I stared at her in shock.
Caprice continued after a beat. “On the other hand, the seniors might decide to try again with double the numbers. Without resorting to your Fragment, you’d never survive ten on one. This would have serious repercussions not only for the Academy, but for Arisa as well.”
I looked out the window at the school buildings and the sporting field beyond it. “Okay. I get it.”
“Regardless of it being staged or not, the end result is that by fighting back you made a bad situation worse.”
I couldn’t help clenching my jaw at her reasoning. “What a mess….”
“Why did you fight back?”
I was surprised by her question. “What do you mean?”
“You allowed yourself to be slapped and kicked by Prissila’s Quartet without defending yourself.”
“They’re girls, Caprice. I don’t raise my hand against girls.”
“They’re Aventis girls.”
“That doesn’t change the fact they’re girls. I simply won’t do it. Those other guys had it coming.”
“Oh? How so?”
I looked away in huff. “They said they were going to teach me to respect the girls of this Academy. Then they told me I should know my place as a Familiar, and a dog to the Prides. That pissed me off and I knocked one of them out.”
“Caelum, you didn’t like being a Regular, and now you don’t like being a Familiar. Would you rather be an Aventis?”
“Uh—what?” I faced her. “Are you seriously asking me that?”
“You hate Aventis, but what if you’re body had been receptive to the Symbiote? Would you have turned down the chance to join a Pride?”
I stared at her, my feelings at odds with each other.
Did I really hate Aventis, or did I envy them? Wasn’t it both? I hated their sense of superiority when I was a Regular, but now that I was a Familiar I felt as though I was being denied just shy of the finish line. Perhaps, being a Familiar was like a cruel joke. I fell short of what an Aventis could achieve, yet by the same token I could do things they couldn’t.
My thoughts and feelings always came down to two question – what am I, and where do I fit in?
I swallowed and answered as best I could. “I don’t know, Caprice. To be honest, I’m really confused about what I am, what I should, and what lies ahead. There are times…I feel really lost and alone. More so than when I was a Regular.”
She was quiet for a little while, then slowly pushed her tray aside.
“I see.”
“Why did you ask?”
She shook her head slightly. “I was just curious.” She took a quick breath and looked me in the eyes. “Caelum, if the Countess is protecting you…she must really like you…as incredible as that may seem.”
“Huh?” I gave Caprice a sour look. “That hurt,” I muttered.
She shrugged weakly. “I’m just saying it how I see it.”
I turned away and groused unhappily, “Well, at least I can always depend on your honesty to keep my feet on the ground.”
Her lack of a follow up remark made me glance at her in concern.
Caprice had a wounded look on her face.
A very rare wounded look.
I swallowed quickly and said, “Caprice, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that in any bad way. You know that you’re the only girl I trust.”
Her wounded look deepened.
What the Hell?
I swallowed again and said, “Caprice, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I promise never to say it like that again. I promise. Please forgive me. Please…?”
Her expression cleared and I saw a faint smile on her lips.
The sight of that smile released the sudden tension pressing down upon my heart – tension I hadn’t noticed until it was gone.
She spoke softly, almost tenderly, and it made my heart stumble.
“Caelum, what am I to you?”
My chest tightened all over again. I remembered my words to Haruka that afternoon in the garden.
Caprice was watching me intently, the faint smile unwavering.
I studied her too, my gaze taking her in. I took the time to really look at her, and to think back on the last seven months since our dramatic first meeting on the rooftop.
The pressure in my chest eased a little when I heard myself answer her from the heart.
“You’re special to me. After all, you’re the girl who stole my first kiss.”
She was still smiling when she swallowed.
Had she been nervous about my answer?
Suddenly it felt as though I’d made a confession of some sort.
I felt as though I’d taken a step in a direction I’d been too scared to tread toward.
A step toward Caprice.
Afterwards, I didn’t know what to say, and we fell into a heavy silence.
Caprice drank the contents of her bottle down, but the faint smile never left her lips.
I picked at the food on my tray, but my appetite was poor to say the least. I chose to blame it on having drunk Haruka and Simone’s blood in short succession.
A couple of minutes went by before Caprice placed her empty soda bottle on the table and broke the silence between us. “Caelum, did Arisa speak to you regarding the incursions into the Academy?”
I forced my thinking to jump onto the track she was on. “Yeah, she did, in the van. She said there might be medical data on prospective Familiars in that sealed off area of the network. But she also said she wasn’t sure. If you ask me what I think…I think Crimson Crescent is going a bit too far just to collect medical data.”
“So you think it’s something else.”
I exhaled slowly as I nodded. “It has to be. It has to be something a lot more important than just medical data.”
“If so, why are the Powers-that-be leaving the door wide open?”
I looked at her carefully. “What do you mean?”
She spoke with a cautious look in her eyes. “There are seven security layers, and five have already been breached. But the Countess told me that the five breaches haven’t been repaired.”
I almost frowned at her. When did she speak to the Countess?
Caprice pursed her lips for a moment. “I wonder if the Powers-that-be are laying down a trap for Crescent.”
I looked up at the cafeteria’s ceiling. “If that girl with the cannon Fragment shows up, then laying down a trap might be really dangerous for the Academy. She’s likely to blow holes through the buildings in order to escape.”
I glanced around the cafeteria.
“By showing what she can do, and the fact she’s willing to kill innocent civilians in broad daylight, Crimson Crescent is effectively holding the school to ransom. If the Academy doesn’t give them what they want, then they’ll bring the school down. That’s what Sunday’s attack was all about.”
Caprice was silent for a little while. “Taken in that context, it does seem a bit much for just medical data.”
I took a deep breath and let it out with a shrug. “Then again, maybe it’s like Arisa says and Crescent is desperate about recruiting Familiars into the cause.”
Caprice was again silent for a short while. “In that case, they might move sooner rather than later.”
“Huh?”
She gave me her customary flat look. “The medical examination of students across all nineteen schools in Pharos begins this week. It won’t finish until mid-next week. If I were Crimson Crescent, I would wait for the data to be collated and stored before making my move.”
I started to wonder if it was possible to stop that girl with the cannon Fragment, then realized I was actually serious about stopping her. I didn’t feel I was serious about protecting the school. But I was serious about kicking that girl’s ass.
Caprice broke into my thinking. “Caelum, let’s keep our speculation between us.”
I narrowed my eyes at her.
She tucked away loose strands of hair behind an
ear. “I don’t want others to know what we’re thinking, and at the moment it’s nothing but speculation.”
I looked discretely at the cafeteria around us. The closest students were busy ignoring us, rapt in their own little worlds, and narrow minded conversations. I was certain they were completely oblivious of the danger they faced.
I gave Caprice a shallow nod. “Okay….”
The lunch bell sounded. Break time was over. Time for afternoon classes to resume.
As I disposed of my tray at the closest refuse bin, I realized there was a matter I needed to address. It was something I needed to do sooner, rather than later.
#
(Haruka)
I had successfully managed to avoid Caelum in the morning, and chosen to eat lunch in the garden rather than the cafeteria.
But when classes came to an end, he caught up to me in the hallway outside.
“Haruka, wait up.”
For a heartbeat it was just like old times. I would leave first, forcing him to hurry after me.
I stopped and half turned toward him. “Sorry, Caelum. I’m running late.”
“Then I’ll walk with you.”
“No, thank you.” I turned away and resumed walking.
“Fine, then won’t you just listen to me. You don’t have to say anything.”
He was walking a foot behind my left shoulder, just like the old days.
“We’re in a crowded hallway, Caelum. Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Then I’ll wait for you outside.”
I spun halfway round in disbelief. “When have you ever waited for me? You’re so slow I’m always waiting for you.”
He rushed by me. “Not today. I’ll wait for you outside.” He suddenly looked around us quickly. “By the way, I don’t see your two friends.”
“Alistair and Siobhan have club practice starting this week.”
“Cool. That works out great.”
I wrinkled my nose at him, then made a show of looking about. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
He jerked back. “Huh? What girlfriend?”
“Little Miss Faint Smile.”
He gave me a puzzled look and rubbed his hair. “Faint smile? Faint smile? Oh, you mean Caprice.”
“Whatever. Where is she?”
“I’m right here.”
“Eek!” I jumped half a foot clear off the ground as I spun around.
Caprice Steiner wore an expression of complete boredom. She addressed Caelum. “I’ll wait for you at the gate. Don’t take too long.” With that she walked past Caelum and I without so much as a glance.
Caelum palmed his forehead and sighed. “Ah, I knew this would make her unhappy.”
I stared at him in confusion. “Unhappy? Is that what you call unhappy?”
“Yeah. I’ve known her long enough to tell that’s her unhappy look.”
“Eh? Really?” Come to think of it, I had noticed a subtle variety in her expressions ever since Caelum joined our class. “Why would she be unhappy?”
Caelum slowly lowered his hand. He was looking down at the floor. “Today’s been a little weird.” He shook his head as though clearing it. “Anyway, I’ll meet you outside.”
He walked hastily down the hallway, and left me standing there wondering what to do next.
I inhaled deeply, then resumed walking down the hallway.
At my shoe locker, I swapped my indoor slippers for my school shoes, then walked out the building. As he’d said, Caelum was waiting at the foot of the steps leading down from the glass entrance. He stood to one side, well away from the traffic of students leaving the school grounds.
I sighed and walked down to meet him.
He looked relieved to see me.
I asked, “Well, what did you want to say?”
“Thank you.”
“Huh?”
“I wanted to say, ‘thank you’ and to apologize.” He gave me a quick bow. “I’m sorry for what happened on Friday. I’m sorry you got dragged into my problem. And I’m sorry for taking your…blood.”
Involuntarily I grabbed my left wrist. The wound had healed but I could still remember the sensation of his canines tearing the skin. I inhaled slowly, very slowly. “Caelum, there’s something I should tell you.”
He looked suddenly wary. “You weren’t hurt, were you?”
“No, I wasn’t hurt. But you should know that Caprice Steiner knocked my friends unconscious.”
“What?”
So he didn’t know about that. Until I saw his reaction I’d been unsure what to think. Seeing his reaction, I chose to tell him what happened after I fled the garden.
He listened without interrupting me. Not once did he glance away.
Then I told him the Student Council President sought us out.
Caelum looked even warier than before. “He told you about the Fragments?”
“I already knew what a Fragment was. After all, it’s common knowledge they’re pieces left behind after the Cataclysm. I also knew that only Familiars were able to use them, activate them, or operate them.”
He nodded hesitantly. “Yeah. The Prides failed to keep that a secret after Crimson Crescent made their big splash and announced it to the people.”
“The President told me that you and Caprice each have a Fragment?”
“Yeah, we do.”
He tapped his wrist.
I remembered seeing the wide bracelet on his arm when he took off his shirt back at the garden.
Caelum asked, “What else did Severin Kell say to you? Actually, why did he seek you out?”
“Alistair is his younger sister. He was worried about her and what she might say. She’s an Avenir like I am. So is Siobhan.”
“I see. Birds of a feather flock together.”
“You’re one to talk,” I snapped in a flash of anger. “Little Miss Faint Smile is a Lanfear like you.”
“No, she’s affiliated with the Lanfears. So am I. That doesn’t make us part of the Pride. To put it simply we’re dogs on a leash. If we weren’t on a leash, people would be scared of us.”
I shook my head in exasperation. “Whatever. I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
“You have no right to criticize me or whom I choose as my friends.”
He was quiet for a little while. “Friends, huh.” He looked down and laughed under his breath. “Yeah. You’re right. They’re your friends.” He looked at me again. “So, are you angry that Caprice knocked out your Avenir friends?”
“Of course I am.”
“Well, she had her reasons.”
“Reasons I don’t agree with.”
He let slip an annoyed sigh. “Fine, that’s between you and her.”
“Caelum, I’m done here. If we keeping talking like this we’ll end up arguing and then we’ll both be angry with each other for days.” I hefted the straps of my carry-bag a little higher on my shoulder. “Goodbye. I’ll see you tomorrow for class.”
I turned and began walking toward the open school gate.
“Haruka, did you know the seniors were looking to beat me up?”
I stopped and half turned to face him. “What?”
“Is that why you brought me to the garden?”
It took a few moments for what he implied to sink in. “Are you…are you holding me responsible for what happened?”
“No, I’m asking you. Did you know they were coming for me?” He didn’t sound angry. Nor did he sound like he was making an accusation. He had carefree look on his face when he asked again, “Did you know?”
“Yes…I knew.” I swallowed quickly. “Siobhan and Alistair overheard some girls talking about it in the toilets. Those girls had heard a rumor that some senior girls were looking to teach you a proper lesson.”
“Senior girls? Ah, that explains it.” He snorted, then a relieved smile spread across his face. “Thank you. That answers a lot of questions. It’s big weight off my shoulders.”
He walked toward me, th
en stepped past me. “Like I said before, I’m glad you weren’t hurt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Huh? He’s not angry? Was I the only one getting annoyed? Did I just show him my bad side once again?
I stared at his back as he walked away.
Abruptly he turned around. While facing me, he walked backwards toward the gate. “Haruka, I still don’t have an answer from you. I’ll be waiting for it.”
Answer? Answer to what? Never mind the answer, what was the question?
I started to call out to him, but he turned around and began jogging toward the gate.
I saw him wave at me as he did.
I almost waved backed.
Seconds later he left the school grounds via the open gate and disappeared from sight when he turned to the right at the sidewalk.
I stood there not understanding what had just happened.
Wasn’t he angry? No, that was just me.
Why was I acting this way? I was irritated by his behavior toward my friends.
Wasn’t it natural to get angry over that? Maybe I was over-reacting.
I looked at the slowly dwindling number of students leaving the Academy grounds, all of them Aventis like me.
The situation didn’t make sense to me.
Caelum hated the Aventis, yet he was attending a school where the student body was almost entirely composed of Aventis. I understood that he had no choice. The School Council President said all student Familiars were transferred to one of the five academies for Aventis within the Islands of Pharos.
But the President said Caelum was working to protect this Academy.
Why? Why would he protect a school full of people he hated?
I pulled up the strap on my shoulder, and held onto my carry-bag as I walked out of the Academy grounds.
I was lost in thought.
Had Caelum changed how he felt toward the Aventis?
That couldn’t be…could it?
Chapter 11.
(Caelum)
Caprice and I arrived at the training center.
However, fifteen minutes into our schedule and unexpected event took place.
We had visitors.
Unexpected visitors.
They walked down the metal stairs that connected the underground training floor space with the floors of the nightclub building above.
First to descend the stairs was Arisa, followed by the Countess.
Pride X Familiar ReVamp (Pride X ReVamp Book 1) Page 22
