Kimi gave a relieved sigh, seeing her roommate wake up. "You were making awful noises, thought you might not wake up…"
Kaine gave her a sad half-smile. "Thought about it."
"Glad it was just a thought then." Kaine noticed her roommate was avoiding looking any higher than her nose. "We were all so worried when they told us what happened… well not everything…"
"Anmarie didn't let you guys come see me." It was a simple fact, not a question or an accusation.
"Yeah… said she wanted to know exactly what happened, you were stable so…"
"Its fine, Kimi." She sat up slightly, seeing a food tray near her bed.
Kimi followed her eyes. "Anmarie says I can take you back to the dorms once you get some food in you, if you're up to it."
Kaine nodded. "Can you bring it over here?"
Nodding in return, Kimi set it on her best friend's lap as she sat next to her on the bed. "H-How does it feel?"
"It doesn't really feel different… But Nyx said that I am … I suppose she did too…" She took a slight breath. "I can sort of feel the Mark though… How's it changed… flipped the other way."
"Mirror." Kaine looked up when Kimi took the pendent into her hand. "So, she is real then?"
"Yeah, she is. I'm sorry… this is all my f-…"
Shushing her, the older girl shook her head as she ran her finger through her friend's hair. "It's not, sissy. It's Xia's fault. You think the rest are real?"
Shrugging, the warrior went back to eating, mumbling something along the lines of "I hope not."
Anmarie came in just as Kaine was finishing up her food. She set a glass filled with red liquid, which Kimi was looking at disgustedly, onto the tray. "If you finish this, you can go back to your room."
Rolling her eyes, Kaine stared at the glass. "I'm fine, I don't need it."
"You lost a lot of blood, Miss Macabre."
"And you already forced half of it back in me."
"And you still look as pale as a ghost."
Closing her eyes, Kaine took a few breaths out of her mouth because the scent was intoxicating and she was sure if she smelled it, she'd attack the glass like a wild animal.
"Sure looks like you want to drink it, Kaine."
Kimi spoke up. "Is that blood? Kaine's just a third fo-…"
"I'm not like you and the others anymore, Kimi." She glanced at Anmarie and caved at the stern glare. Picking up the glass, she originally planned to sip it slowly, but ended up chugging so fast she almost choked.
Anmarie and Kimi were both looking at her bizarrely. Anmarie cleared her throat. "I'll get a mini fridge and some blood in your room as soon as I can. Go ahead and get home." As the Priestess left, Kimi gave her roommate some clean clothes and pulled the curtain.
When they got outside, the normal Fledgling squinted in the dimmed sunlight, pulling up her hood and sliding on her sunglasses. The Mirror looked up at the overcast sky with a smile, loving seeing the sun again after months of darkness. "I think I may start tanning." Kimi pushed her gently as she chuckled.
Kimi settled into bed. "Shouldn't you be getting some sleep too?"
Kaine shrugged. "I don't think I'm going to class tomorrow… w-what day is it?"
Frowning, Kimi rolled over. She was exhausted after having to act serious for her roommate's benefit.
The next morning, evening-wake up, when Circe walked into the bathroom, she squeaked in surprise. Kaine moved her focus from her reflection to her priestess. "Hey."
Circe hugged her suddenly, tightly, sending Kaine stumbling back slightly. Then the Priestess-to-be slapped her. "You've been gone for three days and you say 'hey'?"
"Ow… that hurt." Kaine nursed her cheek slightly, looking back at the mirror. "That's gonna leave a mark."
"Speaking of Marks…" Circe forced Kaine to look at her. "What happened to yours?"
"Xia happened." She nuzzled into her priestess when she was hugged again. "I'm still going to protect you."
"And who is going to protect you, stupid?"
Cleo came in, rubbing her eyes. "Circe, who are you ta-… Kaine. Welcome back." She beamed at her before running out to get the two across the hall.
Tilla had a similar reaction as Circe and Kaine was relieved to know all her friends were glad to know she was safe, but they were all being a bit ridiculous. She noticed Eden looking knowingly annoyed, but shooed them all off to class.
After she finally got them all out, she lay down, getting the sleep she neglected.
A few hours later she woke up to the sound of her door opening. She opened her eyes slightly, assuming it someone force feeding her cold cafeteria food.
"Skipping class?" Kaine sat straight up and fumbled for her sword upon hearing the voice. "Tsk tsk my dear."
"Stay away from me."
Xia put her finger on the tip of the sword and moved it out of her face. "You going to stab me, Kaine?" The goddess smirked at the girl's terrified face. "I gave you so many beautiful gifts, and you treat me like this?"
"What you did was not a gift." Kaine said coldly. "I almost died."
She grimaced and nodded indecisively, attempting to decide if the mortal had a point. Walking closer and smacking the sword out of the Kaine's hand, Xia touched Kaine's new Mark. "Had you kept the old one, you would have rejected the Change. That type of Vampyre and you are not compatible. I did you a kindness."
Kaine flinched at the touch, a jolt of echo pain shooting through her body. "Why?"
"A normal fledgling cannot withstand the strain the gifts and trials put on you. Do you remember the pain of the mind reading before Earth chose you?" Xia sat next to her on the bed. "You should not be sleeping. Practicing, combing the library, canvasing the city, getting laid, anything else really; there is much to do."
Grumbling something about priorities, Kaine scooted farther away. "What would I even be looking for?"
"The darkness, of course. Always a darkness. Very few truly bad things are light, and those that are, are the worst of them all."
Looking at Xia smugly, she rolled her eyes. "Well, there's a bit of evil sitting right in front of me."
"Well, yes, but I'm currently not threatening the safety of the general planet, am I?" Smiling at her brightly, she pecked a kiss on Kaine's lips and got up.
"Are you?"
Shrugging the goddess left. Kaine got up and looked up and down the hall. Xia was nowhere to be seen.
She forced herself to get dressed, strapping her sword onto her belt, and after doubling checking the day, she headed to warrior training.
When she walked in she noticed something was off. Counting heads, she noted a missing Matt, Cleo's almost boyfriend. Eos spotted her before the rest and walked over. She looked him sadly and spoke before he could get a word out. "He rejected the Change?"
"Yeah…"
"Has anyone told Cleo yet?"
"She was there, Kaine. It happened at lunch."
Kaine punched the closest solid object, which happened to be Siegfried.
"Ow…" Sieg massaged his slowly bruising shoulder. "You al-… what happened to your Mark?"
Glaring at him, Kaine sent the timid boy away. "How is she doing?"
"According to Tilla, she's been crying over his body in the infirmary since. Circe's with her."
Sighing and nodding, Kaine smiled slightly. "Circe would be." She looked past him to Andus. "Our house doesn't lose a lot of fledglings… why now…"
"Kaine? Calm down, you've been through a lot lately, let's not…" Eos sighed. "Let's go and talk in our secret spot."
Andus shouted to them as they left. Kaine motioned at him, indicating she knew. "Yeah, yeah. As often as she asks for me, you'd think she had a crush on me."
Eos chuckled. "Yeah, but you're too high maintenance for her."
