My Inner Demons S2 Continued

Mersedith

Ava groggily blinked the distorted white light from her eyes, leaving spots of green and purple behind. Looking around, she paled. Pierce(who was gasping for breath on the floor) had teleported them right into the middle of a wasteland. Metal scraps and debris littered the floor, and smoke colored the sky gray. The grass was all burnt away, leaving an ashy, dry dirt behind that stuck in Ava's hair and under her fingernails.
"This place was paradise once." Noi said sadly, "It had rich soil and perfect conditions for growing crops. The kingdoms of Kane and Questrillya fought over the land for decades, but there was never a winner, and eventually the land was so ravaged that neither side wanted it anymore."
Ava studied Noi. He looked over the ruins of the village and his face turned down in a rare frown. His eyes looked shiny with unshed tears.
"Noi... did you grow up in this village?" Ava asked quietly. The others were starting to stir, so Noi ducked his head to whisper.
"Yes, and so did my family. They were all killed in a fire. That's when Asch took me in and I became a knight."
Ava didn't know what to say. To lose your family so suddenly, then be thrust into such a violent world, should be too much for any person. Noi is stronger then she thought.
"C'mon, Ava. We need to keep moving. Once we get to Mersedith King Brackon can't track us, but until then, we're easy prey." Rhys insisted.
          For the next hour, the group walked, until the gray sky turned blue and plants began to appear.
          Finally, when several blisters had broken on Ava's feet and her throat felt like it was on fire, Asch announced that they were at the gate to Mersedith. He wasn't sweating, despite having just carried Leif several miles.
          "Okay... um, where's Mersedith then?" Ava asked. The only thing she could see in front of them was a large field of poppies.
          Asch set Leif down on the floor and stepped back, allowing a tired Pierce to unsheathe his sword. Before Ava knew what was happening, Pierce stabbed the hilt of the sword into the air in front of him. The air shimmered and rippled and a large gold gate appeared in front of them.
          "Mersedith is protected by a spell that repels negative magic. We're safe from my father and anyone working for him." Asch said.
          Hearing that, Ava wasted no time ushering her friends inside the gates.
          When she stepped through, her thoughts went blank and her mouth dropped. In front of them were giant sequoia trees, each one grown in a perfect, oversized circle. Open walled houses grew around each trunk, connected by secure rope bridges. More trees and flowers bloomed along the gate, and branches swept toward Ava's face. Shops and marketplaces were nestled into the foliage surrounding the trees, but the main focus was on the giant Sakura tree, growing in the middle of all the wonders. Petals fell at a constant rate, blanketing the ground underneath in a purple-pink blanket. However, new flowers bloomed almost instantly, so the tree was always blooming.
          "Wow." Ava breathed, "This is... wow."
          "Pierce!" A distinctly female voice shrieked, "You brought a human here? How- what the hell- where did you even find it?!"
          "I am not an it!" Ava said indignantly.
          Ava looked to her left to see a woman around her age walking out of a marketplace, carrying oranges. The woman was beautiful in an atypical way- she had a mass of frizzy, copper hair and too many freckles, but was beautiful nonetheless. And her eyes bore a striking resemblance with Pierce's. Bright blue and warm.
          The male version of those eyes, Ava realized, had crumpled to the floor beside Leif. Both of them were unconscious.
          The female, who Ava had no doubt was a relative of Pierce, gasped when she saw the injured men and without asking Ava any more questions waved her fingers. Leif and Pierce began to float and the lady walked briskly up a rope ladder, the boys dangling limbs close behind her.
          "Appolline, wait up!" Asch called and hurried after, his remaining knights following him, leaving Ava alone and defenseless and exposed.
          Just as the last knight finished climbing the rope ladder, it rolled back up by itself, and when Ava tried to get it to roll down it didn't budge.
          "Stupid rope." Ava muttered. She kicked a bucket nearby, earning stares.
          "'Scuse me ma'am, couldn't help but notice your companions left you all alone. A human. How'd you get here?" A husky male voice said.
          "I, er." Ava said, her face bright red. The boy talking to her was ridiculously handsome, with light brown eyes and artfully tousled brown hair. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which Ava was distinctly aware of.
          The boy stepped closer, so they were nose to nose, "Cat got your tongue, pretty lady?"
          "Marcos, leave the poor girl alone." Another voice called.
          The boy- Marcos- rolled his eyes and whined, "Rohan, you always have to be such a party pooper."
          Despite Marcos' annoyed voice, he stepped toward the man- who was also smoking hot- named Rohan and pecked him on the lips.
          "Hi, I'm Rohan. This silly person is my boyfriend, Marcos. You'll have to excuse his mischief, he can be a child sometimes." Rohan said, looking at Ava.
          Marcos grinned at Ava, who flushed bright red.
          "We saw your boyfriend- boyfriends- leave you to walk with Appolline, but don't worry, we can keep you company. Humans struggle to survive on Daemos. But don't worry, we don't bite. Hard." Marcos said, smirking as he draped his arm around his boyfriend.
"What do you mean? There are other humans here?" Ava asked desperately.
"'Course. Usually they come 'round here, seeing as it's safe from evil intentions and all that, but they haven't been showin' lately. Probably scared I'll pull another prank on 'em." Marcos grinned evilly.       
Ava decided to not mention that they were all dead, and that she was the last human on Daemos. She didn't think they'd react well to that.
Ava sighed, "Actually, I could really use a distraction. My friends are injured, and I don't know where Appolline took them-"
          "Say less!" Marcos said importantly, "Let's go get drunk."
          "You will do nothing of the sort!" Rohan said hotly, then turned back to Ava, "We never caught your name."
          "Ava."
          "Well, Ava, why don't we show you around? You have the aura of a newbie, and Mersedith can be pretty confusing." Rohan suggested.
          "That actually sounds... pleasant." Ava said awkwardly, still not completely comfortable around the two boys. She thought humans were rare on Daemos, before...
          So for the next few hours, Marcos and Rohan gave her an amusing and energetic tour of Mersedith.
"Oh my God, this is delicious." Ava said, her words warbled around the food in her mouth. She didn't know what it was, but it tasted like strawberries and chocolate and brownies mixed with sunshine.
Marcos laughed, "It's called a fudgelblast."
Rohan, on the other hand, looked unimpressed, but there was a glint in his eyes that suggested he was suppressing his laughter, "FYI, you're supposed to eat it. How did you take such a big bite and yet almost none of it got in your mouth?"
Ava looked into a nearby puddle and saw that her mouth was rimmed in chocolate paste.
She flushed red, "Oopsie."
She tried wiping it off but it stuck to her mouth like glue, and when she finally got it off Marcos was hunched over in laughter.
Ava rolled her eyes, "Oh, shut up, you Dolly Parton-as-a-man looking baboon."
Marcos stopped laughing, "Who's that?"
"Never mind. You're just uncultured."
Before Marcos could retort, a familiar voice interrupted their bickering.
"Ava?" Rhys said awkwardly, "Could I... talk to you?"
"Uhh... sure." Ava said, still remembering how they all left her to follow Appolline.
What has gotten in to you? Ava scolded herself.
Marcos smirked at Ava, "Mr. Rhys, maybe you should take Ava somewhere private? Specifically, somewhere that four other random people wouldn't interrupt you two?"
Ava blushed furiously and glared at Marcos as Rhys, who was also flushed, led her away.
Slowly, mainly because of Ava's lack of coordination and grace, the pair made it down a rocky, steep trail.
Hoisting Ava up by the waist- Don't think about don't think about it don'tthinkaboutitdon'tthink about it Ava thought- Rhys helped her over a ruined stone wall, the sound of rushing water flooding Ava's ears.
"Woah! That is- I mean, wow. That's seriously beautiful. How'd you find this place Rhys?" Ava exclaimed, her eyes captured by the image of a rushing waterfall and lush foliage all around.
"Mersedith is extremely focused on its natural beauty. There are places like this all over." Rhys said bashfully.
Ava shook her head, in awe, "Well, it's still hard to imagine a place as beautiful as this."
"Ava."
The way Rhys said her name made her pause her sightseeing and turn around to him. She hadn't realized that he had walked closer, so close their shoes were touching. She could see the speckles of water on his glasses.
"Yes, Rhys? Is it about Leif or Pierce? Are they going to be okay-"
And suddenly Rhys had his arms around her and his lips were on hers and her mind went blank. All her thoughts were scrambled and before she knew it she was kissing him back, his lips urgently moving on hers and hers responding in kind. His arms tightened around her waist and electric shocks went off all over her body. She groaned against his lips and obligingly opened her mouth to his. She hadn't realized that they had fallen to the mossy floor, but suddenly Rhys was on top of her, his hands running up and down her body.
Ava broke her lips off of his, if only for a breath of air. Rhys, however, didn't mind and kissed her collarbone, her neck, her jawline, each place his lips touched felt down to the tips of her toes. She shuddered from pleasure.
Rhys stopped, out of breath, and looked at Ava, "That was- Princess Ava, I'm so very sorry, that was out of line-"
Ava flushed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- that was- I've never done that before and-"
"Princess Ava!" Rhys exclaimed, "I meant it was out of line for me. I shouldn't have done that, not without you asking. It's just, you were standing there, and I've wanted to caress you for an unreasonably long time-"
"Caress? That was more like making out." Ava giggled like a silly high school girl.
Rhys broke into a smile, "Same thing. But, you didn't mind?"
Ava hesitated. Rhys had always been her friend, but wasn't he more than that? He had quite clearly stated that he wanted to marry her back on Earth, but Ava never thought he was truly serious, not until he just kissed her-
"I don't think I did. I- I don't know. I've always thought of you as more than a friend, but the others- sometimes I think of them as more too, much more perhaps, and-"
"Ava." Rhys interrupted kindly, "I understand. You have many suitors, and I cannot expect you to pick me just because I have shown you how I feel. For now, being even an option for your affections is enough."
Ava nodded, unable to speak.
"I've been assigned as perimeter guard by Appolline. I trust that you can find your way back?"
Ava nodded again, weakly.
Rhys nodded and started off, but Ava called after him, "Rhys! Thank you, for um, being so understanding."
He smiled at her, "Of course. But never fear- I'm not one to lose when I desperately want something."
And with that he vanished into the shadows, leaving Ava's head spinning. What the hell just happened. Ava thought.

Okayyyyy, so y'all got a lil ROMANCE. I've literally never written a kissing scene before, and I was trying to save some descriptions for perhaps some OTHER romantic scenes in the future(😏😏) so I'm sorry if it wasn't very good. ANYWAYS most of my chapters are around 1,000 words, but this was 2,000, so long chapter, yay!!! Idk if it looks long on computer tho. It might just look super long on my phone but oh well.