The Journey of Two Sisters: Book 4 of the Kinstone series

(Me)

Marron tightly holds me to her, stroking my arm. I still can’t believe that she’s here with me. Every time she’d visit me or had a moment alone, it felt like we had been apart forever. With everything that’s been happening between us, this feeling is truer than ever before.

The want to simply turn back time to when none of this ever happened felt all too strong to me. But…Mom always told me to never meddle with time. It may also be why she banned me from studying time magic and forbade any material on the subject.

Heh, it’s still a childish thought and I am a child after all.

“Alright sweetie,” starts Marron, “lay everything on me. I want to know exactly what’s been going on.”

I nod, taking a breath. “Regulus Cromwell used you to get to me when his multiple attempts to kill me failed. He’s the reason why I’ve had a certain vampiress try and take my life after I beat her in that duel two years ago. He leaked out my existence to the Court and Beltrok either volunteered or was sent to the Estate.”

She strokes my arm, still holding me to her.

“Well…after we woke up, that girl Diana appeared and beat me terribly, nearly killing me from the start. But then Regulus showed up and told me that he’s been tracking my family since forever. He told me how difficult it was to try and get me away from my mother. So he used you to accomplish that. He planned on killing you after we woke up.”

She peered down at me, “Why did he want to get you away from your mother? What was his angle?”

I take another deep breath, “He planned on killing me and then resurrecting me in order to steal something I have, something really important to his plans.”

Her eyes bulge. “No,” sounding shaken. “Why would he go through with such a plan?”

I nod, pulling my backpack into my lap. I flip open the flap and dig through it, pulling out the silver compact. I glance up at her, seeing her confusion. I turn back to it and tap on a few panels, watching it expand into its true form as a lantern.

Marrons eyes grow wide again. She reaches over and strokes it. The setting sun’s light catches some the crystal panels, causing them to shimmer. “This…this is so beautiful sweetie. What is it and when did you get it?”

I stroke the artifact. “It’s called the Xur’canah, an ancient artifact from Dewloura. I got it a couple weeks before Christmas and it’s been locked away ever since. I only brought it out once before all of this began. Mom called it the King’s Lantern, and it has something to do with the lost empire, but I really don’t have much information on it. Even Masters Titalos and Andriy only gave me sparse details on it.”

“Regulus wanted to kill you and bring you back just to retrieve this from your home?” asks Marron, with her voice sounding shocked and dismayed.

I nod, tears begin to swell within my eyes. “He was going to use me as a weapon to hurt everyone.” I shove the lantern back into my backpack and bury my face into my palms, crying. “When he told me that, I felt like such a disgrace if it had gone through.”

Marron holds me even closer, “Shhh…Shhh. I know sweetie. I too would feel the same as you.” She then grumbles, “To violate a sweet little girl in such a way is beyond redemption.”

I cried for a moment before settling back down. While I never suffered any nightmares after facing Diana, the idea of him killing me and then resurrecting me haunted the darkest corners of my mind. I would’ve been ripped away from my mother only to be used in the most disgraceful thing ever.

I sniff, wiping my tears. “He needs the Xur’canah to unseal Dewloura, but he needs me for some reason.” I take another breath, “Do you remember the girl I introduced you to while at the farmers market?”

She nods, “I do. You said her name was Diana right?”

I lean into her chest, “That was my birthmother. Regulus was the one who killed her and my birth family.”

Her eyes grow wide, “What? Are you serious?”

I nod, “He brought her back and then transformed her into the girl I now know as Diana. He used her in order to lower my defenses and also made her to counter me. If he’s been after me, then I know she’s also been sent after me.”

“For what reason?” she asks. “Why go through all of this trouble? I know you’re the last descendant of a royal house and all, but why still hunt for you? Let’s say he had the Xur’canah, now that he has your birthmother, for what reason is he still after you?”

I sigh softly, “That he didn’t really say. Maybe it does have to do with me being a descendant of Shyair. I just don’t know.”

There is simply so much that I don’t know, and it’s eating at me. The more I think about it, the more it frustrates me. I feel the wind blowing gently on us, catching some of my hair. It's slightly chilled as it stings my tear-rubbed cheeks.

I stare off into the horizon, “The woman who gave you my diary is named Selene Nethune, and she’s actually from Dewloura but was killed four hundred years ago. Regulus brought her back as a wight. She used her own essence and blood to transform my birthmother into Diana, but she poured so much into her that I highly doubt we’re even related as we once were.”

Marron cringes, holding onto my arm.

“That’s not even the worst part of it all,” I continue, “Selene is part of the other royal house of Dewloura and is apparently related to me.”

“You can’t be serious,” she says.

“I’ll add we’re distantly related, by several centuries.” I close my eyes, “So Diana and I are the same. With us both having been reborn with Selene being her mother and Mom being mine now.”

Marron sighs heavily, “That…that’s a bit to take in. There is however a major difference between the both of you. You were reborn to your mother out of love, and grew into your new life naturally. You experience the world with brand new eyes.”

I blush softly, realizing the conversation we need to have right now. The one I’ve really been wanting to have with her since the summer. “I…I know you read my diary, but there’s a bit more that I never did put into it.”

“How so?” she asks. “As you said, I did read it, and found a few tiny bits where you had fantasies about us.” She grins, “You were really thinking of ‘that’ back then weren’t you?”

My cheeks burn brightly, “Y-yeah, I did. But like I told you that night, I was super confused about everything and didn’t know how to express it. We grew close together so fast that there were times when I wasn’t sure if anything was real or all in my head. Even still, there isn’t a day that goes by where I wouldn't trade any of that time for anything in the world.”

She smiles, kissing the top of my head, “Well…I have a bit a confession for you as well. I meant what I said when I told you that I wanted you to move in with me. I got so wrapped up into you that I wanted you close to me and to never leave my side ever again.”

My cheeks still burn softly as I listen. Right now, this moment is one I’ve played over and over in my mind for at least a couple months if not longer. It’s just the two of us laying out our hearts to each other. I only wish it was under better circumstances.

“However,” she pauses for a moment, “that would have violated my mission, something I seriously considered doing while I had you. It might have also complicated things between you and your then future mother.”

“You think that I wouldn’t have bonded to her as quickly as I did if you hadn’t been recalled early?” I ask, staring up into her emerald eyes.

“It very well might have,” she replies. “The other thing is that if I had taken you in, you wouldn’t be the girl you are today, not even in the slightest. But part of me really wanted to have you with me at all times.”

I blush softly again. During those couple of months I had with her, I fantasized about being her real little sister. I’d be coming home for school, doing homework and have my big sister arrive soon after and we’d sit down for dinner. I still wonder what my life would have been like if that were to have happened. Thankfully, or maybe unfortunately take your pick, I saw a glimpse of that actually happen.

Marron then grins, “When your mother came to attend the Solstice festival two years ago, and even during my briefings with her, she asked so many questions about you. What kind of person you were becoming, how you were acclimating to being your new self, your personality, everything about you.”

I giggle softly, “We’re a long way from Cedar Park aren’t we? It feels like a lifetime since then.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” she says, gently rocking me. “You’ve truly grown so much since then. I hardly can believe you’re that same little girl who showed up at my door three years ago.”

I nod softly. I’ve experienced so much since then, changed beyond anything I ever thought possible. I’ve traveled the world, seen places that many humans would think is nothing more than a fantasy or myth, learned to speak languages that were out of my reach or even knew really existed.

I’ve met beings that defy human comprehension, learned the ways of magic, now being but a common notion for me. Hell I’m not really even human anymore, or at least I’m not fully sure about that.

“There’s something else I have to tell you, but it’s only now that I truly can.”

I tilt my head, “What do you mean?”

She leans us back a little, “Since the day I met you, no, when I heard your name for the first time, I felt a connection to you. I felt drawn to you, somehow compelled to look after you far beyond my original mission. Hence part of why I wanted you to move in with me. You and I share some sort of bond. Even to this day, I’ve never told anyone this, not even my former mistress.”

My eyes look in confusion. She smiles, “But that same feeling told me that you were my younger sister, even before you and I became sisters.”

My cheeks burn even hotter, but gives a huge smile to her. “You know, you’re the third person in my life who’s said that to me, about having some kind of destined bond with me.”

Marron reaches up and strokes my face. I smile, still resting my head onto her chest.

“Mom was the first,” I continue, “when she and I first a long time ago after giving me half of the Kinstone. The second person is Fenris, when he showed up that night before you and I left for the con. He told me that the moment I was born our hearts were linked. It wasn’t until we bonded that our connection became complete.”

“Wait, you and your mother share a Kinstone?” she asks, sounding shocked.

I nod softly, “We do.”

However…given the past battle, it never appeared to me. I sigh softly to myself, thinking that it really means my mother is gone. Or perhaps Marron really was meant to rescue me. the latter of which I am beyond thankful is true.

She smirks, “So you two truly were destined to be mother and daughter.”

I giggle softly, “Yep.” I look up at her, having another question come to mind, given our conversation. “How is possible for three seemingly random people to be connected to me like this?”

“I don’t know, Baby Ahri,” she replies, shifting us a bit so that I am now facing her. “But it means that you were meant to find this family and be part of it.”

I giggle softly, “I’ve always loved it when you gave me that pet name.”

She grins, “And I have forever loved referring to you by it.” I giggle once more.

She then peers deeply into my eyes. Her mouth hangs open slightly, “There’s something different about you. At first I thought it was only the fact that you now have nine tails. But now you seem…younger. Your eyes and even your full appearance are softer, more childlike. This is much different than when I saw you two years ago. And you keep calling your mother ‘Mom’ and not Rachel. What happened to you?”

“When Regulus was about to kill me,” I begin, gripping her more tightly, “I had zero strength. Diana had basically beaten me half-to-death and I barely was able to keep myself from passing out. So when he was about to crush my heart, I wished for my mom to come for me. That’s when my half of the Kinstone appeared and blew Regulus, Selene, and Diana back. I felt a swelling of power within me and called out to her, calling her Mother.”

Marron nods slowly as she listens, still stroking my face. I lean into her hand. “That was my old self giving me the power to call her.”

She smiles, “You’ve truly become a pure girl. I can’t even tell that you were anything but a girl. It’s as though you were born one.”

My cheeks blush deeply. I hadn’t really even considered that before. I knew my past life was gone, Miriam even said that I was a real girl. But to say that it’s as though I were born one, no one, not even Mom said that to me.

“To…to answer your other question, when I called out to my mother, the word became engraved onto my heart. It…it’s like I truly became hers.”

She smiles, holding me even tighter, “You’ve really become a little girl.”

I giggle, nodding. “Little Aria Edge.”

She grins.

I sigh into her, “But I kind of feel bad.”

“Why’s that sweetie?”

“I haven’t been in contact with the coven after Edtrich attacked the Ranch. In fact I’ve been avoiding it for the past few days. I didn’t want to put anyone else in danger if I did.” My heart then quickens. “Oh God. Evie and Jonathan,” looking up at her, “I don’t even know if they’re alright. We left them while they were still fighting Edtrich.”

“Sweetie they’re fine,” says Marron reassuringly, smiling and stroking my face. “I actually saw them and both are doing just fine.” She then smirks, “That stunt you pulled must’ve given them a chance to finish off the rest of those idiots from Edtrich. But yes, both of them were fine when I saw them. In fact they were talking to Matt Lancaster.”

I sigh heavily in relief, “Oh thank God.”

“By the way,” she goes on, looking straight into my eyes, “how do you even know about the Ranch as a refuge? While the address isn’t a secret, the purpose for it is.”

I giggle, “While I was recovering, I spent a little time digging through info about the coven and came upon it. I even came up with a few contingency plans. I really had nothing but time.”

“Nosy fox,” she sighs, shaking her head. I giggle softly. “Oh, what did you do to piss off Edtrich? I overheard a couple of their members talking about you right before they attacked the Ranch.”

I roll my eyes, groaning, “All I did was show up to a gathering of their members. I got curious when I heard that local covens were coming together for something, so I went. That’s…when they spotted me and ran after me. I think they also came after me because they said I was trespassing on their territory or something.”

She sighs heavily, shaking her head, “Edtrich are nothing but thugs. They claim any piece of land their territory and are known for lashing out at anyone. I overheard them also accusing you of spying.”

I groan, “I did no such thing. I was just curious. Mom even scolded me for it after I escaped.”

“I would agree with her on that,” says Marron smiling. I roll my eyes again, and then stare back out onto forest.

She lays my head onto her chest. “I did a bit of traveling while I was away from you. Mostly to hide from the Coven and to clear my head.” I nod slowly.

She and I both know how hard that hurts to hide away from those we love and care for. While the reasons and circumstances are different, the feelings are the same.

“I even found Rosland.”

I look up at her, “You mean that it’s a real place?”

She nods, “Yep. The town was exactly as we remembered it. Granted, no one knew who I was. But everything was there, your school, the town square. I even found our house.”

My eyes grow huge, “I thought that it was all just a dream.”

“So did I. The house appeared to have been abandoned for some time. Inside also was exactly as I remembered it. When I saw it, it actually freaked me out a bit at how accurate it was. It made me wonder if it was used as the template for our shared dream.”

So does it mean that the crystal really was used to trap us inside it? Or were we really there and it gave cast an illusion over everyone in the town? Well…it can’t be the latter then due to the house we woke up in was the same as the one from the dream. Gah, I hate not having answers to things like this.

“Regulus told me that the crystal we were trapped in was of Nerazoni and Dewlouran origin,” I tell her.

“Any clue what he meant by it?” she asks.

I shrug slightly, “Nope. I sent a letter to Savero describing it and also asked Master Titalos about it after I woke up. I was hoping to hear back from them, but that was before we had to flee.”

She nods slowly. “Your mom told me about Viktor Titalos, and how Savero is now like a big brother to you.” I blush deeply, which makes her chuckle.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. “You know…even after I realized that it was a dream, I still like the idea of being your blood sister and you raising me.”

Marron gently strokes my arm, “Same here sweetie. I also remember you writing about it in your diary. You really liked the idea of me raising you.”

I blush, nodding. “I did.”

She smiles, kissing the top of my head, “Well…now I’m here with you and nothing is going to change that.”

I giggle, nodding. I look to her, “So how did you find me to begin with?”

She holds up her finger, showing the glowing red thread. “While also driving along the road, trying to catch up to you, this kept tugging on me. For the life of me I can’t figure out how it got there.”

I grin, holding up my pinkie, showing the same thread but connected to her finger and taught. “You kinda forgot to dispel this last summer,” I say. “Even I forgot about it until it reappeared when we drove for the Ranch. When I saw it, I knew you were out there somewhere.”

She chuckles, shaking her head in disbelief, “I swear, I never thought something I absentmindedly forgot to do would turn out to be the best thing to happen.

I giggle, nodding quickly. Such little quirks and acts can often lead to the most unexpected of outcomes. This is a prime example of that.

I then hear the sounds of footsteps approaching us as a hand then rests on my shoulder. I look up to see Kateryna standing over me.

“Your Highness, do we intend to seek shelter for the night?” she asks.

I think for a moment, and then nod to her, “Yeah, but given our previous experience at staying in a hotel, let’s just go ahead and camp out here for a while until we come up with a plan.”

The elf nods, “Then let us set up camp.”

I nod and pull my backpack into my lap and reach into it. I pull out the cube containing the tent.

Marron looks at it, “Kinda small isn’t it?”

I grin, “It’s a Tardis tent.”

She laughs, shaking her head, “Your mother sure loves that spell doesn’t she? But then again, so do I.”

I nod and rise from the rock. I take a few steps and turn back, “Want to come help?”

“Not right now,” she replies, “you go ahead and get it ready, I’ll join you in a little bit.”

I nod, then eyes Orga standing next to her. I take a deep breath and then trot off with Kateryna. I then see Fenris sitting in near a small clearing. I smile to him and feel grateful to have my family with me.