The Forest Chronicles

Chapter 14

Victoria sighed, closing her laboratory's door. Now, she was the only person inside Knolas Manor to be awake. It was about 12:26 at night, or rather the next morning, Victoria couldn't tell. She always stayed up much, much longer than most humans of Knolas would have. She yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

Victoria walked towards two hand shaped hunks of mix-matched metals. She took off her gloves. Victoria ran her left index finger on the scars on her right hand. She looked up, the mirror she used to see how big something she made was compared to herself in full was covered in dust. She didn't want to clean it because then she'd actually see what she looked like. Victoria didn't like it.

Victoria suddenly felt tired, dizzy, and half-dead. She face-planted into her desk while she sat in the chair in front of it.

...

Victoria woke up in a black void, the only thing she could see was her reflection on the floor of the place. "Hello?" She called out. No answer. "Curses!" She shouted. "Show thineselves!" Victoria turned around. She saw something in the distance: a figure. Her eyes stung, the figure's light shirt hurt her light-deprived eyes. She cursed and rubbed her eyes.

"Hello?" She asked, walking toward them. Her eyes widened in surprise. "No...."

They looked like a young boy, around nine or ten years of age. He wore a collared, white button-up long-sleeved shirt, brown pants, black boots, and an eye necklace. The same necklace Victoria always wore and never took off. The same one with her eye colours chequered inside it.  Their hair was brown, flowing in the wind, just as Victoria's did when she decided to open her manor's windows.

Then, Victoria looked into his eyes. Her eyes widened in shock and fear. His eyes mimicked her own, but mirrored. The left was blue. The right was brown. Her left was brown and right was blue. Victoria knew who she was looking at. "Leif?" She asked, voice quiet and unsure. "Leif," Victoria said, now more confident in what she saw. "Leif!" She yelled. "LEIF!" Victoria screamed on the top of her lungs. Her eyes filled with bitter tears, burning her cheeks. "You killed me," the boy said. Victoria stopped.

She blinked. "You," he paused, "killed," again, "me! You left me to rot. You left me to die and join our mother and father. You are more of a monster than people think you are!"

...

Victoria shot up, laying in her bed. "What?" She muttered. Victoria looked around. She actually was in her room, which was in the attic, an entire floor away from her laboratory. Benjamin brought me to my bed, she thought, or I am going insane. She moved the sheets and stood up, putting on her black striped vest she always wore. "Makes sense," she said to herself, "I already have the backstory, aesthetic, and house to be a mad scientist."

Someone spoke up, "you already are one." Victoria jumped back, tripping and falling. "I swear to the gods," she sighed. Koibito, the voice, grabbed her hand and helped them up, "I will kill you in your sleep, Tree."

"Shka no!" Victoria narrowed her eyes. "How did you even get in here?" She asked, "it is my room. Did I not lock the doors?" Koibito shrugged, "I climbed through your window." Victoria nodded. "Alright," she smiled. Victoria smiled. "V-Victoria...?" Koibito whispered. "I still have the chair that has the leather straps on it if you want to sneak into my quarters again!" Victoria grinned. "Oh heavens no!" Koibito ran out of the room. Victoria sighed, "they are so easy to scare, it almost makes me think I still have that certain speck of Knolasian blood in me."

An hour and thirty minutes passed and Victoria has told Benjamin that she would risk her life. She already has risked it many times before but this time she's planning on venturing into one of Syfri's sacred volcano forges simply for something that would grant all the knowledge she would possibly need to finish the Shivering Knight of Knolas.

It didn't take long for an argument to break out.

"No, Victoria, I'm not letting you do that!" Benjamin yelled. "You literally have a kingdom to run!" Victoria simply laughed in his face. "My kingdom is gone! It was burnt to ashes one hundred and sixty years ago,vampire! I have nothing to live for, so if I give my life to the one thing I dedicated it to, I will be perfectly fine by that and you should be too!"

"Draaama," Alexander whispered to Caw. Alexander, Caw, Jason, and Koibito crouched down by the balcony leading to the stairs. Jason rolled his eyes. "Really, Alexander?"

"What? It's drama," he replied. "I know, Alexander," Jason exhaled. "Does Victoria have corn? I wanna make some."someone, uh, what do you call it now? We called it snow corn," Koibito chuckled. "Popped corn, aka popcorn. You wanna make popcorn," Jason and Alexander said in unison. Caw hopped onto Koibito's head. Alexander gasped. "Wow, Caw! Just leaving me! At least I have Victoria since Jason left me to hang out with Benjamin yesterday," Alexander pouted. "Alex, I needed to ask him something. I was learning. He was teaching me."

"Same difference!" Alexander yelled a bit or two too loud. Victoria's head snapped up towards them. "Oops," Alexander mumbled. Caw chirped, mimicking his master.

Needless to say, Alexander almost peed his pants.