Asher and Estoria found themselves back in Estoria's bedroom, bathed in a soft white light emanating from her right hand held by Asher and a gentle yellow haze from her left.
Typically, a person's mana exhibits a distinct color. The white aura belonged unmistakably to Asher, while the yellow was undoubtedly Faye's.
Though Faye hadn't physically teleported with them, his assistance remained evident in facilitating Asher's teleportation of Estoria.
With Faye's aid, Asher effortlessly returned, almost as though Faye had carried Estoria, and Asher merely transported himself as usual.
"You should keep your room more tidy," Asher's first sight after being teleported was the bedroom being in shambles.
Estoria, fatigued, released Asher's hand and slumped onto her bed. "It's a mess because of you; I was trying to find your letter."
Observing the blood on his hands, Asher expressed concern, "We should tend to your hands first; they're smeared with blood. What were you doing out there?"
Estoria, drained and unable to think clearly, replied, "I don't know; I can't think straight right now," her gaze fixed blankly on the ceiling.
Asher saw Estoria staring at the ceiling; he somehow felt embarrassed thinking about her seeing him in that pathetic state.
He went over to her side, gently examining her hand. It seemed like the blood was from her knuckles, but some of it had already dried, and some of it was new, making it difficult to see where the cuts exactly were.
Asher held both her hands in his palms, conjuring a white bubble wrap over her hands. It was almost like a small little barrier with their hands inside, and it felt refreshing on the hands.
The bubble suddenly popped, leaving Estoria's hands anew like nothing had ever happened to them.
"I'll head back to my room, and we can talk later in the morning," Asher suggested, oblivious to the dawn breaking – both having endured an all-nighter.
Estoria simply nodded, not even having the energy for words. Asher flashed white and disappeared in a blink.
Just as he left, there was a knock on the door. "Estoria?" a voice whispered, which could be heard clearly through the quietness of the dusk.
Estoria recognized the voice and opened the door. "What are you doing here this early?" She asked the figure standing in front of her.
"I heard voices coming from inside; are you okay?" Aluxio asked, sneaking a peek behind her in the mess of a room.
"Yeah, never been better before. Do you want to come inside for a minute?" Estoria noticed him stealing glances inside.
"Can I?" Aluxio looked a little taken aback.
Estoria stepped to the side, allowing him inside the room. Aluxio came into the room, picking up a few things from the floor as he walked in.
Estoria sat back down on her bed, her sight getting dizzier as time went by as she eyed Aluxio trying to piece back her room bit by bit.
"Aluxio, come here." Estoria couldn't hold herself back anymore, and her hand signaled for him to come closer.
Aluxio's eyes widened, dropping the cushions in his hand, but his legs moved before he could process his thoughts. He came closer, standing just a few feet away from her, staring at her face as she looked up to him.
Estoria's eyes were striking, sharp with a hint of tiredness in them, the sunlight from the window illuminating her face, paler than usual.
"Did you try to use your dragon powers again?" Aluxio guessed, recalling her similar appearance from earlier when she got on top of him, thirsting for his blood.
Estoria nodded drunkenly.
"I didn't hear any sounds from the outside until now, though. How is that possible?" Aluxio asked, thinking back to the night he spent standing guard outside in case anything happened to her.
Estoria frowned at his question and grabbed him by the collar of his black dress shirt with both her hands, pulling him in. Her lips pressed on his, and Aluxio froze in his reaction, his eyebrows raised, his eyes widened, not knowing if he should pull away or not. His hands were in the air, not having an ordered position.
Estoria locked her eyes on his, hesitating for a second.
Aluxio observed her hesitating, deciding to pull away, placing his hands on her shoulders to pull away when suddenly she bit his lower lip, making him freeze again.
She bit the lip until it drew blood and started sucking on his lower lip, not leaving a single drop of the blood.
Aluxio was flushed to his ears end at this point; he suddenly pushed her back to lay on the bed, pressing his tongue inside her mouth, kissing her back passionately. Estoria was also immersed in the kiss, pushing her way in relentlessly.
Aluxio stood in a plank position on top of her, kneeling on the sides of both of her knees, her feet still on the ground, and his in the air.
He broke the kiss to catch his breath, gasping for air while their eyes were still locked onto each other.
Estoria breathed harder, like one that feels like trying to run away from a terrifying ghost in a nightmare. She blinked lazily and slowly shut her eyes, falling asleep.
Aluxio was thinking about how he should react to her falling asleep in that moment, peacefully like a child tired after playing all day.
He calmed down, standing back on his feet again and crouched down to take off her shoes, seeing the loafers; he let out a chuckle and took them off, tucking her into the bed.
***
"What is this strange feeling in the air? Did something happen between you two?" Tyrion observed the two silently eating, sitting side by side but ignoring each other, and Tyrion was ignored too by them as they didn't reply.
"Something clearly happened, right Eston?" He glanced at Eston sitting next to him.
They were sitting opposite to Aluxio and Estoria and vice versa.
"I don't know," Eston replied, still tired even after sleeping all day and night.
"Eston, please don't start ignoring me like that; I wouldn't be able to take it," Tyrion pleaded, staring at Eston chewing his food slowly.
"Since everyone was passed out all day, me and Asher were stuck with Issac all day, learning new spells. He wouldn't let us go until we had learned everything," He sighed.
Tyrion specifically asked for the meals to be prepared for Eston, Estoria, and Aluxio who slept through the day and missed their meals too, but they were still not eating much, picking at the food.
"Asher is still with Issac; he's so eager to learn from someone that after training all day, he's still energetic, and his mana seems to be endless." Tyrion sounded like he was complaining but rather he was admiring Asher, for he could never.
"I should pay them a visit," Estoria declared, rising from her seat.
"You should eat some more," Aluxio lightly grabbed her wrist with his hand, stopping her.
"I've had enough," Estoria asserted, pulling away.
"Did you two have a serious fight? Butyou both were sleeping all day when did you have the time to-" Tyrion got cut off by Eston stuffing his mouth with the savory chunk of steak using his fork.
"Just eat quietly."
Tyrion, realizing the potential misstep in his words, muttered a quick apology.
Aluxio thought back on their night, questioning if she had forgotten about it.
Meanwhile, Estoria was agonizing over it like she had committed treason.
Estoria didn't remember to ask where they were before rushing out of there; it was suffocating to be in the same room as Aluxio. She walked around mindlessly, bumping into Asher.
"Finally awake. I thought you weren't going to surface anytime soon. Also, I heard about your awakening from—" Asher's words trailed off as he struggled to find a suitable title for Issac.
"He's your grandfather, technically," Estoria spoke nonchalantly.
"Technically? You always speak in such a weird way, but is it okay if I call him my grandfather?" Asher thought hard.
"You should have asked him that; well, he is a granddad now, whether he likes it or not," Estoria quipped, revealing a facet of her personality that Asher found unexpectedly sharp.
"..." Asher didn't know Estoria could be so mean to her own blood-related family.
"I have a lot of questions for you, Asher, so why don't we talk somewhere in private?" Estoria glared down at Asher.
Asher obediently followed her along to her room.
"Take a seat; it's gonna take a while." Estoria also took a seat on the sofa.
"You have changed a lot since yesterday," Asher sat down, facing her.
Ever since Estoria had her awakening, her aura had changed. It went from nothing to the darkest deep aura, which scared Asher; he knew it was her, the same Estoria, but he felt like prey caught by its predator.
"How so? You're the one having changes overnight. Why did you leave like that without even explaining your reason for leave or where you were going to go? Didn't even have the guts to meet me in person before fleeting like I wouldn't care..." Estoria said all that in one breath.
"I'm sorry?" Asher was truly lost; he didn't know what to say or which questions he should answer first.
"I don't need an apology; just give me your reason and explain everything in detail to me."
Asher went on and on for an hour explaining; he didn't want to admit it, but he gave in and told her the truth. He didn't want to endanger her or anyone else because of him, so he thought it would be best if he would just leave to go back to his boss because he knew they weren't going to leave him be and would definitely come back for him sooner or later, like last time they sent number six.
"So?" Estoria asked with cocked eyebrows.
"I told you the reason?"
"What happened afterwards? When you went back, what did they do to you? You were literally chained up and beaten down by who?"
"Uh... it wasn't that bad... actually, it was pretty grim. I couldn't escape due to the enchanted chains," Asher confessed, avoiding eye contact.
"Enchanted chains?"
"Yes, they were enchanted, or you can say altered with the mana of number six. She has a knack for making things like that. They had a shock effect which stopped me from using my mana, and they were supposed to be unbreakable, but I guess they were unbreakable by mana or spells, not strength.
I tried my best to deal with them, but the boss said he had no use for me anymore. He said not being able to follow through orders was enough reason, but I got adopted into the Stallions which made everything worse."
"Whose shoe prints were on you?" Estoria asked in a serious tone.
She looked ready to kill a person, and Asher was even more scared now, so he answered immediately.
"It was number six, okay? She was ordered to handle me for the time being, and she was pretty mad about me blowing her up in that blast..." Asher stopped talking.
Estoria's eyes looked menacing, the murder intent in the room was so strong it was almost hard for Asher to breathe properly. He felt it more because he was trained to feel the surroundings using his mana; it was definitely a useful trick in battle and in everyday life, but Asher wished he hadn't learned it in that moment.
After a while of staring back at each other, the room suddenly eased up, allowing Asher to lower his guard when he heard the knocking sound on the door.
He opened the door since Estoria wasn't moving to, and the knocks continued.
"Asher, I wanted to talk about something with Estoria. Is she busy?" Aluxio asked.
Asher frowned and replied, "No, we are done talking, but she's not in her right mind at the moment. Maybe come back next week?" He smiled.
"No, it's fine. Let's get this over with too, Asher. You go rest; I'll have a quick talk with Aluxio," Estoria said from behind.
Asher gave glares at Aluxio before leaving and closing the door.
"What brings you here?" Estoria, arms crossed, confronted Aluxio near the door.
"Can we sit down first?" Aluxio, still at the entrance, proposed a moment of respite.
"No," Estoria asserted, her expression resolute.
"..."