Celestial Princess

Chapter 23

Sapphire, now Sage. And Grayson, now Grey. Everything felt strange. Sapphire's light blonde hair was a vibrant red. Grayson's hair was no longer his natural caramel... instead, it became a darkened black. Sapphire's eyes were no longer hazel, the contacts made them green. Grayson's eyes were no longer his beautiful pale pink, instead they were a boring brown. They both wore black and had matching black pendants. Sapphire missed her family pendant. She sometimes forgot when she was wearing it that it was there, but once she knew it was gone... it was like something was torn from her heart. Her brothers wouldn't be able to find her. And maybe that terrified her. But she shook her head at the thought and reminded herself she needed to learn to be more self efficient. If I believe in myself then others will have even more faith in me than they do now. I know they follow me wholeheartedly. But I don't want them to second-guess me. I need to be stronger. I need to be the one to kill Carter. Carter.... A name she didn't think about. By now, she thought the whole reason she trained was because of him. But when she was going through training. Her motive shifted from revenge to something... greater. She didn't realize that her ambition was to save those who she loved. Sapphire wanted to be the one to save people rather than being saved- to protect her brothers and friends. To protect. Not revenge.

Grayson realized Sapphire was in deep thought. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I..." She smiled. "I realized something great."

Grayson laughed. "Well, that's funny. Because we could be heading to our doom."

Sapphire shook her head. "No, not that. I know we are heading into danger. But the reason I started working so hard was to kill Carter at first- and believe me- I still do- but... I started working even harder when it came to me wanting to protect my friends and brothers. I don't want to let anyone down. And I certainly want to become stronger so I can be more self-efficient. I don't want to be the damsel in distress, I want to be the prince in shining armor at becking call. I want to be relied on."

"Well, that is quite something. I am glad you are able to work on more than revenge. You'd make a great ruler."

Something about that made Sapphire uneasy. Do I not want to rule? I just want to protect, defend, and fight. But I don't want to overlook and put everything back into place. Even if I am hesitant about this, everyone has already talked about me taking that slot without question. Is it destiny that I become a ruler? Is it fate that I am the Summoner? So many questions...

"There she goes again," Grayson says and snaps Sapphire back to reality.

"I am so sorry," Sapphire exclaims.

"No need, you need to think. I can only imagine how much is on your plate. I hope to help in any way I can."

"For now, we must bring all our attention to..." Sapphire trailed off as she realized how dark and creepy the scenery got all of a sudden. She shuddered and realized she had to be strong. They were in enemy territory. The horses stopped and wouldn't continue on. Sapphire narrowed her eyes and saw a figure wobbling left to right, looking lost. But not entirely lost... Grayson stepped off his horse and slowly started walking to the figure. "Gray-" Sapphire stopped herself as she held out a hand. This was a test. Sapphire formed her Archers magical bow. Her bow was simply plain since she couldn't summon a high-end Archer quite yet. It was just a plain bronze with a string. Studying the movement of the figure, Grayson soon realized this monster was a Shade. Remnants of the Witch were still freshly intact. But the Shade started to overlook the woman's features. Her eyes were starting to bag with black tears strolling down them. Her mouth was pressed together with a darkened blue. Her black and red laced dress was torn and muddy with hints of sparkles that seemed to fade. She wore a hex broach. That's why I have this hex pin in my dress. Sapphire thought. Grayson formed a water bubble in his hand and the monster looked at him then the pressed lips formed a smile. Sapphire formed an arrow in her hand while the monster's attention was on Grayson. One shot. It's all I need. She thought and drew a silent breath as she lifted the bow and started to aim. Sapphire took a shot for the monster's chest and it winced in pain but drew the arrow out. "What?" Sapphire looked astonished. The figure turned to Sapphire and started to charge. Sapphire drew another arrow and quickly pierced the monster's shoulder. But it still charged. The horse kicked Sapphire off and ran off in the distance, back to safety. The monster leaped up. Grayson's water bubble turned into some sort of whip, locking around the monster's ankles. He tugged and brought the monster back to him. The monster's lips parted. "I thought water was only for healing."