Hello. (nervous laughter) Heh, heh. How is everybody? No! Wait! Don’t shoot!!!! Anyway, I’ve finished my freshman year of college. Can you believe that? Anyway, I’m so sorry I haven’t had much time to update, but I should be making up for that all this summer. Like I said before, this story is far from being finished. We’ve still got to work up to two lemon scenes. Oh yeah, once again thanks for reviewing even though I really suck at updating. Well here it is…enjoy. One more thing, I’ve decided to do scenes of from the last chapters and scenes from updates too. Bye
In the last chapter:
Une dreamed about a dark evil trying to kill Treize. Who is the force that haunts her?
Chapter 12
Noin woke up from her deep sleep in a room in the Victoria Mage Academy. She’d slept for 2 days straight and she should have felt rested. Instead she felt drained. She could also add hungry to that list.
Glancing around at her surroundings she cautiously got up. As the room started to make its way around her in circles, she belatedly realized that this was not her brightest idea and she reluctantly sat down. Stubbornly, she tried again and almost made it to the door before her archrival stepped through with a condescending shake of his gorgeous head.
Shit, she thought fiercely to herself. Why did he always have such perfect timing?
She looked at him dead on and pinned a defiant glare to him. Behind her glare, however, lay a wealth of thoughts that had nothing to do with her frustration and anger at him.
He had to be Fey, she mused silently. Maybe just a little. He was too beautiful. Under the guise of her defiance she admiringly studied the perfect sharpness of his handsome features. As if on cue, the sun seemed to brighten and in doing so it gave his hair a deep tarnished golden glow.
Meanwhile in reality, Zechs, who noticed everything took note of Noin’s unspoken reverence. He allowed himself an inward smile as her pretty violet gaze ran deceivingly defensive over his visage. But he wasn’t fooled. When her purple stare came to the arrogantly teasing arch of his golden brow, she snapped out of her reverie and renewed her defensive with new vigor.
He smiled brilliantly at her and made his way towards her. She warily took unconscious steps back until she abruptly stopped at the bed. Taking advantage of her surprise, Zechs gently pushed her into it.
“I should have known you’d be up already,” he said breaking the tense silence between them. He moved to sit beside her on the bed. Noin’s eyes went to his face again. Yeah, his smile was beautiful as ever, but it almost seemed tired. Almost sad…
However, a moment ago, Noin had been too busy observing her rival. Now that her senses had come rushing back to her at full force, she could nearly cut the tension between them with a longsword. She once again reinforced her emotional shields as memories of what occurred between them invaded her mind. Her anger came back as well.
‘And why is that, Lu,’ her mind taunted her. Why was she mad at him? She viciously answered herself. ‘Because I won’t be enslaved ever again’. To Zechs she merely glared.
But there was much more than a tense situation that put her on edge. Tension had always existed between her and Zechs. This was entirely something else. A dark sense of foreboding. Her entire being nearly screamed that something just wasn’t right. Not even Zechs had the ability to make her this defensive.
Zechs hand moved out to check her forehead for fever. She inadvertently flinched and Zech’s stare hardened slightly. Lorn used to do that same gesture…
“Noin, you need rest. There are many hard blows that are going to be dealt to you. You’re going to need your strength in the---“
All the blood in her ran cold in her and Zechs could see a frantic chaos rise in her eyes as she abruptly cut him off.
“Where’s Lorn, Zechs,” she demanded. Her instincts where nearly sure that their was something terribly wrong. She backtracked and vividly remembered the sadness in Zech’s being.
Her instincts coldly began to assure themselves as the apprehensive feeling returned almost at tenfold.
“Please, Zechs tell me-,” she whispered. She almost couldn’t breath now.
Zechs wasn’t able to hide the anguish in his face. When Moon had given him the message through magesight, it had nearly torn him apart in those two days that Noin was unconscious. When his kingdom had been destroyed Lorn had been like a second father to him. Looking at the rising panic and despair in Noin’s eyes, he knew that his pain would be nothing compared to hers. Yet to hold the reality back, to give her false hope for a minute longer would have been even more painful when she found out the truth.
“Lucreztia, he’s dead.” No clever or kind words. No sweet or pitiful remarks. She needed the truth.
Stubbornly she refused to believe it. “No.” She yelled it and shook her head. “I know him. Zechs, he was the greatest mage-,” a sob cut her off.
Her eyes overflowed and her shoulders began to shake. Zechs immediately went to her and pulled her tightly in his arms. She fought him and tried to twist out of his embrace. He tightened his arms around her and took the flurry of punches calmly.
“He can’t be dead,” she whispered. Sobs continued to wrack her body as well as her soul.
Zechs pulled her even closer. Her anguish threatened to tear him apart as well. He whispered into her hair, “I loved him too.”
“He was all I had.” Her tears ran relentlessly down her face.
He wiped her eyes, yet more and more came. Gently he pulled her back to him and whispered into her hair. After a while her sobs quieted down until all Zechs could hear was her soft whimpering.
He held her like that for some time. Evening was coming fast and she hadn’t eaten yet. After she became completely silent, he looked down at her.
She was breathing softly, but she was still awake.
“Lucretzia.” He called her name softly. She raised her head slightly and looked at him. She looked so vulnerable right there. He gently moved and lowered his lips to her forehead.
“You need your rest,” he said finally.
“Who told you,” she asked haggardly.
“The message was sent by Moon.”
“Who is to take his place as Guardian of Lorn,” she said moving tiredly up and out of Zechs embrace. She didn’t need to be that close to him while she was this defenseless. Besides, he felt too wonderful and she didn’t have the strength to sort out all of her conflicting emotions.
Right now she felt drained beyond any repair. It was like half her soul had been burned away in the last three hours.
Creator, had she really been crying that long?! No wonder her head felt as if it was going to explode.
Zechs still hadn’t said anything to answer her question. Noin continued.
“They’ll never let me take his place. I know he named me, Zechs. The council will kill me before-,”
“He named me as Guardian of Lorn, Noin.”
Noin spun around. Why was it that every part of her life wanted so badly to end?
Hello, how’s that for a cliffhanger? Um wow! Somebody killed Lorn. Who?! I wanna know too! I’m such a tease. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. There’s much more to come. PPPPLLLLLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEEE RRRREEEEVVVVIIIIEEEWWW!!!
Next chapter: Memories are finally done and we now know why Zechs and Noin have such an uneasy alliance. Plus, we return to the present where Zechs makes his way through Carania to get to Noin before who or whatever killed Lorn does.
