Book 1: Intermission 6

Book 1: Intermission 6

The Hallway After Scarlet Falls Unconscious

Cynthia wasnt always so protective of her family. No. In fact, she used to be quite laxed and carefree.

But then her daughter, Lexi, died. All because she got caught up in a Class IV Fracture and neither Cynthia nor Allen were able to make it in time to save her.

Ever since then, Cynthia has sworn that she would never let anything like that happen ever again. Not to Allen. Not to Arabellia. And not to Scarlet.

And yet, here she is, gazing upon the bloodied form of her third daughter, even if not by blood. All of her clothes, torn to ribbons, exposing more of her than Cynthia thought Scarlet would ever expose, even if nothing is actually visible underneath all of the blood beyond open wounds.

Not again.

Cynthia thinks this as she rushes over to her daughter, uncaring of the shattered bits of ice holding parts of the dead wraith that she steps on and crushes in the process. And the moment she reaches her, she grabs a high class potion from her Frost Arc storage skill and immediately starts pouring it down her throat. Meanwhile out of the corner of her awareness, she hears hurried footsteps coming from down the hall as her husband closes the distance between them.

But she doesnt take her gaze away from Scarlet as the wounds quickly begin to heal at a visible pace. Not even after all of the wounds are healed and she senses her husband reaching her. Not even when she senses her husband taking control of the cameras outside of the bunker and wiping the footage while purposefully pointing them far away from the trio to keep Scarlets modesty when he then uses a skill to clean her of all the blood.

It isnt until several minutes later, after Allen has already looked over her with his equipment for any injuries that may not have healed from the potion and speaks that she finally takes her eyes off of Scarlets unconscious form.

Looks like she should be fine after plenty of rest. We arent able to fully replenish her blood with a potion, since she seems to have lost a lot of blood even more than her wounds would suggest so well have to get her to come by and look her over, he says, his voice rather quiet as he stands up, the scanner he was using automatically going back into his own storage skill in the process.

Silence fills the hallway again for a few seconds.

Lets bring her to a bed and then I can clear out the rest of the Fracture ASAP, he says, and Cynthia nods her head, briefly glancing at the shattered wraith.

Good things, I hope.

The tanuki flinches as he nods his head.

Maybe not good things. Guess shes still not ready to be adopted.

Deciding not to make things awkward for the fae, Cynthia opts to stay silent, letting it return its attention to her. Although she does reveal a vaguely surprised expression when she sees the tanuki curling up next to Scarlet and seemingly going to sleep, even if she isnt sure hes really asleep. Because she cant help but feel like hes still watching her like a hawk.

Why would fae royalty contract with Scarlet? Is it because of her blood magic? Or maybe it has something to do with White?

Cynthia lets out a sigh.

Cant just ask it, because its Scarlets business and not mine. Besides. He seems to genuinely care about her, so pushing him to answer would just be an insult to my own fae.

Yes, that it would be,Arlog her own fae answers her thoughts, his voice echoing in her head.

I just hope Scarlet prepares herself in the future to fight in your little competition.

Arlog doesnt say anything in response. And Cynthia doesnt try to force him to either. She just returns her gaze to Scarlet as she reaches over and begins caressing her daughters face, a sad one of her own visible as she does so.

Minutes pass in silence. And at some point, Cynthias eyes cant help but gravitate towards Scarlets ears. She then glances behind her, only to reach out and touch one of her ears, making it immediately flinch.

So soft