• Butterflies of Daria • [Complete]

• Chapter 3 •

Reign was lying on a hospital bed in the back room of Julian's house. He tightly gripped a light blue blanket that was resting over his lower half. It was a small room, the walls were a light grey and kind of bare. Julian was slightly hunched over some paper that he was scribbling on before standing up and gathering the papers into a neat pile and walks back around with a bowl of warm water. He soaked a white cloth in the water and gently placed it on Reign's forehead. His eyes were sad and glazed over.

'Finished...Feeling alright?' He asked, moving a piece of hair out of Reign's eyes, who just nodded.

'I'm ok, just a little sore' He slowly got up from where he lay. 'So um...am I...? Y'know...' he sat up on the bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around his waist.

'Oh right' Julian ran his fingers through his hair. 'Basically...Yes, you are' Reign let out a deep breath. 'Uh, also-' He jumped up and grabbed the top piece of paper from the pile. 'If you choose to keep it...Uh you'll have to be careful when using magic for the next eight months. Your emotions will play a big part in everything so you'll need to try not use any magic in anger or frustration...' Julian looked up to find a shameful look pass by Reign's eyes.

'Ok...Um...W-what if I decide to n-not keep it?' Julian froze for a moment.

'Listen-' Julian came back to the side of the bed '-If that's what you choose...I will do it...but it is very dangerous' Julian shook his head 'It's not quick. I can give you medicine to subsidies the pain...but it can be very traumatic for most people' He warily put a hand over Reign's. 'Just...please think about it first' Reign just smiled sadly and nodded

'Ok, I will...' He subtly wiped his eyes and sniffed 'Um...I gonna put my pants on now' He laughed as Julian flushed red.

'Yes. Right! I'll leave you to it' he jumped up and left the room. Once he left, Reign just stared at his hands, curling them into fists.

'What kind of fuckery is this?'

•~•~•

'He'll be alright, Asra...' Julian handed Asra a small bag of Chai leaves. 'It's just a bit of unstable magic-' Suddenly Reign came back into the living room, fully clothed again and his bright hair was pulled up into a pony tail. He avoided eye contact with the two and quickly scooped up his jumper, throwing it back over his shoulders.

'Anyway' Julian pulled Asra's attention back to him 'Chai can be good for -'

Reign washed his hands in the kitchen sink, and upon glancing out the window he noticed a small blue butterfly sitting happily on the wooden frame. It made him smile, reminding him of his own parents. Back where Reign was from, there were blue butterflies everywhere.

'Thanks again, Ilya' He whispered 'Reign, are you ready to go?'

'Yeah' He drew his attention away from the butterflies.

As Reign hurried past Julian, he saw the look he gave him. It was a mixture of different emotions. Fear? Worry? Whatever it was, it was strong.

'Thank you, Julian' Reign smiled as if everything was normal before catching up with Asra and heading back to the shop.

The walk back was quiet, although the market was lively, nothing was said between the two. They weren't too far from the shop when they both spotted a figure lurking in the shadows of the streets. They both knew it was Muriel the second they saw him. He was there with Inanna, projecting his energy towards the two so they would see him. Asra caught on immediately, smiling at the sight of their big friend. Reign was happy as well, that is until he saw that Muriel had something clutched tightly in his hand. A deep green item of clothing. Reign's cloak. That he stupidly left on the beach that night. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting it. Now Muriel knows something's up.

'Reign! Let's go see Muriel' Asra started walking over, hoping that Reign would follow. But in that split second where Asra walked away, Muriel emerged and Inanna bounded over, Reign mindlessly made the decision to run. Mainly because he knew that Muriel knew and he was also about to throw up again, this time from his nerves being overwhelmed. He could hear someone call out to him, but he didn't stop. He dodged people in the crowd, zig zagging in and out before finally reaching the end of the crowded market and running towards god-knows-where. It didn't take long for him to have the shop in his line of sight, but he knew this would be the first place Asra and Muriel came back to. So he kept running, as he past the front door, two people exited the shop, one was the owner of beautiful while fluffy hair while the other hosted Asra's violet eyes. Reign accidentally locked eyes with Aisha as he sped past the two, further down the street and around the corner.

•~•~•

By the time Reign stopped running, he didn't have to throw up anymore but he didn't really know where he was and was completely out of breath. He was surrounded by trees with a steep incline to his left and the ocean to his right. He heaved breaths in and out as he straightened himself up and checked behind him. No one. He sighed in relief as he crawled through a barrier of trees that separated the ocean from the broken path. There the waves swayed and splashed against rocks that stood proud above the water. Roughly 7 rocks lined up out in the ocean, the gaps between them was small enough to jump across. So Reign jumped across. Each rock increased in size, getting bulkier and taller. The very last rock was fairly far out but was big enough to provide a safe spot to sit and watch the ocean swim by aimlessly. It felt like an eternity that Reign sat there on that rock with his legs dangling over the edge. He listened to the waves slosh against the rock, the seagulls caw in and annoyingly cute way, the sky was crystal clear with a calming breeze. It was only the small hiss that brought Reign back from his quiet daze. He turned his body slightly to find a pretty purple snake wiggling her way over to him, water trailing behind her.

'Hi Faust' He smiled tiredly.

'Friend sad?' She spiralled up his arm and got comfortable on his shoulders.

'Honestly, Faust, I don't think I'm sad...just very scared' He tickled her head which she appreciated. 'Is everyone back at home alright? They aren't worrying are they?'

'A little' She squeaked. That made Reign feel guilty.

'Faust, would you mind letting them know I'm alright and I'll be home soon'

Faust lightly poked his cheek with her tail playfully.

'Wanna be alone?'

'Yes, darl. Sorry' He gave her tail a light squeeze which she returned.

'Is ok!' She smiled before sliding off his shoulders and heading back home. Reign smiled a little before placing a hand over his stomach. A few small tears started falling. He even found himself apologising to someone who wasn't even there.

'I'm so sorry baby, I don't think I can do it' It hurt him to admit it, but deep down he knew that this wasn't right, he wasn't supposed to be able to do this from the beginning. But even if he didn't keep the child, he didn't know how to revert back to being a male. He was so confused and scared, plus the gut wrenching feeling of knowing he'd have to tell everyone at some point which meant admitting to all that happened.

Reign cursed to himself.

'Fucking shit storm...'