I leaned forward to see down the stairs and then closed the door imdiately.
'What are you doing, princess?' Blaze asked as he curiously stared at from the corner of my
room.
I turned around and saw Raven looking at , her eyes and nose red, and she seed like she'd cry at any mont but held it firmly.
"Okay, Raven," I stepped forward, slowly and gently sliding my hand on her shoulder. "Tell one thing."
Her eyes stared into mine as she looked up.
"Is there any way you'd drop the idea of not wanting to see your grandfather off for the last ti?" I asked.
There was a prolonged and very aningful silence before she gently shook her head in denial, giving my answer.
"Then-" I picked up a cloth from my wardrobe. "I'll blindfold you now."
"What are you—" she tried to say sothing, but I just put my forehead against hers.
"Trust , I know what I am doing."
I know I'm selfish, but this... I want to do this for Raven.
Her ears turned a bit red, but she closed her eyes, balling her fists tightly.
I wrapped the blindfold around her eyes tightly, making sure it covered her ears too. It's not like she won't be able to hear if she enhanced her hearing with mana, but I doubt she would.
"Now just a minute."
I lifted her off the floor as she yelped in shock, grabbing onto my hair strands. I waited for her to let go before I looked down the window. Running the raw mana around , I jumped out of the window.
Raw mana masks my actual mana signature, and if produced enough, it's like I was never there in the first place.
The wings ca out, and within a span of a second, I was out. But instead of flying off out of the academy premises, I landed imdiately near the compound wall.
"W-wha-what is happening?" Raven asked imdiately.
Landing near the compound, I pushed my hand into my Spatial Void and pulled out two robes.
Letting her down, I draped one on her and another on myself, covering ourselves imdiately.
"Now we are going to jump the wall." I picked her up again, pushed mana into my legs for a split second, and imdiately created a raw mana spell to mask my mana signature.
The jump was enough for to stand on the ten-foot wall as I looked at the imperial academy, which was now silent all along.
Jumping down, I was now out of the academy.
Stormborne won't sense here.
Still, I walked a bit farther.
'Should I?' Blaze was in the inner pocket of my robe.
Yeah, I agreed as I watched him change his form after jumping out of the pocket. Turning into the Winged Pardus, I hopped onto his back.
It's better to be seen on the back of a creature than to be seen as a creature.
Blaze took flight as he spanned out his wings, and then we were in the sky, cold wind brushing past our faces.
"Ruu! W-where are we? Why's there so much wind?" Raven brought my attention back to herself.
I blindfolded her because I didn't want her to know about Blaze and the extra things that I can do.
"Don't worry. You said you wanted to leave, right? I'm helping you leave." I said while Blaze landed us near the border of the Solstice.
With Blaze's current speed, he was fast as fuck.
'Cause I actually train in my free ti,' he said as he dropped back into his cat form.
"Leave..." she muttered as I softly made her stand and then removed the blindfold.
"What was that?" I asked, looking at the slightly disheveled Raven.
Raven didn't answer , though her eyes never left the ground beneath her. Her shoulders sagged under the weight of exhaustion and despair, and her breathing was shallow, barely controlled sobs.
"Raven?" I said more gently, trying to reach her.
"Ruu, where are we?" she asked, her voice still shaky but with a hint of curiosity breaking through her despondency.
"We're at the border of the Solstice," I replied, keeping my tone calm and steady. "From here, you can travel safely to see your grandfather."
She finally looked up, her eyes shimring with unshed tears that reflected the dim twilight around us. "I don't know if this is right, Ren," she whispered, her voice cracking like fragile glass.
I sighed, stepping closer, feeling the cold air sting my face. "I understand your doubts, but you said it yourself. You need to say goodbye to your grandfather. This is your chance."
She took a deep, trembling breath, trying to steady herself. "I just... I don't want to cause more trouble. For you, or anyone else."
"What about the headmaster... he'll-"
"He ain't doing shit. What's he gonna do? Track you down and lock you up? He's a headmaster, and outside the academy, he can't do anything. Stop worrying about him," I said. The words were fierce, but underneath was a current of desperation-I needed her to believe
this.
"...So I can leave?" she asked, her eyes searching mine, looking for so reassurance in the storm of uncertainty.
I nodded. "You need to be there, but you have to be careful. The world outside the academy is dangerous right now."
She took another deep breath, her shoulders relaxing slightly as if so of the burden was lifted. "Thank you, Ruu. I don't know how to repay you."
"Ha, there's no trouble. Just make sure that you reach... fuck it, I'll drop you near the closest town, and from there you can go. It'll take, like, half an hour at most." I didn't want to let her go alone. I couldn't.
"Why don't you co with ?" And all of a sudden, Raven grabbed my robe from the front, clutching hard. "Co with . I don't know if I can-I need you. I need you to be with , Ruu." Her voice shook, the raw vulnerability in her plea cutting through .
What is happening to her?
Her shoulders shook as I saw a droplet of tear fall onto my cloth. "Please co with to Reva!" she cried, her desperation echoing in the stillness.
Should I?
**WARNING!**
**CURSE HAS EXCEEDED 50% MARK!**
**The host has been ensnared by a Curse.**
**Curse: Fate**
**Caster: Nature**
**Current Impact: 52.1%**
**Cure: None**
And I suppose the curse doesn't want to. I don't like this place... I would've left imdiately, but I can't because I must stay until my in-ga death.
At least that's what I hope.
"I can't-"I was going to hug her, but in that mont, I sensed sothing. It was like soone was approaching us at a fast speed, a powerful presence that made my skin prickle.
'Stormborne?'
"You have to go-"I grabbed the hem of Raven's robe, saw Blaze transform, and threw her
onto his back.
"What is this creature?!?!" she exclaid, shock mingling with fear as she tried to
comprehend what was happening.
"Nothing, just a friend. Don't tell anyone about him, though. He'll get you out to the next
town," I said quickly, urgency lacing my voice.
I turned to face the direction of the incoming mana signature, feeling its intensity growing. It was close. Too close. In that mont, Raven grabbed my hood, pulling close.
Our faces were inches apart, her breath warm against my skin, her eyes wide and glistening
with tears. Her brown eyes, slightly red from all the crying, stared into mine with an intensity that made my heart pound.
I could feel her breathing on my face, and for a mont, the world around seed to fade
away.
'Off now!' Blaze yelled in my mind, snapping back to reality. Raven's eyes disappeared
from my view as she was lifted into the sky, her form quickly becoming a distant speck.
I unconsciously reached for the space where she had been, my hand closing on empty air. Now
she was in the sky and out of sight the next second.
What was that? Sobody landed behind , I heard it but my mind was mostly focused on one question-
should I have left with her?
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