Chiaroscuro

This is a serious WIP story and will contain certain adult themes despite rating and will also contain romance.

In the meantime, please ignore any grammar and spelling mistakes, this story will be under heavy revision once I finish it. Also the chapters will be posted randomly because of school and my drawings.

Read and review please! I would love to hear your feedback, constructive criticism welcomed! Which I will most likely need XD, but please make the criticism relevant and helpful, not as a way to bash me or my themes and writing.

Khalida bowed to her opponent before taking her stance and waited for them to attack. Her opponent thrust forward after a few seconds, which she smoothly stepped aside before thrusting her own sabre forward. He quickly stepped away before backing up a few steps and circled her. She waited with her sabre in her face and decided to attack first, feigning left then switched hands and attacked from the right. Unfortunately, he saw this coming and blocked her attack with his sabre before pushing her away. Then they launched a bunch of attacks at each other that lasted for a good 30 seconds before Khalida side-stepped him, turning to face his back and thrust her sabre forward, right onto his spine, between his scapula.

“Point to Khalida! The match is over!” The referee shouted, thrusting his hand upwards and bringing it down like a butcher’s knife.

Khalida took her mask off just as her opponent took his off. His sandy brown hair and tanned skin made all the girls, but her, in the room swoon. He turned his milk-brown eyes towards her and she can see respect, jealousy, and slight resentment in then, but he smiled charmingly at her nevertheless.

“That was a good game Khalida, you have to tell me what your secret is” he asked, looking her in the eyes.

Khalida regarded the question for a split second before answering.

“There is no secret Dimitri you know that. I’ve practiced enough that my father deems it passable and you know how hard it is to please him” she said, the lie flowing effortlessly pass her lips.

Dimitri looked at her for a handful of seconds before extending his hand towards her. She took it and shook before releasing and walking back to the locker rooms.

Khalida opened her locker and changed quickly, but just as she was putting her boots on, the doors opened and 3 girls walked in. They would have looked identical if it weren’t for the height difference and eye colors.

They approached Khalida quickly and surrounded her.

“Hi Khalida, how are you?” The tallest one asked, her right arm at eye level next to Khalida”s head.

“Forget the formalities Dahlia, we’ll get straight to the point. Why didn’t you let Dimitri win after what we said the other day?” The one facing her, the medium sized one asked, her green eyes boring into Khalida”s violet ones.

Khalida looked at her before replying. “Why should I let someone win when it’s a false victory? A false victory won’t allow him to grow, rather it would impede his growth and his ego could either inflate or diminish. Is that what you wanted?”

The green-eyed girl looked at her, lost for words when her smaller pixie sized companion decided to do something about it. Physically.

She punched Khalida on the side, making her moved towards her left and into Dahlia.

“Wisteria! Why did you do that?! You know what happens when someone touches her without her permission!” The green eyed girl exclaimed.

Khalida didn’t go down, rather she was rubbed her side and glared at Wisteria.

“Lycoris, we need to leave, before she gets physical” Dahlia whispered, tugging her arm.

Lycoris nodded and grabbed Wisteria before bolting the locker room. Just as they left, they heard an almost animalistic cry but didn’t turn back to look.

Khalida looked around her after unleashing that cry, but didn’t bothering going after them. Looking around, she knew she had to release her anger and quickly changed back into her fencing uniform, marched out of the locker room, into one of the smaller training room and started practicing with the dummy.

She was practicing so intensively that she didn’t notice the door open and Dimitri slipped in to watch her. As he watched her Khalida’s movement became more erratic and soon, she was just whacking the dummy before she split in half horizontally. Dimitri looked a little terrified and knew he shouldn’t say or do anything, rather, let her notice him first.

Khalida took her mask off and was panting hard, her long ebony hair matted to her face because of sweat, her violet eyes burning with anger that didn’t dim at all after that assault. She didn’t notice Dimitri until he coughed a little, though it was completely unintentional.

Whirling around, her burning eyes landing on Dimitri who had the decency to look sheepish and embarrassed. Khalida looked at him for a long time that he began shifting his feet.

Then she marched up to him, looked him in the eyes for a moment for crashing her lips onto his. He was too shocked to do anything and the shock turning into panic when she started to move her lips, forcing his to open when she bit his lower lip. From there, it was basically Khalida assaulting his mouth for what seemed like forever and something in his lower regions began to feel extremely hot. As she continued, Dimitri put his hands on her hips and when he did that, it was like a spell had broken and she stopped her assault and actually assaulted him. By punching him in the stomach.

“This is all your fault!” She shouted before leaving the training room and back to the locker rooms.

As soon as she left, Dimitri slid to the floor, felt his lips, which were swollen before looking down and saw the bulge. He proceeded to relieve himself before going out.

Khalida went to the locker room, stripped her clothes before showering. As she showered, she was still seething, but considerable less. She didn’t give the kiss another thought, rather, she knew it was late and her father would be wondering where she was. Showering quickly, she opened her locker and quickly changed then ran through the building and out the door.

Her driver waiting patiently in the car, reading a book and when he heard the door open and close, he put his book down and started the car.

“A little late today miss, is everything alright?” He asked as he pulled out and into the lane.

“Shitty. Argh. Those girls came at me again and they were lucky I didn’t run after them after one of them touched me” Khalida said, slumping down in her chair.

“I’m sorry for making you wait so long Sergei. After she touched me, I went to the training room and I was so concentrated on releasing my anger that I spaced out and next thing I knew, I was in the showers. After realizing it was late, I hurried through everything and rushed out here. Were you waiting long?” She asked, looking at him from the rear-view mirror.

“Don’t worry Miss, I wasn’t waiting long, I had a small errand to run for the Master first before coming here” Sergei replied.

“Oh, um, how is father? Is he home today?” Khalida asked, a little nervous.

Sergei glanced at her from the mirror before sighing and replied “No, he’s out of the country tonight. Urgent business to attend to”. He said robotically but Khalida knew he was sympathetic with her.

Khalida sighed and asked “Did he say when he’ll be back? Or was it another “extended” business trip”, as she said that, she also did air quotes.

“I can’t say that it might not be Miss”

“Alright”

And the two lapsed into comfortable silence as Sergei maneuvered around the city and onto the highway that lead out of the city and into the countryside and eventually came upon their residence.

The house was two-stories and shaped like a “U” with a courtyard in the middle that opens up to much bigger lawn. The house itself was somewhat ornate, with vines growing on the sides, pillars [...].

When Sergei parked the car, Khalida insisted on carrying her bags herself and bid Sergei bye before walking towards her training room and dropped her stuff off. She walked out and was about to go to her room when she passed by the bathroom and remembered that she was sweaty, and went inside and took a good long shower. She felt her face and felt her lips were swollen. She paused and thought why it would when the memory of her kissing Dimitri surfaced like a flash. She froze for a couple of seconds then groaned loudly. She didn’t freak out like most people would because she had harbored feeling for him, but she never acted upon them because she didn’t want to start rumors or disgrace her father anymore. Holding her face in her hands and slowly slumping onto the floor, she let the water run down her hair and face as she thought of a solution to said problem.

Her mind raced through possible solutions from confronting him and outright telling him to forget what happened to dodging him for a while until she feels like it has blown over. Each scenario would have required her to eventually speak to him and she had no desire of doing such a thing, not with the possible embarrassment that’ll ensue or anything else. She only hopes that he would keep it to himself by the time they meet again.

After racking her brain for possible solutions and coming up with none, she sighed and finished her shower. She got out of the shower, wrapped her hair and body in separate towels, exited and made her way to her room.

She had just entered her room when a maid knocked on her open door.

“Yes?” She asked turning around as she dried her hair.

“There is a young man downstairs waiting for you” she said, bowing a little.

“Did he say who or what he wanted?”

“No, he just said it was urgent and that he has to speak to you immediately”

“Okay, let him have a seat in the living room and I’ll be with him shortly. Oh and could you prepare so tea for us? You can choose the flavor” Khalida instructed.

The maid smiled and left.

Wonder who it could be. I so rarely get men calling for me, they usually call for father or mother, Khalida thought as she dried her hair again before choosing her outfit.

She went with an off the shoulder lace dress, the sleeves reaching her hands and ended in a snug flare around her hands. The dress reached mid-thigh where the hems (top and bottom) was covered in lace. She wore Dark purple stockings underneath and black mary-jane shoes before combing her hair even though her hair was now damp. She wore a simple pendent necklace and no earrings or make-up. Checking herself in the mirror once then twice, she decided she was presentable and went downstairs. She turned the corner of the living and was prepared to greet her mysterious caller when she saw who he was.

She groaned a little before calling his name, causing him to get up and turn around.

“Khalida, hi, wow, you’re looking um, good?” Dimitri said, scratching the back of his head, trying to look at anything other than her.

He wore a simple loose white t-shirt, his sunglasses hanging on the neckline, a pair of jeans and black boots. It was a simple and quick outfit, but on him, it looked fashionable and Khalida bet more than one girl or women swooned or turned their heads to look at him. Khalida thought he look really good in that outfit, but said nothing, opting instead to move around him and sit on the opposite couch.

“What are you doing here Dimitri? Thank you Anna for the tea” Khalida asked as she took the pot and filled two teacups. “Etiquette requires that I fill the number of teacups with however many number of guests we have, so take your cup and talk. Etiquette does not however require me to talk politely to people I greatly dislike”

Dimitri nodded and grabbed a teacup before quickly putting it down because of the hear, causing Khalid to smirk.

“Can we talk about what happened before? After you aggressively assaulted the dummy?” Dimitri asked, clasping his hands together.

Khalida looked at him for a moment, her violet eyes boring into his chocolate ones.

“Fine, but we’ll talk in the backyard, not here. I’ll take the tray, just follow me. And do not stare at my ass or else I’ll whack you with this tray” Khalida warmed as they began walking towards the rear of the house.

Dimitri obediently followed behind, observing the decor as they went. He did however open the door for her and she gave him a small thank you in return. As they continued to walk in silence, he look her back and noticed a slight trembling and thought that maybe she was having trouble holding the try, but quickly dismissed it. He then thought she could be nervous to talk to him about what happened, but it took longer to dismiss because he himself felt nervous talking about it. He was about to say something when they reached a small table in a gazebo located on the far right of the backyard, within sight of the house, but well out of earshot range.

Khailda placed the tray onto the table, albeit a little harshly and say down. Gesturing for him to sit too, which he did, she waved for him to continue speaking.

“So what had happened before, did you do that on purpose? Or something else?” He asked, looking at her intensely.

Khalida looked straight into his eyes longer than necessary before sighing and looked away.

“I don’t know. I didn’t remember it until I was in the shower and felt my lips swollen. I don’t know what came over me or why I did it. Is that really all you came to talk about?” Khalida asked.

At the mention of shower and lips, Dimitri’s mind conjured up images but quickly banished those thoughts away.

“No I also came to ask you what did you mean when you said “it was all my fault? Did I do something to upset you? To anger you enough that you would attack a defenseless puppet, kiss me, then punch me in the stomach?” Dimitri ask, semi-trying to veer the topic away from the kiss.

“It’s your fault that girls harass me all the time to ask if I have your number, if you’re single, how old are you, etc, etc. I even had a woman who looked about 30 or 40 something years old hand me a piece of paper with her phone number on it and told me to give it to you. Obviously I said no and told her to do it herself. And there were a few girls who wanted me to throw the match and let you win. You are not only a maddeningly handsome man, but you’re also a crappy fencer, who I must admit is much better than the average fencer, but not any better than me” Khalida then realized she called him handsome but pretended to not notice it.

Dimitri caught the slip, internally smirked, but didn’t press it. He did however decided to pursue the last statement.

“Someone wanted you to throw the match for me?”

“Yes. I know you know about you many female followers, so don’t try to pretend you wouldn’t have guessed one of them would try and ask me to do that for you” Khalida said, glaring at him with a very accusing tone.

“No, I would never dream or even ask them to do that for me. I mean I know I have a lot of followers of the opposite sex, but to rig a match? I would never, plus it doesn’t help my growth as a fencer, so what’s the point?” Dimitri explained, earnestly. “Was it those three girls I saw coming out of the locker room? What were their names? Flower names I think”

“You saw them?” Khalida asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, as soon as they saw me, they Started to talk and flirt with me. Obviously I talked back, but when I saw you walk out of the locker room at a fast pace with your gear still on, I decided to cut out the conversation short and follow you. Then I watch as you murdered a dummy and processed to um, kiss me” he said the last part with a red face and scratched the back of his head.

Khalida blushed too but hid her face behind her teacup.

“So is that what you mean it’s my fault? That people are asking you to do things that you don’t want to do?” He asked after a moment.

“Mostly yes”

“Mostly?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Khalida said nothing for a good long minute. Then she sighed and spoke.

“I’m going to ask again, why did you come here? It can’t be because of a simple kiss, I’ve seen you kiss other girls and you never seem truly invested enough to talk to them again, so what are you doing here?” Khalida asked.

Dimitri hadn’t thought about why he came here, he came on impulse and now he didn’t know what to do. He filled his teacup with more tea and gulped in down in one breath.

“I honestly don’t know why I came. But I know it wasn’t something I could leave alone. What about you? Would you have confronted me about it?” He asked.

“I had debated but eventually yes”

“Then can I try something and please don’t kill me?” He asked.

“What-”

Dimitri had quickly got up and placed his lips on top of her, cutting her words off, but unlike her the other day, he just lay there for a moment and they looked into each others’ eyes, both shocked. Then Khalida sighed and kissed back before pulling away. When she did, he sat back down and both their faces were red. Both said nothing for a while, both just sipping their teas.

“Do you want to train with me for a bit before you leave?” Khalida asked, completely veering off topic.

Dimitri perked up and nodded quickly. Khalida picked up the tray again and they walked back into the house. After giving the tray to a maid, they made their way up to the training room.

“We’re not going to change?” Dimitri asked as Khalida tossed a sabre at him.

“No, why? It would be a waste of time, changing back and forth” Khalida replied, taking her stance.

Dimitri took his stance too. Khalida looked at him for a moment before breaking stance and walked towards him.

“Your problem is that you keep your stance too wide, so it takes time for you to change positions, time you can’t afford if something happens. Keep your legs at a comfortable distance that you know you’ll be able to change quickly. Also, don’t hold the sabre so high, that leaves your front vulnerable to attacks. I prefer to not have my uniform because it sometimes restricts my movement and I like to be flexible when attacking or defending” Khalida explained as she shifted his limbs, not realizing he wasn’t paying attention.

He looked at her and was reminded how beautiful an smart she was. He was reminded of the first time he saw her, when she took off her helmet and at that time, her hair was chin length, how it fell and framed her face despite the sweat. He didn’t realize she was calling him until she repeated his name a third time.

“-tri, Dimitri!” Khalida shouted.

“Are you okay?” She asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side. Her hair, having dried a while ago, created a black shimmering curtain in front of them, reflected little sunlight.

“You are beautiful” he said before he dropped his sabre and pulled her in for another kiss.

This time, the shock lasted briefly before she wrapped her arms around his neck while his arms were around her waist. She was the first to deepen the kiss and when she did, the air around the shimmered and started to move in a clockwise direction, the moisture gathering together to form a misty curtain, blurring them from the outside viewing in. As they continued to kiss, the misty funnel started moving faster until it turned into a water funnel and their clothing was whipping around them. Dimitri was the first to break the kiss and he didn’t notice his surrounding until he felt some water splash onto his face. He looked up and was speechless to what he saw, he looked at Khalida and was shocked and scared to see her eyes glowing a bright purple. He let go of her and she stumbled back, shook her head as if she had just woken up and looked around her.

“What is this?!” Khalida shouted.

No sooner had she spoke did the water funnel dissipate and fade into the air.

“Was this you?!” They asked at the same time.

“Me?! Of course not!”

They took a moment to breathe before Khalida spoke first.

“This was a mistake, I should never have let you kissed me twice. Please leave” Khalida said, pointing towards the door, her face red from either embarrassment or anger, Dimitri couldn’t tell.

He tried to speak but something on her face told him that would have been an unwise choice. He nodded and walked out of the room, down the stairs and out the house. But he glanced back once before getting in a driving away.

As soon as She heard his car leave the driveway, she fell down to her knees and started to cry. Her tears soaked into her dress before Anna came rushing in with a blanket and gave it to her. Then she helped Khalida up and towards her room.

“Thank you Anna, but I can handle it from here” she said through her sniffles, tears and snot.

Anna nodded, a concern look on her face. “Give me a ring if you need anything okay Miss?”

Khalida nodded before gently closing the door behind her. She quickly changed into her nightgown and slipped under the covers. Even though it was almost 5:30 in the afternoon, she was exhausted and mentally drained. She was about to sleep when she heard knocking on her door.

Sighing, she told them to come in and Anna came in with a white envelope in her hands.

“I forgot to tell you that this came in for you a little while after you came home” she said, handing the envelope to her.

“Thank you Anna” Khalida replied.

Anna nodded and quickly left the room.

Khalida inspected the envelope in her hands, she saw there was no return address, just her name written in gold calligraphy across the front, there wasn’t even a postage in the corner. She turned it around and was surprised to see a wax seal in the center because they were used so little today except for more official matters. The wax was purple, the seal in the center was intricate and beautiful. In the center, there was a horse’s head surrounded by amaryllis flowers at the bottom. Above its head, the word “Pride” was written and on either sides were a big diamond followed by a smaller diamond.

She carefully broke the seal, making sure it was all intact and took the letter out. Placing the envelope on her night table, she opened the letter and began to read.

“Dear Khalida Vaseli,

I am honored to write to you to let you know that you are a reincarnation of one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Now you many not believe it, but something strange happened to you recently has it not? Something related to water? Don’t be alarmed, it simply your abilities manifesting themselves now.

I am also writing to let you know that I can help you train and hone this abilities so that they won’t manifest or go out of control when you’re feeling an extreme emotion. While I cannot force you to come, I highly recommend it as there will be 6 other girls joining you who are in the same position as you.

If you decide to come, please only pack one suitcase with what you want, because where you will be going, all your necessities will be given to you. When you are ready, wait outside with the letter in your hands and burn it. If you do not want to come, then disregard the carriage, if you do, please do not be late because this will be the only chance to attend and there will be no way to contact me again after this letter. Also please carry this letter when you board the carriage otherwise come midnight, this letter will fade from existence.

Do not worry about whether people will miss you or not, if you agree to come, everyone will be placed upon a temporary spell that will put them under the impression that you left for an extended trip overseas. However if you tell them where you are going, they will be forced to come and their existence will be erased permanently, even if they come back.

Regards and sincerely,

Danika

Khalida stared at the letter in front of her for a while before putting it down and looked at the time. She read the letter a couple more times before putting it on her lap and rubbed her eyes. She was about to read it again when her phone glowed telling her she received a text.

She picked up her phone and saw the caller ID was just a phone number. The message said “I’m sorry about before. Can I see you again to talk? This is Dimitri by the way”

She read it, stared at it for a moment before sighing and replied.

“No. I will be going on a trip and won’t be back for a while. So when I return, then we can talk again”

She typed back and no sooner had she placed her phone down, did he reply.

“Can I come with you? I don’t want to wait that long”

“This isn’t a trip where I can have a plus one, this is a private trip”

“Then tell me where you’re going. I can meet you there”

“It’s no an easy to access place from what I’m told, so I won’t be able to tell you”

Khalida expected an instant reply, but when she didn’t receive one right away, she turned her attention back to the letter. Inspecting it closer, she determined that it was old paper, the material feeling delicate and soft in her hands, but firm enough that none of the ink bled through. The letters themselves were written in script and looked like it was written with a feathered pen, beautiful and curly. The edges of the paper had gold lining where the corners formed leaves and swirls.

She was about to inspect it a little more when her phone lit up. This time it was a phone call.

“Hello?”

“Where are you going?”

“I told you already, it’s not a readily accessible place from what I’m told”

“But I can’t wait for you to come back and then we can talk. I honestly don’t care about what happened in the training room, though that seriously warrants a shit-ton of question (Khalida smiled at his choice of words), I just want to talk to you. I’ve been in love with you the moment I saw you. Over three years ago” he said the last part in a single breath.

Khalida said nothing, partly because she was speechless and also because she wants to tell him, but knew it would sound crazy.

“How about this? You can come over now, but I will have to leave around midnight because that’s when my flight is. Is that fine with you? Khalida asked, thinking it was a good compromise.

She didn’t hear anything for a couple of seconds then she hear him say he’ll be there in about an hour and they both hung up, reluctantly though. Putting her phone down, she reached for the letter again and reread it for the sixth time before slipping it back into the envelope and walked to her closet.

Taking her suitcase out, she packed articles of clothing that she like the most, two pairs of exercise clothing, her sneakers and some essentials that she knew she could never replace. A small box of jewelry, the box was a miniature chest and weighed a bit. She packed her toothbrush and toothpaste just in case, her favorite hair brush and comb, and a couple of her nice shoes. It took her about an hour, but she managed to pack what she wanted by the time Dimitri came over.

Anna told her he was waiting for her in the living room as she moved the suitcase out of the way. She told her she’ll greet him and walked out. Before she did, she looked at the clock and saw it was almost 7:30. She took one of her shawls from behind the door and walked out towards the stairs to greet Dimitri. She didn’t go down the stairs, rather she just waved him up the stairs.

When he saw her in her dark purple slip, he felt his heart race, his hands damp and his blood boil. As he walked up the stairs towards her, he noticed she was barefooted and that she was shivering a little. He would have offered her a jacket if it weren’t for the fact that she was speed walking down the hallway.

“How did you get here so fast? You leave at least two hours away from me, thirty minutes from the academy” she asked, her hair and shawl blowing behind her.

“How do you know where I live?” He asked, catching up to her speed.

“Our coach wanted me to deliver something to you once, but since you weren’t home, I left it with one of your maids or something” she said, nonchalantly.

“I honestly don’t know why I said you can come over, but you can stay in one of the guest rooms for tonight and we can chat in my room” Khalida said, pointing to a guest room two doors from hers.

“Put your stuff in there and come to my room when you’re done. It’s the one at the end of the hall” she said as she left him in front of the room and returned to her own.

He chucked his bag into the room and quickly followed her to her room. He watched as she opened a drawer and took out a small deck of cards, placing them in the center of the bed, she gestured for him to sit next to her. He sat cross-legged while she sat mermaid style and took the deck in her hands.

“We’ll place Black Jack and for every heart we draw, we can ask the other two questions but for every red card drawn, only one question can be asked and the answers must be truthful. Do understand the rules?” Khalida asked, shuffling and looked at him.

He nodded.

“I deal”

Khalida made two piles, each have two cards, both cards facing up. Khalida’s pile was on her left and vice versa with Dimitri’s.

“Hit or stay Dimitri?”

Dimitri looked at his pile and saw a black 10 of spades and a black five of clubs.

“Hit”

“Before I do, I forgot to say if one of us go over, we have to offer one truthful thing about ourselves. But if either of us gets a perfect 21, then the loser has to offer one truthful thing about themselves.” Khalida said, hand positioned on the top card.

Dimitri nodded and tapped his pile.

Khalida placed the top card and they both say it was red six of spades.

“That means I would have to offer two truthful things about myself” Khalida said. “Well as you know I am twenty years old and I live here by myself with the servants.”

“I thought your mother lived here too?”

Khalida smiled sadly. “Not until the next question will I be able to answer that”

“Alright, my pile” Khalida turned to her pile and handed him the deck. “Yes, we will each deal each other’s deck when it’s the other person’s turn”

Dimitri nodded and asked if she wanted to hit or stay. Khalida had a red nine of diamonds and a black ace of spades.

“Hit” A red ten of diamonds was produced.

Khalida hissed, smiled and said stay. “Alright, you get to ask me two questions”

“Your mother doesn’t live with you and since when did you think I was “maddeningly handsome”?” He asked, quoting what she said earlier.

Khalida laughed a little, surprising Dimitri at the its sound and he found it endearing and beautiful.

“My mother hasn’t lived with me in a while, at least 5 years, she travels the world a lot as a model that’s why. As for your second question, it was around the same time you first saw me. I already knew you by reputation, but I didn’t know you were also that handsome” Khalida answered.

“Why are we playing this game?” Dimitri asked, reshuffling the deck.

“Because my flight is at midnight and you insisted on coming over. Also that counts as a question, so the next red card or heart you get, you forfeit that question, or questions to me” Khalida said.

“You know what? Screw this” Dimitri said, flinging the cards onto the floor, much to Khalida”s annoyance, before pushing onto her and silencing her. Khalida didn’t resist and returned the kiss just as hard. They continued for a few more seconds before they both had to come up for air.

“I told you I’ve been in love with you for almost three years, and I know that at this point, you are in love with me too, but for how long?” Dimitri asked, breathlessly before kissing her again.

“Can you tell me about this trip of yours and why I can’t come with you?” Dimitri asked, resting on one of his elbows as the other hand trailed up and down her side.

Khalida looked at him for a moment wondering how to tell him that she’s going to a different place via magic and that she’s some magical vessel containing a sin, one of the seven deadly sins. She looked down, wondering how to broach the subject when she sighed and just said what came to mind.

“Do you believe in magic? Like actual magic, not the magic we see magicians on stage do” Khalida asked, looking him straight in the eyes.

Dimitri was taken aback by the question, but saw the seriousness in her face and answered honestly.

“Sort of. But I wouldn’t know it until I saw it myself. Do you mean what happened in the training room? Was that magic that happened? Was it coming from you?” Dimitri asked, leaning against his hand and the other on his raised knee.

Khalida chewed her lower lip but nodded.

“How?”

Khalida looked at him in surprised, expecting incredulous or at least some dubious remark about her sanity or her being a human.

“You’re not scared? Repulsed? You’re curious” Khalida asked, getting up to sit mermaid style, but moaned a little when she moved.

Dimitri shook his head and waited for her to reply.

“I don’t know. Shortly after you left, I received his letter that said I was a reincarnation of one of the seven deadly sins. I was reading it multiple times when you came over, just trying to absorb the pure insanity of it, but it was the only explanation to what had happened to me. That and the letter did actually give me an explanation”

“Can I see this letter?”

Khalida debated whether to show him or not. She may love him, but that equal to trusting him. She shook her head and said “I’m sorry, but I can’t. If I tell you were I’m going you’ll be forced to come with me and if you do, your existence will be erase from everyone’s memories. Permanently”

Khalida said this while looking at him earnestly. Dimitri looked back before sighing, faced the bed and mulled over what she said.

“Fine, can you at least tell me what does that have to do with you going somewhere for an indefinite amount of time?”

“The letter says that if I want control these powers, it’s better to go to this place. That’s why I agreed to you coming over for a little bit, but I didn’t think this would happen” Khalida said, referring to their tryst, blushing a bright red.

“Yeah, that’s what the letter said. It said if it was just me alone, everyone will be under the impression that I Left for an extended trip. But if someone were to come with me, then they’re existence would be erased. That’s why I was extremely hesitant to have you come over, but my feelings for you got in the way and that happened” Khalida said, looking down and a bit demurely.

Dimitri soaked this in while Khalida looked at the clock. It was almost 9 o’clock and Khalida looked at Dimitri and sighed.

“What do you want to do? You can come with me, but you’ll be erase from everyone’s memories; your friends, families, everyone you ever came in contact with. But if I go alone, you won’t be erased, but neither of us will know when I’ll return. The decision is yours to make, but my decision is already made” Khalida said as she got out of bed and walked towards her bathroom.

“Where are you going?” He asked, as got out of bed and followed her.

“I’m going to the bathroom to shower. After what happened, I think we both need one” Khalida said from inside the bathroom.

Dimitri smiled and choose not to follow her, instead sat on her bed and waited for her to come out. As he waited for her, he looked around her Khalida looked at the clocked and gasped. She started running towards her closet and picked the same outfit she wore earlier, but she wore jewelry and had make-up on this time. She brushed her hair and tied it in a bun despite its wetness.

“Make a decision now Dimitri, I have to be outside in 20 minutes, and I can’t wait a minute longer or else they’ll leave” Khalida said, the suitcase in her hand as she waited by the door.

“Can you at least write to me if you leave?” he asked, quickly putting his clothes back on.

“I don’t know. I hope, but does this mean you won’t be coming?”

“No, I’ll come. I don’t want to wait for who knows how long until you come back. I’ve waited long enough and besides, I can always make new friends, so long as I have you, nothing else matters’ Dimitri said as he followed her out of her room and towards the guest room to pick up his duffel bag.

Khalida smiled softly and held his hand as they walked downstairs. Looking at the clock, they both saw that they had 10 minutes left until the carriage arrives and Khalida wrote and left a note for whoever, telling them that she’ll be gone for an extended period. They walked and stood in front of the front doors waiting for the carriage to come. They didn’t have to wait long when they heard the clopping of horse hooves and saw a dark purple carriage ride down the road.

The carriage stopped short in front of them and they looked at the driver who was only wearing a long dark rode that covered their whole body, head and feet included; the only thing they were able to see were their skeletal hands, something that disturbed and disgusted them, but they made no mention of it. The door opened by itself and they looked at each other and Dimitri placed their suitcases in the back of the carriage before walking in. The insides were made of comfortable purple material that had a leathery feel to them. A small lantern hung in the middle of the ceiling, providing ample lighting. Khalida placed the suitcase next to her and once they were settled, they door swung shut and they felt the carriage move. They poked their heads out the window and saw the horse heading for a bright swirling portal and before they could see what was on the other side, they fell asleep.

And that ladies and gents is the first chapter!

Again R+R and constructive criticism is welcome, but only if it’s to help me grow as a writer and not to harm me.