A Promise Broken.

In the belly of the beast part 2

I ran to the tundra cliffs to see Rain standing there. He looked just as he did eighteen years ago, with his blue, ripped, creeper hoodie, black jeans, fingerless gloves, and his simple armor set, which was just a chest plate and some shoulder guards. However, he was really confusing, was he was fighting what appeared on first glance to be me from this time! But, when I got a little closer, I could tell it was Clover using some sort of spell to look like me. She isn't the best at it, because- at least from the back- she had the grey stripes in her hair, nor were her movements similar to me in any way.

As I was trying to see how to help, or come up with a plan, Clover tackled my beaten husband to the ground, and started taking swings at him. I took this as my opportunity to reveal myself. I ran up to them at full speed, kicked Clover in the side of the head, and watched as she flew back off of him, and into the snow, knocked out.

I reached out for Rain's hand to help him up off the ground, "C'mon... we need to get out of here!"

But, when I reached for his hand, he only backed away. "W-What's happening..." He asked, worried out of his mind.

"Rain, Clover and the former End mage put you in some sort of dream realm! You've been here for a day by now." I say, kneeling down next to him. "I'm here to bring you home... Rainy." I giggle, using his old nickname.

His eyes widened, "Stella... honey?" He asked, gripping his wrist. I nod, and smile brightly. My husband smiled relieved, and pulled me into a tight hug, "I didn't know what was real anymore... I'm still confused... I-I thought she might have been you in some way... so I tried holding back the best I could. Now I see that I didn't need to." He confessed, resting his head in the crook of my neck.

I let him rest on me for a bit, as he mumbled some sort of story on what he thought was happening, and how he thought that was me, and didn't want to hurt me. He seemed so exhausted from fighting her. I'll make him rest when we get back home. I thought, ruffling his messy, dark hair. Darn. I missed playing with his hair...

But then, it occurred to me, "Wait, how much magic did you use?" I ask cautiously. He shrugged.

"Well, a... a lot." Rain confessed, "B-But don't worry! I-I'm fine!" I looked down at his arm, to see a small, purple mark. Thinking it was a bruise -and to check how bad it was- I pull down his sleeve a little to see that there were tens of those purple marks covering his arm. But not just any mark...

Sorcerer scars...

Our eyes widen, and he says, "I-I... I knew I got a few. But I didn't think they were this bad..." he said in shock, looking at the marks that now covered his arm.

"Rain..." I sigh, and pull down his sleeve. Yes he should've thought more clearly, but this was to save his life. Plus, there's no point in being mad now, it's already done. "Just rest. And if you get any more, just come find me... I'll protect you."

A distant chuckle could be heard from behind us, I turn to see Clover limping over to us, her spell to look like me fading in and out.

"If you're going to protect him, who is going to protect you little girl?" I stand up, and create several arcane blades.

"I don't need to be protected from you! Not anymore! I gave you a warning. You brought this on yourself!" I shout at her.

Clover rolled her eyes, "I brought you into this world. I can take you out of it!"

A smile finds itself on my face, "I'd like to see you try."

Clover charged at me, and I threw three swords at her. She dodged two and blocked the other one with ease. Of corse, I didn't make it to hard. I let her chase me into the woods and towards the tundra cliffs, leading her away from Rain so he can recover.