LITHA: THE CROWN SELECTION. / SUMMER

https://www.wattpad.com/story/97025364-litha-crown-selection-royalstars-series

SUMMER

"It's a state of bliss, you think you're dreaming.

It's the happiness inside that you're feeling.

It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry.

It's so beautiful it makes you wanna cry."

- Avril Lavigne, Innocence

LITHA

 FATE OF THE ARCANA

XIII. Death. XV. The Devil. XVI. The Tower, upside down. VI. The Lovers, upside down. Finally. XVII. The Star.

"So, what does it mean?" Asked the woman dressed in a light red cotton dress sitting in the dark while she looked down at the cards showing the five Arcana. Her face was barely illuminated by the candle in the middle of the table. The golden hair was mostly covered in darkness and the green eyes sparkled like emeralds as they fixed themselves in the face of the dark haired woman in front of her.

"Your Majesty, it means that death shall come in swift wings to your family. There seems to be a destruction of everything that you know now and reality will disappear like fog of lies and deceit." Said the gypsy looking woman staring at the sparkling green eyes. "There is hope for things to get better but, sadly, the Arcana shows that your eyes will be closed long before that hope becomes real."

Audrey Rockford was a daughter of kings and from the ancestry of the family that took the Crown to the Lands of Leo for the first time. She was also the actual Queen of the Twelve Housing Lands and Guardian of a Royal Star. "Is there anything else?" She asked while her fingers caressed the large scarlet ruby that was resting on her chest.

The dark eyes of the gypsy woman studied her cards for a few moments then looked up at her and answered "There will not be many more celebrations of Litha for you, Your Majesty. Time is a gift from now on, I would suggest you to use is wisely, for only the youngest one of the Royal Family of the Lions will survive this terrible fate."

Queen Audrey turned stood up and turned around in silence, then her feet caressed the sand as she started walking slowly away in the dark. Her delicate hand caressed a thick piece of fabric and pulled it towards her letting into the tent the light of the sun.

"Your Majesty" Added the gypsy woman standing up and looking at her. "Forgive me for bringing these terrible news but I had to come to deliver this message to you personally."

"Those of the Lands of Scorpio have been told to be traitors and nobody within the Twelve Lands trusts them. Why should I trust your words now?" The Queen said bluntly. "Why did you dragged yourself out of the dark caves all the way to the beaches of the Crab?"

"These news are not good, Your Majesty, but you had to be aware of them. Forgive me for ruining the joyful celebration of The Wife this Litha." Said the gypsy with a deep bow.

The Queen stood in silence and watched out of the tent into the light of the day. The day was sunny and the sea sparkled like sapphires, there were several men and women within the water and probably her husband, The King, would be within the crowd. A deep sigh escaped her chest and her emerald green eyes looked back into the tent where the gypsy woman was standing. "Why couldn't it wait? Why did you have to leave the darkness of the Lands of Scorpio?"

"Your Majesty, for several years, the Royal Stars kept the Twelve Lands growing and in peace but I am afraid that those times have come to an end and the Stars have to be united once again and reveal their horrible power." The gypsy woman was looking down with a humble air.

"You didn't brought it with you." Said The Queen after scanning the fortune reader up and down. "In these times of changes and despair, do you think it's wise to do such a risky move and leave the Star behind? We, Guardians, must keep a close eye on our true duty."

The Queen turned around and walked out of the tent hearing the last words of the fortune teller behind her. Slowly, she walked out into the warm white sand, which feel like a soft massage to her feet, and headed towards the noisy crowd of people on the beach. The fresh breeze of the Crab Sea was blowing nicely over her face and playing with her blonde curls, however, her emerald eyes were fixed in the distant horizon.

Something was troubling the mind of the regent Queen of the Twelve Lands. The last words of the fortune teller kept echoing in her mind. Her eyes soon found her family joyfully playing in the water. A soft smile appeared in her lips and quickly faded off because of the concerns in her mind. The fate that the Arcana provided and those last words were just unable to be easily ignored.

The Queen closed her eyes and, as the fresh breeze caressed her soft skin, she remembered the last words of the fortune teller. "Our time is up. The current Guardians of the Royal Stars will be taken out soon. Time is running out of our hands."

FIND MORE ABOUT IT ON: https://www.wattpad.com/story/97025364-litha-crown-selection-royalstars-series

The Book

THE CORPSE HELENA

"The room was cold and her bare feet started hurting, since she read the weird inscription she had been unable to leave her room, time had passed and it seemed like forever. Once she read those weird words the book started showing her stories, stories about other people, at first Helena was surprised and sat down and read them amused, however they all seemed to end up in a tragic way, her mood was going down and she felt irritated.

Carelessly, she tossed the book to bed and headed towards the door, it was in that moment that she realized that the door wouldn't open. Helena looked down and tried to remove the lock however the door had been unlocked the whole time, yet it refused to open. She then remember something written on the book, something about a way out so she looked around but when she turned towards the bed, the book she had been looking for was gone.

It seemed like a few hours had passed already since she had been locked up in her room, however nobody had come around looking for her, Helena felt the anxiety growing within, she wanted to leave the room and for some reason she was unable to do so. Then she started cursing locking herself up and reading such a weird book. It was all so confusing, so illogical. Her family was downstairs. Helena got up and started hitting the door and screaming loud, someone had to hear her, if her family was not in the house, probably one of the neighbors.

There she was for a few minutes hitting the door until her hands started aching, it had been quite some time while she hit the door and screamed but there was no response. Helena started getting angry and proceed to kick the door. Once and again and again, her feet was smashed against the door, however no matter how hard, there was no change, no movement. Her blood began to boil in her veins as she kicked harder and started hitting with her hands as well. But in the end the door remained the same without giving in to her efforts.

Helena could feel the rage climbing up inside her. She was desperate and upset. She hated how illogical it all was. She hated being locked in her room without a way to leave. She grabbed the wooden chair and as her rage was rising she tossed it against the door. No changes. The unchanging situation only upset her more it seemed like if it was mocking her as it calmly rested before her eyes while she was boiling inside yet the room seemed to keep the same sepulchral peace.

Her nerves were wrecking her up and started feeling herself filled with hatred. Hatred towards the stupid book. Hatred towards her stupid self. Hatred towards the damned situation. Hatred towards her family and neighbors, for not coming over to her aid when she was desperately crying out for help. Hatred towards being abandoned in that manner. And with all the hatred boiling in her veins, Helena grabbed and threw the wooden chair against the door countless times until suddenly the chair was smashed against the door and a cracking sound filled the room.

Helena looked down to see the chair cracked, her eyes sparkled and she went on and grabbed it once some and continued smashing it until the wooden piece was destroyed. She walked back until her back touched the wall and her knees were bend over, her body slipped down until she touched the ground. Her eyes were fixed on the smashed and destroyed pieces of wood that used to be a chair. Then a grin appeared on her lips, Helena kept on looking at what it used to be one of her personal favorite chairs now entirely broken down and a chuckle came out, her eyes sparkled while they kept looking at the wood and the chuckle gained strength turning into a crazed and uncontrolled laugh.

She finally had been able to change something within the ever so calmed room, she felt victorious and proud and ecstasy was flooding her. The intensity of her laugh went down after a little while and while she calmed herself, Helena's eyes started looking up the door that kept her trapped. The chair laid smashed and destroyed before her but the door was intact, not even a scratch over the polished surface of it. In that moment, her spirits from being all high above in ecstasy went free fall down.

Tears began to show in her eyes while she used her hands to pull back the hair that was covering her eyes. Desperation began to cloud her vision and soon tears were slowly falling down from her stressed and sad eyes. Helena wanted to leave the room. She felt powerless and stressed, all her efforts so far seemed useless. Tears started running down her face as she accepted that she was trapped and locked, and probably she wouldn't be able to set herself free from that her own bedroom.

It felt like a jail, the room where she had rested comfortably. Then an idea came to mind and she shivered, a chill ran up her spine. The room where she used to come to rest shall now be her final resting place. Her eyes were covered with tears upon the thought of dying in that room, probably alone and locked away. Hysteria started taking control over her, despair was moving her to get out, no matter the cost and Helena refused to be locked in that room.

Her eyes wondered around the room but suddenly what she began to see, was not her comfortable bedroom, but a mocking prison. Filled with despair she stood up breathing heavily and refusing to believe that this place was her own bedroom. No, that place would never give her the nightmare she was living now. This was a torture chamber. A horrible prison where she was now trapped. A Prison. The word kept echoing in her mind, it sounded strangely accurate. A Prison. Locked, unable to leave. A Prison. Suddenly she realized why the word had been such a match, she had read it earlier, in that book.

Her eyes were open wide when she started remembering the passage where she read it, it was all in the book. Controlled by hysteria she jumped up and went to the bed, desperately looking for that damned cause of this nightmare. Pillows started flying and soon the bed covers were up in the air too, but no sign of such a book nowhere.

The rules began reappearing in her mind and she realized the gravity of the situation, all because of that book. Her sentence had been dictated but she was not going to wait calmly for it to happen. Helena was decided to take control of her own future and not let a book take over her and mock her own existence.

She looked around and then she saw a window, the door probably might be shut down but since the chair was crushed, then glass could also be shattered. In her eyes the spark of hope was glowing, realizing that her only exit might be the window, a few tears ran down her eyes when she realized her way out, she was thankful. Then keeping her calm she walked up to the window and tried opening it, however it would move, not even a bit. This did not surprised Helena, for she was already expecting something like this to happen, she sighed and a grin appeared in her face.

She had tried nicely and it did not worked, but since the start she had thought about a more rough approach, now it was time to put her theory to the test, after all she had nothing to lose in the matter and if it all went right, she could win back her own freedom. Helena took a deep breath and looked around for something to smash the window to pieces, her eyes quickly scanning around the objects that she could use, finally she decided to take chances with the pieces of wood from what used to be her chair.

Helena went back to the door, grabbed the biggest piece that she thought she could use to smash the glass and went back to the wall where her target was, she looked at it steadily building up her courage to face the outcome of it, she held the piece of chair with both her hands and swing it at the window. It didn't broke. She got scared of facing the reality of being locked for good in the room and tossed the piece of wood in hysteria towards the glass. A crashing sound echoed in the room.

While the crash still repeated itself in Helena's mind, her eyes were filled with tears as she stared at the window, the glass was before her, with a piece gone and the rest of it cracked. Helena couldn't stop the tears that were coming out of her eyes, she found a way out, and finally she could abandon that room. She was free.

Helena pushed the night table under the window and climbed on it, she proceed to check the width of the area where she could leave and was able to confirm that the window had enough space to let her out. Smiling, she proceeded to head out, pushing first some glasses out to make room for her to escape. Then she placed her hands on the edge and lift herself, her head was out of the window, it all seemed dark, probably night time, no lights. It didn't mattered, the only thing she cared about was leaving the room.

The feeling of victory and success wrapped her body and she decidedly held herself up the window to escape, when her head poked out of the room, joy started flowing through her veins. She was out. It was real. Then Helena's hands moved up and pulled the rest of her chest out. She felt a piece of glass going through her skin, she carelessly had placed her hand on it without noticing, but it didn't mattered, she was leaving that room whatever the cost. She pulled once more and her ribs were out the window.

Blood started dripping form her hand, she kept pulling herself until her hips were on the edge of the window. Then the pain started, half her body was out already. And her chest started aching real bad. For some reason the rules kept going back through her mind. Helena tried to pull herself away and shake off the thoughts related to the book, but they kept coming back at her reminding her that she could not avoid her fate. She struggled and the pain in her chest increased, then she noticed that her hands lost strength. Despair swallowed her and she began crying. Helena refused to end up because of a stupid book. The tears of impotence were washing her face, she screamed and struggled. A groan came out of her lips while she kept fighting against the fate she was now facing and a few moments later it was delivered. Helena's heart stopped beating and her body lost all the energy as it was claimed by the wings of the angel of death to be taken to the hades.

Then Helena became a Hunter lost in the Quest. Honor Helena's memory and learn from her, experience, may her path bring light over yours. May you be able to complete the Quest."

so it goes on the story of the Black book ... FIND MORE ABOUT IT ON:

https://www.wattpad.com/story/96956948-the-black-book

Shatter

The sound of the leaves beneath my shoes shatters the silence. My feet kept on moving through the darkness of the park, soon I'll arrive to the edge of the lake. The night covers me with it's dark veil. It's late and dark but it's not cold nor warm. Just like life itself. It's tasteless to me now.

Finally I arrive to the lake. My face reflects itself on the surface of the water. I smile. There's something there. A faint green glow withing the dark water. My hand dives in, captures the object and pulls it out of the lake. It's a ring. A huge green stone on it. An emerald. Yeah, right. Emeralds. It's probably plastic or crystal, nevertheless I pocket the ring and head back home. People at the ball might be worried about me. Again? Emeralds and people worrying? I've read too many books. The people at the party won't even know I walked out. But I should get back anyhow.

The strong room is well lit, white walls and golden frames make the room etheral. Beautiful. Sublime. Disgusting. A few people walk by me. Yes. Nobody noticed my absence. Perhaps I rather have it like that. Slowly my hand brings out the ring and look at an inscription behind it. A few relatives walk by my seat with plastic smiles and joyless eyes. The girls are wearing peach and pastel gowns while the men are wearing the usual boring suits. I go back to the inscription on the ring. -Shatter the Masks- That's it. Weird. Then again I am weird too.

My eyes look at the people dancing around. Such a vision of white, gold and pastel. It looks heavenly. Screw it. I place the ring in my finger. Had I know what would happen, I'd probably wouldn't have done it. Maybe I would've. A crashing sound echoes the room and the lights blackout. This is too much fantasy. The lights come back on and iluminate the ethereal room once again. Everyone seem to react normaly. Except me. I can't move. My legs and arms are frozen. Am I the only one seeing all this?

Before me people keep on walking and talking and drinking carelessly. Enjoying the party. These creatures are having a good time. Yes. Creatures. Their faces seem to have been ripped out from within. Shred skin still hanging from where their faces once were. But there are still faces there. Not their normal faces, but at the same time it is their same face.

Lust sparkling within the eyes of the fine ladies. Greed glowing from the depths of their eyes. It can't be good. Their eyes twisted in smiles or smirks of disgust. I've seen those reactions from them but they were brief moments, it would seem that they wear them proudly now.

Horrified I start moving through those creatures consumed by their vices and passions. It was fun while it lasted but it is time to head out of the party. I stumble against a pair of creatures dancing with their shredded faces hanging from their skull. My exit can not be completed. Once again my legs are stiff and won't move, my eyes are fixed in the object before me and I choke a desperate and terrified scream before it can escape my throat. My legs wont move so my body remains there staring in horror at the object before me. A mirror.

The ring. I need to pull it out. It wont come out. Anxiety begans to take over as horror increases itself but it is all futile. Soon I stop forcing myself. The ring won't come out. This is my doom. The masks have been shred. I look at the mirror and a creature look back at me. The flesh of its mask is shattered and a horrible face stares back. A monster looking back from the mirror. No. A monster reflecting itself on the mirror. My own reflection. It is me. That creature is me. Tearing eyes and a smile twisted in a cruel grin. A creature enjoying the death of others and at the same time dying to be loved by others. It stares back. It's a reflection. The masks have been shattered.

The Wolf and The Rose

In Ancient times, long before civilization arrived to where it is nowadays and even before the era of the twelve lands of the Crown, the twelve gods created the world as we know it. The Father created the wide, unending blue skies and The Mother created the solid ground.

Unable to control his anger, The Destroyer called upon the great waves of the sea and drowned the land created by The Mother separating it completely from The Father’s skies. But it was The Wife who forced the waters to go back and thus creating the land and the seas, however there was too much water, so she placed some of it up in the skies creating the clouds and watched continuously while it poured over the lands in rain.

It was The Mystic who saw the cycles that were created into the world and he created the spirits of the wind who danced above the lands and waters sprinkling joy and creativity as they moved. The Witch grinned and, in the dark, she created the spirits of the water who dived into the depths and poured themselves through the solid lands, the spirits of water showered emotion as they moved ahead and magic was running over the worlds.

The Planner organized the waters and the spirits so that they could ran through the lands in an organized manner, making the land fertile and allowing the flowers to start blooming. It was The Messenger’s task to spread the seeds all over the lands so that plants would gain territory over the new world.

The Hunter realized that the new world created by the gods was beautiful and decided to bring on the animals into it. The Warrior was the one who joined them in clans to protect themselves in the new found world because animals would tend to prey on one another so The Warrior brought the fighting instinct and the protection within the groups of new lives.

Then the man began to organize itself and it was thanks to the aid of The Lover’s passion that man began conquering and assembling himself. Finally, The Artist brought sensitivity and grace into the man’s eyes and that was how society and refinement was finally created.

The twelve gods decided to descend to the lands and they agreed on leaving a small seed of their own love and joy into the new world. So they all began sharing their own luminous sparkle until the twelve combined created a sparkling pearl.

The Father provided the love to create. The Mother provided the love to nurture. The Destroyer provided the love of impulse. The Wife provided the love to control. The Mystic provided the love to think. The Witch provided the love to feel. The Planner provided the love to organize. The Messenger provided the love to communicate. The Hunter provided the love for freedom. The Warrior provided to love to protect. The Lover provided the love of passion. And the Artist provided the love of romance.

The gods created this wonderful pear of love but the problem was that it was too fragile and it could be easily shattered. No one felt enough security to handle it so fear began taking over their minds when they realized that their precious pearl could be crashed in any time.

It was then that a voice sounded down below. “I would be glad to take care of it” It was the rose who spoke from a garden near the gods. “My petals are tender and the pearl of love would be safe in my core protected from by my own petals.” The gods agreed and The Mother carefully placed the pearl of love in the rose’s core.

“Now there is a problem” It was The Planner who smartly had foreseen the futures to come and was planning ahead. “When fall comes, the petals will fall, and easily the pearl of love could be easily smashed in the ground and when winter comes this brave and caring rose might die so the pearl of love will be once more exposed and in danger”

“I will take care of the rose.” The white wolf from the mountain had spoken. “Winter or fall do nothing to me and I could easily keep the fragile rose’s stem in my mouth without any problem.”

“You will have to take care of the rose for as long as it lives” Said The Witch. “This shall be your sacred duty.”

“It will be my honor” Answered the white wolf.

Before the wolf departed with the rose in his mouth, The Warrior blessed him with strength and endurance to overcome the harsh times and terrains. While The Wife blessed the rose with the gift of undying love as a promise to be protected by The Wife and The Destroyer from all harm, so as long as the rose remained alive the wolf will continue to live.

From that moment on the white wolf moved through the lands and the seasons always carrying the rose, who didn’t give up her undying labor of taking care of the love that would shower the lands to bring love, joy and hope to the hearts of all existence in the new world. 

Sometimes the wolf could be seen enduring the harsh ice of the mountains all to take care of the fragile rose who wouldn't give up on her duty and would bring up the fiery spirits of the white wolf, who had to admit, that he had fallen in love with the fragile and unyielding rose, and would do anything to keep her safe. The rose refused to die because a part of her was bound to duty but a stronger bond tied her down, she didn't want to leave the side of her beloved wolf.

Paris Day 01 / 08 Money

Once they made a couple turns they found their selves in front of a bank, and a hotel.

“Let’s just spare the shame shall we?” Mireya said pointing at the bank’s ATM.

“Good idea” Mark said pulling out his wallet and taking out his credit card “Seriously one more denial and I’ll start singing “I dreamed a dream” from Les Miserábles”

“From where?” Mireya said as Mark slide his card on the ATM.

“A musial” Mark answered as he pressed his pin number.

“Ugh! And if u start singing I’ll start crying, and then I’ll kill u!” Mireya replied half disgusted with the mere thought of that.

“Oh! Shut … oh-oh” Mark face was stroke down by sadness

“What does that mean?” Mireya asked

“No founds” He softly replied.

“Ughh!!! Whyyy am I not surprised?!” she shouted pulling out her credit card “Move!” she said taking his place before the ATM “You should really start saving up instead of spending it all in silly stuff! You know! Some time you might actually be useful to someone” Mireya was saying as pressing the buttons on the ATM “And that day please give me a call! Because … SHIT!”

“What now!?” asked Mark

“Kid saving account! I can’t withdraw any money!” Mireya said while retrieving her card. “God damn!”

“Well one day you’ll be a reliable useful adult and that day …” Mark was saying

“Oh shut up!” Mireya cut through his words “You’re the elder one, why don’t u prove out you’re actually reliable and go get some euros huh?”

“That I shall, madame” Mark answered

“Mademoiselle!” she replied at him.

They both went into the hotel across the street and Mark moved on to the front desk, Mireya was following  him when she heard “Bon Nuit Monsieurs” then she she turned on her heels around thinking “Oh hell no!, not again, I’m not ready to go hear this again” She went and looked at him blabber something to the receptionist.

“Tourist?” the guy behind the desk asked to Mark.

“Oui, pour quoi?” Mark asked “Damn my French sucks” Mark thought.

“Votre Français c’est parfait” The front desk guy replied “Very good French, monsieur, very good”

Mark blushed slightly “Merçi Beacoup” he said “We need to get some euros, we’re desperate, sir, we’ve been looking everywhere, we need at least so we can use the subway to get to our hotel, please sir.”

The man stared into Mark’s eyes; he smiled and said “How many do you want to change?”

Mark smiled widely “Merçi Beacoup, Monsieur” he turned around and didn’t saw his sister next to him, he snorted “of course, why not? Avoiding the shame” he thought, “Mireya! Bring your dollars” he shouted.

“For real!?” Mireya asked from the entrance door.

“Yeah!” Mark replied “Come on!”

“Oh thank god!” she said moving towards him and pulling out her wallet.

They exchanged a few dollars for euros and after Mark gave a smile and a “merçi” to the front desk guy they both left with a wide smile in their faces and headed back to the subway station in front of the Academie du Musique, they paid their fares and went into the platform.

Twenty minutes later they were leaving the subway in the Gallieni station and heading back to the hotel.

“Thank god” were Mark’s first words after he let himself loose into the mattress “Having money in your pocket is such a blessing” he added as he walked out to the window and bumping with his bag. “Woops”

“Jerk” Mireya said, too exhausted to think of something more aggressive “I’m hungry” she added.

“Yeah me too, we should try to go and find …” Mark began to propose.

“Seriously?! It’s like almost midnight! You really are out of your mind if you think we’ll find something” Mireya responded annoyed.

“Well I was just trying to … Oh! Mom sent us granola bars remember?” Mark replied.

“Oh yeah!” she said as they both unpacked their granola bar boxes and took one pair out “And to think you didn’t wanted to bring them with us huh?” Mireya remembered while biting her bar as Mark responded with a silence and some chewing noise “Well I’m taking a bath” she stated, her brother replied with silence and chewing again, she took another bite and grabbed her towel as she headed to the bathroom chewing on her granola bar.

“Oh Happy Birthday” Mark said with a giggle afterwards.

“Nice one, jerk” she said annoyed after she slammed the bathroom door and opened the shower thinking “Thank god! Now time to finally relax after all that circus” she let out a sigh as she took off her clothing, he hand went into the shower and felt the warm water then she slide in completely as her mind was calming down “Paris, so beautiful, tomorrow will be a wonderful day, I’m so sure of it” were her thoughts as the lavender scent of the soap wrapped her into a scented mist which she inhale and exhale slowly, she opened her eyes and thought “Yeah, tomorrow it will be wonderful”

Paris Day 01 / 07 First Night In Paris

Paris was beautiful, but cashless it was a bit of an annoying situation, they went into another hotel and Mark went to the front desk and asked if they exchanged money, the reply: Of course, monsieur. Luck seemed to have changed. “Your room number? monsieur.” Continued the receptionist.

So far, so good, and then he asked that, “We’re not in this hotel” replied Mark “but if you could help us, we would be really grateful”.

“I’m sorry, monsieur, but we only have the currency exchange service for our guests” The desk guy added.

“Thanks” Mark replied, as he turned to Mireya and repeated “Room Number” he sighed “They only exchange money to their guests.”

Once they left the building the sun was gone and Paris revealed her night sight to them, the dark navy sky and the lighted buildings made them feel like they were on a post card, it was just beautiful, they were tired and apparently unlucky, so they started looking on to the Parisian sights that appeared before their eyes, and of course they kept knocking on hotel doors just to get one of two answers: “No Exchanges” or “Your Room Number?” which led to the first answer, he would gave out a “merçi” and they’d kept walking.

Looking for a currency exchange they went into a hotel where they were told they could get some euros at an exchange place that was on Champs Élysées, they thanked the man and went out.

“Champs Élysées it is” Mark said.

“What!?” Mireya shouted quite upset “Are you out of your mind? You’ve no idea

‘bout what’s where in Paris! How do you expect to find that place?!”

“Oh… Watch Me!” Mark replied.

“If it was thing of ONLY watching I wouldn’t mind but I have to crawl next to you! Going god knows where!” Mireya was tired, upset and penniless so obviously Mark was in huge trouble.

Mark decided that the best was to just stay quiet and keep walking towards Champs Élysées, not that he really knew where that avenue was, not really knowing where he was exactly but he walked with a decided and strong step through the Parisian streets. Mireya followed him upset almost stomping her feet against the floor in protest, but she kept a slight distance until they arrived to La Place du la Concorde, when she finally spoke “Ok genius, what now?”

“Well, we’re at …” Mark had no idea so he pulled out the map, opened it and started looking for references.

“You’ve no idea where we are” Mireya was half happy to snort at him and half pissed, but right now she was enjoying as he was completely lost. “Ugh, this sucks.”

“We, mademoiselle, are at La Place du La Concorde” said Mark proudly.

“Huh” Mireya turned and saw him, and when she was about to ask him how he knew but she saw the map on his hands so it crossed her mind that it was best not to push his ego, then managed to ask “And how are we supposed to get to Champs Élysées, Einstein?”

“Well, they’re actually pretty close” he replied noticing how hard was to impress her “they kinda come all the way to this place so  there should be a sign here somewhere, we’ll find them soon, you’ll see”

She knew he had no idea where how to find them but he seemed overly confident, like he knew exactly where he was and where he had to go now, that attitude irritated her “Fine, lead the way, mister Paris expert” she finally added.

He saved the map back into his bag and kept walking under the golden evening sky for a couple of minutes when an old lady bumped with them.

“Pardon” she said with a very rough and raspy French.

“No problem” Mark replied with a smile. His sister moved to his back keeping her distance and staying out of the conversation.

The lady was elder probably on her fifties and she seemed to be a tourist just like them, however Mark thought she would probably be from somewhere in central Europe because of the raspy of her accent, he was about to keep back on her track when the lady stopped him gently with a motion of her hand. He turned to his sister and then approached the lady “Yes?” he asked but she started asking something in a language he couldn’t quite understand “Français?” he asked, to that the lady shook her head in denial, same luck happened when he asked for English and Español.

He sighed and then the lady put her hand on her chest and said “Russia”.

Mark only knew how to say hello in russian, he sighed “Privyet” he replied with a smile, his sister stared at him.

“Ah, privyet” the lady said back to him.

Mireya stared in disbelief “What the hell?! He knows Russian?” she knew Mark was crazy and dazzled on a lot of different things, but to have actually learned Russian? That just seemed too much even for him.

The lady replied some words in Russian, to which Mark only shook his head and answered “No Russian, sorry”.

“Thought as much!” Crossed Mireya’s mind and she let out a grin.

“Louvre?” asked the Russian woman.

Mark smiled widely, and turned to look for his sister, she was still around, “Thank god, she’s not lost” he thought “Yes!” he answered to the woman “That way” he said pointing to the East.

The Russian woman nodded, smiled at him and said something which he thought meant “Thank you” in Russian so he smiled back and waved at her as she walked down the street.

“What was that?” Mireya asked.

“She was looking for the Louvre and got lost” answered Mark.

“And how the hell u know where the Louvre is?! You’ve never been in Paris before” she replied.

He couldn’t hold a smile “Google Maps” he answered.

“What?!” was all she could manage to say.

“Yeah, there’s a way u can zoom on Google Maps that allows u to see some of the big cities, it’s kinda like a virtual tour” Yeah, he was proud of having searched that before “I may not have been in Paris before but I’ve toured it, and the Louvre was right by the river” and the pointed to the bridge near them “Same river that goes right there”.

“Well then, were’s Champs Élysées?” she snorted out a little annoyed.

“Um, close” he replied, not really sure when will they find it.

They kept walking and they got close to the river and the bridge. Then Mark said “Well Champs Élysées are close to La Tour Eiffel, we might not be able to see the avenue but we can see the tower, if we get to the tower it will be easier for us to find Champs Élysées, and we might get a glimpse of La Tour Eiffel from that bridge”

Mireya simply snorted back in response, she wasn’t convinced with his arguments neither comfortable with the whole situation, but since she didn’t had an option she walked up the bridge behind his brother, she could feel the cold wind of the night giving her goose bumps, her hair flowing when the wind blew and hitting the back of her neck.

They stopped at the middle of the bridge, she was tired, penniless and hungry, her legs were hurting, and she had no idea how they were gonna get back to the hotel, yeah, she could say that the situation … sucked, entirely. She leaned on one of the sides of the bridge and looked at her brother gazing out at the horizon; she moved her toes inside her shoes and let out an exhausted sigh. Mark looked nervous, Mireya rolled her eyes and said “There it is!” and let out a quiet sigh “Damn it” she mumbled quietly.

Mark turned to where she was pointing and looked at the light up above rolling around Paris, holding it, above all the buldings on his way and crowing the dark night sky, rose up on the distance La Tour Eiffel “Whoa” was all he could manage to say.

“Mhmm and you’re crazy if you think I’m gonna walk all the way there!” She was exhausted and pissed, and right now, beyond cooperating with anything. “Let’s just go back and then, well, you can beg at some hotel and we might get enough to go back home”

“Yeah, it’s late, and it seems quite far” He saw the distance and looked how tired she was, he was pretty tired himself, but quite excited to be in Paris too.

“Finally some common sense” Mireya thought and she turned to her brother who started to motion on the way back, but suddenly he crossed the street “What the ..?” was sliding in her mind as she shouted out “Hey! Where the hell are you going?!”

“If we’re going to head back we can go through the other side of the streets, we might have a better luck” Mark shouted as he crossed the street.

“I guess he had too much common sense for today” Thought Mireya and groaned as she went behind him, her mind kept rambling “I’ll kill him when I catch him, then he’ll have the PLEASURE to have died in Paris, jerk… ”

They went through the other side of La Place du La Concorde by the side of a building to their right the circuit was glowing under the golden lights of the statues wrapped by the dark night sky.

“Isn’t it beautiful” Mark said as they went across a large street while looking at the monuments before them, his sister walking up close to him as he admired the wonderful contrast, the sole pure elegance of La Place du La Concorde rising from the dark surroundings of the Parisian night, he felt into a contemplation state from which he was abruptly pushed off when Mireya shouted out. He turned around and saw a police patrol turning around the circuit, his sister holding on to his arm tightly after almost got ran over by the French police.

“Assholes” she said when she got back some breath, he helped her stand steady still a bit lost on what had happened.

“You ok?” Mark asked

“I almost got killed!” she shouted, she glared at him with flames of rage in her eyes “… but as you would say, AT LEAST it was in Paris! Huh?!”

He stared at her confused “I guess you’re not ok”

“I should’ve been honored huh?! To depart but at least do so with grace and glamour in your beloved city of lights!” Mireya was shouting at him while making poses pretending she was high royalty, a model or a celebrity all to mocking him.

They stared at each other, he giving his best not to laugh at her, the view of her sister pissed off, shouting in the middle of Paris at night and giving up a lousy act of a star was just too much to handle, yet he tightened his fists and pushed that laugh and smile back staring at her eyes while she looked back at him, then she noticed what she had done and tried not to laugh her shame out and to keep up her ground.

Seconds went by slowly as they both made an effort to keep their feelings locked down and the whole environment was wrapped in a thick silence that was just disturbed by the sound of the wind through the leaves of the trees, Mark was cracking up and a smile started to show on his lips he was scared of provoking Mireya further, but his laugh was poking up and tickling his lips.

A loud laugh cut through the night wind and Mark stared at Mireya while she let it out and looked back at him “Will you move?! We’re gonna get nowhere at this rate!" she said while smiling more calmly.

“My god you’re crazy!” Said Mark as he walked by her side “Who would get you?! Shouting out and acting up like a diva” said Mark while imitating her then he looked back at his sister, her eyes wide opened and her mouth pressed hardly clearly holding a smile or laugh down, Mark turned his head quickly back and caught a glimpse of a line of police men standing guard behind him, he looked back at his sister. He had just did the same lame act, but why not? In front of a bunch of sexy French police men “Did they …?” Mireya simply nodded to that “Holy shit! How embarrassing!” He started through the eyes of the police guys

“… And in Paris!” Mireya’s voice sounded behind him.

After crossing another street they bumped at the door of another hotel, their eyes met and after nodding they walked up the stairs, Mark went in and after a few minutes came back to his sister’s side “Room number” he simply said and she sighed, then they both walked down the street back to where they had come from.