The men's hysteric screams of terror had jostled Sapphire awake, her green eyes opened to the world around her as she felt extremely disoriented.
Sapphire achingly groaned, she seat up on her butt and made use of her knuckles to stroke her eyes while gazing around to observe what was going on around her.
"Where are the men?" Was the first thought that penetrated her mind.
Abruptly, her thoughts were startled as an unusual breeze smooched her face, stimulating her to shudder and quiver in fright.
Shakily, her hand found its way to her hair as she recklessly discarded a few strands that were concealing her countenance —she was spooked and frozen to death.
Her heart intensified, and her body grew funk cold the very second she caught sight of the two glaring red eyes from a distance.
The pitch-black fogs seem to be fading away slowly, Sapphire's lips shook and squirmed as she cowed her butt away on the grounds.
"Oh, shit! Somebody, help me!!" She shrieked, trepidation strongly gripping her whole body.
She never knew when she had screamed, her voice worked on its own for the best reason best known to it.
"N-no, no no!" She cringes.
Her eyes enlarged in horror as the destructive essence unfolded to be a nasty creature, Sapphire couldn't depict what exactly it was as she widely gaped at the scowling creature with long dreading fangs.
The creature had two huge black wings, and a powerful black tail as its body spews red smoke into the air. Angrily, it let out a shrilling outcry at its pry and then, flew maliciously towards her direction.
"No! No! N-no!" Sapphire shivers again, her voice vibrating shakily as she got stuck to the spot.
Her eyes shut down quickly as she was powerless to glimpse at the creature, her face crumbles intensely as she felt the creature victoriously fleeing towards her in its mighty.
Abruptly, something gave a surge to Sapphire as she opened her eyes yet again. Incredibly, she saw an extraordinary admiral blue light arranging directly at the creature's heart.
Sapphire couldn't tell where the blue light was coming from because the admiral blue glints shone so greatly, prompting her to bolt her eyes again and her ears were stimulated by the creature's thundering clamors as if it was in tremendous pain.
"Aarrrrggghhhh!" The beast grumbled in anguish, excruciatingly.
Its wings flapped vigorously, the extraordinary blue light grilling its body. Then, it swung into black raven ashes and vanishes in a blink.
A pregnant stillness lulls in...
"You can open your eyes now..." A masculine voice commands, it resounded so comfortingly that it compelled Sapphire to frighteningly open her eyes.
She was heavily breathing, she scrutinized around for the unpleasant creature but it was not in sight anymore, it was gone!
Sapphire cracked her head at the strange-looking guy who crouched his knees in front of her, she couldn't mark out his face properly in the darkness but something esoteric occurred thus...
A pretty blonde who she hadn't noticed, stood behind the young guy as she flicked against her thumbs —an electrifying admiral blue light erupts in her right palm, lightening up the once dark scenery.
Sapphire was greatly enthralled at the bizarre spectacle in front of her, her face glued towards the admiral blue light in the lady's palm as she has never seen anything ethereal like this before.
"How was she able to do that?" she thought.
The treacherous atmosphere in the woods mellows out, the rainfall had stopped and every crumb in the woods became steady.
"Let's go, alpha. We saved her already," The young lady groaned behind him.
However, that didn't buck up Sapphire's ears but the —familiar name.
Princeton? Could he be Mr. Langford's son?!
"It's Princeton!" Princeton corrected.
He doesn't like the formality when he's outside the otherworld, he prefers to go by his simple name.
"We can't leave her all alone, Naomi. It's dangerous out here and she might get into troubles with the outlawed again," he said further as he closely peered at the young lady on the grounds.
Meanwhile, Sapphire gazed back silently at him. She couldn't tell why —but she could see the immense longing, carving, and seeking which flashes through his eyes.
Have they met before or something?
"Are you being serious right now, Princeton?" Naomi scoffed, she scowls displeasingly at the young lady and it was noticeable she was getting irritated at her sight.
"Hey, get up!" Princeton beckons as he stood to his feet. And then, he held the young lady's hands as she got up too.
"Don't you know how to say out the word... Thank you?" Naomi coldly retorted while arching her brows.
At that stance, Sapphire shifted her stare to the furious-looking lady who appears to be around her age.
She's a blonde, clothed in white pants and a black jacket. Her eyes looks small and foxy as she held on to the admiral blue light in her left palm.
"Thank you!" She muttered genuinely, and Naomi swung her eyeballs in a "Whatever"
"What's your name?" Princeton suddenly asked in the way one could feel he's longing to ask that specific question.
"I'm Sapphire Armstrong," Sapphire replied lowly, but they heard her.
"Hold on, are you in any way related to Liam Armstrong?" Princeton solicited curiously.
Naomi hissed in dismay, she was extremely bothered that the Alpha seems inquisitive about the random lady. And more like it, they have a task to accomplish.
They were specifically assigned for a distinctive mission in the woods, and this Sapphire is becoming an obstacle to that aim of theirs.
"Y-yes, he's m-my father," Sapphire disclosed to him and she saw how Princeton appears to be aghast, and astonished to the core.
Sapphire wasn't surprised at his reaction. Of course, not everyone knew about her and her relationship with Liam Armstrong.
"Oh," Princeton mouthed, he slightly scratches his itching neck. "Er, I am Princeton Langford..."
"I knew I was right, he's Mr. Langford son," Sapphire muttered inwardly.
"And that's my colleague, Na..."
"I'm Naomi Stones!" Naomi cut Princeton short.
"Right!" Princeton tug his lips.
He looked behind his back as he conveyed Naomi a warning, which made her cringe at him in apologizes.
Then, Princeton gazed back at Sapphire.
"What are you doing here? It's late-night already and it's dangerous out here, you would have been killed by that outlawed if we hadn't arrived earlier to protect you," Princeton said.
"I know, I didn't wish to be here, and neither can I go back home," Sapphire spoke, nervously biting her lip brims.
She possibly can't go back to the mansion or else, she might get killed this real-time by her heartless stepmother —she narrowly fled twice from death tonight and wouldn't want to walk through that dark path again.
Princeton and Naomi expressed a confusing look together as they gawked back at Sapphire, Princeton could tell that Sapphire was in real danger.
Not like he would willingly want her to go anyway, he solitary has his intentions as to why he can't let her flee his sight just yet.
"Okay, you can roll with us then," Princeton stated after a few moments before walking away.
"What?! You can't let her come with us, Princeton!"Naomi shockingly yelled, she shot Sapphire a dead grimace before flouncing toward Princeton.
"She's just a mere human!" She shouted louder this time and Sapphire was taken aback for a while.
What does Naomi mean by she's not a human? Ain't they humans like her?
"You never can tell, Naomi," Princeton simply replied and that got Sapphire extremely astounded and dazed.
★★★★★
In the very heart of the woods, the three individuals crouched around an agitated burning campfire.
Momentarily, Princeton pulls a few branches from the ground before throwing them into the blaze —the branches broke down in the fire despite their dampness as they made snapping whistles.
Meanwhile, Sapphire recoils her frosty arms around herself as she felt cold, she peered at the fire while Naomi was busily skimming on a nasty mug at her.
"What realm are you from?" Princeton questioned, wiping out the muted silence.
Sapphire was confused, she glanced speechlessly at him as she was lost in his words.
What does he mean by what realm is she from?
"I'm from the earth realm," she found herself replying calmly and, Naomi burst out into a peal of laughter.
"Naomi!"Princeton called grudgingly, and she instantly sobered up.
"I'm sorry, Alpha!" She quickly apologizes.
"You seem lost about my question, right? It comes out to be that you are not supernatural —I was wondering before if the heavens have sent down another... Supernatural descendant," He confided.
Princeton whimpered the last utter miserably, his unpleasant expression made Sapphire crinkle her brows at him.
"Why does he look depressing?" she thought.
"It can't be possible, she's not a descendant. Don't you see how weak she is? She couldn't even stand up to an outlawed," Naomi spat out.
"What's outlawed?" Sapphire asked, stroking the base of her neck and Naomi scoffed with an eye roll.
"That nasty creature that attempted to attack you, they are the ancient supernatural that went mad in bloodlust and got banished from the world for a reason," Princeton explained.
Sapphire grimaced her face as if she had just savored an awful desert, it was noticeable she couldn't discern his explanations at all.
Her confused expression made Naomi breathe in lowly, in what appeared to be a sigh of relief.
"Don't force it, you will never understand," she muttered to Sapphire. And surprisingly, she occurs to be polite this time around.
"She could be a supernatural, Naomi. It could be a coincidence, maybe she's a late bloomer," Princeton grumbled, scrunching his head over his shoulder.
"Never, it's not logical either... She's not supernatural either a descendant or a late bloomer," Naomi withheld.
Sapphire remained tight-lipped as she watched the duos discuss, she couldn't make out any expressive word from their lips that she could easily understand.
"Are you both truly supernatural?" Sapphire asked, she finds it difficult to believe.
"You are not blind, you saw it for yourself a while when I lit the admiral blue light in my palm," Naomi rasped and Princeton shot Naomie dead daggers.
It comes across to him that he feels hostility toward the way she talks back at Sapphire. "I'm an alpha werewolf and she's an electrical fire fairy," he explained.
"What?!" Sapphire blunts out, incredulously.
"Nothing!"Princeton waves his head sideways at her and Sapphire mouthed.
"I guess we all should take a rest, we will be going back to Oscar's academy by morning," Princeton sighed as he adjusted properly on his seat.
"Oscar's academy?" Sapphire asked confusedly but none gave her a reply, she has never heard about the Academy before.
"But I don't recall saying I'm interested in going to an academy," she added.
Fine, she knew she was in danger and the men who attempted to harm her or the nasty creature might come back to haunt her. But then, that doesn't mean she's interested in going to an academy.
She merely wishes the day would arrive, and she will be gone to wherever fate has in store for her.
"But Princeton, You and I know it's forbidden to let a human into the Oscar's Academy," Naomi protested, she was very disgruntled at his choice of words.
"Sapphire is coming with us, and that's final, she has to join the Academy," Princeton stated as a matter of fact.
"I'm not interested!" Sapphire disputed.
"I never sought your permission," Princeton firmly withheld.
"Princeton, it's the Academy's ancient law never to let a human into its mystic dwelling. You know that better than I do!" Naomi opposed, hoping she'd change his mind after all.
Princeton shuts his eyes tightly as he plopped his head against the nearby tree behind him, leaving no space for further argument.
"Darn it!" Sapphire scoffed.
Never will she let him coerce her into going to Oscar's academy or whatsoever, it's her life and it's her choice to make.
Meanwhile, Naomi wriggled her fists beside her, and her face hardened as she felt extremely upset.
However, she couldn't argue further with an alpha. It would be useless, and his words are always final and undisputed.
Anyhow, she has nothing much to worry about. Sapphire will be kicked out if she dares make a step into the Academy because it is highly prohibited for a human to step a toe into its enchanted foundation.
Somehow, she couldn't explain it but she loathed and despised Sapphire at first sight. She truly can't wait for the daylight to come, so she'd get rid of her once and for all.
Sapphire will not, and can never step into the academy, never!