Tinted Windows

Chapter Two

"Where is she? Where did you put my sister?" Even though the voice was muffled through the heavy wooden door, Selene could easily recognize the voice. It was none other than her protective older brother. She smiled for a second before she let out more crocodile tears. Gilthunder slammed the wooden door open before racing over to her cell. In a matter of moments, he had opened the cell door and grabbed his sister off the floor pulling her into a hug. She fake sobbed into his shoulder.

"I didn't know what to do... I was so scared." Selene gulped for air in the middle of her words to add emphasis to what she was saying. He let go of her, looking into her eyes immediately noticing her nose which had dried blood caked around it. He spun around and pinned the knight against the wall.

"Why did you not only throw my sister in the dungeon but also hit her." His eyes glared into the knight's which were about to overflow with tears.

Selene rushed over to her brother and placed a soft hand on his shoulder. "Gil, it wasn't him. I was walking around earlier and some kids kicked a ball and it hit my face. I'm fine. Can we just go home?" Gilthunder still believed she lived in her childhood house. He was always too busy with work to notice. Even though he met his sister sixteen years ago, he barely knew her. Gilthunder dropped the man to the ground and turned to his sister.

"Yeah, let's get out of here. I'm starving." They walked towards their childhood home together in silence. When they got into the house, Selene immediately started making dinner for the two of them. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I was around more I could have protected you from that whole scene. I also should have told you about the princess. God! I'm an awful brother."

"Hey, it's not your fault. I'm okay. I was a little shaken up about the Elizabeth situation but I'm okay." She turned around and placed two sandwiches on the table. "It's not every day your best friend joins the criminals that murdered your father." Gilthunder let out a sad laugh at her attempt of humor. "Any new information about the location of the Sins?" Selene asked with a mouthful of food. He rubbed the small cut on his cheek awkwardly not knowing how much to tell his sister.

"Uh, well, kinda. I'm going to the Forest of White Dreams tomorrow to see if I can find them. Rumor has it one of the Sins are hiding inside." Selene simply nodded trying to not look like she cared too much about what he said. Inside, however, she was filled with a feeling she couldn't put into words. After all of these years, the searching could end tomorrow. Gil, on the other hand, felt awful. He's lied to his sister all of these years telling her the Sins killed their father when it was really the Holy Knights. He didn't dare say a word out of fear of what would happen to Margaret if he did.

After eating, Gilthunder immediately went to sleep leaving Selene to her thoughts. Would all of this really end tomorrow? Could she be free after all of these years? What would she do if her life's work was completed? Her mind raced with anticipation for the next day. She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep so she gathered her things and slipped from the home without a sound. She snuck through the shadows in the alleyways avoiding the soft light from the lanterns by the road. Her cloak hid her face and her hair to avoid anyone recognizing her. She couldn't deal with that right now too.

Selene's POV

Once I was at the treeline, I broke into a sprint. My feet carrying me to the place I've been going for years preparing for one moment. The moment I've been waiting for since I decided to believe what everyone said about the sin. I pulled out my sword and hit the practice dummy relentlessly.

Everything I've worked for could end tomorrow but who am I then? I've spent years trying to find the Sins while I know nothing about myself. Instead of trying to find my birth parents, I've wasted my time on something that could end tomorrow. God, I'm such an idiot! I started to feel light-headed and my legs felt weak so I sat down on the ground gasping for breath at my sudden realizations.

I've wasted years of my life trying to avenge my father I forgot to live. He would be ashamed of me. He wanted me to be happy. Not wasting my life on revenge. And who am I? After the Sins are dead who will I be? All I am is the quiet little girl they all think. No. I refuse to do that. I was shaking and gasping for air. No matter how many times I tried to take a breath, I couldn't seem to get enough air. Tears streamed down my face while my hands rested on the ground tightly grasping the grass. I sat there crying with my eyes closed for minutes wishing I could go back and change everything.

When I finally calmed down a little, I decided to go back home, Gil would be awake soon enough and he would be suspicious if I was gone. I slowly opened her eyes to see my hands glowing with dark purple flames.

Well, that's new. I lifted my hands off of the ground revealing two hand prints burnt into the grass. I carefully inspected my hands as if they would explode. I took a deep breath trying to ignore my fear and closed my eyes.

This just proves my point. I could have been looking into who I actually am all this time. I let out a shaky laugh and opened my eyes to see my hands completely normal. I would have wondered if my sleep-deprived brain imagined it if there wasn't the burnt grass to prove it.

I can't just pretend that didn't happen. I spent the next few hours outside practicing turning the purple flames on and off.

After a few hours, I quietly crept back towards the house as the sun was rising. I opened the front door and slipped in making sure the door didn't slam. I was just going to go to bed and pretend I was there all along. I glanced around the room to see my older brother sitting in a chair glaring at me.

This is not going to go well. I thought while trying to come up with an excuse.

"Where the hell have you been?"