Aefia let out a sigh while staring at the blanket at her lap instead. "Even if I told you how I got injured, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it." She finally answered.
"Then can't you at least explain why you didn't fight back?"
"Because we were at school and practically no one would have sided with me since they think I am an orphan of an army officer."
"So... You are being bullied? ... At that extend... And you are afraid that no one would have sided with you when they could clearly tell who the murderer was?" He asked wiile narrowing his eyes and folding his arms. "I thought you were smarter than this."
"I have simply lost the courage over time. Either ways, I would have still been seen as guilty... And I can't even die so they would keep torturing me afterwards." She answered while looking at her hands.
*Then why aren't you thinking about running away just yet?" Helio asked while sitting at the edge of the bed that she was in. "If you need help, I could provide it for you. It's not that difficult since you also have magic that could create an illusion." While he was speaking, he held a glass of water, and on his other hand was two tablets.
"For now though... Since you will have to return before your family finds out... I think a few painkillers could be of some good use to you."
She took the two round pills and threw it onto her mouth. Although she wasn't quite injured anymore, her muscles were still pulling on themselves as if to rupture without force. It was painful for her to not be able to shift to the side or stand up for a bit, but thanks to the medicine, she was up again.
"Thank you for your help... Is there anyway I can actually repay you?" She asked with a smile as she grabbed her coat from the table and repaired it.
"Then... How about a more frequent visit?" He answered almost instantly.
***
"Did you get your results back?" Merissa asked while stopping in front of the the palace gates as the three siblings walked out with a bag each, filled with not books, but requirements to survive a small hike to the mountains. They all were wearing more causal clothes, dropping the regal look of their suits and coats, and heading over for hoodies and jeans instead.
"Yeah... All of us did. Because if we didn't, then we aren't students." Aefia replied while her bag dissolved into the air without a trace.
"Girl... How do you do that? Just vanish things into thin air and summon them back?" Merissa asked while walking side by side to the siblings as they headed towards the closed palace gates.
"Sometimes even I question her about that. But it just turns out that her magic is in a level even I can't combat against." Lewis replied while hurling his own bag at his shoulders, then realizing that he had a living storage right next to him. He stared with puppy eyes at his sister while she seemed expressionless for a long time. "Well this thing is heavy..." He finally spoke while acting like it was causing him a burden.
"Get to it already. You want me to help you free your hands... But you also don't want to ask for it because it ruins your 'cool guy' persona." Folding her arms in front of her, she looked towards Merissa and held out a hand. "Do you need help?" She asked with a smile as she waited for a response. "Well thank you." The girl kindly handed her the bag as she watched it disspear too.
"Why not me?!" The middle brother protested. "Because you are a guy... It's not like you can't do that small of a task." But instead, she shrugged and walked faster forward. "And if you wanted me to help... You know I only take request..." She laughed mockingly as she skipped backwards and came to a stop as the guards pushed open the metal doors.
Henry was already beside her while trying to lift his bag from touching the ground. "Well, let me help you." Her fingers laced around the strap of the blue cartoonish bag as she lifted it up and hung it over her shoulder.
"Hey! I am also your brother!" Lewis continued complaining all the way up to the gates.
"Are you struggling?" She asked finally.
"No."
"Then you don't need my help."
"Why?!"
"Because you just said it! You don't need my help! Idiot!"
"Darn it!" He shouted while trying to keep his rage in tact as he realized how played he was by his sister. "She has a point you know?" The kid spoke while leaping up and down in excitement. "I can't be patient enough for the amusement park! Although... I will return home faster then the rest of you... Right?" His happiness died down immediately.
"Well if the trip is boring... Then I would teleport myself to see you back at the palace." Aefia replied while rustling his dark purple hair. "Wait... Weren't you supposed to go directly to our school with George?" The realization hit her mind square when she looked up at the still dark sky and then back at the palace.
"Well unless he thinks he has finally found the freedom to sleep the entire day and forgot to wake up in the morning to drop him off." Lewis interrupted while walking towards the pedestrian, along with Merissa waiting at the gate to see what her friend wanted to. "Well then... I guess I will be the one taking you." She smiled while holding the kid's hands and glancing at the orange haired girl for once to confirm she was going to come along.
"You are walking to the school?" Her brother turned his entire body around and looked at her with a questioned gaze as if to ask if she was still holding onto her sanity by a single thread.
"Nah... I am running there."
"But he is a kid."
"Well not all the way there."
"Then how?"
"Teleportation?" She narrowed her eyes at him as she walked with the kid towards the same pedestrian. "You are really just delusional." He face-palmed himself on the forehead as he spun on one shoe and proceeded walking, unaware of the next 'compliment' she was about to speak about.
"You know... I wasn't the one who got a D for their overall grading." She laughed while Henry snickered and Merissa just stayed silent but her face showed hints of finding it funny. "To think that even our youngest sibling could score better then you, stopping at a A*. And he is still a kid." But as soon as she had spoken of it, a metal foil sprung at her face with a click, almost blinding her in the left eye. "Ow!"
"Well it's not like you did any better then him! You stopped at a simple A! How could you not outshine him?! You were smarter then the entire household!" Lewis shouted while picking out more rolled tiny aluminum foils that the three of them had been fighting with the entire last night while packing.
"But at least I didn't cry over it! I am alright with it as long as it doesn't end my life. It's just a grade on paper that test your IQ! Not a life force instruction and testing your skills in real battle. Plus... I didn't even go to school for a week or more!" She protested while picking up the same foil and flinging it back at him. "And stop being rivals with my eye please! I haven't seen the end of my enemies just yet." She spoke while covering her left eye.
"What is up with the two of you?" Merissa spoke while pulling her back in case she got hurt again. While Aefia pulled Henry back and stayed out of the way as Lewis threw five at once. "Yeah I don't know... He is mental." She replied while stepping forward and just brushing past him with complete ignorance. "Because I was already planning on helping him carry his bag... But then he just made things worse trying to act all kid-like."
"Why are you always like this?!" He spoke while running forward to catch up to her as she took off in a run before he could even clench the hood of her black hoodie. "Ready Henry? Jump in five seconds." Her shout echoed, breathless with a single sideway glance at her little brother as she slowly counted the passing time at her fingers.
"And... Jump!" With a simple leap, they landed on the compound of their school where all other kids were running around with toys at their hands. "Well that was fun as long as it lasted." She added while huffing deep breathes as the kid mirrored her motion too. "Anyways... Have fun with your friends today. And I will check at the end of the day if you have safely returned back to the palace." Her voice turned hoarse as she straighted and wiped the small line of sweat from the side of her face with her sleeve.
"Yeah sure... It's not like George will be awake while the day lasts you know. But maybe if you come back to check on me, you can take me back home with your teleportation skill. It was fun!" Henry spoke while smiling wide as she nodded and watched him run towards the playground. Finally, she stepped in and went over to drop his bag, then walking out, but before she could leave the threshold of the school, a tap was felt at her shoulder as her brother's teacher turned to face her.
"Sorry... But I just saw you around Prince Henry's bag?" The teacher asked with a curious tone of voice, but she genuinely seemed sweet.
"Oh well, I just dropped it off." She replied without hesitation while watching the kid came back around to tug at her sleeves.
"Aefia! Where is my bag? I forgot it!" He seemed panicked as she pointed at the crowd of other bags too.
"Aah... Thanks! Meet you after school then!" He spoke while waving a bye and dissapearing into the crowd of other kids at the play circle.
After that, the teacher was somewhat dumbfolded as she watched the girl walk away.
***
As her steps landed smoothly on the ground, she walked towards the bus station they were supposed to be waiting at.
"Are you alone? Like he just dissapeared leaving you alone with his bag?" She asked Merissa while her face showed signs of exhaustion already. Just when an arm wrapped around her throat and the other hand rustling her hair like she were still a kid.
"Why are you always testing my patience like that?! Where are the snacks?!" Lewis head while smacking her head at the end before letting her go, with her hair just slightly disheveled, not even close to a bird's nest. "Well your hair holds up well nowadays! And that's dissapointing..."
"Well I have my ponytail tied tightly so you can't even pull the stray hairs out. So the only part of the hair you are messing up is my bangs." She spoke while dusting her hair in front of her face. "And I had Brittany do it this way just to stop you from doing it everyday." Then her clip turned the silvering ends all the way back and her hood pulled above her head.
"What is the point on covering when there is particularly no one who hasn't noticed your silvering edges." Lewis folded his arms as he watched her pull out the waffer from her bag.
"Yeah! For what? So you can go around flexing your 'little sister'? Even when it means to let her bleed to death?!" She spoke while tearing open the packet and pulling out a small portion. "And about the snacks... You literally went through my bag last night to search for those candies I had hidden!"
"And you did the exact same this morning!" He shouted as he reached his hand out to grab the packet. But just as he was about to scratch it, she pulled it back with narrowed eyes at him. "No food for the braggers." She spoke while handing it at Merissa instead. "Here... Queen deserves it more." She smiled while bitting onto her own portion.
"Well thanks." She spoke while taking a little bit, and then sat beside her.
"Someone please be fair with me..." At this point, Lewis started to partially weep for the waffer as he watched his sister hand the remaining of the pack back and dusting her fingers. "Yeah whatever... It's not like I was the first person who thought about bringing it along."
With a short moment of complete silence later, Merissa seemed to be curious about a question she was hesitanting to ask. "You have an opinion?" Aefia asked while tilting her head a little bit. "No, it's just that I was wondering... If you were going to carry out an 'experiament' at that extend, won't we all have to return immediately for a day of mourning? Or even a day of justification the most?" The naive girl asked as she watched the two siblings exchange a wave of sinister smiles.
"Well that is also the reason why we aren't going to do it the first day. Say... We already knew that from a long time ago and everything has been planned precisely to fit any problems. Well, it's not like she will ever get the chance to speak about it again." He replied while tossing the wrapper into the dustbin from far and missed. "Urgh! Darn it!"
"But are you sure... You want to do that? At the end of the day, she is a human and she too is suffering. She might have said and done somethings to you that caused you excrutiating pain... But you are going a little too far with it." She bent her head downwards, which didn't go unnoticed to Aefia's eyes.
"There is a metaphor for this... Merissa." Aefia spoke while letting out a deep breathe and looking straight ahead. "They say... An eye for an eye and a head for another head. I am not saying this in regards to my own situation and pains that she caused... I am doing justice for her future victims. She told me... After she would have ended me... She would have killed you. And I won't allow that." With that being said, she stood up while dusting her black knee-length flock and walking forward.