Fallen Angels

Meeting at Last

                                                                        +++Ten years later+++

     Bella stared at the other children on the school playground. They were all either avoiding her or too caught up in their games to notice her. All the other children avoided Bella because she was...different. They feared her for being the King's adopted child, avoided her because of the rumors that she had been born from a citizen of the Light Kingdom, and hated her for being much too nice. Most of them were too young to understand why, but they knew being nice would lead to being merciful, and being merciful wouldn't pass for a soldier in the war. 

Bella sighed, and turned to look through the invisible barrier separating the two sides. She longed to go to the nearby school of light, where being cheerful and kind was a good thing, and where everyone would accept her for who she was. She noticed on the side of the Light playground, a girl with long black hair standing off to the side from all the other children. The girl saw Bella staring, and walked over as close as she could get without activating the barrier.

 "Hi. My name's Bella, what's yours?" Bella said, exited to be talking to a Light citizen. 

"Charasin. Why were you staring at me?" The girl asked, looking curiously at Bella. 

"Um, you were just...standing there while all the other kids were playing. it was a little strange." Bella replied, trying not to sound rude. 

Charasin looked at the ground. "I don't really like to play with them...they're nice and all, but I just feel like I don't fit in. There's a stupid rumor going around that I belong on the Dark side. I think I do too, but all the other kids tease me about it. Oh well...Life will repay them eventually." She said, looking back up. 

Bella didn't understand. "But your people are supposed to be nice," She said. "Why are they bullying you? I don't get it." She said, confused. Charasin smiled sadly. "I don't know why. Perhaps they just truly hate me," She said. Suddenly, Charasin gasped and ran away. "W-wait! Where are you going?! Come back!" Bella called as shadow fell over her. She turned, and saw her father, the King of Darkness, standing there. "Child. Come." He said, and grabbed her by the arm. Bella looked back. Charasin was standing there, a little farther back then before, watching Bella as she was pulled away. 

     Back at the King's castle, Bella lay in her room. Luckily, the King hadn't seen what she was doing back at the school playground, but he had questioned her about why she was so close to the border between kingdoms. Bella had told him she'd seen something interesting and had run upstairs before the King could ask her anything else. Back in the present, Bella sighed and pondered that girl. She had said her name was...Charasin? For some reason, the name rang a bell in Bella's mind, but she couldn't place where or when she'd ever heard it. She got up from her bed and walked over to her balcony. She looked out over the railings and wondered if Charasin was thinking the same about Bella...Probably not. Bella thought, pushing the thought down. But all the same, Charasin was the only person who seemed to want to be Bella's friend. Bella laughed quietly. How unusual the two were, if they were to become friends...their friendship would be hard to maintain since it was forbidden to speak to the other kingdom. Bella took one last look at the starry sky, and turned back inside. She grabbed some snacks from her secret stash, a few interesting books about Darkness culture, and a canvas and paints. She piled all this into a bag and stood on the edge of her balcony, her body a silhouette against the full moon's glow. She took a deep breath--and plummeted into the city below, her black skirt billowing around her. As she fell, her body began to crumble and become a shadow. The shadow enveloping Bella lifted up to her back and formed a pair of huge, beautiful black wings. She turned her body so that she was plummeting face forwards to the ground--and with a mighty flap lifted towards the horizon. She alighted on a hill on the edge of the force field that separated the two kingdoms. As she had predicted, she saw a shadow sitting under the beautiful magnolia tree that bloomed. The tree was split straight down the middle so that half of it belonged to the Darkness, and half of it resided on the Light side. As Bella drew nearer, the silhouette came into better detail, and Bella saw Charasin sitting under the tree gazing at the stars. "Hey." Charasin said, without turning around. "Hi." Bella replied.

 From that night on, they met every night on the hill with the magnolia tree. 

                                                              +++Eight years later+++

      One particular night, Bella swooped down from the sky. Like always, Charasin was there before her. Bella landed and she turned solid once more. Charasin was looking at the ground, holding a fallen magnolia blossom. Her wings drooped and her electric blue eyes looked...gray. Darker than usual. "Have you ever felt...unwanted? Hated by those who swore never to hate? Not happy where you are, when all you want to do is...leave and be someone else? Be human?" She said, turning her head slightly to direct her voice towards Bella. "Surprisingly...yes. All I've ever wanted is to be who I want, not be hated for trying to be kind. I hate this, Characin. I hate it and I want it to stop." Bella's voice broke, and a single tear fell from her black eyes. "I don't want to live like this, Carrie. I wish I could be human...they know how to stay happy, and stay determined that it'll always get better. But I...I just can't. Not like this." Bella sighed, watching her hand re-materalize. Charasin turned and looked at her. "Listen to me, Bella. I've never told you this, but...sometimes I dream about something that has happened to me or someone else. And last night I had this dream...there was a woman, she was pregnant. With twins. One was born on the Dark side, and the other on the Light. Has that ever happened before?" Charasin sighed. "The odd thing was, I felt like I had already experienced that. Like I had been there the whole time..." She trailed off, turning to look into Bella's eyes. "I don't know who that happened to, but...I love you, and you'll always be like a sister to me." Bella was about to reply when the two heard a noise in the distance. "Girl! What are you doing? Come with me!" The chief of the royal guard of Darkness grabbed Bella and tore her away from her only friend. "Never come this close to the border again!" He growled, and pointed his weapon at Charasin. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She knew what was happening. She'd seen it before, in a dream...Charasin's eyes grew wet, fearing this would be her last breath. No. Please, no... She thought. I need to do something! I need to get away from here!  She suddenly ran behind the magnolia tree, and turned into her Light form--a small bluebird. The guard, not knowing the bluebird was Charasin, did nothing when she flew upwards and away. Bella saw the bird, and knew her best friend was safe. "I don't think she'll be coming out of hiding, Sir." One of the other guards said. The Captain growled and pulled Bella away from the magnolia tree, away from Charasin, away from happiness...

                                                                           +++

Heyo! I just wanted to say I hope you like my story so far :3 and happy holidays to all you awesome people out there! I'll be working on chapter three soon :3~Luna