During lunch, Isaac and Michael meet up at my classroom so that Isaac can continue his role as my carrier for the day.
"Lady Viola, were you able to focus in class despite being extremely lethargic?" Isaac asks as he carries me down the endless hallway full of prying eyes.
'It was kind of hard to focus with Xander holding onto the back of my blazer just to keep me upright. Alex had to take notes for us since neither Xander nor I could really pay much attention,' I reply with a light sigh.
"She said something about me, didn't she?" the twins question looking behind them to see Isaac and I.
"How did you know?" Isaac asks, astonished by their sharp perception.
"I had a weird chill go down my back after you asked that question," Xander replies with a slight shiver.
"I just had an inkling that she might respond with one of our names," Alex says, chuckling to himself.
Their intuition is kind of scary. They can't hear what I was saying, but they automatically knew that it was about them just from how close we are.
"You three must be really close," Michael comments as he walks beside Isaac.
"I mean, I hope we are," Xander laughs. "We have been Master's aides for a little over four months now."
"It was the first month of our service with Lady Viola that really strengthened our bond with her, though," Alex adds, nudging his older brother.
"Now that you mentioned it, you two never told us how you became Lady Viola's aides in the first place. You just quickly mentioned something about deciding to become her permanent aides," Isaac says as he sets me down on the bench before sitting down next to me as support.
"Yeah, does that mean that you were just temporary aides at one point in time?" Michael asks as he gets the picnic blanket out from his bag.
The twins place the two sacks of lunch down on another bench next to Isaac and me before going to help Michael with the blanket.
"We were kind of like Michael in the sense of providing service in return for Master's help," Xander starts off. "Our village was attacked and kidnapped. Our village chief managed to get my brother and I to escape to find help."
"Everyone in the city kind of just glanced at us while avoiding our approaches. Who would have thought that we would have been found in an alleyway on a cloudy moonlit night by a teenage girl with a wolf by her side?" Alex jokes as he pins down his corner of the blanket.
"So you two were found by chance like I was," Isaac comments, taking me over to the blanket.
"A huge chance at that," Alex says as he starts setting out the food.
"But Master's generosity didn't stop there," Xander says, passing around plates. "After saving everyone, she gave our village a new place in her own personal forest to restart their lives. She gave everyone a job to earn money in order to survive on their own without depending too much on her financial help. She sent the children in the village to school. After all of that, how could we just simply leave and not continue serving such a wonderful master?"
"It's not just us who are grateful for the Young Lady's kindness, though," Alex continues. "The villagers are extremely grateful as well. The men who are physically capable have volunteered to be initiated into Lady Viola's Winter Mafia as the first new members. The women provide the maids with extra help with the chores whenever they aren't working in the Winter Fields since they want to be not only of use to the Young Lady but also to the people who serve her because they want to learn how to interact with people of other races. The kids are so happy that they always try to have something to give to Lady Viola after school whether that be a drawing they did or something that they made from clay."
"You can say that every one of us feels indebted to Master for all of her help," Xander finishes.
"Who could say no to such an amazing offer?" Isaac replies, feeding me some of my applesauce.
"I can say for certain that I sure ain't leaving the Young Lady's side," Michael brags with a proud smile. "It's one thing to be of temporary service in exchange for an equal service, but I've grown to like it here given the short amount of time I have worked for Lady Viola. How could I give up such a wonderful life just to be ridiculed by other angels?"
This is nice. Everyone is laughing and getting along. I can't believe that I found me some great people to surround myself with. Granted, each is annoying with their own set of flaws, but that's what makes them fun and unique. I would do anything to protect this perfect moment.
'DO yOU thInk thAt yOU cAn rEALLy prOtEct thEm??'
Ack!
My head begins to pound as if I'm being jabbed by a sledgehammer. The distorted voice rings throughout my head.
'I h34r thAt yOU'r3 thE nEw LE4dEr In thE c1ty. Y0U cOULd b3 wOrth A LOt s1nc3 yOU'rE 4 gIrL.'
Who are you? What do you want?
I try to grab my ever-pounding head, but I can't move my arms on my own yet. I shut my eyes to try and defeat it with mind over matter, yet the pounding is too strong for me to just ignore it. All I can do is shed a few tears from the immense pain I am feeling.
"L-lady Viola? Why are you crying?" Isaac wonders, surprised by my sudden onset of tears. He grabs a couple of tissues before getting distracted by the sound of someone yelling.
"Viola! Are you okay? Viola!" Delic comes dashing, jumping over corners over to where I'm sitting. "Isaac! Lay Viola down! Now!"
Without any sort of hesitation, Alex hops up and guides me down to lay on Isaac's lap while making some room on the blanket.
"What's going on?" Isaac asks in the midst of Alex gently straightening my legs out.
"Delic is internally connected to Lady Viola through their eternal pact. She and Delic share the same heart. If Delic is rushing out in a panic like this, that means something is going incredibly wrong with the Young Lady's body," Alex promptly replies.
"Someone pass me some water," Delic commands as he slides over the grass to my side. He places a hand over my chest to see if what he is feeling is real. "Her heart is pounding like crazy."
"Do you know what's happening?" Michael asks, passing a bottle of water to Delic.
"I can't tell what causes her heart to react. I only know if it's beating too fast or not," Delic responds while slowly opening my mouth to pour some water inside. "All I know is that whatever happened, happened in an instant. Everything felt fine until I was suddenly struck with pain in my heart as if someone was stabbing me with a fine needle. It's kind of like the feeling you get when someone unknown drops horrible information that you aren't aware about yet."
Delic grows frustrated when he sees that I'm not drinking the water. "Remove the food from the blanket," he demands with a furious expression. "It's not like you all are going to be eating after she wakes up." Michael and the twins quickly clear the food and set it on the benches nearby. Meanwhile, Delic moves over in front of Isaac and places his hand back over to my chest. "Shit! It's pounding even more."
Who are you?
'YOU h4v3 A c0UpLE Of p3OpLE th4t wE wAnt 6Ack. r3tUrn 7hEm tO Us!'
Not until you tell me whom I'm speaking to!
'Why sh0ULd w3 73LL 4 spO1L3d LIttLE g1rL wh0 wE 4rE. JU5t gIv3 Us b4ck whA7 wE w4nt, And w3'LL L34vE y0U 4LOnE.'
I'm not giving anyone let alone my own people to someone as suspicious as you!
"I'm sorry, Viola," Delic apologizes as he props me up with one of his arms. He takes a long sip from the water bottle then throws it behind him.
"Hey, what are you about to do?" Michael interrogates as he catches the falling bottle.
Not paying any mind to the other four guys around him, Delic lifts my chin up forcing my mouth open a bit as he does and gently places his lips on mine. He slowly pours the water into my mouth in the hopes that the sudden feeling of something rushing down my throat would snap me out of whatever condition I'm in.
The four guys become weak at the scene of me technically having my first kiss. Their gaped mouths wishing it was them who took my first kiss. However, they all knew. They knew that this wasn't out of beating them for my love. This was to help save me from my internal battle. As much as it hurt them seeing my first kiss being stolen through such means, they suck in their feelings and offer to help in any way they can.
After seeing that I wasn't responding to the rushing water, Delic's frustration turns to sadness. The pounding in my heart only resonates just as painfully in Delic's. Unable to hold himself up, Delic falls over onto the blanket grasping at his button up shirt.
"Someone," Delic manages to mutter through the pain. "Someone, please, hurry and calm Viola down. Her heart is in excruciating pain. Please. Save my master." Tears start rolling down Delic's face as he begins curling up into a ball clutching at his heart.
"What can we possibly do?" Isaac questions as he frantically paces back and forth.
"I could try to use my light magic on her," Michael offers as he crawls over to me.
"I don't think that will work," Alex rejects. "If it's affecting Delic this much, then that means that it's an emotional problem. Lady Viola wasn't reacting to the water which means that whatever is going on is distracting her from outside sensations."
'D0 yOU h0n3stLy bE13EvE 7h47 y0U 4rE 5trOng 3n0Ugh? W3 h4vE p30pLE ALL Ov3r y0Ur c1ty.'
Are you with the Black Snow Organization that I heard of?
'0h? SO y0U knOw 4b0ut Us 4Lr3Ady?'
Why do you want Isaac and Michael back?
'WE wILL gIvE yOU An EnOrmOUs sUm Of mOnEy fOr thOsE twO. YOU cAn EvEn pIck OUt Any Of OthEr sLAvEs If yOU wIsh tO. As LOng As wE cAn gEt thE vAmpIrE And frEshLy fALLEn AngEL.'
How did you know that Michael is a fallen angel? He was still just a regular angel when he was captured by your group.
'OnE Of OUr mEn spOttEd sOmEOnE LOOkIng A LOt LIkE thE AngEL thAt EscApEd. AftEr AnOthEr LOOk, wE cOnfIrmEd thAt It wAs hIm. FALLEn AngELs ArE ExtrEmELy rArE tO fInd. ThEy fEtch fOr A hIgh prIcE, bUt dOn't wOrry. WE wILL cOmpEnsAtE yOU hAndsOmELy If yOU wILLInglY gIvE hIm Up.'
"What about the 'Petal with Five Sides'?" Michael suggests after his light magic got rejected.
"What's that?" Isaac asks as he helps Delic get into a comfortable position.
"Are you referring to the children's book?" Alex says mimicking Delic's positioning with my own.
"How is a children's book going to help us in this situation?!" Xander shouts, irritated that they aren't getting anywhere while Delic and I are struggling to breathe.
"If I recall, the book is actually referring to an ancient legend about a doctor who lived by the principle of five," Michael explains. "Anything he did, bought, or found; he would get five of them or do it five times."
"Can you get to the point any faster?" Xander yells as he checks Delic's and my hearts, scared by how fast they are beating. "These two are going to be in a lot of trouble if we don't deal with the problem quickly."
"The doctor also practiced his medicine in this way with patients who appeared to have incurable problems. He would figure out what the patient loved the most and had them do that five times, and, like magic, the patient would feel so much better. Whatever was going on with their body would just disappear as if it was never there." Michael glances over at everyone then back down at me. "I was thinking that since there are five of us, we could do something collectively to help Lady Viola."
"But Delic is incapacitated," Alex points out. "He won't be able to do anything to help us."
"Actually, Delic took the first step of this plan," Michael mentions. "The thing that Lady Viola loves the most is the five of us. She hinted at that this morning, right? If anyone can heal her, it's us. Delic already kissed her, so we just have to follow behind him."
Isaac covers his mouth as he falls back only to catch himself with his other hand. "Are you saying that we have to kiss Lady Viola in order to snap her out of this state?"
Michael nods his head. "We don't know what's going on in the Young Lady's heart, but whatever it is, is blocking her from waking up. If a kiss from the people she loves could wake her up, I am willing to do anything. I know that it's just an ancient legend, but it's the only thing that I can think of." Michael fiercely stares at the three other guys looking at him with disbelieved eyes. "Do you have any other ideas?"
Isaac and the twins remain quiet only passing a side glance at each other every so often. Delic interrupts their silent contemplation through a series of painful sounding coughs.
"Delic!" Isaac shouts as he stops Delic from straining himself to sit up.
"I don't care what you do," Delic whispers through each gasping breath. "If you all truly love and care for Viola, cast all thoughts of doubt of whether it will work or not away. Do everything you can no matter how farfetched it is."
"Shouldn't you be worried about your own health?" Alex questions
"Don't worry about me," Delic coughs. "Once Viola feels better, I will get better as well. I'm like this because of Viola's heart." Delic slowly stretches out his hand towards me. "Viola, please wake up. I can't be here without you." Another fit of coughs overcome Delic as tears overwhelm his eyes. "She's in so much pain. Too much for one person to hold alone."
The four guys take another strong look at each other. They knew what the other was thinking.
"We can't do this out here. There are too many windows," Alex comments as he stands up to collect the lunch.
"I will transport the Young Lady and Isaac to the nurse's office," Xander announces as he and Isaac rise with me in Isaac's arms.
"I will help Alex clean up," Michael says as he folds the picnic blanket. "Xander, can you come back and help carry and transport Delic to the nurse's office, too?"
Xander nods. "Of course."
"Come on, you guys," Isaac presses. "We don't have much time to waste. We don't know how long Lady Viola will last."
As soon as the last word was said, the four guys immediately move to perform their assigned tasks.