“Professor Silas, Healer Lazarus, and Chancellor Herald, please report to the coliseum,” Dawn drawled over the PA system, “A duel to defeat between Prince Rowan of Rage Kingdom and the Goddess of Life Fiona has been agreed upon.”

We wandered to the coliseum, Rowan and I standing around in the arena. Dawn hadn’t followed us, having to continue teaching the class.

Soon, I was being approached by Silas. Silver eyes were fierce, and his expression was not a kind one.

“You will not win,” He snapped, “What did you agree upon?”

I shrugged, gesturing at myself, “Sex slave,” I gestured at Rowan, “Release of all slaves and transfer of all loyalties.”

White hair and sapphire eyes caught my attention. Oh! Hey! Lazarus!

“Lazarus! Pass me a mana regen, will you?” I called out.

“Cheating?” Rowan asked.

“Nope, you can take one too if you’d like,” I responded as Lazarus handed me one, glancing up at the blond warrior, “Unless you’re pathetic enough at fighting to need the advantage? I still haven’t taken it, I could give it back,” I offered innocently.

Rowan’s face twisted, eyes cruel, “I will enjoy fucking you until you can’t walk, tonight.”

My lips twisted up, and I tilted my head, “Before we begin the duel, can I request one thing?”

Rowan scoffed, crossing his arms, “What is it?”

“Don’t hit my head,” I tapped my temples, “Or I won’t be able to heal this pretty face later.”

Rowan stared at me, scowling, “So long as you do not aim for mine.”

I grinned, “I won’t aim for your upper head, no. Be careful, if you don’t win you’ll be leaving here a headless horseman.”

A hand landed roughly on my shoulder. I staggered under its weight. Silas bowed to Rowan.

“If you’ll excuse me, Rowan, I must speak with Goddess Fiona for a moment.”

Silas’ hand on my shoulder was painfully tight. I sipped at my mana regen potion, stopping once I was full. Closing the bottle, I tossed it to Lazarus. He caught it, looking hopeful. He was one of Rowan’s victims, after all.

“Of course, Professor Grayson,” Rowan agreed easily, waving us off, “I’d like to wait for more students to arrive, so everyone can see me when I shove my dick into her mouth.”

I was dragged off, Silas jerking me to prevent me from giving a rebuttal. Looking around, I saw a lot of students filing into the seats of the coliseum. The coliseum was white, the field in the center made of grass.

“If you have any sort of sense, you will immediately back out of this duel and beg him for forgiveness,” Silas snapped, turning to me, “I do not know what stupidity caused you to accept the duel, however—“

He cut himself off, staring at me. I was smiling gently.

“Hey. Can I speak now?” I wondered.

Silas glowered at me, “I do not know what plans you think you have, but they will not work.”

My eyebrows rose, “Oh, okay. Thanks for your vote of confidence. Anyway, can I ask a favor of you?”

Silas shook his head, “No, I am not helping you—“

“When I win, can we have victory sex?” I asked.

Silas’ entire expression went blank, and he stared down at me, “Do you not understand what you’ve done?”

“I do!” I agreed, my smile not fading.

Silas stared at me for a long time. Long enough that two other professors had time to sprint up.

“Are you crazy?” Jerald roared.

I blinked, not expecting him to be so concerned. Nocta physically leapt up, both of his feet landing in my stomach.

“Oomph,” I collapsed to the ground, “Ow, fuck dude! Seriously? No confidence? None at all? Fuck.”

Standing up, I watched Lazarus walk up.

“I have faith in you,” Lazarus commented as he healed me.

“Do you actually, or are you just hoping I’ll pull something out of my ass so you’re not under his rule anymore?” I asked dryly.

Lazarus remained stoically silent, but his expression grew pink.

He looked at me, eyes glittering with hope, “You do have something, right?”

I scoffed, shaking my head with a grin. I didn’t want to give him false hope, “A promise he won’t knock me out and the knowledge that he won’t try and kill me. That’s about it.”

Lazarus’s hope immediately faded, “You don’t have enough magic to constantly heal yourself.”

I shook my head, “Man, I kind of miss Valentine. At least he would have faith in me.”

If I could punch him in the face after being tortured and hardly able to stand, I was certain I could win against some bratty upstart.

The chancellor walked up, in the middle of tying his hair back, “He would pretend to, certainly. I am certain he would just plan to kill Rowan if you failed.”

My lips pulled into my mouth, smile fading as I looked at everyone. Silas, Jerald, Nocta, Herald, even Lazarus looked like they held no hope.

“Well fuck you guys then. I’m demanding victory sex from all of you if I win. At once. With expensive champagne.”

“Even you’re saying “if”, kid,” Nocta pointed out, sounding like he was already mourning my future.

I sighed roughly, reaching up and ruffling my hair. Then I took the silk ribbon off my wrist and started tying it up, “So, Silas, that favor? Do you promise?”

My idea was a pretty simple one. The reason everyone was so certain I failed was because Rowan had unlocked his aura, none of them realizing I had, too. Of course it would be very close, but so long as he didn’t knock me out via blow to the head, I was certain I would win.

Not that I knew how to activate my aura, so I needed something very, very great: incentive.

Right now I had no incentive to feel great or strong emotion, so I would definitely fail. I couldn’t ask anyone except my favorites, all of which weren’t available.

Asking Desmond wasn’t possible, because I was certain he would both accept and use the opportunity to enslave me to him, seeing as he was no longer mine.

I only had Silas and Herald to ask.

Silas stared at me for a long moment, “What are you planning?”

I grinned, “To have fun with you after the fight. I just said that. Herald can join in if he wants.”

I looked between the two. Herald wasn’t affected by my words. Or, rather, he was staring at me, trying to figure out what I was planning. Or maybe he was just staring at me. He did that a lot.

I should ask him about it, sometime.

“Yes,” Silas said.

I turned to him, surprised. My eyes widened as they focused on his. Then a grin spread across my face, eyes glittering.

“Wait, really?” I asked excitedly. He actually agreed?

Silas nodded, “Yes. If you win against Rowan, I, Silas Grayson, will have victory sex with you.”

Oh my god. This was the best day of my life.

My grin widened, and I laughed joyfully. Energy infused me, and I pumped my fists as I jogged toward Rowan.

“Oh fuck yeah!” I cried, doing a cartwheel and a backflip, excited as I grinned at Rowan.

The golden-haired prince stared at me for a long moment, looking incredulous. Obviously he’d heard what was agreed upon, his senses were quite sharp. We’d only gone like ten to twenty feet away.

I was bouncing on the balls of my feet, my sword jumping from hand to hand, “Oh I’m going to be pissed if you ruin this for me.”

Elation was as good an emotion as rage, right? I felt both in spades, when it came to my stanned characters.

“Then I look forward to seeing your rage,” Rowan scoffed, shaking his head, “To think you would be so crazy in love with Professor Silas, of all people.”

I grinned, “I know,” I agreed, voice clearly adoring, the energy infusing me leaking out in a bright flowery yellow, “Isn’t he great? Come on, are you ready to fight? I’m ready to fight.”

Rowan’s eyes widened. The entire coliseum started whispering and mumbling to each other. In the distance, walking away, Nocta cackled.

“I’m so excited. I really can’t wait,” I said, watching as my flowery golden hue spread to my sword, “Hurry up and start the duel. I have fun to get to.”

“You’re a first year who hardly touched a sword before the Academy! How did you unlock your aura!?” Rowan demanded.

I grinned, “Oh you wouldn’t believe it,” My grin widened, growing unhinged, “It manifested as bloodlust. Everyone keeps calling me a goddess of healing, but oh do I adore violence.”

Herald walked up, eyes still intent on me. He didn’t even look at Rowan as he spoke, waving around a yellow cloth.

My grin faded into a smile. I tilted my head at Rowan. He looked serious, his own Aura a faded and wispy blue as it wrapped around him.

“This will be thrown into the air. The moment it hits the ground, the duel will start. The proctor of the exam and the one who determines when it ends is Silas. Don’t kill each other,” Herald muttered, throwing the yellow cloth up. Turning, Herald sprinted away.

A dome of magic surrounded us.

I stared into hot pink eyes. Neither of us moved when the yellow cloth hit the ground, though I did right my head.

My smile faded. I stared at Rowan. My words echoed out so everyone could hear them, “Do you wish to forfeit?”

Oh. The dome was there to add to the entertainment as well, instead of just being there to protect people outside of it like I thought. Nice! My lips curved upward into a smile.

“You underestimate me,” Rowan snapped, glaring at me, “Are you waiting for me to make the first move?”

I started my calculations.

My smile shifted into something less cheerful, teeth bared, “No.”

Two magical circles appeared next to me, both healing. One was aimed at me, inactive, and the other was aimed at Rowan.

He didn’t need feeling in his legs. Or to move them at all. Could I disable his spine?

Rowan hesitated. Then his eyes widened and he darted forward. The healing spell aimed at him was broken apart as I dodged back.

My steps did more than I expected them to, though, and I found myself flying back, skidding and rolling in the grass.

“The Goddess of Life starting with a healing spell only to overdo her steps, still unused to using aura! Will her beginning move be enough to give her a head-start?” Someone clearly taking the role of an announcer called out, their voice echoing around the dome.

When Rowan went to capitalize on the advantage, his legs buckled, and he fell, too.

I stood up before him, using Nocta’s movement spell to skate my way over.

“So I know how to make chloroform, but the body automatically generates melatonin,” I thought aloud casually. That would be better, right?

I skated around the man, another healing circle appearing as I skated backwards, staring at Rowan as he used his sword to stand up, aura growing thicker. He was essentially a berserker, with his aura. The longer the fight went on, the more aura he was able to generate.

That was fine, though.

My healing circle didn’t seem to do anything no matter how much melatonin I told it to generate and put into the brain, so I dropped it.

“Fiona once again trying to heal Rowan into submission, no surprises that it doesn’t work,” The announcer announced.

Changing my momentum, I skated toward Rowan, sword reaching out.

Clang-Thunk!

The only reason his enchanted sword wasn’t cut in half was because of his aura. I awkwardly took a step back, but my feet slipped on ice I’d created.

“Oh!” The crowd roared as the announcer shouted in surprise, “Did her sword just cut through his?!”

Creating another sword was too magic-intensive, so I used Silas’ signature spell, earth rocketing me into the air.

I flew over Rowan’s head, sword finally slipping from his. It caught, though, and I found myself falling to be directly behind him, sword slicing into his shoulder.

Oh, oops.

My knee snapped out, sword coming down. As I kicked Rowan forward, my sword sliced through his back.

He seemed to vanish from my sight. Not risking anything, I used Silas’ magic again to dive forward, turning mid-air to see a sword going through the area I’d just vacated.

“And Rowan finally going on the offensive! Fiona just barely dodging using earth magic!” The announcer continued.

“Oh!” A great idea formed, “Wow, I can’t believe I forgot what a flashbang was!”

My firework spell appeared, aimed at Rowan. It hardly cost any magic at its smallest.

A small ball about the size of my palm screamed out, Rowan dodging. I closed my eyes, focusing on the sight of his aura to know where he was, running toward him as he looked at the spell.

SKREE—BOOM!

My vision flashed red, and I opened my eyes to see Rowan covering his with his arm.

Sprinting forward, my sword came up. Rowan must have had some sort of sensory advantage, too, because his sword swung up. I staggered back, a line cutting up my neck and through my chin.

“And Rowan finally gets a hit in! Will he be able to turn around the advantage the goddess has had this whole time?”

My eyes widened when my sword left my hands. I reached for it, but Rowan’s foot came up. His aura was as thick as mine, now, and his kick sent me flying.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Oh, shit. He is. Fuck, can I change my bets, Jackson?”

As I slammed and rolled in the grass, my healing spell healed the wound on my neck until it wasn’t serious anymore.

My eyes came up, focusing on where I’d come from. Rowan wasn’t there. I dived forward, rolling, a sword slicing through my leg.

I cursed, magic healing the wound as I tried and failed to gain a single moment’s reprieve as I continued diving and dodging.

I dove left. A line of pain scratched along my back. I dove back. A line appeared on my cheek. I tried standing, but my leg wasn’t healed. Rowan kicked me back.

“What do you mean no? Damn it. Oh-uh, the-the goddess—I mean, Fiona seems to be on the defensive, now, unable to do much more than dodge as Rowan reverses their roles in a surprising turn!” The announcer stuttered out, the crowd booing.

More and more injuries accumulated as I was tossed around like a rag-doll. Soon my healing magic flickered out, and I was slammed down onto my back, gasping for air as I stared up at Rowan.

The announcer gasped, the crowd going silent.

I tried bringing up Silas’ promise, but it did the opposite of what I’d intended, my aura vanishing completely.

What a pathetic thing to do. Did I really expect sexual favors would motivate me? I was an idiot. A pathetic piece of trash.

The flamingo-eyed man had the same look in his eyes the military men that culled even the surrendering did.

Weak. I was helpless. Again.

“Do you surrender, or do I need to make you lose enough blood to faint?”

I didn’t get up when I clung to the man’s slacks. I didn’t get up even when, still crying, the military man shot the guy who put the debris on me.

“Get on your knees, you lying terrorist bitch,” The man ordered from above me, his gun aimed at me.

Not again. No. No, I refused.

I glared up at Rowan as my wounds started giving off steam, healing. My aura became a bloodthirsty red, the scent of blood and ash filling my mind.

Fires burned the city around us, and I stared at the man with the gun, doing what I should have ages ago.

Darting up, my teeth tore into the man’s throat. My fist snapped out, and I watched as the man stumbled back, eyes wide. Bullets tore through me. He dropped his gun, hands coming up to hold his throat.

I took a step forward, arriving in front of him much quicker than was possible. That was fine, though.

Fires flickered, the man’s eyes reflecting red as he looked at me with fear.

My ears rang with the sound of gunfire and explosions.

Someone tackled me. One of his friends? I reached over, kicking them off.

I would kill them, too.

My eyes focused on the black hair of the military man. He was staring back at me fiercely. I reached out, the blood of my fallen revolutionaries wrapping around the gun.

Before I could do anything, my head was stepped on, the gun removed from my hands.

No.

No.

No.

I twisted. I would die, but they would too. It wouldn’t end the same way, this time. It wouldn’t.

I refused.

A growl escaped my lips, the sound like the treads of the tank rolling over the crumbling ruins. The ground shook under me.

Getting up, I tossed the last of the three men away, looking back to see the blond getting medical attention.

You think I would let you live after what you’ve done?

A dragon stepped between the blond military man and I, staring at me. Slitted golden eyes surrounded by white scales glowered down at me.

I hesitated, staring up at the dragon.

What…?

There wasn’t a dragon…

I took a step back, looking around. The fires and blood surrounding me—my aura—faded as I stared out at the green grassy fields. Blinking, I looked over at the military men.

Silas was on his side, blood pouring from a wound in his stomach. His arms were bracing him against the ground, one palm flat on the ground and the other holding his stomach as he stared up at me.

Looking to the side, I saw the blond I’d attacked was Rowan, not some military man.

The ringing in my ears stopped. I swallowed. My magic reached out, and Silas and Rowan were healed. A bit further away, body twisted awkwardly, Nocta was laying. Walking over, I twisted his body, my magic healing him the moment it was able to.

“You back?” Nocta asked, chest heaving.

“Yeah,” I agreed, glancing back.

Rowan was pale, staring at me with wide eyes. Looking up, the mass of students and professors in the seats were staring at me, no one talking.

Oops.

Clearing my throat, I stood up. Walking to Silas, I reached out. He took my hand after a moment, letting himself be pulled to his feet.

“The winner of the duel is Goddess of Life, Fiona,” Silas called out.

I swallowed at the deathly still silence, feeling awkward. I looked around at the many stares I was getting. Well, uh… that… happened? Yay, I won!

“You’re actually a goddess,” The breathless words made me look over.

I grimaced at the expression on Rowan’s face. His eyes were wide but glittering, jaw relaxed in awe.

“Are you actually a goddess of life? Are you sure you aren’t a goddess of war?” He asked.

I blew air out of my lips, reaching up and undoing my hair, pulling at the ribbon tying it up.

“Both require healing. Goddess of war sounds a lot cooler than goddess of life, though. Not that I promote war, or anything. I’m trying to prevent war from breaking out on this planet, actually.”

I stared at him as I spoke, but I could see Herald and the President walking toward us, Jerald shifting to change back into his human form.

Prevent a war… Wasn’t Rowan the last issue I had to deal with?

“Wow, I’ve done a lot in this world so far, haven’t I? Crashing a garden party, saving the life of a prince—I’ve saved a lot of lives, actually. Not just Mercury.”

I thought aloud, struggling to pull the ribbon from my hair. It was stuck in a knot. Finger brushing my hair as I spoke, listing off who I knew I’d saved, I pulled it loose.

“I saved Mercury, Desmond, and Herald directly from what I know, outside of things I actively caused—“

No, wait.

“—oh, no, right. I pulled Valentine’s aggro instead of Aph doing it, so there’s the President, too. Saved his life and the life of a lot of professors, if you count “aggravating Val before Aph could” as me saving people… anyone else?”

I thought a moment, a loose strand of my red hair reminded me of Jester.

“I think I pissed off Death with how many people I’ve saved, actually. A reaper confronted me earlier.”

I shrugged as I adjusted my hair, which flowed down my body once more. Looking down, I continued talking out my thoughts, tying the silk ribbon around my wrist.

“That was kind of scary. I’m pretty sure I saved the world from killing itself by now, but you definitely were an issue,” I glanced up at Rowan, “Glad I could take care of you now instead of when you became king, because that would suck. The only reason you got killed was because a reaper was going to take Silas before he got too powerful, but he got betrayed, so the reaper killed you and the one who betrayed him instead. So I guess I made Rage’s future worse, oops. Anything else I’m missing?”

I finished tying it around my wrist, looking at Rowan for a long moment.

“Let’s see… I guess I could say I saved Pelias and Silas, but I don’t actually know what caused the battle they’d been in against your kingdom, or why Silas was betrayed.”

Humming, I looked up at the sky as my thoughts continued.

“I stopped the Fae from being involved in the war, stopped the Astral realm from being involved in the war, stopped a power hungry tyrant from causing unnecessary suffering… I’m pretty sure I stopped the war entirely, but I still don’t know why the elementals or the demonic realm got involved. Or, wait, no, the elementals are Silver kingdom, right? So obviously Mercury dying and Pelias going to war would mean other elementals would fight, right?”

The clouds floated gently by. I looked down, back to Rowan.

“That’s about it, though. I’d say goddess of life is unaccurate, though, because that makes me sound benevolent. I don’t usually like good people except for Silas, though I’m starting to. It’s kind of weird, but it makes sense that the people I find myself liking the more I stay here are generally good people. Like I never thought in a million years I’d like Professor Raphael, Jerald, and Story, but they’re actually pretty cool.”

I hesitated. Wait, wasn’t I forgetting something? Oh! Right, the duel. Also maybe I shouldn’t be thinking aloud when over a thousand people were listening to me.

Oops.

Oh well.

I clapped my hands, looking down at Rowan. He was still holding his healed throat, staring at me.

“Anyway! Time for you to release all your slaves and to transfer loyalties, right? Or does the magic that bound our agreement to fight do it automatically?”

A long silence stretched out. The blood on the grass had fully soaked in, and I was now surrounded by people who clearly wanted to talk to me.

“It’s… it’s automatic,” Rowan replied, “The duel hasn’t technically ended.”

“Oh! In that case—“ I dropped my clasped hands, walking toward him.

“I-I concede! I forfeit!” Rowan panicked, eyes widening as he scrambled back, dragging his body away from me, feet kicking up grass, “You win!”

I hesitated, tilting my head at Rowan. Magic swarmed up. Something shifted within me. I took a few steps forward, surprised at the feeling. I stared around.

Glowing lines of blue connected me to hundreds of other students. Maybe even thousands.

“Oh, fuck, dude,” I commented, looking back to Rowan, “You really—“

I flinched at the roar of people. I glanced around, staring at the crowd as several students leapt up and screamed out.

“All hail the Goddess of Hope!” The announcer cried out, using magic to amplify their voice.

The crowd repeated the sentence, turning it into a mantra as I stared at them.

Did they all forget I almost just killed three professors in a bloody rampage?

The title resonated with me, though. It reminded me of when I stood on the top of a building, giving out a speech to the masses below and turning the riot into a revolution with a flag that had red stars instead of white and green stripes instead of red. My fist rose into the air, much as it did when I gave my rousing speech.

The crowd roared as well over half the student body celebrated. Even those not loyal to me through magical oath were celebrating the end of Rowan’s reign.

I swallowed, staring with blank eyes at the crowd, fist falling.

“You don’t look happy. Most students would look elated at all the cheers,” Herald noted as he walked up, having been talking to the president.

“This is what happened only half an hour before the military appeared,” I replied quietly, “I was the one to lead them into destruction.”

Nocta scoffed, “That was in the mundane realm. Everyone graduates here strong enough to take on an army of their own. Your world wouldn’t stand a chance.”

I thought about it for a long moment. I doubted it, but… I didn’t want to think about whether his words were true. I just wanted to believe them. So I did.

Swallowing, I looked down at the ground for a moment in a nod, eyes trying to focus anywhere except the crowd of people cheering.

I stared up at princess pink eyes and dark green hair. Herald spoke the moment I met his eyes.

“For aggravating another student into a duel, skipping class, and attacking four different professors with intent to kill, you have been called for a disciplinary meeting in my office,” Herald said.

The dome was still projecting everyone’s voice I realized. It had to be, otherwise why would the entire student body be booing?

Well hey. I had like four more disciplinary meetings I could have this year before I get expelled, right?

The dome fell, voice no longer projecting as we spoke.

“In my defense,” I said as I followed Herald, the attacked professors in question as well as Rowan following us, “He started it. So he should be the one punished.”

“Do you have evidence?” Silas asked.

“Eye-witness accounts,” I agreed, turning to see that he was next to me.

I looked back at Herald.

“If you want someone who was there, you could ask Raphael to relay Pyro’s memories,” I offered.

Herald was staring at me. Maybe I was too antisocial, but the way his eyes focused on me whenever I was around was kind of weird. I would definitely ask him about it.

Rowan scoffed, interrupting my thoughts, “The horse? He’s not going to remember.”

I swear to God, this motherfucker.

“Talk shit about Pyro again,” I snapped, turning to glower at Rowan, “See if I don’t continue the fight. Go on. Try it,” I gestured at the professors around us, “Think they’ll be able to stop me before I shut you the fuck up?”

Rowan wisely kept his mouth shut, suddenly finding interest in anything except me. I scoffed, shaking my head as I turned around.

“Thought so, fucking bastard.”

Herald sighed, “Very well,” Magic appeared at his fingertips, “Professor Raphael and Pyro, Fiona’s horse, please report to the chancellors office.”

“I don’t think Pyro is going to fit in your office,” I noted, putting my fingers to my mouth. Herald grimaced as I whistled sharply.

Soon, flames following his path, Pyro appeared. I leapt up without much thought, my elegant back-flip landing me on Pyro’s back. He whinnied, celebrating and dancing. I grinned.

That was so cool. We had been practicing that for ages. I can’t believe I finally succeeded! It was so much better knowing that others definitely saw that. Man I hoped Raphael played those memories, I would love to see how cool that looked from others’ perspective.

“Hey there, Pyro,” I greeted, “I won a duel in your honor and beat up three professors in your name. I stopped fighting when a fucking dragon appeared, though.”

Pyro snorted, body shaking as he shook his head. Then he glanced at the people around him.

“Oh, that one, that one, and that one. That’s the dragon,” I pointed at Silas, Nocta, and Jerald.

The wind brushed over us as Pyro looked at the three. Then he gave me a look.

“Hey, I didn’t say I was going to win,” I complained at his judgmental look, “I just said I beat them up.”

“He doesn’t understand you,” Rowan snapped, “Stop having a one-sided conversation with your horse.”

I shifted on Pyro’s saddle to ride him backward, staring at Rowan for a long moment.

My stare kept up. Rowan started looking uncomfortable.

“Raphael will prove you wrong,” I said easily after a long moment, turning back around in my saddle.

If Pyro didn’t understand me, half the shit we tried just wouldn’t have happened. Also the whole scene in the Fae Forest just wouldn’t make sense.

Why would Pyro have randomly kicked me if he didn’t understand me? How would I have taught him how to fall with an arrow in his knee?

Eventually, we made it inside, me having to dismount Pyro on orders of the President. We found our way into an inner courtyard to have the hearing.

I felt bad when I saw Raphael looking beat up, heavily leaning on Lazarus.

After a few long moments, Raphael had Rowan’s, mine, and Pyro’s memories of what happened.

Pyro’s memories went first. He was standing there, staring at me. I looked concerned, eyes watery as I scolded him.

“She’s worse than my parents. All she does is talk about worst-case scenarios and wars, but no one I communicate with says anything about war, except that the world has been at peace for hundreds of years,” Pyro’s inner voice was deep and solemn, laced with gravel. It sounded a bit like the Fae King’s voice if it were much deeper.

Pyro sighed heavily.

“You’re too paranoid,” Pyro whined, “Sure, training with you is fun, but it was just a small injury! I tripped. You’ve been scolding me for five minutes! No, wait, could I get apples and more time out if I—”

Before Pyro’s thoughts could continue, Rowan’s voice butt in.

“Speaking to your horse? I doubt it’s intelligent enough to understand you,” Rowan sneered.

Pyro’s vision turned, Rowan appearing in his vision.

“Uh oh. My parents got slightly concerned about me and she looked ready to fight the Fae King and them over it. Man. Rest in peace, you dumb fuck.”

Sure enough, my expression twisted. I stared at my annoyed look curiously. Oh, I looked absolutely terrifying when I was even slightly annoyed. Huh. Did I have naturally villainous facial expressions, as Persephone?

Everyone watched as I went off on Rowan, acting very evil as I drawled out, every word filled with contempt.

“Man. I’m so lucky to have someone like her,” Pyro thought. Then I sent him away. He scoffed, “Oh, she’s sending me away. No way the guy survives. Dude’s gonna die.”

The memories flickered and changed to Pyro eating some grass. He glanced up at the shriek.

“Called it!” He thought, going back to munching on grass.

My memories played out next, and I ignored them to dote on Pyro.

“You’re beautiful, you’re valid, I love you, you ate too many apples yesterday so I’m not going to give you any, but I can ask if the dining room has some sugar cubes instead,” I praised quietly, patting Pyro on the nose.

He huffed, tongue reaching out. I grinned.

“How charming,” Rowan’s voice echoed out.

I glanced behind me to see Rowan’s memories playing out. His thoughts were all gooey, and he clearly saw no issue with the way he’d been acting.

My eyebrows rose when he started thinking of marriage. What the hell? He hadn’t even approached yet!

Walking up to me, Rowan spoke.

“She cares a lot about her horse. I’m sure he’ll enjoy living in the stables with Celeste. We could go riding together.”

I stared at the memories, then at Rowan, who was looking very intensely at his fingernails. His ears were darker than his eyes.

I didn’t think skin could get much darker than hot pink when someone blushed, but Rowan proved me wrong by literally turning red.

The rest of his memories were just him imagining a happy life. He didn’t even care I’d insulted him, just seeing it as an opportunity to make me his.

Raphael included the last part of the duel, when he scrambled away from me, and his thoughts were all still just outright sappy and romantic.

Sadly, none of the memories played held my cool stunt with Pyro.

I felt very, very tired, suddenly. It was kind of gross. He was, what, eighteen? Nineteen? I was over half a decade older than him.

My hands reached up, and I scrubbed at my face. Ugh. I felt really jaded, suddenly.

The memories ended, Raphael leaving without saying any goodbyes.

“Well,” Herald said after a long silence.

Raphael was long gone. Pyro had wandered off to follow them, exploring the halls of the Academy now that he was unneeded.

It was just the president, the chancellor, the three professors, and us two students.

“It was clear Rowan was the aggressor,” Silas said from next to me, voice sounding stoic.

His hand was placed on my shoulder. Glancing up, I saw that he wasn’t looking at me, but at Herald. Looking at Herald, I saw something very unsurprising. He was staring at me.

“Yes,” Herald agreed after a moment.

I looked away, at Nocta. He looked as tired as I did. We were both older than our bodies, maybe he sympathized. Or maybe he was just tired. Who knew?

“Rowan, your disciplinary meeting will be later, then. Your charges are intentional aggravation to incite a duel, distraction of another student from their classes, and attempted entrapment,” The president mentioned, purple eyes not sparkling so merrily.

Rowan nodded once, turning on his heel and mechanically walking away, shoulders hiked up and head ducked.

It’s silent for a long moment, Herald sighing, “It was evident that the student in question was undergoing trauma-induced flashbacks, as her memories showed. Does anyone here wish to press charges against Fiona?”

Three no’s later, and my disciplinary hearing was dismissed. Cool!

A flash of red caught my eye as I turned, too bright to be my hair.

My eyes fluttered open, staring up at crimson red eyes. Long silken black hair flowed over the man’s shoulders.

Wait.

“Ah, good, it worked,” The man said, his voice familiar.

What?

I blinked as the red faded from his eyes. The man collapsed on top of me, eyes rolling to the back of his skull.

Huh?

Glancing around, I saw a bunch of candles lighting up a pentagram carved into the ground. Blood was everywhere, soaking the stone floors we were on.

What? No...