The night before…
"Have you realized what you've done!?"
Silence walled the room after Link raised his voice.
"You lost control in front of a human. Do you realize what punishment you might receive if the Queen learned of this?" He looked at Shade, who was sitting at the far end of the small room with his arms crossed.
"I do not understand why he's even on this mission," Cali said while looking out of the window. "If he wasn't here, that girl would not feel that wary of us."
"So you're blaming all the problems on me now?"
"Shade!" Link tried to get Shade's attention and sighed. "This is not the time for that. How… how did you lose control like? Did the seal break?"
Shade clicked his tongue and said, "It did not."
The tension in the room shows the hostility between Cali and Shade. They do not get along at all.
"Then how? It's impossible for you to berserk if it wasn't for that."
Shade's eyes landed on Cali, making the girl roll her eyes and say, "I'll leave." She left the dusty storage room after realizing that she was not welcome to hear whatever it was they were going to talk about.
"Now that Cali's gone, explain everything to me." Link felt his heart beating too fast. His best friend's life is in danger, and their mission's about to fail. How is he going to calm down in such a situation?
"She touched my face… with her bare hands."
Link's forehead creased. "How could that be the trigger? Did you feel something strange other than that? She couldn't cause such a reaction from you if she's normal."
Shade shook his head as he remembered his heart aching after just that one touch. "That girl is strange. She felt oddly familiar. She triggered something inside of me that even I don't know. I could not understand what happened." Hearing that does not solve the problem at all, making Link more confused.
"I don't think you should be near her again. Leave the mission to Cali and me." Link patted Shade's shoulder. "I know how much you hate being here, but don't forget the reason you came."
Shade exhaled. "You're right. I apologize."
"For now, we must inform the Queen and Mr. Arthur about what happened to your body. This is the first time that happened. There must be some kind of explanation."
Shade sighed and gazed out of the window. "Must we really take our time to persuade that girl? Can't we just bring her and let her decide if she wanted to stay?"
Shade's childish way of speaking that he only shows his best friend made Link sigh. Link's used to seeing his best friend like that, but he does not condone Shade's words most of the time.
"We can't. The Queen herself ordered this mission. We can't fail," Link said on the chair as he brought out a glowing item from his bag. "We must first persuade madam Eleanor and then everything will be easier after that, I guess?"
"But that woman does not look like she wants to go back at all."
Link slapped Shade's arm. "How could you call her that woman? You must avoid showing that crude attitude towards the madam, you hear me?"
"Can I get back in now?"
The two heard Cali's voice outside.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for that Calixta," Link said, causing the cold and snob Cali to shake her head as she walked towards the sofa. "We're planning to go back to the academy tonight and return tomorrow morning. Would that be fine with you?"
"I don't care," Cali said and leaned on the sofa's backrest. "It is not I, you should worry about," she added before closing her eyes. "We do not even know the Queen's intention. We do not know why she's set on getting her hands on that girl."
'It's rare for me to see Calixta speaking so much,' Link thought as he nodded. "You are absolutely correct. Which is why we cannot keep secrets from the Queen. That girl might be an important piece for the academy, as she is also Madam Eleanor's granddaughter."
The three felt the burden of the mission they must finish.
"I still could not comprehend why the Queen sent Cromwell to this kind of mission," Cali said. "Talking is not his strength, and he uses brute force to solve everything."
'I guess this is why Cali doesn't talk too much,' Link thought as he stopped Shade from bursting into flames.
Present time,
"What was that?" Eirin blinked lots of times and even pinched her cheeks to make sure that she was not dreaming. Pink and blue smoke mixing in the air flew right in front of her as if some kind of magical dust floating around. It reminded her of that magical scene from a cartoon show she and Ava used to watch as children.
"Is this for real?"
Eirin reached out her hand and tried to touch the smoke, but her hand seeped through, and the smoke vanished into her palm.
"Wow. It's like seeing glitters floating in the sky—What kind of bird was that?"
The teenage girl's eyes widened after following a beautiful gigantic bird with sparkling feathers the same color as the sky. It exudes a regal feeling as its sound were like music to Eirin's ears. It's like a woman's voice soothing a baby's cry.
"AAAAAAH!"
Eirin then flinched after hearing such a scream causing her to lean out of the window and see what was happening, but the moment she peeked out, something flew in front of her so fast that she quickly backed away, afraid of falling out of the window and ended up falling on the floor.
"W-What in the world?" Eirin froze, trying to figure out what that was.
Small and almost unrealistic, the thing flew into the room and spun around Eirin, making her follow it with her eyes. Eirin stood as she continued watching the magical thing above her, as if in a trance. It sprinkled sparkling dust all over the room, and Eirin soon heard a giggle that sounded like a child.
"What are you?"
Eirin raised her hand, reaching for the small glowing creature, but the moment Eirin touched it, she felt her finger being flicked as the thing grumped and rushed out of the window.
"Wait!"
The teenage girl tried to follow the creature, however, she noticed the scenery outside changed, and a different being appeared to be climbing the window.
"Ah!"
Eirin's eyes widened after seeing the ferocious man, Shade, holding onto the window with his one hand. 'Where the hell did he come from?' she thought as she hurried away, but their eyes met and silence followed.
The small room made Eirin feel on guard. She couldn't show her back to the man, afraid of what might happen next. Eirin's heart started going insane as her palms dripped with sweat. Just staring at the man who almost took her life yesterday made her feel fear.
'I can't be afraid. I just need to keep my distance,' she thought.
Shade clicked his tongue after jumping through the window and into the room. Compared to the magical atmosphere earlier, the tension inside the storage room suffocates Eirin.
'Where are the other guys? I don't want to be alone with this man,' she thought while trying not to look Shade in the eye. 'The silence is killing me,' the teenage girl thought while reaching the farthest part of the room, near the door.
Her gaze slowly went to Shade, who was leaning on the wall near the window. They stood on opposite sides of the room, and there was nothing but pure silence. Shade once again clicked his tongue, thus making the teenage girl flinch.
'I-Is he mad right now? No, because why is he the one getting mad? I almost died because of him yesterday!'
Eirin was furious with the thoughts flowing through her head and couldn't control her facial expression as she glared at the young man.
"I apologize."
The sound of people giggling outside the window filled her ears as she blinked thousands of times. Wondering if she heard the words that came out of Shade's mouth correctly.
'Did I hear that right?' Her forehead creased as she grabbed the doorknob. "W-What did you say?"
Shade rolled his eyes in frustration and glared at Eirin. "Are your ears just for decoration?"
"W-Why are you getting mad at me? I'm just making sure, you jerk!"
"What did you call me?"
Eirin frowned while her hands trembled. 'Isn't he supposed to be apologizing right now? Why is he getting mad?' she thought as she also glared at the young man. 'I was just surprised that an arrogant man like him knows how to apologize.'
"I won't repeat what I said." Shade took a seat near the window and crossed his legs. "After what happened yesterday, I am amazed that you got here of your own will."
"That's because I need answers."
Eirin took a deep breath. Standing in front of this man causes her to feel too nervous to think. It's like being in front of an untamed tiger, afraid of being torn into pieces with just one wrong move, making her awfully careful.
"Why did you try to kill me yesterday?"
Shade raised an eyebrow. "I should be the one asking that." He stood from his seat with his gaze piercing Eirin. "What did you do to me?"
'What is he on? Is he manipulating me into thinking that it was all my fault?'
Eirin scoffed in disbelief. "Why are you asking me that? You were the one who—"
The teenage girl couldn't continue after seeing how Shade kept walking toward her. "Stop. Don't move any closer to me."
"Not unless you tell me what you did."
"What the hell did I do?"