Fairytale Fate: The Legend Begins

♚ C H A P T E R • T W E N T Y ♚

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"You control your destiny; you don't need magic to do it." - Merida (Brave)
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"Miss Addams," Mr. Hoffman said disdainfully as he added another graded assignment to the pile on her desk. In the top corner, a large 30 was written in thick, red permanent marker.

Aura let out a shaky sigh as she looked through the tests and quizzes her English teacher decided to finally give back. Her blue eyes scanned the dropping grades as the dates at the top grew more recent.

Typically, she would break down into a sob and beg her teacher for extra credit. But her current circumstances were far from typical.

The same three words repeated in her mind with the image of black mist consuming the white shield.

You'll regret this...

It seemed effortless for Hunter to corrode the barrier while it took all of her and her sister's energy to maintain it.

If that wasn't even her worst, what'll happen if they run into her again? Or worse, Onyx?

You'll regret this...

Aura always knew that retrieving the items to fix the Stories would be challenging, that was evident when looking at the number of times that she and her friends almost got captured or killed. However, she and her sister escaped those instances with the help of others, like the pixies and fairies in Neverland or Cinderella in Glassimere. When it came to just her and Carolyn, they could barely fend off Hunter long enough for Bailey to create the portal—and even then, a soldier managed to follow them through. Her grandmother had to save her from certain death.

Gran...

A sharp knife dug into Aura's chest at the thought of her family having to bury her.

You'll regret this...

It was her fault Hunter was able to break through the barrier. It was her fault that Carolyn almost got hurt. It was her fault that the soldier was able to follow them.

Why wasn't she good enough? Why wasn't she strong enough?

"Aura?"

Her eyes finally broke away from the papers in her now trembling hands and fixated on a pair of blue-green irises that, although slightly, calmed down her rapid heartbeat.

"The bell rang like three minutes ago," Jake said, pointing to the wall-mounted clock behind him with his thumb.

It was then Aura finally saw that their typically noisy English classroom was deserted besides the two of them.

"Oh...thanks," she mumbled as she stuffed her papers into her bookbag.

Together they walked the dimly lit hallways as the last few students scurried to their next class.

Jake occasionally looked down at her, eyeing the forming bruises on the parts of her arms that weren't hidden by her t-shirt and the dark circles that hung under her typically bright eyes.

Aura quickly noticed and let out a half-hearted laugh. "You're looking at my bruises, aren't you?"

Jake's cheeks tinged a soft pink.

Quickly forming what she hoped would be a believable lie in her head, she waved her hand dismissively. "Cora and I were having a race to see who could climb the tree in our backyard the fastest. Let's just say I was a little clumsy with my footing and had a not-so-nice ride down to the ground."