Serene’s POV
"Arlo," I drew in a sharp breath as my eyes t his. I hadn’t noticed him. "How are you?" He was sitting on a bed, two beds away from .
"I am alright, but Mariela Sensei won’t let go. She wants to stay overnight." He kept staring at and I lowered my eyes.
"That’s reassuring to hear that you are feeling better. Sorry, I couldn’t co earlier."
"It’s ok, you never have to apologise to for anything. I am pleased you are awake. My heart sank when Zeph carried you inside." There was a softness to his tone that he only used with .
"It was nothing, I used too much of my energy." I didn’t want him to worry about .
"Your arm was in a bad shape too. Mariela Sensei took quite a ti to fix it." I glanced at my arm again, it was properly fixed now.
"I don’t feel any pain now."
"I can’t believe they let you compete with three opponents. What were they thinking?" There was a hint of anger in his voice, now.
"It was my decision when facing a real enemy there is a very high probability that you will be outnumbered. So it was good practice and I was able to defeat them."
"Still, you could have gotten severely injured." His hair was open now and one side was back to falling over his eye.
"I didn’t though so don’t worry."
"And, I am sorry I missed your battle today." He looked away and began to stare ahead.
"It’s ok. And are you alright? Like emotionally? I an... about what happened... today? If you want you can talk about it." It took quite an effort from to say this to him.
His face snapped toward , there was so much hurt in his eyes as he spoke in a pained voice: "I guess everyone now knows what only you knew. I didn’t want people to know how I felt about you. It was supposed to be my secret to keep and mine alone."
"I am sorry, Arlo. I hate myself for being a constant source of pain to you and please don’t say I am not. Don’t always try to make feel better." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, I could feel a storm of emotions raging inside of .
I opened my eyes again and he was sitting very quietly looking at . I asked: "Was Dria angry? I saw her co running and take you in her arms."
"She won’t be, if she was then she didn’t show . Besides she knows how I feel about you. Maybe in a few days, she will bring it up but not right now."
"Hmm, right. What did he make you see?" I asked curiously.
"He has the power to manipulate other people’s minds and make them hallucinate whatever is the worst fear of the targeted person." He replied with gritted teeth, I could see he was trying to control his anger.
"And your worst fear is related to ?" I asked in astonishnt. It was probably seeing get hurt or die, I was guessing from his screams at the ti of the attack.
"Yes..."
That’s all he said and didn’t elaborate further. I wanted to ask him but that would be too painful for him so I avoided doing that.
"I wanted to hurt him so bad. I would have if Kilamin hadn’t stopped ." I confided in him and he genuinely smiled at . Not a painful smile, not a forced smile, an actual smile that brightened up his face and eyes.
"I know," and he continued to smile at .
"Who told you that?" I inquired with my eyebrows raised.
"Mikasim, he ca to check up on us. You were still unconscious."
"Ohhh!" I could feel my face heat up.
"He also told how brilliantly you fought. Everyone is super proud of you. Taking on three opponents. Even Senseis of other realms were impressed." He filled in with details that he had gathered from Mikasim.
"Kilamin has trained hard and I can see the results now. His training is fruit-bearing now."
"Yes, he is doing a phenonal job with you."
We sat there in silence for a while when the door opened and Kilamin entered with a tray of food. "Ti to eat," he said and placed the tray in front of . It had soup, rice, fruit and pudding.
"You have to finish everything so your energy can replenish."
"Thank you," I said and began to eat. Everything was very delicious or maybe I was hungry. I glanced at Arlo and asked: "Have you eaten?"
"Yes, I just had my fill a while ago. I am not hungry." He replied softly and urged to keep eating.
After I had finished, Kilamin instructed to get so rest. I laid down again and Kilamin covered with a blanket.
"Serene, I will be close by. Try to get so sleep, now." Kilamin instructed and I nodded in return.
I closed my eyes but there was no sleep. I twisted and turned. "Can’t sleep," I opened my eyes and turned around to find Arlo looking at . I faced him and lay on my right side.
"No," I replied sheepishly. I glanced toward Kilamin and he was sitting on a chair, on the other side of the room, he had fallen asleep.
"Talk to , it’s not like I would get such a chance again to be close to you all night long." His words made feel embarrassed again, his intense gaze was boring into . I had no clue what to say.
"I wanted to kill him today. You know if his friend hadn’t hypnotized , I don’t think I would have been able to stop." He confided in in a very sad tone.
"I am sure soone would have stopped you, besides it is only natural to feel rage towards soone who has constantly bullied you in your childhood. You know how glad I felt when I saw you beat him up."
"Really?" He looked at in utter disbelief. His reaction showed that he wasn’t expecting that answer from .
"Yes, because I wanted to do the sa to him. I don’t like bullies. And no one bullies my friends on my watch." I replied with determination.
"Sadly, you have been bullied so many tis here. Even by Dria. I feel ashad of the fact that I wasn’t always able to protect you."
"Well, I want to see anyone try now." I smiled at him, a knowing smile and he laughed.
"You have changed, Serene. And for good, I like this new you. You have co a long way from the girl I saw seven months ago." He was still smiling, I had never seen him smile so much before.
"I have, I don’t want to rely on others all the ti. I want to keep my destiny in my hands. And smile suits you, I wish you will smile more."
"I will try, truth be told you are the only person who brings a smile to my face. I am very anti-social and I have never been close to anyone except Dria. But you know the reasons. Other than that I never had friends until you and the team. I am just glad you still consider your friend." He tilted his head to the left and smiled at again.
"I will always be your friend, Arlo. No one can take that away from ." I could feel the intensity of his gaze on my words and my heartbeat began to rise. Not a good sign, he would notice it straight away.
"Thank you for being my friend, I very much appreciate that." I nodded at him.
We spoke so more and then I finally began to yawn. "Serene, you should get so rest. Try to sleep." He instructed.
"Ok, good night Arlo."
"Good night..." he whispered. He was still sitting up, I don’t think he had any plans to sleep. I closed my eyes and soon drifted off.
I saw a swirl of black fog blow toward and engulf . It entered my mouth and nostrils, I clutched at my throat unable to breathe. I tried to shout but no voice would co out.
"Bring her here..." I could hear a sinister voice, calling from the distance.
"NO... NO...," I felt soone trying to wake up. I sat up with a jolt. It was Arlo, he was holding in his arms and was trying to wake up. My heart was thumping so fast and I could hardly breathe. My eyes were wide open with shock. Kilamin had woken up from my scream too and rushed towards .
"Breathe, Serene, breathe," Arlo instructed as he rubbed my back. I was finally coming to my senses. Kilamin wore a grim expression as he looked at while Arlo spoke softly telling to breathe.
I clutched his shirt, not wanting to let go as I inhaled and exhaled, my heart began to stabilize. And I didn’t even realize that my head was resting on his chest.
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