Crystal Flower

Chapter 1: It's just like looking in a mirror, running wild through a blazing landscape. Was it just a strange dream?

"Athena! Run!"

What's going on here?

"Run! Get out of here"

Athena's vision was blurry. She raised her head and as soon as she did, she felt as if a bucket of ice had been thrown at her. She saw a person, a person who looked just like she looked when she was younger but with shorter hair and another fact was that person was a boy.

"Run! Hurry! Get out of here" Uttered the boy, urging her to go. His wonderful deep blue eyes held so many emotions that one could feel their heart being ripped just by looking at them... there was pain in those eyes, there was sadness, loneliness, but above all, a sense of loss predominated.

Athena with her mind in disarray backed out a little and suddenly felt that she had touched something with her hand. She lifted it and turned to look at it, only to regret it a second later. There was... blood on her hand. The thing she touched was nothing but a corpse that was laying on the floor right next to her.

Wha-what is this!? Her blood ran cold and she could feel her legs getting numb, making it difficult for her to stand steady on her own. Her mind was in total disarray.

She heard a "tsk" and right after, the boy that was urging her earlier took her hand and ran.

As they ran, Athena noticed that in the place they were, not far away, there were blazing fires, and there were lots of people either running or on the ground, whether alive or dead, couldn't be told and Athena preferred to not find out.

Athena wanted to say something but right at that moment, it was like the images that were right in front of her were shattering and a few seconds later, everything had gone black... But between that darkness, Athena heard

"You have to survive. Be strong. Please... escape.. use this'' the boy handed her a cotton shirt, pants and a pair of boots, then seized her right wrist and cried "Remember to have this with you all the time!" Between the darkness, Athena could take a glimpse of what seemed to be a golden bangle with the beautiful design of a crystallized flower "Now, please... Get out of here, now!"

Athena suddenly woke up, gasping for air as she felt a little agitated. Her heart was beating as if she had just run a marathon.

What was that? She pondered.

She examined her surroundings and noticed she was in her bedroom, clad in her usual light purple pajamas. It was just a dream.

Athena massaged her temples with her fingers, she still had some trouble adjusting back to reality after all the madness that she experienced in that dream.

She still felt out of place as the dream was too vivid. Athena inhaled deeply a few times and composed herself, finally calming down a bit.

She stood up and went to get ready as today is her and her adoptive sister and cousin's graduation day! After thinking about it, she encouraged herself and went straight to take a shower and after that; she put on her school's uniform. As she just finished dressing, the crisp voice of a woman called out to her.

"Athena! Are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am! I'll be downstairs in a second" she picked up her things and headed straight downstairs.

In the living room were three people: her adoptive mother,her adoptive sister, Jane, and her adoptive cousin, Victor. Such a lovely family morning!

Jane is a lively girl, though she might seem cold and indifferent at first glance. Her short brown hair suits her sharp but gentle eyes.

Victor had a good-looking appearance, scarce but not too out of the ordinary, and was taller than her. He had cute, disheveled, dark brown hair.

Everyone was getting ready, and mother was helping them.

It was a funny picture to see how they were trying to get ready in time. Even Victor was struggling with his necktie a lot and his aunt had to help him. It is such a rare sight to see the ever well-composed and distant Victor struggling like this.

"Did you oversleep, sleeping beauty?" Asked Jane jokingly.

"Haha" Athena scratched her head "I'm sorry~ maybe it's because I was a little excited about our graduation day. I even had a strange dream".

"Really? What was it about?" Jane tilted her head in curiosity.

"I'll tell you guys later. We must hurry or we'll get late"

"Take this" Victor handed her over a bowl of cereal."It's not that late so you don't have to skip breakfast

"Victor is right Athena, today is an important day, you must eat your breakfast"

Athena grabbed the bowl of cereal. "Right, thanks"

They continued to eat their breakfast, brushed their teeth, and headed over to school. Right at the school gates, they encountered a friend of theirs who was also graduating with them.

"Nathy! Over here! Nathy," a girl with jet black hair and round blue eyes, turned around and as soon as she saw her three friends, smiled and ran over to them.

"Finally! I've been waiting for you," Nathy turned around and greeted them with a sweet smile.

"Sorry, we came later than we arranged with you, thanks to me. I overslept a little," Athena smiled apologetically and scratched her head.

"Don't worry! A beauty like you must sleep well! You're OUR PRINCE after all." Nathy stands next to Athena and hugs her arm tightly.

"Prince? What do you mean by prince?" Wondered Victor. He usually ignores other things in school that he does not consider important, such as gossip, popularity pools, activities and everything else that does not involve sports or classes.

"Pfft! This happens because you're never up to date! You'll tell him or should I proceed?" Jane tried to hold back her laugh.

"Please tell him haha, it's a little embarrassing" Athena face palmed herself.

She finds it fun to tease others, and she was okay with others teasing her, but this matter especially made her feel embarrassed.

"Fine haha. Listen Victor, pay close attention" Jane held back a pfft, cleared her throat and explained.

"Our Athena, ever since last year, has gotten herself the nickname of prince"

The reason? Well, it all happened like this...

Last year, there was a school event. Each class had something assigned for them to do, they assigned her class to do an act. The act her class did had a prince and a princess as the main couple. The girls loved this theme a lot, and they especially wanted to be in charge of choosing the ones to interpret the major roles.

Everything was set but on the day of the act, the boy who was to take on the role of the prince couldn't make it as he fell sick on that day and was currently in the hospital when he called the class president to apologize and let him know he wouldn't be able to make it.

Everyone was at the end of their wits. They had to be on the scenery in ten minutes, but how could they go on stage with one of the main characters, the prince, missing?

This was pure chaos! The whole classroom was nervous, some angry, and some others were thinking about what to do. One of these was Nathy. She was in charge of the outfits and accessories, while she was pondering what to do and she suddenly spotted Athena, who was in a corner,who was absentmindedly thinking that she was hungry.

Without a second thought, Nathy lifted some of the prince's accessories and tried to see how they would look on Athena, just to be surprised a moment later. She has found a solution!

While the others were still discussing and some even getting at each other's throats.

Nathy said "Hmmm... Actually, I have an idea guys!"

Everyone's attention directed towards Nathy and once she made sure that everyone was listening, she exclaimed innocently, "We can have Athena play the role of the prince!"

Everyone's attention was directed towards Nathy and once she made sure that everyone was listening, she exclaimed innocently, "We can have Athena play the role of the prince!"

Author's Notes:

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