by CY Jones
“Eyes this way, sweetheart. He’s worse for wear right now, but after my brother gets done with him, he’ll be fine,” Blondie states confidently before lifting me up and walking us to the chair next to my desk, settling me on his lap. I don’t care that this should be weird or that I barely know him. Instead, I bury my head in the crook of his neck and let my tears soak into his skin.
“The shaking must have been when he broke through her wards, but in his state, I don’t know how he was able to do it,” I hear Zion explain to Milo, who offers his own conclusion. Milo? When the hell did he get here?
Looking up, I face his murderous glare, but his anger isn’t towards me, but the situation itself. I feel sorry for whoever is responsible because when Milo gets ahold of them, he’s going to make what happened to Kirito look like a fun day at the beach.
“Who would do something like this?” I ask in a small voice.
“We go to a school where murdering people is for sport and Kirito is from a founding family. Not to mention, we’re in the middle of a war. It could have been anyone,” Zion answers. Sure he answered my question, but I can tell he’s not telling me everything. Does he suspect someone and doesn’t want to tell me? Does he think I did it? They tried to cut his dick off. I wonder was it a spurned lover? Hope not. I’ll find the bitch and carve out her vagina and glue it to a blow-up doll to be passed around.
“Yeah, but they had to be strong right? They killed his Champion and almost killed him.”
“It stands to reason that whoever it was not only had a grudge against Kirito, but probably has their own Champion,” Milo muses.
“And they had to know him to blindside him like that. Neither of us felt his distress through the bond,” Zion adds.
“You guys have a bond with one another?”
“We have a blood bond and the pact we made when we summoned our Champions, which includes you,” Blondie replies. Interesting. I didn’t know that. Might as well add that to the list of shit I don’t know.
We remain quiet as Oli works. When sweat starts to drip from his brow, Milo leaves and comes back with a glass of water. Oli is working himself to the point of exhaustion, but he pushes through, refusing to relent. Each second that passes, I get more and more anxious when Kirito doesn’t open his eyes. I feel so damn useless, but in this situation, there’s nothing I can do. I can fight, but I don’t have the ability to heal. As more time passes, we all grow restless. Packed with this many bodies, my room seems tiny, but like a can ready to burst, however that doesn’t stop Zion from pacing back and forth. When I’d catch his gaze, he’d look away, making me wonder what he’s thinking about. Does he think this is my fault? Why would he think that?
“I’ve healed all his physical and internal injuries. I’m not sure why he hasn’t woken up or why his breathing is still shallow,” Oli admits, defeated.
“Are you sure you’ve healed everything?” Zion growls.
“I’m positive, but if you have any doubt, you can always summon your little fuck toy,” Oliver snaps. A spark of jealousy crosses my face, but I shake it away. Zion isn’t mine. Why should I care who he fucks? I shouldn’t care, but a pathetic part of me is still a little hurt.
Before an argument can ensue, Mr. Meow jumps on the bed and trots over to Kirito, nuzzling his head against his tatted side like he’s trying to give support to his snake. I’m astonished because Mr. Meow isn’t usually that nice. Maybe he remembers Kirito fed him that one time. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were won over with food. I think we all watch dumbfounded as he keeps bumping into the head of Kirito’s snake in an effort to wake him like their best friends or something.
“Razz can’t play with you right now, he’s hurt,” I sniff, my voice broken.
His next meow is downright pitiful and it nearly breaks my heart. Because he’s my familiar, I can feel his pain like it’s my own and vice versa. Exactly how close was he to Razz? Moving off Blondie’s lap, I sit on the bed and move to pull Mr. Meow in my lap when he ducks away from my arms with a hiss. What the hell is going on with you?
Through our connection, he holds my gaze and traps me there, his eyes light a startling green. Power surges through my body, coursing to my lungs like balls of air, my air, to be exact. My very breath. It’s an uncomfortable feeling at first, like I’m holding my breath way past my limits. I can’t move air through my body as each of my breaths are stolen away, but I can’t break his hold over me or look away.
“What’s going on with them?” Zion asks in a panicked voice I don’t recognize coming from him. I would laugh, reassure him, anything, but I can’t move.
“I don’t know, but her skin is starting to turn blue. Is she even breathing?” Oliver says, just as panicked. He claps me on my back, his magic warming my body as it examines me, but he can’t stop the gathering of my breaths or whatever this is.
Just when I start to feel lightheaded and black spots start to form behind my lids, Mr. Meow’s green eyes flash and he strikes out, biting into Kirito and Razz’s flesh. My body jerks and I lean over covering my mouth with Kirito’s, and like a burst balloon, all the air I gathered bursts free from my body into his and his still chest starts to rise as he’s filled full of my life force. When all the air is gone, I sit up and watch amazed as Kirito’s body regulates and he starts to breath on his own in a steady rhythm. When his eyes finally open, I get a glimpse of their chocolate perfection before everything goes black.
Zion
“What the hell just happened?” I ask, amazed. Out of all the shit I’ve seen, I’ve never seen a familiar cast a spell on its mage. I didn’t even know that was a possibility.
“That’s no ordinary familiar, just like she’s no ordinary mage,” Milo muses, rubbing his chin deep in thought.
Kirito shifts on the bed, trying to sit up and without asking, Oliver scrambles to help him so that he can lean his back on Angelica’s headboard. Even with all his bruises healed, he still looks like shit. His normally olive skin was pale, leached of all color. His eyes are bloodshot and dull, and just plain tired. The look on his face says ‘I’ve been to see our maker and back’ and maybe he did. Before the stunt with the cat, Kirito’s heart stopped and he stopped breathing. I know because I was keeping a close monitor. I’m sure Oliver didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to alarm Angelica, who was already beyond distraught over his condition. “How are you feeling?” Oliver asks.
“Like shit. I can’t believe I’m still alive.” Just remembering something, he glances down his body and lets out a deep relieved sigh.
“Yeah, man, it’s still there. You owe Oliver big time for healing your junk. If it were up to me, you’d be a eunuch,” I joke.
“Fuck you, dude. I almost died. Coming back to life without a working cock would have been worse. You’re lucky I’m too tired to kick your ass.”
“You should thank her familiar. We almost lost you there,” Oliver admits sheepishly. He means we did lose him.
“You helped too. He wouldn’t have made it without your healing. You almost exhausted yourself to the brink of death, and not let’s forget you’re still supplying mana to your Champion.” I tell him.
“What the fuck happened? How did you get that way?” Ryker growls. He’s not upset at Kirito, but what happened to him. Like all of us, he sucks at expressing himself.
“I was lured out by her brother. He has the Berserker and he’s out for blood. My blood mostly, since I fucked his sister.” We all listen as he tells us how Quinn lured him out with a note and what all happened in the meadow. Scented notes and warded fields. Quinn is a whole lot smarter than I first took him for, and his Champion doesn’t sound like one we should scoff at. He took Assassin out without using his noble phantasm, whatever it is.
“I thought as much. I didn’t want to say anything in front of her. It’s not like she would have believed us anyways, not after what went down,” I tell them.
“He literally fell into her bed bleeding on the verge of death. I think she
would have given us the benefit of doubt,” Ryker states.
“How did you even break her wards? Just being in here makes my skin buzz and I was invited. There’s no way you could have done that in the condition you were in. Hell, I don't think even we could have pulled it off using our combined power,” I state.
“Don’t know. One second, I was watching my dick get sliced into by Quinn’s psychotic Champion and the next Razz was breaking out of his hibernation state and wrapping his body around me.”
At the mention of his name, the snake slithers off Kirito’s body. With control over its size, it stays at a medium length, which is a good thing because all of us crammed in this room is making an already small room feel like a toaster. Bumping his head into Angelica’s cat, rubbing it against the feline’s soft fur, he wraps his body around the cat and disappears with it out the door.
“He’s not going to eat the cat, is he? I don’t know how we’ll be able to explain that to Sleeping Beauty over there,” Ryker asks amused.
“Nah, they’re friends. When he’s not with me, he’s usually with the cat.”
“That’s interesting,” I murmur. “Do you think it was the cat who broke the wards? I mean, he did put his mage under a spell and saved Kirito’s life. Him breaking the wards for his friend doesn’t sound that impossible after all that.”
“Possibly, but I’m not completely sure,” Milo answers, staring at Angelica’s prone body. What the hell is he thinking? It could not have been her. She was surprised just as us.
“Soo craziness aside, what are we going to do about her brother? He’s the one who came at us. We’ll look weak if we don’t retaliate and kill him. Not to mention the obvious. He’s in this war, wielding Berserker,” Ryker questions.
Sleeping, she looks so calm, unbothered by the shit show we all find ourselves in. Ryker is right. What Quinn did was an act of war and we can’t just sit back and do nothing. All of our reputations and status here in this school is hanging on what we’ll do to retaliate. Death is the only answer, but… she grew up with Quinn. They’re really close. Despite what I’ve learned, he’s her brother in every way. I have not had a chance to tell them what I found out after I left my father’s. I was just getting back to my room when Archer appeared with Saber. What I’ve learned will break her, but so will finding out her brother tried to kill Kirito. She may be mad at him, but I can tell she cares for him, alot. Those tears she shed, the worry over her face. The best actress in the world couldn’t pull off that performance.
“Well,” Milo pushes.
“He left us with no choice. Quinn decided his fate when he went after Kirito. He has to die.”
“And her? What do we tell her?”
“For now, nothing. Not until the deed is done and we have to explain why we did it.”
I hate it has come down to this. She may just hate us after we kill her brother and take out her own revenge on us. I don’t see this story having a happy ending. It never stood a chance when everyone is the villain.
“Let's help her clean up and take Kirito back to his room. One of us will have to stay there with him since he doesn’t have his Champion to keep guard. I wouldn’t put it past Quinn to try to finish the job, injured or not.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Milo volunteers. I’m not surprised it’s him. The twins hate to be separated and Kirito’s dorm is in a different building than theirs.
We don’t leave until Archer comes back and Saber tells me what they learned, confirming what we’ve already been told. Berserker killed Assassin, but there’s no way for them to learn which mage attacked Kirito, which is great. It guarantees Archer won’t be able to tell her much.
“Take care of your master,” I tell him, leaving out the door.
On the way back to my room, I’m lost in thought. I need to brief the others about Angelica, but I think we’ve been through enough tonight. We almost lost our best friend. Our brother. I haven’t made it a secret I hate harlequins, but if Quinn would have succeeded... it doesn’t matter what I’m beginning to feel for Angelica, I probably would have destroyed her after we took care of Quinn. When the time comes and she wants to kill us after we deal with her brother, I won’t blame her. I’ll give her the fight she rightly deserves where fate will decide the winner.
I should have been paying attention to my surroundings. Then I would not have been blindsided when someone I thought I would never see again steps in my path. Someone I thought I lost and was happy she left.
“Hello, Zion, long time no see.”
“Violet. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Ahh, come on, baby. Is that anyway to talk to your fiance?”
Quinn
“You let him get away,” I growl at my so-called Champion. We were this close. This fucking close to ending Kirito. He literally had his dick in his hand and let him slip away.
“I’m sorry, Master. Would you like for me to go after him?”
“No. By now, he’s with the others and it would be suicide to fight them as well as their Champions. You’re good, but you’re not that good. I’d rather not lose this war that stupidly.”
“Fuck!” I roar, rattling the walls.
Now my secret is out. Years worth of careful planning ruined. It was never our parents idea to send us to this academy, but mine. In fact, they were dead against it, even Mother, but I managed to get my way. I just knew I had to be a participant in this war. Winning is the only way to achieve my greatest dream and get the only thing I ever wanted. Coming here, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the heirs from the other founding families would be handed Champions. They’re all powerful and worthy opponents. What did surprise me was finding out my sister also wielded a Champion. I have spies everywhere and when one sent a message telling me, I was gobsmacked. Her being involved was just a tiny wrench thrown in my plan, nothing I couldn’t work around, but going after Kirito and letting him escape? Now that’s a big fucking problem. As the saying goes, a dead man can tell no tales and I’m sure he’s with his comrades, singing like a fucking bird.
“Convince me of why I shouldn’t kill you myself,” I say, turning on my Champion. Anyone who gets in the way of what I want is the fucking enemy.
“I’m sorry, Master. It was a mistake on my part. I promise to never let it happen again.”
He may be apologizing, but he’s not trembling in fear. Someone needs to pay. Maybe him. I could end him now and go at the war alone. But that would be stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Very fucking stupid. Think, Quinn, think. How can we turn this around? I had the advantage of surprise on my side, but now that’s gone. There’s no doubt they’ll come after me next. Maybe I got lucky and Kirito died after all. He was injured pretty badly. No, I can’t afford to think like that. What if’s will get you killed. To get through this war, I’m going to have to be stealthy as well as crafty. At first, I was going to kill Kirito for touching what’s mine and then join the others without them being the wiser and kill them off one by one after we took care of the other academies, but that’s not an option anymore.
“You’re lucky I still have use for you, Berserker. I’ll let you live for now. Finish healing my injuries and then go get my second in command. I have a brilliantly terrible idea.” My smile is wicked just as wicked as my plans, but I’ll do anything to win this war and when I do and get to make my wish, Angelica will be all mine.
Chapter 20
Angelica
I woke early so I could stop by Kirito’s room to check on him, but he wasn’t there. Waking after passing out from a magical coma, Archer relayed to me he was doing fine, but I wanted to see for myself. I’m relieved he’s no longer on death’s door and a little disappointed I didn’t get to see him before he left. Mr. Meow had me out cold for hours. I was mostly disappointed because I wanted to apologize for being such a brat. It wasn’t until I was faced with almost losing Kirito that I realized how much I truly care for him. And not just him, if I’m being honest with myself. All five of them.
I’m starting to realize there’s more to them than a dark reputation and pretty face. I’m starting to realize a lot of things, like maybe there’s more to my feelings for them than I first thought. Last night, I got a small glimpse of what they hide from everyone. What they’d kill to make sure no one finds out. That despite their upbringings, they are actually decent inside. Maybe even more decent than me.
I admire how each one of them were all there for their friend. Not one hesitated to come to Kirito’s aid. They’re a cohesive unit and I’m the outsider butting in where I don’t belong, but even if that’s true, in his time of need, Kirito came to me. It was my room he crash landed into and me he was thinking about while on death’s door. Despite what happened between us, seeing them all working together as one is what made the attraction I’ve been trying my hardest to bury in the ground blossom, despite the odds.
Each one of them have their own strengths and last night, those strengths cemented my feelings. Zion’s domineering personality and how he’s a born leader. Despite his friend being on death’s door, he still was able to push what he feels aside and take charge. The way Blondie dropped his guard and comforted me, holding me close to his muscled body and let me soak him with my tears. Oli’s skill in healing and how he gave everything in himself to make sure Kirito pulled through, even at the cost of his own life, and Milo’s devilishly dark side, ready and waiting to enact revenge on the one who wronged them. Maybe these feelings I’m harboring are a disaster in the making. Me sabotaging myself, but is it self-destructive for me to entertain the idea of being with all of them? When they said they wanted to be a team, I’m doubtful they meant in that way, but it’s an idea that’s embedded itself deep into my soul, making it hard to shake. But who am I to think I can have it all or even deserve it?
