Burned by my own flames ~Sky~

Chapter 10

It’s been three months now. Three months since Bloom woke up Rosalind and she took over the school. Under her commands, life in Alfea has changed completely. It didn’t feel like a school anymore.

New students arrived with the beginning of a new semester because it was Alfea. There was no better fairy school in the whole magic world. But no one could know what they’d have to face once they arrived in this foreign cold place.

Rosalind managed to turn everything good in there to something wretched, something putrid. The school was surrounded by guards 24 hours per day. They all answered to Rosalind which at first didn’t seem so bad.

But then students started to disappear, students that didn’t hold their tongue. The logical thing to assume was that they got expelled. But there was this rumour, a dark one, that Rosalind did something to them.

It was absurd really, to believe these things. But what could someone assume when students suddenly cut any kind of contact with their friends and classmates? When no one had seen or heard from them in days?

But with the absence of Silva and Farah, they had no other choice but to turn to Rosalind and Andreas for answers to their questions, solutions to their problems. Even if it wasn’t ideal.

“You skipped class, again” Rosalind exclaims, looking at the redhead as she’s sitting behind her desk. Audrey was called by Beatrice earlier that day. She said that Rosalind wanted to see her immediately in her office.

When the fire fairy arrived, the new Headmistress revealed that she wanted to talk about her education and latest performances.

“You don’t attend your fairy nor specialist classes. What is so much more important that keeps you busy during the mornings, Audrey?” Rosalind asks raising from her seat and walking around the desk. “From yours and Andreas’ classes? Even sitting alone in the woods seems better”

“I’ve told you, I don’t think your classes are useful for me” Audrey replies sternly. From day number one Audrey has been cold and rude to both Rosalind and Andreas, making pretty obvious that she disliked them.

Under any other circumstances, Rosalind would have the head of anyone who dared to disrespect her but even if she didn’t liked it, she needed Audrey. And the fire fairy was well aware of that.

Audrey had heard a lot about Rosalind but she didn’t know how she looked like. When they met, the first day she arrived at the school as the new Headmistress  of Alfea, Audrey immediately knew what her place would be.

Rosalind was a known stranger to her. Somewhere in the chaos that was her mind, Audrey had images, small glimpses of her. She wasn’t late to figure out that Rosalind was the one who had burned the memory of that night in her head.

For some reason, Rosalind wanted her to remember what happened that night. What she saw and heard. What she had caused as a baby. Just like she did with Bloom. But the difference between the two fire fairies was that one of them knew how to play smarter.

Audrey was trained for situations like this. And now the time has come for her to show them how the game is played.

“Really? You say that with so much confidence yet you cease to show me why. Your capabilities have seemed to be decreasing instead of increasing the past months” Rosalind explains, scoffing at the girl’s reply.

“I’m doing what I can” Audrey says looking at her with bored eyes. Like that was a phrase she was used to say even if she didn’t mean it.

“Bullshit, you aren’t doing anything.” Rosalind shook her head. “Two months ago you killed 15 Burned Ones with one scream. You blew up the main hall, almost torn down the school with the earthquakes that you caused during your breakdowns and managed to save everyone while doing so.” She lists.

“And all that while wearing preventing bracelets which you melted. Do you know how many people have managed to disable these kind of devices without the key? No one, you’re the first. You’re powerful”

“When Farah was Headmistress I was the best student, wasn’t I?” Audrey asks, the corners of her lips curling up making a small smirk form on her lips. “So that’s its, huh? This is all because I took Farah’s place.”

“She raised you, I understand that that’s where your loyalty lies but shouldn’t that change now? She fled, Audrey. She left you”  Rosalind states. She knew exactly what she was doing right now. Using Audrey’s emotions to manipulate her.

“Farah wouldn’t run away” Audrey exclaims shaking her head, her gaze falling to the floor. ’She wouldn’t run away, right?’ the girl asked herself. ‘she wouldn’t leave me, not here’ she thought.

But where was she?

Audrey had spent all of her days trying to figure out had happened to her. She disappeared without saying a word. Everything looked like she run away but Audrey knew better. Or at least she wanted to think so.

Farah wouldn’t leave her alone to deal with all of this. Not after everything they went through together. But believing that she went into hiding and left everyone behind was better than option two.

She’d prefer knowing that Farah chose her over everyone, over her, than knowing that she was dead, buried somewhere.

“Everyone knows you have something to do with it, just like you have to do with Silva” the fire fairy says. 

“But not everyone is brave enough to say it” Rosalind smirks looking down at the girl. “I like you, Audrey. But don’t push me. Like it or not there is a war coming and you’re in first line under my commands. So you have to listen to me”

“I will fight, you already know that. But if you want me in your team, you better stop giving me orders. I’m not your errand girl. That one is standing outside” Audrey says before standing off her seat and walking towards the door. “Fine, have it your way this time”

“And Audrey. I don’t want to be the bringer of the bad news but someone has to tell you eventually. They’re sending Silva to Polaris, the decision has been made” Rosalind informs the girl making her freeze in place.

“Now go to your training” she orders and for the first time Audrey obeys. With her head clouded, she heads to the specialists’ field. The place crowded with students training, trying to prove themselves to their new leader.

Just like the rest of the school, the major of the specialists was hard to manage this day. Andreas wasn’t like Silva. He was hungry. Blood and fear was what he fed off. And now, being among those kids could give him both.

“Morning lady” Riven greets the fire fairy as soon as he spots her, placing a kiss on her cheek. During those months Audrey learned a lot of things. While everyone seemed to leaving her, pushing her away, Riven was the one that stayed.

Even though she would ignore him for days and snap at him during the days that harder to pass by. He stayed through everything and was there to hold her while she cried and despaired. 

“Morning” she replies softly giving him a small smile before letting her gaze move to the two specialists beside him who were staring at her. Her eyes met a pair of blue ones. Eyes that each time they looked at hers took her breath away.

Audrey and Sky broke up about two months after being together. They were both dealing with their issues. Sky was trying to cope with the reveal of his father being alive and leaving him all these years alone and the situation with Silva.

Audrey was almost never there to listen to him sharing his thoughts and feelings. So he turned to other ways of coping. He started drinking. At first it was just a drink so he’d let loose and let of some steam. But then it became more than that.

Of course anything that he did while being under the influence didn’t hurt anyone but himself. But that was enough for Audrey to make it a problem. She tried to talk to him about it.

And that’s how it started.
Sky told her that he did that to himself because he had no one to talk to. She wasn’t there. And he was right. Audrey was really busy with trying to figure out the whole thing with Rosalind.

She spent all this time looking for Farah. Paying attention to every detail, looking for answers where they didn’t exist. Losing Silva also didn’t help. She had to do it all alone, taking down Rosalind. Audrey spent months watching over every little move she made like a hawk. Rosalind was never alone, she was always there, lurking in the shadows.

At this point it had become an obsession.

Sky was right.

Audrey was always on guard. She didn’t sleep at nights. She was never calm. Her mind was thinking a hundred things at the same time. Even if she was physically there, mentally she wasn’t. Sky felt like he talked to a wall, never getting answers back.

And the times she was there, it just didn’t work out. Sky rarely opened up about his feelings. Each time Audrey brought up Silva, it ended up with them fighting. He wouldn’t come around, he wouldn’t forgive him for what he did. But Sky couldn’t also turn to Andreas because he even though Andreas was his biological father, he was never there.

And Sky was not only referring to the time he was hiding. No, he was referring to now. Andreas could make up for all of it. For all the time he spent with Beatrix instead of Sky, all this missing time. But he didn’t.

So since Sky couldn’t turn to Audrey anymore, he went to something simpler. To someone who wouldn’t cause all this chaos but knew how to listen to him. To another redhead with control issues.

Bloom.

“Hey” he greets the girl. “Hey” she greets back before looking at Dane and Riven for a brief moment and then letting her gaze fall back on him. “Do you think we could talk?” she asks looking into his eyes. “Alone”

Sky’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked at her confused. It’s been a couple of weeks  since the two of them sat somewhere alone to talk. They both had been avoiding each other as much as possible.

Dane took the message and walked away quickly, joining some of his friends on the mat. But Riven being Riven, he stayed there looking at the two like he was waiting for something extraordinary to happen.

“Silva will be sent to Polaris” Audrey blurts out making both Sky’s and Riven’s eyes widen. But the blond specialist was quick to change his expression and cover his feelings like he’d been doing for weeks now.

“Not my concern” Sky states bringing his arms to his chest but quickly regretting it as he groans softly in pain. Audrey’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked down at his body, now noticing his weird stance.

“Sky take off your shirt” she orders still looking at his abdomen. “What?” the specialist asks slightly shaken up. He knew how overprotective Audrey got over him, she didn’t like seeing him hurt. So her not knowing of his injury would save them both from unnecessary ‘post-break-up feelings’.

Just because they broke up it didn’t mean that they didn’t love each other. The love, the butterflies, it was all still there.

Sky was still very much in love with her. He was searching her in everything. There were times that he caught himself comparing Bloom to her and saying to himself ‘she would have done it better’. She was the centre of every room for him. The centre of every conversation. She was all he could see, even if he didn’t want to admit it nor to himself or others.

And Audrey... Audrey couldn’t even handle him looking at her. One look and everything was coming back. All the good and happy moments flood her mind, erasing the bad ones. She was still looking after him. Asking Riven about how he was doing, stilling glances at him when they were in the same room.

And it was those little moments like this one. When Audrey showed how much she cared that made Aky believe they’d come back together. That Audrey would forget everything and return to him.

Oh how much he wanted that. Spend his time with her again. He would give anything and everything to feel again like it was in the beginning. When they spent their afternoons by the river, talking and laughing.

He would leave everything for her. Everyone knew it.

But they couldn’t happen again.
“I think you should go somewhere more private for that, Aud” Riven smiled cheekily. “Shut up, Riven” Audrey scoffs before turning her attention back to Sky. “Come on, pull it up. Don’t be shy”

Knowing that if he didn’t obey, Audrey would take the shirt off herself. Sky pulls his shirt up, revealing the bandaged area on his higher abdomen. There was still blood dripping out of it, colouring the gauze.

“Did you see a healer for this?” Audrey asks looking into his eyes and the boy nods. “Then why isn’t it healed?”

“I don’t think it works like that, Aud” Riven states looking at the girl with furrowed eyebrows. “Why didn’t you call me?” she asks stepping g a little closer so she can inspect the wound.  “There’s no need for you-”

“Take off the bandage” Audrey orders him, rolling her eyes at Sky’s try to shake off such an injury. She hated when he didn’t took care of himself. Sky does as he’s told without saying a word.

Audrey leaned down at the height of where the cut was. She looked at it carefully, noticing hoe it wasn’t that deep but it still should hurt much. It was done by a blade, one of the ones specialists used so she assumed someone cut him during sparing.

Her eyes glowed red as she touched softly his hurt skin, carefully as to where she places her fingers. Sky averted his eyes from  the girl, groaning softly as he felt his skin burning for a bit before it completely stopped.

“All done” she says softly, rising  to her feet again. “Thank you, Audrey” Sky sighs pulling his shirt down. It sounded so stupid but she really liked how he said her name. After their break up, Sky avoided calling her name. Any interaction they had was completely professional, small and dry. It felt so endearing

And it was just her name.

“You should have called me” Audrey states looking at him. “You know I can do that for any of you, you should have called” she sighs. “”I know, I just didn’t want to burden you more”

“You were never a burden, Sky”

The two looked at each other not speaking a word yet their eyes saying so many things to each other.

“Umm, I'm just going to go now. If you change your mind on -you know-, come and find me” Audrey says to him before saying goodbye to Riven and walking away.

“Are you convinced yet that you chose the wrong one?” Riven asks looking at how the girl walked away. “What?” Sky asks confused, still shaken up from his interactions with the fire fairy.

“The wrong redhead, Sky” Riven repeats himself. “Nonsense, Riven” Sky sighs walking towards the bench they have placed their things. “Both of them came to visit during your practice only one realised you were hurt and did something for it” Riven points out.

“Bloom couldn’t know” Sky states looking at his best friend. “Audrey couldn’t know either. Yet here we are” Sky sighed looking at the ground.

“I’m not saying it’s Bloom’s fault. It’s clearly yours, Sky. You’re still in love with her but you’re in a relationship with another girl. Always repeating the same mistake” Riven says.

“I tried, Riven. We don’t work. And she clearly doesn’t care about being something more, she literally broke up with me! What am I supposed to do?!” Sky’s voice raised without the blonde having the intention. “Fuck” he sighs.

“I don’t know, open your fucking eyes maybe? Only a blind man would say that!” Riven replies shaking his head. “She still asks about you. And before you say it I’m not taking her side. I’m just telling you” Riven states before walking away.