Orange Shadow Magic: Heir to The Throne. Book 2

Chapter 2: Faith

One week earlier...

Coral Geim held her severed hair and made sure the castle was out of view before cutting off a larger clump and placing it in the palm of her hand. Regretfully, she watched her magical blonde hair flash, it's wondrous color vanishing quickly before her eyes, slowly turning from golden blonde to dark brown. Brown: the same dull color as all of her family members. Then she pocketed the hair inside of her dress pocket. She shouldn't be sorry. This was her mother's fault.

Oh, and pathetic Gala should be sorry as well. If only Gala had tried harder to belong, to be normal, maybe Coral wouldn't have felt the need to go after Avery and Mattzew and convince them that they were part of the prophecy. Maybe she wouldn't have felt the need to prove herself. Her life had been normal before they had come, but Mattzew did seem to be the only one that truly understood her. He was her soul mate, her happily ever after, and probably the only one who would even remotely miss her after she was gone. Maybe if she walked down to Robben Road, she could restart her life there as a simple commoner. If she blended in with the general public, then nobody would ever be able to recognize her and turn her in. She would be invisible again and forgotten. Coral would finally be at home. Which is exactly what she wanted. Coral didn't need Mattzew. She didn't need Gala. Coral didn't need anyone because after all, nobody truly cared about her. They just cared about themselves. What Coral had wanted most of all was for Gala to love her. Now, all Gala cared about was Avery. As Coral stepped forward once more, a bright flash of light blinded her, and she clumsily fell backward as a figure revealed his presence to her from the strange light source.

"Wow! It's King Expella! Atleast it couldn't get any worse," Coral griped. King Expella smirked, seeming proud with himself, and did a little shimmy to reveal his new golden crown on top of his head.

"Ahh, Coral, developing an attitude problem, are we?" King Expella grinned, "I've come to do a trade: the locket, for whatever you wish in return." As the words flew out of his spoiled mouth, Coral could already recognize the decision deep in her heart. Although her mind was telling her that doing this would put the three realms at risk, Coral pushed the idea out of her mind. How many countless times had Coral put her life on hold to save the galaxy? How many things had she sacrificed to try and stop King Expella? These sphinxes hadn't done anything for her, and probably cared less about her life than theirs. And, they all called her freaks anyways for being something she couldn't control. Coral was done giving. And Coral was done with that ridiculous prophecy her mother had come up with. The prophecy, the lockets, her destiny to be different. Coral was done with it all. And at this point, King Expella already knew he would win her over.

"Fine. I'm done with my mother's stupid locket anyway," she said, and took the azure gemstone and silver chain from her neck and placed it in King Expella's hand, along with her cut brown hair. "If I give this to you, I want you to make my hair finer, as well as my looks. I would also like everyone who meets me to like me. Oh! I also want all of my family secrets to be revealed to me." King Expella cracked a smile. Now he was one locket closer to controlling the universe.

"It was nice doing business with you, Coral" King Expella shook her hand, and stepped back into the portal he had just created. As the silence slowly descended upon Coral and the forest around her, she brought her trembling hand up to her hair. It was completely smooth and long, unlike the chunky mess that she had made when she had cut her hair. Just as abruptly as the change had happened, King Expella reappeared with a glistening mirror in his hand.

"I thought that you might want to take a look in the mirror to adjust to your appearance." King Expella handed her the mirror, and she almost dropped it in surprise. Her lengthy blonde locks were gone. Well, atleast that mystical color was. Now, she had waist-length brown pigtails, tied with a blue bow. Her calming frosty blue eyes had now darkened to a dark brown, and her chubby "baby" cheeks had now angled to a sharpened tone. Coral looked completely mature now, and way different than she had before. It was the look of a classic model girl, perfect and confined. As she ran a fingernail down her flawless tresses, it dawned upon her; she looked exactly like the young and cheerful Gala before she had been forced to change into someone she wasn't.

Gala. The name rang through her head, over and over, backward and forwards. Gala had been forced to change. Coral had just given up her locket because she wanted too. What would Gala have said again? Something like, "I'll always be with you, and it doesn't matter where you are, but I'll always love you." And Coral hung onto those words, through the painful beat of her heart. Maybe she had been a little rash when making this decision. Her mother was to blame for all of this, not Gala. Her poor, sweet sister who had always been there for Coral, and had provided for her during the toughest times. Her heart was shredded. Torn into a thousand pieces. It stung to think that at this moment Gala was probably mourning her absence, feeling the emptiness of Coral with every beat of her living heart. Coral had made a mistake, but she couldn't back out now. If only Coral could turn back time...

"I can't thank you enough!" Coral lied, and he continued with his speech after he nodded.

"The pleasure is mine, your majesty," King Expella murmured. He knew, deep in his heart, that if Mally prevailed in defeating him, Coral was the only person who could lead Exeria. He might as well give her hint at what could be. After all, King Expella wanted to make her jealous at his awesomeness.

"What did you say?" Coral asked, but as soon as the question flew out of her mouth, King Expella was already long gone.

"Coral please, I need you! I love you!" And with that last flash, Coral's sorrowful memories of Gala was gone. Whispering a silent thank you to the memories of Gala in her head, she finally let go. For the first time, Coral didn't think about Gala Geim at all. And then Coral cried. Coral, the kindest, and strongest of them all had sunk into the deepest despair.

It was too much to bear. The teammates that she had bonded with over saving the world had become like family to Coral, and to think that they had thought of her as a sister to them...

And then, Coral recounted one last memory of Mattzew. Mattzew, I love you, I always have... Please don't forget me...

Coral had thought that she hadn't needed Mattzew. She had thought that she hadn't truly loved him. But Coral did love him, and she now realized that her betrayal probably hurt him the most. Was he questioning Coral's devotion to him? Was he questioning their love for each other? Had he already moved on? These questions haunted Coral's mind as she dried her tears, and suddenly a vision filled Coral's head.

A young girl, with waist-length brown hair, and brown, black, and white speckled eyes stood with an apron tied tightly around her waist. She was around the same age as Coral, and when the girl spun around, Coral caught a glimpse of the girl's soul, who perfectly mirrored her own. "Wrendylan...." a cold voice whispered, and Coral felt a sharp jolt that sent chills down her spine...

Coral awoke in the dirt, her head coated in mud. Wrendylan... her sister? Her twin sister?

So this was her family secret, perhaps the biggest one of all. Coral collected herself, and rose, her head leveling the smaller trees.

A small voice in her head told her that maybe she should go back, and tell Gala about this. Maybe she could sneak away and find Mattzew. Mattzew might know what to do. Mattzew always knew what to do. He was smart, right? Coral could only have faith that he would accept her as she was after Coral returned to the Bat Tree. But, could Gala and Mattzew forgive her after all she had done? Perhaps it was time to move on. To start over. Coral had had all she could take. After all, that's why she had left in the first place, right? Whispering a silent goodbye to the temptations no longer lingering in her head, Coral took a step forward.

"I'm coming, Wrendylan. Don't you worry." And then Coral started sprinting, her footprints leaving a trail behind her.

The sun was nothing compared to the moonlit woman lingering behind one of the ghostly trees which bathed in her glory. Lydia Bren had heard everything Coral had said and now knew exactly who little Coral was off to next.

"Tch Tch! What should I do with her? She is my apprentice's sister. What to do.... what to do..." The Bat Queen spoke out loud. Coral would now be the bait. If Lydia could convince King Expella to pretend as if Coral was dead, that would lure her apprentice-to-be right into her hands. Then, once Gala found out the truth, she would be furious. After all, sadness was the only thing that could shift Gala's heart in the right direction.

The Bat Queen gave an impatient yawn, then launched herself into the air. Her plan was now complete.