"Dumbass..." Thorne huffed, glancing away in disgruntlement while scratching his arm idly. My injuries seemed to lessen in their pain from Thorne's frustration as well, although his anger continued to increase. I groaned from the discomfort that accompanied being kicked hard in the chest.
"Please stop being an absolute arse Thorne." I urged, but my words fell on deaf ears as the last chance to salvage any relationship between me and him vanished into thin air.
Thorne's cold expression disappeared and was replaced with rage as he got closer, only a short distance from Ego. I heard a couple pops in my ears as I tried to stand and immediately buckled, blood pooling onto my lips and spilling forth in small rivulets.
"Thorne, I will ask you one more time and nicely to step down and apologize for the havoc that you have caused for Cyrus and everyone else." Ego snapped, not looking back. I could see his posture change from calm and neutral to defensive and irritated. The change wasn't exactly subtle. "Or I will be forced to enact the punishment that the school will demand I carry out."
"Let the pillars and higher ups get involved and clean up after your messes; it was a miracle you found a boy who could use aether anyways. There is no other human who can use aether aside from this... whatever this monstrosity is." Thorne scoffed and walked off.
The amount of irritation I felt in that moment, as I was left lying half-dead on the cold floor, could've probably driven a saint to murder.
"You are so far down the line of being an annoying son of a bitch, I hope the gods rain hell on you." I muttered and spat some more blood onto the ground, feeling lightheaded.
He was starting to walk back towards me again.
"Thorne, drop. This. Now." Ego warned, finally turning his full attention on the arrogant brat. "I promise you this Professor Ego, the longer you keep this monster around, the more you will realize that he is a liability that will cause nothing but destruction for this academy. Cyrus will be your inevitable end, I might not be as wise as you, but it seems I am more level-headed than you."
"Is that so... Do you mind telling the headmaster that? Oh wait, it was the Headmaster that accepted Cyrus into this academy with open arms knowing that he was capable of using aether. I suggest you shut the fuck up before things get a lot worse." Ego fumed, glaring down at Thorne, towering over the short-sighted student.
His cold eyes never left my body for a single moment and, with a voice as hard and cold as steel, he uttered his final words of the day to Ego.
"You will live to regret letting this monster survive."
As Thorne finally disappeared around the corner, a set of footsteps echoed out in the night as an unexpected visitor arrived to aid me.
"What... has this... become... Ego?" I managed weakly.
"Cyrus, you have my apologies, if I had gotten here faster and put a stop to this, then none of that would've happened," Headmaster Reagan stated in her normal and calming manner. "It seems that Thorne's past continues to haunt him after all these years, we tried to help him by getting him away from the Crimson Sands, but it seems the Crimson Cabal continues to lurk in his shadow every single day."
"That asshole just needs some catharsis, not pity." I groaned weakly, "Thanks to him, it seems my ribs have been broken."
He helped me off the ground, dusting some dirt off my body while her red eyes locked onto my brown ones, a warmth that spread through my chest, like I was basking in the sunlight of a spring morning. I quickly cast an air magic spell that Ego had shown me some months earlier in hopes that my breath would not burn so harshly.
"I'll make sure everything is alright in the upcoming days, for right now... just take a good night's rest." Ego comforted as the three of us as we retreated to Ariel's room. "If it makes you feel better, it is now required that you train harder than any other student, besides Ariel, to keep this event from happening."
"Not the most optimal thing I would want to hear."
Ego sighed tiredly. "Thorne was wrong for what he did, it doesn't help the fact he is scared and lost to what he has been trying to escape all his life."
I lay in bed staring out the window, admiring the stars as the world began to spin faster, before slowing, and finally, everything around me went completely dark, blanketing me in the warmth of the sheets that encased my weary bones and muscles.
He was afraid of the demons within his nightmares and now, is becoming one himself. I would need to become stronger in order to prevent things such as this from happening ever again.
In due time, I could fix everything around here, after all, they said that strength is the currency of change.
***When I had awoke, I felt a strange ache in my chest; that being, one of my lungs had been bruised the day earlier. I didn't show it on my face, but my emotions raged and pulsated under the surface, and I felt my darkness lashing out at the shadows in anger. Every little thing was frustrating to deal with, even more so after Thorne beat the shit out of me the day before, this has got to be one of the worst days ever.The next morning, Headmaster Reagan had spoken with the entire class regarding the events the day before, although he made a special effort to address me personally. It was very evident that Ariel had been really close to pulling Thorne's eyeballs from their sockets the minute she saw me with a busted rib and chest injury.
However, the day progressed the same as the first two months, regardless of the day before. So it was a big shocker that classes went on as though nothing happened. It wasn't easy walking around with a broken rib, but I took care of the pain with aether as needed, and that seemed to solve the issue for the time being.
Thorne avoided me after the altercation we had; in fact, he was adamant in avoiding all contact with me since our conflict yesterday.
"Don't worry about the attack. That was just... an exception to the rule," Ariel reassured in her own Ariel way as she patted my back, which earned her a painful gasp that escaped from my lungs, but nonetheless, I welcomed the comforting words and touch.