ONE YEAR LATER

HYPNOPHOBIA: Fear of sleep or being hypnotised.

"Look at me Caeli!" He yelled "Pay attention! You're meant to know all about my moves, damn it, you've been doing this for a year!"

My eyes snapped open and when they did, Lux's fist was just an inch away from my face. He didn't hit me, he never did but something was off about him. He yelled more than usual,  always pointing out every single mistake I made even though some were just to tease him.

His eyes were redder than usual, almost looked like it was out of pure anger. He added more energy to the training, hitting me at all my weak points and bringing me down with every opportunity he got.

He decided to go shirtless so I could see his muscles and his veins popping out of his arms and chest. It looked like I could make him bleed so much with just a paper cut.

I admire it.

However, in my twelve months of training, I'd never seen Lux look so upset about something before. He was so angry and he kind of poured it on me when I made little mistakes like diverting my attention or moving an arm instead of the other.

It started about a week ago. He suddenly stopped sleeping at night and I noticed that because he couldn't keep it down at night when walking around. It was also obvious in his face, he had little sleep bags underneath his eyes. I knew he couldn't be upset about something that wasn't important.He cared about everything and sometimes it got in the way of him taking care of himself.

In a word, he was selfless.

I'd gotten closer to him. Yeah, I know, you expect me to be closer to Ignis than him cause he's so strict and formal.

Well, we all got it wrong.

It started about a year ago, when he and Ignis convinced me about who I truly was. He convinced me, all Ignis did was to talk about how handsome he was or how he thought we both kissed.

It took time to believe it but after a month or two, I couldn't believe what I could do. This might sound crazy but here it goes.

I could manipulate anything that had to do with nature. I almost thought I was crazy when Lux used a strand of my hair to fix a burnt tree.

Crazy right?

It came back to life immediately and for a moment, it looked like I was watching a Disney movie.

Without any gold pixie dust.

However, Ignis burnt it down immediately to avoid suspicions cause I was the only one with the powers to repair what Xelexia destroyed.

She was a royal and so was I so only I could restore Anel's natural balance.

However, according to Ignis and Lux, Xelexia was very smart. She was pretty much the smartest person in Anel to have successful pulled a rebellion against my mother and all seven tribes at once. In just one night.

She had something to do witchcraft because in my dreams, the birds were possessed. It was obvious in their eyes and the way they repeatedly chanted rhythmically.

I knew where the zombies came from.

There was something about the Royal families in Anel. Their powers were genetic. For instance, my grandfather was a necromancer. He got married to the goddess of nature and gave birth to two daughters, Lynna, goddess of time and Xelexia, goddess of god knows what. Some said she was the goddess of darkness and some said of death because it wasn't really announced during her birth. Even her parents didn't know what she was when she was born so I guess that's where the jealousy started.

The point is that the necromancy was hereditary so Xelexia and I got it. Also, my great grandmother was once the goddess of nature and then I got it.

My mother, Lyanna got fate from her mother. She could sense what could happen to someone or something with just a look even when she was truly the goddess of time.

That's just how it goes in Anel.

The boys still had their powers cause they were born gods. Lux, god of light,  Ignis, god of fire and Axel, god of fate.

I, on the other hand was Caeli, goddess of nature.

Back to my current situation, I still had Lux's fist an inch away from my face.

"Are you okay?"

"Training is over for today. Learn to concentrate, I wouldn't take it next time" He said and started to make his way into the entrance.

Drenched in my own sweat, I trailed after him till we got to the elevator.

Just to make him talk to me, I made little shrubs grow from the ground.

Yeah, I can do that too.

The stems slowly popped out of the ground and then the leaves followed, growing round the stems and filling them with bright green colour.

When I was done, the only space left to see we're little spaces through the thick leaves.

"What is this all about?"

"Can we talk?"

"No, clear this. I can't stand it here"

The fact that he couldn't take it in there was understandable. Not because I was irritating him but because it was dark and that was his only flaw. He needed light.

His powers were useless in the dark.

It was like they slowly depreciated in the dark and increased under bright light, mostly sunlight.

I figured it out when I once saw him bleed after the lights went off for a while.

It was late that night and Ignis decided it would be fun to pull a prank so after we went for a walk, we came back and met the whole house dark.

We both knew he would get tired of the prank if we didn't react so we simply stood there for minutes and waited for him to get tired of his own stupidity.

Ignis was as predictable as death, it didn't take minutes before he came strolling into the room. He tried to scare us and he was successful.

Lux flinched and accidentally tore his skin.

Once the lights were flicked on, I saw a drop of blood drip from his arm. I was so surprised, I almost freaked out cause I'd not seen him bleed before.

We didn't use any ointment or bandaids. After minutes under the light, the cut sealed up on it's own.

Ignis also had his own flaw and his was the most logical.

He couldn't stand being cold.

I also figured that out when Lux locked him in the freezer as punishment for eating his chicken.

You shouldn't be surprised about that. They'd do anything for food.

I heard him scream dramatically as Lux shoved him into the freezer. He started whining immediately. He yelled, screamed, complained but I couldn't help him cause Lux was with the key.

Once he was released, I was far beyond surprise.

I'd never seen Ignis look so weak and fragile and worst of it all, he was quiet.

I had to help him to his bed and generate heat in his room, just to make sure he would be fine. I also tucked him and when I decided to leave, he took advantage of it and told me to make him chicken nuggets.

Trust me, I didn't think twice before walking away.

"The more you talk, the less time you have to spend here"

"Why don't you understand I don't have time for this?"

"You do understand I can make it a lot darker right?"

He went quiet for a while before saying. "What do you wanna know?"

"Why are you so upset?" I asked and walked closer to his tall frame. I knew he could tell with how loud my voice became "What happened to you?"

"Nothing Caeli. Is this why you trapped me in here?"

"I know there's something wrong with you. I can see it Lux, I'm not blind. You've been sleeping and eating less."

"That could mean anything"

"You're also so harsh during training. You almost hit me today and you never hit me"

"That's because you were getting it wrong"

"I always make little mistakes and you always encourage me. Why does today have to be different?" I asked "I know there's something wrong with you. It's okay, you can tell me. I should've let you hit me then so the guilt will make you open up"

"You know I'd never hit you"

"I know and you know I won't be okay if you don't tell me what's wrong"

He went quiet for a while and I knew he was deliberating. He couldn't keep it in for too long and the most he could do was to let it out by being so cold.

"It's Axel"

"What's wrong with Axel"

"What's wrong is that we've not seen his for a year and when I saw him last week, he had palace guards with him"

"What does that mean?"

"He's either going for questioning or being held captive"

"What? Why?"

"I don't know."

"At least, we know he won't rat out on us"

"It's not about rating out on us. It's about his safety. We've been together since birth, he's like my brother. I've spent a year without him and seeing him in danger hurts. What if_"

"Shhh" I hushed him and went closer.

It was the first time I'd been so close to him and I'd never felt better in my life.

I wrapped my hands around him and hugged him tight. It was the least i could do for a man that missed his brother.

We were both sweaty but that was the least that mattered at the moment.

I could feel the heat that generated from his body and it made me feel so warm and secure. I could hear and feel his fast heartbeats from the silence.

He didn't cry but I could feel his pain when he reciprocated by wrapping his arms around me.

I could feel his harsh breaths fan my neck as he buried his head in the crook.

I was trying to make him feel safe and was making myself feel satisfied at the  same time. For that moment, I'd never felt better.

"Well, I did picture the both of you as a perfect couple"

"Axel?!"