The Journey of Two Sisters: Book 4 of the Kinstone series

(Me)

Everything around me seems to be shrouded in darkness. All that I really can see is nothing but a swirling cloudy mass or something. I don’t feel cold of lost, just…alone. I hate being alone, always have.

“Aria,” I hear being whispered.

I look everywhere, trying to see where the source is coming from but I still can’t see a thing through the darkness.

“Aria, my love.”

My heart rate shoots through the roof as the voice echoes in my ears. Mom.

I slowly feel her presence surround me. It’s close, close enough that I feel her arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. Yet at the same time, it feels as elusive as a wisp of smoke. I know it’s there, but can never grasp it.

“I love you my girl, so, so very much,” I hear her say. “There’s not a day that goes by where I never stop missing you. You are and ever shall be, my most precious creation my beautiful daughter.”

I frantically turn to find her. In my heart I plead for her to be around each time I turn but can never seem to.

“You must awaken, my girl,” she says.

Tears begin to well up in my eyes as my search becomes more and more desperate. I hold out my hands into the swirling black, hoping that I will somehow grasp onto her.

“Mom, where are you?” I cry out. “I wish you were here with me. I miss you.”

“I know you do my love,” she replies. Her voice now seems to echo through the darkness. “But you must remain safe.” I then hear her chuckling softly, “Do mind your sister. I know she will keep you safe and protected.”

My tears begin to pour over my cheeks as my attempts to find her ramp up.

“Mom, please stop hiding from me.”

My search escalates, with me now running blindly into the dark.

“It’s not yet time, my precious girl,” she softly tells me. “Not yet at least, but for now you must wake up, my love.”

I start crying; now hearing her echoing voice fade into the darkness.

“I love you so very much my girl. I can never fully describe how proud of you I am. You are forever the other half of my heart and I shall ever be watching over you,” she says. “You must wake up, my love.”

Her voice soon completely fades into nothing more than a whisper. My heart feels as if it might break again, as the tears continue to stream down my face.

Something akin to a hand rests on my shoulder and begins to pull me back, pulling me away from the darkness.

My eyes slowly open as tears roll down the sides of my face. I slowly scan around me, seeing that the room is dark. I hear the sounds of wind beating against the window.

I flex my fingers, feeling them pop as I streak them across the sheets. Something heavy and warm is draped over my body, bedcovers. A sharp, throbbing pain shoots through my head as I begin to shift on the bed I’m lying on, letting out a soft groan.

My ears then train to the sound of something shuffling on the floor next to me. I weakly pan over to be met by a pair of shimmering ice-blue eyes.

“Hey Fenris,” I whisper weakly.

The wolf gently leans over and licks my face. Behind him I hear his tails swishing happily against the floor. “I am so very happy to see you finally awake, little Aria.”

I giggle softly, pulling out my hand and stroke his muzzle. His fur still feels as soft as ever.

I slip my hands under me, feeling my joints pop and my muscles burn as I push on the bed to sit up. Fenris presses his head against my back, supporting me.

I pan around the darkened room. “Are we really in Japan?” I ask.

“We are, little Aria,” he replies. “And you are in your room.”

I hear wind howling as it beats against the window, giving a soft smile. Part of me knows that I'm home, not my actual home, but home nonetheless.

I look over to see my purse resting on a small desk. My heart sinks into my stomach, knowing of the tragedies which lie within it. For now, they will have to wait.

I swing out my leg, hearing my hips pop as I set one foot onto the carpet, and then followed by the other. I flex my toes, listening as they crack.

“You should not get up Aria,” says Fenris.

My stomach then lets out a soft rumble. I smirk. “This takes precedence,” I say, looking to him.

The wolf grumbles as I lean forward, now feeling my back popping. His head presses against me, giving me further support as I stand up. My head still throbs slightly, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.

I hobble a step forward, yet lightly. Again he stands beside me, having shrunken to the size of a large dog, continuing to support me as I head for the door.

My steps down the stairs are light and quiet. Heh, still the fox, no matter where I am.

I begin to hear voices coming from the kitchen and a bit further off, possibly in the living room. First I hear Marron talking to Yukari, talking about little stories pertaining to me. I grin softly as I overhear Marron talking about the summer gathering. My aunt chuckles as my sister talks about my victory over Alexis.

Next I hear Asha talking to Orga. Apparently their conversation has to deal with my time here in the spring. She tells that I often slept at her home if the weather turned nasty. She often chose not to change it, wanting me to stay longer with her. I grin, feeling my cheeks burning. While not speaking, I know that Kateryna is nearby, possibly in the kitchen or in the living room.

So they really are here. I wasn’t hallucinating things.

I look around, even if I’m just standing in the staircase, I can still tell that the house hasn’t changed much since May, at least on first impression. I was still shocked that the floor in my room is now different.

The wind again beats against the house, feeling a tinge of cold air, which is then quickly sealed up. Why is the wind blowing so cold?

Fenris keeps hold of me as I hug the wall. My legs feel like wet noodles as I keep descending the stairs. I finally step onto the bottom floor, as my socked feet touch the hardwood panels.

“I know I asked you this before,” says Yukari, “but how is it that while for you, only mere seconds past when you arrived and yet two and a half months past for the rest of us?”

“I seriously have no idea,” replies Marron.

“I guess that’s where I come in,” I chirp up, rounding the wall.

Everyone quickly turns and looks to me.

“Aria!” shouts Marron.

“Aria-chan!” exclaim my aunts.

“Your Highness!” shout my knights.

Everyone then rises and rushes over to me, with Marron beating them. She quickly pulls me into her, hugging my tiny body against hers. I giggle, holding onto her, burying my cheek into her chest.

“While I’m happy beyond words to see you awake,” she says, “you should still be in bed missy.”

My shoulders shrug, looking up at her, “I’ve been sleeping enough. Plus my head hurts.”

“That would be the concussion from you slamming headfirst into a tree branch,” she replies.

“Huh, that explains a lot,” I smirk.

She rolls her eyes, “Stubborn brat.”

I giggle again, looking at her. “How long was I out?” I ask.

“Almost two days since we arrived here.”

Two days? That’s…that’s odd, also…am I really that susceptible for being out that long? I mean, after my first fight with Diana it took me a couple days to wake up. Oh well, c’est la vie I guess.

I sigh and nod. I then pan over to see my knights standing beside me with my aunts right behind them.

I look up at the couple. “Hey guys,” I greet them, smiling.

Orga bows to me. “It does me great pleasure seeing you awake once more Your Highness.”

Kateryna does the same. “I agree. We have been so worried about you Your Highness.”

I smile, bowing my head to them. “Sorry about that.” They smile.

I then see both Yukari and Asha opening their arms to me. I slip out of Marron’s arms and hobble over to them, collapsing into their arms. Both women hug me tightly. Asha gently strokes my hair while Yukari wraps her tails around me.

They both then pull me over into the living room and gently set us down onto the floor.

Yukari gently leans me back in between them both, still holding me with her tails. She peers into my eyes, as she strokes my face. “Something within you has changed. You seem…different than the last time I saw you.” She then looks over to Asha, who also examines me.

Her mouth drops a bit, “I agree. Your eyes seem younger. I can only sense a pure child within you, a pure girl.”

My cheeks blush softly. “The night when Regulus was about to kill me, I used up what remained of my old self to call for my mom. It effectively ridded me of who I used to be.”

Both women lean in and hug me tightly, feeling their gentle aura surrounding me. It had been so long since I’ve been with them like this. I giggle to myself thinking that the last time the three of us were together in the house was the night before I had to return home.

I look up, watching as everyone else starts to pile into the living room, with Marron sitting on the floor with Fenris beside her. Orga and Kateryna each find a chair and take a seat.

“So has it really been two and a half months while we traveled through the fairy road?” I ask.

“That’s correct sweetie,” replies Marron.

I sigh heavily. “Shit,” I whisper under my breath. “I really do hate Diana for that.”

“Now that you’re up,” she continues, “we’re kind of hoping you can explain how exactly it happened, not to mention arriving on the other side of the world.”

I lean back against my aunts. “When Titania gave me the ability create fairy roads” I begin, “she said that since I’m not fae, I have to maintain some measure of concentration while in transit even if I’ve already entered the portal.”

I close my eyes for a moment and then open them. “I had just turned to walk in when Diana exploded a spell right behind me, which flung me inside. This made me break my concentration and we lost the endpoint to Seattle.”

“So how we did end up here?” she asks.

I look to her. “Titania gave me a couple fail safes if something like that happened. The first being that it would send me to where my heart felt safest.”

“Which meant Japan,” she chuckles.

My cheeks burn softly. “Yeah,” I reply, to which my aunts hold me even tighter. “The other fail safe would be that I could have simply said ‘Tir Na Nog’ and we would’ve instantly teleported to the fae kingdom without issue.”

I then swear under my breath, “I should’ve thought of that. But…if I had, I doubt Titania would have let me go.” A fact that I’m sure isn’t lost on my sister.

Marron leans onto the table. “Ok…next question. We all exited the portal at different times. I know it took me and Fenris a good ten minutes to find you.”

“Kateryna and I were wandering around the forest for twenty minutes before Master Fenris found us,” adds Orga.

I nod slowly. “Again this goes back to me losing concentration. According to Titania, and trust me this is one of the few times I’ve ever gotten a straight answer out of her, she said that there could be the chance that if I travel with a group, we all could exit out at different times, thankfully within the same area and only a short span apart.”

I pan around the room. “Time flows differently while inside the road. Now if I hadn’t lost concentration, our trip would’ve taken but a few seconds at most and with zero loss in time. However when I couldn’t maintain it, time flowed faster outside of the road. It’s one of the big reasons why I haven’t once accepted her invitation to visit her in the fairy world.”

Marron nods. I think Miss Anabelle may have taught her about it the same as Mom. I look over to my knights, who clearly are trying to understand it.

I look up at Yukari. A soft smile forms on her face. “From what you’ve told us, it’s no different than traveling through the spirit realm. A place I would very much like to take you if I ever had the opportunity.”

I giggle softly, knowing that I would love too as well.

I peer out towards the sliding doors as the sound of the storm outside continues to rage on, hearing it beating against the outer door.

My heart then thumps in my chest. “This is going to be the first time I’ve spent Christmas in another country,” I say quietly. Tears then well up in my eyes, “We…we also skipped over my birthday.”

Marron reaches over and caresses my face. “We can still hold it if you want.”

I shake my head, “It…it's fine. While it would be nice, it be kind of pointless at this point.”

Liar. This will also be the first time spending either holiday without Mom.

My heart thumps heavily in my chest, missing her even more than before. Not only her, but also Silvi, Velhemina, the twins, the gossip, the combat maids, Xiphos…everyone.

She smiles, pulling back.

But this will also be the first time spending Christmas with Marron, something I know the both of us have wanted to do for the past three years. Now I get to also do it with my aunts and my knights.

I feel stroking my hair. I lean back and look up at both of them.

“Tadaima,” I say smiling to them.

They each grin and kiss my cheeks. “Okaeri,” both reply. I giggle softly, clinging to them.

Yukari then strokes my hair, “I should call the doctor and inform him that you’ve awakened.”

I nod slowly, again looking at everyone. I’m really glad that everyone made it safely through and is with me. Lord knows what would have happened if fairy roads branched off and everyone was separated. Thankfully that isn’t a thing. I should also be grateful that we only lost a couple months and not years. Who knows what might have happened.

I look to my knights. “Are you both ok?”

Orga smiles to me. “I thank you for your concern, Your Highness, but I am fine.” He smirks softly, “I am still adjusting to the idea of being on the other side of the world in a country I truly know nothing about.”

I giggle, peering over to Kateryna.

The elf smiles, “I too am fine Your Highness.” she then looks around, “You truly have a lovely home here. I must say that it is rather nice sleeping with a proper roof over our heads.”

I grin to her. I feel the exact same way as you. Camping can be fun, just not while having to constantly look over your shoulder.

Marron smiles to me, staring at me with her deep emerald eyes. I smile softly to her, “You ok sissy?”

She nods, “I’m alright sweetie. I will say that I’ve spent the last couple of nights sleeping in your room, in the vain hope that you’d wake up.” A devious grin then rises on her face, “Oh…I met ‘him’ this morning. He came by when he heard that you had returned and rushed up to your room.”

My cheeks turned beet red.

She laughs, “I have to say sweetie, the picture you showed me at the gathering hardly does the boy justice. He really is quite handsome.”

I quickly bury face behind one of Yukari’s tails, which causes everyone to burst into laughter. A shiver then runs up my spine. He…he saw me sleeping. Did…did he try to kiss me, thinking that it might wake me up.

I look over to Fenris as he lies quietly next to Marron. I smile to myself, thinking that he would’ve been watching Kenji the whole time, not to mention Marron there next to my bonded.

I feel my stomach growling loud enough to be heard by everyone. This again causes everyone to laugh.

Marron smile to me, “Let’s get some food into that belly of yours. I know you fought on an empty stomach also.” She then rises from the floor and heads to the kitchen, which is followed by Kateryna. Orga gets up and heads off towards the pantry.

I feel something creeping into my heart, as a revelation dawns on me. I look up at both of my aunts. “Hey, there’s…there’s a couple things I need to show you.

“Whatever it is,” says Yukari, “show us when you’re stronger Aria-chan.”

Asha strokes my hair, “We have plenty of time.”

I nod slowly, not knowing how either will react to what I have to show them. However, as Asha said, I have plenty of time. So for now…let's hold off on it.

I grin softly, “It’s going to be a bit more noisy in here, isn’t it?” I still remember how it was just Yukari, Fenris, and I living in this house during the spring. Things definitely were a lot quieter then.

My aunts grin.

“I agree Aria-chan,” says Yukari.