~11 years ago~

"You know no one actually wants you here. You're just the town's charity case we all feel bad for," Harry said before shoving me to the ground. The air left my lungs in a soft whooshing sound. He and his two friends stood over me in a half circle formation. The light blue coats of their uniforms swaying in the wind. Harry's beady eyes glared down at me as if I had offended him. He was better than me, and it was apparent he knew it by the way he propped his head up with his nose in the air. He was a thin boy who could probably get blown away by a stiff breeze, but he strangely stuck fear into my heart. He had been attacking me for about two weeks now, and Harry made me promise never to tell another soul. Plus I had no one to tell. I didn't want to bother them with my problems, my older brother was never home due to work, and my younger brother is 2. I had no one; I had to suffer alone. 

"I-I'm sorry..." My voice turned raspy and hushed. Harry leaned over and stepped on my hand with his big black boots. I bit my lip in an attempt to keep quiet as I screamed in pain. Harry told me that if anyone caught us, he would make my life a living hell. Attack and harass me whenever he got the chance, throw every verbal abuse he could think of at me. Make sure no one in Recline ever saw me as more than the girl no one wanted. 

"Oh I'm gonna make you sorry," I covered my eyes with my hands on an attempt to protect myself when I saw he lifted his fist. But, a hit didn't come. I heard a loud smacking sound, and I opened my eyes. Two large stones had fallen to the ground in front of me. Harry laid on the ground holding his head in pain. 

"All three of you put together couldn't even make up one brain cell! Pick on someone your size you idiots!" Before I could check to see whose voice it was, another rock came flying at Harry. They took off running before it hit them.

"Cyra are you okay?!" I turned around to see Leillan running toward me. I didn't think I've ever been so happy to see someone. I stood slowly and cradled my hand with my other arm.

"Yeah, I am fine... Thank you Leillan" Leillan put her hand on my shoulder. Her dark blue eyes on my colorless grey. She was searched over my face to see if I lied. I did lie. Her eyes went softer, and her hand cupped my shoulder. Leillan knew I lied, the proof was written on her face. She chose not to say anything.

"Did you expect me to let those dummies hurt you? Sorry, but if they would've messed up your face, we wouldn't be able to be friends anymore." She began to laugh at her own joke "Seriously though. I would never let anyone hurt you, Cy. I will always be your knight in shining armor" Leillan puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips. I laughed, but the now intensified pain in my hand made me grind my teeth in pain. Leillan put her arm around my shoulders. 

"Let's get you back home Cy. Your dad already thinks I am a bad influence." 

"To be fair, you did convince me to smuggle a family of ducks in my room," I pointed out

"Was the dumb? Yes, Do I regret it? Nope," We laughed as we made our way through the colony. When I had her, I was never alone. 

~Present~

Blood was everywhere. Pooling around Leillan like a river. I ran to her quicker than I have ever run for anything. I was convinced that my heart was going to explode by how fast it was pounding. Once I got to her, I immediately went to my knees. My eyes were scanning over her body, scoping everything on her. I began to feel the hot blood touch my bare knees. People were running around us, but I didn't care about any of them. At that moment the only thing my heart was breaking for was Leillan. She took a knife for me. She saved me. My knight in shining armor

"Leillan, oh my god Leillan," I said in an almost blind panic. She was shaking and beginning to cough up blood. 

"HELP!" I screamed in every direction, but people seemed to be deaf to my cries for help. I held one of Leillan's bloody hands close to my chest. 

"Please don't leave me Leillan I can't do this without you," My tears fell off my cheeks and onto her face. Soon I saw purple hair running toward me. I tried to think of a world without her, and my heart felt like it my heart had been ripped out from my chest. I felt worthless, and I didn't know what to do to save her! I was helpless. I came here to help, but the only thing I've done is get hurt and get Leillan stabbed. 

"Cyra!! Leillan!!" It was Harmony, He was running to us, but I didn't look up at him. 

"What happened?!?" he said trying to stay calm but failing. Harmony tried his best to slow he breathing, to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and hide the shaking in his voice. The king of Majiey was terrible at hiding his emotions. 

"One of the Vinick stabbed her! Help me Harmony! Help me save her!" In Recline if you had an injury, you just prayed for the best and saw what happened. There had to be more than hope to save my Leillan in Majiey. 

"We need to get her to the doctor's station" He ripped off a long piece of his shirt and pressed it down tightly to her wound. I saw Leillan wince in pain.

"Cyra you hold this here as tightly as you can. I'll carry her, but we need to go quick." Harmony demanded. I nodded and replaced his hand on the fabric with my own. He picked her slowly, but once she was in his arms, he was off like a bullet. It was nearly impossible to keep up, but I did, Leillan had motivated me. We ran into the doctor's station as quickly as we could. I found myself sweating and gasping to catch my breath. I didn't focus on that since the sounds Leillan made as she choked on her own blood made all that not matter. There were people lined up against the walls which were hurt and awaiting treatment. All the healers in the kingdom had gathered in the doctor's area. 

"This girl needs help!" Harmony spoke loudly but not quite a yell

"Give us a moment," said one of the healers, her arms were coated up to her elbow in blood. She turned to look at us, and her eyes had grown wide when she saw the state of Leillan. She pointed to a nearby bed.  

"Place her there hun. We will fix her good as new" The healer has ear length brown hair that was purple as the ends, glasses that were in the shape of triangles and no less than a quarter size thick and her clothes were made out a mixture of leather and fishnet. Harmony and I placed Leillan down on the bed. Her eyes were glossy, and it seemed not wholly there. The cloth we had used to help with the bleeding was now drenched in blood.

"What happened exactly Babydoll." The healer's tone and overall charisma were as if Leillan's injury was far from the worst thing she had seen today. She acted as if her wound was a meer cut. This had made me furious. Leillan was dying, and she acted calmly. Plus all these nicknames made me want to puke. Although Now didn't seem like a good idea to reintroduce my breakfast to everyone.

"A Vinick stabbed her, he slammed her on the ground a few times as well," I explained to the healer. She nodded as she slid her hands under the bloody cloth. Leillan began to give off a soft white glow. After a few moments, Leillan shot and let out a loud gasp as if she was breathing for the first time. She began to cough hard; blood sprayed over the white blankets of the bed. The healer gave Leillan a glass of water before going to the next person who was injured. I took the cloth off to look at her stab wound and to my surprise the only thing that was left a thick white scar on her side. I looked at Leillan as if she was cracked glass. If I touched her, she would break. Leillan leaned back down against the mattress sweating and panting. Harmony cleared his throat to gain our attention, the veins in his neck popped up from stress again. 

"I am so terribly sorry to do this, especially now but I need to go. I need to see how much damage the Vinick's caused us. I wish I could stay," His tone showed genuine sorrow and grief. He was king, and it would be selfish of me to expect him to get rid of responsibilities for us.

"Harmony, go we will be fine. I am not going anywhere," I locked eyes with Leillan as I spoke. Harmony put a hand on both our shoulders and quickly walked out of the room. Leillan moved over on the bed and tapped the spot next to her. 

"No, I'm mad at you," I said crossing my arms "Why would you do that! You could've died! I could've lost you." I resisted the urge to curl up next to her by tapping my foot on the floor. "I can't lose you Leillan!" I said placing my hands on the edge of the bed.

"Losing you would be a fate worse than death Cy. I would lose my damn mind. I would die a million times over before I let anyone hurt you," her voice was breathy and slow. Like all the energy had been sucked out of her body. The healers magic must've taken everything out of her. I sighed lightly to myself. I fixed my dress a bit to straighten it out as if that would fix it. 

"Move over," I mumbled before climbing into bed with her. I leaned my head on her chest and listened to the steady thumping of her heart. It was a calming sound that made me feel everything was okay. Our beautiful clothes were stained with bright red blood, we were scared and injured, and we would soon be apart. But we were together now, that's all that mattered to me. Even though Leillan had a thick sheet of sweat coating her she still somehow smelled of lavender and orange blossoms. I looked up to check on her since it wasn't like her to stay so silent. Her lids were shut and her breathing had calmed down, she looked peaceful. My chest began to ache and my cheeks were hot. I leaned up and kissed her cheek; my heart tightened. I laid my head back on her chest. What was wrong with me?