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There were days where Febe just couldn’t control herself, sometimes she couldn’t help but feel like her anger had become its own person. If her depression wasn’t wrecking her mentally, her anger would swiftly take its place to wreck everything around her.“It isn’t fair!“The sound of pages fluttering wildly around the room fell onto dead ears, her book sliding down to the floor. More hard thumps echoed throughout the room as she threw everything she could get her hands on against her bedroom walls. Her angry, bitter tears obstructed her vision, her furious cries emptying her.What had she done to deserve to get hurt like this?Febe’s room was trashed thanks to her outburst, her chest heaving the more she tried to swallow some air.“It isn’t fair... It isn’t fucking fair...!”Her anger could no longer give her any strength; no longer being able to keep herself on her feet, Febe fell to the floor, her tears falling to the wooden boards beneath her.How could he do something like this?How could he do something like this to her?What had she done that was so horrible to deserve something like this?Thinking about it made her cringe painfully, but she remembered how she saw him before all of this. How angelic he had seemed to be, how she was so sure that he would be her happily ever after! If someone were to tell her he’d break her heart like this, she would have never believed them, but here she was... Discarded like yesterday’s trash!No, she wasn’t even considered that was she?He never loved her or cared for her so how could she have even matched trash in his eyes?Slanted brown eyes glanced to her drawing table, a picture she had drawn of them together, hand in hand as they let the cool spring air blow their worries away, sat almost undisturbed since that day.Looking at it now made her sick to her stomach.Daniel ‘Danny’ Robertson.The picture captured the hope Febe had for the future, the hope that Daniel had so carelessly stolen from her. From his golden hair she could only describe as being spun from golden thread, his Irish green eyes that Febe got lost in time and time again, the cute little freckles that littered his peachy skin that Febe traced constellations in, and his smile?Goodness, his smile...There was this homey feeling to it, the crookedness only added to its charm; all Danny had to do was smile and all her worries would wash away.Now?All it did was make her want to punch him in his stupid face.Febe pinned after Danny since the first day she had met him in the fifth grade; only in her wildest dreams did she think he would see her as more than just some weird girl in his class. The anime freak with the pizza face and braces that dressed in ill fitting and ugly clothing, that’s who she was in the eyes of all her neighbors and classmates.By no means did that mean she didn’t have a girly streak to herself, a bit of charm, as her small town liked to call it, but she still liked those so-called ‘Chinese cartoons’. Her entire family wasn’t too well liked by the people around them, but they still lived comfortably.In school, Febe hadn’t been much to look at, but it was high school where she really started to blossom. Her slanted chocolate brown eyes became much easier to see once she lost her baby fat and her skin had even cleared up. Her hair looked healthier than before, no longer stringy and greasy; she finally got it to grow to her waist. It was her in her smile that Febe had become the most confident, no more of those annoying and painful braces that made smiling a chore.Despite her changes, it never changed the way the others treated her. Febe didn’t care, she never cared, because out of all of them, Danny had been sweet as sugar to her. He never cared about anything anyone else had to said about her, or at least that’s what he made her think.When he asked her out her second year of high school, Febe could have sworn it was all a dream. Cloud nine had become her home at that point, she even had to pinch herself to make sure she hadn’t been dreaming this all up. The look of judgment and what she now recognized as disgust hadn’t gone unnoticed, but it had changed too fast that she made little note of it.God, how she wished she had...The relationship was a dream come true! Of course dates had never been all that good and his gifts were cheaply made compared to hers, but to finally have someone to kiss and to hold, there was little the half Asian found to complain about.Only after her love high crashed did she finally picked up on the things she willingly ignored.Ignoring her in school only to feed her pretty lies about not being able to see her or being too focused on other things, refusing to meet her parents much less come over to her house, downplaying her feelings when she tried to talk to him about them, having little to no interest in anything she wanted to show him, only bringing her around certain people because they were in on the joke; all of it had been so painfully obvious and yet she turned a blind eye to it.It was three weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday morning that Febe’s world had came to a screeching halt. Febe excitedly readied herself for what was supposed to be one of her best days of her life, their six-month anniversary.If only that day could have been as important to him as it had been to her.They never really celebrated their anniversaries, things always came up for him, that or she just couldn’t find him anywhere until the week after.Now she knew why.Those stupid text messages sat heavily within her phone; mocking her, laughing at her.‘I think it’s time to break up with Febe. This dare has gone on too long, I don’t think I can handle it anymore... Genevieve has been getting suspicious too. She’ll kill me if she finds out about this‘At first when she read it, her mind had already started to create sugar coated lies to calm her. He couldn’t have possibly sent that, right?It had to be a prank.For her sanity’s sake, it had to be a prank.The sugar quickly turned to salt; the calls came one after another, each one leaving a trail of messy, wild, and anxious voice messages. That text wasn’t meant for her, it was meant for someone else who was in on the joke.Her kingdom of dreams had crashed into the sea, and Febe had fell into ruin with it.She wanted to be angry at all of them; she wanted to feel the same amount of rage she felt towards Danny towards them all, but she couldn’t. They weren’t the one involved in the relationship; the only people Febe had to blame were herself and Daniel.Genevieve was too sweet to hate. His friends never forced him to do it, but Danny?Daniel ‘Danny’ Robertson?She hated him; she hated him so much that it made her sick to her stomach.The night was just as dark and stormy as her mental state; Febe almost laughed at the irony of it. The sky was crying with her, pitying her for something she could have easily avoided.“Fuck him... Fuck Danny and his stupid fucking homey smile!”Picking up the book next to her knee, Febe angrily chucked it at the wall. Her anger coursed through her veins; her rage was strong enough that if she hadn’t known any better, she would have just assumed that all of this happened yesterday. His excessive calls lasted for almost half an hour, all those voice messages didn’t stop him from filling her inbox with over twenty-five texts before giving up.He never loved her.She had loved him, but he never loved her.Febe felt stupid and gullible for believing otherwise.Despite her angry rage, her depression had taken over her life since the breakup. Her room was horribly gross. No matter where the young woman stepped, there was trash. From old pop tart wrappers to old fast food wrappings, there was little space not covered in garbage. Multiple places in her room that didn’t have trash were heaped with large piles of clothing that she couldn’t remember the last time she washed.If her room hadn’t smelled like ass before, it most certainly did now.Rin listened quietly to her daughters’ anguish; the heaviness in her chest left the Asian woman feeling helpless. There was little she could do to convince her child that everything would be okay, that in time she would be just fine. The odds hadn’t been in Febe’s favor the moment her parents had moved to this small town after living in Japan for close to a year.There was nothing more heartbreaking than being in love with someone only for them to prey upon those feelings. A large hand landed on her shoulder as her husband, James, stood beside her; he offered the strength that Rin couldn’t find within herself.“James...”“It’s been long enough. It’s time to get our daughter back.”Rin pursed her lips together for a moment before letting out a shaky breath, nodding. Though she was nervous at what she would see, Rin gave the door a soft knock before slowly opening it.“Febe....? Honey...?”The moment the door opened wide enough for the hall light to finally touch the trash-covered floor, the stench punched both adults in the face, forcing them to gag. James was quick to feel his face to make sure his stubble and eyebrows hadn’t melted away.“Febe, we’ve had enough of you staying in this trash heap of a room! It’s time for yo- Ow!”James rubbed his chest, looking confused at his wife as she gave him a heated glare, ready to elbow him once more if he tried that again.“What your father meant to say is that we’re worried about you... We miss having you around, eating dinner with you, watching movies with you... We just miss you, Febe...”Febe didn’t even flinch when her parents tried to talk to her, the anger that was in her body wasn’t meant for them and she didn’t want to take it out on them. Rin left her husband to go to her daughters’ side; she moved trash out of the way, gently pulling her only child into her arms.Febe was almost like a lifeless doll in her mothers’ embrace, her anger no longer giving her any life. It hurt that she was hurting her family; if she could trust someone to love her, Febe knew that it had to be them, but there was now a voice in her head screaming things at her.Could she really trust that they loved her?Just questioning them made her feel like an ugly monster, like there was something wrong with her, but was there?Was there really something wrong with her?“Let’s open the window, freshen up the room a bit.”James did his best to dance around the trash heaps and piles of clothing to open the window next to Febe’s bed. The fresh scent of rain was a calming one, the pitter-patter of rain droplets and far off thunder cleansed the room.Using what little strength she had left in her, Febe’s bloodshot eyes raised to look at her parents, looking just as broken as she felt.“Mom...? Dad...? Is there something wrong with me?”The question hit both parents like a hard slap to the face; it broke their heart to just hear her ask something like that.Febe was the light of Rin and James’s lives!If given the chance to redo their lives, no matter what changes they would have made, Febe wouldn’t have been one of them.“Febe Lyra DeAugustino, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you! You are the child that me and your father held with the utmost care since you were born, you’ve been perfect since the day I found out I was pregnant...”Gently moving so that Febe could sit down next to her mother, Rin smiled and continued.“Febe, your father and I have lived a very long time, and with that comes mistakes aplenty. You are not one of those mistakes, and we would have you again and again until the end of time...”James nodded as he came over, plopping down with a grunt.“You wanna know something, kiddo? It scared me shitless when your mom told me she was pregnant. I was fresh in the military, and she and I had only been married for what? A few months?”Ruffling her hair, he grinned before continuing.“For nine whole months I panicked like a chicken with its head cut off! Your mom was calm and collected, I was worried she was one of those detective’s writing people’s name in a notebook while eating potato chips-”He gave a deep-bellied laugh as Rin smacked his arm, winking at her.“But you know what? The moment I held you was the moment the stars aligned for me. Sweetheart, we never want you to feel you have to question your worth, we were young just like you, believe it or not. We know just how many times the world will seem like it’s ending, but we, as your parents, are here to let you know that it will always begin again.”“He’s right, and we also want you to know that you’re not alone, we’re always here for you.”More tears started to flood her dark brown eyes, their faces seemed all the more vivid to her now.Febe favored her mother a lot more than her father in looks; her mother had the most beautiful black hair that Febe had even seen. Even when she was younger, tuckering her mother out with constant energy, Febe would spend hours trying to braid it. Rin’s skin was fair and sported a few beauty marks, and her slanted brown eyes always held a deep love in them, especially when the Asian woman looked at her family.Her father, on the other hand, was a happy mixture between Caucasian and Italian; born with olive skin and beautiful curly brown hair, he was already pretty manly looking. He had a small bit of stubble on his chin, but her favorite thing about him? His olive green eyes, even from when she was a child they were always full of excitement and zeal for life. Sometimes she wished she had eyes just like his, to which he never had a problem reminding her how much her eyes match Rin’s, who he loved very much.To see both those eyes she loved so much looking at her in a way that she couldn’t even look at herself, it made her feel bad for even questioning their feelings about her.“I... It just hurts so much... I love him, I promise I did! But... But to him I was just a prank gone too far...”“Boys are dumb sometimes, but that doesn’t mean your worth goes down with his IQ! I should know, I was the idiot who almost lost your mom! Not every man is going to be like younger me, much less like Daniel. They’ll know not to let you be the one who got away like I almost did with Rin.”The Asian woman rolled her eyes and laughed, offering a playful smirk.“He got lucky I gave him another chance! He was the closest thing to an Anime protagonist I got considering how oblivious he was!”He groaned, his cheeks dusting an embarrassed red.“I got it together, didn’t I, honey?”Rin laughed, nodding.“Yes, yes, you did! He’s right though, Febe, no person who truly loves you thinks about what others have to say. If they want you, you’ll know. If they don’t, it’s their loss.”Anime and Manga was how Febe had really bonded with her parents, they loved it just as much as she did. It was because of them she never felt alone, and it was because of them that the tiny minded people in her small town never bothered her much.They loved her just as much as she loved them.A loud clap of thunder rattled the room, followed by a bright crack of lightning that lit up the room. The small family snapped their heads in the window's direction, met with another loud crack of lightning. James groaned when the light in the hallway flickered for a moment.“Rin, this storm wasn’t supposed to be this bad, right?”“No, not until next week...”On instinct, Rin pulled her daughter closer to her, watching the strong winds whip and tug the trees around like flowers. Sighing deeply, James got to his feet to jog to the door.“Rin, close the window for me would you? I’ll go grab all the candles and set them up around the house. Keep Febe in here.”The mother nodded, reluctantly pulling herself away from Febe to close the shutters and the window, but Febe was quick to stop her.“Mom, wait! Look!”More and more lightning kept cracking, but for some odd reason the lightning was in odd colors. It went from blue, to pink, the green, to white, and then back to blue where it stayed.“What in God’s name...?”The Asian woman’s mouth hung open to the flies the closer the lightning got. James, having seen the lightning too, rushed up the stairs in a panic.“Rin, di-!”His voice got cut off by a large strike of lightning flashing in front of the window, causing Rin to scream in fear as she quickly stepped back, only to trip on a small pile of dirty clothing.“Mom!”“Honey!”Febe and her father rushed over to the fallen woman, watching the window and wooden shutters do their damnedest to hold on to their foundations. The wind howled angrily, as if pissed off that they tried to shut her out and ignore her. Lightning flashed all over the sky, leaving very little to hide in the shadows.Febe felt weird watching it. For some odd reason her vision blurred and everything seemed as if she were looking through a pair of 3D movie glasses. In her ears was this high pitched annoying hum droning on in her ears. The world seemed to be tossing and turning, so much so that the only thing she could really feel was the shaking of her home as a large strike of lightning struck her house.The smell of fire burning was strong, it felt nauseating. She couldn’t hear anything over the hum in her ears, but when she turned her head to look around her surroundings, the only thing that stood out was her television. Febe knew she hadn’t turned her TV on in the past few weeks since her breakup with Danny, but there it was, giving off the same obnoxious hum in her ear but at a lower pitch.“Febe? Febe!”There was a muffled voice calling her name, but her eyes stayed focused on the blue static of her TV screen; her hand reaching out to touch it. Heat filled her being the closer she got, everything was moving in almost slow motion, everything but the TV.The heat was blistering by the time she was face to face with her screen, the blue static calling out to her.
Touch the TV...
Touch the TV...
Touch the TV...
The voice sounded as if a whole group of people were calling out to her, beckoning her to touch the screen, tiny sparks of electricity seemed to fly the closer her fingers had gotten. Her hand was mere inches away when the TV exploded, forcing her vision to go dark as she lost consciousness. The last thing she could hear before it all faded away were the muffled cries and screams of who she now recognized as her parents.Their panicked cried echoed throughout her mind, but the further she drifted, the quieter those voices became. Their voices, however, slowly were replaced by the sound of a much calmer hum and the sound of water.Where was she?
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The soft sound of water trickling greeted Febe once she finally came to; her head felt heavy as it pounded painfully. Had she known no better, Febe would have been sure she’d been hit by a truck. The long-haired girl stayed down, not that she could really move. Her body felt heavier than a pound of rocks. Just where was she? Her eyes were blurry no matter how many times she attempted to clear her sight, it was as if she were looking through a window smudged with grease. Closing her eyes again, Febe kept still in a futile attempt to sooth the pain surging through her pounding skull. This all had to be a dream, hadn’t it? There was very little that the teenager could remember; all that kept running in her head was bright flashing blue lights. There were voices too, but nothing she could recognize right off the bat. Despite desperately wanting to believe that none of this was real, that she was sleeping soundly in the arms of her parents or at least in her bed, but a part of her warned her of trying to pretend everything was okay. Tears pricked at her eyes the more she laid there; her mind slowly started digging through the garbage of her memories. There was blue lightning, the warm faces of her parents, but the terrified cries and shouts of her name didn’t match up with the warmth in their eyes. They had come to get her out of her trash heap of her room; they wanted to not dwell on what someone had done to her... The question was just who that person was. Letting out a sigh, her brain continued to rummage through everything in her head but the more it did that, the more her head started to hurt. That didn’t stop voices from whispering soft things to her in her head, but for the most part they were fuzzy, much too fuzzy for her to hear clearly. Only one thing really stuck out to her. Danny. The moment his name was whispered in her head, a flash of the most beautiful Irish green eyes stained the walls of her mind. She wasn’t quite sure who Danny was or if he was the person with those intoxicating green eyes, but just those simple things made her blood boil. Whoever he was, she would make sure he would pay hell for hurting her. “Don’t think about that, Febe. Stop. Thinking.” Taking another deep breath, the brown-haired teenager forced her body up from the somewhat cool grass underneath her; it was still hard to see, but Febe could at least see her surroundings without it hurting too much. The only thing she could feel was the coldness of her body, at least everything she touched. The grass, however, felt much different. Though it was a bit of a struggle, Febe did her best to get to her feet, quickly falling onto he hands and knees, her chest bouncing freely alerted her of her nudity. A loud sound of surprise emptied her as Febe scrambled to wrap her upper half in her arms. “I’m... I’m naked?!” Febe had no problem with people who enjoyed being naked of their own free will, but it just wasn’t for her. She wasn’t the most voluptuous or curvaceous, but it still made her embarrassed to have her body on display like a slab of meat for all to see. There was no telling who else was near her, not that Febe was all too keen on finding out. Her headache sent a wave of pain through her temples in warning at her sudden movement and loudness, but it wasn’t strong enough to knock her back down. Looking down at her body, Febe noticed that the lack of clothing wasn’t the only odd thing about her body she’d fail to notice. Her body had changed in more ways than one; her skin was now a pale green with a honeydew green light that seemed to surround her body as if she were a firefly. Her hair was longer than it had been before and was a deep shade of green as it flowed in large waves. There were beautiful dark green vines that gracefully wrapped around her body that spouted all sorts of beautiful flowers, but the most breathtaking one was the giant pink tinted hydrangea sitting in the center of her chest. However, there was something off about this one, or at least what was underneath it. This flower wasn’t sitting against her skin like the others were, it wasn’t even brushing against her skin like it should have been. There was a sense of dread that filled Febe, it frightened her. Swallowing hard, Febe used a trembling hand to move the flower away from that spot, but instead of being met with the same pale green skin that covered the rest of her body, there was a large crack in her chest that lead to a black hole. It looked as if she were a porcelain doll who’d been played with a little too roughly. It looked as if it would crack further if she dared to touch it. “What...?” Febe’s trembling fingertips cautiously reached into the hole to see what would happen; where her heart should have been, there was nothing more than bitter coldness nipping at her hand. In shock, Febe quickly looked around at her surroundings again, seeing what her blurry eyes hadn’t to see before. Despite her shock, Febe would be lying if she didn’t say how beautiful everything was. There were what looked like mini ponds surrounding her, as far as she could see at least, but there was little plant life to be seen. The grass was an odd blue tinted green, but the trees looked as if they were lined with fine silver thread with leaves of blush pink. The sky was a dark navy blue, painted in tiny white stars that lit up the sky; the moon sat gracefully above her as the lilac clouds danced lazily through the sky. Though it hurt like hell, Febe forced herself to her feet, her headache a thing of the past. Her legs were wobbly, but Febe managed to take a few steps forward, stopping at the nearest pond. Surrounding it were rocks in all assortments of pastel colors; when she reached down to touch them, they felt warm to the touch. Looking over to the water, Febe noticed the water was a beautiful shade of Alice blue, but she couldn’t see her reflection in the water. Even reaching into the water to move it did nothing. Not being able to see herself in what was supposed to be a reflective surface freaked Febe out. How come she couldn’t see her reflection in the water? Her mind went back to the strikes of lighting and the frightened cried she heard in the echos of her memory; had she been struck by lightning and died? Was she in the afterlife? The thought of it was terrifying; what scared her the most was the idea of leaving her family behind. Febe and her parents were as thick of thieves; she knew she wouldn’t be okay if she lost them, so she could only imagine how they felt losing her in such a way. The pale green-skinned teen’s chest heaved as her anxiety started to set in. Her mind was running a million miles per second. There was just too much for her to process. “How could this happen to me...?” The more her panic started to set in, the more tears flooded her eyes; her body switched to autopilot as she raced around to each pond to find her reflection. No matter how much she ran or how many she looked into, not a single one allowed her to see herself. Screams ripped themselves from her throat as she fell to a heap on the ground, the soft grass caressing her bare skin as her sobs wrecked and shook her body. Time no longer mattered, Febe didn’t even know how long she’d sat there. Screaming. Crying. Begging. She couldn’t remember at all, but something nudged her after a while. More than likely her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, her nose runny, but even if she didn’t care how she looked anymore, she refused to look up. If she were dead, what else they could really do to her? Febe refused to look up at whoever kept trying to get her attention, losing her family was too great to bear and the teenager couldn’t stop crying about it. Whoever, or whatever, was nudging her was persistent though; Febe readied herself to yell at the thing bothering her, but when she looked up, it surprised her to be met with a beautiful doe. It didn’t look like any animal she’d ever seen before! Its fur was a beautiful navy blue while it’s underbelly up to its chin was a powder blue. Her back was scattered in silver dots that reminded Febe of stars. Her big eyes were golden while her eyelashes were long and silvers; her hooves were golden as well while her nose was an inky black. Febe watched the deer for a moment as it just blinked at her; it started to nudge her again when Febe went to put her head down again. It kept wanting her to stand, but Febe doubted she had the energy for it. “Please stop that...” Her weak cries fell on death ears as the animal ignored her, still trying to get Febe to stand up. The doe knocked the green-skinned girl over, still trying to nudge her in a certain direction. Agitated and just wanting to be alone, Febe heaved a deeply tired sigh and stood to her feet. “Show me what you want to show me, then please leave me alone.” Febe felt like a nutcase; was she really standing here in what could be the afterlife trying to reason with a deer? Nonetheless, it did the trick; the navy-furred creature started to walk in the same direction she’d been trying to nudge Febe, giving the teen no other option but to follow after her. Their surroundings never changed, or at least they never looked like they did. Everything here seemed to be the same, yet at the same time it wasn’t; it made Febe confused. The further they went the closer they’d gotten to the biggest pond that Febe had seen thus far; it actually matched the size of a real one! The starry doe finally came to a stop in front of it, looking back almost expectantly at Febe. “This is what you wanted to show me, Galaxy? A normal-sized pond...?” Despite naming the odd doe, there was nothing Febe found of interest at the pond. Besides the size, the only thing different about it were the surrounding stones; just like most of her, it was green, a pastel green. Febe was disappointed at the sight of it. After all the walking Galaxy had forced her to do, Febe half expected to find something magical, such as the Fairy Fountain with the Queen of Fairies sleeping within the waters or maybe a world similar to a Studio Ghibli film, but not a boring normal sized pond. Galaxy didn’t relent, however, only blinking as she waited for Febe to come closer. Heaving another sigh, and wanting to get it over with, Febe moved closer to peer into the water, surprised to see her reflection this time around. Her eyes were no longer the beautiful brown they had always been, instead they were a dark green; they were just as puffy and bloodshot as she had assumed they’d be. Febe could see her hair much more clearly now; it floated around her body in loose waves as if she were engulfed in water. Strangely enough, from this angle the hole in her chest looked all the bigger behind the blossoming hydrangea. The more she stared at it, the more Febe couldn’t help but feel angry at the sight of it. Hot anger coursed through her veins like liquid metal; her body trembled at the sheer force of it, and yet Febe couldn’t even remember why she was angry. So caught up in her negative emotions, Febe hadn’t noticed the shifting of the world around her; above her the sky began to churn with dark, ugly storm clouds, flashes of indigo lightning sounded off one after another as thunder clapped right after it. The wind was picking up, whipping Febe’s hair around along with the trees that surrounded them. The green-skinned girl let out a frightened cry at the cracks of lighting; even while her dark green eyes raced around to look at the storm in the sky, fear kept her frozen in place. Galaxy, on the other hand, showed no fear in her body language; the storm grumbled and screeched as it continued to take form. The doe was watching, listening; there was something more to the storm that she could notice that the teen could not. Seemingly finding what she’d been looking for, Galaxy stepped closer to the green-skinned girl, protecting her something, or at least making that thing keep its distance. The clouds jerked and moved as if they had a mind of their own, almost as if they were alive, even. The winds got stronger as flashes of indigo lightning danced inside the clouds. “Febe...” The thunder rumbled out her name, sending a bone chilling shiver down her spine; she wasn’t sure who or what had called her name, but whatever it was, it made her sick to her stomach. Galaxy stood ready to attack and defend, but the navy-furred doe wasn’t as intimidating as she tried to be, despite the damage she could no doubt do. “Febe!” This time, the sky roared her name, large bolts of lightning shooting to the ground, the clouds suddenly racing towards her. Febe wanted to run, but her fear made her legs feel like lead. Moving quickly, Galaxy sprung into action; there was a sharp pain in Febe’s stomach as a sudden and swift kick from Galaxy sent her flailing into the water behind her. The icy water stifled her cry; the water was so cold, it felt as if she were being pricked with multiple tiny needles. She wasn’t sure when her eyes had closed, but another splash made Febe’s eyes snap wide open for the fear the clouds had followed her into the water. Galaxy swam towards her with haste; Febe was more than relieved to see the strange starry animal, but said relief was short lived. Just as the teen had feared, the storm dove into the water with them, looking like black ink as it floated around the water, looking for Febe. When it reached out to grab her, another swift kick was landed to Febe’s abdomen, sending her flying back. The pain and lack of air made it harder to stay focus, her vision was going black. The world around her continued to disappear into darkness the more flashes of indigo light seemed to snatch for her, only to be stopped by what Febe could only assume was Galaxy. There was a person where Galaxy used to be, but that was all Febe could see before darkness finally took her. The darkness wrapped around her like a blanket, leaving her to float aimlessly for God know how long. Just how long had she been like this? It seemed like ages ago she’d been caught in the crossfire of a battle that somehow, someway involved her. Her body felt numb, matching the same prickly feeling of when her foot fell asleep. Her stomach still hurt from the kicks, and her head was throbbing with another headache. Febe tested how much her body would allow her to move earlier, but her body was as limp as a dead fish. She couldn’t even get her fingers to twitch, much less move her arms so she could rub her temples too. The green-skinned teen found that she could still move her mouth, but no sound could escape it. She felt like a rag-doll stuck on the shelf. The only thing besides her mouth the Febe could move were her eyes, yet even as she blinked the darkness hadn’t change. For a while, she had to question if she’d even been blinking in the first place. Not being able to move made Febe irritated; it made her itch just thinking about being in the same spot for more than a few hours, but maybe that was normally? Rolling her eyes at the thought, the seventeen-year-old took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. Being angry or irritated wasn’t going to save her, had that been the case she would have been set free a long time ago. “Febe...” A manly voice called out to her; it was the same voice she’d heard from the clouds. It no longer sounded like thunder, instead it sounded as if they coated it in the sweetest honey. Nonetheless, the dread in her stomach warned her of danger. “Oh my dearest Febe, how I’ve longed to see your beautiful face again...” A pair of black eyes with glowing indigo irises appeared in front of her; where her anger had been previously was now replaced with fear. The eyes scanned her face before showing her his sharp, jagged teeth in a demonic smile. “Peek-a-boo~ Did you miss me, darling?” Unlike before, Febe’s lips parted as a blood curling scream finally left her. As if that was the cue, her body was lurched backwards as if she were falling from the sky. As she fell, her screams never stopped; her body went faster and faster until the prickly feeling from before was replaced with the feeling of burning. It was as if every part of her was burning to a horrible crisp; tears ran down her face as her screams got louder, leaving the taste of bile in her throat. “My Lady! Her heartbeat is going sporadic again!” “Damn it!” There were voices all around her, but she couldn’t understand half of what they were saying. All Febe could do was scream and cry in pain, getting louder as a bone-crunching pain erupted throughout her skull, her memories all coming back to her. The pain was searing! Febe couldn’t tell if she was starting to see white because of the pain or if there were lights above her. Shooting up, now that she could move, Febe couldn’t stop her pain filled cries and screeches, throwing up onto her blankets. “Oh... Oh God...” Looking around the room in a daze, it surprised Febe to see familiar faced looking at her, but she couldn’t dwell on it for much longer before she fell back into her pillows and back into the darkness. Thankfully, this time around there was nothing chasing her. Despite that, Febe could feel that that was only just the beginning.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Firstly, let me say sorry for how late this chapter is. My computer isn't working even when I use my mobile hot spot; I'm posting this from my phone so please let me know if something is wonky. Not only that, I've hurt myself pretty badly and have been struggling to walk, sit, bend over, and stuff like that. I hope you enjoy, and once again I'm sorry. If you like what you see and would like to see more, just know that a simple commwnt can grant you that wish!
I hope to hear from you soon! - S.S.R.
When Febe came to, a stiff groan of pain left her lips at the annoying sound of the heart monitor. Febe felt disoriented; she couldn’t tell what time it was or what day, much less how long she’d been out. The only thing she was sure of was the pain behind her left eye festering at a slow, antagonizing rate, forcing another groan from her chapped lips. Febe felt parched, but it hurt too much to move and see if any water waited for her. Her migraine felt like hell, and that horrible sickly sweet smell of sanitation most hospitals and medical clinics sported made her want to vomit. Just scrunching up her nose to avoid as much of it as she could made her migraine irritated. Febe hated places like these. Being stuck in them made her feel like a caged bird. Swallowing hard, the brunette grimaced; she could taste the bile in her throat. It took all her power to keep herself from gagging. What happened to her? Ever since the lightning incident, Febe became accustom to passing out and waking up in strange and unfamiliar places; she’d always wake up in some sort of pain giving her a run for her money. It wasn’t normal per-say, but having happened more than once, she’d come to almost expect it. It was because of her expectations that the teenager felt at the very least bewildered to wake up in the same place this time around, or at least what she assumed was the same place. Febe didn’t have to open her eyes to tell she was still in the hospital; what other place would have a heart monitor and the smell of sanitation and bitter medicine? There was the sound of muffled talking as two pairs of what Febe assumed were heels clacked their way into her room, bringing her out of her train of thought. They closed the door behind them, thankfully doing so quietly. Everything sounded as if it were covered with fuzzy mold, but Febe listened as her visitors shuffled around the room for a bit. Were they her doctors? The sounds of papers moving and what sounded like scratching against paper as things were written down next to her filled her ears for the first few moments; it made whatever was rummaging behind her eye spike angrily. Couldn’t they be quieter? For a moment, they said and did nothing, leaving the three of them in an almost blissful silence, though it hadn’t lasted much longer. “Has there been any updates on her status?” While it was hard to hear them, she could hear them well enough to make out what they were saying since they were so close. The sound of paper moving again made Febe want to cry, still, she did her best to keep herself from moving too much. There was a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach; it was one of those feelings that screamed something was wrong, that something horrible would happen. While she knew she was in a hospital, that still didn’t give her much information to work with. She could be just about anywhere, and they could be just about anyone. Keeping her breath steady, Febe did her best to relax; the last thing she needed was for her heart monitor to give her away. With her migraine being as bad as it was, moving, much less fending for her life, was nearly impossible. The risk of putting herself in an unfavorable situation like having to fight or flee in her condition left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wasn’t stupid. “For the most part, we’ve had little change since you last checked in. The patient has been in and out of sleep for the past three days; the few times we could get her to eat something, she couldn’t keep it down. We’ve been trying a liquid diet to compensate, but she’s struggled to keep much of that down too. She also keeps mumbling about colored lightning, strange storms, almost drowning, and a doe with constellations on its backs in her sleep. Also woke up begging for her parents on the second night; she said their names were Rin and James, but she was delirious. She hadn’t done it since then.” “Strange... And the chakra signature?” “According to the report given to me this morning as well as what we’ve found here, it can’t be hers. We haven’t been able to find a trace of chakra in her system. Whoever left her there made sure to cover their tracks, and even went as far as to leave a signature as a decoy, but it doesn’t explain why they left her in such a critical condition.” Despite all the information she was hearing, none of it was piecing together. What did they mean by chakra signature? She was in critical condition? She’d been out for over three days? She had even begged for her parents? Thwarting her best efforts, Febe’s anxiety swiftly took control over her mind and body. Her heartbeat started to increase at a dangerous rate, clouding what little sense she had left. As if a cry for help, the heart monitor shouted for attention, but it wasn’t fast enough of a warning. Febe’s eyes shot open, a cry of pain being ripped from her throat as the light scorched her sensitive retinas and the loudness surrounding her had bothered her migraine for the last time; she could feel her stomach churning. On instinct, Febe shot up as her migraine shot another thick pain through her skull. Coupled with the lights, the pain was blinding; it was all too intense, Febe couldn’t stop herself from vomiting what was left of what she assumed was her liquid diet. “Not again!” Everything seemed to move in slow motion the moment the brunette shot up; the lights were hazy, and the faces in front of her were a swirl of colors. Febe wasn’t sure when she’d passed out again, but when she came too, she wondered again how long she’d been out this time. Febe felt warn out and out of energy, but thankfully the room she’d woken up in this time was dark. While all that was left of her migraine was a weak throbbing pain, her throat still burned from her little accident earlier. It took a lot out of her to look around the room, she didn’t even have the energy to jolt in surprise at the hard honey brown-eyed woman staring at her from the chair next to her bed. “Finally awake, huh? How do you feel?” “Thirsty... Tired... Sore...” Febe’s mouth felt heavy, even when a cool glass of water was pressed to her lips, it took much more energy than it should have to just get it down. She’d gotten through about four cups before she was satisfied. Feeling better now that her dehydration had been fixed, Febe slumped against her pillows. Tired brown eyes watched the blonde-haired woman take a seat again; Febe recognized her from the moment she’d laid eyes on her. In all her life, never once did Febe think she’d meet the Fifth Hokage of what was supposed to be a fictional land, she never thought she’d end up in said fictional land either. All of this was just stressful, and all Febe wanted to do was sleep. Tsunade wanted answers first, though. “Do you have a name?” Febe felt annoyed; Tsunade was interrogating her, and while she understood completely where the older woman was coming from, Febe’s just wanted to rest. Could they play twenty questions a little later? Tsunade watched the teenager expectantly, she could only take it as no. “Febe.” “Do you remember what village you’re from?” “Don’t have one...” Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Febe’s response; it was obvious she didn’t believe the teenager. Without this information it was more than just a little difficult to look someone up, but Febe could only offer what she had. Even if she had the information, she wouldn’t have trusted it to Konoha. While she loved Naruto and all it had done for her over the seventeen years of her life, she had no problem pointing out the flaws. No village was completely clean or perfect the way they tried to make it seem; all of them were villains in someone else’s book, and Konoha was no different. Febe never cared much for Konoha, they had blood on their hands and often times she felt they were pretending it was all for the right reasons. She also didn’t like a majority of the people that lived there; what type of person would attack a child simply because of something forced inside of him from birth? How did it even become their business what was inside him? What hurt the most was not even the Third Hokage gave much of a damn about Naruto. Sure, he dropped off money every now and again, but he always looked annoyed having to do so. Maybe it was just Febe’s motherly nature, but the idea of leaving a child to survive on their own made her sick to her stomach. Naruto didn’t let that stop him, but she never liked his reason for doing things. He wanted to feel seen! Feel loved! He wanted them to just fucking acknowledged him for once! The more he grew up, the stronger he’d become, and by proxy he became more useful. Suddenly the villagers loved him, treated him kindly, treated him like a human being for once in his life. It wasn’t just him, either. When Sasuke lost his family, the village turned their backs on him but when he finally couldn’t take it anymore and snapped, they had the audacity to point fingers and cry monster. Febe wasn’t the biggest fan of the last Uchiha, she thought of some of his actions as kind of assholish, but she wasn’t blind enough to ignore how he’d come to be that way. Pain changes people. No matter how little pain it may have been, no matter how little the pain seemed to others. Pain makes you change into things you said you’d never, ever become. Febe had learned that the hard way. “Where did you live before you arrived here?” Tsunade’s voice brought Febe back to reality; slowly blinking her eyes, the brown-eyed girl shook her head before speaking. “I’m not from here at all.” “I know that, but where did you come from?” “I lived in a different world all together. I’m not from here at all. I don’t have a village.” There was an exasperated look of annoyance on the blonde-haired woman’s face; of course it didn’t make sense to her. The Hokage didn’t trust her, not that she had before, but now it was getting harder for her to hide. It didn’t make much sense to Febe either, but even if it made little sense, it was still the truth. Feeling more awake now, much to her dismay, Febe started to explain herself. “I’m not sure how long I’ve been away from home, but the last time I was there, there was a horrible storm that differed greatly from most of the storms we’ve had before. The clouds moved like they had a mind of their own, and the lightning was this striking blue color; the winds were much stronger than they should have been, whipping the trees around like they were nothing. The lightning struck my house, hitting the antenna that was attached to our TV; I felt the oddest need to touch it when my TV screen turned on with unusual blue static, and when I did I got struck too. When I woke up, I was in this strange place with silver trees, bluish-green grass, and these miniature ponds surrounded by pastel rocks. Overwhelmed, I started to cry, and while I did so a deer came to me, she looked like she had constellations on her back. When I followed her, she leads me to a normal-sized pond, but the rocks were warm and pastel green, another horrible storm brewed.” Sitting up a little more, Febe continued. “The doe was on guard, there was something she didn’t like about the storm. It was made of these evil looking black clouds, and again the lightning wasn’t normal; instead of it being blue, this time the lighting was indigo in color. Just like the other storm, it seemed to have a mind of its own; as if it were a smoke monster. It rushed down to grab me, but the doe kicked me into the water. She followed after me not long after, but the clouds raced after her so she kicked me even farther into the water. I started to drown, but then I woke up here.” The room was silent, but Febe had little energy left to spare to explain further. Not being able to support herself like before, the teenager simply slouched in the bed, her head lulled in Tsunade’s direction. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?” “No, but I’d rather tell you the truth and have you not believe me than keep up a lie that could easily come to bite me in the butt later on.” Tsunade sighed again; leaning back in her chair, the blonde-haired woman did her best to relax. When she closed her eyes, Febe noticed the tiny dark circles that were forming against beautiful fair skin; the job of a Hokage was never done, she supposed. “You’ve been out for a full week, and this is the same story that you keep giving every time you wake up; normally you’re still out of it, so we assumed it was just delirium...” Sitting up again, the older woman forced herself to her feet, crossing her arms over her enlarged chest. “Ever since you’ve come here, Shizune and I have been having odd dreams that show the same story you told us. Sometimes it’s almost as if we’re your, and then other times it’s as if we’re the deer. It’s been strange, and we assumed it was some sort cheap trick, but something just isn’t adding up...” “I’m not sure I understand...” “Something is after you, and I think whoever sent that deer, or if it was the deer all by herself, sent you here for one reason or another.” Taking a few steps away to pick up a clipboard with Febe’s information on it, Tsunade quickly wrote something down before hanging it at the edge of the bed. “You’ll be discharged in a few more days, I’ll be setting up your housing. Until then, you’ll stay here and rest.” She wanted to say something, to make some form of a rebuttal, but her mind drew blank. This wasn’t a normal situation where she could just call for help, as much as she hated it, Tsunade and Konoha were the help. There would be no one else to lend a hand, not without wanting something in return; pursing her lips together, Febe nodded. After that, all Febe could do was bide her time; once again, she was forced to remember why she hated places like this. She couldn’t wander around like she wanted to, she wasn’t allowed to eat by herself or use the bathroom by herself, hell, they even kept her drapes closed to keep out the prying eyes of others. If not for her lack of wings, Febe would have sworn she was a bird stuck in a gilded cage. She half expected them to give her crackers and ask her to sing, but that was just her imagination going wild. The days went by so slowly; she had time to just be inside her head, to think about the things she’d have rather kept locked away in a box. She couldn’t sleep because of it... Her mind had filled with those beautiful green eyes that had once been her drug, it was almost as if they were haunting her now. His voice pleaded with her for forgiveness, screamed and shouted in distress at the idea of not having her anymore. She still loved him, she knew she did... That’s what made it hurt all the more... She pined after him for such a long time, and even came to believe that he loved her, but it was all just a big joke. Something they could laugh about for years to come; Febe wouldn’t put it past one of them people Danny had in on the plan cracking jokes about it in their speeches at Danny and Genevieve’s wedding. It made her stomach churn with anger. Angry, hot tears clouded her vision the more she thought about everything; Febe wanted so badly to punch him in his stupidly cute face. Rubbing her eyes, she let out a deep, tired sigh. This is why she hated being alone with her thoughts... “Febe?” There was a soft knock on the door before the door creaked open; a pair of kind black eyes greeted her with a soft smile, a familiar pink friend hanging comfortably from their arms. Febe offered a small smile, happy to finally have some company. “Hey Shizune, I see you brought Ton-Ton today!” “Oink oink!” It had been going on two weeks since the brown-eyed teenager had been cooped up in her hospital room; being that she wasn’t really from this world, she never really got visitors outside of Tsunade and Shizune and the occasional visit from Ton-Ton, Shizune’s animal friend. They were good company, but Febe still hoped that it would be her parents who’d walk through the door. God, she wanted to go home... “Yeah! I thought you might like to see her before you leave today.” “I get to leave today?” Shizune smiled again, nodding as she entered the room with a soft click of the door closing. Ton-Ton was happy to hop into Febe’s lap, flopping door without a care in the world. The teenager couldn’t help but laugh. Gently petting and scratching the miniature pig, Febe let out a sigh. “Hey, don’t be so down, Lady Tsunade found a really good place for your to stay, and thanks to the person you’ll be staying with, you’ll be under their protection until we can figure out how to send you home!” “Wait... I’m staying with someone?” “You didn’t think we’d let you live by yourself, did you?” Both Febe and Shizune snapped their heads in the voice's direction, surprised to see Tsunade leaning against the door frame. “When did you get here, M’Lady? I thought you still had some work to finish?” “I thought it be best to get this done first; he’ll be back tonight, we need to make sure she’s prepared.” Closing and locking the door behind her, Tsunade showed herself in; taking her normal seat beside Febe’s bed. “As you now know, you’ll be staying with someone. It was hard to choose, but I’ve decided to put you with Sasuke Uchiha. He’s been on a mission for quite some time, so we decided that it’d be best you pose as his wife from the Village Hidden in the Stars.” “Wait, what do you mean wife?!” Tsunade blinked in surprise, even Ton-Ton had gotten startled by the sudden loudness. The brunette offered an apologetic smile; Febe wasn’t one to normally yell, but she couldn’t stop herself at the mention of being a wife, much likely being the wife to someone she barely knew outside of the TV screen. “I’m sorry for yelling, it’s just that I don’t feel comfortable pretending to be someone’s wife...” “I can only assume; this situation is lot more sensitive than you may be giving it credit for. All we really have to go on is your word and the dreams Shizune and I have been having. There’s no telling what else is involved or even who else is involved, but what we do know is that you’re a key to solving this.” “Then why can’t I stay with one of you?” Shizune stepped forward and took Ton-Ton into her hands and offered an apologetic smile, hoping that would soften the bad news. “Sorry Febe, but like Lady Tsunade said you’re the key to solving your situation. As Hokage, she won’t be able to keep a close enough eye on you in case anything changes, and things can get hectic for me too. It may not be the best liked of our choices, but it is the smartest.” “What about Sasuke? There’s no way he’d ever agree to something like this, right?” “Yes, you’re right he wouldn’t have agreed-” Febe’s face lit up like a Christmas tree the moment those words left the blonde-haired Hokage’s mouth, but her joy hadn’t lasted much longer. “See? So there’s no way-” “You didn’t let me finish; normally he would have said no, but he wasn’t given a choice in the matter and neither are you. We’ve already given him the rundown of everything; because this is so short notice, our options are limited. Just for the time being, we need you to play along.” Heaving a deep sigh, Tsunade stood from her seat and placed a hand on Febe’s shoulder. “I understand that this may not be the most appealing solution, but until we can get you back home, it’s the best we have. Get some more rest, I’ll be back in the evening so we can make sure our story is intact.” Febe’s head dropped as her burning eyes tried to focus on her balled fist; there was a deep anger that was burning inside of her. She didn’t want any of this, what had she even done to deserve such a shitty situation? All she wanted was to be home with her family happily eating home made udon and cherry cakes, playing video games with her mother, watching movies with them, healing with them! Was that really too much to ask...? Was asking for that greedy and selfish...? Febe couldn’t help but feel like she was being pushed off onto someone else, like an annoying pest that no one could bare to deal with anymore. It hurt... The two women watched the young girl as she struggled to not break down in frustrated tears; Shizune went to reach out to the young girl, but Tsunade’s silent hand on her shoulder froze her. Worried black eyes met sympathetic honey brown. Tsunade shook her head, gently pulling her assistant with her, closing the door behind them with a soft click. Tsunade and Shizune stood at the door for a moment, but when they went to move the sound of soft sobbing could be heard through the door. Both women looked at one another before glancing back at the door. “I hate hard choices like these..” Tsunade pinched her brow with a sigh; she hated having to do this to Febe, but she needed to keep an eye on both her and Sasuke. The blonde-haired woman couldn’t think of another way that would have made sense, there’d be no other reason for Sasuke to come home with a mysterious woman. She needed someone who wasn’t close enough to anyone in the village to share any information about the situation, and she needed someone strong enough that if something were to happen or if someone were to show up uninvited that they’d have no problem protecting her. Despite all of that, the idea of being married to a stranger, even if it were all just pretend, was never an easy one. Even now, Tsunade knew that she and Shizune both wanted to do something to fix the situation right away, to just send Febe home, but that wasn’t an option. At least not yet. Turning away from the door, the Hokage started to walk away; she didn’t like that she had to put Febe with Sasuke, but Tsunade had learned earlier in life that sometimes it was the things you disliked the most that would benefit you the most. “Let’s go Shizune, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”