Through a wireless speaker played a heavy rock tune that was full of modified guitar riffs and a cluster of heavily beaten drums. It was the vast open space of the gym, where soundproofing was quite lacking, so the song carried and echoed across the entire interior.
“You ready, Victor?” asked Maple, stretching her arm across her chest while twisting her upper body to the right. She did the same to the other arm as the large boy that stood several feet across from her frowned wearily.
“Again, Maple? How many times do we have to do this?” he questioned, sounding exasperated at the prospect of yet another one-sided sparring session.
“Because, I told you I’d win one of these days and I have a good feeling about tonight.” she answered, finishing her routine of stretches and sending a swift series of stationary kicks ahead of her.
Maple was wearing a pair of black shorts, a white t-shirt, and some white bandages around her hands and feet, making sure she didn’t hurt them too badly while taking on what was essentially a wall with legs and arms. As for the reluctant and unenthusiastic Victor, he was wearing a pair of blue joggers and a gray shirt with short sleeves that seemed to barely fit his body. As Maple lowered her stance, the claws on her toes and fingers seemed to grow longer and sharper than normal, and her fangs became more pronounced. The black pupils within her eyes became narrow slits instead of circles, and some other new features appeared. One was a lengthy tail that was the same reddish-brown as her hair, and the others were matching pointed ears that rose from within her usual ruffled mess of hair. The scar-like stripes along her flesh darkened from a similar complexion as her skin to almost straight black, though they remained slightly translucent.
Victor didn’t even bother taking a stance, despite the look of ferocity on the face of the typically calm and playful girl ahead of him. Maple sprinted ahead and leapt up at him, sending a kick down towards his body, which finally prompted the giant to react. He raised an arm, as if he was simply swatting away a fly. Maple, connected with it and flipped backwards, landing on all fours in front of him. Using her hands for support, she sent two more rapid kicks towards him, both of which were lazily blocked. Maple spun and gingerly flipped backwards into a pouncing position on the ground, patches of fur appearing in various places along her body that matched the pigment of her hair, just as the tail and ears did.
Victor’s face finally showed something other than passive laziness as Maple let out a quiet, aggressive growl. Instead, his expression seemed attentive, but it still lacked any sort of concern. Maple rushed ahead, bounding on all fours like the cat she resembled. Her swift lunge forward caused Victor to react by holding out a hand to catch her, but with her agility, she used the trunk-like limb as a stepping stone. Kicking off of it, she flipped and sent a passing kick to the back of Victor’s head, causing him to stumble away from her by a step. As he turned to react, Maple was on the ground and sending both feet back towards him while pushing from the ground with both hands. Unfortunately, Victor was always too stable, especially if he knew an attack was coming. He didn’t budge this time, and instead, as Maple was rebounded, he grabbed her leg and twisted while hoisting her off the ground.
He released her back in the direction in which she started, causing her to flail as she flew through the air. Thankfully for her, cats always land on their feet. Maple did just that and slid back a few inches as her claws dug into the slick, polished floor of the gym.
“Ooops.” she murmured, staring down at the grooves she left behind after pulling one set of nails out. “Do you think I’ll need to pay for that?” she asked.
“Probably.” Victor said. “Can we stop now, before you break more property?”
“Victor Crimson, are you tired of being my sparring partner?” she asked, annoyed, and rising to her feet as one clawed hand found her hip.
“Yes,” he said bluntly. “I’m sorry, Maple, it’s not just you. I don’t like sparring matches because my powers kind of prevent it from being fun. The more you hit me, the stronger I get, remember? Even if you did keep hitting me, it would just do less and less every time.” Maple puffed up her cheeks and crossed her arms over her chest in an extremely pouty fashion. This, coupled with her already youthful appearance, made for a guilt-inducing scene for whoever her opponent was. Victor sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Maple, but I can’t turn it off. If I could, I would.”
“I know.” Maple whined. “But hey, doesn’t that mean you’re the perfect practice dummy?” she questioned.
“I’d rather you not think of me that way, but I guess so.”
“I might make use of that then.” Maple said, glaring at him, as if he had done her wrong in some way and she wanted revenge. Seemingly being part of her plan, she looked to a set of benches along the side of the court. “Hey, Anita, how about you and I knock him around for a while? It’ll be fun.” the girl promised, but there was no response. “Anita? You in there?” Maple asked, but again, the silver haired princess on the sidelines didn’t answer her.
Anita was sitting with her legs pressed together at the knees, and her hands in her lap as her eyes stared solely at the floor. On the outside, she seemed a bit distracted, possibly just ignoring her friends, but internally, she was having a fierce battle. The combating factions were her worries and her beliefs. Something was wrong, something had been wrong for some time. But, it couldn’t be bad right? Not as bad as she thought, obviously. Besides, things seemed to be getting better for a few weeks now, there was no way something terrible had happened. But, there was always a chance that something did, wasn’t there? But no, not with her, it was impossible. She was strong, she was capable, she made a promise.
“Anita?!”
Anita shook her head, her dark gray eyes widening in astonishment as her long locks shifted slightly around her face from the faint motion. “Maple?” she asked, sounding like she’d just woken up from a long, very intense dream, and didn’t know where she was at the moment. “What is it? Did something happen?” she then questioned, remembering where she was and why she was there. “Who won?”
“I thought you were watching.” Maple said lightly. “You said you’d watch and help me figure out a way to win.”
“So that’s why you had a good feeling.” Victor said, walking up beside her to also stand in front of Anita. “You were going to cheat with Anita’s help,” he added, sounding disappointed.
“Pfft, no. It’s not cheating, it’s more like… giving myself a fair advantage.”
“There’s no such thing.” Victor said quietly, before looking solemnly at Anita. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”
“Worried?” asked Maple, as Anita’s head lowered. “About Fe-Fe?” Maple inquired, focusing on the silver-haired angel again.
“I haven’t seen or heard from her since we split up after getting to school. How could I not be? I understand her skipping lunch or something, she’s done it before, but not being there after school… Something’s wrong, I know it.”
“Like what?” asked Maple, taking a seat beside her on the bench. Most of her features returned to normal, such as her vanishing patches of fur and her disappearing ears and tail. The stripes still remained darker than they were in their passive state, and her claws were still extended, but for the most part, she’d reverted back.
“I don’t know, just… something bad.” Anita answered rather reluctantly, not wanting to admit how bad ‘bad’ was in her mind. In truth, her worries far exceeded what ‘bad’ could possibly encompass. The word ‘bad’ would be a blessing when compared to what she feared most of all.
“She wouldn’t do it, you know.” Victor said assuredly, but there was no way to be truly certain of that, not recently.
“Do what?” Maple snapped, stomping her feet. “Will you two let me in on the secret? What are you so worried about?”
Anita took a breath before speaking. “With how she’s been lately, she might… she might…”
She couldn’t finish that train of thought. She instead gripped her left forearm, containing scars from her own battles with that sort of tendency and line of thinking. That kind of mindset, while stupid in hindsight, is a poison on a weakened soul. When somebody is at their lowest, when it looks like nothing will ever get better, the temptation and freedom that it offers is too promising, too alluring. It was hard for her to avoid, and the honest reality of it was that she didn’t really avoid it. She tried to end her own life on multiple occasions. The only reason she was still alive after those cuts was that her shaking hand and quivering determination caused the blade to stop too short, too shallow. Ferain, who had worse problems than her, and more haunting demons than Anita could ever imagine facing, might be able to go that extra step that she herself failed to do before.
Fera’s hand would still shake, but that blade would go where it needed to in order to draw out as much blood as was necessary. Anita had no doubts about that. The only question was whether Ferain had gotten to that point so quickly.
“No, you don’t mean… Fe-Fe would never kill herself… Right?” Maple asked, shifting her gaze back and forth between Victor and Anita, who both remained silent for a while. “There’s no way. I bet she was just tired or something and went home early. That’s all there is to it. I bet you all my money that–”
“It’s possible.” Anita said softly, cutting Maple’s words of hopeful, possibly delusional optimism short. As much as she hated to admit it, she had to. “It’s possible.” she repeated.
“No… No, don’t think that.” said Maple, putting a hand on Anita’s trembling shoulder. “She’s been down lately, but she’s not like that. Fe-Fe’s tough, and besides, she’s been doing better, right? She’s been hanging out with us again and–”
“And she’s still been pretty quiet.” interjected Victor. “More quiet than usual, anyway. She’s been lying about it, putting on a mask, if you will.”
“It was a pretty damn good one, then.” pouted Maple, crossing her arms.
“Come on, Maple, you don’t believe that.” Victor stated. “You keep talking about how worried you are about her when we’re walking home.”
“That’s different though.” she protested. “I mean it like, I’m worried about her health and stuff. She hasn’t been sleeping, right? She needs to get some rest and stuff, but…”
“I’m sorry.” Anita said. “I didn’t mean to bring the mood down. I’m sure she’s fine. You’re right, Maple, she’s probably just sleeping at home or something.”
“Ferain hasn’t talked to us much about what’s been going on,” said Victor. “Anita, do you have any idea why she’s been acting this way?”
Anita squeezed tighter on her scarred limb, staring down towards another scarred portion of her body, though this one was hidden beneath the school shirt she was wearing. “She’s afraid.” she answered.
“Of?” asked Maple.
“Kiko.” Victor answered in Anita’s place. “After hearing about all of that, I had my suspicions. It only makes sense. Who expects one of their friends to turn around and try to kill them all of a sudden? I imagine that it's pretty terrifying to be in that sort of situation.”
“I don’t think that’s all there is to it.” said Anita. “I don’t think she’s really afraid of him personally. She’s afraid of what he can do to us… of what anybody can do to us. She said that she needed to be strong enough to protect everyone. I know she blames herself for what happened too, like she should have figured it out or something. As if we all expected that of her. We were all fooled, not just her. Why does she have to take that all on herself? It’s not fair.” Anita growled, digging her blue-painted nails into her marred flesh.
“Because that’s who she is, isn’t it?” said Maple, putting a finger against her lower lip. “I mean, Ferain always worries about everything herself. When Vic and I first met her, she would hardly ever speak about the murders and stuff, even though it was weighing on her the whole time.”
“You also said that she snuck off a few times at the end of last year, right?” Victor pointed out. “Then there was the whole thing with Mana and that Singer girl. I know the nightmares and stuff were bad but she kept saying that it wasn’t all that much and that she had it handled. It’s just Ferain being Ferain. Of course she’s going to take all of the responsibility for what happened.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Even this year she’s been pretty reclusive,” said Maple. “It’s gotten worse too, like she’s trying to shove us all away.”
“Probably to keep us safe if she thinks we’re all still in danger.”
“But we’re not,” said Anita. “I tried telling her that but she won’t listen. She keeps seeing Kiko everywhere we go, and everytime she sees something that reminds her of him, she gets all angry and stubborn-headed. I can’t get through to her.” Anita put her elbows on her knees and buried her face into her hands. “I don’t know what to do anymore. How am I supposed to help her if she won’t let me?”
“I don’t know if you can,” said Victor. “I don’t know if any of us can. It might be something she has to figure out on her own.”
“No.” Anita stated firmly, shaking her head. “I tried that once so far, and it didn’t work. She started sneaking off, hiding things from me, and lying to me. And even after all of that, she’s still not better. I can’t just let it go and hope she’ll come back to me. I need to do something, but what? There has to be a way to show her that we’re safe, that she doesn’t need to be so afraid.”
“I’ll sleep on it.” said Victor.
“Me too.” Maple added. “We’ll figure this out, then. If letting Fe-Fe do it on her own isn’t an option, and if her letting us help isn’t either, we’ll just have to force ourselves in. It’s simple, really.”
“I hope so.” Anita said.
“She’s strong, Anita.” Anita looked up into Victor’s dark, serious eyes and felt somehow reassured. “With or without us, she’ll figure it out. I have faith that she can pull through from this. Look at everything else she’s been through, and she’s been alright after all of it. There’s been a few speed bumps, a few stumbled steps, but in the end, Ferain has always bounced back in one way or another. This will be the same, you’ll see.”
“I agree.” Maple said, nodding her head wisely. “Get some sleep tonight, Anita, and tomorrow, you’ll see, we’ll have this whole thing sorted out. Ferain will be back to her normal self within the week, I promise.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t be so doubtful. I’m supposed to be the positive one, aren’t I? You’re both right. I know you are. Well, I should get home. If Fera is resting, she might be too tired to make food again. We’re getting into the rainy season and she always gets zappy when the weather turns. It wears her out. Bye, guys. Thanks for cheering me up.”
“Of course,” said both Victor and Maple in unison.
“Night, Ann.” Maple said, grinning from ear to ear while waving her hand.
Anita scooped up her shoulder bag, a blue one with purple accents, and a few pins in the shapes of music notes were along the length of the strap that hung over her shoulder. Despite what her friends had said, had assured her of, the concern was still there. It was always there as of late. There was also the constant companion that was pain to contend with too. Fera’s own suffering struck a chord in her heart that made it feel like it was bleeding internally. There was also the fact that Ferain hardly ever looked at her anymore. They still loved each other, she was sure of that. Not once, no matter how Ferain acted, did she ever doubt that, nor would she for as long as she lived. They were attached, as if their souls were linked together now. There was no separating the two of them. However, in some ways, that made it all the worse when Ferain continued to push her away.
Fera wouldn’t push her out of sight, out of her life. She would just push her to a safe distance away, where she’d be certain that Anita wouldn't get hurt anymore… at least not for her sake. Upon reflection, those were the only times she’d gotten injured badly enough to scar her. Both occasions had been in Fera’s presence, and both in situations she wouldn't have been in had it not been for Ferain. She defended her from Marrow, which earned her the slanted slash in her left cheek, and the ugly, burn-like scar just beneath her right set of ribs was while they were fighting Kiko and he’d gotten the better of them. It was easily understandable how Ferain could blame herself for both.
“But it isn’t fair.” Anita repeated to herself. “Those weren’t her decisions, they were mine. I wanted to help, she didn’t ask me. They were my fault more than hers, and they were the boys’ faults more than either of ours. But she doesn’t see it like that.” Anita thought, tilting her head slightly as she walked back towards the dormitory she shared with her wolf-like companion. “How do I make her see that?” she then questioned, racking her brain for an answer of any kind, hoping that the one she came across would be the one that would assist her in saving her friend from the grief she carried upon her shoulders.
As Anita opened the door to her apartment, she noticed that all of the lights were still off, just as they had been when she and Fera left that morning. She pressed a rectangular switch by the door, bringing the small dome light above her head on to illuminate the entryway. The small square patch of hardwood did not have the overly worn boots that Fera always wore, and always refused to replace. Anita remembered offering to buy her a rather nice pair over their break, but Fera turned her down every time the topic was brought up. She didn’t know why, seeing as the ones she wore had frayed stitching that was starting to come undone, soles that were barely existent from being so worn down by concrete and asphalt, and an interior that was chewed up and even slightly burned from years of use and abuse.
Her gray eyes lifted from the bare entryway as she flipped another switch besides the one she flipped before. The light above the dining table turned on, and at once, she saw the glistening surface of a gem as it reflected the warm, orangish glow. Rapidly, more so than she could ever remember, her heart sank. Her lungs seemed to stop working, and her body tensed up while simultaneously growing numb and limp. Her bag fell to the ground and she stumbled forward, noticing a piece of paper beneath what had to be Ferain’s crystal. Ferain never went anywhere without that crystal, not once since they met had she been seen outside without it. The only exception to this was during a period of their vacation, as Anita was getting it repaired and transformed from a broken necklace to a beautiful earring.
Upon reading the note, she felt faint, like the whole world had just blown up and she was all that was left, like nothing else besides her existed. It was a lonely, familiar pain, one of abandonment and heartache and disownment. It was terrible, and as the note drifted to the floor from her left hand, her right one clutched at her aching heart and tears began welling up in her glowing eyes. Means to say, Anita didn’t sleep that night. She remained up, only partly due to choice, but mostly due to concern. Ferain left. She actually left. For most of the dreadful night, she laid on her side while staring at the blue crystal she set on the nightstand beside her bed, watching it glisten and glow as it took in the moonlight that seeped in through her bedroom window.
That gem always had a tendency of doing that, of seemingly absorbing whatever light struck it, as well as drawing in her attention whenever it did so. It was a beautiful accessory, one that meant the world to Ferain. She wouldn’t leave it unless she was going to come back for it, right? But if that was the case, why leave it in the first place? Why couldn’t she take it where she was going? Was she worried that it would get lost or destroyed again? What was this thing she had to do and could it really be that dangerous to warrant such a concern? Question after question, but no answers to show for the hours of time she spent pondering them.
Anita did come to one conclusion over the course of her long, endless night, however. One person that might know where she went, what she might be doing, was the headmaster of their academy. Guji Hakamura had an odd, special bond with Ferain. She didn’t know exactly what it was, and she prayed it wasn’t some secret, creepy sort of relationship, but the fact that it existed was unquestionable. If anybody could have a clue to where she was going, it would be him. When the next morning came, just to be safe, she checked Fera’s room, but it was empty. It hadn’t been touched, and that was all she needed to decide that Ferain had really gone.
She changed into a clean uniform, didn’t even bother straightening her matted and tangled hair, and nearly forgot her boots as she ran into the hall and sprinted towards the elevator to beat the other lined up students inside. It took a lot of apologizing, and even more shoving, but she eventually made it to the school much earlier than she normally did. Her first stop was not her classroom, but the headmaster’s office on the fourth floor of the academy. As she arrived, she noticed that the door was just barely ajar, allowing the voices from inside the room to carry out.
“What did you do?” asked Professor Autumn Willow, in a voice that sounded more concerned and agitated than she’d ever heard it.
“I had to.” said the headmaster in such a soft tone, she was surprised she could hear it.
“What did you do?” Willow repeated.
“I suspended her.” Hakamura replied. “I had to.”
“You’re letting your emotions get the better of you, Guji.”
“I had no choice!” he shouted. “I had to separate them. She was in danger, and I had to get them away from one another.”
“So you punished her?” Willow asked, sounding more furious than anything now.
“I can’t do anything to Seven, but I can keep her away from him. I had to do it, Autumn, I couldn't think of any other suitable solution.”
“Like telling her the truth?” Willow snapped.
“I can’t do that and you know it.”
“Why? If she’d been pre-warned, she might’ve been able to–”
“To do what?” the headmaster interrupted. “To fend him off? To… to…”
“To have a chance.” Willow said during the headmaster’s short period of silence, apparently at a loss of words. “Guji, lying to her isn’t going to help her anymore. She has been betrayed too many times, by Tobi, by her grandmother, by a boy she called a friend. What do you expect that to do to such a young mind? It’s only natural that she has issues with trust, and you want to lie to her even more? I know how you feel on the topic, but Harriet would want–”
“Harriet made what she wanted perfectly clear.” said the headmaster, cutting his partner short. “Tobi was her father, and Seven is nothing more than a leeching administrator from the government. She doesn’t need to know anything else besides that.”
“She doesn’t know anything about Seven or she wouldn't have been spending so much time around him. Did she tell you what she’s been doing here after-hours?”
“No, but I have my suspicions. Seven is a ruthless man, one with a terrible reputation, even among the rest of his peers. It’s why he runs the department, and it’s why I have no say in his position here. They wanted to be sure to prevent another incident like last year, and said I handled it too passively. They sent Seven as a preventative measure to make sure everything went smoothly, but he has a sick power. It’s parasitic. It latches onto somebody and as they get stronger, as their emotions grow stronger, so too does he. Ferain feels responsible for what happened, and she feels like she needs to make it up to everyone for what she’s done… or failed to do. Seven’s been looking stronger every week since his arrival, meaning that he’s made Ferain a host for his parasite. I believe it’s safe to assume that he’s been training her during their visits.” explained Hakamura.
“Why didn’t you warn her of at least that?” asked Willow.
“I knew of his other power, but not this one. I only found out about it recently. I had Sara look into his records. Apparently, they were pretty well hidden. By the time I found out and began looking at the records of who’s been around him recently, it was too late. They’d already been training together for nearly two months, and a few days later, yesterday, I tried to confront him. Practically laughed in my face, and the way he touched her…” There was a loud crack, presumably something breaking but Anita couldn't see. She had her ear pressed against the door, not daring to put any more weight on it than that, and wanting to not get any closer than she had to.
“Guji.” said Professor Willow, in a soft-spoken tone.
“I had to split them up, and suspending her was the only way.” Anita heard Professor Willow start to speak, but she was instantly interrupted by the headmaster again. “And yes, I’ll consider telling her the truth. I simply didn’t want to put such unnecessary weight on her, not now, not with everything else that happened.”
“She deserves to know.” stated Professor Willow “She deserves to know that, and how much danger she might be in now. If Seven is what you think, if he’s working with Tobi’s old friends, her life is on the line.”
“If it was, he would’ve made his move by now. He’s had plenty of opportunities. I think they want her for something. They don’t want to kill her, and they need to get her stronger. I can’t imagine Seven is only doing this to increase his own strength. There’s a reason for it, I know that.”
As Anita listened in, staying as still as possible, she suddenly felt a betrayal of her own. From deep within her nostrils arose a terrible itch, one that threatened to blow her cover if she didn’t move fast. Unfortunately, before she could even move an inch from the door, she let out a quiet, but powerful sneeze. Her eyes glowed and a stream of wind blew out with it, blowing the door inward.
“Ms. Caswell?” gasped Professor Willow.
“Bless you.” said the headmaster, in a much more calm voice than she expected to receive.
“T-thank you.” she replied timidly, trying to not sound like she’d been caught committing a crime, despite the fact that this was exactly what happened. “Hello, Professor.” she then added, bowing her head in Willow’s direction.
“You should be–” started the stern woman, but she was quickly interrupted by the headmaster’s docile voice.
“How much did you hear, Ms. Caswell? There’s no point in denying it, I know you were eavesdropping.” he said.
“Most of it, I think.” she replied. “You were talking about Ferain, right?”
“I did say her name, yes.” the headmaster answered, clasping his hands atop a desk that had more splintered wood than not.”
“I… I wanted to talk about her with you, sir, if you don’t mind? I’m getting worried about her.” Anita then stopped, shook her head, and stepped forward, producing a folded note from within a pocket of her bag. “I’m more than worried. I think she's doing something dangerous. She left this, as well as her earring. I haven’t seen her since yesterday morning, and I don’t know where she is.” Anita rambled, trying to convince him that they both needed his help right now.
The headmaster took the paper from her and his eyes swiftly scanned the page, growing darker as he took in the short message written out. He closed his eyes and handed the paper over to his partner, who accepted it without hesitation.
“Ms. Caswell,” he started, shifting just enough for their eyes to meet. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention.”
“Is she in trouble?” asked Anita. “Before, you said you suspended her. Then you said she was in danger. What’s going on?”
“Ms. Caswell, you–”
“She’s my best friend, my partner, I deserve to know.” Anita said with gritted teeth.
“She heard everything anyway, Guji.” muttered Professor Willow.
“It doesn’t matter what she heard.” stated the headmaster. “You’re still a child, and it is not your place to know more. I’ll take care of this before anything terrible happens, and that’s all you need to be concerned with, Ms. Caswell. You’re dismissed.”
Anita opened her mouth to argue, but in the end, she held her tongue. “Yes, sir.” she quietly grumbled, rising and walking back towards the entrance. She gave a final look back and then decided it would be best to keep moving. With a loud, echoing click, the door latched shut, and Anita continued towards the central stairs to follow them down.