Clans: beginning of the end

Love is a fantasy

Sunny finished getting ready for school and went downstairs for breakfast. She sat down with a bothered expression, blankly looking at the pancakes in front of her. "I thought you loved pancakes?" Kayden snapped her out of her thoughts. "Then why the glum face?" Kayden asked. "I don't want to go to school." Sunny replied flatly, putting her head on her arms. "Well, at least try to take a few bites." Mia told her, sipping her coffee. Anetha walked into the room with a calm smile. "Morning, kids." She greeted. "Morning, mom." Her kids replied. "I thought I could walk you to school today." Anetha offered. "Don't you have some meeting to be at?" Sunny asked bitterly. Mia kicked her leg under the table for her rudeness. "Well, no. My schedule's relatively free this morning." Anetha muttered. "Sunny, you won't die if mom walks with us." Kayden stated. "Plus, I think it's great that we can spend time together before school." He added.

Sunny nods, letting out an internal sigh of dread. Anetha's kids finished their breakfast and got ready to walk to school. As they walked, Sunny's mind drifted back to the vision she got. All this thinking was giving her a headache and she still has a whole school day to push through. "Sunny," Anetha called. Sunny snapped back into reality and looked up at her mother. "Yes, mom?" She replied. "Me and Amelia talked earlier today and she convinced me to, for this week, lift your punishment." Anetha explained. Sunny's face immediately lit up as her mother spoke. "Wait, actually?" She asked joyfully. Anetha nodded and Sunny's smile grew brighter.

"Thanks, mom!" Sunny exclaimed, hugging her mother tightly. Sunny was overjoyed that she didn't have to walk around with a stupid warrior anymore. "We'll see how this week goes and maybe I'll remove the punishment permanently." Her mother negotiated, hugging her daughter back. Anetha and her kids arrived at the school gates. "Have a good day at school." Anetha said, waving off her kids as she watched them enter the school.

"Hey, Kayden." Daniel greeted, looking sharp in his uniform, walking over to them. "Dan, Ol' pal, hope you're feeling good about our first day." Kayden smiled softly. "Yup." Daniel nodded. "It's a bit nerve wracking, though." He muttered. "Well, we have a few minutes before back-to-school assembly starts, so let's get some coffee at the dining hall." Kayden suggested, wrapping his arm around Daniel's neck as they walked off. "Mia." Sophie called, hugging Mia from behind. "Hey, Soph." Mia greeted, blushing a little.

"I was thinking about you all night." Sophie whispered in Mia's ear, making Mia blush harder. "Can you two not be so... obsessed with each other, this early in the morning?" Sunny requested. Her muscles were already tense. So far, only she knows about their newfound intimacy, and as much as it made her happy to see Mia happy for once, this was only taking her a step closer to what the vision showed her. "Sorry." Mia apologised as Sophie let her go. "Hey, I want to show you something." Sophie told Mia, taking her hand and leading her away.

Sunny watched the two girls rush off with a bittersweet feeling in her stomach. Sophie led Mia into a storage room in a fairly empty part of the school. She closed the door behind them and turned to Mia. Their eyes locked for a second before Sophie cupped Mia's face with her hands and they shared a sweet, lingering kiss. They reluctantly pulled away from each other after a moment. "I never thought a commoner could be so good at kissing." Mia winked flirtatiously. "I never thought I'd kiss a princess." Sophie remarked playfully, kissing Mia's cheek.

Mia giggled softly, her cheeks flushing. "So, does this mean we're girlfriends?" Sophie asked. "That's if you're ready, of course." She added quickly. "Of course I am." Mia replied. "I just need to break up with Cleo first." She murmured, their intimate moment feeling ruined by the thought of Cleo. "I'll be waiting." Sophie assured gently. They snuck out of the storage room, but as the turned the corner they bumped into Cleo.

Cleo's eyes narrowed at the sight of Sophie with her arm wrapped around Mia's waist. "What the hell are you doing, Mia?" She hissed. Mia froze with fear, but Sophie put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Mia took a deep breath and glared up at Cleo. "I want to break up." She blurted out. Cleo's eyes widened in shock before her expression turned furious and she slapped Mia in the face. "What the fuck did you say, bitch?" She fumed in a low and menacing voice. Without hesitation, Sophie punched Cleo directly on her cheek, almost making her fall back. "She said she's breaking up with your toxic ass, bitch." Sophie hissed with clenched fists.

Cleo rubbed her cheek, trying to soothe the pain from Sophie's punch. Sophie wrapped her arm around Mia's waist and led her away, leaving Cleo on the floor. "Thanks for defending me." Mia murmured. "No problem." Sophie smiled. "That's what any good girlfriend would do, right." She winked. "Of course, she would." Mia replied, kissing Sophie's cheek. The bell for the back-to-school assembly rang and all the students made their way to the main hall. All the students took their seats in the hall and faced to the front, where the principal stood on the stage. "Good morning, students." She greeted. "I'm Mrs. Richard, you're school principal. It's lovely to see so many new faces and some familiar ones too. I just..." her voice faded as Sunny zoned out.

Her whole night was wasted on that stressful vision so she was getting tired already. She fell asleep during the assembly and woke up in the desert realm. "I'm gonna start balding because of all this." She sighed. Philip stood in front of her calmly. "What is it now?" She yawned. "Your sister and Sophie have started dating." Philip informed her. "Can you not spy on my family's personal lives, please?" Sunny retorted. "I do not eavesdrop on them." Philip responded. "I have the ability to hear everything in the universe at all times and I simply pay a bit more attention to matters that could affect your life cycle." He explained. "I can see that being a pain when couples get touchy." Sunny muttered under her breath.

"Anyway, is that all you had to tell me?" Sunny asked. "You must stop them from dating." Philip instructed. "Their already dating, though. Mia's probably happy for the first time in years and you want me to take that away?" Sunny questioned. "You are correct." Philip nodded. "That's an asshole thing to do." Sunny replied. Philip tilted his head, observing Sunny for a moment. "Why do you wish for your sister to have happiness?" He asked. "Because she's depressed enough as it is. If I make it worse, light knows what she'll do to herself." Sunny answered.

"You seem to care a lot about people you hold dear. Unfortunately, you are quite bad at expressing love from what I've seen." Philip analysed. "Ouch." Sunny replied sarcastically. "Is that your motivation? Love?" Philip questioned. "No. Love is just some fantasy people live in to make them feel good." Sunny replied. "Why is that?" Philip asked. Sunny stood silently for a moment. "Because it causes pain." She finally answered. "I've seen it." She added, glancing down. Before Philip could reply Sunny jolted awake from the sound of the bell ringing for the start of lesson two. All that crap about how time is slowed down in that universe when it feels twice as fast Sunny thought, rubbing her eyes. Then a new thought popped in her mind. What is it exactly that's motivating her to save the world?

She went to her first lesson, which was business education m and just barely paid attention. She fell asleep in most of her classes till lunch. She went to the dining hall and looked around for her sister. Once she saw her, she rushed over to her. "Hey, Mia." She called. "Hey, what's up?" Mia asked as Sunny caught up with her in the lunch line. "I have a question to ask." Sunny said as the line moved forward. "Ask away." Mia smiled. "Are you and Sophie dating?" Sunny whispered. Mia stopped suddenly, making Sunny bump into her.

"How'd you figure that out so quickly?" Mia whispered. "You look strangely happy today and you and Sophie are all over each other." Sunny pointed out. Mia sighed and continued down the line. "We are." She confessed. A feeling of dread washed over Sunny. "Congrats, but what about Cleo?" Sunny asked. "I broke up with her this morning." Mia responded. Sunny followed Mia to a table where Sophie, Kayden and Daniel were already seated. "Keep this between us, okay?" Mia whispered. Sunny nodded, though an uncomfortable and unsettling feeling took place in her stomach.