kill them certainly doesn’t seem like a move of good faith.

I dramatically fall down onto the floor in exhaustion finally dropping my guard. Natalia and mom who both have minor scratches and bruises on their bodies walk to my sides hovering over top of me.

“You need any help there or are you good?” Natalia asks amusedly.

I let out a huff and just close my eyes. They both laugh making me smile with my eyes still closed. And even though we just finished fighting and many died I couldn’t help but feel completely content for the first time in my life. Well actually, I know what would make me feel better. Getting the love of my mom’s life back.

I’ve found my twin flame and now I want to help mom get hers back. I’ll definitely be taking at least a three-day break before I go searching first though. Seeing how things have gone for the first few weeks I’ve been here I have no doubt that there’s either gonna be another battle of some sort or I’m going to mysteriously pass out again. Except this time I may not survive if I’m not properly prepared.

“Well, now that that’s finished how bout some food?” I say opening my eyes to see mom and Natalia looking at me amusedly.

“Sure Thalia, whatever you want.” Mom says laughing.