Chapter 15

Luca's POV

Currently, I was walking along the deserted corridors of the northern part of the school. Classes had ended a little while ago, and most students had headed for the dorms or the library or the grounds, the weather being fantastic. But I noticed it not.

My head had been in a fog for almost four days now. Everything seemed muted. Sounds registered, but took longer than normal. I saw things moving just a second slower than they should. The only thing that seemed to be keeping in time, really, was Marelda's words.

"I knew you were selfish, Luca, but I didn't think you were this greedy!"

She was right. One-hundred and seven percent correct. I was being selfish. I hadn't even realized how much danger I'd be putting everyone I wanted to get involved in. Katalina nearly died last time she went to the Tower, and I wanted her to lead me? She's a good person, and doesn't deserve to die because I wanted something. I'd put Selene in danger, after how much she'd already been through. A kidnapping? An attempted coup of a different world? She had enough to deal with in the aftermath of all that without me dragging her into my desperate attempts of figuring out my parentage. And Marelda? She was a brilliant fighter, but she wasn't at the level of an official warrior. Pitting her against a chimera would mean almost certain death for her. I should've known better, and I wish I could make the excuse of not having even thought about the consequences without it sounding like an excuse.

If we had gone through with it, it was likely all three of us would die. Selene, who is apparently half human, would be the most likely to live, and I'd put her through the horror of watching three people die and not being able to save them, so soon after she'd lost someone incredibly important to her. It would be so, dangerous, deadly selfish of me. An idiot's gambit. A cornered animal's desperate lunge. A fatal mistake.

That wasn't the only thing Marelda was right about, either.

"Come on, sweetheart, it's not that big a deal."

My thoughts were interrupted and that made my quite irritated. Couldn't couples find another place to make out?

I turned the corner and found where the couple was. The guy had the girl up against the wall, on hand pressing against the wall, the other on her arm.

Okay. So they aren't a couple. That is, judging by the panicked look of the girl's face.

The large blue bow around her neck and the tight blonde bun made her easily recognizable—she was one of the Vir Ingeniosus kids, Helice Crawford. Contrary to the popular belief, the kids in that class weren't geniuses, per say, but magic-users who used a different kind of magic than the standard, from spellsinging to other fae-esque magic. I'd researched it covertly a year back, out of boredom. This girl used magic through movement, particularly dance.

She was also entirely mute. And looked terrified. She tried to push the guy—one of the older students, from a normal class—away, but he didn't budge. Silently, she caught my eyes, pleading wordlessly for help, and I pulled out my wand.

I didn't even need to say the spell that threw the guy against the opposing wall of the corridor. He screamed in surprise. "What the…!"

"The little lady didn't look as if she liked what you were wanting." I recognized the boy now. Kurtus Masgie, level nineteen. He had a reputation for kissing girls who didn't want to be kissed.

He scrambled up, glaring at me. "Butt out, Orlem. Why do you care?"

I laughed, but it wasn't a pleasant one. It was quite the sardonic sound.

"Why should I care? Well, my bella would be quite…unhappy, if she knew I left a scared maiden in the hands of a creep such as yourself." My tone was light, but my look was anything but. "Reputation precedes you, Masgie. I could very well report you for harassment. If I recall correctly, you're on your final strike, no?" I smirked. My information network was the best one in the school, and it had done its job again when I saw the worried look in the older boy's eyes. "And, well, I know my reputation precedes myself. Would you like a taste of some high-level fire magic? I must say, Selene taught me some nifty tricks I've been dying to try on a real person. There's this one I think you'd like, Masgie. It's purpose is similar to the curse of no-heirs, only much more…unpleasant."

Between my tone and the look in my eyes, he scrambled away as fast as he could. I nodded my head stiffly, my job done.

Mostly.

I turned back around. The dancer girl was shaking, arms wrapped around herself. She looked on the verge of tears.

"Let's get you to the nurse, you clearly need a calming draught." I was wary of touching her, but she didn't seem to mind me slightly touching her elbow as I led her to the infirmary.

"Helice!" Both the girl called and I jumped at the shout. In ran a barefoot girl. The tanned skin and black hair were necessary to tell me who the girl was—the pale, milky eyes were enough. From my information network, this was Dessa Koens, another student in the Vir Ingeniosus program. Blind since birth, the girl uses plant-based magic (hence, I assume, the bare feet). I've got suspicions that it was a fae-gift, since the Koens family was, while well-known in the politics world, a family that didn't seem to have much magic in it.

"Someone told me you were taken to the nurse! What happened?" She ignored me, who sat in a chair next to the bed Helice was in (the nurse told me I had to wait until the headmaster came and got me—and while I normally wouldn't have skipped, I actually respect Nurse Asta), in favor of giving the mute girl a pat down. "I swear if it was that Masgie creep I'm going to skin him!"

Helice tapped her friend's arm in a series of patterns. Interesting, was that how she communicated with Dessa? It would make sense. While there was a form of communication using hand signals, it would be useless to use them since the other girl wouldn't be able to see them. Perhaps the two had developed a new form of communication?

"I see," Dessa said after a minute or so. She turned her person towards me. "You're the Orlem kid, aren't you? Thanks for rescuing Helice. She refuses to tell me who from, but it was the Masgie creep, wasn't it?" So this wasn't a first time occurance.

I nodded my head, but then paused when I realized the absurdity of it. "Yes, but I don't believe he'll be bothering her again."

For someone who couldn't see another person's face, Dessa's was quite expressive. "And just how do you know that."

"I have my ways," I said, shrugging. "I have my ways. I'm no hero, don't get my wrong, but I'm not a fan of guys like him who try and force their will on others. Probably why I've got so many problems with authority."

A moment of silence preceded Dessa bursting into laughter. "You're not half bad, Orlem. Not half bad."

"I try."

It was an hour before I got released. Shortly after Dessa burst in, Nurse Asta came back with the headmaster, who questioned me about what happened. Of course, that was after he questioned Helice, who had Dessa speak for her.

I later, after the three of us were sent to bed, it being close to curfew, asked about the tapping thing. Dessa explained that it was something that Helice and her younger brother, Joel—a spellsinger also in Vir Ingeniosus—came up with when the three of them figured out that signing wouldn't work. Turns out Dessa has known Helice since they were all young.

I bid them farewell, and they did the same. They were nice enough. More trustworthy than lots of the other students. Being different tends to do that, make you gravitate towards others who are different. Guess I was a part of that club now, even if I was in a different class, something that was sort of confirmed when others in their class nodded at me in the halls from then on, and when Joel Crawford came up and thanked me for saving his sister. Kid was incredibly blunt, blunter than even Marelda.

Skies above, Marelda. I need to fix things with her. I don't know when I started craving her company, but I'm finding it's miserable not spending any time with her.

Marelda's POV

Luca and I hadn't spoken in a week. I hadn't actually seen him in a week, either. It seems we were both avoiding each other.

I put all my focus into my studies and training, working off all the anger until I felt exhausted and numb. Sir Vargas could sense something was wrong, I knew, but in true Sir Vargas fashion, he didn't say anything. He prefered to leave "adolescent drama to the adolescents," as he put it.

The essay Luca helped me with got a 97%. No matter what most of the school thought about him, he was incredibly smart. I only missed a few points for spelling and grammar.

I knew I should apologize. I went way too far. I seemed to do that a lot. Luca was very good at getting me to say more than I really should, the tosser. But I needed to apologize. I'd been listening to rumors, and reports from Maeghan.

I'd heard girls in my regular classes talking about him. Apparently he rescued a girl in the Vir Ingeniosus class from the unwanted advances of one of the upper level students, one who was apparently on probation now and rumored to be terrified of my buddy. I wasn't sure how to take that.

And everyone seemed to know about how the school slacker had suddenly had a shift in personality. That I confirmed from my roommate. Luca had attended every class this week. Every. Single. One. On time, but participating only the minimum. He'd even been turning in homework, according to Maeghan, and was acting almost…muted, in a way. Wasn't causing any scenes in class, mostly just sat there dazed and zoned out.

Take this how you'd like, but I was actually incredibly concerned about this, and it quickly became a big source of guilt. It was undeniable that he was doing his classwork for my sake. I called him selfish, and so he was trying to do something about it. He deserved credit for that.

He deserved an apology, and an offer for help. Thinking more deeply on it, he had every right to want to go to that forsaken Tower. He knew nothing about who he was, where he came from. He had nothing to build off of to create the person he wanted to be. His childhood was mostly a big blank. Luca didn't deserve that. He deserved closure, and I was determined to help. That would be my apology, my true apology.

And so, now that it was Friday, I was going to do it. Well, I would in the morning, seeing as it was nearly eleven. I entertained the idea of pulling a stunt like he had the other week, and showing up outside his window, but I didn't know which room was his and I didn't want to risk getting in trouble.

Which brings up the question of how in heck he knew which room was mine.

Which brings up the question as to why in heck it didn't freak me out.

…It's too late for this crap.

I've given up on the new weapon a chapter thing. I'm too busy to be researching all these, sorry! Reviews:

TheFallenHer0: ((Ch 12)) I'm glad you liked the crossover between Warrior and Taming! I thought it would be fun, and it was. I'm not sure how much these two will cross in the future (at least with Marelda) BUT Warrior and Elemental will be crossing over a whole lot soon. And yes, Luca can't resist messing with Elias. I mean, Eli makes it too easy!

((Ch 13)) Frankly, I'm not even sure. Either she was happy that Marelda made a friend or assumed Marelda had a secret boyfriend. Or both. Can't say for sure. And yeah, part of Marelda's training is stealth. So she's pretty good at sneaking around. It didn't hurt that Luca was hyper-focused, either. I'm really glad you like the pacing with these two! This is actually the pairing that will take years to become and actual "couple." Luca has a lot of problems trusting people, and Marelda has goals. They'll be best friends for a looooong time before they decide they might as well get married. They do end up adopting a few (or having a few, haven't decided yet) girls that have Luca completely wrapped around their fingers (because I picture Luca wanting to be a stay at home dad (who does art) while Marelda goes off to battle).

((Ch 14)) I'm glad you see it that way, because that's what I'm going for. Personally, I feel that Marelda was too harsh, ad she realizes that herself in this. Most of Marelda's frustration was like "You've got people who care about you now why in heck are you putting them in danger for the dead?!" and such. But she did come to realize what you brought up. I've found, in my own life, my friends who've grown up with more normal/functional/caring families are less understanding of the grey area of life, because they haven't been exposed to the darker parts, meaning they can't comprehend that there is a grey area between black and white nearly as well as those of us who have had a more fractured family and such. I was trying to put that through here, and I'm glad you saw it. I also agree with you about Luca. About how he needs closure from this, and how he could go about this in a less secretive way. But we have to remember that practically his whole existence has been composed of secrets, so not being secretive is hard for him.

But, overall! I'm super happy you liked the chapters, hope you don't mind the long reply!