The Eclipse Mark

Chapter 18

"What you just heard was a joke... ha ha." My friends all started doing various levels of laughter, but she definitely wasn't buying it.

"A joke?"

"Oh... yeah. Because I am a hybrid. But- BUT- my parents are both hybrids too. So, I have affinities for two other elements while knowing two?" Before I can add on any more bullshit, she grabs my arm to look at my mark.

"Okay, so explain this." She waves my hand in my face.

"Paint." She gets a sadistic grin on her face and I swallow back a sob.

She rubs my face like there was no tomorrow. She rubbed it until my hand turned white.

I quickly grabbed my hand from her and yelled out in pain.

"What the fuck!?"

"Paint, you said?" She crosses her arms. "I can keep doing this all day. What's the deal with... you." She does a circular motion in my direction.

"Okay... you can't really tell anyone though. I am... crazy. I enchanted this mark on me. I am also a chronic liar. So, yeah."

"Yup, chronic liar and crazy. That's our Luna for ya." Chelsy stepped forward to lean on my shoulder.

"Oh yeah. Very crazy, something wrong in the head, this one." Dani gave a thumbs up.

"She lies like her life depends on it. Whoops, no harm, no foul." Thanatos gave me a hard shove on the back, but that was probably warranted.

If I could tell you what the look of confusion and astonishment on her face was, it wouldn't give it justice.

"You have to be kidding me-" And that's when Chelsy calmly grabbed Dani's staff, walked over, and knocked her out.

~~~

We almost left her there.

Of course, we did put her in a bed and gave a cup of water. We're not terrible.

But we were tempted to just leave. Who was going to believe a random person talking about something insane?

But we stayed. For whatever reason, we just stayed.

This was not my idea of an idyllic village. More like the remnants of a horror show. It was blasted to the ground, smoked remains of something that could've been good.

"The outers houses look fine, but this middle part looks like a war zone." Chelsy walks up next to me.

"Any idea of what happened?"

"I have a good feeling she did this." Chelsy sighed. "I don't like it."

"She looked nice."

"She looked alone."

"If you guys care, she's awake." Dani knocks loudly on the open door, startling us.

"We're coming, we're coming." I run over. Dani was by her bedside, giving her water. She rubbed the back of her head, or the place where Chelsy hit her.

"Uh, hi."

"Ugh, give me a second." She drinks the water and blinks her eyes twice.

"Shit, what happened? It'll come to me in a second-"

"Want me to hit her again?"

"No!" Dani cut in before I could. "Just let her rest for a second."

"You- YOU DID FUCKING HIT ME!" Breeze accusingly pointed at Chelsy.

"S-sorry." Chelsy almost froze up and Thanatos nocked an eyebrow at her.

I mean, I knew the feeling. I said sorry all the time, but Chelsy never seemed like the type.

"Ugh, you have a good swing. So... I guess you're not a compulsive liar?" The weather mage looked up at me.

"I suppose not. I'm Luna, you?"

"Breeze. Weather mage, summoner. All that crap." She hopped out of her bed and scanned me. "Luna?"

"If we're just sharing everything... Princess Luna Eclipse." I saw the shocked expression on her face and the question on her lips. "Maternal grandfather was Lucifer. Take a guess." Her shocked expression grew even more. Her mouth was agape, trying to muster out the words.

"Like- like the Lucifer?"

"Yup. Don't worry, I don't have any bloodlust or anything. Hopefully." I winked at her and stood by Chelsy.

"She's kidding. I'm Chelsy, the boys are Dani," - he waved - "and Thanatos."

"Uh, great? Make yourself at home, I guess?" She mumbled the last part, but we all heard it.

She staggered to the other room and we silently followed. What struck me as strange was the fact that this house was largely vacant. There was little decor, even less furniture. It was just Breeze.

"Not to impose, but what happened?" Dani leaned on the wall of the living room.

"This isn't my house. My actual house is... well, gone." Her hands shook as she leaned on a kitchen counter. "Some prophet told me I was going to be a weather mage. When I was a kid, I summoned a storm that I couldn't control. Destroyed the town, my house, my parents."

"I get the feeling." Dani whispered. They both looked at each other for a while.

"Thanks."