Bows, Apples, & Roses

~ 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 ~

Legend and Ariaellis walked through the Spice Quarter, their arms touching every few steps, and Ariaellis knew that Legend trusted her now. She could absolutely convince him to give her the freedom she wanted. Maybe after she got what she wanted she would drop him off with Jacks, but her plans were of utmost importance.

Obviously Legend didn't fully trust her yet- but it wouldn't take long.

He leaned away from her, despite their intimate moment earlier, but she could tell he was was itching to hold her hand, or graze her thigh.

Legend told Ariaellis earlier that the next clue for Caraval would be here, in this drab and dark district.

"Didnt I just win Caraval? I found you. I don't need clues for that anymore." She had smiled deeply and was fingering his face after their kss.

"Caraval is a lot more then it seems this year." He had replied mysteriously.

"Isn't it always?"

But the look he gave Aria stopped her asking questions. Something felt off about this game.

The current Legend was now studying Ariaellis's face "I meant it when i said Caraval is a lot more this year."

Aria looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow. "But I don't understand how."

They walked through a wide alleyway, a few stray cats skittering away from them, and continued towards a row of fresher looking shops- if the word "fresh" could even be used there. The brown and faded green awnings looked crusty and the windows were so dirty it was hard see anything through them. But each door looked like it had just been freshly painted with colours of red, yellow, and blue; They stuck out like jellybeans in a bowl of rocks.

"It isn't all just a game." Legend's voice was low and resolute, but Aria still didn't quite understand.

The pair passed by a few grungy antique shops with it's glassy windows actually clean enough to see through, and proudly displaying all different types of oddity's and assorted objects. Brassy watches and glittery jewels were carefully placed in front of everything else, where clocks and other mechanical devices were set behind.

Aria was studying the shiny objects when one of them caught her eye-

"My earrings!" Without a glance at Legend, Aria quickly pushed through the door and into the shop. He stumbled in after her, thoroughly confused.

"Aria you can't just-" He spotted her snatch the earrings from the display just as someone came from the back of the store.

The person, an old man with wisps of white hair on his head and round glasses filling his face, saw Aria with the bright earrings, now glowing in her hand, and shouted in alarm at the theft taking place."Stop! You cannot have those!"

Aria had already placed them in her pocket and was swiftly making her way toward the door, ignoring the protests of both Legend and the old man.

"Please get your wife and bring her back here immediately." The man pleaded.

"She isn't my wife!" Legend scoffed at the man and strode forward in two steps, grabbing Ariaellis's arm. "What are you doing?" He whispered harshly.

"These are mine, i'm taking them back. Now hurry before he tries calling the authorities or something."

She attempted to pull away but Legend held her firmer.

"You can't just steal things like that!"

Aria groaned in annoyance then picked up the ribbon at her waist, tugging it away from her. Legend noticed the action, but was distracted by the sudden crash behind him.

He turned and saw the old man on the floor with broken glass surrounding him and an overturned lamp across his chest.

The man started wheezing as a dark pool of blood spilled from the gash in his head and over cracked glasses.

Before Legend could do anything, Aria tugged on him again and managed to pull them both away from the dying person and out the door.

She didn't stop leading them away till they had hurried down the cobblestone streets at least half a block, then she ducked into the nearest alley and took her earrings out to examine them. They seemed to be fine, no scuffs or marks.

Thank the Fates.

She breathed a sigh of relief and finally looked up at Legend, who was glowering down at her with a mix of frustration and anger but also a tiny bit of curiousity.

"We just left a man to die. Over earrings."

His voice was flat but Aria could've sworn there was a slight twinkle in his eye.

"No, an old man died from slipping in his overcrowded shop and hitting his head. We were never there." She smiled mischievously, putting her earrings back where they belong. A small tingle ran through her body when she clicked them both in place.

Legend stalked from the alleyway in a huff and Aria took long strides to catch up with him. "If it bothers you so much just go back and use your magic to make him alive again." Her arms crossed over her chest.

"I can't bring people back to life- i'm not a necromancer." She could hear him roll his eyes.

There was an awkward pause, leaving the two walking in silence for a bit.

Aria wasn't sure why Legend was so upset about the old man dying. He didn't even know him, what's the big deal?

Adrenaline was wearing off from the running and she realized what she just did.

She killed a man. Again.

Guilt flooded Aria like black tar and her legs felt heavy. Her steps became slower, feet dragging. A small rock found its way in front of her boot and she tripped- falling flat on her face.

Legend turned around at her yelp when she hit the cobblestones.

"What happened?" He was knelt beside her in an instant.

Aria lifted herself from the ground, elbows propped, and looked at him sideways. "I tripped." Her tone was flat and teasing because obviously; she tripped.

His jaw tightened at her cocky tone so he stood up, offering a hand to help her up.

She accepted it and Legend pulled up her with ease, his hand lingering a little longer and their eye contact a little too intense.

He was still holding her hand when he flips it over. "Your hands are scraped up."

Small red lines and dots of blood scatter her hand.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." She was going to pull away when suddenly his other hand was on top of hers and she felt warmth glowing from it. Aria watched as Legend moved his hand away and revealed that the small cuts were gone.

"I thought you didn't do magic-"

He cuts her off "I won't bring people back to life but I can heal small cuts, Ariaellis."

He looked at her face and saw that her chin had gotten scratched too. His hand hesitated, then lifted to it, the same warmth emanating. He wasn't focused on her jaw anymore like how he was with her hand, he was looking at her lips.

Aria suddenly felt shy. They had just kssed mere hours ago and she definitely didn't have any feelings for him. He was her tool to get exactly what she wanted, seriously. But this was the Legend! And he was healing her small scrapes even after being mad about leaving the old man to die. He was nothing like she'd expected.

This wasn't the great Master Caraval who was greedy and evil, this was just a man who happened to have amazing powers and cared enough to heal a random girl he'd met in a garden. I suppose that's a small understatement who he really is, but that's who he was now.

He'd finished healing her scrape and dropped his hand. There was a moment of lingering, his jet black eyes meeting her jeweled green, then they continued walking. Her legs didn't feel heavy anymore, surprisingly.

"Don't trip again." He said in a dry tone, but hints of genuine concern were buried somewhere.