Pride-Niklaus's Point of View
♕︎ ♕︎ ♕︎
I can't stand the thought of Persephone being with anyone. The mere idea of it twists something deep inside me, like a knot tightening in my gut, and fills me with an anger so raw it almost feels physical. It's as if this uncontrollable fury is rising up within me, a rage so intense I'm sure the very air around me could snap. I can't explain it—this primal need to destroy, to tear apart anyone who dares to come even close to her, even if I haven't seen them yet.
It's an urge, an instinct that claws at my insides, relentless and unyielding. It gnaws at me, digs into my bones, making it feel as if I could shatter the world with the force of this anger if I just let it loose. And yet, I know it's irrational. I'm fully aware that I'm being completely unreasonable. I have no claim on her, no right to feel this way. She's not mine, never was, and yet it doesn't matter. The feeling is there, strong, and it's not going anywhere. It's uncontrollable, and I can't make it stop.
Maybe that's why I can't stand Loki. The damn fox is everywhere, constantly popping up around her like some sort of shadow, making his presence known in all the worst possible ways. He's always hanging around her, trying to catch her attention, flashing that cocky grin of his like he's some sort of prize.
And the worst part? I have to watch it now. I have no choice. I'll have to endure his constant attempts to worm his way into her space, especially now that we're stuck in the same classes, day after day. It's unbearable.
Every time I see him near her, I feel my blood start to boil, my hands clenching into fists as if I could somehow take it all out on him. I hate foxes. I hate him. I hate the way he moves, the way he acts like he's entitled to her attention, the way he's always lurking in the background, watching her every move. I hate how he's always there, no matter where she goes. I would rip him apart if I could. I know that, but I also know I can't. It doesn't matter, though.
The rage still bubbles inside me, a constant simmering storm, every single time his stupid face appears in my line of sight.
"...Nik?"
I blinked, startled, coming out of my furious trance to find that I had been gripping my phone so hard my knuckles had gone white. I'd been glaring at the screen for who knows how long, completely lost in my thoughts, completely consumed by the anger that was building up inside me.
The world around me felt distant, as if I were watching it through a fog, while my mind was still trapped in this overwhelming rage. I shoved the phone back into my pocket quickly, trying to regain some semblance of control, trying to hide the fury that was still bubbling under the surface. I forced myself to calm down, even if my insides were screaming with frustration.
"Yeah?" I muttered, my voice cold, dripping with feigned indifference, as though nothing was wrong.
"You've been staring at Persephone's post for like, five minutes," Kai said, his voice casual but with that ever-present teasing edge, as if he was enjoying watching me squirm, watching me try to hold it together while I was obviously falling apart.
I clenched my jaw, doing my best to suppress the irritation that threatened to spill over and drown me. "Shut the fuck up, Kai," I muttered, waving him off, hoping he'd take the hint and leave me alone.
But of course, it wasn't just Kai who had something to say. Nora, as always, decided it was her time to throw in her two cents. Her voice came from behind me, and she spoke in that blunt, matter-of-fact tone that she was so damn good at.
"Persephone is hot," she said, without hesitation, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The fact that she's trying to seriously kill you and Dove, and has been pretty damn ruthless with all of us—yeah, that aside, the girl's powerful, smart, and sexy."
Micah, never one to be outdone, snapped his fingers dramatically. "But fucking deadly," he added with a grin, as though he were trying to lighten the mood, or maybe just adding fuel to the fire.
I rolled my eyes, already fed up with their pointless banter. I knew exactly where this conversation was going, and I wasn't in the mood for it. Not now, not when everything was already so tense. "Again," I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my voice steady but failing miserably, my irritation creeping into my tone. "I feel nothing for Scarlet."
My fingers drummed against my thigh, each beat pushing me closer to snapping. My voice hardened with each word. "She has the looks, that's for sure, but that's where it ends. Scarlet's threat is real, and so is her wrath. She's not joking when she says she wants me dead, and she's stabbed me more than once trying to find a way to kill me. Just as I've stabbed her, too."
I paused, a smirk tugging at my lips, remembering a few of our more... heated encounters. The way we'd crossed paths, the constant tension, the way we seemed to bring out the worst in each other. "In my defense, though, she brought this fight to herself. I don't run from conflict. She keeps poking at me, always bringing up the issues between our families every damn time we cross paths. Always playing dirty. And that just draws me in more, like a moth to a flame. I can't ignore it."
I let out a frustrated sigh, my exhale heavy with the weight of everything I was feeling. "And for some insane reason, that keeps attracting me more and more. It's maddening. Every time we go at each other, every time she pushes me, I can't help but get closer to her, like the chaos we create makes something dangerous happen between us. A part of me knows her body is just as attracted to mine as mine is to hers, but it's buried deep under all that anger she carries with her. Her rage is way stronger than any attraction."
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, trying to push those thoughts back into the deepest parts of my mind. It was a bad place to go, and I knew better than to let it consume me. Still, it haunted me, like a shadow that refused to leave, no matter how hard I tried to push it away.
"I get it," I continued, my words slower now, deliberate as I tried to make sense of it all. "If our places were switched, I would want to kill her, too. If she were the one who had taken something as precious to me as my mother, I wouldn't stop until I got revenge. Hell, I'd do whatever it took. I understand that need for revenge. I get where her anger comes from. And I think that's what makes her so damn dangerous."
I paused again, my eyes narrowing as I focused on the tension that was so thick in the air I could almost feel it pressing against me. "But me? I'm not that guy. I'm not going to go out there and kill her. Not in the same way. My mother's already taken her revenge on her father's death, and now it's just this endless cycle of bloodshed and vengeance between us. And in some twisted way, I think she craves it just as much as I do."
I glanced down at my hands, trying to steady my breathing, but the tension in the air only seemed to grow. It was suffocating, like I couldn't get enough air. "But there's something else, something darker than just the fighting. Something that's almost more dangerous. This… feeling. It's not just about conflict anymore. It's a constant, gnawing presence that burns inside me every time she's near. And I can't get rid of it."
"Scarlet is a bad bitch," I muttered, the words escaping my lips like a confession, like I was finally giving voice to the truth I didn't want to admit. "She's mean, condescending, narcissistic, self-centered, and bordering on psychopathy. Though, to be honest, I think she fits more into the sociopath category. She's got intense emotions, after all. But aside from that fury, she's damn smart. Rational. Calculated. Scheming. Manipulative."
I looked back at my friends, trying to hide the storm that was still raging inside me, trying to make my face unreadable. "The fact that she knows it, too? Makes her even more of a danger."
Kai opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he could even begin. I knew exactly what he was going to say, and I wasn't in the mood for it.
"Yes," I said, exasperated. "I had a fat crush on her. Ten years ago. It's gone now." I almost choked on the words, disgusted with myself for even admitting it.
The simple crush is long dead. But something darker… something deeper has replaced it. And that's something I can't even begin to deal with.
I ran a hand through my hair, the tension in my muscles refusing to ease. "The second her mother killed my dad, everything changed. It was over. I don't know if she ever had any feelings for me, but I know they're gone now. That ship sailed a long time ago."
I met Kai's gaze, my eyes hard. "And if we ever had a possibility of having anything, it died the moment she saw my mom kill hers. That was it. The line was drawn. She wants my mom dead, and I won't let that happen. It's as simple as that."
I crossed my arms, my voice low and steady. "So, yeah, conflict's inevitable. We're going to clash, and we'll keep clashing until one of us is dead. But it's more than just that. It's the tension, the way we're drawn to each other in this sick, twisted way that neither of us can control."
I couldn't help it. I wasn't going to admit it to anyone, especially not to her. But this feeling—this obsession—it was dangerous. And it was only going to get worse.