Who is the Woman? What does she know about me? Is she a threat? What should I do???' Zaria was facing an avalanche of doubts with the element of fear added to it. She was conflicted between the two options she could think of at the moment 'FIGHT OR FLIGHT?' Zaria's fists were tightly clenched, and her heart beat increased four folds.

"It's alright," Miriam's voice was sweet and assuring. "I am just another person like you with a weird fate." She said. But Zaria wasn't buying any of it. She knew better than to trust a weird fortune-teller who knew about her more than she could guess. Her current situation had made her vulnerable to all strangers and she understood it well.

"How can I believe you?" Zaria heightened her guard.

"You don't have to believe me, I will help you control your powers and I won't stop you if you just leave after that."

"Powers?!" Zaria gave a humorless chuckle. "Are you not too old to play witches and wizards, old woman?" Ateel raised a brow at Zaria's comment which was easily ignored by Zaria. "I am a normal person. A human, if you comprehend. And humans do not have any powers. So please stop wasting my time." Zaria turned around ready to leave.

"Look who's talking?" Zaria heard Miriam's voice behind her. "Then try to explain today's events".

"As I said I don't owe any sort of explanations to you and I still don't know what you are talking about?" Zaria started walking away when she felt fingers wrap around her wrist. She looked up to find Ateel.

"Zaria I saw it," Ateel said in a small voice. "I saw you burn the boy. Let's just hear her out" Zaria was still reluctant. "I also want to know about my parents," Ateel added. Her voice shook as she spoke.

Zaria looked at Ateel and gave a small nod. This was the first time Ateel had asked something so she couldn't bring herself to reject her friend.

She walked to a corner and leaned on a wall as she waited.

The fortune-teller looked at Zaria and sighed.

"You will know about your origins when the time is right. So I will not tell you much about it. I will just tell you that you do not belong here and very soon you will have to go back to where you came from." she looked into a drawer as she spoke

"America?" Ateel asked expectantly.

"No" the fortune-teller shook her head "Everything will be revealed when the time is right. Just wait a bit longer. Now would you girls come closer? I need you to see something." Both the girls walked forward towards Miriam. Just then the woman pulled out a dagger and aimed it at Ateel.

At this moment it felt like a cord had snapped in Zaria. She caught hold of Miriam's throat in a swift motion. It was similar to the earlier case with the boy. The woman's skin blistered and the heat was increasing by every passing minute.

"Stop staring and call her back!!! At this rate, I might die. "Miriam yelled at Ateel.

By now Ateel had grown wary of the woman but she did not want Zaria to be branded as a murderer so she put a hand on Zaria's shoulder and called her in a soothing tone. "It's OK Zaria. I'm fine. Please let her go." Zaria came back to her senses and this time, she saw the thing she had done clearly but she wasn't sorry.

"You tried to hurt Ateel, and anyone who does that can't be left unharmed." She said.

"I wasn't trying to harm her." Miriam defended herself.

"Which sane person points a weapon at people without the intention to harm them or is that your unique way of saying hello?" Zaria glowered at Miriam.

"I just wanted to you to see what happens when someone tries to harm your so-called tattoo," Miriam said with an humph.

Zaria felt a tug at her shirt. She turned around to find Ateel mouthing 'we need to talk'. Zaria was in a heated argument with her potential foe and could not think of why her friend would want to talk privately to her now of all times. But she wouldn't say no to her so she turned back to Miriam and said: "excuse us." Miriam gave her a look which clearly said 'we are not done yet' It reminded Zaria so much of her mother. Ateel dragged Zaria to the side " I think I saw something weird just now." she said.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Everything about this place including her is weird" Zaria shrugged.

"No not her, and not this place either. I saw something weird on you." Ateel stressed.

"Me? And what would that be?" Zaria asked confusion quite clear in her voice.

"Well when you were had that woman pinned down, I saw something glowing under your sleeve, just where you have the tattoo. I'm not sure what it looked like but I guessed it to somewhat similar to a katana." Just as Zaria was about to speak Miriam interrupted their conversation.

"Come back here if you girls are done gossiping." She said impatiently." I think I have answers for your questions." she said.

"And what would that be? You will get to know later. Or Wait for the right time or some other Hamburg as such?" Zaria spat.

"You sure do have a big mouth for a girl of your age. Now come here" Miriam said as she motioned towards the chairs in front of her desk.

"Yeah so you can fling a sword at us next." Zaria rolled her eyes and stood at a safe distance from the woman.

"Shut up or I'll stitch your mouth without hesitation. You know, they are right when they say needles do what swords cannot." Miriam smirked satisfied with her comeback.

"And don't be so sure about me wanting to kill you. I'm not the one you should fear. Also, the dagger would have melted away if it was bought anywhere near her mark so nothing would have happened to her." This time, the fortune-teller walked towards Zaria and slowly bought the dagger near her arm to prove her point. And true to her words the dagger melted away.

"So you say we have super powers and are invincible and you can help us control these powers," Zaria asked. She was still a bit doubtful but also excited.

"Was this the reason for us losing our parents?" Ateel looked at the fortune-teller hoping to get a proper reply.

"It's a yes for both of your questions and would you just cancel the invincible part only your marks can't be destroyed." the fortune-teller replied.

"I don't want to." Zaria made a sulking face.

Miriam ignored her and continued "I cannot tell you anything more about your parents. I will train Zaria enough to not lose control over herself as for you Ateel it's not necessary. You do have powers but you won't go berserk. They will activate themselves when you reach the age of 20 then you can slowly work on them." Zaria continued to sulk as Miriam motioned them to roll up their sleeves.

"Also remember one thing." She continued. "Your marks represent your character and destiny. Zaria's sword within a flower shows her contrasting nature. As for you Ateel, your arrows within a shield depicts your will to protect others at the cost of your own life." she stressed on the point.

Both Zaria and Ateel nodded in understanding. Though it all seemed hard for the girls to take in they did not question the fortune-teller for she had proved herself true.

"Let's set a time for your training," the fortuneteller told Zaria "It will be every afternoon after school."

Thus the timing was decided and one more thing was added to Zaria's schedule. And this way they left the fortune-tellers shop.

As they walked towards their new home Zaria looked at her mark and sighed. She spoke in a soft voice "Mom, what are we? And where are we from? I do love fantasy, but did you have to leave me because of this? Mom, I don't even know if you are my real mother anymore but I still love you and want you to come back. Am I being selfish?" She let out a long sigh.

She raised her hands towards the sky and stared at them. It was one more peculiar habit of Zaria's that Ateel knew all too well.

'The time flows like an eroding river but why do I not flow with it? Why do I stay the same no matter how many years pass by me?' That was what Zaria usually said. In Zaria's memory, her growth and changes had stopped at a particular time and she could not remember her going through even a single change from that day. She had grown up pretty fast and then suddenly came to a standstill.

After staring at her hands facing the sky for some time she shook her head and laughed.

"Let's go. What good will it do to think about the past and regret? I know my mom she will come back at some point she is a strong woman, if she can raise a weird kid like me then she can live through everything." Zaria gave a light chuckle as she said this. She wanted to forget everything that was happening. She didn't want to believe it was all true.

The following month was not very eventful and both the girls were adapting well to their new lives. In this one month, Zaria had put in a lot of effort into her Martial arts training and she had been praised by Xian's father for being a quick learner. She also went ahead and got into street fights just to hone her skills. Ateel also learned a bit of self-defense from Zaria but she did not go along with Zaria's crazy Ideas. She tried stopping Zaria from getting into fights but she had no success so she just left it. As long as Zaria didn't go into her berserk mode it would be okay.

Even the school had calmed down but there still were a few girls who chased Zaria relentlessly and the boys continued glaring at her but no one dared to provoke her. The days flew away quickly and finally it was time for the most exciting time of the year. The camping trip!

Everyone waited eagerly for it including Zaria and Ateel.

"It's the biggest forest around here," Ateel said enthusiastically.

"Yeah I know I'm so excited. Let's go on a treasure hunt. I even packed all my favorite weapons in case we encounter some bandits." Zaria was jumping.

The girls were in high spirits. And finally the day they were waiting for was here but little did they know that this going to be the one trip they would never forget. Something that would turn their entire world upside down or may downside up. Who could tell? Whatever it was they had to face it head on but were they ready? The questions never end.

A/N : Did you all see the Pic? (if you haven't then go back to the top and only return after seeing it) . Saw it??? Those are the marks/ tattoos on Zaria's and Ateel's arms . Do you like them? 

Did you all expect this to happen? And what do you think about this chapter? Please leave a comment so that I can know. 

The next chapter will  follow the schedule. Meaning it will be out on Friday of the coming week. 

The next milestone will be 5 K reads. Don't be angry  with me ok . My hands are tied . I am really really busy with college work. But if you guys make it 5K reads in 3 weeks then I will  do my best to give you guys 3 extra chapters that week :)

E/N: And there she goes again, with all the 'I challenge you to and stuff.' I expect a real good response from you guys, this time, cos editing this one was not at all an easy  task, plus university is giving me a hard time. (also I'm proud of my ability to meet dead lines and I'm not boasting, mind you.)  

A/N : You know before this she wasn't expecting you to meet the 1.5 K challenge and when you did she literally screamed at me saying "what kind of readers do you have how did they manage to do it."  

She did the editing yesterday night at 10 tiring herself to death.