𝒟𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, ᵛᵃʳᵍᵃˢ ᶻᵒᵐ...

( 𝓓𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 )
chapter seven. idiots in love

        "𝓐RE YOU GUYS OKAY after the blast?" elysia asked. she hadn't been able to see them well through the smoke and she knows nova was trying to help victor before they passed out from the impact. she couldn't believe her father initiated that. it could've been way worse.

        "oh, the one that burned the whole orchard ━━ yeah, we're fine." vargas quipped and elysia snickered at his sarcasm.

        "just a couple of scratches. didn't hurt as much as the back flip." victor nudged nova as she grimaced.

        "still sorry for that."

        they reached the structure after a few breaks of walking, with how far they made it ━━ and found addison and zed sitting on the roots. zed was pretty shaken up, his wristband failing after the blast that destroyed the orchard. willa and eliza were there too, but addison was the one by her boyfriend's side, attached to his arm. elysia frowned, feeling terrible that all they wanted to do was help, but they hurt them.

        "you guys didn't go with everyone else?" willa asked, seeing the four.

        "we're not exactly invited." vargas retorted with a sigh. he sat down on the ground against the cave walls.

        "wait ━━ look at that," victor stepped closer to the roots, and elysia took her eyes off vargas to see what he saw. the machine beeped momentarily. "the black roots are from our orchard."

        "and the white roots are ours," nova realized. her eyes widened in anticipation. "why are they healthy if they both look terrible?"

        "no clue. maybe the cauldron has something to do with it?"

        elysia plopped beside vargas, exhausted from their walk as they all looked up. in front of the blossoming sunset were the wires, the shapes of their stones ━━ from both sides.

        "guys?" victor hesitantly expressed. "what does that look like to you?"

        "it's supposed to hold the lightstone," elysia says in awe.

        "and the darkstone," vargas said.

        "wait, ya'll have moonstones?" zed questioned and addison looked at him with a smile.

         "that's how you get monsters!"

        "━━good point."

        "so that's what this room is for. to feed all the orchards from our moonstones' energy!" nova exclaimed.

        "we just need to bring the moonstones here!" elysia jumped up, pulling vargas by the arms as she swung them around happily.

        "it's not gonna be easy." victor's voice was low, dimming the hope elysia felt sparkling in her chest. "that means stealing the most important thing from our villages and bringing them here. that's never happening."

        "we're gonna have to find another way." nova bit her cheek and sighed. "let's go."

        elysia looked down before vargas put his hand on the small of her back, leading her out the cave to follow. footsteps echo between the walls behind them, and addison and zed pop out, brows furrowed and determined.

        "wait!" zed panted. "never say never, cause it's not too late, strategize a plan and go innovate."

        "it feels like forever since we were your age. we're passing you the torch, so don't hesitate." addison sang, the group looking at each other. elysia wasn't sure if they could pull this off ━━ not after vargas and victor were banished and the bright sister's betrayed their own father. they would have to sneak in to get the stones!

        "hi온라인카지노게임 is yours to make." zed wraps his arm over addisons's shoulder. she holds it with a soft smile.

        "it takes strength to break the chains."

        they blend together. "as day combines with night."

        zed walked towards nova and elysia, shoulders touching as addison stepped in front of victor and vargas. "only you four can see, your destinies are intertwined."

       "so, get ready 'cause you're in for a fight," zed resounded. "yeah!"

        could they do this? was this what her sister's visions have always been about ━━ leading to this very moment? elysia looked down at nova, who's eyes were focused on the determination on victor's face. elysia met vargas's stern gaze, different from how it always was.

        she didn't have to fight the vampires to prove her leadership to her father. but if she did this to help the orchard and zed, she'd prove herself worthy. this whole time, her insecurities were based on the fact she was looking up to someone who never believed in her, when she needed to believe in herself first.

        "i know the odds are stacked against you," they sang. "i have faith you're gonna find a way."

        "you got this." zed held elysia's and nova's arms. "i promise. even though it seems impossible."

        addison hugged the girls, helping them up off the log. "you got this if. you want this. impossible is possible."

        elysia held her hand out slightly and fingers intertwined with hers, shaking it in encouragement. vargas.

        "if you don't try, you'll never know."

        "hell, yeah, we got this!" elysia jumped, pulling vargas to the cabin where the remainder the vampires and daywalkers were packing their things. the eldress left to lead a while ago, so luckily, she wouldn't know their plan.

         "gather around, come down and listen to me━━" victor started, his voice overpowering their chatter. the vampires turned in confusion.

        one girl put her hands on her hips. "weren't you banished?"

        vargas sighed as elysia glared at her. "give him your silence!"

       "i'll give you my legacy," victor sang.

        "there's no way!" they chanted and scoffed.

        "we have a plan to write a new hi온라인카지노게임." nova held her arms out. "let go of our hate and embrace our unity!"

        "can we do it?"

        "we can stop a war before they start it!" elysia smirked, hair swinging as she looked to watch them all.

        "let's go!" vargas joined in with the crowd, smiling at elysia.

        victor raised his arm to the sky. "rise above the bad blood and the heartache."

        elysia joined now. "let's go!"

        "so where do you stand? 'cause we're gonna do what we can!"

        "we're ready!"

        "come on, let's rep it for the next gen." victor smirked. the daywalkers and vampires gathered closer, hearing them out.

       "it's a necessity, our destinies are intertwined," nova sang.

        everyone put their hands in the middle of their circle, nodding at each other. "well, get ready 'cause we're in for a fight."

        they cheered as their hands flew to the sky. and parted ways. while most of the vampires and daywalkers went to gather the fruit ━━ nova, victor, elysia, and vargas headed to the cavern where they knew commander bright and the eldress would be crossing.

        they crossed the field, elysia's chest tightening with each step. last time she was here, she'd shown her most vulnerable self to vargas. being with him felt like how they flew ━━ exciting and scary. it's how she came to the conclusion that she never wanted to be the leader anymore. now, here she was again, going to make a difference.

        she could only hope it would be enough.

        "you got this." nova and elysia harmonized.

        "no, we got this." vargas and victor smirked.

        they all joined in. "our will is indestructible. we got this, we promise. impossible is possible. if we don't try, we'll never know."

        they let their voices carry them through the cave with power, fuelling the ambition in elysia's chest.

        the four put their hoods up, hiding in the shadows as they spot their people crossing. the eldress looked beyond pissed, and so did her father. she looked down, not even able to bear seeing his face ━━ but vargas noticed and put his hand on her arm soothingly.

        "you okay to do this?" he whispered. the flames illuminating the cave flickered across his features. "not that i don't believe in you ━━ of course ━━ but are you good?"

        she laughed, exasperated. seeing nova so determined made her nod. "yeah, i'm okay."

        he rubbed her arm up and down before it went back to his side, her arm feeling cold without his touch.

        "go time." vargas chipped and rubbed his hands together as the rest pulled their hoods down once the vampires and daywalkers crossed. vargas and victor wen't in the direction of shadyside while elysia and nova bolted for brightside. she was running as fast as she could, legs burning because she's running fast than her body can handle ━━ and her half-healed leg.

        elysia and nova neared the white buildings of their town, with daywalkers everywhere ━━ also guarding the stone, ugh.

        elysia shook her head, ignoring the fact she was stealing from her own people. as nova always did, she's in power, blowing the whistle she got from addison. the daywalkers spun their head to see the sisters on the roads, hands on their hips, determined.

        "step away from the stone and no one gets hurt," nova ordered.

        elysia smirked. "i would do what she said if i were you.   .   ."

        that didn't last long because they immediately retaliated, charging towards them once they tried to get close to the stone. alright then, the hard way!

        instinct made elysia throws her arm towards a man's head, fist clenched so feistily and powerfully, her knuckles were white. while she's busy fighting off one, another fist into her view but she ducks to dodge it, using his moment of vulnerability to kick his legs from underneath him.

        he fell to the ground with a grunt, struggling to get up from how he landed. she quickly looked to nova, who was fighting off three guys at once. she quickly sprinted to knock one of the men out, leaving nova with two that she impressively pinned down so elysia could grab their moonstone.

        the men on the ground were slowly starting to recover, so the two held onto the stone tightly with an impressed smile. elysia didn't know why she had to doubt herself all the time. she and her sister were powerful in their own ways. she was grateful to have a fighter like her at her aid. she was so damn proud.

        "this is our time to make it right," nova and elysia beamed, gazing at each other as they ran back to the cave, only praying victor and vargas would show with their moonstone. "fight for the darkness and the light. gamble our lives and roll the dice. it's either now, or never!"

        winding through the tunnels, the moonstone glows with purpose ━━ how it's always truly meant to be used. with the vampires moonstone ━━ together.

        "we've got the strength inside us. let it guide us through our darkest days." over the sisters' voices, elysia could hear the faint, low echo of the boys amid the rock walls as they ran. "we got this, we promise. impossible is possible."

        they turned the corner, and elysia sees vargas's vengeful eyes. brown eyes that softened with relief when the girls came into view. victor smiled at nova, and they looked to the camp.

        "we got this!" nova voiced. "it was always possible."

        "together, we made it possible."

        "i knew you and me would find a way." they harmonized and elysia gave a look to vargas.

        "okay, no more sing song, we gotta go!" elysia shrieked ━━ she had to admit, they were cute, though ━━ and they laughed as they ran towards the entrance to the cave tunnels where they entered to help zed.

        to elysia's horror, the vampires and daywalkers made it there first, having realized they took the rest of the bloodfruit. this was not going to be good. she closed her eyes too tightly, a headache started to form.

        "nova, elysia.   .   ." their father drawled in shock.

        "i thought i were to never see you boys around here!" the eldress spat, venom soaring through her eyes towards victor and vargas. but they didn't step away, they only held their chins higher in spite. "traitor━━"

        "i think you mean leader," victor spat.

        "you girls, hand over the light stone. right now," her father seethed in warning. "nova, i thought you could lead my people, but i was wrong."

        "their my people too," she retorted vindictively, clutching the stone behind her. elysia furrowed her brows as nova talked back to their father. his perfect daughter didn't seem so perfect now, huh? maybe he deserved it. because what was worse than having one daughter who was a screw up? ━━ two. "and my people want to live in peace!"

        at least nova and elysia were in it together.

        "seize them!" the eldress ordered.

        "see if you can guess what i am!" fire illuminated behind ray, forming into wings. elysia's mouth opened in shock as his powers started in his hands, holding balls of fire to the sky. "i'm a phoenix. caw ━━ caw!"

        ray shot his fire in front of the four, where the eldress and commander bright stood.

        "not too bad of a shot, ray!" elysia beamed, running past the commanders with the four.

        "what would you do without me? hah." he fixed his shirt jokingly.

        victor and vargas's fangs showed as they created a wind cloud above the structure before victor and nova went to climb. they could do this, she knew they could.

        "nova! be careful," elysia urged nervously, vargas pulling elysia back from the smoke, seeing that the commanders were starting to shoot back. at nova and victor.

        "dad! what are you doing? stop!" elysia ran in front of him. "shooting at your own daughter, really? for bloodfruit ━━ that's a joke!"

        she never allowed herself to be as angry as she was. let it show so evidently in her voice and face as it shook, veins tensing in anger. vargas etched his brows lower as she watched pain tear through the girl. he had to remind himself her father was the one doing this, it was bullshit.

        "dad! please just stop!" she grabbed his arm as he fought through her, shooting another blast of fire at the top of the structure. she wasn't begging on the half of trying to get the moonstones in their place, which he probably thought she was doing ━━ she genuinely cared. cared about the aftermath of this war ━━ how they wouldn't be able to look at their father if he hurt nova or victor up there.

        the structure trembled as more fire met the stone, a chunk of the ledge collapsing dangerously close to where nova was amid the thick, dark fog. she barely held on as they shoved the moonstones in place, and a scream caught in her throat when the structure shook.

        elysia flinched, hand going to her mouth as a tear brimmed in her eye. one leg of the structure completely ripped out of the ground as addison and zed ran to hold it. but it was way too heavy for both of them. vargas and elysia grabbed the other, to no avail.

        "it won't stay with us holding it," elysia realized shakily, in tears now. vargas cursed under his breath as he used all his muscle to hold it up, knowing it wouldn't do much either. the fog whirlwind was too strong to take down now; not even any of the commanders could do it.

        "i can't do it! unless i fully zombie out!" zed cried in agony. his wristband was beeping as fast as elysia's heart pounded against her rib cage. she closed her eyes. this wasn't real, none of this was━━

        "zed, no you can't! you'll be stuck in your monster form forever!" addison responded, wide-eyed. her blond and blue hair whipped around her among the wind. that whistled in elysia's ears.

        "i have to try," he shouted. "i love you addison. i always have."

        quickly, the girl pulled elysia and vargas away with tears in her eyes as zed ripped the band from his flesh. he growled in protest as his human form fought his zombie, but he latched onto the metal bars quickly. without pain, he was strong enough to lift and stabilize it before he fell to the ground. elysia put her hands over her eyes with a whimper when she heard the breaths he took failing to make it down his throat, in agonizing wheezes. vargas's chest was heaving in and out as he pulled elysia close, as if their touch was enough power to make this all go away ━━ that everything would be okay.

        her eyes open when she hears addison's soft voice, dry from crying. "someday, this could be, this could be ordinary. someday, could we be something extraordinary?"

        his lips wobbled in a tiny smile as his eyes fluttered closed. "you and me side by side. out in the broad daylight."

        "if they laugh, we'll say.   .   ." her voice fell and elysia couldn't even see what was happening ━━ she didn't want to. she was holding her arm half over one eye as the other was in vargas's chest. they lost zed, and she was so close to loosing her sister.

        memories flashed of zed finding them on their way to the cave to find the bloodfruit. when she was naive under her fathers spell ━━ hungry for blood just for themselves. despite being in danger, zed always tried to keep the mood light and joked with them. she hadn't even known him for more than a week, and her chest felt as if it we're caving in. she cursed herself for feeling emotions so deeply to the point where she was in physical pain. more hurt than her leg ever endured.

        suddenly, vargas and elysia are thrown back from a loud blast. the rocks rumbled underneath them as elysia is thrown off balance, but vargas holds her steadily in his arms. she raises her head to see nova and victor on the ground.

        "nova!" elysia cried, immediately wrapping her arms around her and shielding her face from everyone. "oh my god."

        she smiled and pulled away from her, staying close as victor and vargas stood behind them while looking up to the sky. the yellow and blue hues of each stone mixed together, sending lighting strikes to each cloud above them.

        the lighting caused the clouds to fuel, and rain poured down onto them. elysia gasped as she held her hands out. she hadn't felt rain in ages from the drout and now with the water to━━

        grow the orchard!

        cheers erupted around them as elysia giggled, twirling around as it pattered against her skin. the roots chymed.

        victor and nova bounded up the stairs and looked out the cracked rock window, where the bloodfruit freshly bloomed on the millions of dead branches.

        "we did it!" she exclaimed. "we healed the orchards!"

        "hell yeah!" vargas whooped, picking elysia up and spinning her around again. this time, her leg didn't hurt when he put her down, but he did it gently anyway. electricity is blooming through her chest as if there were dead branches inside of her. ones that we're being put back together and growing into something beautiful.

        she blinked up at him, cheeks wet with tears and rain. her heart's racing as his hands lingered at her waist just a second longer than they needed to.

        thunder echoed in a fierce blast as zed laughed too. he was okay! "and the orchard healed us!"

        "all monsters are connected by the moonstones," willa said. "you kept your moonstones apart for too long ━━ it caused your orchards to die. and the pulse that was released affected all of us."

        "our ancestors, they built this place together." victor cheered.

        "for both our towns ━━ all of us!" nova did too. "once a year, we'll come to camp and we'll bring ourselves together. we'll bring balance to our orchards and our worlds."

        it was meant to be them all along ━━ vampires and daywalkers.

        her and vargas.

        her mind drifts to the wind that pulled her to the sky, where she felt so free, knowing vargas could take her anywhere and he'd be by her side. it was a risk but she was willing to take it, and. that confirmation of the moonstones made her want to fly even further, wondering where the wind would take her.

        she tested that right now.

        breathlessly, she cupped his cheek as his eyes flickered all around her face in question. like he was waiting for her to do what he was at that field that night ━━ the same look in his eye.

        it was the comfort he got when he was beside her. the happiness that exploded in his chest when he saw her smile, and the safety he could feel being vulnerable with her, knowing he had someone to relate to.

        "you're an idiot," she laughed, high on his scent ━━ seeing his lips ━━ everything. maybe she wasn't fully in her head; she was dazed.

        he held onto her waist as if she would fall. "yeah?"

        her lips slowly connected with his. he staggered for a moment before holding her head, bringing her closer than she already was. their lips moved in a silent rhythm she felt she secretly knew all along. like she was meant for this moment as the butterflies that exploded in her chest.

        when they pulled away, she wiped the rain off his face that looked like tears. if they were they'd be of happiness ━━ like the ones on elysia's face.

        "━━elles."

        her heart caught in her throat, stammering as she turned around. her father.

        she swallowed, pulling away from vargas, but his hand lingered in comfort. she would be okay.

        "what is it, dad?" she sighed.

        "there's many things i need to apologize for," he put his hand on her shoulder. "i was hard on you ━━ for such a long time. i realize that."

        she looked down at her shoes.

        "when your mother died, i lost a part of myself. during the fight, there were many mistakes i made that i regret. a mistake that potentially cost her life. i took my own anger out on you, and i'm sorry for that, honey."

        she looked up at him, biting her cheek. she knew her mother died in a fight with the vampires, which is why she wanted to go against them so bad, but her father made mistakes? she didn't even think it was possible. he didn't want elysia to be a leader with the amount of mistakes she made because he saw himself in her.

        "i didn't want any mistakes to be made again, but i realize how strong you are, elles. that my mistake is mine i have to own up to. i'd be proud to see you and nova as leaders someday," she smiled.

        with the vampires and daywalkers on good terms, meant no more fights. her mother died during one, but she would live her legacy, making things right for the greater good and to prevent anyone else she loved from getting hurt.

        a smile smile flickered on her face as she watched the eldress talking to vargas. he was smiling too, so it must be a good sign!

        "i'm sorry too, dad ━━ for leaving you. i didn't want to, i just wanted to try and make things right with nova," she admitted but her father brought her in for a tight hug. she sighed and wrapped her arms around him. they still had lingering issues that needed to be sorted with time, but she was glad there weren't any grudges during this day. she was happy. truly happy.

━━━━━━ 𝓛𝐈𝐋𝐈 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒

- almost done with act 1!!! i'm going to try to extend on some scenes with vargas and elysia after because i also don't know if i'm going to be writing until z5 comes out but lmk what you guys want to see bc idk what to do once it's done. there's still one more chapter tho.