Arden appeared less than amused, her hands on her hips and an obvious eye roll. Axel and I stood side by side with our heads bowed. In front of us, Arden stood tall and almost seething with anger, her disappointment clear in her eyes. A tight feeling surged in my chest, and I felt as though I could crumble under the weight of her gaze.
"I could understand this from Vienna, but you, Axel?" She turned her stone glare at the other warrior beside me, her look hardening. "I expect so much better from you."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Axel bowed his head, eyes shadowed as he did so.
Arden turned to me, and it seemed like she had so much to say. However, her lips formed a line, and she simply shook her head, resembling a disappointed mother. My heart skipped a beat, and the bruise on my lip throbbed painfully, contrasting sharply with the torrent of emotions racing through me.
Luckily, Apollonia decided to come and input her own ideas. She crossed her arms, smirk wide and clear on her lips. "Not to backhand you, Arden, but I actually liked what I saw."
Arden turned her glare at the other tall woman. Apollonia put her hand up in defense, laughing lightly until Arden turned her eyes and huffed out a sigh. "I never understand you, dear."
"Of course you don't, but that's not what's important. But did you see how the little mouse held her own against Axel? He's one of the best hand-to-hand warriors in your force, yet the mouse took him down so easily!"
"You were watching for that long, huh?" Arden said, tossing her head towards him and crossing her arms. "You didn't say anything? You know we don't go for the face." Her ice-blue eyes glared at Axel, who continued to bow and didn't respond.
"They didn't start hitting you until you stopped it. But ignoring that," she placed her elbow on Harden's shoulder, giving a joyful smile to the other. "I feel like we underestimate the little purple thing."
They both turned their eyes to me, forcing my feet to square and my body to shake.
"She has no purpose acting rash then. Letting emotions control your actions ends in failure." Arden turned, ready to end the conversation.
Apollonis walked off with her, dismissing the groups to continue. "She knows how to fuel her actions, though."
Arden turned away from the others and focused on Axel. "Axel, we will speak privately later, but for now," she glanced at both of us, "you will both be punished for that display. You will need to work together in the upcoming sessions until you learn to respect one another." Her gaze settled on me. "And you will not be fighting anymore. Do you understand?"
"Yes." We both answer at the same time.
Arden continued to ignore Apollonia's pestering, nodding to both of us before dismissing the groups and ending the session early. Once she was out of sight, I could grumble. My ribs expanded, and I let out a grunt.
Axel let out a scoff. "Hurts?"
"Funny," I rolled my eyes, pulling myself up and away from him.
I walked away, searching for Arthur among the warriors who were either dispersing or taking to the skies. The annoying voice of the male called out behind me, but I had no interest in responding or seeing that foolish expression on his face. So, I ignored him and pushed my way through the crowd while holding my chest.
I spotted Arthur with Casey and Flint. The small warrior was brushing the gray wolf's fur, and Casey stood beside him, as if they were ready to leave together once Arthur finished. I hurried over to Arthur, removing my armor as I went.
"Hey, Arthur?" I stopped once I stood beside him, catching both of the males' attention. "I want to hang out with you with my friends later."
He choked slightly, hunching over with wide eyes. Casey wore a similar expression, glancing between us with clear confusion. Arthur turned to me, his face reddening. "You do...? I mean, I'm okay with it! I would love to hang out with you and your other friends, but do you want me to? I'm not cool—it's just—"
"I want to do something together, so you can get to know my friends better."
Arthur stuttered, a smile spreading wider on his face like a child getting a new toy. The cute moment was interrupted by Casey stepping between us, his arm around Arthur's. "Well, if he's coming, I have to come."
"Oh, and what makes you think that?" I had no problem with Casey, but the angel can get really annoying.
Casey shrugged, looking off like I was uninteresting. "Because whatever my boyfriend does, I have to do it?"
I rolled my eyes, feeling a painful tightening in my chest the longer I had to look at him. Arthur stepped closer and said he didn't have to leave if I didn't want Casey to either. I brushed off his comment, confident that I could manage Casey as long as Arthur was there to distract him. Spending time with Arthur would make me feel less guilty.
I waved them off, turning away and about ready to leave myself when I noticed Apollonia making her way to me. "Hey, mouse, are you doing okay?"
I cringed at the nickname, but managed to hold it back with a small smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just about to leave for this session."
Apollonia looked me up and down, placing a hand on her chin. "You don't look okay. You got hit in the abdomen and the face, right? Those aren't good places to get hit by a warrior like Axel. Is the Gate Goddess coming to check on you?"
I had a lot of mixed feelings about what she said, but I could only respond to her last question and shake my head. I tried to turn away, hoping this would end her 'check-up' on me or whatever she was trying to do, but she stopped me again. Her wing jutted out to block my attempt to jump up and escape.
"Hey, about Axel." I looked back at her, tensing up at the sudden seriousness in her eyes. "You will need to listen to him a lot more. He is your superior, stop making fights with him." A small smile stretched on her lips, "even if they are entertaining to watch."
"It's not just me." I couldn't stop myself from letting out, "He is the one who ignites me like that."
"I'm not surprised that Angel has some issues," she said, shaking her head. "But no more fighting him, alright? After what Arden had to witness with both of you striking each other, she's beyond mad. You could lose all the progress you've made up until now."
I felt my body tense up; my eyebrows shot up. "What? It's him-"
"Little mouse, it doesn't matter who started it when you both broke a valuable rule on purpose. This isn't like what happened with Arthur. It will be worse for Axel since he knows better, but that doesn't make you free from consequences."
I fought off all the urge to roll my eyes. "Alright, then why are you telling me all this?"
Apollonia let out an annoyed moan. "Oh my goddess, you are so deaf, little mouse," she said, returning to a serious expression. "Stop picking fights. You will be punished much more severely. Your actions, as demonstrated in the current situation, are unacceptable. I'm trying to look out for you, so please do me a favor and don't let these words go to waste."
I gulped, suddenly feeling very lightheaded. My legs began to tremble, and blurry figures intruded on my vision, causing me to close my eyes and cringe inwardly. I waited for the sensation to pass before stiffly nodding to the older woman, trying to show as much respect as I could muster.
Apollonia chuckled lightly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Alright. Now go and get some rest and heal up for the next session. Your punishment will start then!"
I groaned, hearing her weird excitement at the thought of me getting punished. She was not going to let this go by; yet another reason to look down on me.
I chose not to dwell on that on my way back. However, I got distracted halfway and started to play tag with Casper in the sky. It didn't last long, though; the intense pain in my ribs was becoming more pronounced, making it harder to breathe. Casper sensed this and slowly descended, matching my pace all the way back to the ground where I could rest.
At least, that's what I thought. As soon as I opened the door, I was jumped by a force that tugged me roughly into my own room.
"What-"
"She's alive!" Rory exclaimed, pulling me into their arms and nearly lifting me off the ground in a tight embrace. In utter shock at seeing both Rory, Seth, and Bridget in my room, I clung to their arms, unable to pull myself away.
I stood stiffly in their grip until they finally released me. Meanwhile, Casper sat by the closed door, whining as he moved his head back and forth between us.
Bridget was the first to speak to me. "We wanted to make sure you were okay. You looked so pained at the cupid party, and we didn't know what to say."
"I'm sorry if we made you feel unseen." Seth continued, his eyes looking down with guilt.
I stood in the middle of the three of them, trying to understand what they were talking about until the memory of what happened at cupid's party came back to me. I couldn't help but giggle, shaking my head at my friends, who looked so guilty and sorry.
"There's no reason to apologize. I feel much better than I did back then."
"Even though your lip looks busted and bruised?" Seth pointed out the obvious, eyes creasing up as if he were in pain.
I almost forgot about that.. I shook my head, moving around the three to sit on the bed. I let out a wheeze, pain rising into my stomach when I found comfort in my bed.
Casper joined me on my side, the others soon sitting with me and making sure I had enough space to breathe. "Yes, I kinda had a fight with training. But it's normal."
"It looks like it hurts…" Rory pointed out the obvious, scrunching up their face.
"It could be worse. I just need to sleep it off, and I'll feel better." They nodded at me, their wings fluffing up slightly in response to my reassurance. "Also, I still want to hang out and do something with you all and the Cupids. My friends from the sessions want to come too." All three of them looked at me, a wave of excitement passing through the group. "Do you have any suggestions for activities we could do together?"
"Another party!" Rory burst out, light shining in their eyes.
Seth jabbed them away, hissing lowly at the quick idea. Of course, Bridget was the one to come up with the best one. "Since it's going to be a lot of us, we could go to another palace party for the upcoming new angel?"
"There's already another new angel?"
Rory giggled, playing with my hair that I had to shoo away. "You have no idea, new angels come almost all the time. You've been with the Warrior Angels too much to realize that."
"I guess so…" I mean, they weren't wrong. I was down at that field almost half of the time, or on schedule. I was starting to miss out on just hanging out with my friends.
That was about to change. I plan to do something with all of us soon, but first, I need to rest and shake off this pain so that I have the energy to handle Axel and the punishment tomorrow. I didn't feel like sharing everything that happened with those three; they already disapproved of the Warrior Angels and didn't want to hear about it. So, I let them chat while I noticed Rory and Seth exchanging glances far more often than I could count.
Eventually, Bridge realized that they were bothering me and decided to leave. We agreed that the party would take place after my next session. This gives me enough time to inform Athur and, I suppose, Casey about it.
Now I was left alone, and I bathed in the feeling. I dropped on my back, opening my wings up to have a fluffy landing, so the ache in my chest wasn't so painful. I closed my eyes, feeling Casper snuggle himself into my side, before my body completely relaxed and my vision was clouded in darkness.
It felt.. strange…
My body felt weightless as the things around me swirled. Suddenly, I was gasping for fresh air. I clawed at whatever was in my mouth, desperate to clear my vision.
Panic set in as I tried to scream or make any sound, but no words came out. All I could do was desperately scratch at the rubble that trapped me beneath it. The debris pressed down on me, burying me in the sand below.
My hand burst out through the rubble, and I pushed back at it until my head emerged. I let out a breath of air, wheezing my brains out and coughing like whatever I breathed in cut up my throat. I coughed again, teary-eyed eyes looking around my surroundings. There was dust everywhere; some bricks and blown-up metal were covering me, and dirt and dust were all over my body.
Not only that, but I could feel something dripping from my ears. The buzzing in my head was quiet yet very noticeable when I tried to scream out for Dawson. I received no response, forcing me to pull my crumpled body up and push the trash aside in an attempt to find him.
Agony shot through my body as I struggled to stand, and I bit my lip, feeling blood trickle from my nose. My hearing was fuzzy, blocked by an overwhelming sensation in my chest. Fear clawed at me as I dug beneath the rubble. My eyes were glued shut, my heart racing, but I kept pushing forward.
My hand suddenly felt something warm under some bricks, my heart spiked, and I quickly dug the man free. He was lying limp, his head face down and covered in sand. His ears were bleeding as well, cuts covered his open fingers, and his clothing had some burn marks like my own.
I pulled him up, putting all my strength into tugging the limp man out of the rubble and bringing him to a safer spot nearby, free from any trash that could contain sharp, dangerous pieces. Once I felt we were safe, I managed to catch my breath. My heart raced, tears clouded my vision, and I could only feel my body tremble.
Dawson made no move; he was limp with his back pressed against some bricks. I had to ignore my well-being to push my fingers into his neck to feel for a pulse.
"Oh, thank god.." My voice came out quiet and broken.
My body ached with every movement, and my hands fumbled for the item on my belt that I knew was there. The outside of the bottle was charred, but there was still enough water inside for me to spray into my lieutenant's face. I propped his head up with my knee to help him drink, pushing the water into his chapped lips. I continued to pour it down his throat until he finally let out a loud, gurgling cough.
His head fell to the side, and I let him puke up some of the water.
I drank the rest of the water from the crumbled bottle, using the rest to cover my own face and wash off as much dust and blood as I could. I dropped the bottle, focusing on pulling Dawson up so he couldn't choke on his own vomit.
"Dawson..? Dawson!" I tried to pull him into my, expecting the man to be awake by now.
His heart was still beating, thank god, but his eyes were foggy and they closed once again.
I couldn't help but let out a cry, my fingers trembling where they held onto Dawson's unconscious face. I took a look around, trying to distract my panicked mind by surveying our surroundings.
We were still in the process of buying that car, but it was blown to bits. The explosion, along with some unfinished bricks, was what caught us off guard. My eyes landed on a pair of feet sticking out from under the rubble, and my heart sank even lower. I turned away, tears streaming down my face once again.
Elliot was dead for sure..
It was just Dawson and me now, with the older and much more experienced one passed out cold. So that leaves me unable to comprehend what to do, let alone stay low and covered. I knew that Dawosn had made a call before we were blown up, but I couldn't tell how long it had been since then.
We were completely covered, so if a rescue team had tried to search for us, they might have walked right over us. However, that seemed unlikely; the other team had seen us get blown up, so they would have searched for us.
This led me to believe that the rescue team hadn't come for us. Something must have happened with the enemy, leaving me and Dawson alone here. My other team members, who had attempted to stop me from rushing out to help, were no longer with us. Our vehicle was no longer parked by the brick buildings; it was now all the way across the makeshift field.
I felt so lost, so tired of my body yelling..
I knew better than to sit here and do nothing. The enemy remained a significant threat. I had to at least provide cover until Dawson woke up and I could come up with a plan.
With minimal movement, I stacked a few broken pieces of rubble to form a small wall that would provide us with some cover. I then turned my attention to Dawson, searching for his gunshot wounds or any other injuries that I could treat.
My mind felt foggy, and everything around me started to blur together. I knew I was holding Dawson's hand and wrapping something around his bloody shoulder, but I couldn't feel him or myself, and the pain from my own gunshot wounds was overwhelming.
Was I losing it?
Was my own blood loss consuming my brain? I could no longer see or feel anymore. I tried to reach out and grasp Dawson, but he had vanished; my mind was shrouded in the same darkness that had once provided comfort.
But instead of feeling comfort, I thrashed around, trying to call out to Dawson, to anyone-
I jolted up, my body aching from the sudden movement as light filled my vision. I sat there, staring at my door, feeling completely fine.