The walk through the dark forest towards the road was completely silent. Nothing could be heard except the distant honks of cars and the soft shaking of leaves against their branches. Mizaki wanted to break it so bad, to ask a million questions, but she was completely drained of any energy she once held. The lack of energy, and the tidbit of will power she held onto only to stay conscience, was holding her back from ranting on and on.
Tamaki and Mizaki leaned against Felix, who had his arms wrapped around each of their waists. He treaded along, trying to help the two injured mages back towards the road. Mizaki had to hunch over; as did Tamaki, do to Felix's lack of height. Every step she took felt like a bullet to every inch of her skin. Her head reeled as they moved and she wanted nothing more than to fall over and die.
The limo ride was just as silent as the walk. Nothing seemed to come up, no one wanted to speak. Mizaki had to say something, but the out-of-place calm among the three was unsettling. Tamaki didn't seem fazed that Felix was completely fine or that he just so happened to be in the same spot as the second clue. Regarding the fact the Tamaki wasn't there to watch Felix disappear in a split second; Mizaki still felt he was much too collective. The short man also looked completely fine. Felix's shirt hung off his shoulders and tightened in at the collar beautifully, and shined like brand new silk. Nothing was scratched, torn or even smudged with ash and dirt. He looked exactly as he did when they first entered the masquerade with the knowledge that it would be just another ball.
Mizaki didn't start talking until they had finally passed through the eerie, dark boutique. The lights from the city seemed dimmer in the silence, barely any cars bustling on the road. She wondered what time it was, and if Teresa would still be at her store. The mannequins casted off creepy shadows in the dim streetlights flooding through the display window, but Mizaki could barely see anything anyway. Completely blinded on her right side, she clung to Felix tightly. When they finally made it to the back room, Mizaki had forgotten everything she was going to say.
Felix led them to an old mattress in the giant storage room. The lights were still on, shining blindingly bright in Mizaki's weak vision. She didn't have the energy to shield her eyes, so she only squinted, staring at the tiny hairstyle set across the room. It was halfway hidden by a curtain; evidently Teresa didn't want her costumers seeing the not-very-flattering room in the back. Mizaki didn't care about the dusty, uncomfortable mattress, or the hundreds of boxes containing fabric and mannequin pieces – though they creeped her out – she only cared about getting better.
Tamaki let out a hard breath as he was sat beside Mizaki. Felix bent over, helping him to softly sit on the bed. Felix then snapped his fingers, a woman popping out from the curtains at the noise. She scurried towards them, her hair in a mess and thread tangled around her fingers. Teresa.
"You brought them back safely!" She yelled, as if the situation was completely normal. Mizaki shot a glance at Tamaki, who only rubbed a forming bruise on his forehead and smiled slightly. Was Mizaki the only one completely confused?
"But, she ripped fabric off her dress!" Felix pointed to Mizaki, his eyes narrowed. Teresa mimicked his look, popping out her hip sassily and crossing her slender arms over her chest. She shook her head disapprovingly, until her gaze locked on Mizaki's eye.
"Holy shit! I knew when you came they would be injured, but her eye!" Teresa screeched, running over to the dusty mattress and crouching in front of Mizaki. She glided her hand over the sealed eyelid, glued down with dried blood. More crusty blood ran from her forehead all the way down to her chin, her hair tangled and matted in it.
"I don't know if there is anything you can do for that, right?" Tamaki interjected, his voice strained and worried. Mizaki turned to look at him, having no idea what he was talking about. In fact, nothing about this conversation made any sense.
"Okay! What the fuck is happening!?" Mizaki finally asked, her words quickly followed by a series of coughs.
No one seemed to care about Mizaki's sudden outburst, and continued with their low muttering. She hated not knowing anything, she hated the fact that she had actually trusted these people, but now here she is, not a clue in the world. Mizaki tried to repress the anger that was building up, and was close to hitting Teresa as the older woman continued to examine her burns. And Mizaki almost did, if it wasn't for the bright light that shone over her chest.
The last thing she saw was Teresa's worried expression, and her right hand pressed against Mizaki's burned chest. The bright aura consumed the raven-haired girl, and soon she felt a heavy weight press down on her shoulders. Was it a spell? Is Teresa a wizard? Yet the questions were only left lingering in her empty mind once sleep had finally taken her mind and body.
"And this will also help in her travels?" Tamaki's voice didn't hold a hint of fatigue, which struck Mizaki's curiosity. That was the last of her worries; the first thought that came to her mind instead, was that she felt not an ounce of pain – not even the never-ending, dull thud in her skull. She felt not a thing in the world, except soft fabric that held her body. A chill ran up and down her skin, the hairs on her body standing up.
Mizaki finally opened her eyes. She squinted almost immediately after, trying to adjust to the LED lights hanging over her head. She hadn't the energy to block her eyes, her whole body felt much too relaxed and calm. Her breaths came out slow and even, and her chest didn't feel compressed or raw. Mizaki blinked the light into her vision, and soon focused on a ski-slop nose and electric blue eyes behind full-framed glasses. She groaned, her vision becoming clearer every second.
Felix pushed up his glasses, a glint blinding the Elemental mage for a moment. He clasped his hands together, scurrying back out of Mizaki's range of view. Mizaki groaned, struggling to push herself up, but succeeding after a few helpless attempts. Her back pressed against a pile of pillows behind her, causing her to let out a sigh of relief. She felt no pain, but the unbelievable amount of drowsiness made up for it. She rubbed one eye, blinking and staring at the three young adults, tapping their feet and biting their thumbs nervously.
"You're finally awake!" Tamaki cried out, throwing his arms to the side. Mizaki's gaze fixated on the white gauze wrapped tightly around Tamaki's arms and head. He wore no shirt, showing off his ivory, glistening abs. Mizaki sucked in, letting her eyes trail down the series of bandages twisting and tucking around his every curve.
"Yeah..." Mizaki groaned, stretching. That's when she realised she, too, wore no shirt. She glanced down, her chest wrapped around and around in bandages, along with her arms. She lifted the thin sheet from her waist down, revealing even more bandages. Her face tinted pink at the realisation that she was completely naked, and one of those three people – or maybe all of them – had to wrap her up.
"Its okay, Teresa was the one that tended to your wounds." Felix laughed, fixing his tie. Mizaki let out a hard breath, tightening her grip on the bed sheets. She was becoming furious; the questions she wanted to ask so badly earlier have just multiplied.
"Explain this." Mizaki spat, gritting her teeth. When everyone wore blank, confused expressions, she decided to elaborate further. "Explain why Tamaki was tied up on the chimney, and the mansion had burned down. Explain the white roses and that man. Most importantly, explain how Felix disappeared so suddenly." Mizaki's chest rose and fell in short, quick breaths. She could feel the hot air trail down her skin. She was angry.
"Look, Mizaki. We do have a lot of explaining to do, but most of those questions are beyond our knowledge." Tamaki assured, holding his hands up in defense.
"I don't give a fuck! Tell me what the hell happened!" Mizaki cringed at her cracking voice. She doubled back on her breathing, her body twitching ever so slightly. The female could barely control her anger towards the people she thought she could trust. Mizaki has only succeeded this far because of Tamaki, what can she do without him?
"Okay. We will tell you as much as we know." Teresa sighed, running her fingers through her messy hair, a piece of red thread tangling within the mane. The thread reminded Mizaki of her beautiful dress worn only hours before, about the fact that it hadn't caught flame at all.
Teresa sat beside Mizaki on the comfortable bed, surrounded by boxes. Mizaki assumed she was still in the strangely large back room of Teresa's Boutique, just lodged somewhere in a maze of boxes. The older woman cleared her throat, before locking eyes with the Elemental mage. "We were aware that a fire could strike out at this ball, but it wasn't for any other reason other than a fire could strike out anywhere. You on the clue of Ignis are a walking hazard itself, so we took precautions, such as fire-proofing your beautiful dress you so rudely ripped up.
"As for the White Roses, we discovered a few things. While you were asleep, we decided to use Tamaki's archive, and we could only find one name: White Rose Association. Connecting the dots, we came to the conclusion it is an anti-Rose group fixated on killing the ever so famous 'Rose'. Even though media reported the woman dead, they believe she is very alive and they seek revenge. It still doesn't fully explain the fact that they were hosting this ball, filled with people that weren't from there association." Teresa took a deep breath. When her last statement came out, she seemed to stare down at her thumbs, as if not confident of her observation. Mizaki straightened her back, perking up in shock at the name "Rose". It constantly came up, and the fact that there was an entire group of people out to kill her made it even worse. She clenched her fists, making a mental note to never tell anyone about the odd encounters involving Rose and herself.
In the short second of silence, Felix interjected. "That's all we know about the ball. I was only invited because I thought it would be a good place to meet with investors and various other agents."
"What about you're sudden disappearance?" Mizaki asked, gritting her teeth. She somehow felt betrayed by the fact that the three had taken precautions without talking to her first. She didn't like secrets.
Felix seemed to have backtracked from the question. His blue eyes flicked from Tamaki – who stood right beside him – to Teresa. They seemed to all subtlety nod or blink quicker than usual. They were communicating with their eyes, refusing to speak with words. "Teresa and I are mages. We can both teleport and use various other magic's. The teleportation is only our sub magic." Felix finally stated.
"We wanted to tell you, but we thought it would strike you as odd that a dress maker and modelling agent are wizards." Teresa added. It did seem odd, but not just the fact that they were wizards, it was also their connection. Tamaki is just a model who also happens to be a wizard. Why did he let her in two years ago anyway? Why did he even pursue magic?
There is something they aren't telling her.
Tamaki scratched his head; his golden hair still perfectly tussled even after the fiasco just hours before. "As for me being tied up, that was a complete surprise and completely unexpected." He glided one hand over the gauze wrapped around his front, stopping at his waistline. "You see, that woman that wanted to dance with me, was...off. She reminded me of the firefighter I had talked to after that giant explosion.
"After we had danced for one song, she asked if we could take a walk. I wasn't going to refuse since she was a very big deal in our modelling agency. I went for a walk with her, but all I remember after that is a sudden sense of heat, and her gaze suddenly turned really hot – like actually burning my skin – and then I woke up tied to a chimney with flames about to eat me for breakfast."
"Must have been Ignis." Mizaki whispered under her breath. The five goddesses could take form of whoever they wanted for whatever reason. Ignis must have disguised herself as some big-shot and led Tamaki outside, Mizaki assumed. She wasn't positive, but it's proven that nothing is certain in this journey.
Felix clasped his hands together, rubbing his palms. Everyone turned their attention to the short man, standing tall and proud. He adjusted his loose tie, pushing up his glasses and slicking his raven hair back. Once he had taken a moment to sort himself out, he spoke. "We should talk about our little princess' eye!"
Teresa hit her palm to her forehead, getting up off of the foot of the bed. Mizaki tilted her head in confusion, though she wondered if she could be any more confused. So much information had been lodged into her head at once, though when she skimmed over it, it didn't seem like much. She had to try and keep her composure after hearing the news about the "White Rose Association" but that was the only information that struck her as a threat. Mizaki was scared and confused, but she knew with Tamaki, Felix and Teresa by her side, she wasn't going to die any time soon.
"Your eye!" Teresa squealed, jumping up and down like a child on Christmas morning. "We saw your nasty wound and came to the conclusion that you cannot ever see out of that eye ever again. But we replaced it!"
Mizaki froze at the last few words, completely shocked. She hadn't realised that the right side of her vision was completely black; it must have never crossed her mind. Now that Teresa mentioned it, her lack of vision was totally noticeable. Mizaki shook her head, scratching at the gauze wrapped around her forehead, unsure of what to do or say. The injury in her eye was painful and bloody, but now it barely even ached.
The memory of the giant chandelier crashing down practically on top of Mizaki crossed her mind. In a quick moment, her eye started to burst into pain, but the pain ceased just as quickly as it had started. The Elemental mage pondered on the thought of her eye for a moment longer, the word "replaced" striking her as odd and...Creepy.
"The spell won't work until you're conscience that it is there, but we did replace it!" Felix explained happily, as if it was the most normal thing he had ever said. "It's identical to your other one, but you can't see out of it."
Tamaki continued on from there. "We magically enhanced an artificial eye so it will benefit you in your journey. Now, out of your right eye, you can use it as a magical energy detector, which will help you spot if someone is a wizard as well. When you're not using the detector, you can't see out of it. The vision will come in colour, outlining your surroundings and going from cold colours to hot colours depending on the magical energy."
Mizaki raised an eyebrow, unsure of how to take the information. Should she be happy that she can use it as a detector, or sad that she can no longer see in her right field of vision, or angry that they had put a spell on her body without her permission? She simply shrugged it off, though she did still have a few questions. "How can I turn it on?"
Tamaki scrunched up his nose at the wording. "You can access it quite easily, it's hard to explain. It's like knowing that you're moving your arm instead of your leg, it comes naturally. Now that you're aware of it, you can use it."
"Teresa, we should get some water for the poor girl, she has been through a lot." Felix spoke, pouting out his lip. Teresa only nodded, scurrying away from the group and disappearing behind a few boxes. In the silence of the storage room, they could hear the heavy door click shut behind her.
And then a blood-curdling scream.
