Adjusting
Alice's POV
As I gazed into Shun's eyes and stared at his new true form, realization had hit me. Suddenly he noticed this and placed his hand down from my cheek and looked at me concerned.
"What's wrong?" Shun asked concerned as I looked at him.
"Runo!? Oh my god she must be worried sick about me! I left without even returning with groceries! What am I going to do!? What am I even going to tell her!? How am I going to explain myself!?" I panicked and suddenly I felt two strong hands on my shoulders and I looked to see Shun trying to calm me down.
"Alice just calm down and take a breath, everything will be ok." Shun instructed, but I was still worried.
"What am I even going to tell her!? It's not like I can bring up any of this up or what you are!? I mean first she'd think I'm crazy and second I could be putting her in danger!" I exclaimed and then Shun let go of me as I scratched my head and paced around the room trying to think.
"This isn't good . . . We need to come up with a plan." Shun said.
"I agree," Travis spoke up from the door.
Soon Travis, Mira, and Alex came in and closed the door quickly and quietly. We stared at them in confusion, but then it was Alex that broke the silence.
"I see you showed her your true form. You look a hell of a lot better now thanks to her touch." Alex grinned making me blush as he gave a small laugh.
"What's going on?" Shun asked changing the subject.
"We have some guests here to see you Shun." Travis replied.
"Who?"
"The Dark King himself," Mira answered.
I watched as Shun's eyes widen in surprise and he started to pace around the room now. I watched as he stretched his head in frustration and then sigh deeply.
"Alice can't be here, she needs to leave before he sees her. We've already got the Summer King to worry about and I don't want the Dark King to be involved next." Shun said and I was lost and now quiet worried.
"What do we do now?" Alex questioned.
"Well first we need to get Alice out of here. I don't want to leave her alone though, so can one of you guys go with her?" Shun asked.
"I'll go, I need to get out of this depressing house anyways and get some fresh air." Mira volunteered as she smiled to me and I nodded to her with a smile.
"I'll handle the Dark King," Shun replied.
"How do you suppose we sneak Alice out? The only exit is the front door." Alex stated and I heard Shun curse under his breath.
"Easy, we make he seem like she's just another mortal. Well just say we needed her so that Shun could feed for his second hunger. It's not like it will be a lie since it is true." Travis stated making us both go red a little.
"In any case we can't keep the Dark King waiting, so let Shun go first and then Alice and I will follow behind as I lead her out of the house." Mira explained and we all nodded.
I looked to Shun who then faced me and gave a reassuring nod and walked over to me with a small smile on his face.
"I'll meet up with you at Runo's as soon as I'm finished here. Mira will stay with you until then." Shun explained and I nodded.
"Ok," I replied and then I watched as Alex and Travis headed out the door first.
Shun started to walk toward the door, but then turned to face me one last time and gave a warm smile to me and nodded. I nodded back to him as he closed the door leaving Mira and I alone. Soon though I felt something on my shoulders and I turned to see Mira putting something on me.
"It's pretty cold in here . . . This cloak will warm you up and make you unseen as we pass by the Dark King. Whatever you do, don't let him touch you if he sees you no matter what. Just act confuse and scared by him ok?" Mira instructed me and I nodded as she smiled.
"Good, now I think it's about time we make our escape." Mira grinned.
Shun's POV
As I came down from down stairs I noticed the Dark Kind standing below us waiting for me. He gave his usual grin to me and a small wave. Once I reached the bottom of the stairs I saw Fang extend his hand to me and I took it in mine not wanting to be impolite as he grinned.
"It's nice to see you again Shun," He greeted.
"I wish I could say the same to you." I replied and he grinned even more.
"I see you haven't changed much."
"After the favor I did for you last time, I think I have a right to still be pissed at you."
"It was a sacrifice I was willing to make for my court."
"Yeah your court not mine. Anyways what do you want Fang?" I said getting straight to the point as he grinned.
"I need another favor from you again." He spoke and I frowned at him.
"What kind of favor is it this time?" I asked as he smiled and sat in the nearby chair as I sat down as well.
"I need another bottle of your blood again, to continue my practice. You're still new to this world, but the blood that runs through you is still quite different from ours as we have existed longer then you."
"You want to keep practicing Ink Exchange don't you? That's why you need my blood."
I watched as he shifted in his seat and gave another grin. Before he could speak, I saw him suddenly turn his gaze and looked away from me. I followed his gaze and turned to see Alice and Mira finally coming downstairs. I saw Alice wearing a cloak around her to hind her face as Mira helped her down the stairs. Mira looked to me and nodded before proceeding to the front passing us, until I saw Fang suddenly in front of them making Alice flinch a little and Mira holding her still. I suddenly got up on my feet and watched as Fang turned to me and grinned again.
"I see you've started to feed your second hunger now. I was wondering how long it would take before you truly need it." Fang spoke and suddenly he turned his attention toward Alice as he looked down at her face and smirked.
"You picked a pretty face my friend. Where have you been hiding her all this time?" Fang smirked as he was about to reach for her.
Alice's POV
My heart was pounding so hard right that I couldn't even move away as he started to now reach for me. I watched as she smiled and suddenly remembered that Fay could taste emotion and he could tell I was scared. As soon as I thought he was about to touch me I found myself blocked by someone. It was Shun as he stopped the guy from touching me. Soon though I saw a couple of Fay surrounding us now and were probably with that guy. I watched as the guy started to laugh and then back away with his hands in the air in defense.
"I get it, she's yours right? I won't lay a hand on her then. I'm glad to see though that you're feeling better now that you've satisfied your needs." The guy explained.
"Mira get her out of here." Shun instructed as she nodded and started to take me away.
I looked back to see Shun looking directly at that guy and frowning at him as the guy grinned to Shun. Soon Mira and I were out of the house and we both let out a deep sigh and gave a small smile to each other.
"That was too close. By the way nice acting skills of looking weak and scared." Mira said.
"That sad part was that I wasn't acting, I truly was scared." I explained.
"Well in any case let's go to your friend, I think I have an excuse for you." Mira winked.
Shun's POV
Soon after Alice left, Fang and I resumed our conversation.
"Binding a mortal to Fay . . . It's just sickening Fang, why continue this practice?" I asked him, but then his grin slowly diminished as he spoke.
"My court along with the many other courts are in disorder. My court has grown weaker . . . Last week one of my own was killed by a mere human bullet. My court needs the emotions of pain, hate, anger, and lust. It's how we stay strong. With my court falling into disorder, soon the High Court will be unbalanced making the High Queen venerable to her." Fang explained.
"I just don't like the idea of binding a mortal to a Fay. It's dangerous and it could create half lings which the High Queen hates."
"I realize that, but it's a risk I'm willing a take to balance my court and the High Court. Besides war is coming and with the courts in the state there in, there's no guarantee we could actually win against her army."
For a moment I contemplated the choices I had. I didn't exactly hate Fang as he had helped me when I had left my pervious court and I joined his. However, I cannot forget the fact what he also had did that made me see a darker side him and his court. As he grinned to me I knew he was feeding off my emotions as I frowned to him.
"Alright since this is only fair, what would you like in return for your blood? Anything you desire and it shall be done no questions asked." Fang offered and truthfully there was only one thing I wanted that I know I could sort of trust him with.
"Protection . . . to the girl you just saw a moment ago." I replied and he lifted an eyebrow to me.
"She's the only one I need to satisfy my hunger and the only one I trust." I continued, but then he grinned to me and gave a small laugh as he then stood up from the chair.
"I see . . . She must be one of your mortal friends you still care about. You should abandon them Shun, before they end up getting hurt." Fang replied as I stood up.
"I can't do that . . . I made a promise to her and I'm going to keep it." I simply replied as he laughed.
"Don't say I didn't warn you . . . In any case consider it done. I'll have some of my guards watch out for her in the distance where she won't see them watching her. Do we have a deal?" Fang asked as he extended his hand to me.
"You'll keep her safe no matter what?"
"As long as it's in my power, yes I will see to it that she isn't harmed by anyone."
Without any words left to say I shook his hand and a grinned appeared on his face and then started to led me out the door with his men as we headed to his court.
Alice's POV
"ALICE!" Runo cried as she came up to me and hugged me tightly crying.
"Runo!" I exclaimed hugging her back as she cried.
"Alice, oh thank goodness you're ok!" Mrs. Misaki exclaimed.
"We had called the police after you had disappeared yesterday! We were so worried!" Mr. Misaki explained.
"I tried to reach you on your phone, but it would go straight to voicemail!" Runo exclaimed.
I then looked at them surprised and checked my phone to see that it had completely died. I looked to them and saw the concern in their eyes.
"Where were you sweetie!?"Mrs. Misaki asked, but before I could speak Mira stepped in.
"Hi I'm Mira, an old friend to Alice it's nice to finally meet the people Alice has been staying with." Mira greeted as everyone stared at her in surprise and confusion.
"You see Alice and I have been friends since back in Russia before she moved. When I heard I'd be moving here I couldn't believe I'd be able to see Alice again. You see last night I had saw Alice and we started to catch up before she said she wasn't feeling good and fainted on me." Mira lied to them.
I watched as she stared at her and then back at me. To be honest I was surprised she even knew where I lived as I had not told her before, but that didn't exactly matter right now. I watched as Runo now looked at me confused and worried told her that Mira was telling the truth and that I was fine. Although I hated lying to my best friend, I just couldn't tell her the truth. Soon Mira and I sat down while Runo and her family continued to work. They told me to take it easy as they thought I was still sick. I sighed as I stared out the window and watched as I could see mortals and Fay pass by.
"It's not going to be easy adjusting to this new life is it?" I questioned and Mira gave a hollow laugh.
"It's not an easy life I admit, but you get used to it. Besides be thankful you're still mortal. It's worse being a Fay, trust me." She explained.
"How did you become Fay?" I asked and soon her smile vanished and she looked out the window and then spoke.
"I was so stupid back then . . . I used be mortal just like you. I used to play the innocent little girl without care in the world. I was stupid though and careless and I ended up getting myself hurt. I had fallen in love with a Fay from the High Court. I thought he loved me for who I was and I willing gave up my mortal life to be with him, leaving my friends and family behind . . . The moment I turned into Fay, I saw his darker side come out and realized I was just one of his many lovers that he needed to satisfy his needs. . ." She explained and I looked at her with sad and caring eyes.
"He used his influence on you didn't he." I asked and she gave a hollow laugh.
"When he first showed me the world of Fay's I couldn't believe something like this actually existed. Something so magical, enchanting, and so beautiful. He showed me the good things of being a Fay not the bad. So after I had turned Fay, I had truly lost myself for a long time with no one to help me or what I should. The first thing I did do though was leave the High Court and became Solitary. I had no court, no friends, and no one . . . Until I was picked up by Travis." She continued that made my eyes widen in surprise.
"You and Travis . . . together?" I questioned and she laughed.
"Not at first, he was just kind enough after I had gotten drunk at a club to offer me a place to stay for the night. Well when I had woken up, I decided to immediately take off in the morning until he stopped me and offered his home to me if I ever needed a place to stay. Soon after I felt a little bit less lonely because of him and would often stay at his house from time to time, until he asked me to stay with him . . . forever. Long story short here we are today after everything I had went though. Travis had his fair share of misery like me, but somehow we ended up completing each other."
I stared at Mira in shocked and couldn't believe something like that had actually happened to her. It's kind of sad to think that she had given her mortality to be with the one she thought she loved, but then ended up with the right guy. It's sad and yet also happy. Soon Mira and I continued to talk and she would explain to me more about Fay's and how humans can't see them when there glamour are off. I felt myself becoming really close friends with Mira as we laughed and talked. Soon Shun came through the door and saw Mira and I. Mira said she'd better get back home and said she'd see me later. Once she left I looked to Shun and saw he looked a little pale.
"Shun are you alright?" I asked and he nodded, but I wasn't buying it by the way he looked.
"Don't lie to me, you look pale and awful. What happened with you and the Dark King or whatever?" I questioned and for a moment he said nothing, until he sighed deeply and spoke.
"He came to ask me another one of his favors and he needed my blood for something he's doing. I don't really want to go into detail with that, but right now I'm just not feeling all that good I guess as he took a little more than I expected." Shun explained and I nodded and stood up from my chair to get him some water and tea.
When I came back, I set them down on the table for him and I watched as he gave a small smile and took a sip of his tea and thanked me. Truthfully I was worried for him as he had fainted yesterday on me and now is making himself weaker just when he was feeling better. Without even thinking much of it, I laid my hand on his hand and watched as he stared at me surprised, but he didn't move. I was blushing madly as I saw a smile creep up on his face which made me surprised.
"Thanks," He grinned as I gave a small smile and nodded to him.
"Anyways, if you see any Fay looking at you or whatever try to ignore it. I made a deal to Fang the Dark King that if I did his favor, I'd have some of his men watch over you. It's just a precaution and don't worry they don't know who you are or you "gift" other than that you are my friend." Shun warned me and I nodded and took a deep sigh.
"This is going to take some time getting used to isn't it?" I questioned and he nodded.
"It gets easier though I promise. Besides no matter what I will never let you turn Fay like I did. I won't let you go through what I had gone through. I swear," Shun vowed and in that moment I realized how much Shun was doing for me.
He's been protecting me or watching over me all this time. He truly cared for me and for whatever reason I felt safe whenever I was with him. Despite everything that is going on around me, every worry I have suddenly disappears when I'm with Shun. I don't know why, but I wasn't complaining. Shun was my friend and I knew I could count on him for anything as he count on me as well.