Puppet & Puppeteer

Chapter 1

Pant... Pant... The girl woke up with a start. She wiped off the beads of sweat that was forming at her forehead. She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. The dream she had just had... She got off her bed, tied her hair into a messy bun and trudged to the bathroom. Splash! She washed her face. She looked into the mirror. Her hair messy like a bird nest's, her blood red ruby eyes gleaming in the light. Her side bangs dripped, wet as she grabbed a towel and wiped off the water. That dream... What was it? W-Who is Freesia Wisteria? [Btw, referring to the prologue]

"Azalea!!" A voice screeched. Her loud voice seemed to reverberate throughout the entire house. Azalea winced at the volume of her best friend and housemate, Olive Eleanor's voice. Bang! Taking care of her best friend galled Olive, but still, she was obliged to take care of her. "They're here. Our new roommates." Olive reminded Azalea, gawking at the messy sight of her best friend. Olive turned as she left the bathroom. Azalea followed and walked out of her bathroom, before walking into her walk-in wardrobe. There, she stood before her full-length mirror.

She let her hair fall onto her shoulders as she felt the softness of her hair. Her bangs laid comfortably on her forehead and her side bangs reached the bottom of her ears. Her emotionless eyes stared into the mirror- to herself. She pushed her side bangs on her right behind her ear as she made an attempt to dry her wet clothes. She then proceeded to lumbering down the stairs. As she walked, she caught a few mumbles by some people.

"I...meet Freesia..." "Dahlia...it" As she reached the final step, her eyes met a boy's eyes. He had the same blood red ruby eyes like her, but instead of silver hair, her had jet-black hair. His eye lid curved and his eyes raised to meet hers. Azalea felt two gazes land on her and she broke the eye contact with that boy to look at another two people. A girl and a boy. The girl had egg plant hair colour and her eyes were just as dark. Her lips twitched in disgust and she furrowed her eye brows, obviously annoyed.

"Freesia Wisteria... Long time no see..." After every single word, the egg plant hair coloured girl seemed to want to slap Azalea. However, instead of fear, Azalea felt nothing and has not felt anything ever since her parents died when she was 5. A car accident they say... As if she would believe it. Azalea flinched at the faint sound of somebody's feet leaving the ground and coming into contact with it again. The sound could be heard consecutively, like the sound of bell ringing continuously and the memory of her dream on replay.

Soon, Olive could be seen standing on the stairs, her hand on the railing. Her eyes were a shade of olive green, just like her name. Her hair was a pretty golden blonde that shined like gold. The ends of Olive's mouth curved upwards, forming a smile. Olive was not looking at Azalea, but rather, The egg plant hair coloured girl. "Dahlia Elizabeth..." Olive murmured. Tension ringed in the air and something in Azalea told her not to get involved. Azalea merely stared at both of them, intrigued.

The black-haired boy looked at Dahlia, as if this was normal. On the other hand, the boy who stood beside Dahlia looked immensely uncomfortable, like her. His hair a denim blue, his eyes a pale azure blue. His features seemed similar to Dahlia [the fact that both have same coloured eye and hair colour respectively], but their personalities were a complete opposite.

"Olive Eleanor. So I was right. You were the one who broke the ancient seal." Seal? What did Dahlia mean? "Just to run off to your dearest bestie huh? Abandoning Vistorial when it was your duty to protect it?" Dahlia continued. Olive caught a glimpse of Azalea's expression. She gulped down some saliva before responding, not wanting to scare the clueless Azalea. "Well, yes. I am the last saintess after all." Saintess. That word ringed in Azalea's mind. She tilted her head at Olive's words

"She does not even know? Freesia Wisteria has yet found out? How comical!" Chuckled Dahlia. "Olive..." Azalea asked, her voice slightly cracking due to her lack of speech. "W-Who are you?" Never in her life has Azalea felt such curiosity towards her best friend whom she thought she knew well. Well, not anymore. She rushed up the stairs, to where Olive was. She looked at Olive with expectant eyes, awaiting Olive's response. "..." "Lea, have you ever wondered why your parents dies when you were 5?" A pained expression was written all over Olive's face.

Azalea pursed her lips. "Why... are you talking about that?" Despite Azalea's simple reply, deep down, questions were rushing into her head like wildfire. Why did my parents die? Was it not my relatives' faults? How does Olive know? Who... is Olive? "Tell me." Azalea demanded. Olive sighed. "Fine... I will-"

"I shall tell the tale of Vistorial! Not you, you incompetent daughter of a baron." Interrupted Dahlia. Something about Dahlia radiated elegance. As if she was nobility, but it seemed more like... royalty? Dahlia's way of words seemed blunt and straightforward. Yet, in a way, there as elegance too. But still, Dahlia's words seemed to carry strange words. Such as 'baron' and 'Vistorial'. Both of which did not exist in the current modern world.

"What?" Olive questioned, her eye brows coming together to form a frown. "Olive!" Azalea announced in an authoritative tone." Shall do it." She finished in a calmer manner. Azalea shot a menacing glare at Dahlia, telling Dahlia with her eyes to shut up. Dahlia shook with anger, visibly mad. Taking the silence as a 'yes', Olive opened her mouth to start speaking. The story of Vistorial. Where everything began. Who Freesia Wisteria was. Why was Azalea called her? And the odd words Dahlia and Olive used...