Fire and Ice - Riven | Fate: The Winx Saga

Chapter Twenty-Five: Confrontation

"I got your text." I smiled as I entered the Stone Circle. I then frowned when I noticed that Bloom wasn't alone. "Hi, Sky." I said, nervously.
"What the hell are you two up to?" Sky asked us. I then noticed the book and the trinket in the boy's hand and I looked at Bloom. "Bloom, I am trying to be on your side here and you're making it really difficult. You can trust me."
"I'm not sure I can trust you." Bloom told him.
"So he told you." I said as I walked closer to them.
"You knew that he was spying on me?"
"I told him to tell you." I explained. "And before you say anything, just know that I told him nothing." Bloom nodded, took a deep breath and looked back to Sky.
"Maybe we can convince you that what we're doing is right."

Sky didn't say anything. He looked from me, to Bloom and then back to me. "Have you ever heard of Aster Dell?" I asked him. Sky shook his head. Me and Bloom then started to tell him what Beatrix had said. About Harvey, Dowling and Silva.
"I've lived at Alfea my entire life." Sky said when we were finished. "Silva raised me."
"And Dowling raised me." I told him.
"I saw Aster Dell with my own eyes." Bloom added.
"He'd never help massacre an entire village." Sky frowned.
"Even if he thought he was killing burned ones? If he thought he'd help save more lives in the future?" Sky looked down at the floor. "We don't think Dowling and Silva are evil, Sky. We think they're protecting this place, but they're also protecting themselves. So whatever happened that day, whatever the truth is, they're not gonna tell us."

My phone then buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket before frowning at the message. "It's Dowling." I told them. "She wants to have lunch with me."
"You're not seriously thinking about going, are you?" Bloom questioned.
"I have to go." I said. "We can't let her know that something's wrong. Not before we free Rosalind." Bloom then nodded and I put my phone back into my pocket. "Just... text me when that thing is charged and I'll meet you at the east wing." I then left Bloom and Sky alone in the Stone Circle.

***

"There you are." Farah smiled as I entered her office and sat down on one of the sofas. She sat down opposite me and I forced a smile back.
"Do you want to tell me what this is about?" I asked her.
"We haven't done lunch in a while. I thought we could talk. Catch up."
"How's Beatrix?" I then asked.
"You shouldn't worry about her. We're gonna find out why she killed Callum and the Solarian military will take care of her after."
"Why do you think she did it?"
"Just... eat your lunch." Farah told me as she frowned slightly. She then picked up her plate form the coffee table and began to eat.
"I'm not hungry." I claimed.

The woman furrowed her eyebrows as she put her plate back down and leaned back in her seat. "What is going on with you? Recently, you've had a lot of attitude towards me and some of the other teachers. You're not participating in lessons. What's wrong?"
"Maybe the attitudes hereditary." I suggested. "Tell me. Did I get it from my mum or my dad?" Farah looked at me gone out as I stood up. "Or maybe you don't know."
"I think you should go." Dowling said as she rose to her feet. "We'll discuss this another time."
"No." I stated. "I want to talk about this right now. You don't know who my parents are, do you?" The woman stayed silent and I laughed as tears filled my eyes. "Wow. And I half expected you to say I was wrong."
"Eira."
"You could have told me." I said. "You could have told me that you didn't know who my parents were. You didn't have to lie about it."
"I was wrong and I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't good enough!" I shouted. "You've been lying to me my whole life. I don't even know who you are."
"I'm your mother-"
"Legally, you might be my mother." I told her. "But you have never been a mother to me."

I left the room before Dowling had another chance to talk. I wiped the tears away from my cheeks as I wandered down the hall and went outside before sitting on the steps. My chest felt like it was tightening. I didn't want what Beatrix said to be but it was looking more and more likely. I didn't know who I was or where I came from and if Rosalind didn't have the answers, then my chances of finding out what happened to my parents, were slim.

***

About half an hour had passed. I was still sitting on the steps staring into space, smoking a cigarette I had gotten off of a second year. "Since when did you spoke?" Riven asked me as he approached me. I didn't look at him as I took another drag.
"Since when did you care?" I questioned as he sat beside me. I looked up at him as I passed him the fag and he took a long drag before passing it back.
"I haven't seen you all day. Where you been?"
"Confronting Dowling." I frowned.
"About what?"
"Don't act like you don't know." I told him. "I thought you and Beatrix were close. I thought she'd tell you."
"Tell me what?" Riven asked me.
"Dowling isn't my godmother. She never knew my parents. She just... she took me in to help cope with her own guilt and lied about it." I said.
"Shit."
"Exactly." I sighed, putting the fag out on the floor beside me.

"Did you ever think anything was off about her?" I questioned after a brief moment of silence. "Beatrix, I mean."
"I don't know... I really liked her." Riven told me.
"You promised me that you would stay away from the crazy ones." I said, looking up at him.
"Well, the only one I wanted... I couldn't have."
"I think about that day all the time." I admitted. "And I'm sorry I couldn't give you the answer you wanted then."
"Then?" Riven questioned. I didn't reply with words. I slowly leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. He hesitantly kissed me back and I placed my left hand on his right cheek and we stayed like that for a few moments until he pulled back quickly.

"The fuck?" He questioned. "You burned me!" Riven's lips were red and where my hand had been was now a red hand print on his cheek and it was beginning to blister. I looked down at my hands and I frowned as he raised his hand to his burned cheek.
"I-I-I don't know- I don't know what happened." I said, my voice shaking.
"Eira-" Riven then took my hand in his. "You're freezing." He told me. I pulled my hand back and stood up, looking down at him.
"Just... don't fucking touch me." I shouted as I got a text from Bloom. I then lowered my voice. "I, uh... I have to go." I said before quickly walking off the meet Bloom. The trinket was charged.