Return

Sapphire…

Two and a half months later…

I was on a call with Olivia again. I was in the military camp again. I had come back a month ago. "You're telling me I don't have to fight in the war? And I won't have to return to the military camp?" "Yes, hopefully, if everything goes as planned, you'll never have to fight a war. You've already gone through too much for this country to fight a war. You're only fifteen."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed, "Oh child I don't need a thank you I want you to be happy and never have to fight again, I don't want you to have to kill anyone, and just want you to live a happy and fulfilled life." "Still, you've done so much for me I can't ever repay you," I said sincerely, still sobbing.

"It's fine. You never have to repay me or any of us. You're family." I wiped my tears and ended the call. I'm so grateful to her and great-pa. I stood up and got out of my bed to get packed up and go back to school. Oh right, school. I ditched all of them. It's been three months since I just up and ghosted them. I bet they've forgotten about me.

I used to want that to happen, but… I don't know. It fills me with sadness to think that they would just forget about me. All my stuff was already packed. I picked up the gym bag and left out of the building. I was in Ljos city after some travel by bus. L was not that far away from Relix academy. I walked down the streets, catching stares and glances on every street I walked.

I now had a scar going from the start of my wrist through my forearm. Not as bad as the doctor said it would be. And streaks of white hair that had developed after I got struck by lightning. My body had worked really hard just to keep me alive. I had arrived at the gate to the outside Relix academy that was really just a teleportation pad for the actual academy.

I took the student ID that had an old me on it. I look kind of different now. I walked up to the entrance scanned my ID put my password in and teleported immediately to the actual school I entered the white and gold-themed school and took in the breathtaking sight of the school that had been my home for a really long time.

I went to the girls' dorms and went to my room. I entered. It wasn't class hours anymore as it was 7 pm. I knocked on the door and I heard Leona yell "Coming!" And she walked to the door and peeked through the eyehole. She opened the door roughly and hugged me suddenly.

She sobbed uncontrollably into my clothes. "What took you so, dammit?! You couldn't leave at least one call? Not ONE text?" She was on her knees, crying and slamming her fists against my chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." That's all I could say to her, that's all I could think of saying, all I could muster up.

What's wrong with me? I can't muster up a single word for a friend that hasn't seen me and thought I had just disappeared for months? "I thought you were dead! You didn't even think about us, did you?! Not a Thought! I bet you were just so happy! Leaving us thinking you hated us the way you left. Do you know how many hours I contemplated leaving all of it behind?! Just to look after you! And now you just come back completely fine!"

Leona was screaming at my face, "I hate you! Why did you leave? Were we not good enough for you to stay?" "Please, I'm sorry. I don't need you putting me in more guilt! I never was happy leaving you! Or any of the others. I hated myself for months because of it!"

I snapped at her. Why did I do that? No, no, no. I didn't mean it. It wasn't supposed to come out that way. "Since you feel so guilty, then why'd you leave?" She asked me with her voice grief-filled. "I didn't have a choice. It wasn't my choice."

Leona stood up tiredly and I walked in and entered my room the same as it was before I left except covered in dust. I walked in, set my bag down, and fell onto my bed, going to sleep, hopefully waking up to a good day. But that stupid notion wasn't going to happen, and I knew it.

… The next day

I woke up at five am four hours before school even starts and before my usual alarm. There was no yelling or intense shuffling around the room. Now I can rest anything that's not as stressful as military counts as rest to me now. I got up from my bed and got chocolate cereal out of the cabinet.

She kept getting them from the kitchen even though I was gone? The majority of people including Leona hate chocolate with a passion, yet she kept ordering them? I poured the milk first, then the cereal, and sat down to watch Tv. On the tv there were war reports and that was about it.

Even though the Ryhems are the new royal family, no one knows that Mary Fylar and Max Fylar were murdered yet and‌ that the Ryhems have taken over the royal family's place as the new monarchy. But the war hasn't stopped yet. Great-pa is trying his absolute hardest to stop the war. The peace treaty meeting is going to occur today. If it goes well, there will be no war. If it doesn't, then it will be bloodshed.

If it doesn't go well Great-pa as he told me will do his best to subdue the army win over it and take over the country but let them do whatever they want and their new government will consist of a semi-republic that makes big decisions and sends them to Fylar for the royals to take final say.

But other than that, they would stay completely independent and have a contract that every single new council member has to agree to that they would never wage war ever again on Fylar.

But anyway, it feels good to be on the good side of the war and not the bad side. I heard Leona fall right out of her bed onto the floor and start swearing. She opened her door and stared at me like she didn't expect me to be there. She immediately closed her door again.