Welcome To My Dark Side

Chapter 26 Alone

After walking back into her reality, the first thing Lyria picked up on was how eerie the silence was having literally stepped out of a war zone. No sounds of ear piercing screams, no shouting and yelling of orders or gunshots to be heard. Lyria put her hand inside her jacket and pulled out the nether star to check that she still had it. The star gently bobbed up and down in a circle as she held it out on her hand in front of her before putting it back away. All Lyria had to do now was find and capture Fractureverse Lyria and send her back to the reality she came from. Like most things this would be easier to say than it would be to carry out, so without hesitating any longer Lyria carefully rushed over to the window. The window was still open just like she had left it and so she climbed out with her elytra outspread behind her ready for flight. She jumped and her wings immediately came into use as she began the last stretch of her journey home.

Back in Dreadfort Lady Azura had not slept well since the incident with the end crystals. She kept having nightmares about it. Just last night she had dreamed about the events. She was there in the lab with Lyria standing there with the two crystals and just like she had done in real life, she shoots Lyria without thinking. However in her dream Lyria falls to the floor, seemingly dead with a ghostly figure of Doriane standing in one corner observing the entire time. When Doriane goes to speak she now alters Azura of her presence. In a deathly cold and echoing voice Doriane reminds Azura that she broke her promise to keep her little sister Lyria safe. She starts walking towards Azura and is almost about to touch her, however Azura instantly wakes up from her nightmare.

Azura was trembling in her own grief and guilt. It took a minute or two for her to calm her rapid heart rate down. Having calmed herself, she became aware of the light creeping into her room from outside as the sun rose. Azura decided to get up realising that it would probably be time to get up soon anyway. As soon as she had changed out of her pyjamas, Azura walked to the door of her room. Before she opened the door she subconsciously picked up Fractureverse Lyria's elytra from the hook she had been keeping it by the door and fastened the elytra to her back without thinking. She then left the barracks to make her way to the tavern to grab an early breakfast.

After a long flight from the pillager town, Lyria could finally see Dreadfort coming into view. 'Home' she smiled to herself upon realising just how homesick she had been. In her excitement, she did not notice the guards on the city walls aiming their bows at her, although luckily for Lyria they were too hesitant to fire. She glanced down at the busy scene of soldiers and civilians going about their daily lives. Lyria decided to land right in the middle of it all so that she could announce her arrival to as many people as she could at once. As soon as her feet touched the ground she saw that she was being greeted by a number of soldiers who all had their weapons drawn and pointing towards her.

It then occurred to her that Fractureverse Lyria had already been here and caused enough damage to ruin her reputation and so Lyria threw her hands up to show that she was not a threat. However before she could clarify the misunderstanding, the loud and commanding voice of Commander Hilda prevented her from explaining anything. "Lyria Wintona you are under arrest for acts of treason!" Hilda barked as she walked towards the circle of soldiers who were currently surrounding Lyria. Knowing that everyone would likely see her story as an incredibly bad lie and that she would be wasting precious time in locating Fractureverse Lyria, she chose to take a risk and run or rather fly for it.

Lady Azura approached the commotion because she was curious to see what it was all about. When she came close enough she saw Lyria standing with her hands raised in surrender with a cluster of soldiers surrounding her. "Lyria!" She cried as relief flooded through her veins. She was so overwhelmed with emotions, she did not notice how odd it was that Lyria was wearing an elytra having left hers behind nor did she notice that Lyria was no longer limping. Instead Azura began to sprint to where Lyria was standing. Before Lady Azura managed to reach Lyria, Lyria took to the air to escape her arrest. "Quickly after.." Commander Hilda shouted before biting her tongue upon realising her mistake but Azura took off instantly upon realising that this was probably her only chance to keep her promise to Doriane. She had to keep Lyria safe no matter what. "Azura!" Commander Hilda yelled trying to grab her attention. "Don't go after Lyria! It's probably a trap!" She warned Lady Azura but her words fell on deaf ears as Azura was already out of earshot.

Azura initially chased after Lyria with the idea of catching up to her there and then however, she significantly slowed down as something did not feel right. She decided to stay behind Lyria quite a bit so that she could trail Lyria without her knowing that she was being followed. The clouds were her best option for this as she could hide among them and the extra height would give her an advantage should things turn nasty. Strangely enough Lyria was flying below the clouds which was something she rarely did but Azura assumed it was because she had wanted to make a quick getaway and needed a clear vision of where she was flying. As Azura slightly trailed behind Lyria just a little bit above the clouds, she suddenly realised that there was something wrong with this picture. She was wearing 'Lyria's' elytra and yet Lyria was also somehow wearing an elytra. 'Lyria must have taken another elytra before she left with the crystals.' Azura told herself thinking that there was only one explanation for this or was there?

Eventually Lyria landed in a clearing having flown eastwards for a number of hours because she was confident that none of the elytra soldiers had attempted to track her. She had chosen to fly to the eastern side of the overworld in the hope that she would be able to find out some information from the Netherbane as to where Fractureverse Lyria might be. She just hoped that news of Fractureverse Lyria's treachery had not yet spread that far otherwise she would be on the run again. Sitting down on a tree stump, she remembered just how alone she was right now and desperately wanted a friend. Lyria cried as she felt completely isolated without anyone to turn to. Then she remembered about the nether star Fractureverse Kaia had entrusted to her. Very carefully she reached inside her jacket and pulled out the precious item. The star glowed brightly in her hand as she held it out in front of her.

Meanwhile Lady Azura had been observing Lyria the whole time from the bushes. She had noticed Lyria sobbing and she was about to walk up to her to comfort her until Lyria revealed that she had a nether star. Azura stayed still. On the one hand she wanted to get through to the distressed teen but on the other hand she did not want to have Lyria attack her with the full force of a nether star, although she did not know whether Lyria could use it or not. Azura did not want to take her chances, however a nagging thought at the back of her mind kept telling her that she should stop procrastinating and take action. "I have to do this. I know I'm scared but no one's going to understand unless I do something. My longing for home is greater than my fear. I can stay as an outcast forever or I can fight. Yes I will face myself and I will win!" Azura heard Lyria coaching herself as she tried to raise her confidence.

Hearing Lyria's speech Azura had a feeling that there was more to Lyria than what everyone had witnessed. 'Now is the time to talk to her. Find out what she's hiding. I know you believe that Lyria still has a chance to be turned.' Azura imagined Doriane telling her this. Taking a deep breath she was about to emerge from the bushes when the nether star spun faster and faster while all the time becoming brighter until it eventually fused with Lyria. It seemed like Lyria was a little taken aback by what just happened as all she had done was boost her confidence and the idea that the star had a mind of its own frightened her since she now had great powers locked inside of her which she had no clue how to control. Azura let out a gasp before covering her mouth hoping Lyria had not heard her.

Lyria had indeed heard something come from the bushes. She looked about her surroundings, unable to locate the sound. Although she could not see anyone, her instincts as a scout told her otherwise. She was being watched and she knew it. She knew that she could not afford anyone to capture her and or take the star. The nether star was the only advantage she would have against Fractureverse Lyria because she did not know how good she would fair against her counterpart despite the Fractureverse Nether officers providing her a lot of information about Fractureverse Lyria's strengths and weaknesses. Lyria leapt into the air. Her guess was that it was the Netherbane who was stalking her and after hearing Ciara boast multiple times about the Netherbanes' capabilities Lyria did not want to whiteness it firsthand.