Village secrets

Nicole~

It was as if everyone except me knew about these powers. Why wasn't anyone surprised about them. The men I killed seemed pretty surprised though as well as the men in the holding center.

"How do you know about my powers?" I asked.

"You just used them." He smiled and my frown got deeper. That was not what I meant and he knew it.

"What did you want to talk about." I asked and his smile deepened, his eyes grew dark. He leaned forward on to the table, not breaking eye contact with me.

"It seems you discovered something very crucial to our survival. So I'm here to ask you to keep what you experienced to yourself and leave the island quietly."

I couldn't believe him, he just thought I was going to up and leave the moment he gave me a clear pass to go. Did he think I was that shallow? A lot of things had changed and leaving the island was the last thing on my mind.

"I don't think you're in any position to make demand." I spat, "I can tear you apart right now if I want to."

"But you won't." He smiled, "You want to know why we feed the women to the monster every year, don't you?"

I just stared him down, not responding. There was no need for such a tradition anymore, I had killed the monster, the threat was gone.

"You didn't think there was only one monster in that cave, did you?"

His words sent a chill down my spine. What was he going on about? If there were more, they would have come out with the amount of yells and screams that enveloped the cave.

"What are you talking about? How many more are there?" I asked instinctively and he laughed. "I asked you a question."

"You really are like your mother, you know." He said and the look in his eyes changed, from casual to longing, "You look like her too."

I shuddered, "What does she have to do with this?" The look in his eyes was creeping me out.

"Your mom," he started, "she was my first love, you know."

No, I had not known that.

"Are you giving me a sob story right now? I asked you why you send women to their death every year." I was already screaming.

"Shush," he whispered, "I'll get there. But to make you truly understand, I need to start from my side of the story."

"Truly understand? You're going to try and justify this? Are you serious?"

He kept smiling and for a moment, I considered freezing his lips off but advised myself against it. He needed it to talk and I needed him to talk.

Begrudgingly, I told him to go on.

"Your mom, she isn't a native of the island..."

Third person pov ~

It was a bright, sunny afternoon on Freedis island, the feel of the cool water against Barry's feet was welcomed as he played around on the shore with his best friend, Peter. They had gone to the shore to escape the busy life in the town, they were just two boys who loved playing together as they were doing.

Though this particular day, something was different. Their usual escape to the shore on this day was met with a foreign unconscious body, almost buried in a mixture of sand and water. They tried waking her up as they wanted why she was taking a nap on the shore but she was not responsive though she was breathing so they decided to take her back to the village.

They tried finding her family but everyone they met confessed to never seeing her before. They were confused, so many people denied knowing her but the popular teaching was that there was no life outside their village, so thinking that she came from outside did not cross their young minds.

After hours of searching, they decided to let her stay in Barry's house. Barry was the son of the village chief and he was being trained to be the next village chief who would lead the village. Peter, however was the son of a small carpenter, and despite their background differences, the two bonded and had long been good friends. The mysterious girl however did not once wake up during the hours of searching, even when she was laid on a bed in Barry's home.

Out of concern, Barry called for a native doctor to check in on her and he confirmed that she was okay, and that she was just sleeping. Barry's father did not like this development, it was bad enough that his son was slacking off on his duties by spending his time with the son of a carpenter, but now, a new obstacle had appeared. His father saw the way Barry looked at the unknown girl with longing and glimmer in his eyes. His father did not need another hurdle to cross. Not an extremely beautiful one at that.

The mysterious girl, though asleep was easily the most beautiful lady Barry had laid eyes on. He found her mesmerizing and beyond breathtaking, he wanted her. He was going to get her, no matter what. He made his newfound affection for the girl and his desire to keep her with him known to his best friend, Peter but Peter cautioned his friend to respect the girl if she would eventually decide not to be with him.

Barry accepted, but he was confident that he could make her fall for him if he wanted to. After all, she was nothing but a woman and his father had taught him how all women are.

For two days, the mysterious girl did not wake up, for two days, Peter continued to pay Barry a visit to check up on her, for two days, Barry and his father had heated arguments about his future. For two days, Barry had taken care of her.

On the third day, when she finally woke up, Barry and Peter were in the room, talking about Barry's recent fights with his father over his succession as village chief. The girl woke up to muffled mumbling, her head felt heavy, like it was about to tear apart into tiny pieces. She sat up on the bed she had been resting for the past two days and came face to face with two young men in the room with her. The scenery was foreign to her yet she was calm, oddly.

"You." She said and the boys turned their heads to her, frozen in shock either by her utter bewitching beauty or by the sheer fact that she finally woke up.

"Why are thou gawking at thine?" She asked as she got to her feet. But then the sharp headache came back, tearing through her skull and she stumbled backwards. In swift motion, Peter hurried to her side and held her by her waist, preventing her fall. The two share a few moments of eye contact before Peter cleared his throat and positioned her well so she could stand on her own.

"Are you okay?" Barry went over to them but he was asking the girl, worry evident in his face.

"I am well." The girl said, finally taking her eyes off Peter and letting it land on Barry. "I demand a place to stay."

The two boys exchanged a look before turning their eyes back at her. No one had ever demanded anything of Barry before, except of course, his father. Barry smirked.

"Is that an order?" He leaned closer to the girl who did not flinch at his sudden closeness, her eyes never left him.

"Why, of course." She said confidently and Peter held back a snort. He wondered if this girl was being serious or if she was just trying to push her luck. No matter how much Brian liked her, Peter was not sure he liked her enough to allow her to order him around.

"You are interesting," Barry's smirk never left his face, "so you want to stay here?"

"That is what I said, is it not?" She turned to Peter for verification but he was busy trying not to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

"Fine, you can stay here..." Barry was moving even closer to her, "in exchange for your name, my lovely lady."

"Why should I do that?"

"Because I'm begging."

The girl stared him up and down before answering, "Athelia. Third princess of the Glaciers. Daughter of Goloria."

Brian took her left hand in his right one as he bowed to place a kiss on it. " Athelia," he breathed, "third princess of the Glaciers, daughter of Goloria. You have the most beautiful ocean eyes I have ever laid my eyes on." He placed another kiss on her hand.

"My eyes are purple."

"That in itself is weird but I'm not complaining." Barry retorted and she pulled her hands away.

"I was sure I teleported to my brother. Pray tell, where is Baurbius."

"Who in the goddess's name is that?"