It is Wednesday morning, and I am surrounded by three guys who seem extremely uncomfortable right now. Alex is trembling as he washes my body. Xander can't walk straight as he gets my uniform ready. Delic looks like he did something unholy but doesn't want anyone to know.
"Are you three okay?" I finally ask, causing the awkward silence to thicken.
"J-just fine, my Lady," Alex answers in an unsure tone.
I look over at Xander to catch him staring at me. He spins around and darts out the door.
"What happened yesterday anyways? I remember parts of it, but it still is kind of hazy," I comment, peering over my shoulder to check on Alex.
"What do you remember?" Alex asks as he rinses my hair.
I glance down at the swishing water. "I remember going to school and doing my rounds. I don't remember waking up or getting dressed or eating lunch or even going to sleep. It was like yesterday was a blur that I wasn't meant to see."
Alex lets out a long sigh of relief and chuckles to himself.
"What's so funny?" I question turning around to face him.
"Nothing important. I'm just glad you're back to normal and in full health," he responds, helping me out of the tub.
Delic walks in with the cart full of breakfast as Xander finishes getting me ready for school.
"Did you rest well, Master?" Delic asks as he sets the table.
"That's a weird question to ask. I always sleep well since I don't have you three to worry about at night," I joke as Xander and I make our way over to the table.
"Alex told me that you don't remember anything from yesterday. Is that true?" Delic mentions, sitting down in the chair in front of me.
"It's so weird. I only remember all of the boring parts of the day like listening to the teacher give lectures and walking around the estate to check on everyone. All of the stuff before, after, and in between seem to have just zipped by without me noticing."
Delic takes a sip from the coffee and looks over at Xander and Alex. "Well, if your mind doesn't remember what happened yesterday, then it must not have been important. At least you have fully recovered from the ritual. That's all that matters to me."
Was it just me, or did the three of them make some sort of agreement with their eyes? Guys have such a strange way of communicating. However, it does seem a bit suspicious that they seem to have silently agreed to something. Did something actually happen yesterday, and I am unaware about it since I don't remember anything?
I take another bite of my rice and sausage, and Alex flinches a little.
"Are you sure you're okay, Alex? You appear a bit fidgety this morning," I say as I take another bite, causing Alex to react again.
"Ah... nothing is wrong. I just had a weird dream about sausages last night, and now I can't shake off the feeling from the dream. I will be fine later," Alex responds, looking away to take a bite from his sandwich.
"Mhmm," I mutter while glancing over at Xander. He looks like he wants to laugh, but the awkward situation won't let him. "Delic, my bed was messier this morning than it normally is. Did you sneak into bed with me last night?"
Surprised, Delic spits out his coffee and coughs to try to regain the life that just flew out of him for a moment. "No, Master," he quickly claims. "I was in my room the entire night."
Suspicious. All of them are suspicious. They are keeping something from me, but they won't tell me. This annoys me more than Delic's constant pleas for attention. I don't like doing this, but it's the only way to get answers.
"Delic," I call, "Come." The symbol that was quietly etched and hidden in my hand illuminates as well as the one on Delic's forehead. Delic mindlessly obeys and walks over to me. "Sit," I command, pointing to the space in front of my chair. Delic squats down like a dog and looks up at me. "Tell me what happened yesterday."
"You caught the slight aphrodisiacal side effects from the mind link ritual. Your carnal desires and your fox charm were stronger than your sense of self and took over your body. You tried to violate Alex multiple times throughout the day, and you had me sleep with you at night in my human form instead of as a wolf. You disclosed my intense love for you along with Alex and Xander's developing love for you as well. The three of us agreed on a love truce and to not mention what happened if you didn't remember so that things will be back to normal when you woke up this morning."
I glare at the two boys who sit behind Delic. They are mortified at the scene in front of them as well as the truth bomb that Delic dropped. I guess the only other time I did this was on the occasion when I won the Student Council election but not to this extent.
"So what you are saying was that I became a sex-addicted leader who kept Alex by my side as a toy to entertain my sexual whims. You became my night canary without a single complaint, I assume."
"I did my best to hold back the entire night so that I don't ruin the last essence of purity that you have. The most I did was snuggle my head between your breasts and hugged you as you stroked my hair and whispered sweet nothings until you fell asleep. Once you fell asleep, I turned into my wolf form and slept next to you in case you woke up again."
I glance down at my hands and back up to Delic who was still under the trance of my command. I shake my head at the thought of the unspeakable things that I must have done yesterday. "Release," I command.
Regaining control of his body, Delic looks around and quickly realizes the predicament that he's in. "I said something I shouldn't have. Didn't I?" The twins nod, and Delic shamefully stands back up. "I promise I did not touch you last night. I did try to convince you to let me go back to my room, but you were about to use your command seal on me. I figured it would have been safer to just comply with your request before you have commanded me to do the unthinkable."
"Don't worry. I believe you," I state, letting out a long sigh and grabbing Delic's hand. I look over at Alex who is still sitting next to me and take in his hand with the one that was still empty. "I'm so sorry for everything I did to you yesterday. I hope you aren't uncomfortable being around me."
Alex smiles and tightens his grip. "I would never be uncomfortable around you, my Lady."
"At least now I know what happened yesterday," I mention as I eat another spoonful of rolled eggs. "And I now know that I'm surrounded by people who love me. It will be sad to lose you two when we rescue your village, but this arrangement was made on the compromise that you will be free after we save everyone."
After hearing my comment, the twins side-glance at each other with a conflicted expression.
—
The ringing of the bell frees us, and the twins and I head over to our quiet garden to eat lunch.
"Let's go over the plan once again so that we all get a refresher on our roles," I say as I sit on the bench waiting for the twins to finish setting up the picnic blanket.
"I am on security duty," Alex recalls. "I have to lift the fingerprints from the backdoor padlock and take control of the security room so that I can disable any and all alarms and locks that stand in your way."
"I am on guard duty," Xander answers. "My job is to protect you and to use my Shadow Movement to move between Alex's and Delic's shadow."
"I am on scouting duty," Delic announces as he makes his way over to us. "I just have to check if the coast is clear around corners."
"Good. Everyone remembers their role," I praise as I sit down on the picnic blanket. "Xander, how many people can you move in using your Shadow Movement?"
Looking up from the strange question, Xander thinks about it for a minute. "I don't really know. As far as I can remember, I can only move the four of us at one time. Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about this while on our way to school. How will we get the villagers out without causing a commotion on the off chance we don't get noticed by the mages? On the flip side, how will we get the villagers out if we do happen to run into trouble?"
"My Shadow Movement works in both situations," Xander concludes as he unboxes his lunch. "I have never really gotten a chance to try to move several people at one time, so it will be hard to really know the extent of my Shadow Movement."
"I guess we won't be able to tell until the time comes," I state. "In any case, I want you to transport as many villagers as you can to the estate. It doesn't matter if it's four at a time or twenty at a time, as long as it gets them out safely."
"I understand," Xander agrees, nodding his head.
I turn to face Delic. "In case we do end up in an altercation, you and I will fight them off to buy Xander time," I mention as I point my finger at Delic. After getting a confirmation nod from Delic, I glance over at Alex. "You will need to stop any reinforcements that might come to the mages' aid. Lock every door. Set every alarm. Do all that you can to give us time to fight off the mages that are in our way. Even though they will know the codes to undo everything you did, it will take some time and delay them from getting to us. Every second counts when you're outnumbered."
"I will do my best," Alex responds with a fierce look of determination.
"At the sound of the last bell, we will gather in Delic's office and head straight to the old candy shop through Xander's Shadow Movement. Not a moment more must be wasted. We don't know what they are doing to those villagers. They have been trapped there for almost a month and could be injured or deprived of basic needs. Do we all understand the potential severity of the situation at hand?"
Delic and the twins all answer, "Yes, ma'am!"
We all enjoy the rest of our lunch after that. The twins talk between themselves, but I let them be. They are probably filled with so many different emotions right now, so it wouldn't be wise of me to interject myself into their conversation.
A bell rings. A timer starts. A mission commences.
"Do you think you can get it open?" Xander asks his brother as the three of us wait behind Alex.
"I think I can. If I can just feel the slight temperature differences between the four fingerprints I lifted, I should be able to get it open," Alex whispers as he intensely focuses his fingertips on the four prints to figure out the code.
After a few more seconds of silence, a beep resonates from the keypad and a green light shines on it. Delic slowly twists the handle and cracks the door open to find nothing but dimly lit hallways. He peeks his head inside and clears the halls before letting the twins and me inside the deteriorating building. From the back door, Alex heads left to the security hall, and Xander, Delic, and I make our way to the area where the game and storage rooms are.
Within a matter of minutes, Alex arrives at the security room to find an open door and two lounging mages. He relaxes his body to a point where it almost looks like he melts and slides through the small gap in the doorway. He quietly steps behind the two mages and takes a deep breath, inhaling the moisture in the air.
The mages begin to notice that something is wrong and examine the room, but by the time they turn around to look behind them, Alex has already begun trapping them in a soundproof box of water. They bang on the clear liquid walls, yet not a sound is made. Alex pushes the box over to the corner next to the surveillance system so that he can keep an eye on the form of the box and the three of us.
'My Lady, I have secured the security room,' Alex updates through the mind link.
'Good job, Alex. I knew you could do it,' I compliment as I slowly trek next to Xander. 'Just keep a lookout in case someone is heading our way.'
'Yes, my Lady. Good luck out there.'
'Alex has taken control over the security room,' I tell Xander and Delic via mind link.
'I expected nothing less from my little brother,' Xander brags with an idiotic smile.
'Don't get too excited. That was just one step of many,' I tell Xander with a small smack on the back of his head.
The three of us continue on our mission to locate the game and storage room. We turn down a hallway when we hear the voices coming from one of the rooms. I look up to read the sign on the door which said "Office".
'Delic, check what's going on inside using your spirit form. They shouldn't be able to see you, but be careful just in case.'
'Yes, Master.'
Delic changes from wolf to spirit and vanishes into the wall. Alex and I quietly wait outside since we can't proceed forward without Delic checking the corners first. After another minute, Delic reappears and changes back.
'What did you find in there?' I ask Delic after he recollects himself.
'That room is where all of the experiments are being held,' Delic responds, looking worried. 'There were a few dark elves inside locked in cages.'
My surprised expression must have scared Xander because he stares dead into my eyes as if he was ready to murder someone. 'What did Delic say?' Xander asks.
'He said that there are dark elves inside this room,' I reply while pointing at the door behind me. 'But it wouldn't be wise to barge in there. It would alert everyone in the building, and we haven't even found where the rest of the villagers are. It would be better if we find the rest of them quickly.' I motion to the long shadow on the other side of the hall. 'Since you have been here already, you should be able to come back here through that shadow and retrieve the dark elves that are inside after we locate the others.'
Dejected, Xander slumps onto the floor. 'I understand,' he mutters.
I rub Xander's lowered head and look over at Delic. 'Let's keep moving.'
It didn't take long to reach the storage room since we were already in the back of the old candy shop.
'Alex, is there a lock on this door?' I ask.
'It looks like it uses an ID to unlock, but I think I can override it from here. Please give me a minute,' Alex responds as he flashes his eyes around the large console to find the override system. He notices a section that is designated to the door locks. He presses the long button labeled "ID Override". 'It should be unlocked now,' Alex updates.
I hear a click from the door, and the door pops open. Delic takes the first glimpse inside when suddenly the door flies open. The most annoying laughter can be heard from the other side, and I dreadfully connect the sound to a face.
"Did you really think you would be able to sneak into a mages' research facility and get away with it?" questions the girl as she walks out from the room. "I had a feeling you would be here when I saw those two runaways in your class."
"What are you doing here, Abigail?" I demand, blocking her way to Xander.