The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (32) Arisa & the Prince ~

Arisa felt the fresh, humid air as she slowly shifted from her improvised bed and sat down. She blinked to adjust her blurry vision and realized that it was still dark. Glancing around the area, she saw that there was something different about these woods.

The trees that surrounded them were of different shapes and heights. Some had an abstract form, others were tall and thin. She wondered if that environment was a result of this world changing its landscape again.

Arisa then spotted Thelma and Nala sleeping peacefully in the area close to her improvised bed. She heard a mechanical sound and noticed that Forty-seven was placed in between Thelma and Nala. She guessed that they might be in a deep sleep for them not to be bothered with the machine's noises.

She glanced around again, wondering where the boys could be. She quickly saw Train, in an area not far from them. Although he was sitting by a tree, she could see that he was fast asleep.

She spotted Garoh on another side not too far from them. He was back to his normal form. Strands of his dark blue hair escaped from the low ponytail that hung down his back. She saw that he was sitting cross-legged and his head was facing down. She concluded that he also had fallen asleep.

She wondered if both boys were planning to stay awake, in case of trouble, but ended up falling asleep.

For some reason, she couldn't stop looking around. Something in her was hoping that everything she went through was a nightmare and that Nina and Bastian were somewhere around the forest. Her heart sank as she couldn't find her dear companions. She held back her tears as the memory of Gemini killing her friends flashed in her mind.

How can such a cruel creature be a Guardian?

She wished she could have done something to avoid their deaths. She kept wondering why the stars offered their powers to psychotic beings like them. Instead of bringing safety to the worlds, those chosen Guardians only brought chaos and pain.

Flap.

That light sound pulled her away from her thoughts. She examined her surroundings but didn't see anything other than her friends sleeping peacefully.

Flap.

Arisa shifted her view upwards. In the middle of the dawning sky, she saw a dragon floating around, flapping its dark wings.

Her eyes widened. She realized that the dragon was looking at the land below it, more precisely, she felt as if the creature was gazing at her. Her heart sped, pumping fear into her veins. The team had passed through a lot in the past hours, a battle against a dragon would be their final judgment.

Before she even thought of waking everyone, the dragon flew away. As she watched the creature leaving the area, she wondered if that was a regular dragon or a shapeshifter from the Dragon Clan.

She brought her gaze back to earth and saw a figure standing by a tree, several meters in front of her. The figure in the white dress had a curious appearance. Her slim body was glowing with dim light, her short voluminous wavy hair had a pair of roundish horns, placed on each side of her temples. Her ocean blue eyes gazed at Arisa curiously.

A sudden feeling of familiarity and a feeling of missing something crashed into Arisa's heart.

"Aries?" she whispered.

Aries smiled at her and walked deep into the woods. Arisa stood up and rushed towards the path the star had taken.

                         ♌ ♈ ♎

Walking through the forest, passing curious-looking trees, Arisa followed the glowing woman with strange feelings tormenting her heart. There was something familiar about Aries, and for some reason, Arisa felt a deep sense of missing something. She felt as if she had lost a precious belonging and wished to have it back.