Don't Blink

Chapter twentythree

"Marks are not signs or weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance"
-unknown

~~~~~~~~~

Mayla and Eierla both waved Oshan goodbye as they walked out off his tower 5 minutes later.
They both learnt what they could achieve with their powers and they were amazed.
They could use both light and dark magic.
Bring people to life, heal people.
But also kill people instantly, torture them.
Oshan stated he couldn't teach them that much, only the darkness side of it side that is what he knows.
He suggested talking to Alicia about light which they both disagreed as she would found out the secret.
And with her pride they don't know what she would do.
They could ask the king, since he also was a lightness user.
And he also has an idea of what's going on with Mayla's heritage.
But it's too risky.
So they decided they would teach themselves.
"I don't want to go back to the castle for a party, I'm not a party person" Mayla whined.
"I know" Eierla said "It was obvious in your 18th"
Mayla couldn't help but to grin.
"Yeah, you can tell who makes the idea with that one" Mayla said as they walked away from the tower "What time is it? I can never know here"
"Well" Eierla said "It was 1 gong before so around 3pm if we're talking about human time" Eierla answered.
Mayla nodded.
"Okay and what time does the party start?" Mayla asked.
"2 gongs or sunset" Eierla replied.
"Okay" Mayla answered "And how are we getting home?"
"With this" Eierla said and grabbed Mayla and teleported her away without saying a word.

~~~~~~~~

Mayla held her stomach as she appeared with Eierla in the royal throne room where the king was sitting on his throne, talking to Lucas and Alicia.
"Don't do that without warning!" Mayla snapped.
"Mayla! You're okay!" Alicia said, hugging her daughter.
Mayla smiled awkwardly as her mother let go of her.
"What happened?" She asked.
"I went to talk to Oshan about what he's being trying to tell me, it's all cleared up now" Mayla replied.
"So it is all good?" Alicia asked "No Oshan being angry at you for no reason"
Mayla nodded.
"It was fine to begin with, it was just a silly mistake" Mayla replied "We shouldn't be talking about this anyway, we should be getting ready for the welcoming ball for Eierla"
Eierla groaned.
"You had to mention-"
"It is a masquerade ball" the king said "the royals wearing purple masks to match the status they are while everyone else is wearing white masks"
Everyone nodded.
"What if I told you the heir was coming tonight?" Eierla asked, making everyone stare at her wide eyed.
Mayla narrowed her eyes with warning.
'What are you doing?' She snapped in Eierla's head.
'Trust me' Eierla said.
Mayla sighed.
"Really? She is in this realm?" The king asked.
Eierla nodded.
"Well, she will come; it will be a double celebration!" The king yelled, making the guards stomp on the ground.
"What are they-"
"This is how the word gets transported around Reflectron" Eierla said, cutting Mayla off "When the royal says something, the guards stomp their feet, the word travelling all over the country to deliver the word"
Mayla nodded.

"The message is sent now get ready everyone" the king said, "Mayla, may I speak to you alone?"
Eierla looked at Mayla with worry as herself, Lucas and Alicia went out the room.
"Including the guards, this is a personal matter" the king said.
The guards bowed and walked out, stomping in rhythm as they did.
The king watched the doors until the last guard went out, and then looked at the nervous looking Mayla.
"Come closer young shexi, you have nothing to be nervous about" the king said.
Mayla walked slowly to the front of the throne.
"Now" the king said "I want to ask a question and you have to answer truthfully okay?"
Mayla nodded.
"Of course my king" Mayla said, bowing.
The king sighed.
"I told you to call me Chidon shexi, you have the right to call me by that name; you brought back my daughter" king Chidon said, making Mayla nod frantically.
"Sorry Chidon" Mayla said.
"My question is...do you know the whereabouts of the dark being?" King Chidon asked.
"Chidon..." Mayla started.
"You do...don't you? You and my daughter both know?" King Chidon asked.
"Yes, Chidon" Mayla whispered.
The king nodded at her honestly.
"I know it was after you in your world so I was wondering...what's happening now?" King Chidon said "It was....is big threat and we need to bring it back to be contained"
'I will not be contained!' The dark being snapped in Mayla's head.
'All no' Mayla thought 'The perfect time to wake up'
"I..." Mayla started, "I don't know how to start it"
The king nodded.
"Yes, I have seen the dark being various times but..." Mayla said, looking onto the ground.
"Look up when you're speaking to me Mayla" the king said softly.
"Please do not do anything rash" Mayla said.
"Why would I do anything-"
The king gasped as Mayla looked up.
Her eyes were blood red.
"I guess you could say I made a deal with the Devil" Mayla said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

~~~~~~~~

Eirela paced back and forward at the front of the throne room doors, worried for Mayla.
"She will be fine" Alicia said "I assume its a small question"
"But she shouldn't be in there for that long if that is" Eierla said "What if something bad happens? What if Mayla is sent back home? I-"
"Relax and take a deep breath" Lucas said, trying to calm down the pacing princess.
"Why are you so worried anyway? She's not your daughter she's mine" Alicia snapped.
Eierla stopped pacing and turned to look at Alicia.
"I know she is not my daughter, she is my friend and I am concerned for my friend" Eierla said "There is no need to get jealous"
"Jealous? I'm not jealous" Alicia said, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.
"I know the way you look at me Alicia" Eierla said "Mayla and I are only close because she saved me from the realm of a Million Colours and I'm thankful for that"
"So you have to stick to her like glue?" Alicia demanded.
"You shouldn't talk" Eierla snapped "You didn't want Mayla to ever come back here!"
"I didn't want her hurt" Alicia snapped back.
"But she had to go back because of her swearing anyway" Eierla argued "There was no stopping that from happening; its fate"
Alicia and Lucas looked at her confused
"Fate? What about fate?" Lucas asked.
"I-"
"EIERLA!!!" The king yelled from inside the throne room, "COME IN HERE NOW!"
"All no" Eierla muttered, and pushed open the throne room doors.

Eierla closed the doors behind her, nervously looking at her father with a emotionless faced Mayla.
"Come here daughter" the king said, Eierla obeying her father.
She walked right up to the throne and stood next to Mayla, who wasn't showing any sign of what happened.
"So when were you going to tell me this shexi had the dark being in her?" The king asked calmly.
Eierla widen her eyes.
"We were trying to figure it out ourselves" Eierla said "We through as soon as you found out you would have cast Mayla away to rot in the dungeons and we didn't want that to happen. Yes, the dark being has taken control a couple of times, one of them nearly killing me-"
"Wait WHAT?!?"
"-but Mayla has always fought back. She is very powerful and can even over power the dark being so please don't hurt her"
The king narrowed his eyes.
"I was considerate of letting Mayla with the dark being go freely but after what I just heard I might not" the king said "Explain please"
"So I was visiting Oshan for advice about the dark being when she took over me and pinned Oshan against the wall. Eierla comes in and tries to get me to snap out of it and almost convinces the dark being to be on a neutral term when she double crossed Eierla and pinned her to the floor, grabbing a knife. She almost stabbed Eierla but I fought back control in time...so instead of Eierla getting stabbed in the heart...I got stabbed in the leg" Mayla explained, lifting up her dress and showing the scar on her left leg to prove it "You can do whatever you want to me; I'm trying to find a way to get her out of me because I can't....I can't..."
Mayla mentally cursed.
"The dark being has put a block in her mind about swearing so she can't swear out of this" Eierla said "Mayla told the dark being to swear not to hurt anyone, but didn't say anything about hurting people through Mayla"
The king nodded, deep in thought.
"Okay" the king said "I know you're a nice shexi Mayla, you got my daughter for me which I thought was impossible...however you almost hurt my daughter because of your stupid deal with the dark being"
"Father, it was my fault not hers for-"
"SILENCE!" The king snapped, making both of the girl's head fall down in shame "We will try and fix this, don't you worry. However, if something like this happens again, contact me immediately and I can see if my many years experience in lightness magic can help...I'm pretty sure I have seen a spell which can help"
Both girls looked up with surprise.
"Queitie?" Mayla asked "What did you say?"
The king only nodded and smiled.
"Wait...really?" Eierla asked.
"I will do what I can" the king said and then turned to Mayla "You saved my daughter Mayla...now it's time for us to save you"
Mayla smiled and then hugged the king.
"Thank you" she whispered.
She quickly realised what she was doing and quickly backed away.
"I'm so quiete! I didn't mean to-"
The king only laughed.
"It is fine...now get ready for the ball, this will be a celebration written in the history books" the king said to the smiling girls.