The Only Thing She Ever Feared

 The Only Thing She Ever Feared

By Dreamstar

"Why do you fear the stars?”

“Why do you fear the moon?”

“Imagine if it fell on us!”

“Fine.”

Bella glared at her friend. Charlie’s pale face was flickering in the firelight.

“I know why you left us. It was because of me, right? Since I harnessed the light of the stars?”

Bella said nothing. The night sky above them rumbled ominously.

“Seriously, Bell. Please answer me. Or I would’ve wasted a month trying to find you.”

“The group’s better off without me, why waste your time?”

“So I can see you again, and know the truth.”

“And if I tell you the truth, you’ll blab to the others! And why would you want to see me after I left all of you, to see my pretty face? Even Aspen says I look like a--”

“Bell… Aspen’s dead,” Charlie said quietly.

Bella exhaled through her nose.

“You want the truth,” she spat, “here’s the truth: My father wasn’t poisoned. He was killed by a shooting star. And riding on the back of that merciless ball of fire, was your uncle Orion.”

The fire was roaring now, but the oncoming rain was fighting back.

Charlie’s face went even whiter. His overlong red hair was now sopping wet and clumpy.

Bella felt cold water sliding down her back from her own blonde-red-orange waves.

It didn’t help.

“Do you want me to continue, or can you please go away now?”

A little bit of color returned to Charlie.

“I’m not leaving unless you come with me.”

Bella actually laughed. Charlie felt a great rush of a affection for his friend, but his tiny smile 

vanished at her next words.

“I thought you would say that, you great hilarious adorable noble idiot. But I can’t come with you. 

You might’ve thought that just because you cared about me so much, everyone else would, but

nope: They all still hate me, especially Aria.”

“But why do you care what they think?” Charlie said in frustration.

“Because of this,” Bella said, lifting aside the hair that hid half of her face.

It was a mass of blood falling everywhere, running down Bella’s face, forming a puddle on the ground, merging with rainwater. The eye underneath was cloudy, as though it were fogged-up glass, and pupiless. She was half-blind.

Bella hastily put her hair back over the wound, and drew her cloak closer around her at the look on Charlie’s face.

“Why… why didn’t you say anything?”

“I couldn’t, could I? I’m forbidden to speak ill of my elders.” Her fingers sketched quotation marks around the last word. Pain flashed in her golden-brown eye.

“I’m guessing you understand why I left now.”

“...Yes.”

Silence fell. Bella flicked her hand. The fire took on the form of a fox and padded over to Bella, curling around her, though not burning.

Bella snapped her fingers. A fresh fire immediately started in the kindling again.

“Do you still want me to come back?”

“Yes. You’re my friend.”

“And your uncle murdered my last family member!”

“But am I my uncle?”

“Maybe not, but how do I know you won’t…”

“Kill you?” Charlie finished steadily.

Bella stared fixedly at her own hands, curled in her lap.

“Think about it, Bella… have I ever threatened to do you any kind of harm? Did I ever, for a moment, let you get hurt in front of me?”

More silence.

“Charlie?”

“Yeah?”

“Who else is dead?”

Charlie looked at Bella for a long moment before answering.

“Nobody else. Haruki is sick, but he’ll recover.”

“What about Ayla?”

“She’s fine.”

Ayla was Charlie’s sister.

“Okay, now let me be quite honest with you: How in the name of the Elements do you expect me to return to the group when they’ve all treated me like this?”

“Can’t— can’t you—”

“Can’t I forgive them? No, I can’t. Not for a while anyway. There are some wounds that never heal.”

“Like yours?”

“Oh God no, it only started bleeding a month ago. Should be healed by next year.”

“Great.”

The rain was slowing down, but lightning still flashed over the distant mountains.

That was when Charlie had the idea.

“Wait a minute… that’s it!”

“What’s it?”

“Bella can’t come back to the group, but someone else can!”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can take this talisman,” Charlie said, pulling a small piece of coal from his pocket, “use it to turn into a false Healer, and come back to the group!”

The fox and the fire had both started rippling faster, generating too much heat.

Bella quickly snapped her fingers, and they both vanished.

“Do you think it’ll work? What about my training? I’ll need to actually be able to heal in order to make it work,” she said.

“Bound to,” Charlie replied bracingly. “And if it doesn’t, I’ll keep you safe. Also, I can teach you on the way back.”

“I can protect myself, thank you. But hey, I’m in.”

“Great!” Charlie beamed at Bella.

She reluctantly grinned back.