Tainted bloodlines

Meet the other you

Her chest seizes.

The wind sears down her throat, each movement causing it to hurt further. He jumped. She couldn't believe her eyes at first, no idiot would willingly jump. The Fall is thousands of metres high, and she is too close to the end.

Garvin.

His white hair whips in the roaring winds, his hand inches from her. A smile stretches across his face. "Hello Kira."

"You idoit, we are going to die."

"Maybe not."

Her teeth slam against each other, the world spinning. "Maybe not? We are plummeting toward jaggered rocks."

Another figure falls above, his eyes flashing purple. Nathan. "Trust me, they wouldn't kill you now."

"Utah and Reeta?"

He doesn't know, not yet anyway. "No not yet. They need you."

She snaps at the male, her body rigid with fear. "Don't let me die, I can't...I don't want to Garvin."

Tears well in her eyes, her face ashen as they inch closer to their deaths. He smiles weakly, "it isn't that bad, death you know."

"Because you are supposed to be dead, aren't you?"

"How did you find out?"

Kira sighs, tearing her eyes from the ground. "Reeta-"

Thud.

Not twice but a third time.

Three bodies crumble against the bloody rocks, a thick wafting scent of blood brimming in her nose.

Smell.

She isn't dead, she should be. "Garvin," Kira groans. "Garvin can you hear me? Shit, please don't be dead-"

The earth groans, light spilling across her tan skin. Pale yet striking, her eyes feel as if they are burning from the inside out. "Not yet anyway," a light voice grumbles.

A woman.

"Who the fuck are you?"

She chuckles, her white hair spilling across her high cheeks. "Garvin or at this point Gwen."

Nathan stands shakily on his legs, wings protuding from his back. "Well this is odd."

"You think," Reeta bellows from across the broke rocks. "You weren't supposed to take the Fall. You knew the rules Nathan."

Kira gapes at the male, his eyes a deep purple and gold. "What is going on?"

"The surge is truly breaking," Utah snarls.

The surge.

She knows so little yet something feels off, like a memory is hidden from her. "What is so bad about it breaking?"

"The surge restricts magic, the shift from breaking."

"Magic isn't bad-"

Kira collapses, her head slamming with pain. She stumbles to her knees, muttering beneath her breath.

Gwen yells, "get down."

Light explodes down her arms, tendrils scraping down her body. She screams as a portal explodes to life.

A woman stands across the space, her eyes wide, "who are you?"

"Kira snap out of it," Utah yells.

"I can't, I can't."

The other woman frowns, her face blooming with freckles. She stands alone. "Who are you, I demand to know?"

Her clothes, they are similar yet very different. Like nothing she has ever seen. "I'm Kira."

"Darcy."

Utah hisses, "get away from that beast. She is the one we seek."

Pain burns her body, each tendril biting deeper into her skin. Just a little longer. "How are you doing this?"

"I'm a splitter."

A what?

"Why haven't we heard of such an ability, you must be lying?"

Nathan groans, his back arching awkwardly. A male steps beside the girl, ripping her backwards. "Please help me, they are here-"

Kira stretches a palm toward the girl, brushing her hand. Images flash across her vision, images of another life.

"Wait, how can I find you again?"

"I don't know."

The portal hisses shut, a shadow face peering down st her. Utah. He glows with shadows, his eyes shining. "You fucking ignored me, after everything Kira."

"You threw me off a cliff."

He snaps, "you lived did you not?"

Yet nothing feels different, she still feels the same. They said the Fall would change her. "I did."

"Then we shall leave-"

Water explodes from her palm, ice stretching down his throat. "I'm not going anywhere dickhead."

Hands clasp around hers, warm yet strong. "Breathe."

They shoot upwards, wings slamming through the air. Reeta smiles weakly at her. "You need to leave, he can't stay close to Nathan."

"Why are you helping me?"

"I have been cut away too long, Garvin was blind."

So it's true, they do belong together. She doesn't understand how he is male yet also female. "What is with you two?"

"Garvin was born female but died during the Surges awakening. I am still unsure how. He was reborn but become male when we split, for his safety anyway."

He died.

The goofy idoit died and never mentioned anything. "I am sorry."

"Don't be, just keep away from Jayden and Utah."

Nathan appears, then Garvin. Their faces ashen and dark. "Kira we need to leave."

"I know."

He stands shocked, his jaw slack. "I wasn't expecting tha-"

"But you need to explain everything, I need answers."

Nathan barely nods, "I understand."

Together they trail away from the edge, cautious of the glaring Jayden. "So your going to leave us here?_

She snaps, "you lied to me, let your shadow take me away "

"I want nothing to do with that beast, Kira."

"You are both alike, I can finally see it Jayden. Your both stupid and arrogant, no wonder it left."

He stares, his eyes drawing shut. "Just stop, fucking stop."

"Or what?"

Jayden lurches forward, a dagger on hand. His eyes glow black, his skin pale white. "This."

She gasps, her lips spilling with crimson black. Nathan's growls echo, the sound heart wrenching. "Why?"

"I-i-i didn't mean it, Utah he-"

Utah chuckles from afar, his eyes bright red. "Enjoy the after life Kira, we shall be waiting."

Death.

She wasn't ready to die, not now. After falling she never thought she would live, yet she did.

Just for a little.

Nathan leans over her, his face dark. "What do you want Utah?"

"The surge to finally break High celestial, to finally be free from your corruption."

Her knees buck, the world spinning as she slams into the stone ground. The male growls, his wings arching higher.

So pretty she thought, she reaches out to stroke a feather.

Shit.

His life flashes before her, a grim frown tugging across his face. A lock, a woman and that stranger.

They all stand above a bleeding body, one she knows well.

Her own.