Malia

Malia wandered the house when she finally found her footing. It was a massive farmhouse, well, not massive, but bigger than anything she'd ever live in.

Sina and Jack were talking to the blonde guy and his sister while she explored. She wasn't in the mood to sit down and talk, her social battery was obliterated by the horse running her over, so she'd need at least two more days to recover.

They were nice though. The family. They were kind and their food was good. Though Malia didn't want to stay here forever, she had a feeling she couldn't trust staying in one place very long. Even if they were in the farmlands.

She had warned Jack and Sina not to say anything about being fugitives. Not until the last day at least. All the family knew was that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Malia found the other blonde sister in the family-sized kitchen, with cooking materials all over the counters. She smiled when Malia walked in. Her beauty was regal, it was one of the first things Malia noticed.

Sure, she wore a simple pink farm dress, but her face belonged in that of a painting. She was stunning.

"Hi! I'm making brownies. Do you want to help?" She asked with a smile. Malia groaned internally. She couldn't remember the woman's name and she hated it.

"U-Uh sure!" Malia replied, internally dying at her awkwardness. She walked to the counter and looked at all the ingredients. The blonde held a notepad in her hand.

"You can read me the instructions and I'll do all the applying," she handed Malia the notepad.

Malia's face drained of all colour and she wore her worst smile trying to cover it up. "Uh? Can't I just help you make them ahaha?"

"You can do both! But I really need help with the instructions, I'm not good at baking for myself. We used to have servants, you see?" The woman laughed nervously.

Malia's eyes drifted to the pages. Her awful memories of writing the National Exams flooded back again, making her brain swell. The words, too complicated. She knew what they said, she could read them. But she needed to do it at least five times and even then it was too much of a task to work with.

Malia couldn't memorize words. She'd look at them and as soon as she looked away they would vanish from her brain. Since childhood she'd manage to recognize the shapes of letters, but under pressure like this, it was like all she learned rapidly slipped from her mind.

"Sorry, Laney," she suddenly remembered the woman's name. "I-I can't help you with this. We'll be here all day if you have me giving you instructions."

Laney's cheeks flushed. "My name is Leilani actually."

Malia felt her soul twisting even more. "I'm sorry, I'm not good with names." Goddess, can this interaction please end. Please?

"If you don't want to help, you can just say so," Leilani was visibly offended, not making eye contact anymore. Malia's stomach dropped. You're being rude! She hates you! Fucking say something!

"I can't read."

Leilani's entire body turned to her, her face falling. Malia could instantly see the pity. She HATED it. She was not a kid.

"I'm so sorry," Leilani said with a frown. "In that case, you can help me-"

"I can read actually," Malia blurted again, hating the sad look on Leilani's face as she spoke. "It just takes a lot out of me. And I'm really bad at math. It makes me want to throw up. I failed my National Exams too so I'm basically stupid. So sorry I can't—"

"You're not stupid," Leilani said, but it did not halt Malia's rambling.

"—yeah that's what Sina tells me but sometimes I think she just tells me that because she loves me so—"

"Malia!" Leilani yelled, making her go pindrop silent. She thought Leilani was mad for a second but breathed in relief when she saw the smile on her face.

"You're not stupid."

Malia didn't know what to feel. Was she saying it out of pity? Did she actually mean it? This stranger just barely knew her so how would she know?

"I've been called stupid my entire life," Malia admitted, embarrassed. "Sure, it made for good character devlopment, I can beat those people up now. I passed my National Practicals with flying colours! But everyone only cares about the Exams I hate writing, I love punching people!"

In Kukoa, being a scholar was more valuable than being a warrior. Even though words could not fight the war. It was stupid.

"The Exams are stupid," Leilani said with an eye-roll. "All it does is give people an ego. Yes, being a scholar is important, but never tie it to your self worth or the worth of others. You are more than how many questions you can answer. As long as you're a good person, it doesn't matter in the long run. The Goddesses care not for Exam scores."

Malia smiled, warmth gathering in her chest. "Sina says stuff like that too. I just never take her seriously because she's really smart. But I guess she's right."

"She most definitely is!" Leilani said. "And Kukoan people are so full of themselves. They'll see you and immediately wonder if you passed that annoying test."

"Have you written the test then?" Malia wondered.

Leilani let out a chuckle. "Oh, I never had to. My family is rich."

"Oh."

That explained a lot. Malia decided she liked Leilani. She was rich, but not stuck up. And best of all, she didn't see Malia as some type of moron for failing the Exams. 

"You know what? Maybe we can figure something out with these brownies," Malia said with a chuckle, then rounded the bend of the counter.

***

Sina

Sina wished the horse had just run her to death. She felt like crap. Her tree house was gone, her potion stands, years of research and notes and the worst part was, there was a chance she'd have to go live with her parents again.

And with a cherry-on-top, her saviour turned out to be really annoying.

Yunoa was a handsome guy, but he wouldn't shut up. Even if the company he was in had a concussion.

"So yeah, I'm not usually that reckless of a driver, you guys just came out of nowhere," he chuckled, leaning over her while they sat on the couch. "I'm glad I didn't ruin your face though. It's much too pretty for that."

Jack sat at a different table, looking out the window. Sina wanted to yell for him to come save her from the dreadful conversation, but his mind was far off.

"Thank you," she muttered absently, another compliment of his that was lost in her mind. That's all he'd done since she'd arrived. Compliment her.

"No, I'm serious," Yunoa insisted, trying to brush strands of hair behind her ears. Sina immediately smacked his hand away, making him laugh. "Your beauty is like that of nobility. Your striking purple hair is like a rare jewel—"

"Is he boring you already?" A voice cut him off. Sina turned to see Misty leaning in the frame of the archway.

Yunoa scowled at the forwardness of his younger sister. A taunting smirk dangled on her face. "Don't listen to anything he says, he tells everyone that. Though he's not wrong."

Sina blushed. One thing she noticed about this family, was that they were not short on looks, nor charm.

Every single one of them was unfairly beautiful. Misty's wolf cut brown hair and intimidating, yet alluring indigo eyes had been a solid distraction for Sina when she wasn't sobbing about her treehouse.

"She's lying," Yunoa said embarrassedly. "I-I never say anything to any women. Don't you see there aren't other homes for miles down this road?"

"So if there were, you would have said that line to other women?" Misty asked. Yunoa turned into a stammering mess.

"N-No, eugh! Shut up, you! You're trying to sabotage me!"

"It's working," Sina said, smiling at Misty. She noticed that her hands were brown with soil. "Are you a gardener?"

Misty nodded. "I have to keep this land green since my brother and sister can't do shit for themselves. They're too prissy to put their hands in some dirt. Plus I grow special plants as well."

"Special plants?" Sina asked with the curiousity of a little child. Misty chuckled at her innocence.

"Yeah. Plants for potions."

Sina shot up from her seat, much too fast because she nearly toppled from her feet. Yunoa grabbed her by the waist and attempted to steady her. Sina slapped his hands away and stared at Misty excitedly. "You make potions? Do you have a stand?"

"You know, the first question should be if she has a license," Yunoa said grumpily.

"Legality isn't a problem for me," Misty rolled her eyes. Sina swore her heart skip a beat.

"I don't care about legality either!" Sina announced, all too happily, making Jack turn his head at the strange declaration.

Misty smirked. "Alright then, want to go look at my potions? They're in our greenhouse."

"This can't be happening," Yunoa said, standing up abruptly. He stared down at Sina, pissed. "I'm the one who saved you, you know."

You're also the one that hit me. Sina shrugged. "And I thanked you for it, didn't I?"

"Now you're going off with my sister?"

Jack glared at the guy. "What exactly did you expect her to do?" He asked seriously.

Yunoa clamped his lips shut, defeated and obviously angry about it. Misty raised her eyebrows as if she dared her brother to challenge her.

"Whatever, you're not that pretty anyway," Yunoa tossed at Sina before storming out. "And I hope your ankle gets worse."

Sina feigned a gasp. "How mean!"

"Yup, that's him. A spoiled brat and a sore loser. You should see how he reacted the first time my parents told him no," Misty snorted. "But actually, I don't wanna talk about him. You wanted to see the potions?"

Sina nodded excitedly, limping toward the effortlessly cool sister. Jack gave her a thumbs-up for good luck and Sina couldn't help but flush with shyness.

Misty pulled Sina's arm over her shoulder,
helping her to her room. They were on their way down the hall when the door started banging furiously. Misty and Sina turned around in confusion. Who in the Hell would abuse a door like that?

"Jack, could you get that for us?" Misty called. Jack ran to the door and barely opened it before it flew against his face, hitting him in the nose.

A handsome green-haired man stepped inside the house, carrying a large bouquet of pink daffodils. He pointed the bouquet at Misty and Sina as though it were a weapon.

"Where is your sister?" He spoke loudly, his voice echoing throughout the house. He was so loud he practically summoned Leilani out of the kitchen, her jaw dropping to the ground when she saw him.

"What are you doing here?!" Leilani asked incredulously. A head of long green hair stepped out from behind her.

"Prince Halo?" Malia asked, stunning everyone into silence.