Our Forbidden Love 2

35: Starley

Binah and I vanish and I feel the water rush over us as we disappear. We've moved so fast through the water that no one physically saw us as we left through the open door. Binah grips my arm as we travel, nails digging into the flesh in complete and utter terror. I shut my mind off from Alex, obeying his instructions, though it pains me to leave him alone and virtually defenceless. His talents were new and he hadn't learnt how to use them properly yet. He knew the basics but someone like Binah or I would be a lot more suited to the job, but he'd chosen to protect us and risk his life. Love-of-my-life right there. I don't even know where to travel to, at this point I'm out racing around the Pacific Ocean in circles trying to find somewhere.

Suddenly, I feel an energy source of a merfolk following us. How? We're both closed off from anyone with our minds and are therefore blocked from being tracked. Unless the person following us is a Tracer, they'd be able to track us regardless of whether we were closed off energetically. I double check that I'm closed off from Alex. I am. The wall is there but I can still sense he's alive. A little shaken to the core, but alive.

The person following Binah and I are gaining speed quickly and trying to overtake us. I bend the water to the left and Binah and I take the new path. Our follower also moves to the left to follow us, gaining speed as they move. Then, I bend the water to the right and add more pressure so the water has no choice but to speed us up. The follower also bends to the right. They're definitely following us, no questioning it. Suddenly they gain a burst of speed and they shoot up beside us and stop in front of us. I break the water manipulation spell I was using. My stomach drops. A metre in front of us is brown haired, blue eyed Peter Parker. I would've preferred to talk to anyone but him. Instead, Fate had arranged for us to meet. Fate and Karma usually worked hand-in-hand, though at the moment, I hated Fate and was relying solely on Karma to beat him up.

"Give up, Sweetie," he says. Despite the anxious butterflies in my stomach and feeling like I was going to throw up, my voice came out steady.
"Don't call me that. I've had enough of you."
"I know you have, Sweetie," I scowl. "But Weedy was concerned for your health, she ordered me to bring you this." He holds out a small cube about the size of a die. It's a cube of seaweed, similarly compacted like human's frozen spinach. The water environment around us tightens and I reach out and take the cube without fully realising. I feel weird all of a sudden, like I'm half asleep and not really controlling my own body. Still, I take the seaweed cube up to my mouth and I eat it all in one. It tastes weird. Not like normal seaweed, like something has been added to it. Hang on a second, why did I just willingly take food from Peter Parker...?

My thoughts stop. My head becomes blank. My eyes focus ahead of me. I barely hear Binah call my name. Out of nowhere, Peter produces a photo from thin air similar to the knife back in the Scout School. It's a photo of a woman and instantly I focus on her features. Long blonde hair, waist length, beautiful. Thin, wispy almost. Bright green eyes smiling at me. Her lips spread in a small smile, paper white, perfectly straight teeth showing. I smile.
"Where is she?" I ask.
"Do you want me to take you to her?" Peter asks. The tightened environment releases, though I still feel a connection to the person in the photo. I nod but then after a brief pause I shake my head. "Why? What's wrong?"
"I don't think I've met her before. Does she know me?" I ask, meekly.
"She knows you alright. She's been waiting for this moment for months," Peter responds.
"Starley," Binah says and I turn to face her. "Have you lost your mind? That's Weedy Pillars. Alex's sister."
"Alex?" I ask. "You mean the Stonal Child?"
"No," Binah says, "I mean your boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" I exclaim. Why hadn't I known that? "But, what about her?" I gesture vaguely to the photo Peter's still holding.
"Yeah, what about her? She's a criminal. She isn't worth it. Whatever this is, snap out of it."
"Snap out of it?" I ask, incredulously. "Excuse me?" Sassily, I stick my hip out and put my hand on it. "This is just who I am." I turn away from Binah.
"Starley! Look at me." She comes around to the front of me and grabs my forearms to keep me in place. "You're obsessed with Alex. What is this? Can you please focus on the plan we had?"
"Obsessed with the Stonal Child? Oh, please," I say, breaking free of her grip. I look determinedly at Peter. "Take me to her."
He reaches for my wrist and just at the last second, Binah grabs the opposite one and she's dragged through space with us. Peter opens the space and feels for the opening at the other end. Then he pulls Binah and I through the hole he made and we exit inside the Scout School, coming from somewhere completely random in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The Stonal Child and the person from the photo are mid-battle. Alex turns to look at Binah and I.
"I told you to stick with the plan!" He yells, throwing his hands up in-front of him, creating a purple force-field. Binah hopelessly points in the direction of the person and me and attempts to explain the situation without using complete sentences. The person from the photo abandons the battle with Alex and comes to join me. They're beautiful. Long blonde hair floating in the water around them.
"You fed her?" they ask Peter and he nods. I feel a surge of jealously shoot through my veins. They should be talking to me. I'm the one in love with them. Perhaps they do not love me?
"Starley, isn't it?" they ask, and the jealously instantly disappears. I nod slowly in awe. "I'm Weedy."
Binah leaves my side to go join Alex, but I couldn't care less. Weedy. The person from the picture had a name. A pretty one at that. They were talking to me.
"That's a pretty name. I like it," I say, she smiles shyly in return. Then, without warning she reaches her hands out and grabs the side of my face. She pulls me in and crushes her lips against mine. Then she opens her mouth and her breath mingles with mine. It felt warm and sweet and then without warning, her tongue was touching mine. I return the kiss. When we break apart, she smiles at me and her green eyes sparkle.
"Starley!" Alex calls out, and I look at him. "You don't want this. Not really. You want me."
"What is with everyone thinking I should be obsessed with you?" I ask, slightly annoyed and still caught up in the wonderful feeling mine and Weedy's kiss.
"Starley, you're under the influence of a love potion," he says, sounding pained.
"A what? A love potion? What? Are you insane? No. I love Weedy. And besides, love potions don't exist," I say. Then I lean in to kiss Weedy again and I pretend I don't see Alex flinch.