(PART 2 – Another day, Another nightmare)
~~Two weeks later...~~
......On the Human Kingdom
The alarm clock rings, it's another new day to enjoy. But for Liana, a 17 year-old highschool student gifted with special abilities, it's another nightmare to endure. Almost everyone in her school bully her and take advantage of her, except for her best friend, Anise, whom she just met the other year ago. Liana can "involuntarily" hear the thoughts of the people around her and tends to be cautious in her actions so that people won't think ill of her, but as a result of these actions, other people tend to take advantage of her personality because they know that Liana will never say no to them.
Liana currently lives with her over protective brother, Alex. Her mother used to live with her and her brother but she went abroad to work there. Her father is an archaeologist, but he suddenly disappeared from a job when Liana was younger and there have been no news about him lately. Even though lots of people mistreats her all the time, Liana is happy that she has her brother and her best friend beside her all the time.
"Brother, good morning!" Liana greeted her brother and smiles weakly. "Is it really a good morning for you..? You do know that you can't confuse me with your fake smiles..." Her brother looked at his sister with doubt and worry, "Did my little princess had a weird nightmare again..? Didn't I tell you to call me whenever you have one of those..?"
Liana sat down at the dining chair, "Well, I didn't want to disturb you every night... plus, what's the point..? I have nightmares even when I'm awake, so..." Alex looked at her with suspicion, Liana didn't want to let her brother know that she's still being bullied, but in this moment, she slipped, so she tried covering it up but couldn't find the right words to say.
"Ahh! I mean... uhh.. welll...brother, that's really not what I meant..! Umm.. uhh..."
"Lili, don't tell me you still let those other people take advantage of you..?" Alex got a little irritated by the thought of people bullying her sister. "Why aren't you telling me about these stuff!? I should've already shut them up by now!"
"N-no, it's not that! well, yes, it is... but... Brother.... It's just that... I find it hard to stand my ground most of the time... and I'm scare of what they might think of me....so, brother please understand..! If you go there and have arguments with them, they'll think..... something worse towards me! And I hear all those thoughts and... it would....hurt more.."
Alex clearly sees that Liana have troubles in socializing with others, and knows how much pain Liana is experiencing because of her strange abilities.
"Lili, don't be too scared or too worried with what those people think of you. You are always better than whatever they thought of you. And much more special than what you thought about yourself. Don't let your fears destroy you're future..! Now eat your breakfast or you'll be late!"
"Ahh... Okay!"
After Liana finished her food, she started talking to her brother about her nightmare. "Big brother..... The nightmare was scary..!"
Liana put her palms on her face. "A man with black cape and black scythe..! He looks like Jack the ripper!"
Liana put her hand on her head and kept on shaking. "ahh! I still remember it so clearly! uhuhu.. He's so scary!!"
Alex was alarmed by this and started acting tensed, "Huh!? What happened in your dream!? What did that guy do..?"
"Umm..." Liana put her palms on her face again "He started thrashing lots of buildings with his scythe and some kind of elemental power!"
Liana stood up and started re-enacting the events that took place "Like this, "Hiyyaa! Haahh!" and the buildings were like "Paang! Booom! Boogsh!" And a HUGE explosion occurred! and then... he swang his scythe again, taking the lives of many innocent people!" Liana started jumping around while saying, "So SCARY!!" lots of times.
Alex, though feeling uneasy with his sister's dream, started laughing at his sister. "Haha! You're so cute when you act that way! Now, Lili, just don't let the nightmares bother you so much. Remember, if it does happen, big brother will always be here to protect you..."
Liana jokingly doubted her brother's words, "As if you can stand against a scythe THIS HUGE! What weapon do you have? You must have had a deathwish saying that..." Liana giggles.
Alex boastfully replied, "Hah! I don't need weapons to beat that guy! The power of Love and my Will to Protect you is all I need to get through a foe of his kind! Haha, now, walk to school already..! You might be late..!" Liana smiles cheerfully "Okay! Bye, big brother..." Liana left the house.
Alex kept on thinking and worrying about his sister's dream. "I doubt that was a normal dream... But.. I shouldn't tell Lili... I don't want her to be too scared when she finds out...”
Alex sighs, “Mom, What should I do..? How long am I supposed to keep the truth from her..?" Alex sat down on the couch and looked at his hand as he creates a small energy ball. "Will this power be enough to protect her..? tsk, I don't even know what to do anymore! Will you just come home already!?”
On the way to school, Liana was walking alone when Anise, her best friend, sneaked up, and suddenly jumped behind her, Liana got surprised by it and accidentally activated her powers and made a big pole fall down, Anise got freaked out by the pole falling, "Ahh! Ahh! What happened!?"
Liana didn’t know why it fell, but she felt as if some sort of energy came out from her just a few millisecond before the pole fell, she was very confused as well, "Umm... I-I don't know! Uhh.... Good Morning..?"
Anise breathed deeply and cheerfully said, “Good Morning..! Why do you look pale?" Liana looked at Anise with a nervous face, "Umm... Because I got surprised by you... then by the pole too!" Anise scratched her head, "Ohh... is that so..? I’m sorry! Now, Let's go!"
When they reached the school gates, they saw Rhea, a well-respected classmate that Liana looks up to, standing near the gates, talking to some students. Liana kept on looking at her closely, which made Anise felt uneasy.
Anise looked at her friend with slight irritation and then tapped her on the shoulder. "You're staring at her again!? How many times do I NEED to convince you that the only difference between you and her is that she's more famous than you...!? and that you're a heck lot shorter..."
"No that's not the only thing..! She smart, cool, brave, talented and... respected... and a lot more.." Liana suddenly felt insecure about herself. "Totally not like me..."
Anise pushed Liana, "Oh, shut up... you two are just the same... people just tend to misunderstand and mistreat you...Tsk! And What the heck is so cool about the girl!? I'm much cooler! Hmph!"
"Yes, sure, you're very cool.. but...How can you say I am similar to Rhea when everyone thinks she's awesome while everyone thinks I'm a loser..?" Liana looked down then went on ahead.
"What way huh..?" Anise caught up with Liana and she wrapped her arms around her, "Lili, you and Rhea have the same personality and characteristics but has a different way of expressing it! You're both smart, you're both kind, you both stay away from big crowds, you're both fun to talk to and many more!"
Anise let go of Liana and then went in front of her. "So let's say, for example, Rhea didn't want bad comments from others, so she act cool so that people would think cool things about her! You also didn't want bad comments, so you play safe and put up a push-over characteristic because you think it will prevent people from thinking ill of you, which is very wrong indeed! You have to act cool too!"
"How am I supposed to do that..? And Don't be too loud, people will hear us..." Some student suddenly looked at Liana and started giggling maliciously.
Liana suddenly started hearing the voices of students saying mean things about her, she felt pain in her head and felt weak and dizzy. She started breathing faster and faster, Anise looked at her and asked what's wrong, but Liana didn't seemed to have heard her. Anise got much more worried and started calling Liana's name over and over but she wouldn't budge.
Rhea noticed them from the distance, and walked towards them. Rhea touched Liana's shoulder, then Liana suddenly stopped hearing the ill thoughts. "Liana... Are you okay...?"
Liana was surprised on how she couldn't read any ill thought from Rhea, and was also surprised by the fact that she stopped hearing voices as soon as Rhea held her. She nods her head, saying that she's okay.
Then Anise suddenly hugged her friend from behind, "What happened to you!? You suddenly became blank and you wouldn't even respond to me... WHY!?” Anise’s voice sounded very worried.
"ah, I'm sorry.." Liana weakly said to her friend.
Rhea smiled at the two, "Hmm... well, I'll see you two in class... We're having party today for our successful performance last week on the dance festival, so don't be late..." Rhea waved at them and went on ahead.
"She's so...pure..." Liana got amazed by Rhea's aura, which just made Anise feel uneasy again, "Whatever! Let's just go to class...!" Anise started pulling Liana's hand.
Meanwhile, Rhea is alone in the comfort room. "Hmm... I have the feeling that her powers are gonna be awaken soon.... but, I also have the feeling that those dark forces are also gonna take action soon... So... Ms. Arietta, what should I do next..? Did the queen sent any messages like, enemies spotted here or there, eliminate them immediately! Or somethinglike, the town is surrounded by the dark phantoms, clean up the mess and secure the scion! You know, those kinds of orders other than babysitting..?"
Then Aria suddenly appeared behind Rhea. "You know, you tend to be impatient sometimes, it's really annoying...”
Rhea then scratched her head, “Well, I can’t help it! I’m still young and fresh, you know! I can do better than just watch, like what old people are doing...”
“Excuse me..?” Aria got the feeling that Rhea was trying to direct that statement to her.
“Uhh... No! That’s not what I meant!” Rhea faced Aria, “Ahahaha..... Just a misunderstanding...!”
Aria still looked with suspicion, “What do you mean, then..?”
As Rhea tries her best to look for the right words to say while panicking, Aria tried to put aside the topic, “Forget it... It’s not too important...”
Aria continues, “No messages for you so far, just continue what you're doing...”
“If the queen was right and the girl IS the Scion of Light, she’ll definitely awaken soon...” Aria said with doubt.
“You... Don’t you trust your queen’s words? So the girl does look weak, so what..? People improve. And like the queen, I have the feeling that the girl is also who we are looking for.” Rhea said while trying to convince Aria.
“And also, like the queen, you fail to see that the truth is not based on people’s instincts and few coincidences.” Aria said, disagreeing with Rhea.
“Hmph! What if we’re right?” Rhea said proudly, then immediately Aria replies, “What if you’re wrong? The whole world will suffer.”
“But isn’t it better to take action now than wait for further encounters that would prove us who the scion is? And if we are dealing with the wrong person with right now, surely Alristhea will make a way in the future. I think the queen made the right decision. After all, ‘the queen is always right’!” Rhea still said confidently.
“Hmm... I guess I always tend to forget to trust Alristhea...” Aria, seeing Rhea’s point, just kept quiet. “I'm leaving now, and I’m expecting to see you at the base later."
Rhea looked at Aria, and smiled cheerfully, “Alright, I'll be there!" Aria left and so did Rhea. Rhea went to the classroom.
