She dragged her sore body, and sat just next to Elroy. His cheeks were pale, and when she placed her palm on his cheek, she realized that he was freezing cold. However, when she placed her hand on his chest, she could hear the low thumping of his heart. That assured her that he was not dead despite how pale he looked. She took his hand in her own, and cuddled it close to her, "Wake up, El." She muttered in a low voice that only she could hear.
Ranky jumped off of the tree branch and walked up to the two of them, "He is not dead." He addressed Yasmine.
Yasmine looked up from Elroy, tilted her head slightly before speaking, "I can tell that much." She answered, then looked back at Elroy, "But thank you for confirming. Is he going to…"
"I cannot tell whether or not he will die. He is in a state of unconscious." He stopped walking once he was standing in front of them. He towered over her, and Yasmine was sure that even if she stood, he would still be much taller than she was.
"I see." Yasmine nodded her head in understanding. Her heart beat faster at the thought of losing her brother. She turned her head to look in the direction where the others were. Jason was still staring at them although he was bleeding profusely.
"Lord Ranky." Vadmira stopped in front of her, hiding Jason from her view. "Do you have a method to speak to Lady Violet while we are here?"
Ranky looked up from the siblings. "Young Ladyship Lavira." He bowed slightly at the waist once she stopped in front of him.
"You do not need to bow at me. We are of the same rank." She gestured for him to stand. She knew the only reason he called her as such was because she was older than him. She sighed. "This is not the reason why I have come here. Can you communicate with Lady Violet?"
"I can." He nodded his head. "I have enough mana for that I think."
"If you don't, ask Ley to help you."
Ranky looked back at Leylanie and shook his head, "I can do…"
"Do not push yourself Ranky. Ley has a bigger mana pool than you, so if you need it, ask for her assistance." Without waiting for his answer, she had walked away, leaving him behind.
Ranky frowned deeply and turned to look at Leylanie. Sometime during the conversation between him and Vadmira, she had turned to face them. It was probably when her name had been mentioned.
Once she noticed him staring at her, her lips pulled up into a smirk. "If you want, I can give you some mana right now."
Ranky shook his head, "It's alright. I don't need it."
Leylanie laughed, "But Purple…" she whined, "You never ask for my help." She pouted, "And you've used a lot of mana to locate us. Just accept it, you need my help, don't you."
Yasmine was silent as she watched the interaction between the two. It was nothing like what she was used to and so she found it quite intriguing.
Leylanie smirked when Ranky did not answer her. She swung her bare feet twice before finally landing on the ground with a low thud.
"And she sticks the landing." She looked up and smiled him. Standing in front of him, Yasmine realized how short she was compared to Ranky. He practically towered over her, but he still seemed like a puppy around her.
Leylanie's hair fell down her back before resting on the back of her knees, while her red dress fluttered as she walked, before stopping right before him. "Since I also need to go back home, I guess I won't tease you too much this time." She raised her arms up, gesturing for him to pick her up.
He sighed lowly before lowering his arms to raise her by the waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and her legs around his own waist. Then, she tilted her head, allowing her white hair to fall to the side, "Little girl, you should close your eyes when your elders are about to exchange mana, don't you know?" Leylanie giggled, "Or not."
Did she know? Of course Yasmine did not know. What was exchanging mana in the first place?
She did not have an opportunity to ask, but she had an opportunity to see it for herself, as in the next moment, Leylanie had bowed her head and planted her lips onto his own lips. Yasmine was surprised, and did not have the chance to hide her eyes beneath her palms. The kiss between them was short, as Leylanie moved her lips away from his own a few seconds later.
"How are you feeling?" Ranky asked after a few seconds. Leylanie shrugged her shoulders but lay her head on his shoulders.
"I could be better, I gave you all of it. Do you think you can talk to your sister now?" she mumbled into his shoulder.
Yasmine who had been fed a whole bowl of dog food finally looked away. Did they have no problem with showing PDA in front of a complete stranger such as herself?
Ranky nodded in answer to Leylanie's question, "I think I can." He bowed his body to place her back to the ground. However, she wrapped her arms around his neck tighter, "I don't want to get down." She grumbled in a low voice and slowly kicked her feet.
"Alright, alright. I won't set you down. Stop choking me." Leylanie stopped flailing around, and settled down. "Goodness." Ranky sighed, and walked the short distance to a tree where he lay his back on the trunk of the tree.
"Just stay like this." He positioned Leylanie in a more comfortable position before pressing on the lobe of his ear.
--
Yasmine finally got the strength back in her legs, so she slowly placed Elroy back on the ground. She pushed a few strands of hair from his face before pushing herself to her feet. She staggered as she walked up to the group that was huddled around Jason.
To prevent him from attacking them anymore, his legs had been tied up together at the ankles and at his knees with a golden rope. "You should be resting." Thyra turned to look at Yasmine. With the amount of mana that had been siphoned off of her, she should be too tired to move.
"But, my dad." Yasmine slightly tilted her head to look up at Thyra.
"We won't kill him for now. Seeing as he is simply a puppet, and your father at that, we hope that Lady Violet will be able to heal him." Thyra continued to speak. She raised her hand and rubbed Yasmine's hair. "Do not worry. We will try all we can to save…"
Just as she had spoken, the ground rumbled, causing all of them to fall off their feet and onto the ground. "Oh no."