?????? ????????'s P.O.V
I was somehow able to lift up Justine with ease toward my house. Since we already knew each other's identities, it wouldn't bother her to be over at my house in her current state.
I leapt onto my window sill and opened it with my right foot. As soon as I managed to squeeze us both through the window, I could hear my big brother pound on the door.
"Aurora? Is every thing alright? You've been locked up in your room for hours now!"
I reverted myself back before hiding Justine away. "I'm okay, Griffin. I'm just taking care of some homework!" I shouted through the door.
Griffin continued to pound on the door, and I barely managed to hide her before he practically broke it.
His face was beat red and he was sweating like a pig; it was as if he just ran a marathon.
"What happened with you? You look like you're gonna pass out!" His blonde hair stuck to his head.
He struggled to get his answer out. "I, um, needed to take care of something before I got home for one of my classes."
I looked at him skeptically. Since I was away all day, I had no way to tell if he was being truthful. He did have a history of lying right to my face whenever he tried to hide something. Considering I just lied to to him a minute ago, I couldn't say I was any better.
He glanced over to where I stuffed Justine in my walk-in closet. "What about you? You look like you just ran 3 miles."
"I was practicing for a school project, Griffin. If you don't mind, could you give my some space? I have to do well, or else my teacher will knock off 20 points off this project!" I tried to be as dramatic as possible.
His eyes narrowed, but he turned back and walked out. After he shut the door, I took Justine back out and put her to rest on my bed. It felt a little weird to have a superhero be in your house, but I couldn't just leave Lucy to those villains, whether or not they were our partners.
After all that happened at school today, I wouldn't be surprised if it was all over the news. Malefici destroyed a good third of the school, so we'll be out of school for at least a couple weeks. That should be enough time to find the rest of the Heroes and Villains.
For now, we needed sleep. Justine and I struck each other hard today, and I was still sore. What bothered me was the fact that the people who hurt Justine were still out there on the loose, who knows where they could be now.
I sat back in my chair after taking the key on the outside and locking the door. Griffin really didn't need to see a superhero stay at our house.
I closed my eyes for what felt like only a few minutes before dozing off, and I awoke to my brother's stupid face. "Griffin?!"
I looked towards where I put Lucy to rest, and I noticed that she was still there. He pointed to the small green marking Anvil gave me a week ago. "You're one of them?"
I really did struggle to find an excuse, but I could think of nothing. How did he know about this marking being the gate?
"What? Don't tell me you're also one of them!"
Griffin took my wrist violently and yanked me out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door to our backyard.
"Griffin?! Stop!"
He stopped abruptly and brought his hand to his face. A red pattern started to glow as his finger traced the "x" on his cheek.
My brother turned into one of the Villains, and his strength and appearance frightened me.
"You're one of those Heroes! Aren't you?!" Red horns protruded out of his forehead, and he grew a long red spiked tail. He was the Devil User.
He suddenly squeezed both of his hands around my neck. "C'mon, reveal yourself Hero!"
I traced the green marking on my palm of my hand to transform back into the elf. I knew this was what he wanted, but at least I stood a chance against him like this.
I took his wrists in my hands and tried my best to break free, and my body started to freeze up once his hands tightened around my throat. Even with my magic, I stood no chance.
Griffin grinned. "The Elf, Aurora? Don't you think you could have done better?"
I heard him gasp for air, and I felt his dark magic fade all at the same time.
Another Hero stood a foot behind him, and she had both arms wrapped around his neck. Before I could see who it was, I could feel someone else drag me away from the two.
"Arch?! Are you alright?" I recognized this voice to be Galifici's. I almost wanted to cry.
I nodded, but he took a look at my neck anyways. "You got red marks all over your neck Arch." His expression turned dark. The vampire stood back up and made his way over to the Devil.
I would have protested, but I felt all my magic and strength fail me. I could do absolutely nothing.
Once my vision cleared up, I could see who the Hero was. Although it was one I have met, I knew she was one to be trusted right off the bat by saving the life of a Hero she doesn't even know. Her long ultramarine blue was tied up in a low ponytail, and her costume consisted of fish scales and seashells.
"The Mermaid."I muttered involuntarily. It took me a second, but I figured out what she was trying to do. This is what happened when Galifici and I became partners, black spots appeared on me, and white spots on Galifici.
She was willing to be stuck with my stupid big brother just to save me.
The Mermaid withdrew herself once the link was completed, and Galifici stood in front of him. I noticed that he held a black staff in his hands, and he hit him hard enough in the side to knock him over.
Griffin collapsed on the ground beside him. Once Galifici kicked him to make sure he was really out, he ran back to me and helped me up.
"That jerk." He frowned. "Are you sure you're alright Arch?"
"I'm okay now Galifici, thanks for coming here." I turned towards the Mermaid User.
"Thank you too for coming."
She walked up to me and smiled. "I'm Arienna, and I'll personally make sure he won't bother either of you anymore."
"I'm sorry Arienna, you had to become his battle partner."
She shook a little, but regained control over herself. "It isn't really a problem, people do change, including Villains."
I gave an apologetic smile. "I actually need to go and check on someone, would you mind taking him somewhere else, far away perhaps?"
Arienna looked confused, but complied. "It would be safer to create some distance between the two of you. Hopefully I'll see you two again soon under better circumstances."
She took my big brother under her arm and went on her way.
"How is Justine holding up?" Galifici asked once the Mermaid was out of range.
"Unless he did something while I was asleep, she should be fine."
I dragged my feet back into my house, hoping that I could avoid him figuring out my identity. I knew my name was written on a lot of things around my room on papers and school supplies, but hopefully those were all tucked away. I was about 90% sure that Galifici didn't even who's house this was.
He didn't ask any questions as we went back upstairs to check on Justine.
"She's still not awake."Galifici's voice went sour. "Malefici's not gonna be happy."
"Malefici? Why would you care?"
He threw his hands up. "No reason, I was just saying. Anyway, there isn't any school today, so we have another day to do some searching."
"Did you just assume that I go to that high school? You don't know how old I am."
He looked me up and down, and I felt a little conscious about myself. "You seem fairly small in height compared to your friend, but you have the biggest brains out of all of us. I figured you were one of those high school nerds."
I fumed. "I'm not that small, Gali. You're just too big."
He grinned and changed the subject. "Alright, if you say so, tiny. Let's let Justine sleep for a while longer while we start to find the others."