My Way To You

Ariana swallowed back her fear and calmed down her breathing. She tried her best to look delighted by the suggestion but realized she failed when she met Harmon"s eyes. "Do you not want to play." He asked seriously as half his face became dark. "Want." was all she could say as she nodded her head. "That"s my girl!" He answered brightly. In the distance they could hear rocks falling and before them the river started to pick up more speed. "See the game is simple. To get the snakes off your big sister over there," Harmon said as he pointed to where Rin was. Ariana paled when she saw rocks slithering, binding and pinning Rin down into place.

"Oh don"t look so scared! I told you this is a game!" He said cheerfully and Ariana had no choice but to smile back as her body broke out into a cold sweat. "Okay, so to get the snakes off of your big sister you need to stand right here." He said as he placed Ariana near the bank of the river. "You are not allowed to move, cry or scream. The second you do, my little snakes will get scared and tighten their grip on your big sister. If they tighten their grip... well I"m not sure what they will do but let"s say she might not be able to breath." Ariana felt a cold shiver run down her body as she stood perfectly still. "What a good girl you are!" Harmon said as he ruffled up her hair.

"Now let"s start." He said as he shot a long, thick, silver needle from his sleeve and sent it flying into Ariana"s left foot. The needle pierced the flesh and lodged into the ground. Ariana bit down on her lip as she tried her best not to scream from the pain.

"Hmmmm, looks like nothing happened. Okay let"s try another." He said as he pulled the needle from Ariana"s foot with one swift yank. He then started to tap the tip of the needle against his cheek as he stood staring at her. "Yes! Let"s try this!" He said enthusiastically as he started swinging the needle around. Cuts appeared everywhere on Ariana"s body and tore at her dress. "Princess!" Rin shouted desperately even though she couldn"t see what Harmon was doing but she could hear Ariana"s m.u.f.fled cries.

"Oh! I think you made a sound... are you going to lose this game little one?" Harmon said as he placed the tip of the needle against her cheek and slowly pushed forward. Cutting a path along her face. Ariana glared at Harmon and it finally happened, as Harmon laughed out in joy. "There it is! Amazing, look how it comes out and slithers around in the air." Ariana"s eyes grew wide as she watched vines reach outwards. Harmon sliced a small vine and watched as it quickly hardened into a chunk of garnet.

"So this is the power you hold." He said as he inspected the gem when suddenly a loud explosion was heard. Two of the rock snakes let Rin go, the snake over the garnet cast disintegrated into dust while the last one barely held her good leg in place.

The two rock snakes, races towards Harmon"s back and pierced through his body, landing in front of Ariana. Harmon coughed up blood as he slowly looked downwards. "What have you done?!" He spat and dropped to one knee. Ariana took a single step back, slightly slipping into the mud. She caught herself and looked at the scene before her. Her blood started to reach out towards the snakes while the snakes stared back at Ariana. "Stay away from me!" She cried.

Rin tried to free her right leg as she tried to keep her gaze on Ariana. "Princess! Please don"t take another step!" Harmon clenched his teeth as blood poured out of his body. "Honua Arraila." He coughed out before falling. A small shock wave sent Ariana flying backwards into the river while it shattered the snakes. Ariana emerged from the water and started to travel downwards. Her back hit a rock, she quickly clawed herself forward as the current pressed against her body and latched onto the rock.

The rock snake holding Rin in place started to crack. Rin then kicked it with her garnet cast and smashed it to dust. She stumbled her way up until she could properly stand on her two feet. She looked down the river and spotted Ariana just a little ways down holding onto a small rock. "Princess! Princess! Please hold on a little longer! I am coming to save you!" She yelled as she stumbled into a run. "Big sister Rin ... cough... please hurry!" Ariana shouted back as she struggled to keep from going under the water. The current was starting to get stronger and already started to push her around the rock she was holding.

Rin finally made it to where Ariana was and she frantically searched for something to help her reached out to her. She then looked down and prayed that her cast was heavy enough. She took a few steps into the water and found that it had worked as a weight. After the third step in the cast got stuck in some rocks. "Princess grab my hand!" Rin shouted desperately as she reached her hand outwards. Suddenly a big branch raced down the river and hit Rin"s back hard. It then straighten itself out and slowed down the current behind her but caused water to rise in Ariana"s direction.

"Rin! Rin, are you okay?!" She cried but Rin just smiled as a trickle of blood spilled out from the corners of her mouth. "I"m fine princess. Look the current isn"t so bad anymore so please grab my hand." Ariana shook her head as more water started to hit her face. "Rin, I"m scared... cough.... cough."

"Don"t worry princess the bad people are gone now, you don"t have to be scared anymore just reach out and grab hold of my hand. I will protect you!" Rin said as she stretched herself out as far as she could. Ariana hugged the rock one last time before she let one arm go and stretched outwards. Rin was so relieved, she could feel time slow down as a tiny hand reached out to her. Her fingertips had just brushed hers when a horrible cracking and thunderous sound echoed behind them.

Rin looked back and her eyes became wide as despair crippled her body. "No! Princess..." Rin cried before waves of water came crashing down on them.

....

"I don"t know how you survived... I don"t know how I survived.... when I woke I was here wondering what happened to you." Rin said as her eyes became watery. Ariana gulped back and thought about what she remember from the cursed river. She shook her head, she was only four, she figured her mind tried to save her from some finer details in order to save her heart. They were quiet for a while. Cayden coughed and both girls looked at him. "I can fill in the gaps for you but even my memory is not the greatest." He said apologetically.

"Rin, your dad was the one who caused the flooding... He couldn"t kill Harmon, not because he lacked strength but because he saved me from being killed by him. He got really hurt and saw that Harmon was heading towards the river. He thought he could drown him since he cut off his arm but we didn"t know you were also there.... when we realized you were down there... your dad raced down to save you." Rin dropped her gaze to the floor and her body started to shake. "Rin he didn"t sell you to Lady Zula he paid for her to take care of you, he didn"t know what village you were staying in so he couldn"t take you back." Rin"s tears started to hit the floor as she tried her best to not cry out loud. "Cayden, how did you get sold into slavery if you were with Larkin?" Ariana asked.

Cayden sighed as he looked up to the ceiling. "Larkin took me back to my family. I didn"t have much of a choice, me thought he was doing me a favour but in the need my step-mother sold me to a friend of a friend. Auctions happened and then you know the rest."

Ariana looked back at Rin and saw that she had calmed down just a little. "So I never turned into a brothel girl because of my dad... Cayden did he say if he was coming back for me?" Rin asked hopeful but Cayden shook his head. "I can"t say." Rin brought up her knees and hugged them. "Do you mind leaving me alone for a bit?" She asked as she buried her face behind her knees. "Come on everyone." Ariana said as she started to get of the floor. Loralei"s stretched out body started to condense into a gel like ball. Two bead like eyes blinked at Ariana before she popped out her fins and became solid while Davita flapped her wings and dispersed her wind.

Ariana stretched out her arms and had the two Lumas lay within her embrace. "Thank you, the both of you worked so hard. Is there anything I can do to reward the two of you?" She said as she looked at Loralei and Davita. "Master we would love some pancakes!" Davita said as two small pink ovals appeared on her cheeks. "Yes Master we would love some pancakes!" Ariana was shocked and blinked a few times.

"Pan-cakes?" She asked as she tilted her head. "Yes Master! We can give you the recipe!" Loralei said cheerfully as she flapped her fins. Ariana nodded her head then looked back at Rin. With a heavy heart she followed Cayden out of her room and closed the door just as she broke out into a hard cry.

"We should send Roy up after half an hour." She said to Cayden as he nodded his head in agreement. "So what are pancakes?" Cayden asked as the descended the stairs. Vasu floated over and landed on Ariana"s head. He closed his eyes and his pink antlers started to glow a soft white. Ariana took a sharp breath in then looked at Cayden with a big smile. "Something very delicious, since we don"t have maple syrup we will subst.i.tute with whipped cream, jam and fruit."

A half hour later, Ariana sent Roy with a plate of pancakes to Rin"s room. She watched as her very nervous brother climbed the stairs robotically. She shook her head as she laughed. She placed her elbows on the brand new countertop and cradled her head. The brothel looked better then she had imagined. The walls were now covered with a light cream colour wallpaper with little pink flowers. The tables were no longer round but rectangular with padded chairs. they were able to build half booths with plush padding just along the stairs.

The floors were now covered with white ceramic tiles. They added an extra large window at the front to let natural lighting to come in and let potential customers look in. They kept the swivel chairs by the counter but gave them a bit of a makeover to match the rest of the furniture. She really liked the new display case beside the countertop. A gla.s.s case with wired shelving so sweets and baked goods could be displayed. The lighting was downgraded from the gaudy chandelier to small pot lots. The shelving for the bar was replaced with cubbies for the sale of condiments, teas and other things.

"So you like the new place?" Becca said as she leaned back onto the counter and polished off her pancakes. "I do.... you know I"m a little scared about the grand opening in a couple of days." Ariana said as she watched the Lumas lick their plates clean. "Don"t be. We already have a crowd of people waiting to being the first ones here for the food... your going to add these pancakes to the menu right?" Becca said as she placed her empty plate in front of Ariana. "Of course we are!" Lady Zula shouted as she walked over.

"I hoped you would say that." Ariana said with a giant grin. "You know, I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be doing something so different.... I mean yes my life has been an adventure but I was never this nervous. We are making a change that can destroy a lucrative industry." Ariana looked at her mother then Becca. "As long as people are willing to give us a chance, this will work." Lady Zula stroked Ariana"s head as she gave her a small smile. "If not we will drag them in and make them give us a chance." Becca and Ariana looked at one another and burst out into laughter.

"Honestly the two of you! Have faith in yourselves, your friends and your family. You will not be disappointed! Now enough of this serious atmosphere, time to paint the name on your new sign!" Becca said as she pulled out a paintbrush from her overalls. "Have you decided on a name Ariana?" Lady Zula asked as she gave her a rea.s.suring wink. Ariana beamed brightly as she hopped off the counter. "The Sugar Apple Cafe!"