Chapter Five

I gazed at the boy before me, flabbergasted. How can someone look so much like me? As far as I remember, I don't have a twin brother. Well, since I lost my memory, that isn't really proving anything, but still.

His brown eyes stared at me shamelessly, taking in every feature of mine, clearly as surprised as I am. For some reason his eyes reflected a twinge of madness, but I wasn't sure if that was just my imagination. His lips were pressed together and he raised one single brow.

"Stella, meet Leo." Owl interrupted politely, his wide eyes roaming our expressions. Leo? That sounds very unusually familiar, but I am not sure why... I shook out all those thoughts because my head suddenly begin to ache badly, causing breathing to be a huge effort.

I curled the end of my lips into a smile and offered my hand. "Hello, I'm Stella. It's very nice to meet you."

Leo shook it hesitantly. He proceeded into the room without casting me another look and gave Hendrick a rough, hard pat on the back, which Hendrick flinched and jumped away from. Leo looked extremely pleased with himself and pulled out a stool out of nowhere as if it was his home as Hendrick caressed his antlers with his hairy face scrunching up at the sight of the boy in front of him.

"Stella, please have a seat and excuse them," Owl attempted a smile at me with his yellow beak, looking more like an ugly grimace. He himself flew up onto a particularly jewel-dotted 'throne' with his auburn coloured feather dropping everywhere on the ground.

I glanced around for a chair but couldn't find any. Sighing quietly, I slumped myself down onto the dusty, boiling ground and apologised mentally to my poor bottom who has to bear with the heat. Oh well. Hendrick shot me an apologetic grin.

"Stella, Leo here has also experienced the exact same thing that you have, including the part where the man gave you the map and told you to go to the top of it," Owl explained, completely and utterly undazed by the fact that I am currently sitting on the cleanest ground on earth,"Hendrick, I, and several other elders of the council have puzzled over this mysterious man, and we strongly suspect he has a sorcerer's background."

Leo looks extremely bored, twiddling and fiddling with random sticks around the ground. He probably heard this story a load of times.

"Now, us mutants- or, in a nicer way, Mutii(Myoo-tee-ai)- have a very long and unpleasant history with the sorcerers. We haven't exactly enjoyed each other's existence, however, we kept to ourselves and tried as least interaction with each other as possible."

"It wasn't until exactly thirteen years ago, on this day that a sorcerer named Crudelis decided to take over the Mutii. A terrible, terrible war occurred, and at least half the population of each of the Kingdoms died. At the end, it was a sorceress that stopped this war." I couldn't help but notice Owl casting me a weird look. I could feel the hairs standing up on my skin by the way he was staring at me.

"Her name was Stelliana. She had seven children, three girls and four boys, in which each was named after her and her husband, Leonardo." What? I swear Owl suspects Leo and me to be her children, which I, for some reason, strongly detest to agree. I refuse to accept that my mum is a superwoman that only exists in fiction. Owl has no proof anyway, and I'm sure if my memory returns it will prove that my mum is just a completely ordinary human.

"No, Owl, I am not her child. I've never even heard of that- that weird name!" I burst out, receiving a disapproving look from Leo. His eyes- I swear- it's just so inhuman. Well, Hendrick said he might have some werewolf traits since he got bitten by one. "As for Leo, well, if he is her child, then so be it..." I trailed down. Owl's large eyes were really creeping me out. I swear it has lasers in it or something.

"I never said you were her child, Stella," Owl spoke. The way his beak snaps at every syllable he pronounced is just simply ridiculous. "As I was saying, Stelliana stopped the war. She was then kidnapped, by whom, it is unknown. It was then prophesied by a mysterious man that she will be saved by her kids, and the grudge and prejudice between the two kingdoms will finally be melted down by them exactly thirteen years later. And Leo turned up this dawn, and you in the afternoon, exactly thirteen years later."

"The prophecy goes like this:

Two shall travel to the place where it began

And Five shall meet them on the cliff where it ends

All Seven will pass as strangers to their home

And break down that wall that was created by them own."

I pressed my lips together and stared at Owl, uninterested. He continued gaping at me through that glasses of his that was put on who-knows-when. His eyes were magnified even larger through them.

"So it's basically saying that two children of Stelliana's will travel to where Crudelis started the war- I am pretty sure that's the place on the map the man had pointed to you two- and they will meet the other five on the cliff where Stelliana was last seen before she was kidnapped. All seven of the children will then go back to the Kingdom of Sorcery as complete strangers, save Stelliana, and then break down the prejudice between the two kingdoms. The part at the end, 'created by them own', didn't really make sense, but I am sure that the pieces will come together at the very end. So, are you in?"

I could hear the unusually loud gulp of Hendrick at my side. Leo was now focused in the story now with a very serious frown, glancing at me cautiously every now and then.

"What? I am not her child anyway, so whatever you're asking me to do, please, stop it. Ask her real child." I stood up, slapping off the dust on my jeans. I simply couldn't believe it- this story is so cliché, why would they expect me to believe it? It's just plain stupid. I reached forwards for the doorknob, but it suddenly disappeared.

"No- Stella!" Owl's tone suddenly became urgent, and he looked over at me pleadingly, "Please, whether you are her child or not- which I am pretty sure you are- just give it a try, please? The grudge between the two Kingdoms just kept on multiply, and we need it to break down. We are the two main magical Kingdoms that kept the human world running, and if this continues, I am sure that in the near future, all living things on earth will no longer exist."

"No." I replied firmly, though I could feel the sinking feeling weighing my heart down. I can't believe I am actually considering this...

"Stella..." Hendrick's voice echoed towards me, trapping my heart on the spot. I could hear Leo's uneven breaths thundering repeatedly behind my back.

I breathed out. "Fine."

>.<

I don't know why on earth I agreed to travel to that spot, but I did. You can tell how much I regretted that decision since the sunlight was basically toasting me alive right now.

Leo was standing next to me with his eyes pinched shut. I sighed and tugged on his arm, adjusting my backpack of supplies with my free hand.

Then we began our one hell of a journey.

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Chapter by @cn3433. I have been given her permission to copy her work here.

YO guys this is cn3433 :D So, uh, for some reason this reminds me of Percy Jackson with all the prophecy and stuff- maybe I wanted the last book to come out so much it's stuck on my mind... anyway, thank you very much for reading, and if you wish, please check out my profile! :D Some books I am working on right now- The Runaholic Couple and When All Leaves Began, and I am pretty sure you're regret it if you check out other books of mine since they're totally rubbish :P

Please, feel free to chat to me too if you want someone to talk to :D

Anyway, lots of love, Char.