Chapter 27:

Go ahead and cry little girl Nobody does it like you do I know how much it matters to you

On the second day of the charity exhibition, I sat on one of the seats in the performance theatre of the palace. Performers from various cultures had been called to put on shows and it was probably the highlight of my day.

Well, other than that thing with Caeles...

He'd come to pick me up again today and I had noticed something different about him.

I squinted my eyes as I sat right across him in the carriage. "Have you gotten taller?"

He pretended I was air and I took that as a reason. A petty reason to take out my stingy mood on him. Yes, I know he's technically a few years younger than me and that I should be mature but... who's watching?

"Seems your hair has grown longer too. You'll need a haircut soon," I continued to blabber and Caeles finally looked at me with a warning glare, indicating with his eyes that he doesn't care and that I need to shut my trap already.

"That's too bad, I was wondering how you'd look with longer hair. Maybe you'd finally get more fans than Cassian."

Of course, I just continued for my satisfaction. Like an annoying aunt that doesn't stop nagging; I finally understood them a little. It's fun to annoy Caeles, especially when he's quiet; he's cute. It's like I don't understand why we're silent when we could be arguing. At least then it's interesting. He's my fight buddy. He's stress and catharsis at the same time, because who else can I release my aggression with?

I blinked at my thoughts. Wow, have I finally gone mad? That made no sense whatsoever.

In any case, it seems that I like fighting with Caeles? Wow, I need some medicine. And Caeles decided to supply.

He watched me quietly as I talked before a scary smile came over his face. Before I could react to it, he'd pulled something out of who knows where and thrown it right at me.

The next thing I knew-

"Mmm mm mmph?!"

My lips were zipped shut. Literally, I couldn't open my mouth. Caeles' smile grew to become a full-on grin. He let out a mischievous laugh at my stunned expression.

"At last, wonderful silence!"

"Mmm mm mmkh mm mu muu?!"

He smirked at me and began to explain his scheme like some villain in a movie.

"It's a Silent Promise. I had an Arcturus stone-handler create it specifically for you." I looked at him with incredulous eyes. My shocked reaction made him happier. "Unfortunately, it only lasts for five minutes." But before I could sigh with relief at his words, there was a glint in his eyes. He opened and proceeded to show me a pouch full of dark blue marble-like beads. My eyes widened and he let out a laugh. "But of course, I came prepared!"

And that's how my second carriage ride with the male lead went. It felt like a hostage situation, I tell you. Sometimes I really wonder about the characters I read about in the book. They never seemed like they could do such things!

But then again...

I remembered crossing my arms and watching Caeles with the excuse of glaring at him. He looked like a mischievous little boy. Like a kid excited at the fact that he was up to no good. Yeah, at that moment, we really felt like two little brats growing up together. I realized I was childish too.

The fact that we both were so silly brought an unintentional curve to my lips. If I was annoying, Caeles was the same. Like some twisted give and take.

"I still can't believe you'd do such a thing. I have a right to speak!" I complained to him as he helped me down the carriage, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, well, I have a right to not hear things I don't want to."

"Look at this... how cheeky you are." I resisted the urge to pull at his cheek and he snorted.

"I'm busy today. Don't get in trouble; I won't help you even if you are." He said this as he turned to leave. And that's how I ended up in my current spot, excitedly watching the performances on stage.

There was a show of Capoeira, or Brazilian Dance Fighting, which just left me stunned and blew my mind; and then there was Japanese Mask Magic, and Edo Tezuma; there was also belly dancing and now my brain was ready to explode with all that wonder and energy.

Maybe that's why I didn't see it coming.

I left the theatre hall to get to the bathroom. There was a mini rest building by the gardens, and I decided that the walk would also let me get a breath of fresh air. I realized there were lesser nobles walking around, as most of them were also watching the performances, and it made me think of how it was easier to see how pretty this place is now that there was barely anyone. It happened when I walked out of the rest building.

Hmm? What's that?

There was warm light coming from between the trees- the ones bordering the palace grounds and fading into the forest.

Was there a camping event?

It smelled delicious in the air. I couldn't put my finger on it but my mouth was watering. There was a little bonfire and log seats. The area was beautifully lit up with little lamps. Too beautiful to just pass by. So naturally, I walked towards it.

And naturally, it was a mistake.

Why aren't there any people around...? This place is deserted...

At the sound of a twig breaking, I jumped around. And subconsciously took a step back, my heartbeat rising up.

A group of people in cloaks had appeared.

At first, I thought that they were performers too. After all, there were people in all sorts of costumes inside. But no. There was something different. I instinctively took a step back at their sight.

"What's this?" I heard one talk as they all slowly closed in towards me. "This is such a little one."

"Tch. You were told not to talk uselessly."

"...You're talking too."

"That's cause you opened that hole in your face first!"

Shit.

Why the fuck...

I tried to look for ways to escape. I don't know what was happening and why they were here, but I certainly don't want to stay to find out.

Am I too far from the guards? How can this happen... There's no way to escape back to the palace grounds either because they were blocking my path. I could escape into the forest but they'd definitely catch up to me; plus, it's gotten darker... too dark to see much. That's why the faces of these people reflected in the fire light looked more sinister.

Hidden in the long flowing sleeves of my dress, I opened my palm towards the ground.

The people began to sniff. They looked at each other, asking about who made such a smell. It was because behind them, I'd grown three little voodoo lilies. They are flowers that smell like rotting meat.

...Rezel had almost killed me when I asked him for that one.

The cloaked people looked around for the source of the sudden vulgar smell and in that moment, I unsheathed my throwing knifes.

One of them noticed what I was doing and before he could warn his comrades-

"Ugh...!"

A knife was lodged deep into his thigh and he fell to his knees. The people noticed and I swiftly aimed another knife as I took my steps backward; I leaned forward and released my fingers fluidly as I'd learnt in my training. The dagger flew threw the air and stabbed a man on his arm.

"...Tch." I clicked my tongue. I was hoping to hit him on his leg but he moved forward and I panicked. But that felt good. I watched the blood trickle down and shimmer as it stained his black cloak. I picked out another dagger from my customized belt. I had it made after the monsters had attacked the last party I went to. My elemental strength wasn't reliable enough to protect me, so I decided to have back up.

And how glad I am. I don't know who these people are and why they are attacking me, but I will make sure to protect myself. After all, none of the book's male leads will conveniently appear to save me. It doesn't work that way for me. I have to protect myself, and I will.

...That's what I thought but...

Even this isn't enough.

I felt sweat trickle down my back as my eyes captured the movements of the nine men. I'd hit four of them, but only three had backed down.

...I only have three more daggers.

I grit my teeth and aimed swiftly as the men had quickened their pace. I hastily grew Ara roses, tying them around the men, but growing more than one at a time meant that the plants were very weak and the men could easily tear them off. That didn't matter much to me though as I turned on my feet and ran out of the fake camp area.

Or I tried.

A vine of some sort grew on the place where I stepped and quickly wrapped itself around my leg. It pulled at me and I fell forwards with a yell, my eyes tearing up.

A plant elemental!

From the way these people were moving and talking, I'd deduced that they weren't nobles; they had to be bandits or maybe mercenaries, not nobles.

But I was wrong. I quickly sat and pushed myself away from these people. My eyes went over them.

There was a noble amongst them. A plant elemental, just like me. It was a rare ability, and one of the most useless when it came to defence or attacking. So why would such a person...?

One of the cloaked people sneered at me as he walked towards me. My heart felt like it would give out with how hard it was beating. I quickly held out my palms and grew as many plants as I could. I could feel a nosebleed coming as well as tasted metal on my tongue but there were just too many people for me to take on alone. As soon as one person fell down, another took their place. I began to pant for breaths.

They're going to get me. They're going to get me.

One of the cloaked people raised his hand which held a dagger.

This is it... This is really it...

There was a sound of the wind being cut. The man's head fell to the ground, followed by his body. I let out a bloody scream.

"Nora!"

It was a new voice. A back came into my view, blocking my sight. It was a very wide and familiar back. It was something I saw a lot more than this person's face.

What...?

Thoughts that weren't my own filled my head at the sight of this person.

'Turn around.'

The man kept walking, not showing any signs of caring about the little girl standing behind him.

'Please... please turn around...'

The girl's thoughts continued to raise loudly in her mind; but only in her mind. She didn't dare speak them out loud. She wouldn't be able to endure any further rejection from this person.

'Please... just once...'

The girl desperately begged in her thoughts, her tears pooling in her eyes until they rebelled and overflowed, falling down her young cheeks.

I had begun to shake. I was trembling uncontrollably. I was having an attack. The image of the little girl overlapped with the me of my past life. The scene changed, and so did the person in front of me. But he was still walking away, without sparing me a glance. I could only see his back.

'Turn around,' I begged as I sat on my bed helplessly, watching him walk away.

'Please... just once. Please comfort me. Please help me. Please say that you will protect me.'

It was my real voice, echoing aimlessly in my mind. Just uselessly wandering around my head. Because these words never left my lips. My face was wet with my tears and there was an indescribable pain in my chest and my throat, that made it hard for me to breathe.

In my life, no matter how much I felt it ridiculous, there was one person.

One person who could always hurt me deeply, no matter how much I thought it was silly that I let myself be this affected by his words.

Cuss words, being called stupid and useless, it didn't matter that much when others said it to me. It hurt, but I could take it.

But this person...? It's like he had a key. A special weapon, that could pierce me endlessly, over and over again. It doesn't matter when others say it. I shouldn't even give a shit about you saying it. It doesn't make any fucking sense why they pierce me so much. But somehow your words... they feel like they hold the most power. Like they are the ones that shape me. Like they hold the most truth.

So please... just once.

Just once, just this once.

I won't ask for anything again, so please. Please.

Please just... accept me.

I don't care about anyone else as long as you accept me.

The man in front of me expertly held his sword and attacked the people around me. His dark brown hair waved in the wind at his swift movements. Knights with a familiar emblem on their armour arrived, helping him, and attacking the cloaked people, perfectly defending me. Everything made me dizzy. I couldn't breathe. I felt myself falling back when-

"Nora...!"

Strong arms held onto me, wrapping firmly but gently around my back. Caeles' eyes roamed around wildly, taking in my condition and the situation. Anger filled up his eyes and a growl left his throat. A suddenly bright glow caught my sight; flames came alive around me; they were snakes made of burning fire and they slithered across us. They passed the brown haired man and the knights, leaving charred grass in their trails, heading towards the cloaked men and grabbing their legs like chains. The people let out inhumane screams as their ankles were burnt and they fell to the ground.

Caeles put a hand on his sword to unsheathe it but I grabbed onto him desperately, almost scratching at him.

"Caeles! Caeles, I-" I gasped and panted, trying not to succumb to my dizziness. "Caeles, I can't breathe! Can't!" I wheezed out desperately. A fear filled up my body, driving me crazy. I might not survive. It was probably an irrational fear, but it felt real.

Caeles eyed me with a shocked and worried face. He tightened his grip around me and nodded. "Alright... I'll take you back first. It's alright. Shh." He pulled out a teleportation bead and pulled me towards his chest, wrapping himself around me, filling me with a little comfort and warmth. I finally could make sense of the things around me a little. I felt like I could breathe. "You're safe now, Nora."

In the moment we teleported, my eyes gravitated towards the brown-haired man fighting the cloaked men.

Two little girls stood together as they watched the back of a man walking away from them. Two abandoned little children. Voices of Eleonora and Rose entwined in my mind.

'Please turn around.'

'Please look at me.'

'Please see me.'

They were all the pleas of little children.

Pit pat. Warm tears coldly hit the ground by their feet and created the music of the abandoned.

One more time, they desperately called out.

The brown-haired man put down his bloody sword that had so perfectly defended me with not an ounce of hesitation, and turned towards me. His eyes met mine. My heart jumped in my chest. It was a bittersweet pain, accompanied by helpless relief. We were two people that looked similar. A foolish and tired tear fell from my eye. Then I vanished.

The sound of the children echoed one final time in my mind.

'Please, look at me... dad.'

***

First draft; hasn't been read for checking yet. Sorry about the delay and lame chapter. Been stuck with a writer's block that was draining my will to live TT

Ah, and I'm not going to abandon this story even if I'm late. This one is kinda like my last stand against life lol. I've been listening to a lot of epic war music and pretending I'm the protagonist in this big fight skkskaa a lot of Fall Out Boy, League of Legends music ahaha pls recommend some songs if you know more :D

I was late this time so something interesting happened! Someone contacted me wanting to adopt this story. I was actually quite surprised and honoured lol. Thanks for the thought and for reading :)

Ah, song in the title is Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood. I frickin love them like crazy, it's unbelievable how their songs make me feel! When I was the most uninspired in life, and I had to write creative assignments like poems and shorts stories for uni, their songs really resonated with and inspired me. I write shitty, uninteresting and dark love poems but eh it worked out somehow lol bless the neighbourhood

It means a lot to me that you're still reading. Thank you, truly.