Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (18 page)

Cole chuckled at my reaction and gently tapped my head as he tried to
smolder his laughter
. “You’ll be fine, Princess,” he smiled at me. Adrien
tens
ed beside me and groaned. I looked up at him
, only to
find
out
that he was throwing Cole an annoyed look.

“Can someone please explain to me what just happened?” I asked in a tiny voice, suddenly aware
what everyone
around
me was capable of doing.

He sighed and looked at me. “You wanted answers, right? Well, you’re getting them,” he replied and suddenly draped his arm over my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I had the decency to blush before I realized that we were somehow floating.
I gasped and instinctively wrapped my arms
around
his waist. I had the urge to close my eyes, but I didn’t want to miss out on anything that was happening.
Right before us, I saw images changing. The colors swirled around and the hazy dark grey of the street we were once in suddenly turned into bright colors of yellows, whites, and oranges.

I blinked
back
a few times. We weren’t on that street anymore. Instead, we were in a brightly lit living room
that was so beautiful that I was immediately taken by surprise
.
The walls were painted beige
,
and the tiles were
made
of cream
-
colored wood.
Right in the middle of th
e room was
three long couches in
off-white color
,
and
o
n those couches were several throw pillows in monotone colors of lightest yellow and bright orange. A tall lamp that was directly joined into a small
,
circular glass table was situated on the space between two of the couches, and a l
ofty
plant encased in a cream-colored vase was standing on the other space. The center table was
interesting. It was
made of dark wood, which was divided into four equal sections. Each section had a slightly different height than the others.

Everything in this room was simple
yet
elegant, and what
immediately
caught my
interest
w
ere
the two oil paintings of sunflowers on either side of a double hung, cut-up windows.

Someone cleared their throat a few feet to my right. I saw Cole playfully smirking at me with a raised eyebrow.
“
I know you’re perfectly comfortable in the position you’re in right now, but perhaps you’d like to take a seat so my brother c
ould
breathe,” he said as he comfortably landed in one of the couches, propping his feet on the table as he did so.

I blushed and immediately let my hands drop from Adrien’s waist
at the same that he dropped his arm
from
my shoulder
. I totally forgot.
Elise pulled me along and made me sit on the couch opposite Cole.

“
Don’t mind
him
.
He’s
just happy that we don’t have to hide anything from you anymore,” she said, waving her hand at
Cole
in a dismissive
gesture as she sat beside me. “Honestly,
we both
would’ve told you
but Adrien was strongly against it. He said
you were better off not knowing,
”
she continued on, glaring at Adrien as he made his way to the remaining couch and comfortably laid down
, occupying the entire length of the furniture.
“And now this happened,” she sighed, suddenly turning serious as she looked at me.
After a few moments of just staring at me, she nodded. “What would you like to know?”

I sighed. “Why are you guys here?” I asked, allowing my eyes to graze over each of them before stopping on Adrien. “Why are
you
here?” I emphasized, this time directing the question to him.
He sat himself on the couch so he could face me.

“I’m here to protect you, Skylar,” he said in a serious tone, looking deep in
to
my
eyes. I knew that he wasn’t lying. With what happened earlier and how he saved me several times before that, I wouldn’t doubt him at all.
“
…
a
nd so are Cole and Elise. It’s our responsibility to make sure you’re safe,” he continued on.

I frowned. “Why
?
I’m nobody. I’m just an ordinary girl.
Why would I need protection?
Look at me
,
” I
asked
, completely baffled
, raising my arms and looked down at myself.
I certainly don’t understand why they have to protect me of all people.

“Because you’re the
P
rincess of Propheria, Skylar,” Cole
immediately
replied
while he was busy arranging himself, now sitting with his legs crossed.
Adrien threw him one of the throw pillows which he was
able to avoid
effortlessly
.

Adrien still looked annoyed before he turned his attention back to me
. His expression immediately changed,
now
looking concerned at the look my face was probably displaying.

“Princess of what?” I said, startling even myself as I jerked from the couch.
Elise held my hand before gently pulling me back down
, giving her twin a warning look.

“What Cole tactlessly said
is true. You are a princess, the last living Imperial
witch
in Propheria. That’s what we call our world, Skylar,
”
she
said
slowly in a soft voice, cupping my face with both her hands as she stared right into my eyes.

“I can’t be,” I whispered back to her. “My parents aren’t
witches
or
royalty, or Imperials, as you call them
. They’re ordinary…mortals,
”
I said, choosing the right words to explain that they’re probably mistaking me for someone else.
But the words I chose sounded weird even to my own ears.

“You
are
the princess, Skylar.
Your mother was an Imperial
witch
, too, but she married Nicholas,
”
Adrien said as he
draped both his arms on the back of the couch. “Once a
witch
ties a bond with a
n ordinary human
, she loses all her powers
,
”
he continued on, not bothering to pause in giving out the facts.
I totally
felt
lost and turned to Elise for help.

She nodded in understanding.
“Propheria
is a kingdom divided into four ranks
. You can
distinguish everyone’s ranks through the color of their eyes
. The highest rank
belongs to the Imperials,
”
Elise explained as she waved her hand towards me, signifying that I was one of these Imperials. “
Imperials are
known
by their blue-green eyes.
”
She turned to me and smiled
warmly
. “I know you’ve never met anyone
,
other than your mother
,
who share
s
exquisite blue-green eyes as yours.”
I was blown away
at what s
he said. That was exactly true.

“
Now for the second ranks, we call them the Guardians or the Conservators. The
witche
s under this rank have
silver
eyes
like my brothers and I.
And it’s our obligation to guard
Imperial witches like
you, Sky,
”
she continued on narrating.

I
couldn’t believe the words coming out of her mouth.
No wonder they all have the same eye color.
But no matter how hard I try, I still couldn’t take in everything
she just said
. I urged her on
, thinking that maybe if I knew everything that I would understand more. “Those in the third ranks are the Spiritualists
,
characterized by the
ir
purple eyes.
They contact spirits, ma
ke spells, and determine prophec
ies.
And the last rank
belongs to the
Scheols with golden yellow eyes.
They have always been jealous of the Imperials and have
constantly
sought to kill every last one of them,
”
she explained as she looked glum, completely avoiding my eyes.

I gulped.
“So that girl with the black hair is a Scheol?” I asked, still bewildered at what was happening.

“Yes, she is.
Rhiannon
is the younger sister of Alastor. The
ir
family’s been doing everything they can to
slaughter
every last one of the
members of the
Imperial family,” she reported, suddenly clenching her hands in anger. I held both her hands, making her look at me.

“Why do they want to kill me?” I asked, fear and despair clear in my voice.

“Killing an Imperial will give you all of their powers,” Adrien answered. I looked at him and I could easily tell that he didn’t like having to tell me any of this.

I sighed and smiled apologetically at him. “But I don’t have any powers,” I replied, once again sounding skeptical.

“You do,
Skylar,” Cole answered. “Every witch
develops powers
at a set time, depending on their ranks. Imperials develop th
eir powers once they’re
18
while
Guardians, Spiritualists, and Scheols develop them at birth,
”
he calmly explained.

I thought about it for awhile. I’ve been eighteen for only a week now, but I don’t know what powers he’s talking about. I shook my head gently, starting to feel the st
irrings
of a headache.
I still can’t grasp that I’m a witch and now he’s saying that I have supernatural powers of some sort.

“
You’ve had some visions since you turned eighteen, Sky. You’ve been seeing them
for a
while
now…
as dreams
,
”
Adrien explained, looking at me grimly.

“How did you know about my dreams?”
I gasped. My dreams? Is that the reason why they all felt so real?

“Because I can see
them too
. That night at the restaurant… we actually came here because you dreamt of Alastor.”

“Alastor…” I
whispered
when I remembered that dark, scary figure. “I saw him twice,” I told him.
Adrien
nodded
,
completely
understanding. “
So t
hat’s what he meant by ‘
royalty
.’” I let out a ragged breath, cradling my head in my hands as I rested my elbows on my legs.
I can’t believe this is happening to me.

Adrien was suddenly beside me, stroking my hair. “Do you still want to hear the rest?” he inquired, concern ringing in his voice. I swallowed hard and nodded my head.
I need to know everything.

“These
…
powers you’re telling me
,
i
f every rank, except the Imperials, develop them at birth, why do they still have to kill
those in the top rank
?” I
inquired
, looking at Cole as Adrien settled himself beside me, sitting on the floor with his back resting on the
couch’s
arm chair
that was right
next to
me.