Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira -
Home Again
I chuckled, drying myself off with my warmed hands. I was unsure of how to respond to Akuma’s self-loathing. “One day you’ll be there to save my life and it’ll make up for all of this,” I replied.
“Boy do I hope so.”
“Yeah, it’ll be great and heroic and like every other dumb male savior who takes credit for a female’s work.”
“Oh yeah, ‘cause that’s what I want, to be a sexist alfa male,’ who takes credit for what powerful women do to make up for half the population,” he said sarcastically, making me laugh.
“Yup, it’ll be just like any dumb princess story.”
He smiled. There was a pause before he changed the subject to how close we were to land. I looked up, realizing he was right and that the island was truly just a few moments away. A great feeling of anxiety rushed through my head as butterflies danced through my stomach. I thought of all the things I had left back at home since Akuma and I had left, a consuming feeling of guilt creeping through my veins. Granted, I did leave for the good of my people, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that what may happen to them in the near future would be my fault. Every child which may be slaughtered in coming wars maybe because their queen couldn’t stay long enough to keep them safe. I knew how many people were going to die, I knew I couldn’t possibly save them all, and I loathed myself for it. This was not only a war between islands anymore, but this had also become a war which involved the entire world. Each and every person who unknowingly walked confidently into the open jaws of death would be put there because of the decisions of me and my fellow heroes. I realized Akuma watched quietly from the other side of the boat, most-likely having similar thoughts. When I looked back into his eyes, he blushed and looked away for a moment, but then bringing himself back, he put his hand on my shoulder, smiling warmly. It seemed that no matter how hot my skin could grow, it was his smile which seemed to hold the ability to keep me warm through anything. “You ready?” he asked quietly.
I thought for a moment, completely unsure of how to respond. “Ready as I’ll ever be, you?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
I nodded, “It feels like everything up until this point has been a test and now everything is truly going to change.”
“Agreed, even though we grew up on this island, it feels...different,” he said, almost unsure of how else to phrase it.
“Like a fog has been lifted,” I finished. “It’s like a shield of ignorant protection has hung around it for so long, and now suddenly, it’s out in the real world, unprotected.”
He nodded, beginning to steer our small boat in the direction of our familiar dock, a distinct sense of home rushing through our veins. My heart jumped at the sight of my home, which stood proudly between the trees. From our distance, I could also make out the shape of a large crowd of people, each one waving, some familiar, while others are not. I could clearly make out Tao and her army among the people of our small island. Although I knew most of the people who waited for us, I put the hood of my cloak over my head to hide my face from them, hoping to distract even myself from how long ago it seemed I had known them, I was nothing more than a child when they last knew me, but now, well now I was something more. Now, I just might be worthy of the powers passed down to me by birthright.
Akuma and I had pulled out the rope and were docking before I noticed the six figures which stood at the very edge of the dock, each looking straight at us, both with intense curiosity and wariness. Upon closer inspection, I realized that there was an even number of females, as there were males, not only this, but each person was cut, dirty, bruised and bleeding from their long journey. I stepped out of the boat, my bare feet once more meeting the familiar white sand which covered the entire island. The friendly wind blew at my hood, almost as if begging me to remove it so that it could see how I had changed. I ignored this and kept my hood on, hoping to keep as mysterious as possible. I glanced back at the group of people who still stared at us, as if anxiously waiting for our arrival, before I turned back to Akuma, nodding as he stepped off the boat.
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