Apologies for the lack of updates, and the two-parter chapter but the original draft was almost 10K words long! Part Two of this chapter will be released later in the week.
I also apologise if this chapter seems rushed and for changing some scenes around but this was to make the story 'flow' better and to jazz it up a bit - since I'm sure you guys have read the same chapters again and again in these fics so...yeah :/ If you want me to keep the normal 'true to episodes' stuff, just tell me in the comments.
But apologies aside, hope you enjoy the chapter ;)
SALVATORE BOARDING SCHOOL - 9 YEARS AGO
Cough. Cough.
Nolan squirmed under his heavy bedsheets, his tiny frame shivering as the strange woman unfurled a cooling patch.
"Hey," the woman soothed, her brunette hair hanging down in a short bob. "C'mon, Nolan. You need to get some rest."
But Nolan shook his head, bunching up his bedsheets under his chin.
The woman sighed. She was a lithe woman of medium-height, her olive-skin contrasting with her sky-blue nurse scrubs and white cardigan jacket. As she moved away from Nolan, a hospital pass dangling from her waist caught Nolan's eye.
'ELENA GILBERT,' it read. 'Trainee Nurse - Whitmore Hospital.'
Nolan skirted the edge of sleep once more, his eyelids heavy and his vision swirling as if stuck inside a hamster wheel.
Until the door opened.
Alaric appeared in the doorway, his breathing ragged as sweat patches pooled on his red polo shirt. As he moved inside, a tiny figure followed in after him, quiet and shy as a church mouse as it clung to Alaric's jeans.
...Josie?
"Elena." Alaric breathed, either out of exhaustion or surprise. "I came as soon as I could. What happened?"
Elena tucked her hands into her back pockets, shaking her head. "I don't know, Ric. Jeremy and your friend Dorian called me, saying that they and a group of witch kids saw Nolan have a fit."
Alaric knelt down beside Noel, looking at the boy as if he were some strange artefact.
Nolan's shivering had subsided, but the boy was feverish and barely awake - heat rolling off his forehead as if it were a radiator.
A fit? But that didn't make any sense! Alaric might have only known Nolan for a year or so, but he had never had anything like this happen.
"D-Do you know what caused it?" Alaric asked.
"I don't know." Elena shook her head. "From what Jeremy and Dorian told me and his symptoms, I think I can rule out seizures and epilepsy. And there's nothing in Nolan's school files that says he has a pre-existing condition."
Elena drew a sharp, uneasy breath.
"But..."
Alaric raised an eyebrow. "But?"
Elena urged him over to the other side of Nolan's room with a subtle jerk of her head. As the two adults stood closer, Alaric took in the bareness of Nolan's room.
Thin layers of dust were forming on the window panes near the back wall, casting sunbeams over two featureless walls and an empty, four-tiered bookshelf. Were it not for the matted cream rug on the floor, or the tawny-brown end-table at Nolan's bedside, one would assume that the room hadn't been lived in at all.
Alaric held in a sigh. Clearly Nolan wasn't adjusting well...
As he turned back to Elena, Josie shuffled over to Nolan's side, peering at him with worried eyes. She smoothed down her polka-dotted dress and knelt at Nolan's side, slipping her hand into his.
"Noel?" she asked, her little voice laden with worry.
As she said that name, Nolan's eyes fluttered open, his hand squeezing Josie's.
"...It hurts, Jojo." he whimpered, his breathing ragged. "Everything hurts..."
"...Jeremy and Dorian might not have described anything like a seizure," Elena continued, watching the distracted Nolan. "But what they described didn't sound normal either."
"What do you mean?" Alaric asked, folding his arms.
"I mean," Elena sighed. "That they told me, that when Nolan collapsed, he knocked out three other kids and set fire to the flower gardens. As he lost consciousness."
The breath Alaric had been holding in finally released itself, the man stealing a glance at Nolan and Josie.
"I can treat 'normal' outbursts, Ric." Elena told him. "Fits, seizures, strokes, but magic? I don't even know where to begin with that."
"It's okay, Elena." Alaric reassured her. "You've done more than enough already. I mean, I'm sure we can get an idea of this from someone. Maybe if we can get a hold of Bonnie-"
But at the mention of 'Bonnie', Elena tensed up, the young woman looking at the floor dejectedly.
"...I don't think Bonnie's gonna be an option, Ric."
Alaric's shoulders sagged as Elena folded her arms, tapping her foot on the wood floor.
"After...after everything that happened with Enzo...with Stefan and all that stuff before, she hasn't been receptive. It's like she's locked us out. I haven't even heard from her since she left for overseas last year."
Alaric nodded dejectedly. Of course, after all the stuff that Bonnie had endured, it was only a matter of time before she hit her limit.
Elena sighed again. "I'm only a nurse, right now, but I can still clear some things for Nolan. I can get him some X-rays, MRIs and maybe some blood tests, just to make sure the fit wasn't caused by something else. And maybe I can get a doctor to prescribe him something to help him sleep?"
Alaric shook his head, watching Nolan with a wide smile. "I don't think that'll be necessary..."
Elena followed her friends line of sight, her eyes widening at the sight before her:
Nolan and Josie were side by side together, the latter sitting on the floor with her head resting on the edge of Nolan's bedpost - the both of them sound asleep.
...And their hands still interlocked.
PRESENT DAY
"AGH!"
Noel shot upright in his bed, panic surging through his body like lightning as his heart pounded like a jackhammer.
To his left, he heard a surprised gasp, the sound of a magazine falling to the floor as a brunette figure cursed under her breath.
"...Pen-Penelope?!" Noel gasped.
"Jesus!" Penelope exclaimed. "Just scare me to death, why don't you?"
The witch scoffed under her breath, picking up the magazine she dropped onto the floor.
Noel laid back down, groaning as he wiped his hands over his face. "What the hell happened..?"
"You had another one of your 'fits'," Penelope told him curtly. "In the middle of the Old Mill semester party. In front of pretty much everyone."
Penelope said those last words with a light titter, bringing a scowl to Noel's sweat-stained face.
Great, another breakdown. And only a day after the last one. If these kept up, then Dr Saltzman was going to lock him up in a transitional cellar.
"...How did I get up here?" Noel asked, forcing down his ire.
"Marc and Kaleb carried you up here," Penelope answered him, not, asking her eyes off the magazine page she was reading. "Well, mostly Marc - like full bridal style from the Mill. It would've been kinda cute if you hadn't, you know, had a fit."
At the mention of Marc's name, a small smile crept across Noel's lips. Well, 'cute' was definitely a word that Noel would associate with Marc.
Note to self, Noel thought. Give Marc the biggest thank you kiss the boy has ever been given...
"Dr Saltzman has been busy with some stuff," Penelope continued. "But Josie and MG have come to check on you over the last few days."
Noel's blood ran cold. Days?!
"I've been here too, BTW," Penelope chided, finally putting down the magazine. "So you can wipe off that shocked look on your face-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Noel cut her off, shoving his hand in her face. "Back the fuck up, Penn! What do you mean days? How long have I been out?!"
"Ooohh," Penelope sucked her pearly white teeth and glanced at her naked wrist, where a watch would be. "About two days."
Noel's eyes boggled. "T-Two days?!"
He kicked off his navy-blue bedsheets, his eyes darting back and forth in a panic as he pulled himself up.
"Two frickin' days?! I gotta go see Dr Saltzman, 'cos he's gonna be- AGH!"
A sharp burning pain shot up Noel's body, the agony paralyzing and rooting him to the bed.
"Ooh, yeah." Penelope winced with a slight chuckle. "I probably should have led with that..."
"Agh...Led with what?" Noel groaned, the words passing through his throat like kidney stones. The pain had subsided somewhat but lingered in Noel's chest and upper limbs.
"Agh, with what?" Noel hissed. The pain had subsided in Noel's legs but persisted in his upper chest and arms, as if someone were setting fireworks off in his nerves. Even talking felt like passing kidney stones.
Forcing the pain back as best he could, Noel reached for a glass tumbler of water on his bedside table.
"Dunno the details," Penelope shrugged. "But there was a butt-ton of magic running through you after your little fit in the grove. Emma said you'd be feeling some 'reaction' when you got up. If you survived..."
Noel's fingers trembled as he brought the tumbler to his lips. The water was tepid and had a 'furry' taste - no doubt a few hours old. But to Noel's chapped and cottonmouth lips, the water may as well have been a divine blessing.
He downed the contents in one gulp, almost dropping the glass as he wiped his mouth.
"...There was doubt that I'd live?" he finally asked.
"Nah, that was just me." Penelope smiled devilishly. "You started sweating and mumbling in your sleep yesterday, then you just stopped. I was about to call 'Time of Death' but I stuck around."
Noel rolled his eyes. "Your altruism is boundless. Truly."
"Yeah, but my patience isn't." she sighed, dumping her magazine on Noel's end table. "So if you're okay..?"
Noel waved his hands dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You can go if you want, thanks."
But as Noel waved Penelope away, an additional question popped up in his mind, one regarding his blue flannel pyjamas.
Ergo, the clothes he did not collapse in.
Noel's eyes widened. "W-Wait! Who changed my clo-"
But as he locked eyes with Penelope, he already had his answer; the latter winking mischievously as she opened the door.
"You're welcome." she mouthed.
And with a smug, pucker of her lips, she was gone.
Noel groaned and slumped back into his pillow, the burning pain lingering in his arms. A moment passed and then he let out another groan - perhaps the loudest, longest one he had ever made.
"Great," he grumbled to himself. "First I have a giant fit in front of the whole school, then Penelope Park sees me naked..."
The phrase 'fuck my life' lingered on Noel's tongue momentarily before the boy urged it back down his throat.
Don't want to overuse it. Noel thought sourly.
A sigh escaped Noel's mouth as he closed his dorm room door, fiddling with the drawstrings of his navy-blue Salvatore hoodie.
It was almost 10 o'clock, which meant that most of the students would be finishing with breakfast in the Great Hall - which would allow Noel to eat in peace. For now, all the boy wanted was to keep to himself, avoid anyone else he slighted in the grove the other night and above all, not talk to anyone-
"Noel, we need to talk."
Noel stopped dead in his tracks, a sigh escaped his mouth. The witch wondered who his visitor could be, but the voice of the school headmaster was unmistakable:
"Really not a good time, Doc." Noel groaned.
Alaric half-laughed, though it sounded more like a scoff. "Well, looks like your time unconscious hasn't dulled your attitude."
Rolling his eyes up towards the ceiling, Noel thrust his hands into his hoodie pocket and turned on his heels, his gaze half-dead as he took in the sight of Alaric Saltzman.
The tall and muscular form, check. That ridiculous combed-over hair, check. That aura of patriarchal, self-righteousness, check, double and triple check.
But the crossbow slung over his shoulder and black duffle bag. Well, those were new...
"...It's about Landon Kirby." Alaric sighed. "I'm gonna need your help."
Landon Kirby. The name made Noel's teeth itch, but that was nothing compared to the red-hot anger rising in his throat; the nightmarish realization in the back of his head.
"...What did you do, Ric?"
"Told you we didn't need that sway bar."
A weary sigh escaped Alaric's mouth as Noel stepped out of the jeep - Hope and Raf following out after him.
Noel had called it. He had called it from moment one and no-one had listened to him.
Landon Kirby, that 'harmless' new human kid, had not only lied about being compelled but he had also stolen a knife from the Memorial Library.
A knife that had been used to chargrill about twenty innocent people - and god knows who else.
"I should have knocked that pube-haired prick flat on his ass the second you tried to bring him into the school gate." Noel seethed.
"So you've said three times since we left the school grounds." Alaric grit his teeth. "Can we not do this now?"
"Well, considering we're going after a slimy little human with a fire-spitting knife, I'm not sure we'll get the opportunity later." Noel chided. "What the hell were you thinking letting that guy in the school?!"
"We needed to find out about Raf's past." Hope sighed, pushing back a loose lock of hair.
"Then why not ask Raf?" Noel folded his arms, giving Raf the side-eye. "Might give him something to do besides vouch for thieves and rip cars apart."
Raf snarled at him. "You really want to do this now?"
Noel shrugged off Raf's threat. "Ooh, scary. Good to see you've got that chest-beating shit down already."
Noel turned his back to face the line of trees before them, ignoring Raf's frown.
Yeah, new wolf breaks a sway bar and it's okay. But Noel tries to take the car out for his weekly driving lesson and he gets scolded.
Seriously, Noel thought. Fuck werewolves.
"You're not coming?" Hope asked, putting a hand on her left hip.
Alaric shook his head as he smoothed a paper map over the car hood, tapping his fingers on it impatiently.
"No, I'm going to tell Sheriff Donovan where we are, just so he can make sure no-one else comes up this way."
He nodded his head towards the forest.
"We don't know what Landon's capable of with that dagger. For all we know, a burned up bus is just the tip of the iceberg. Last thing we need is some deputies or Townies getting caught in the crossfire."
Noel saw Raf's fists ball up in the corner of his eye.
"He's not a killer!" the wolf seethed. "He didn't do anything-"
"Yeah, yeah," Hope groaned, nudging the wolf towards the break in the trees. "Less defending, more walking."
The woods outside Mystic Falls always had a strange vibrance to them this time of year. The soil seemed healthier, the ground easily treaded and teeming with abundance. The air was so much crisper and cleaner but without that winter morning chill. And the leaves and trees felt so alive; the jade-green leaves gleaming in the sunlight as if they were little stained glass windows.
Noel didn't know if this was just the natural beauty of the Virginians forests or if Mystic Falls' history with magic had somehow 'beautified' the land. But there was one thing he did know:
Raf was ruining it.
"He was there for me on the worst day of my life. After my girlfriend died, he's the only thing that kept me going."
Noel rolled his eyes as he followed Raf, exchanging glares with Hope. They had been trudging through the forests for almost twelve minutes now, searching for any sign of Landon Kirby.
This forest. Noel thought. It's like looking for a duplicitous needle in a very green haystack.
"Is he your foster brother or your boyfriend?" Noel groaned.
Hope bit her lip and looked away, but Noel could see the ghost of a smile on her face.
"Are you always such a smug bastard?" Raf shot back, his wolfish eyes glowing.
Noel shook his head. "No, usually, I'm the antipathic or disinterested bastard. But I thought that a time of crisis called for a personality shift."
It was Raf's turn to roll his eyes.
"Lan covered for me on the days I didn't want to leave the house. He'd catch me up on all the schoolwork I missed, brought me food every day - even when he was going through his own crap."
He turned his head back to Noel.
"...That sound like someone who'd blow up a bus full of people?"
Noel shrugged. "Ted Bundy worked on a Suicide Prevention Hotline. People change but malevolence is always simmering just below the surface somewhere..."
But despite his hostility, the witch would be lying if he said that Raf's words didn't touch his feelings; some faint caress against his heart that made him second-guess his resolve.
The witch's mind wandered back to his nightmare a few days ago; to the burning cemetery, the disapproving glares of his coven, his 'father'.
Noel's hand balled into a fist and his teeth grit themselves.
Raf might have had a point about Landon's kindnesses, but sometimes even the deepest displays of love concealed the most sinister intentions. That was the cruel thing about betrayal - it only came from the people closest to you - from the people you loved.
And they always, always came at the worst possible time.
"...get that knife back for you and then we both can hear him out, okay?"
Raf's plea tore Noel away from his thoughts, the boy watching in silence as the young wolf was overtaken by a displeased Hope.
"Appreciate the passion," Hope sighed, her voice dripping with apathy. "But maybe you should exert some of it making new friends."
Noel shook his head wryly, an amused smile growing on his lips.
Raf scoffed. "So I can be as popular and well-liked as you two?"
Noel's smile disappeared the second those words left Raf's mouth, the boy's jaw setting as he locked eyes with Hope's.
"Yeah," Raf derided. "I've only been at the school for two days, and I've already heard all about Hope Mikaelson and her sunny disposition."
He turned back to Noel, the two exchanging glares.
"And even more about Nolan Griffith, the 'defective' witch with the magic temper tantrums."
Nolan. Defective. The combined use of his birth name and nickname from the witches made a sick, angry feeling swell in the boy's gut. If Raf had added to that, spirits know what Noel would be doing to him right now...
But Noel simply smiled, his eyes dripping with venom.
"Goes to show how much you actually know." Noel sneered. "The people that call me 'defective' are full of shit. Not to mention a little bit ableist."
He pushed past Raf, shoving against the wolf's shoulder as he stood beside Hope.
"I mean, I knew that you were hopelessly loyal and pig-headed, wolf boy, but I didn't think you were a judgy gossip-monger as well."
"All I'm saying," Raf defended. "Is that maybe you guys shouldn't act like you know what's best for everyone."
Noel folded his arms. "As opposed to the guy who, by his own admittance, has only been here for two days? The very same guy who's defending a thief that's royally screwed 'everyone' over? And risks endangering us?"
Raf bit his lip, glancing away and shaking his head.
"Is that what this is?" he asked. "Some kind of loyalty pledge? Bring Landon back here and prove that I'm loyal to the school?"
Noel said nothing, his gaze still level with Raf's.
"Alright, fine." Raf sneered. "You guys get off my case, cut Lan and me some slack. In return, I'll get you the stupid, not-stupid knife and the answers you want. I promise."
"Why should we believe you?" Hope asked curtly, putting her hands on her hips.
"Because I don't lie." Raf answered her.
Hope's laugh almost made Noel jolt with surprise, the witch wondering if Hope had momentarily lost her mind. "Everybody lies."
The girl bit her lip as she said those words, her eyes wandering to the area behind them; a derelict root cellar covered in a mossy overgrowth.
"He's in the root cellar," Hope told Raf. "You have three minutes to do this your way."
Raf paused. "But the Headmaster said don't engage-"
"Two minutes fifty-nine," Hope counted. "Two minutes fifty-eight, two minutes fifty-seven..."
Rafael bolted like a rabbit towards the root cellar, leaving a less-than-amused Noel in his wake.
"You really think that it's a good idea to give them three whole minutes by themselves?" Noel asked with folded arms.
"That's why they're not getting three minutes." Hope told him. There was an apathetic tone to her voice, but Noel could see an amused glint in her cool, greenish-brown eyes.
A trait from her father perhaps?
"Besides," Hope added. "There's no way out of that cellar that I can sense. And Rafael's hardly a threat."
"Just like Landon was 'hardly a threat'?" Noel asked.
Noel almost felt a pang of guilt as Hope shot him a look, the Tribrid's eyes narrowing into slits.
Yeah, that was definitely a low-blow. But after the fluke of Landon being immune to compulsion and escaping the Salvatore School like that, Noel knew they needed to be ready for anything.
Too much was at stake now. As far as Noel saw it, he and Hope needed to bring their A-Game or they were playing to lose.
No taking chances. At this point, Noel wouldn't be surprised if Landon had somehow discovered a secret tunnel or somethi- AGH!
A burning pain shot up Noel's side, from his left knee to his ribs, causing him to double over and clutch his side.
Speaking of 'playing to lose'. Noel groaned under his breath.
Hope took a single step towards him. She put a hesitant, but supportive hand on his back but Noel could barely feel it over the searing pain down his side.
Or the haunting voice ringing in his mind.
"あなたは彼の召喚に抵抗しました。 まだあなたに希望があります."
Noel groaned as he doubled over further, pressing both palms to the ground to support himself. "W-What?"
"あなたの最初のテストがあなたを待っています. 権力へのあなたの最初の障害。 あなたの生得権に."
Hope shook her hand on his back. "Noel! Hey, what's wrong?"
But once again, her half-hearted ministrations failed to relax Noel. His fingers dug into the damp earth, tears burning in the edge of his eyes. Come on, if this voice was going to give him a migraine, could it do it in English?!
"以前のように自分の力を否定しますか? それとも、最終的にそれを受け入れますか？ 慎重に選択してください。 世界はあなたの決定で成長または衰退します..."
Soon, the voice faded into some dark recess of Noel's mind and the pain faded with it - lifting like a morning fog and allowing Noel respite.
Rising to one knee, Noel gripped the side of a dead tree and hauled himself up, groaning distastefully at his now dirtied chinos.
Damn, he really liked those pants.
Meanwhile, Hope stood behind him. She averted her gleaming eyes but Noel waited, sensing that she had a question.
"...That from the fit you had at the Old Mill?" Hope finally asked, pursing her lips.
"...Yep." Noel groaned, his hands on his jeans. "Now I have a whole new reason to hate my magic."
Hope pursed her lips piteously as Noel stood up, his eyes narrowed at the ivy-ridden root cellar.
"C'mon," he sighed, tugging his sleeves over his scarred arms. "Let's grab this guy before he escapes again."
He and Hope crossed the clearing, the spring morning sun warming their faces as they reached the root cellar, where a frantic Landon awaited...
Noel had never seen a person spill their guts as fast as Landon Kirby. In the phantom grip of Hope's spell, the thief broke down and recounted the details of all the events that led him to this cellar.
Admittedly, he had stolen the knife and yes, Hope's vision of the burning bus was correct, but only half the story. The other half, however fanciful, could be summarized in three words that Noel never thought he would hear:
Fire. Breathing. Woman.
Considering the state of the bus and Landon's panic (and the torched forest clearings around the area), Noel, though bitter about Landon's actions, was not entirely unopento Landon's story.
Of course, some were a little less convinced than others.
"I don't believe anything you say." Hope spat, her fist closing.
Landon winced as the power holding him to the wall intensified, his scrawny body creaking under the weight of Hope's magic.
"You have every right to be mad at me," he groaned. "But I am telling you the truth!"
He glanced at Raf, his pearly teeth clenched.
"Come on, man, help me!"
"I believe him." Raf said without a second thought.
Hope scoffed. "You believe that a fire-breathing woman burned up the bus?"
"Yeah." Raf repeated.
Noel sighed. Hope interrogating, Landon panicking and Raf defending - a round-robin of lies and insults trading that continued for almost five minutes, with no evidence of Landon's fire woman.
Until...
"There's a fire-breathing woman running through the woods!"
Noel wrinkled his nose as Alaric appeared in the cellar doorway, his grey shirt stained with sweat and his body reeking of smoke.
"What the hell happened?!" Hope exclaimed, holding a hand over her mouth.
The headmaster looked at her and Noel incredulously, his eyes narrowing as he saw Raf and Landon together.
"I could ask the both of you the same question." he rebutted. "Did I or did I not say 'don't engage'?"
Hope pursed her lips as Noel folded his arms, a smug smile on the boy's face. "Yeah, I bet it just sucks when people don't take your advice, huh?"
Alaric rolled his eyes. Clearly Noel wasn't going to let this go...
"Besides," Noel sighed, jabbing a finger in Landon's direction. "It's not like this bean-sprout here is a threat."
"Not unless crappy apologies can kill." Hope added.
"Well, looks can be deceiving..." Alaric retorted. He turned away for a moment, wincing as he swatted a blackened patch of his shirt.
Noel swallowed. Was that soot?
"Case in point," the headmaster groaned. "I ran into a woman after I made the call to the sheriff. Thought she was a survivor from the bus wreckage and tried to help her. But then she tried to burn me alive."
Noel snickered. "Well, you do have a way with women..."
Alaric ignored him. "Turns out that she's a pyromancer."
Landon's jaw dropped. "Wait, wh-what's a pyromancer?"
"...A fire-breathing witch." Hope shivered.
Raf chuckled smugly as Hope's face went deathly-white, the tribrid putting two and two together. "Ric, she wants the knife!"
"Well, where is it?" Alaric asked.
Noel tried and failed to suppress a groan. Again with the knife?!
Alaric's gaze followed Hope and Raf's line of sight towards Landon, the boy shrugging his trembling shoulders.
"I-I lost it in the woods." he stammered. "I was running around in circles all night tryna find a place to hide."
Alaric sighed, exhaling slowly and sharply in a way that made Noel feel uneasy.
"Okay, okay." the older man nodded. "Well, let's, uh, find it before she does, huh?"
Hope and Alaric were the first to rush up the cellar stairs, followed hesitantly by a skittish Raf and Landon.
But Noel lingered in the room, unloading the mother of all groans as he inhaled a breath of musty air.
What the hell was going on these last few days? One minute Noel, Alaric and Hope were enrolling a new werewolf and the next they're stuck between some thief and a pyromancer?
Noel wiped his hands over his face, his fingers lingering on the tuft of white hair dangling over his forehead.
Jesus Christ! When did he lose control over his life?! One idiot headmaster lets in one idiot human and now they were on an idiot retrieval mission for-
Noel let out a frustrated yell as he stormed up the cellar stairs, forcing down the urge to beat some silly. But as soon as he left the cellar, the witch stopped, almost bumping into Alaric and Raf.
"...We don't want any trouble." Noel heard Alaric say.
Noel peered past his headmaster's shoulder to see a dark-skinned woman in a dishevelled white dress standing before them - the stench of smoke rolling off her in waves.
The pyromancer. Noel realized.
The woman held out her hand demandingly, her magma-orange eyes flashing in Landon's direction.
"What does she want?" Raf asked, his voice laden with suspicion.
"I don't know..." Landon answered, lowering his eyes.
But the pyromancer seemed to know. She held out her hand again, snarling as she took a half-step forward.
Noel grit his teeth, his scowling eyes locking with Hope's.
"Landon." the witch seethed. "Do you have the knife?"
Landon shook his head. "N-No! I told you, I lost it last night-"
"Don't bullshit me." Noel snapped, the words barely passing his grit teeth. "Give her the knife and run for it."
But Landon shook his head. "I-I don't think that's a good idea."
Noel seized Landon by the collar, almost pulling the boy off his feet as he looked him dead in the eye.
"Hey, Noel!" Alaric chided.
But Noel ignored him, tightening his grip on Landon's collar. If his hands had been around Landon's throat, the latter's neck bones would be powder by now.
"Give her the knife, or I swear to God, I will-!"
A hideous shriek filled the air, a sound halfway between despair and sheer bloody terror.
Everyone whirled around with a start in time to see the pyromancer drop her arms and shuffle backwards, her mouth agape and hands held out in surrender.
But something else was wrong.
Once wide with obsession and bloodlust, the pyromancer's eyes were now wide and spilling over with tears. And her body, once lithe and coiled like a snake, was shaking as though riddled by an earthquake.
Alaric didn't need some supernatural senses or magic to know what the woman was experiencing. He had seen and felt this emotion far too much in his lifetime.
Fear. She was frightened.
Alaric glanced around the forest as the pyromancer snarled at them, her teary eyes narrowed into slits.
What could a pyromancer possibly be frightened of? They were apex witches. What could scare something that powerful-
"AGHHH!"
Alaric and Hope whirled around as they heard Noel cry out in pain. The witch released Landon and collapsed to his knees in two seconds, clamping his hands to either side of his head.
"Noel!" Hope exclaimed. "What's wrong?!"
"Aghhh...!" the boy winced. "Make...it...stop!"
As if the burning pain in his nerves weren't enough, a horrific pressure was building in Noel's head, as if something were trying to burst free from his skull.
And if that wasn't bad enough, then the blood dripping from Noel's mouth and eyes was.
"Shit!" Alaric swore, completely forgetting the pyromancer. He jumped down to his knees and cupped Noel's face, the boy's eyelids drooping as his body shivered.
"Wha..." Noel panted. "Wha-Who are...you?"
"Noel," Alaric whispered. "Its me! Doctor Saltzman! Can't you recognise me?"
But Noel wasn't talking to Alaric.
Unseen by the others, a strange feminine figure had appeared between them and the pyromancer; almost seven feet tall and wrapped in an ivory white kimono that shone like diamonds in the sunlight.
The pyromancer kept shrieking at them, but seemed otherwise oblivious to the figure's presence - huffing and puffing as she watched Noel with frightened but hungry, shark-like eyes.
The ghostly woman drew closer to Noel, looming over Alaric like as locks of her ebony, taregami hair carressed the ground. Noel could make out a tapered 'v' shaped chin and a pair of ruby, blood-red lips but the rest of the woman's features were obscured by a strange animal mask.
Was it a cat? A tiger? A fox?
But before Noel could come up with an answer, the woman placed an alabaster hand on Noel's face, her crystal-like nails scraping the boy's cheekbone.
"Noel! Come on, we have to go!"
Noel shivered at the woman's touch. It was strange and alien but felt oddly warm and calming. Comfortable even.
It was almost...motherly.
"...目を覚ます、私の息子."
Noel gasped. Wait, that voice-
A strange sensation struck Noel like a thunderbolt, the feeling that he was falling awake and falling asleep all at once. He felt like he was floating, adrift in some unseen place beyond his body, before he was 'yanked' back into being, free of pain and full of energy.
And absolutely brimming with power.
"Noel?" Alaric asked again. "Noel, I need you to-"
Noel's fingers shot out and seized Alaric by the throat, his hand faster than lightning and his grip tighter than iron.
Hope gasped. "Noel! What the f-?!"
Noel backhanded her across the face, sending the tribrid flying into a thicket of dead trees behind her.
Raf tried to run to her, but Noel, still choking Alaric, delivered a swift side-kick to his stomach, the wolf collapsing like a house of cards.
The pyromancer lowed as she watched Noel turn on his peers, her throat glowing a blinding blood-orange.
But Noel whirled around and held out a fist in her direction, a phantom hand slamming shut around the pyromancer like a rat trap.
The pyromancer howled in the grip of Noel's spell, writhing and wriggling like a worm in the claws of an eagle. But the more she protested, the harder Noel squeezed his fist - the pyromancer's bones crackling under the spell's strain.
"N...Noel..!" Alaric coughed, Noel's hand still around his throat. "Snap...out...of-"
Noel tossed Alaric to the ground and advanced towards the pyromancer, his eyes narrowed as he raised a single hand towards her:
"なくなった!"
The spell exploded from Noel's palm like an atomic blast; piles of earth, rocks and dead leaves flying in all directions with a fearsome thunderclap.
The sheer force of the blast blew Alaric and the others further backwards, but none more so than the pyromancer; the woman screaming shrilly as she collided with a tree at the end of the clearing.
The area was in absolute chaos now. Magic energy thrashed and battered the clearing like some heavy, invisible hailstorm, carving cracks and fissures into the ground over three feet deep and fifty feet long.
And on top of that, a terrible tempest engulfed the forest; the very trees and air shaking as if in fear of the boy at the centre of the chaos.
"Noel!" Alaric shouted, trying and failing to resist the magic pinning him in place. "Noel! Snap out of it!"
But Noel wasn't listening, his attention focused solely on the downed pyromancer. The hafu boy approached the creature slowly, magic arcing across his fingertips as a low snarl rumbled in his throat.
"Now you die." Noel snarled at her, his voice low and guttural. "You disgusting beast...!"
And with a blood-curdling cry, he brought his fist down.
HOLY SH*T, NOEL HAS *LOST IT*! :O
A pyromancer, a missing knife and NOW the mother of all magic fits!
How will the group get Noel under control this time?
Will Noel be able to defeat the pyromancer single-handedly?
What has come over him so suddenly?
Why is he hearing Japanese voices in his head?
But more importantly - WHO was that ghostly woman that set off Noel's magic?
Find out in the next chapter! :D TYSM guys, and please don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT your thoughts so far. What do YOU guys think is going on? Who was that mysterious woman?
I *CANNOT WAIT* to show you the next arc I have planned ;)
- Kai-Shiro :D