The Seeker

Chapter 2: Acceptance

CHAPTER 2: Acceptance

Auriella entered the classroom and took her seat. Her friends gave her questioning looks but she just smiled and said they'll talk about it later. She barely paid attention to Mrs Jones, her voice a soft droning sound in the background. Auriella's thoughts trailed off back to the conversation she had with Dietrich. Her brain still trying to make sense of what happened. A part of her felt relieved that she found some explanation to the strange dreams, but another wanted to reject everything that happened. If she had to accept it, then that would mean that her parent's, and her whole existence she's had so far would all have been made belief.

By the time the bell rang for break, Auriella's head was pounding. She pulled herself up from her chair and joined her friends. She was grateful they didn't ask her immediately who the man was; perhaps they could see she didn't want to talk about it yet. Instead they talked about other things. Michelle and Richard bickered about something or the other. Auriella smiled at the two. It was obvious that they liked each other but neither of them was willing to accept it. They took their seats underneath a big oak tree. It wasn't long before Michelle gave in to curiosity and asked the question the other two didn't dare to ask.

"So who is the handsome young man this morning." She asked mischievously while taking out her lunch from her bag.

"He was my uncle. He's my mother's younger brother. She asked him yesterday if he could come and stay with me while they're gone. Apparently they'll be gone longer than they thought, so she didn't want me to be on my own for that long. You'd think that she'd give him my number." She lied and forced a smile.

Michelle laughed and took a sip from her orange juice.

"Sometimes I think your parents are worse than my dad." She joked.

Auriella looked at her friend, glad to see her smile again. Her mother died when she was six and she never really truly smiled after that. Despite the effort Auriella had made. It wasn't until Richard and Raven joined them in 8th grade that she started to find herself again and truly smile. They both laughed and Richard spoke after unwrapping his sandwich,

"That was a good decision your mother made. It's not good for a girl to stay all by herself." He said and took a bite. The two girls just smiled and rolled their eyes.

They enjoyed their lunch with small talk and jokes until the bell rang again and they left for their next few classes.

They decided to do something to celebrate her birthday the coming weekend. Auriella was grateful for the suggestion, as she had no more energy to be herself around her friends. They took their separate paths home. Richard and Michelle lived roughly on the same side of town, and Raven and Auriella lived in the same street. They would usually walk to the T-junction, Raven would turn right and she would turn left. As they walked thoughts of the man...Massacre, as Dietrich said, was playing in her mind. If he frightened her that much in her dreams and she didn't even know who he was at that time, how much would she fear him if she truly accepted her past and opened the floodgate of memory lane? Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into something. She was slow to look up and looked into blue eyes.

"Raven...?" she asked a little confused. In all the years that she's known Raven and walked this road with him, he's never spoken to her. They both just silently agreed on being quiet when they walk.

"That wasn't your uncle was it?" He asked in his low husky voice and looked straight into her eyes.

Auriella stepped back a little, but found herself trapped between Raven and the wall.

"He is my uncle." She looked back at him, trying hard to keep a straight face. She was never able to lie, and it was even more difficult before Raven because he sees everything.

"Stop lying Auriella." He sounded angry. Auriella couldn't understand why but she knew that she had to say something. He has never shown any signs of emotion.

She remained quiet for a few more seconds and looked at him again.

"He isn't my uncle, but my guardian. I cannot tell you anything further than that because I myself don't even know what happened." She touched his shirt lightly and looked down, willing herself not to cry. She thought it was stupid to act so helpless all of a sudden just because Raven was showing some kind of interest.

He stepped back and turned around to continue their journey home. Auriella took a few more breaths before joining him. She hoped that he would leave it at that, but then she also knew Raven. He would not let things go so easily. She hoped that when he does come again seeking answers that she would be able to give him some. At the T-junction, Raven looked at her one last time before he turned his side of the street. Once he turned around Auriella had the sudden urge to run. Her house wasn't far but she needed to get home. She entered her empty house, slammed the door behind her and slid down the door, tears flooding from her eyes. She knew that she had allowed it. Her subconscious had already accepted that she was a seeker. She could no longer lie to herself, she was too tired to do so. She allowed herself to cry. Maybe it was because she felt a loss for the life she had lead up until now or perhaps she now realised that she witnessed the death of her real parents, and that the ones she had now and loved so much, weren't hers. Or maybe it was just that she accepted all of it, and felt sadness as well as relief. Too many emotions and memories swirled around her head and she gave in, not caring or wanting to make sense of it all. Blackness consumed her and she allowed herself to be swept away. A thudding sound and feet in front of her was the only thing she saw before she plunged into complete darkness.

Dietrich stood in front of the small body lying on the floor. She looked so weak and innocent. The last time he saw her in such an emotional state was when her parents had died. She had come a long way since then, and he had thought that she was over the death of her family, but then again he never really gave her a chance to mourn for her parents. He picked her up and carried her to her room. When was the last time he held her in his arms? It was probably when he pulled her away from her parents' corpses. He wondered as he placed her on her bed, if he should've allowed her to mourn for them. Auriella was a different seeker. She was chosen by Aruwan and because of that she could feel and express emotion. It was as if she was a combination of both seekers and transporters. It was because of this that she had problems when she had an emotion overload. The seeker part of her would not know what to do with this amount of emotion, and would terminate it, in a form of a black out. He touched her fore head and wiped a stray hair from her face. She was beautiful in her human form but nothing could compare to her true form.

He stood up and walked to her window. He had hoped that her acceptance would've been different, but he couldn't wait any longer. The old Auriella spent her life looking out for Massacre. She never accepted it, but he knew that she still feared him. He looked at her again. He wondered if he had made the correct decision to make her forget that she could feel. Make her think that she was completely a seeker, with no feelings or emotions. It is true that it has helped her in her other missions, but perhaps the reason for her sudden loss of memory was because she needed to have the two sides working together, to be ruthless and merciful at the same time. She stirred and he made a fist. He decided he needed to leave. Auriella looked so much like her mother everytime he looked at her; it was almost painful to look at her. He found the mere thought ridiculous but then accepted that having lived with Auriella did bring a change in him as well. Hidden feelings and emotions he thought he didn't know. He smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead. The act was so foreign to him that his inner self rejected it fiercely, but he had decided to change with Auriella. The moment he saw his king and queen dead on the floor and held the little restless, screaming, girl in her arms, he decided that his life as a seeker was over. He died with his two friends that day. Circumstances never allowed him to show his change to Auriella. She still thought of him as a cold mannequin, maybe it was for the best. He left without a sound or trace of him ever being in her room. He needed to notify The Council that Auriella had regained her memories and that the next phase in their plan could be put in order.