Protect Me

The next day Stif entered my room as early as she could. She doesn't seem to have enough sleep or rather she didn't sleep at all, she was still wearing the clothes she had yesterday.

"Is it a busy week?" I asked.

"You're full of energy now," she looks happy at my recovery. "Yes, Nica returned with her unit wounded."

"What?"

"Yep, it's their last mission as a unit together with the government military. But it was hectic, it's final but hectic. Her next mission is to regroup with our own Artisan soldiers. I think your brother will be joining her platoon soon," Stif informed me.

"My brother has always wanted to become a soldier, not a businessman," I giggled.

Stif took her arm and checked my pulse or so I think she was. A white light came out of her thumb that she used to check on me. "You seem better but I won't recommend heavy and stressful activities yet. You may leave now if you want. With Ulysses though," her eyes gazed towards Ulysses who was still peacefully sleeping on the sofa.

"I think I'll stay until he wakes up," I said feeling sorry.

"Your choice," she placed my hand back on the bed.

Aaron entered my room in surprise, waking up Ulysses from his sweet sleep.

"Look what you did," I pouted.

"Sorry. I just started running here as soon as Stif told me that you're better." I guess they've been talking telepathically.

"All yours," Stif left us.

"Not really. Ulysses is here," Aaron kissed my forehead. "Are you really okay now?"

I nodded.

He sighed, "You were really weak last night."

"Could you guys go somewhere else? I'm trying to sleep here," Ulysses groaned.

"Stif said I shouldn't leave your side," I reminded.

"My talent could extend throughout this whole HQ. I could follow you. You don't have to worry about anything," Ulysses yawned.

"How are you able to do that without hurting your head?" I asked.

"Practice. Just practice. Now please, leave."

Aaron guided me when I stood up. Finally, I could feel my whole body again unlike yesterday.

Aaron said that Jo called my phone asking how I am. I bought a new phone after throwing away the old one. I don't know what to feel about her anymore, she scares me so much.

"What did you say?"

"I said that you're resting," he gave me back my phone.

"That's all?"

"She seems really confused, Sapphire. I don't think she really knows what's happening to her," Aaron said.

"Sapphire!" I heard a familiar voice called. I turn to see Julia running towards me. Her hair is tied in a pony making a cute tail-like swirl behind her. She stopped and caught her breath as reaches me, "Brother said that you weren't feeling well."

"I'm actually doing better now. I'm about to go to my room to rest more," I licked my lips. It's really dry no matter how much water I drink already.

"I want to come with you. I've been training really hard these past months and it's tiring my mind really bad."

"Alright," I held her hand and walked with her and Aaron towards the dormitory.

Later that day, I went to where the piano is and tried to play with it when I heard someone's footsteps coming closer.

I turned and saw Nica coming up from the stairs. Her face got bandages on and her other arm is in cast.

When she saw me she waved her hand and smiled.

I returned the smile.

I thought I should visit the others. I think that they're in the Training Grounds so I went there. As I made my way towards the Training Grounds something snapped in my head again. Like a comet that hit the earth's surface. I fell down on my knees. I was going to shout but I couldn't find my voice to do so.

"Nica", I called. I don't know why I called for her but my head is aching badly already I can't think straight. I lowered my head to the ground hoping that in this position the pain would decrease but it didn't. It has only gotten worse every second.

Seconds later, something warm started to surround me.

"Nica" I called again.

Something invisible and it's burning me. It hurts!

[Something's with you] Nica's telepathy suddenly burst into my head contributing to the pain I'm already feeling.

She had created a shield separating me from whatever there is. Nica entered the burning circle in ease, lowering herself beside me.

"Who are you?" she strongly asked me. What is she asking now?

"Let go or you'll get hurt," it came out of my mouth. It wasn't me. My body started to move by itself pushing Nica away. The pain in my head continued not making me think properly.

"What's happening here?" I could hear Ulysses' steps nearing us.

"Sapphire. It's not Sapphire." I heard Nica. My body moved on its own. I stood up and my legs started walking towards somewhere else.

My body is forcing itself to walk outside the invisible circle; it burns!

"No!" Nica tried to stop me.

"Free me or else," I said. This is not my voice. It's someone else's.

"I can't let you," Nica's voice is louder.

"The rest of my team will be here in no time. Shielding was the biggest mistake you've made," my mouth replied.

"Sapphire," Aaron called.

Julia was running towards me following Aaron's steps but she stopped when she felt the burning surrounding my body.

"Oh no," Julia mumbled. Not far from us, was the sound of a helicopter heading to the center of the HQ.

"They're here."

One by one people started to jump from it parachutes opened as they fell into the ground. The first one to be revealed is a huge guy whom I never wished to see again, Henry. Next was his sidekick that has the same talent as Aaron, and Miss Redrive.

Slowly, I returned to my consciousness. I fell on my knees and coughed hard, gasping for fresh air.

"Nica, it's me," I tried to raise my hand trying to tell her that I'm back in control of my body. The rest of the gang forming a V-shape in front of me.

I coughed continually trying to catch my breath.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Nica asked. My brother, Hal, stood on Nica s left side. "Our team is stronger than yours. You better leave now before experiencing the worst," Nica whose voice is now deeper warned Henry's side.

"I don't think that's an appropriate way to welcome your guests," Miss Redrive glared at Nica .

"We don't accept guests," Nica said strongly.

"We just want to see the whole HQ. The main joint in particular. A tour maybe," Miss Redrive stepped forward.

"Stop walking or I will hurt you," Nica hissed.

"Really? You might have forgotten, I could control over you," Miss Redrive looked at me.

"You can't fight. She's strong." I warned Julia.

"But I'm stronger," Julia said, ignoring my warning.

I'm too weak to argue with her but I tried my best to pull her behind me.

The Commander, Ton and Timothy who came from the Quarters run towards us.

"I didn't know that this would happen sooner," Ton mumbled to himself.

"You are in our HQ, hundreds of Artisans are in here. You should be warned." This is my first time to hear the Commander speak assertively.

"I see. Which one of you is the shield?" The enemy asked.

The war has started by doing that.

The truck that Aaron used to practice his talent started hovering up in the sky. It's just orbiting above us; it's the two telekinetic guys' fight.

Timothy stood beside Julia, I saw them nodding at each other, they must have mastered a technique to use against these people.

Miss Redrive fell on the ground instantly.

"No, shut up," Miss Redrive said in the air. "No, you shut up," she said again looking the other way.

Julia and Timothy laughed, making Miss Redrive talk to herself. Hal used his talent to take the helicopter upward in the sky and again to push the enemy away from the HQ. The truck exploded above us. I saw the other telekinetic guy groaned and Aaron smirked.

Ton helped me stand up and pulled me back inside the dormitory building.

"Thank you," I said as I tried my best to catch my breath.

"This is not a happy ending yet." He mumbled.

Somehow, that phrase made me tear up. "What?"

"You have to prepare yourself. You're going to lose someone," he helped me step away from the commotion.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The future is very clear. It's crystal clear. I've never seen this clear future before."

"What?" I wiped the tears off my face.

"I thought I should tell you this as soon as possible. Right when I saw you out there, everything just showed up in my head. You will lose someone important to you."

--

They were able to make Henry's team retreat from our HQ. It was really a wrong idea to begin with anyway—it was a very poor plan made by them.

Julia and Timothy are still celebrating on how awesome they defeated Miss Redrive and made her crazy, Aaron said that Nica helped him with the truck, Ulysses is resting in the Medical Facility because he already used too much of his talent against the illusionist who was pushing his talent on us really hard—if Ton didn't pull me away from the area he would've fallen already. Hal and Nica followed Henry's team to make sure that they were nowhere near us again. Ulysses said that shielding me last night might really be a wrong idea since it only made Miss Redrive locked up in my head all night.

Aaron stayed in my room with me resting his head on my shoulders with his eyes closed while his hand played with mine. I still cannot fathom what Ton had told me yesterday. Lose? Someone? Who is important to me? The thought made my whole body shiver.

"What are you thinking?" Aaron asked.

"Nothing important," I lied.

"Really?" he sat properly, "I don't think so."

"It's not really important, Aaron," It is. It is really important.

"Fine, if you're not ready to tell me I'll wait," he kissed the back of my hand.

Who am I going to lose? My brother? Julia? Aaron? It should not be from my new family or else I'm seriously going to lose my mind.

I lay my head on his shoulder.

"Whatever it is, always remember that I'm here." Aaron reminded me.

"I know that," I smiled.

"You need to take a rest. Stif said that you're still quite weak," he placed his arm around my shoulder.

"Okay," I closed my eyes. A beautiful melody started to swiftly reach my ears. I heard him hum for the first time. Not just any humming, it's a familiar tune.

"Aaron?"

"Yes?"

"That's you?"

"Yes, why?"

"Are you humming the song that I performed before?"

He nodded.

I wrinkled my brows, "I thought you weren't there at my performance."

"I'm able to listen during your practice. The melody echoes around the hall," he explained.

"Ah."

"By the way, the Commander said that you made a mistake during your performance. What happened?"

I thought the Commander had told him everything already. "Well, this is embarrassing," I bit my lower lip.

"It's okay. Why?"

"Well, at that time…I was jealous of Stif. That time, I didn't know about this sacred pairing. I am not even sure if I really had feelings for you back then. Then at the time of the performance, I wore my sapphire colored dress because you said I was pretty in it. I thought I should impress you," I can't continue anymore. I feel really embarrassed now.

"Continue please," he pleaded.

I took a deep breath before continuing, "Then…then I was searching for you in the audience only to find two empty seats beside Timothy. It broke me."

Aaron pulled me closer to him.

"He said that there was an emergency and you went out with Stif," I stopped. "Sorry, I know it's pretty selfish to think that way."

"Honestly, I was there," Aaron said.

"Huh?"

"I returned as fast as I could to watch you. I only drove the car for Stif because she was preparing her talent and she needed to focus. But I returned. I was only able to see you running out from the stage in your sapphire dress. I was going to follow you but the Commander told me not to. He said that you needed time to be alone. But I want to be beside you at that time. I want to hear you play that piano. I'm sorry if I hurt you. I didn't mean to."

My eyes remained locked on his. He was there, he saw me run off the stage, he was going to watch me but I left.

Aaron wiped a tear from my face, "shh. It's alright. I hear you play the piano all the time here in the HQ. It's alright. Plus, I like the view here better than there. In here, I'm able to sit beside you while you do your thing. I think it's nicer than watching you from afar."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I didn't think it's important," he curled his lips upward.

"It made me hate you so much. I even cursed you two," I exclaimed.

"Aww, she's jealous," he pinched my nose.

"It's not a joke, Aaron." I removed his arm around me so that I could face him better, "I was about to marry and didn't say anything about that because I hated you so much."

"Are you getting mad because of the past?"

"No, I find it ridiculous that you didn't tell me this the first time. You let me ignore you!"

"Look, I was confused back then, okay. Until the airport scene, I am confused about what I feel. I'm sorry. Please stop remembering the marriage thing. I hate that," he wrinkled his nose. "There goes your face again. Can you now tell me the problem?"

I shook my head.

He groaned, "You give me no choice." He pushed me to lay my back on the bed. He positioned himself on top of me and started giving little kisses on my lips. I placed my hands on his back pulling him closer to me. His kiss slowly then became harsher down to my neck. I couldn't catch up with the rest anymore. Only the moon would know what happened next.

I woke up when Aaron left a kiss on my lips before standing up. He made sure that I'm properly covered with a blanket before he stood up off the bed.

"Where are you going?" I didn't expect my voice to be dry.

"You're awake?" He zipped up his pants. "I'll help the Commander with the planning for the new protection for the HQ. We can't let another group of enemies come here. The whole team of shields is not enough anymore." He looked confused.

"You need a better shield?"

"Exactly," he fixed his sweater and flashed a smile at me. "Take enough rest. Stif will hate me for exhausting you."

I felt my cheeks blushed. I hide under the covers.

I heard him chuckling, "See you later at the Dinner Hall for breakfast."

I nodded.

The door closed signaling that he already left.

I sighed, "I can't believe this." I hugged myself. I got up off the bed and went to the bathroom to take a bath and fix myself. While taking a bath, I repeated to myself that I need to practice my music piece that I wrote last time. Thank goodness that they gave us all another chance to perform since the students passed out last time. I'm just hoping that I will not see Miss Redrive when I get back.

I saw Julia and Timothy playing with the piano as I approached it.

"Enjoying?" I asked.

"I'm teaching Timothy the simple piece I know," Julia smiled widely at me.

"That's nice," I stood beside them.

"Are you going to use it?" Timothy asked.

"It's alright. I can wait," I said.

"No, Timothy and I will go now," Julia grabbed Timothy's hand. "By the way, was there an earthquake last night? I'm not sure if you felt it but I did. My room is just next to yours so maybe you felt it too?"

I think I lost my smile when Julia asked me that. Did I not use my talent last night to cover things up? Did everyone hear it? Instead of shutting the noise did I broadcast it? I felt my face burning from embarrassment.

"Sister?"

"Ah, no…I didn't feel or hear anything…"

"I'm just asking if you feel it. What do you mean hear?" Julia pouted, "Let's go, Timothy. Sister is crazy," she and Timothy left.

My mouth fell open, "They can feel it?"

"Feel what?"

I straightened my spine, "Hal?" I slowly turn to face my big brother who is standing right behind me with a cup of coffee on hand. "Earthquake. Julia said they felt it."

"Ah yes, I did. It's weird," my brother scratched his nape. I'm guessing now that it's not me who's at fault here. It's the person I was with last night losing grip of his talent.

"Anyway, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm better."

"Practicing already?"

I nodded, "I need to get a good internship. It's Miss Redrive who's going to give out the recommendations."

"Redrive. She's one of them, right? The woman?" Hal placed an index over his temple and made circular motions.

"Yes…the cuckoo."

"I don't think she'll return," Hal took a sip.

"I don't know," I bit the side of my cheek.

"I'll come with you tomorrow then," he said.

"I don't think that's necessary. I have Aaron with me," I informed. "He always comes with me wherever I go."

"Bodyguard?"

"No, as a sacred pair."

He shook his head as he drank his coffee. He's treating you well, right?"

I frowned. "Of course."

"Just checking."

"He's the one who actually kept following even if I told him that I'll be fine but I guess he already mastered my bad luck magnet to know what the right move is."

He didn't say anything to that and emptied his cup of coffee instead. "Two is better than one. I'll come with you tomorrow."

I just nodded.

The next day, Hal drove us to university. He also took some clothes with him to sleep in my dorm for a week. I should start asking these people to pay rent. The ride was a bit awkward. Aaron tries to make a conversation with Hal but Hal only gives short answers or answers that will immediately end the conversation. Aaron gave up in the end and just stared at the window. I don't know how things are going to be now that they're together in the secret spot. I looked outside the window to get a view of them.

Aaron is playing with the grass while Hal remained quiet beside him while reading report papers.

"Sapphire," a soft voice called.

I couldn't look right away but I forced myself to, "Hi, Jo."

She just stared at me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Can I…sit here?"

My eyebrows met, "What are you asking?"

"I don't think that whatever happened last time was right. I don't know how those words came out of my mouth. I wrote something different from that," she opened her side bag taking pieces of paper from it and showed it to me. "See? They're different. Even the melody is different."

I think I know what she meant now. I just experienced it the other day, "You might be just tired, Jo," I lied.

Miss Redrive was controlling her to distract me. So that I would let my guards down and so she could enter my mind. I thought of a stronger barrier. I wish I'm a shield like Ulysses so that I could share it with Jo and Ven and to protect everyone else.

"I don't know. I actually didn't plan to go to class today but I really just wanted to apologize for what happened that day," she kept the papers back in her bag.

"Apology accepted," I smiled. It's not your fault, Jo. It never was. I understand it now.

"Are we friends again?" she asked.

"When did we stop?" I patted the seat next to me.

She obliged and sat beside me.

"Whoa what's this?" Ven just entered the room carrying two instruments with him. One guitar and one violin.

"Not so you to be late," I said.

"I overslept," he pursed his lips.

"I don't think so," I squinted my eyes.

He placed an index finger on his lips.

My eyes widened.

He wrinkled his face telling me to shut up. He sat on his seat behind us and sighed.

"Café later?" Jo asked.

I faced her, "Sure."

"Class, announcement," the president caught the class' attention. "Miss Redrive won't be able to make it due to a migraine. The doctors won't let her leave the hospital. She said that we should just prepare for our next class," the president showed us her phone as proof that our professor texted her.

"Wow, is café our magic word to keep the professors away?" Ven sarcastically asked.

"Let's go," Jo stood up and we followed.