━ kiss of judas
( we're just getting started )
❝ come here, darling, her mother
beckoned, let me tell you a story ❞
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━ CHAPTER ONE !
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⠀IF YOU WERE TO ASK REYNA WHEN HER STORY BEGAN, she wouldn't be able to tell you an exact answer, which was ridiculous because it should've be easy. The beginnings of a story was at the start, shouldn't she, the protagonist of her own life, know the beginning? Technically, she should; It's her life, she should know. But Reyna's story wasn't just about her life ━ no, there were too many webs, too many others intertwined with it for her story to be just about her life.

⠀She could start by timeline. By the very first thing, very first life that helped impact her story. That life, a small life that soon became one of the most important in all of Reyna's life, the cause of it all, the tip of the iceburg, the very, very beginning. She could start there, make everything make sense instead of subjecting everyone to the confusion that was her point of view ━ she could start there. It was easy. She knew everything, the story, the history of what happened then ━ it would make everything so, so easy━

⠀But where's the fun in that?

⠀Why make everything easy? Why make everything make sense? Why have sense at all? No, it would be too kind of her to start at the very first, and if Reyna had learned anything about herself, it's that she wasn't as kind as she thought she was.

⠀So let's start at one of the most baffling days of her life ━ the beginning, not of her story, but of her part in the story; the beginning of her.

⠀Her beginning, her entrance to the story began on a simple day ━ or rather, it was supposed to be a simple day, a normal day if you will but fate decided it should be otherwise. And because you cannot fight fate, Reyna entered the story, and she didn't even know it.

⠀It was during her first day back in Alcura, the start of her second year, where Reyna first made an appearance. She stood among the other eager returning students inside the assembly hall. It wasn't exactly an assembly hall though, used as if it was but the interior, the design was more akin to a ballroom if anything. There was a stage at the end of the hall, one where the staff usually resided during such assemblies. There were chairs and tables located near the entrance and the sides, behind the pillars. Younger years sat in those chairs during assemblies, no order or specific grouping to it. Just sit wherever. The older years occupied the second floor. Reyna doesn't know what the second floor looked like but she could always see older years peering at them during assemblies from the gallery or indoor balcony. There was a path from the entrance leading to the space in front of the stage where no chairs or tables resided. This space was usually used for mingling, socialization, and even ceremonies. It's blocked from the rest of the hall with a fence, the space a little bit lower than the first floor hence the small stairs leading to it. Reyna currently stood in that space, her face blank, indifferent to the stares and whispers that followed her every move. She stood on her own, away from others but that didn't stop a crowd from forming around her as they try and fail to discreetly watch her.

⠀They bustled about, talking to their friends in whispers, sneaking a glance at her every now and then. Reyna didn't need to hear them to know that she was the topic of conversation.

⠀She sighed. How tiresome.

⠀Mentally, Reyna couldn't help but judge the people gossiping about her. Seriously, were they so bored that they resorted to making her, a literal twelve year old, the subject of their stares? How boring must your life be?

⠀But, she supposed, her surname was partly to blame for their awe.

⠀The great Salvadore family, her family, was quite well-known. Her father was the hero of the kingdom, a force in both war and politics. Being his daughter, having the same surname as him, was sure to make her a topic of conversation in her school. Reyna scoffed, hating her situation. Though she knew it was inevitable ━ she was quite literally a carbon copy of her father; she had the same tanned skin, the same blue eyes, the same eye shape, same nose ━ Reyna still hated how all they were talking about was her relation to the great Renzo Salvadore. She could hear their whispers, how they compared her to her father, how they gushed about being in the same year as the heir of the Predator, Renzo. It sickened her to have everyone talk of her father when seeing her. Can't they talk of anything else? Perhaps her achievements, for once.

⠀"Well, someone's angry," mused a familiar voice. Reyna snapped out of her thoughts and was pleasantly surprised to see Zekiel, standing next to her with an amused smirk on his lips. She blinked. "Zekiel," She acknowledged.

⠀His eyes twinkled. "Hello, cousin dear."

⠀Zekiel Velasquez was Reyna's cousin. The two of them were born only a couple of months apart (He was the older one and he never lets her forget it━ piece of shit) which led to them bonding and being close. Because of their closeness, the two of them grew very much alike which then led to Zekiel almost always visiting her and vice versa. However, they hadn't seen each other in quite while ━ a first for them. The Velasquez family decided to go on a holiday during their vacation. It's been a month since the two of them met and Reyna can't help but notice how much he's changed since then.

⠀Although he looked very much the same (still tanned as ever, same brown eyes, same messy hair, still lanky), he was also different in a way Reyna couldn't put a finger on. Was it his height? He did grow taller (fucking piece of shit ━ how dare he grow taller? Wasn't his height enough?). But Reyna could tell it was something else.

⠀He seemed ━ what was the word? Assured. He looked assured as if somehow, during his trip, he had grown to know himself more. Not that was bad or anything.

⠀Good for him, really.

⠀Reyna looked away from him. "You're late," She admonished, choosing not to question his sudden appearance.

⠀Zekiel's smirk turned into a grin. He rolled his eyes amused as if saying, of course you'd say that. "You're early," He retorted.

⠀She scoffed. "Better early than late."

⠀"Better here than not at all."

⠀Her eyes narrowed. His comebacks were better.

⠀Knowing what she was thinking, Zekiel's grin widened. "Missed me?" He teased.

⠀She rolled her eyes. "Not a chance."

⠀"Oh come on." He pouted (childish, she thought to herself, as always). He nudged her teasingly. "You know you do. You miss me, admit it."

⠀Reyna stared at him, eyes amused but face blank. "You're spending too much time with Atticus," She muttered before looking around. "Speaking of, where are the others?"

⠀The others she was referring to were their friends: Atticus, Charlie, and Morgan. The five of them met last year and became friends. They were, thankfully enough, grouped into the same class and were sorted into the same dormitory which led to their easy friendship.

⠀Atticus Caesar was the cousins' first friend in Alcura. He'd been seated next to Zekiel in class (a hilarious sight given Zekiel's height and Atticus' lack of height) and at first, the cousins had no plan on befriending the troublesome boy. Atticus, at first, seemed to be a classic asshole pretty boy. He had your standard pale skin, slicked back, clearly well-taken care of blond hair, and his green eyes always shining with mischief ━ not to mention how arrogant he walked and how much trouble he kept getting himself into.

⠀He was everything the cousins wanted to avoid and for the first month, they thought badly of Atticus. However, that changed after some asshole undermined Reyna's hardwork and Atticus had stood up for her. Granted, Reyna didn't need the help ━ she had been ready to ruin that asshole's life ━ but Atticus' actions made the cousins realize how wrong they were about him. After that, the cousins and Atticus became unlikely friends.

⠀It was just the three of them for a while, a terrific trio they were ━ though some did call them the troublesome trifecta, always wreaking havoc one after another. Later on, weeks after the cousins befriended Atticus, they met their two other friends, Charlie and Morgan.

⠀Charlotte Jian, or Charlie as she liked to be called, was their second friend. They met her after she'd been paired up with Reyna for a project. The boys had teased Reyna about the grouping, insisting that her grades would drop, to her annoyance ("You're way too much of a bitch to be able to work well with a stranger, Rey," Atticus told her, a shit-eating grin on his stupid face. Reyna had nearly pummeled him to the ground but Zekiel was quick to remind her that that behavior was not top student behavior ━ Atticus lived to see another day). But while the boys insisted their duo would fail, Charlie and Morgan had proved them otherwise. They got the highest grades for the project which made Reyna smug.

⠀"You were saying?" She had said, smirking the same way Atticus had done.

⠀The boys had only sighed in defeat.

⠀After that, Charlie had slowly began joining their friendgroup. It began when the boys had brought up the project to which Reyna retorted by bragging about how well Charlie and her had worked together. Charlie had been walking by, trying to find a place to sit, when she was spotted by the group. Reyna ended up bringing her over and the rest was history.

⠀Days after Charlie was officially a part of their group, the four of them encountered Morgan. Their meeting with them wasn't as peaceful or as nice as the others. In fact, the way they met Morgan was through a fight. Atticus had gotten himself on their wrong side ━ as he always did ━ after he had accidentally pushed them. Morgan had believed his push was purposeful and ended up cursing at him for it. Atticus, that stupid boy, cursed back and the two almost got into a fistfight had the other three not physically restrained him. Zekiel got Atticus to apologize but the damage was already done; Morgan hated Atticus and by association, them as well. The group didn't care much for it, they've had their fair share of haters, except Charlie did not bode well with making an enemy. In fact, she had stressed about it all the time and felt so guilty even though she'd done nothing. She was driving herself mad at the thought of someone hating her. Sympathetic for their friend, Reyna, Zekiel, and Atticus all decided to make a plan to make Morgan like them (Atticus took a while to agree though but the cousins were quite persuasive ━ threats were totally not involved).

⠀It took a while, almost an entire month, and a shit ton of effort but the group had managed to get on Morgan's good side. Apparently, all they needed to do was properly explain the situation to them since Morgan had thought they were only lying when they first told them that the shove was an accident. After seeing that they were actually genuine, Morgan felt bad for their treatment towards them and then one thing happened after the other and now they're all friends ━ It took a while for Atticus to accept Morgan though, still salty about their mini-argument, but a heart to heart (after a fist fight) was all the persuasion he needed.

⠀And that was how their friend group formed. Each meeting was hilarious and precious in its own way. They'd been friends ever since and, though she'd never admit it, Reyna missed them during their break. She wasn't able to visit them or keep in touch with them much due to her family. Apparently, she wasn't allowed to visit them until they've assessed if they were worthy of her presence ━ bullshit, really. Sometimes she really hated her last name.

⠀Everything's always so much more complicated when you're a Salvadore.

⠀"They're outside," Zekiel answered, his voice snapping Reyna out of her inner musings. He adjusted himself, standing taller upon growing aware of the stares on them.

⠀Look, it's the cousins, the crowd were now whispering. Reyna rolled her eyes.

⠀Ignoring their stares, the boy continued. "They didn't want to enter the hall just yet. Too stuffy, they said. I'm starting to believe I should've done the same ━ how long have they been staring at us?"

⠀"Since the moment you arrived," She answered with a sarcastic smile.

⠀He frowned. "How long have they been staring at you?"

⠀"Since the moment I arrived."

⠀"And how long have you been here?"

⠀Reyna pursed her lips, thinking. "About an hour, give or take."

⠀He blinked. "That long and you haven't left once?" At her confirming nod, he let out an incredulous laugh. "Right, as if you have the patience for that."

⠀"Excuse me?" She crossed her arms, offended. "You know, I am more patient than you think."

⠀He snorted. "I've known you your entire life," He said giving her a look which she glared at. "Patient is not the word I'd use to describe you."

⠀"Well, maybe you don't know me at all because I am patient."

⠀Zekiel gave her a look. She relented. "On occasion," She then added.

⠀"Liar," He muttered. She made a face but before she could retort, he was already speaking, "You know, when we were kids, you got mad at me for being late ━ for not arriving on time for our playdate, and I was late by a minute. A minute, Rey, and you lost your shit over it. Patient is not the word to describe you."

⠀She scoffed. "Okay, first of all, the only reason I was mad that you were late by a minute was because we were on a very time sensitive schedule ━ you seem to have forgotten that during that playdate, as you so call it, we were supposed to go to grand opening of the new restaurant and it was vital for us to arrive early so as to avoid the line and━"

⠀"Rey, I was literally late by a minute. A minute doesn't matter━"

⠀"A minute matters a lot actually ━ seconds matter as well━"

⠀"Yeah, well, either way the line wouldn't have mattered because you're a Salvadore. You're a privilege baby━"

⠀"Do not call me privilege baby ━ you are too!" Before he could retort, Reyna continued on with her point. "And, back on the topic, second of all, I was a child when I lost my shit over that━"

⠀"You're still a child now."

⠀"I was eight," She corrected, glaring at him. "That was four years ago. I've grown since, I've changed, and by the way, had we not been on a time-sensitive schedule━"

⠀"Again, privilege baby," He muttered.

⠀She glared at him. Shut up. "I wouldn't have gotten mad. Understood?"

⠀Zekiel stared at her not saying anything. For a brief, foolish second, Reyna thought she'd gotten to him; that he understood and would back off. But alas, he was a stubborn prick, and an even more annoying cousin. He smirked and that was all it took for Reyna to start groaning. "You're mad," He pointed out childishly, clearly amused.

⠀"You're annoying," She muttered loud enough for him to hear.

⠀He purposely ignored her.

⠀"Do you know your accent grows thicker when you're mad?"

⠀She smiled sarcastically. "Are you aware that if you're not to stop talking soon, you'll be a victim to manslaughter?"

⠀"You also get more posh," He observed, ignoring her threats. "Which is hilarious because some people, when mad, they lose all elegance and curse like a sailor ━ they sound barbaric and all that, but you, you, dear cousin, you get more posh. Your way of speaking becomes more refined, more elegant, more posh ━ it's hilarious."

⠀He grinned. She stared.

⠀It was quiet for a while, neither cousin moving or talking. Just staring at each other until,

⠀"Are you done?"

⠀"Yeah."

⠀"Good." Reyna sighed, turning away from him in favor of staring ahead. "Now, please do me a favor and keep quiet whilst I━"

⠀"Isn't it weird that the ceremony hasn't started yet?"

⠀"What did I just tell you?"

⠀"No, no, no, no." Zekiel shushed her, ignoring the threats in her eyes. What was with this boy and ignoring her? Her temper flared. "Listen, listen━ you've been here for, what? An hour, right? And the ceremony hasn't started yet? No, no announcements or anything, which, you got to admit, it's weird. Alcura is known for keeping up with their schedule. The Welcome Ceremony should started, what? Twenty minutes ago? By all means, when I walked through that door, the ceremony should've already started━the welcoming speech should've already ended, or ending ━ which I was banking on ━ but still, nothing. Do you even know why the ceremony's so delayed?"

⠀Reyna thought about it. "No," She answered after a pause. "Come to think of it, no staff has entered this room at all, and I was one of the first people here. You're right, that is weird."

⠀"Right?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "I wonder what happened."

⠀"Yeah. . . me too."

⠀It dumbfounded her how she hadn't noticed it beforehand. Of course, she'd been suspicious by the delay but she hadn't exactly thought much about it, too focused on trying to ignore her growing crowd. It was quite frustrating to know she'd missed such a detail but didn't let it bother her that much (It definitely bothered her ━ in fact, it bothered her a lot but she'd never admit that). Instead, Reyna decided to focus on the current situation; on the delay itself.

⠀Why hasn't the ceremony begun yet? Alcura's never delayed anything this long before. A couple of minutes maybe, but twenty? Unheard of.

⠀Something was clearly wrong.

⠀Her stomach churned and then, there was that. A feeling, a fleeting feeling, barely even there at all, but it was there and it made the hair on her arms rise in alarm. Something was very wrong and something told her that whatever it was, she wasn't going to like it, not one bit.

⠀Before she could act on her feeling, there was a great rumble.

⠀The earth beneath her began to shake.

⠀Fuck! Reyna lost her footing in her surprise. She fell forward but was caught by Zekiel who was quick to shield her. The two of them drop down to their knees, curling up into themselves like the other students, and watched, with frightened eyes, how the building shook. There was a sense of panic in the air and all students thought of the same thing: The building was going to collapse on them.

⠀Screams came from all around them but the cousins didn't pay them any mind. They caught each other's eyes, wide and fearful.

⠀They needed to get out.

⠀"WATCH OUT!"

⠀Reyna froze. Her eyes broke off from her cousin, intending to find who had screamed. Instead of finding them, however, she found the person who the scream was for. It was a girl, her age, someone Reyna didn't recognize, and she was crouching near a wall. Reyna's eyes trailed around her, stopping as she realized with a start that the wall was breaking ━ she'll die from the impact, she needs to move━!

⠀"RUN!" Reyna yelled at the girl ignoring how Zekiel was pulling her away. "MOVE! NOW!"

⠀Her voice clearly startled the poor girl. She froze, staring at Reyna. Wide, frightful hazel eyes met panicked blue ones. Reyna wanted to yell at the girl. Stupid girl! She was screaming in her mind. Move, damn it! Now was not the time to freeze!

⠀People around her were screaming at the girl too. "MOVE!" They yelled as some older students began to run to save her but the girl was dazed, frozen in fear and confusion.

⠀A piece of the wall broke. It began to fall. The girl looked up, frozen, unable to do anything as the rubble fell in speed that would surely crush her.

⠀Reyna screamed, the sound echoed by those around her.

⠀Zekiel was dragging her away at this point, uncaring if she struggled against his grip. He was talking to her, trying to soothe her and distract her from what was sure to be a death scene, but Reyna refused to look away. She watched, just as frozen and as frightened as the girl, as the rubble fell and fell and━!

⠀Her blood ran cold. "No," She whispered just as the impact came.

⠀The impact was strong enought o shake the ground once more. The students that were running to save the girl ended up on the ground after they lost their balance. Reyna was no exception. She, too, had fallen, landing on her behind as the impact came and dust covered where the girl used to be, blocking everyone's vision from the death. There were screams all around, horror and panic settled in everyone.

⠀Zekiel grasped her arm. "Reyna," He coaxed from her left. "We need to go."

⠀"She died," was all Reyna could say.

⠀He didn't bother to deny her claim. "We need to go," He repeated, much more firmly as the assembly hall began to fall apart. When Reyna refused to say anything else, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He carried her bridal style and began to run them to safety. Reyna didn't try to struggle in his hold, only looking over his shoulder in a daze, her mind repeating the same mantra over and over again: She died, she died, she died, she diedshediedshedied━

⠀Right before the cousins left the assembly hall, Reyna managed to catch a glimpse of the dust fading away and the girl under the rubble. Reyna didn't get to process the sight as Zekiel was running in speeds he normally wouldn't but she swore, in her father's name, that the girl was alive. There was an energy barrier around her, purple if Reyna saw right, and it saved her.

⠀She's alive, her mind whispered.

⠀Her logic disagreed. We saw her die, it argued. No one can survive that impact.

⠀No one normal, at least, went unsaid.

⠀And not for the first time in her life, Reyna was glad she, and the rest of those around her, were far from normal. The girl's a Mira, she thought to herself in relief. Of course she'd survive.

⠀Now eased with the thought that no, she didn't just see someone die ━ she survived, Reyna finally snapped back into her senses and began looking forward. She gestured for Zekiel to put her down, something she knew he was grateful for. Even after years of practice, it still wasn't easy for Zekiel to carry her for an extended period of time, much less run while doing so. He never had been the physically strong type, neither was she.

⠀He placed her on the ground as soon as they had left the assembly hall. Since the assembly hall wasn't really a hall (It was more of a stand-alone building located at the gateways), they were already outside, where their friends said they would be.

⠀Clearly thinking of the same thing, the cousins began looking around, trying to spot their friends. However, no matter how long they looked, they couldn't find them.

⠀It stressed Reyna to no end.

⠀They should be right here. Zekiel said they would and yet, none!

⠀Where were they?

⠀People around them were running about, the screaming still at an all-time high. Clearly the chaos wasn't over. There was screaming and sounds of fighting (What was that about?) all around her. More and more people left the garden in front of the assembly hall. They were probably running to safety, to either their old dorms or even towards the school (which was ridiculous because the school's barriers hasn't opened yet ━ there's no way they could enter) but Reyna couldn't care less about them. She and Zekiel stayed in the garden, looking for their friends to no avail.

⠀It didn't take long for them to be the only ones left in the garden, the rest either already left or still in the assembly hall, helping the people who were stuck under the rubble (Bless their hearts, really).

⠀"They're not here," Zekiel whispered the obvious.

⠀Reyna sighed. She bit her tongue, stoping herself from making a sarcastic remark. Now was not the time to argue, not when their friends were nowhere to be found. "They probably left," She guessed thinking hard about their friends. "Most likely to our old dorms."

⠀"Probably," Her cousin agreed. "Hopefully, they didn't get separated."

⠀She didn't even want to think about the possibility of them being separated. The thought alone made her panic rise and she can't have that. As she said, now was not the time.

⠀Choosing to ignore what he said, she changed the topic. "We should go through the woods. There's a shortcut there, they probably used it knowing Atticus."

⠀"Right but we should━"

⠀He didn't get to finish his words as a cold feeling washed over them. Someone was here, they both realized upon sensing a sudden, unfamiliar energy. Sensing people's presence by their energy alone was a skill taught to them during their first year, one of the first lessons ever taught to them. Reyna briefly recalled how their instructor had warned them of how important the skill would be in the future. You never know who's watching, after all.

⠀There was a tense silence that befell the cousins, neither one of them knowing how to proceed.

⠀Were they an enemy? It was clear that the earthquake hadn't been some random, unexplained event. It was caused by something, that much she was sure of. Alcura was not a place where natural disasters occur. It's impossible for a natural disaster to happen in Alcura ━ the enchantments placed in the school prevents it. Something caused the earthquake and if the faint sounds of fighting (People screaming, older students chanting skills, swords clashing, battle cries roaring in the air━ "LET'S SHOW THEM WHAT WE'RE MADE OF!" She could vaguely hear someone scream in the distance. "FUCK OFF OUR SCHOOL, ASSHOLES!") were anything to go by, the problem was still unresolved. Whoever caused this chaos was still here. Their group was still here. 

⠀She could feel the unknown watching the two of them closely. The hairs on her arms stood up in alarm. They were hiding and assessing them. That was not a good sign.

⠀The possibility of them being an enemy was becoming more and more likely by the second.

⠀"Fuck," She muttered under her breath. Zekiel gave her a look.

⠀What do we do? He was asking.

⠀Reyna wanted to die, or at least take a very long nap. She didn't know. A part of her wanted to simply walk away and avoid the stress altogether but something told her she couldn't do that. Another part of her, the hopeful part, was whispering that hey, maybe they're just a terrified new student that's hiding, y'know it's likely. But like hell Zekiel would believe that. The look in his eyes told her that he was hellbent on seeing the unknown as a threat (Smart, her detached mind whispered. Always consider the unknown to be a threat until proven otherwise).

⠀Before she could reach on a decision, Zekiel had already lost patience.

⠀He turned to where the unknown was hiding, behind one of the bushes in the garden. "Show yourself," He demanded. "We know you're there."

⠀Reyna wanted to kill him. What the fuck are you doing? She glared at him.

⠀Zekiel refused to meet her eyes, opting to stare intently at the unknown's hiding spot as if willing them to come out. After two seconds of complete, awkward silence, the unknown fulfilled his silent wish and slowly but surely they stood up, revealing themselves.

⠀"Hi," They squeaked awkwardly, shuffling in her feet.

⠀The cousins stayed silent, assessing them.

⠀Girl, was the first thing Reyna thought of. They're a girl, or at the very least had feminine features. Like the girl from the assembly hall (She's alive, alive, alive, alivealivealive━), she looked around their age, probably older than Reyna because who isn't? They had pretty flawless porcelain skin, not a zit or mole in sight. Their hair was long, unlike Reyna's and literally everyone else she knew (Was it a trend to cut your hair short or what?). It was red in color, a dark red color, almost like wine. They were average in height, only around Reyna's ears from the looks of it, and they looked scrawny but something (the fire hidden underneath the fear in her pretty green eyes) told Reyna that they weren't weak at all.

⠀Immediately, Reyna stood on guard. She didn't know who they were which was utterly ridiculous because Reyna knew everyone. Even the new students that she was supposed to meet for the first time today, she knew them, or at least their families.

⠀This girl, their features, did not match anyone Reyna knew and that, itself, was alarming.

⠀"Who are you?" She asked, practically demanded.

⠀A crooked, troublemaker sort-of smile blossomed on the unknown's face. Neither of the three knew it but their meeting, their collision would only be the start of a lifetime's worth of chaos. This was their beginning. 

⠀"The name's Liezel."

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˗ˏˋ©crownqueenwriting 'ˎ˗

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━ author's note !
finally done with chapter one!! took a long while bcoz some family
members came by and i went on a week long vacation
not exactly my best work but i am proud of it
always did struggle with chapters
unedited - if you see any mistakes, pls say so! 
chapter two might take a long while but i'll try my best
votes and comments are highly appreciated!! ty!!