Mօռֆȶɛʀ : The Dragon Prince Rayllum - (COMPLETE)

Two of Me, or One in Me?

Word count: 958

Warnings: None

A/N: I hope you guys are safe so far! Take care of yourself ;D

R E C A P:

"When Rayla and I ran to the place where you found me, there was this guy, and his name was Abigail or something. He's the one who trapped Rayla in a glass box-"

"Rayla's in a glass box?!" Amaya signed.

"Oh, uh... right. Let me explain what happened..." Soren began.

-------

"So you're telling me, that Callum was the one who shot your elf friend and she is dying?" Janai exclaimed.

Soren nodded the best he could and try to manage a smile, but it was as if someone had glued his lips together- he didn't feel like smiling, not even to assure someone anymore at this point.

"But why would Callum shoot Rayla? Isn't that a bit odd?" Amaya signed as Janai translated out loud.

"That's what I thought," Soren shrugged. "But I promise you, that's what happened- after that, Callum ran out of the attic area. I don't know if he was crying, but something about him was off."

"I think Callum just might be going through something rough right now. Who knows, maybe you imagined things like you said you did before," Amaya concluded. "It makes sense, especially since you told me that you'd seen hallucinations-"

"No, no, that wasn't a hallucination thing," Soren sighed. "I don't know anymore, but if there's anything I do know, is that we have to find Rayla and-"

"Did someone say my name?" A voice echoed from behind them, making Soren jump right out of his seat.

Soren turned around to find a tall, slim figure with violet moon eyes staring back at him. "R-Rayla?" he stuttered. She didn't have a single scratch, not across her face nor on her chest. She seemed perfectly healthy, in fact, and even her skin was glowing. "How- how are you not hurt?"

"See? I think you imagined something," Amaya suggested.

"No, no, I remember!" Soren repeated. "Rayla, how are you..." he motioned towards her entire body. "...not bleeding?"

"What do you mean?" Rayla sighed. "I never got hurt,"

"What?" Soren demanded. "Uh, no. I saw you! You were inside the box, screaming so loudly that I thought my ears would burst!" he exclaimed. "There was a box that was filling with water, Callum shot you, and you were bleeding out!"

"That... never happened," Rayla said, scratching her head. "I was carrying you into the attic, and then these people started attacking me," she admitted, gazing down at the floor. "I'm sorry I left you there. I really am."

"So you're telling me that you didn't get shot? None of this ever happened?" Soren asserted.

"Yeah, I guess so," Rayla remarked, tapping her foot impatiently on the floor. "Where's Callum?" she asked eagerly.

"He's... he's long gone, left a while ago, I think-"

"Why?!" Rayla interjected, standing up immediately. "Is he hurt? Who did this to him? Ah, I should have looked after him! Is he okay? Is he-"

"Rayla, calm down," Amaya sighed.

"Wait, since when have you two been here?" Rayla asked, checking the surroundings around her.

"A while. It's a long story," Janai grinned. "But the question is, how did you get in here?"

"Oh, I..." Rayla sighed, tapping her foot again. "I... I uh, I may have attacked quite a lot of soldiers from the Five Kingdoms Organization."

"I knew it! They're evil, right?" Soren declared. Rayla nodded solemnly.

"I bet they had to do something with Callum's disappearance," she nodded. She turned to Amaya and Janai, saying, "So, what about you two? How did you end up here?"

"We've been locked here for a while-"

"Kissed a couple of times," Janai shrugged.

"Not helping," Amaya teased as she rolled her eyes. "The point is, we've been here for a while. Some random soldiers threw us in here against our will after being told having the virus," Amaya explained, then suddenly glared at Janai. "Also, after she attacked me."

"I never attacked you!"

"But I clearly remember it," Amaya retorted, signing.

"I'm not going to translate that out loud," Janai declared, crossing her arms.

Soren cleared his throat as loud as possible until it became awkward, saying, "SO."

He turned towards Rayla and said that he had a theory that somehow, there might be clones of some sort that were replacing Janai and Amaya.

"Soren, that theory doesn't make any sense," Rayla said nonchalantly.

"But how would you explain when Janai doesn't remember attacking General Amaya? Or how Amaya doesn't remember writing Callum a letter?" Soren shouted. "You're not making any sense, Rayla. I thought you'd been the first to listen."

"What? No, of course, I understand! What if it's just a memory problem? You know? It might not be something that big, Soren. I don't get what the big deal is," she said flatly in her defense.

Something was wrong- Rayla wasn't like this. If anything, she would be the first to care, and she'd follow an odd suspicion, no matter what it was. He had even mentioned that Callum could have been gravely injured, and she looked nothing more than apathetic.

"The big deal is that what if Verum accumsan is merely a scam? It hasn't affected me, besides weird hallucinations-"

"AND THAT'S the thing, Soren!" Rayla burst. "It doesn't make sense- h-how can you say that one thing is another, but with no evidence? You need evidence, Soren!"

Soren stepped back.

Something was wrong.

This was not Rayla talking. It wasn't her voice, and it couldn't be.

"Rayla, calm down-"

"Soren, you never pay attention! You never know the difference between right or wrong! I recommend you stand back and let the others do the work because you certainly dishonored-"

"Dad?" Soren whispered.

The next thing that happened occurred so quickly that Soren thought his heart would stop.

In the blink of an eye, Rayla's slim and youthful figure transformed into a bony, pale man with disheveled hair and dark, gray eyes that you could hypnotize you into a trance.

It was him.

"Hello, son."