Intertwined Fate

t w o || o n e w a y

I heard an unfamiliar voice in the background as warm hands wrap around my body. Then I remember losing complete consciousness.

My feet feel strangely warm. This comforting sensation... Am I... Dead...? I blinked my eyes open to find myself in a dimly lit room that was almost completely feel the crates and boxes I was lying above crates and boxes. I was lying about the crate which seems the tower over me like skyscrapers, but the room was only about 16 feet in height.

"Oh, you're awake?" A strange voice getting closer as it neared my body sprawled on the floor called out.

Startled, I jolted upwards immediately in shock.

"W-who.??" I hesitated as I scanned the room in attempt to find the owner of the voice.

The shadow of the figure neared my body. And my eyes simply widened in such shock when his face reached my sight.

He had dark black hair with bright blue eyes. He looked no more than a few years older than me. He had an intimidating yet friendly appearance with a smile on his face. He seemed harmless.

"So your name is Zara?."

I knew I looked taken aback as to why he knew my name. Who is he and where I am I..?

I slowly brought myself to stand up. I took a few steps away from him cautiously although he seemed to possess no sign of threat.

"Where am I?" I uttered coldly but the shakiness in my voice revealed. The warmth that surrounded me a few minutes ago was so simply replaced by a pit of empty darkness. The scenes of the man in the alley flashed through my head. I could hear my desperate calls of plea echoing through the depth of the night, headed to exactly nowhere.

He suddenly broke into laughter.

"W-what's so funny?" I yelled slightly too loudly with apparent anger in my voice.

"Sorry it's hard to hold back and maintain a normal conversation without noticing.." he breathed in deeply, trying to hold back the laughter from escaping his mouth, "It's- It's just your face." He pointed at me, let out a small laugh as he glanced at my face again, and repeated, "Ah, you should see your face!" He slowly calmed down.

My face? What could be so wrong with it?

I searched for the pocket mirror I always carry around with me in my jacket. I quickly opened it up, finding it cracked, almost shattered but the lid had protected it from any further damage.

When I saw my reflection, my face went completely red as a tomato. And there, what I saw was a light layer of grime on my face. I raise my eyebrows and slowly look up at him. He was watching me with a amused expression, chuckling softly to himself; That, which seemed to me a mockery. I could feel the heat burning on my face in both anger and embarrassment.

I spun around so he couldn't see me and wiped my face off with my sleeves.

I was trembling still. I only remembered the alley, and the dark streets as my feets splashed against puddles. The wicked smiles that grew long on their faces played through my mind.

I cleared my throat sheepishly, "Who are you?" I asked with fear in my voice.

He smiled a wicked grin, "Guess," he jumped on a box and sat comfortably on it, leaning to one side, looking at me.

"How am I supposed to guess the name of a person I've never met before?! I'm not here to play around, ok!? "I practically screamed. I was getting annoyed with his arrogant attitude. His lips curled into a frown with a hint of shock at my sudden anger, "Ah," he sighed. "You must be really scared waking up in a place like this. And you have a lot of injuries of on you.. They look terrible."

I rolled up my sleeves, covering the blisters. "I'm not scared! Especially of you! And these injuries are nothing," I spat.

I shook my head confidently, "Do you know who I am?" It was my turn to smile now.

He blinked.

"I'm the sole inheritor of Iceland," I said rather proudly.

I expected him to laugh or not believe me, or st least get a little scared but he shook his head, "I know," he smiled.

"W-what?" I stuttered.

"I said I know," he blinked again, with a small smile. "You're Noah's"- he froze, and looked utterly regretful.

"If you knew that then shouldn't you be a little more respectful to someone in a much higher status than you?! And who's Noah.? Not that I really care.."I asked arrogantly.

He poked my forehead, "And shouldn't you give more respect to someone much older than you?" He smiled again.

"H-huh?? That doesn't matter. I'm a princess and you're just a peasant! I can do anything to you! If I wanted, I could get you executed or tortured or even become my personal slave!" I screamed.

"Hah.. Right now, I think I'm the one with power here. You're a little princess you can't defend herself. I could hurt you." He said with a satisfied expression.

He definitely could. But at this point, I don't know if even him hurting me would change anything. I'm already beaten and I look terribly dirty. But the trauma from that one night haunted me in fear.

"I dare you to lay a hand on me!" I yelled with a shaky voice as a took a few steps backwards.

He moved away and sat relaxedly on a crate. He laughed, "Even if I could, I wouldn't be able to.. I have dignity and I don't hurt people much weaker than me. People who take advantage of the power they have or are born with are disgusting. I'm not like that." He smiled again.

".. Are you trying to say people like me are disgusting?" I almost whispered in a low voice.

He looked away from my eyes. "Have you ever hurt someone with your power?"

"...No," I answered.

"Then you don't disgust me," he grinned.

"A-anyways, why am I here?!" I snapped back.

"You know, when someone in as high of a status as me vanished just out of the blue for more than a day, hundreds of search parties are dispatched. That means my soldiers and my people are all hunting you down, looking for you. That means you'll be caught very soon," I muttered confidently.

He hopped off the box, "Hey! what are you saying?! I didn't bring you here!" He reasoned.

"Then where am I, and why are you here if you aren't kidnapping me!?" I scoffed with disbelief.

He sighed and ruffled his already messy hair, "My name's Aeron," he confessed. "And I am not some psychopathic princess kidnapper, OK? I have not interest in sooner like you." He looked me in eye with absolute honesty.

"Look.. I'm not sure how we got here either. Based off the intel I've gathered for the past few days you were asleep, we're.. inside a ship; In an ocean with no turning back, as well, I should add," he said with a calm, careless tone and a relaxed mien.

"What do you mean? A s-ship?" I said as my heart skipped a beat. I almost jumped when the following words came out of his mouth.

"We're headed to America."