"So hot," I mumbled, wondering if the A/C had been turned off during the night. I tried to move but felt like I was locked in place. I mumbled something incoherent before relaxing again, debating whether I should go back to sleep.
"Bru-REE?" Arielle questioned. "Are you going back to sleep?”
I don't know. It's too hot to go back to sleep though. Arielle, can you put the A/C back on?
"Bru." Arielle huffed. "The room doesn’t even have A/C. That’s not the reason why you're so hot."
I frowned, trying to figure out another reason for why I might be so warm. It's still summer, right? Maybe that's why. Wait, no A/C. Our dorm had A/C before. Who took it away? I bet it was Cairus. He's a snow tiger so he likes the cold.
"Bru-reeee," Arielle chirped. "Cairus didn't steal anything. Open your eyes."
I was reluctant to follow her suggestion but I knew I wouldn't fall back asleep and would rather take a cool shower instead. It took a few tries before I was finally able to force my tired eyes open.
Hmm...this looks like Finn's chest, but didn't I share the bed with Orion last night?
"Bru...bru...bru," Arielle replied. "The joys of love. Waking up in a blissful sandwich of testosterone. I feel as a familiar, I'm missing out on this. Then again, female hormones are annoying, so maybe I’m better off."
Sandwich? Testosterone?! I lifted my head to see Finn's relaxed expression as he breathed peacefully, still deep in sleep. His short pink hair was messy and his free right arm rested under his head, sharing my pillow. I lowered my gaze to see his chiseled chest and noticed his left arm was around my waist. He was in dark green boxers with little pink stars on them, which I had to admit were cute and suited him well. My pixie boy. Wait. Not mine...Uh...hold on, where's Orion?
"Bru-Reeeeee," Arielle answered, sounding sorry for me. "Hmm, you’re rather slow this morning. I should tell Magnor."
I'm not slow! I was going to continue my defense but then I noticed Orion's arm was resting on my lower thigh. I looked over my shoulder and saw his sleeping figure pressed up against me. His long white hair was all over his pillow, with a few streaks clinging to his face. His lips were slightly parted, his inhales and exhales making a quiet sound. His pale complexion was still flawless as ever, not a pimple or even a pore in sight. He stirred slightly, tightening his hold on me and nudging his head into my shoulder.
"Celestia." He was whispering in his sleep. I felt my cheeks grow red as I finally realized what Arielle was saying. Oh hell, I'm in a man sandwich!
"Bru," Arielle chirped. "I told you that. Are you sure you’re okay? You've been really delirious the past couple of mornings. Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep?"
I sighed, relaxing my head back against Finn's chest. Now that I knew the reason why I was so hot, I was content to rest, not wanting to disturb either of them. I think I'm still really exhausted. I don't know. I just woke up, yet I feel like I didn’t sleep at all. I'll tell Magnor about it today, or maybe Father.
Today was the day we would be told the truth about Aslan Academy. Four days ago we had to go to a mandatory training session. We had to attend or face the consequences, regardless of the fact that Caio and I were suffering due to the sun’s absence.
None of us knew we would be attacked by Forsaken, beings of darkness that had somehow managed to flood the halls of the school. While the guys had been fighting them off in the halls, I was stuck in the bathroom, trapped in the darkness.
Orion had come to my aid, shifting into his alicorn form and revealing what he was in order to save me. The others arrived to help, and when we tried to find the emergency exit, Magnor had appeared to lead us out through some portal.
When we arrived on the other side, we were greeted with the unexpected change of scenery as we realized we’d been blindsided this entire time. That was when my father, Orlando Rainbow, arrived and revealed that we'd passed the real test. The entire time we'd thought we were attending Aslan Academy, School for Hunters and Huntresses, had been nothing but a lie: a test to determine the true best of the best.
We weren't given any other information at that time. My father and Magnor insisted we should all get medical attention and would get an explanation once we'd recovered.
I was the most "injured," as the guys insisted, and they stressed that I should get the most attention. I only had a few cuts and bruises, but my body was weak and my mental state needed to be checked. I thought it was stupid, but Magnor wouldn't let me wiggle out of any of the suggested treatments, stating he wanted to be sure I wasn't tainted, especially after being trapped with the Forbidden for such a long time.
I hadn't given them the details of what occurred. Only Orion and Finn knew a little bit from when I struggled to sleep. Apparently, I was experiencing nightmares of some sort, but when I woke, I couldn’t remember having a bad dream.
I didn't know what to expect today at our meeting with Father, but I hoped we'd have a moment to talk privately. Maybe he'd be able to confirm my health was in check and make sure I was okay. I did feel better than I had four days ago, but I didn't feel confident that I was fully healed. Could be just an after effect from everything that happened.
"Bru-ree, bruuuu," Arielle sang. I opened my eyes to see her fly over to where I was resting. She landed on Finn’s bicep and lowered her head to brush her face against my cheek.
I grinned. "Morning Arielle," I whispered out loud, realizing I hadn't greeted her yet.
"Bru-Ree,” she replied cheerfully. Her wings fluttered and flickered on and off, the blue flames appearing and disappearing as she hopped in place. "Morning! Aside from your delirious behavior from earlier, how are you?"
I smirked, rolling my eyes. I'm fine and I wasn't delirious. It’s hard for me to catch on to things when I'm half asleep, remember?
"Bruuu," she hummed. "Hmm. I know."
I noticed the change in her tone, piquing my concern. What's wrong, Arielle?
"Bru." She made her way down Finn's arm, hopping down to land in my hand. I lifted her up and placed her in the space between my neck and shoulder. She snuggled right in, sitting quietly while I petted her beautiful feathers.
I'd noticed over the last few days her appearance had changed slightly; her feathers were now a mixture of pinks, blues, and purples. Her eyes were still their amber beauty, but I wondered if the incident was what caused her feathers to start to shift and change.
"Ari," I whispered, hoping my gentle voice would prompt her to open up.
"Bru-ree, ree,” she chirped quietly. "I'm worried about you. You still don't look well to me."
I gave her a sympathetic look, continuing my stroking motions down her little back.
I'm okay, Arielle. Don't worry so much.
"Bruuu." She ruffled up her feathers and snuggled next to me, making me realize my words hadn’t given her any reassurance.
"I'm okay, Arielle. Really. Don't be so concerned about me. I feel much better than before and I'll get checked with Magnor and Ms. Arcadia again today. You can come if you’d like. Would that help relax you?" I whispered out loud.
"Bruuu,” she replied. "I guess."
She closed her eyes and went quiet. I continued to pet her, closing my eyes as well. Arielle, I won't disappear or die. Don't be afraid. Where did my feisty spirited familiar go?
I knew she was anxious about what she dealt with before I discovered her that fateful day. She was still quiet and I opened my eyes to see worried amber ones staring at me. "Bru-Ree?" she questioned hesitantly. "You won't die...right? You'll get better and we’ll run and I'll train with Sia at night....everything will be okay, yes?"
I gave her a sad smile, moving so my cheek pressed against her little head. I'm not going anywhere, Arielle. We’ll figure things out here and talk with Father. Then, we’ll work on returning back to our usual schedule. I bet Sia misses your spunkiness.
"Bru," she replied. "Okay...I love you."
Her little expression of worry broke my heart, making me realize I must have really scared her and she'd just been putting up a confident front this entire time I'd been recovering. I love you even more. Why don't we sleep a little more?
"Brruuuuuu,” she hummed, the sound a little more cheerful than before. She closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again as if to make sure I hadn't disappeared.
She stared at me for a moment and I gave her a small smile, giving her enough reassurance that she closed her eyes again. This time, she fell back to sleep.
I continued to stroke her head for some time, trying to predict what would happen today during our meeting.
Father is the headmaster of Aslan Academy. This whole time, he wasn't a gatekeeper. Does Mom know? Magnor must know, yet he didn't tell me.
I didn't know exactly how I felt about the situation, but I felt at least somewhat betrayed by the deceit. Magnor had noticed my apprehensiveness when he was around but hadn't approached me yet, either because I was still recovering from the attack at the "old" Aslan Academy or he was waiting for my emotions to calm before confronting me.
Either way, I was really upset and hoped we got answers soon. I let out a yawn, allowing the tension in my body to slowly leave me while I enjoyed being in the middle of my pixie-alicorn sandwich.
Finn had been overprotective since we got here, and the others had followed suit. Even if I had to use the restroom, Arielle would have to go with me otherwise one of them would, no excuses. I didn't blame them for their behavior, but a girl needed some privacy, especially after being around six hot males all day.
Even now as I lay between the two of them, I was doing my best to try and ignore my arousal, even though the thought of being with both of them was turning me on more with each second that passed.
I need to try and get my own room, or some type of alone time, or I'll be so screwed. Can't even watch my "shows" because Orion's always here. Grrr. Maybe I can get Arielle to shoo him away for a few minutes. I guess that would be good enough.
I decided to think of something else, to distract my mind long enough to go back to sleep. So I returned to pondering what was going to happen now that we'd passed this test.
We only got a glimpse of the enormous school grounds, since Father teleported us directly into the medical building on the south side of this place. The dimension we were in was called Asanla, which was where Aslan Academy originally came from, and according to our new knowledge, was where the real Aslan Academy stood.
I finally started to drift off to sleep, hoping the others were okay in their sleeping chambers. Theo and Hunter were sleeping in the room opposite ours, while the twins, Caio and Cairus, were in a room down the hall.
Sleep finally began to take me and I stroked Arielle's soft feathers a few more times, hoping I could help soothe her so she didn’t have any bad dreams. Her loyalty and love for me always reminded me how grateful I was to have her with me. I knew in the next couple of weeks, I'd need her and the guys by my side.
The last thought I had was of floating in the little bubble barrier I made back in the washroom during the attack, while the darkness clung to my wrists. It was in the past, yet my wrists felt like they were once again trapped in the darkness’ cold grasp.
I whimpered, beginning to feel afraid, but I knew at any moment I'd fall back asleep. Something warm wrapped around my wrist and something soft pressed against my neck. "Celestia, no harm will come to you." Orion's sweet voice whispered in my ear and the chilling fear that had been trying to overtake me dispersed, leaving me feeling calm once more. The markings on my wrists of winged hearts felt a bit warm, the sensation adding to my calm.
I wanted to say thank you to Orion, but I couldn't stay awake a second longer, finally falling back to sleep.
Thank you, Orion.