UnKnown(PUBLISHED)

Twenty-Three

Rylan

When Fay says that we are running out of time, does she mean it literally, or does she say that to watch us run around with our heads cut off? In all honesty, it doesn't look like Fay tends to kill her parents just because but only to make the goal of Arianna getting her memory back faster. Arianna is who she actually wants. But I'm sure we all already figured that out by now.

Anywho....

"So you took us in a circle... had us rest, and now we are back in your area? What does? We're on a timer, and this world is in danger. Do we not understand?" I questioned, gripping my hair as if any minute it was going to get ripped out. Seriously. We woke up early in the morning, thanks to the clock in the cabin, and headed straight out without eating. Not like there was any food in the place, to begin with, but we did find something to eat on the way to wherever Peri was taking us. And I swear... I swear I heard a werewolf in the middle of the night howling. Not like I haven't heard them howl every once in a while at night, but this one sounded so fucking close I thought we were going to get ambushed.

Back on topic, though.

Do you know where she took us? Back to her home to check up on her people. Not that I do not mind or anything, but this was not the time for that. We returned to where we first bumped into her, meaning if she dared to do the same method again, all hell would break loose.

"Can we get going now?" I impatiently tapped my foot, running my fingers through my hair. Peri was literally checking every single one of her family members and friends. Don't ask me how many of them there are, but it's a shit ton.

"Rylan is right. The faster we go, the faster we can get everything back to normal. There are many places that the twins went to during their lessons. And I'm not saying we should go to every single place because that would take too much time-" Meadow glanced over at me. "But.. clearly, this place that is the final piece to everything is quite important. The downfall of... them."

The downfall of them? Is it that much of a failure for Arianna?

Peri nodded in understanding before saying a couple of words to whoever before motioning for us to follow her.

Fucking finally.

As we walked, I kept an eye on everything that we passed by, making sure we weren't going in the same direction over and over again. Luckily, we were not, but that did not mean I lost focus. I would have expected to bump into Arianna already. I know this forest is enormous, but Arianna is bright, and I'm sure she would have thought of some way to cross paths. Right? But instead, we have been passing cabins and other mythical creatures. I'm just glad some of these creatures are too busy being upset over their home to attack, as so far, I am the only human being here.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. To say I am worried about her is an understatement. What if people mistake her as Fay and try to kill her? I would never be able to forgive myself if that were to happen.

"Hey Meadow..." I started, shoving my hands into my pockets. Meadow turned her head toward me, prompting me to continue. "You said that twins are rare, and if they are... you know, the whole good and bad shit. But is there a reason for all that? I mean, I get if the evil twin creates chaos, then that's bad, and that's why they are sent away. But if they don't and everyone lives happily, then... I just feel like there is more to it than living happily."

Meadow averted her gaze as she stared straight ahead toward Peri, who was in the lead.

"You're right. There is more. Twins are the key to this world. Sounds weird, right? How could twins of anything be the key to a peaceful world?" Meadow spoke, laughing a little. "But it's the truth. Twins can create a peaceful life amongst others. Their powers can do anything and everything that they can think. To help humanity, but if the evil twin decides against that... nothing good comes from it. It takes two, not just one, to help the world. So if one falls, then so does the other. As you can see..."

Meadow swept her hand around the forest that was basically dying.

"Now that Fay has escaped and with her raging fury toward her sister, she has created exactly the chaos she wanted from the beginning that we tried to prevent. But we don't tell the twins that because we want them to make their choices on their own. If we were to tell them how important their powers are, it would be so much easier for the evil twin to just immediately create chaos. This isn't the first time this has happened, you know? Evil twin destroying everything. But by locking them away, we have been able to restore over and over and over again until finally, we learned how to capture them more quickly. But now..." Meadow slowly just trailed off.

And that was fine. I knew exactly what she was trying to say. Fay and Arianna were the essential keys to humanity, and everything was fine until Fay broke out. And now everything has turned to shit, and if we don't stop her, their home will forever be destroyed, and there will be nothing left.

"So none of the twins know that they can basically control their hometown? Not even Fay and Arianna know even till this day?"

"Nope. They've asked when they were younger... and I only gave them half the answer. And now.. it wouldn't even matter if I told them. This place is already destroyed."

I stayed quiet for a second, letting the information sink into my head. "But why is Fay and Arianna the better key to this place?"

"Because they are the most powerful or well.. they were supposed to be the most powerful with lessons." Meadow sighed, looking down at the ground.

"Out of all these twins?"

"Out of all of them.."

That's shocking.

"Wait, so what about all the other twins after?" I furrowed my eyebrows. Meadow clicked her tongue, knowing exactly where I was going with this.

"If this had succeeded, then Arianna and Fay would have been able to help out with newer twins to keep everything running smoothly."

"Have you had any other twins born since Arianna left?"

"Yes. And every single one failed and was sent off." Meadow sighed disappointingly. This information was huge. This whole time, I thought training twins was to keep the peace amongst others and for them to live a good life, but in reality, it was so much more than that.

"They are the rulers of twins.." I stated, slowing my walk. Meadow slowed down as well. Peri stopped and turned toward us as she wasn't listening to anything we were saying but noticed how we had stopped walking.

"No... I mean.." Meadow pulled her bottom lip into her mouth as she avoided eye contact.

"Yes.. they technically are. Everyone has a ruler or leader, you want to call it- in every realm. Peri is the leader of hers. I am mine. Everyone has it, but for twins. Twins that are so rare? There has to be one, which is why we trained them so hard."

I nodded my head in understanding. This was so different. So, off of what we all thought this was. This was so much bigger than I anticipated.

"But what if they never came back?"

"Then we find a new leader. We've been trying with no luck." Meadow shook her head.

I nodded again. I couldn't say anything. There was nothing for me to say. So, instead, I focused on the task at hand. Finding Arianna. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed we were in another section of the forest. Another village.

"Peri. Where are we?"

"Werewolves territory."