Chapter 13

Red hair flipped around and violet eyes bore into Cyan as she approached. Mereoleona sized up the shorter girl, noticing the determined set in her shoulders and crazed look glittering in her multi-colored eyes. "Ah, today you came ready to fight for once."

"Damn right!" Cyan half screamed. "I'm going to hit you today and then you'll have to respect me and worship me!"

Mereoleona blinked. "You are really worked up aren't you." A wicked smile appeared and her bright teeth flashed in the morning light. "Alright short shit, come get me."

Cyan's eye twitched at the insult. Her grimoire rose out of the thigh holster, red light and shadows pouring from the pages when it snapped open. Mereoleona took a defensive stance instantly, taking the fight seriously.

Cyan grabbed every shadow in the courtyard and pulled them in to surround her and her opponent. Pitch black night descended upon them. She could hear people gasp from the battlements as everyone was instantly blinded. Her opponent activated mana skin, encasing herself in mana to push off Cyan's own shadow magic. She still wouldn't be able to see far in the darkness but the mana skin would keep her senses from deadening. Cyan dropped to the ground knowing the first thing Mereoleona would do was shoot fire in every direction, which is exactly what she did.

Cyan rolled across the ground and dropped into a dive, popping up a few feet behind her. Mereoleona, with her heightened sense felt her pull up from the dive. More fire soared over Cyan's head.

So far so good.

Cyan continued to drop into dives, popping up in every direction around Mereoleonas' feet. She reacted quickly, having no trouble controlling the mana skin and firing simultaneously.

"Come on girl! I thought you wanted me to worship you?" She fired again and laughed. "All your doing is running and hiding again. Impress me!"

Cyan snorted, popping up in the same place she dived to throw her opponent off for a split second. Then she dropped both of them through a dive.

Cyan couldn't indefinitely stay in a dive but according to Tinny it was shocking, uncomfortable and beyond chilling. To Cyan it was just a dive and would help her break down the mana skin, forcing Mereoleona to expend more power to maintain it.

She waited as long as she could in the dive before throwing the red haired woman out. Mereoleona actually seemed shaken, sweat collected on her forehead, her eyes darted around blindly.

Cyan mashed her teeth and grabbed the shadows around them, forming ropes with her mind and flung them at the taller women. Dark tendrils of power wrapped around Mereoleona, pinning her arms down and restraining her feet. They couldn't physically touch her due to the mana skin but they would hold her in place briefly.

Mereoleona fought against the magical binding, fire pouring from her mouth, trying to break free. Cyan rolled to her feet, heart pounding and muscles shaking. She was almost out of mana, holding the massive shadow cloak and bindings were too much for her. She had to strike fast before she passed out.

For a moment she felt her magic flare and her grimoire flashed with light.

Ignoring the change in her magic she jumped in the air and released all her spells at once. The bindings fell away and the cloak disappeared to flood the arena in bright sunlight. Mereoleona closed her eyes to the sudden light just as Cyan reached the woman and drove her elbow into Mereoleona's face.

Bone crunched on contact and Mereoleona staggered back from the surprise attack. Cyan fell, landing on her butt.

The arena was quiet, no one spoke aside from an excited whooping where Tinny stood. The fight had only lasted a few minutes and in that time Cyan had expended all her mana. Mereoleona turned, fondling her jaw, a bruise already forming and stared down at Cyan.

Cyan felt a wolfish smile spread across her face at the shocked look on her opponent's face. "Gottcha."

Mereoleona's hand dropped from her face and she offered it to Cyan. "Yes you did. Took you long enough, now I can finally train you." Cyan grasped her hand and rose onto shaky legs. Mereoleona's hand tightened on hers, holding her in place "First lesson, girl. Never allow your mana to deplete completely, always leave something for when you need to make a quick escape." With that, Mereoleona brought her opposite hand up forming a fist and punched Cyan in the face.

Cyna blacked out.

"I can't believe you sucker punched her." Tinny's voice flitted around Cyan's brain, pulling her awake. She cracked an eye to find the familiar ceiling of the recovery ward.

"It was a good teaching moment." Mereoleona replied and Cyan could imagine a shrug following the sentence.

She blinked, well tried to, one eye was swollen shut and tender.

"Hey she's awake." Tinnys worried face appeared in Cyan's line of sight. Mereoleona appeared next to her, a light bruise running along her cheek bone from Cyan's elbow. Leopold's face appeared next, eyes dancing with excitement, then finally the face of the royal healer looking irritated at her being back in his hospital.

Cyan's gaze slid to Mereoleona's and a smile appeared. "I win." She croaked.

"Umm, you're in the hospital." Leopold reminded her.

Cyan shrugged, not looking away from the red haired women. "Doesn't matter. I won." She repeated.

She sat up suddenly and reached for her grimoire tucked safely into the leg holder and flipped it open. During the fight she had felt it, a change in her grimoire and a massive surge in her magic.

The first spell, the shadow dive had changed. It was longer than before and way more complicated. Looking at the shadow cloak she found it too had lengthened, as if the whole time she had only accessed half of the spells. Flipping farther back she found a new spell.

"Ultimate defense: Shadow bindings." She read out loud and glanced up at Mereoleona.

She winked. "There's no turning back now girlie, you have opened the floodgates of your true potential."

Cyan shuddered and snapped the book shut. There was one last spell she wanted to look at but wanted to be alone when she did. "So now what?"

"Now you get some rest, tomorrow you fight Leopold and learn how to properly control your mana and spells." Her face relaxed as she added, "I think you have earned the right to call me Mel."

Cyan tried not to get too excited but she couldn't stop the warm feeling of acceptance that rose up her limbs.

Leopold laughed excitedly and slapped Cyan on the arm. "This is going to be so fun right?"

Weeks passed, everyday the same. Training with Mel and Leopold, talking with Dorothy when she was awake and not dealing with squad business. She and Tinny would walk around the Capital which she hadn't seen much of and go out to lunch. Cyan even found herself a few times with little Julius talking about magical structures and abilities of other kingdoms.

It was frustrating that she couldn't learn anything else about her mom or a curse. Mel had her training everyday to ensure when the time came Cyan would be well prepared. But what were they preparing her for? Many people had dropped hints about this 'extremist group' but no one would tell her what exactly they were. Julius just said he wanted her prepared for the Magic Knight exam but that was probably a cover.

Something big was coming and she had somehow fallen into the middle of it and no one wanted her to know.

One day while shopping Tinny held up a long dress with swirling patterns of purple and silver and asked, "How about this one?"

Cyan made a face and shook her head. "I'm not a dress person. You already got me in a skirt, your not getting me into a dress."

Tinny shrugged and put the dress back before moving to another rack. "I feel like we should do something fun tonight. The master will be back in a few days so we should go crazy."

Cyan picked up a bracelet, curious if she should start to accessorize more, be more feminine. "Go crazy? How?"

Tinny slid a small box of silver studs over to Cyan. "We should get drunk and pierce your ears. Ohh a girls night!'' Tinny clapped excitedly.

"That sounds like something people do when they're thirteen."

"It'll be even better now." Tinny pouted and shook the box of ear studs. "I know where Fuegoleon keeps his good booze."

Cyan looked from the box of earrings to her friend's excited face. It did sound fun and she never had girlfriends to do those types of things with. "It's not really a girls night if it's just the two of us."

"Well who else do you know?"

Looking around the small shop, Cyan narrowed her eyes thinking. "You, Dorothy, Mel, Sarabell kind of and The stitch witch."

"The stitch witch?"

"Yeah she's a Black Bull, I met her once so I wouldn't say I know her but she seems fun." Cyan grabbed the box of studs from Tinny and walked to the front to pay for them. She kept her back to Tinny while she paid and motioned for the clerk to add a box of spelled bracelets to her order.

"You mean Vanessa? Oh yeah, that girl's party and a half." Tinny murmured. "Lets go get her."

Walking out of the small shop, Cyan stopped in the street. "I don't know where the Black Bulls live."

"Well if you're willing to supply the mana, I have a rough idea where it's at." Tinny's voice took on an edge of danger as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh god. This is the best wine I've ever had" Vanessa gushed and laid across the bed. Convincing Vannessa to get drunk in the palace didn't require a lot of effort. Tinny convinced Dorothy to come, which should have made Cyan uncomfortable to get drunk with her estranged aunt. She was actually excited to hang out with her more as a friend than family. Sarabell stole snacks from the kitchen to bring to Fuegoleon's room but once she saw Vanessa's red cat declined to hang out.

"Master has all the good stuff." Tinny replied, drinking straight from a bottle.

"I really like these cookies." Dorothy commented where she floated around the room hogging a plate to herself.

Cyan smiled as she stripped off her clothes and slid on a blue silk button shirt stolen from Fuegoleon's closet. "All of his clothes are so nice. I'm just gonna live my life in his clothes and be

lazy." She slurred happily.

Tinny stumbled to the closet and pulled out a white shirt and shimmed into it. "It's a perk of being filthy rich."

"I want one." Vanessa whined and rolled off the bed. She crawled across the floor and peaked inside the closet.

"I don't know him well outside of captain meetings but he doesn't seem like the type to be okay with all this." Dorothy murmured from the ceiling.

Cyan shrugged and pulled the bottle from Tinny's hand. "Don't worry I'll put everything away before he gets back."

"You've said that about a lot of things." Tinny said, angrily pulling the bottle back to find it empty. "At this rate you'll need to start tomorrow to get everything done."

Cyan eyed the towering books, clothes piled in one corner and all the boxes once neatly stacked in the closet spread out from when she was snooping. She shrugged and popped the cork of another expensive looking bottle of wine. "What is he gonna do? Kick me out? I don't actually live here."

"You sure made yourself at home though." Vanessa's voice floated out from the closet.

Cyan shrugged again. "I'm too drunk to care right now."

Vanessa emerged in his red and gold captain's jacket. "Do you think he'll notice if I keep one of these? He's got like ten in there."

"Hey get down here and share those!" Tinny yelled, throwing a pillow up at the floating witch.

Dorothy descended and offered them the plate. "This room is so cold." She remarked, eyeing the beige walls and gold inlay.

"Wattda talking about, it's like a hundred degrees in here.'' Vanessa threw her hair up in a ponytail earning her an angry look from the red cat.

Dorothy spun lazily. "No, I mean there's no color in here. It's sad and cold." She stopped spinning suddenly. "We should paint it."

Vanessa shook her head and giggled. "No way we can get away with that-"

"I agree we should each pick a wall and paint them." Cyan cut in, ignoring her friend's irritated look.

Tinny smiled and ran to the door disappearing down the hall. A few minutes later she reappeared pushing a cart loaded with various paint cans. "I stole these from the custodian's closet. Everyone picks a color and picks a wall."

"You guys are going to be in so much trouble!" Vanessa sang as she picked a green color and a brush. Dorothy grabbed a lilac color, Tinny light pink and Cyan grabbed yellow.

Hours flew past, more bottles were opened and before long the walls were half painted and everyone was too drunk to function.

"Why do you like him so much!" Tinny half yelled staring at a small picture of Fuegoleon she pulled from one of the many boxes. "His face is so serious and he has that angry crease between his brows."

"Who are you even talking about?" Vanessa shouted back.

"The Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings, the tall guy with the red hair.'' Dorothy hiccuped and ate another cookie.

"I have no idea who that is."

Cyan glared over at her, as the room began to spin. "You literally met him when Yami was talking to Julius a few weeks ago."

"Oh" she smiled stupidly and winked. "When Yami's around I don't really notice other guys."

Tinny grabbed Cyan by the shoulder and shook her. "He's so serious and you're just so lovely. You need a man that knows how to smile."

"Don't do that or I'll puke. Isn't he like your boss, why do you hate him?"

"I don't hate him, I respect him but that doesn't mean I can imagine being naked near him."

Cyan choked on a mouthful of wine. Coughing, she looked over at Tinny. "Why are you the way you are? Stop it."

"What? Am I embarrassing you? That's what friends do."

"I can't feel my face anymore." Dorothy whispered. "I need to go home. Does anyone know where I live?"

Vanessa snorted and pulled out a blue ball from her purse left forgotten on the floor. She shook the ball till it glowed brightly then shouted "Finral, wake up asshole!"

A sleepy male voice floated from the glowing crystal after a few minutes. "Vannessa? Why the hell are you calling me?"

She glared at the ball. "Shut up and just come get me."

"Are you drunk again? This is for emergencies only, you lush. Don't you care about everything going on with Asta and Nero?"

Her eyes grew cold as if she could see the unknown man through the ball. "No one is worried about Asta, they grabbed the one person they shouldn't. But if you don't come get me you little shit-stick I'll tell Yami about that time in Leonna when you-"

"Okay okay. I'll come get you." The man squeaked. "Where are you at."

"In the Vermillion palace." She replied.

"What are you doing- you know what I don't care. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Good. Also, Dorothy needs us to get her home. Do you know where the Coral Peacock squad house is?"

Farewells were brief since no one could stand or function. The blond haired man named Finral looked confused at their stolen clothes covered in different colors of paint but didn't ask too many questions. With help from Sarabell who came to check on them, Tinny managed to make it back to her room in the servants quarters. Cyan, who'd never drank a day in her life, fell into the silk sheets of the round bed and instantly passed out.

Cyan woke up, eyes cracking open despite her wanting to go back to sleep. She had spent yesterday straightening up the room and putting away all his stuff they had greedily combed through. In the morning Tinny was supposed to help her color match the walls and repaint everything.

She sat up and looked around the cold dark room trying to find what woke her. There was no light on the horizon to suggest it was morning and palace halls were quiet. Groaning, she rolled over and grabbed a glass of water Sarabell had kindly left for her and chugged it down before laying back in the pillows. Her muscles ached from the grueling training regiment Mel had put her and Leopold through that afternoon.

Sleep. She needed sleep.

"Did you have fun little one?" Fuegoleon's voice asked from somewhere in the dark room.

Cyan shot up in the bed and looked around the room again, brain more awake thanks to the flood of adrenaline. Turning, her eyes fell on a familiar tall shape lounging in a chair next to the desk in the corner. Salamander was wrapped in a ball on the couch, fire out as he snoozed.

"Your early." She whispered, sinking back into the pillows and pulling the blanket up. She couldn't see him in the shadows but got the feeling he was none too pleased at the state of his room.

He didn't move. "We finished what we needed to, got Asta back and will finish hunting down the remaining members."

She gulped, her mouth suddenly dry from the anger in his voice. He stood up and walked slowly to the bed. As he passed by the widow she could finally see the hard glint in his amethyst eyes as he glared at her.

She gave him a weak smile. "Are you hurt?"

He stopped at the side of the bed and sat on the edge. "I am fine." His hand grasped the blanket clutched in her fingers. "It looks like you made yourself at home. Drank all my best wine, moved in your books and took the liberty of painting my walls." He pulled the blanket slowly from her fingers, the silk sliding down to reveal his paint splattered shirt. "Also wearing my clothes. Comfortable?"

Cyan looked down at the light blue shirt, the side falling open and revealing her cleavage. She quickly clutched the shirt closed and blushed. "Its my favorite."

He reached out and grasped her wrist, shifting himself on the bed until he hovered over her. Her throat closed.

"It was also my favorite." His voice dropped several octaves, growing husky. "Can I have it back?"

When she did not move he released her wrist and braced himself with the magic arm next to her head. Slowly he began unbuttoning the shirt, his eyes holding her captive. She held her breath, watching his long nimble fingers popping the buttons easily. Cyan couldn't tell if he was angry or not.

The shirt fell open revealing her red underwear and a strip of her bare flesh. His fingers gently ran down her skin and she shuddered.

"You need a bookcase." He stated suddenly and sat up, his fingers disappearing leaving her skin feeling cold.

Cyan blinked at the sudden change. Sitting on the edge of the bed he pulled off the velvet captain's jacket and kicked off knee high leather boots. She noted the sharp set of his shoulders, his jaw twitching and eyes shining with irritation.

Cyan sat up, holding the shirt closed and touched his shoulder. He stilled under her hand and glanced back at her. "I can't tell if you're pissed or not. I'm not good at reading feelings so I need you to actually say it."

He looked away and pulled off his shirt to a thin under shirt and stood up unbuttoning his pants. Cyan looked away feeling stupid and exposed. She had definitely over stepped, sure but she hadn't expected this kind of reaction from him.

Fuegoleon disappeared into the closet, he would definitely notice all the boxes moved around and paint on several shirts. Tinny had spent hours trying to get the paint out but nothing worked.

He reappeared in low hanging cotton pants, hair curling over his shoulders and chest now bare. He still hasn't answered her and that was answer enough. Angry at herself and her drunk bravado she moved to slip out of the bed, ready to grab her grimoire and dive back to her shitty cottage.

Before she could stand a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to the mattress. She squealed at the sudden motion and rolled over to face him.

His face was now illuminated by his arm; she could really look at him. He had thick purple bruises under his eyes, face pale from exhaustion and skin tight with anxiety.

"I'm pissed." He finally murmured, eyes boring into hers. Her heart sank at the words. She wanted to disappear. "They had your picture."

Cyan paused. "Huh? Who had my picture."

His arm tightened around her waist, pressing her to his chest like she might disappear. "They called themselves the Devil Banishers, the group we went after, they kidnapped two Black Bulls, Asta and Nero. We got them back and the group escaped over the border." He turned his face, nuzzling her hair and taking a deep breath. "Many of them are still around and in one of the hide outs we found lists and pictures of potential targets, people with magic they found too dangerous. They had your picture."

Cyan felt cold despite his warm magic around her. "Oh." She said dumbly.

He wasn't mad at her or the fact she had completely taken over his room and did whatever the hell she wanted. He was angry because these Devil Banishers escaped and she was a target as everyone had worried would happen.

She pulled one of her arms free and touched his face. He flinched and pulled back from her hair to face her. "Umm so you don't care about all this?" She waved at the room.

His eyebrow rose and he looked around the dark room. "It's chaotic but I think with a couple of shelves it can be contained. Beautiful chaos like you" He finished lightly.

Butterflies awakened in her core and a blush swept across her cheeks. She ran a finger along his sharp cheekbones and up to his brow before stopping at the diamond mark on his forehead. "I missed you." She admitted not looking him in the eye.

He blew out a breath and caught her hand, pressing it to his face. "I wore Salamander out getting here as quickly as possible, worried about you even though you were safe under Tinny's and Mereoleona's care. Then here you were, sleeping soundly in my room."

Her blush deepened as she pressed her body closer to his, only vaguely aware that her shirt was still open. She ran a leg along his and breathed in his pine scent, the scent she had been craving for the last few weeks.

"You look good in that shirt. I might be willing to let you have it." His voice was husky again, hungry.

Cyan's stomach swooped and heated at the sound of his voice. "Here I thought you were going to take it back."

He released her hand and touched her shoulder, slipping the shirt off with his fingers and pushing her on her back. She shuddered when the chilled night air prickled her bare shoulder. Fuegoleons lips twitched, eyes locked on her pale skin as he continued to push the shirt off. With a quick jerk he pulled at the sleeve and the shirt fell away leaving her mostly naked.

Her chest heaved when his eyes flickered down to take her in. She didn't move, waiting to see what he would do next. Memories of his mouth running along her inner thigh bloomed in her mind.

He sat up then and blinked rapidly, cursing under his breath.

"Are you okay?"

He shook his head and blinked again. "My eyes are fuzzy."

She snorted and grabbed his head pulling him down to her bare chest. "You look dead on your feet. You need to sleep."

Fuegoleon relaxed in her grip. Wrapping his arms around her hips, he pillowed his head on her and blew out a frustrated sigh. "True. I'll have a hell of a time catching up on my paper work tomorrow."

"So what now?" She whispered while running a hand through his hair, scratching his scalp lightly.

A happy hum escaped him, shoulders losing tension. "Work tomorrow, then take you out to dinner. I have yet to properly woo you."

A laugh escaped her. "I meant with the Devil Banishers and me."

"Oh. You continue training with Mereoleona, do the magic Knight Exams and we'll go from there. The biggest thing is making sure you can both control and defend yourself. I have also sent a request to speak with the Witch Queen."

She nodded absently still petting him. "The Witch Queen. Maybe she'll provide the answers no one else is willing to."

It meant a lot to her that he had asked to speak with the women on her behalf. He actually cared that she not only could take care of herself but got the answers her father neglected to provide before he died.

"You'll go with me, right?"

He nodded sluggishly, the stubble on his cheeks tickling her skin. "Of course. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Before she could tell him she bought him a gift he was asleep. His breath danced across her skin and weight pinned her beneath him. She smiled down at his slack face. She would give it to him in the morning.

Salamander huffed from the couch and stumbled to the bed. He pulled his long body up and threw his angler head on the pillow next to hers. He eyed her for a moment before snuggling into her side.

"I also missed you." She cooed softly.