StarLight

Chapter 66: Realizations

~~~~~
Arya
~~~~~

As soon as we entered the gym, escorted by coach Lawrence, it felt that Alden was searching for me.
Or someone in particular and was settling for me.
Before I could so much as walk away, he had grabbed my hand, taking my onto the dance floor.
"Been some time since we talked." He stated, offering a slight smirk.
"Not long enough." I replied, glancing over at Claire and Toby, begging them to come and help me with my eyes.
Claire shrugged helplessly as Toby was staring off at his crush, the mascot.
"I'm actually here with my friends, so... If you could excuse me." I explained, trying to pull away.
My efforts only resulted in him tightening his grip.
"I wanted to talk to you about Skylar, actually." He stated suddenly, looking off to the side.
"Oh, well, she's actually in a relationship." I stated, knowing all to well that what I just said wasn't fully the truth.
One could hope though.
"That isn't what I-" He cut himself off, realizing his tone was less than friendly.
"I wanted to ask why she didn't like me." He stated simply, his tone now back to how he originally spoke.
The longer I was in this situation, the more my gut tightened.
"Maybe because you're a fake person. You want so badly for everyone to like and trust you, but it just won't happen. Especially with her. And me." I stated, digging my heel into the ground which caused him to stumble a bit.
"I'm done dancing. I have to get back to my friends." I stated, narrowing my gaze at him.
Reluctantly, he let me go.
I never walked away from someone faster than I did tonight, making my way through the crowd.
A sudden urge to wash my hands and then bathe in bleach filled me and I latched onto Claire's arm, linking elbows.
"Let's grab Toby and hurry back to Trollmarket. We're on a mission and I don't want to be near Alden right now." I spoke, receiving a quick nod from Claire.
A sick feeling then settled in my stomach, my gaze moving over to meet Alden's one last time.
He was still watching us, glaring.
When someone stepped in front of me, blocking my vision of him, I looked back to Claire.
She was more focused on the mission then I was.
I slipped my gaze back to Alden, except...
He was no longer there.
I glanced around the room.
He wasn't anywhere.

~~~~~~
Blythe
~~~~~~

"How are you feeling?" I asked, looking over at the large troll.
"Why are you still alone?" He asked instead, his features giving away what he was actually feeling.
I decided not to push it.
"Technically, I'm not alone anymore." I pointed out.
He only narrowed his gaze at me before returning to his breakfast.
"I don't know... My father had an important mission and his apprentice is a stickler to doing what he's told... More or less. Besides, I've been doing my own thing. Not really a lot of time to go out and make friends or anything." I explained before shrugging pathetically.
"You're wasting your life." He growled lowly, causing me to stiffen.
"Excuse me?" I asked, disbelief coating my words.
"I know you heard me." Bular stated.
"How am I wasting my life? We haven't talked in years, much less spent time together. Don't act as if you know me anymore." As soon as the words left me, I regretted them.
Bular sat to his full height, towering over my form.
"Then you must do the same." He growled out.
So that's why he was giving me an attitude.
"You haven't changed at all, Bular. You still lash out when something is bothering you." I stated, crossing my arms.
If we were going to get anywhere, I could not allow him to gain any ground in this.
I could not give him a reason to go against the plan.
"And you still spend hours putting effort into things that don't matter." He countered.
"What exactly doesn't matter?" I asked, gesturing around my cottage.
There wasn't much to look at in here, but it was my home.
I'd be damned if I let him disrespect it.
"Finding anything on the night watcher before now. On magic, of which you have no talent for. This place falling apart around you... Me." He finished.
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him.
"This is the place I have called home for the last nine hundred years, of course I'm going to stay. And I do have a talent for magic, maybe not as much as the other witches and wizards, but it's still there. And the night watcher that appeared all those years ago? I was there when she escaped from the prison with all the other trolls. She lead them across the bridge and then she fought in the war against your father. She came from nowhere and became something for people like me to look up to. There has to be more like her. Obviously there is if there is another. This is something I've dedicated my entire life to finding out." I paused, taking in a breath as I studied him.
"Yet, when I saw you. I put all of that aside. For you. Because you are my friend, my only friend. And you matter to me. I know you better than your own father knew you. You're not like him, Bular. Stop trying to be something you're not." I finished softly, my gaze searching for his.
He stayed silent.
"Tell me what's bothering you. Please?" I pressed gently.
I waited a moment.
Two.
But he still said nothing.
"Okay... Just... Know I'm here for you when you need me." I spoke softly before grabbing my cloak, Xena gliding from her perch to land on my shoulder.
"I'm going out to gather some ingredients to make something that'll quicken your recovery." I stated before walking out without another word.
As I walked into the woods surrounding my cottage, I realized that Bular had changed.
He remembered everything they had him do when he was under their control.
My mind went back to what he said about taste and how he liked it.
The taste of human flesh.
The guilt that must be consuming him...
Everything he remembers doing, things he wouldn't normally have done.
It doesn't matter how many times anyone says it wasn't his fault.
He would never believe it.
He would never be the same as he had once been.
Like the scars scattered across his skin, there were scars out of sight too, plaguing his mind...
And his heart.
I could help quicken his recovery on his external injuries, but it would take more to even try to help the injuries done to his mind.