Crimson: Book 2 of "Red: A Keith x Reader Love Story"

Chapter 3

Your eyes flutter open and groaning you shift. The rock beneath you cuts into your stomach and palms.

You lift your head wearily, your nose crinkling at the putrid smell of your vomit. The sky is darker than you remember it being. You sit up a little, your muscles and body screaming in protest. Your head feels like there's a family of gorillas holding a party in it.

You look around you, the silence calm and yet oppressive. The air is cold and you let your flames lick lightly at your body, the warmth spreading through you.

Sighing, you pull your knees up to your chest and rest your chin on them.

"They must've thought I'm crazy," You murmur. "Screaming at them and bursting into flame," You tilt your head back and look up at the millions of stars and planets above you.

You're sitting there quietly when your ear twitches and you hear the small clatter of rocks. Your flames lessen and you hold your breath, your hand reaching for a large rock next to you.

The sound of footsteps grows closer and closer. Your fingers curl around the rock. As a beam of light hits the ground in front of you, you roll to your feet, the rock raised to beat down the figure.

A hand catches your wrist. Keith looks down at you, his eyes somber. You falter and rip your hand from his grasp.

"Sorry," You say gruffly. You plop back down on the ground, your back against a large boulder.

"We've been looking everywhere for you," Keith sits next to you.

"Don't know why you'd do that," You say sourly.

"This area is dangerous," Keith begins and then he stops.

You both sit in silence for a moment, Keith watching as you let a small sprig of fire travel around your fingers.

"I'm sorry," He says finally. "I judged you and assumed things about you I should not have. I will do my best to help you get home,"

"Thank you," You say quietly.

He nods slowly. "Of course."

There's another pause of silence.

"You're her, aren't you?" Keith asks quietly.

You don't have to ask what he means. "Yeah," You say, a lump in your throat. "I'm the daughter of Haggar the Witch."

"After I saw your fire this morning, I knew you had to be." Keith pulls his legs up to his chest. "I know those flames well,"

"I'm sorry," You choke. "I'm not like her though. I assure you. I would never-"

"I know. You're a good person. You care a lot about your brother and your friends and-" He pauses. "And your Keith,"

"Yeah," Your heart pangs. "Is my brother on the Galra's side?"

"He was," Keith looks up at the sky. "He was the Pilot of the Blue Lion. But we heard that after an incident on one of the demon planets, he deserted."

"What happened on the demon planet?" You ask, already dreading the answer.

"You were both sent to eliminate all of the aristocracy. Your brother was forced to kill one of the princes, a white haired fire demon," Keith says grimly. "I wasn't there, but one of our rebels was there and he said that when your brother saw that one demon, his ice powers disappeared and he refused to harm him. He tried to protect him. The other you screamed at him and forced him to kill the demon. Our man said he was impaled through the chest with a sword of ice."

You stifle a sob. "That-that's his mate. Varius. They never go anywhere without each other."

Keith looks depressed. "That's horrible. No wonder he wouldn't hurt him. After, your brother had a meltdown and he said he wanted nothing more to do with the Galra. He fled and wasn't seen for months. A couple of weeks ago though, we heard the news that he was captured and-and executed."