"Where exactly did Val say Bella, Chaewon, and Elliot would be?" Leon asked as he, Lumina, and Mina looked around. Kaedan and Xander had started dancing on the ballroom floor to make sure they didn't draw any attention.
"Well, you've found one of the three," A woman's voice said as Leon felt a finger tap lightly on his shoulder. He turned to see a woman with dark skin and familiar ginger hair, wearing a beautiful dress that imitated the night sky. Leon's eyes widened slightly. No wonder Risále had reacted the way she did, she wasn't lying when she said the woman was gorgeous. Her eyes widened slightly but then returned to the calm facade again, a genuine smile on her face, "I suppose I should formally introduce myself, although I don't believe it's entirely necessary. Mirabella Callahan, head of the rebellion and the so-called 'Maiden of Fire'. It's been a while, Leon Song."
Leon felt an inherent need to say something, surprising himself when the first words out of his mouth were, "I'm sorry," He could say he didn't know what he was apologizing for, but that was a lie. He knew exactly what he was apologizing for.
She shook her head, "I didn't blame your sister or Elliot when I saw her again, I definitely do not blame you. Let's not talk about it now. I have no doubts that you'd make sure he's safe, but I still would like to ask if Hyunwoo is alright?"
Leon remembered Hyunwoo describing Bella and his relationship. They both somewhat knew they were attracted to each other however neither of them wanted to act on it while Hyunwoo was sure he still wanted to be with Leon as well, "He's safe. Thank you for taking care of him," Leon said softly.
"Leon, I just want you to know that no matter what, I was never trying to take your place—" Bella said slowly and Leon stopped her immediately.
"I really don't mind. Really. Trust me," Leon said, and it seemed that Bella had caught on to the second meaning of his words, "Go for it. You make him happy, how could I ever take that away from him?"
She held her hand out to him, smiling softly, "Dance with me? I would be honored to have the opportunity to escort such a wonderful and beautiful young man."
Oh. Oh, she's a flirt.
Leon could hear the women behind him giggling and he also knew for a fact that his face was probably slightly red, but he nodded anyway, "It would be my pleasure," He said, and Bella led him out onto the dance floor.
"Would you like to lead, or shall I?" Bella asked. Leon didn't answer, simply placing his hands on her shoulders. She seemed to get the hint, and moved her hands to his waist, stepping forward to lead him. She leaned forward and as Leon's breath caught, he realized she was subtly settling something on his ear, "Your friends have all been given one as well. This should help us all talk easily to each other."
Suddenly, a voice spoke in his ear through the device, "We have a plan," It was Xander, "Holy shit, I fucking hate this. Kaedan says Julian is checking me out," Leon tripped and he vaguely heard someone spit out a drink from the direction Mina and Lumina were standing.
"What? I thought he had a thing for Kaedan," Lumina said.
Kaedan was speaking through gritted teeth, "I never thought I could be so infuriated. He won't take his eyes off of him. I'm not even standing with Xander right now. My God, I hate this plan. Xander's going to dance with him."
That was definitely Lumina choking on air, "What?"
"We're switching partners now," Bella said quietly to him, "I don't think you can stop him," She looked around Leon's shoulder, " Kaedan is behind you, dance with him."
"What about you?"
"Actually, switch with me. I'll dance with Kaedan. Move to the left," Bella's smile turned slightly impish and Leon's heart fluttered. Damn it. This is not good. He could very easily see why Hyunwoo liked her.
He did as he said, and immediately, all words left his mouth as his jaw dropped open, "Chaewon-Nuna?"
The woman laughed softly, holding Leon gently as the tears welled up in his eyes, "I've been looking for you, Leon. It's so good to see you again," She said and Leon hugged back tightly.
"Nuna, do you remember—"
"How to end this? No, I'm sorry, Leon. Only you and Risále were still there when they made the key, but neither of you remember yet, do you?"
Leon looked down, "How did you know?"
"If even one of you remembered, none of us would be here right now. That's why we're here now, we need the Wings—"
The audio set crackled slightly, "I never thought having the White Lotus brand would come in handy and yet here we are," Xander said, his voice tense, "Julian is taking me to the meeting."
Chaewon's eyebrows furrowed and she looked over to Bella, who was dancing with another woman, "Let's get off the dance floor. I...Need to make sure Xander is safe. I owe him that, at least."
"He doesn't blame you, you know?" Leon said, repeating what Xander had said to him, "He would never blame you for something like this."
Chaewon sighed, "I know. It's just not easy. But I'm so glad to see you again. Have you seen Hyunwoo again yet?" She asked.
"Yes! We didn't want to risk his head injury, so he stayed at home with Risále—" Chaewon's eyebrow rose.
"Hm, I never got to ask you what was going on with that. I had wondered if something was going on there but I always thought you were both too young to tell. Though, during the…Ahem, other times, I had started to suspect…" Leon groaned in response as Chaewon laughed.
"Did everyone know except me? Even Hyunwoo knew."
"Yeah, it was a little obvious."
Suddenly, there was a yell in their ear-ins, "What the fuck? Oh shit, they know we're here! Bella, get your people out of here!" This was followed by an explosion, smoke, and multiple gunshots, "Oh, fuck—Hey, might need some backup!" Xander said urgently. Immediately, Kaedan was gone, followed by Chaewon and a familiar man.
Elliot, Chaewon's husband and the person who had practically been a father figure to him when he was a child.
Leon was about to follow, but someone grabbed his arm. He turned to see Bella's eyes flashing with determination, "No, stay here. Hyunwoo and Chaewon just got you back. You're our biggest chance of getting out of here, I'm not letting you die on my watch. Besides," She gave him a smile, "I get the feeling I just met a truly wonderful young man."
"If I were a damsel-in-distress, I really might have fainted at that," Leon said jokingly but gulped when Bella smirked. Yeah, no, both Risále and Hyunwoo were completely valid in their attraction to her.
"If you wanted me to carry you, you could just ask. Not now, though. Let's get this over with," She said, throwing him a larger gun than the smaller handgun he had. She ran into the fray, orange hair trailing behind her like fire. Her namesake definitely suited her, she definitely was a "maiden of fire".
Leon couldn't help but think she was beautiful. Then, he froze.
"You know what, maybe burying myself alive would be easier than trying to deal with this," He groaned.