⁰¹⁴ | Rose

🎧 Lush Life by Zara Larsson

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"I was in the human realm, fuck. The Imperials had a way to go there, and they had special rings for it, which the Empress kept well hidden, and only handed to those she held dear to protect themselves in an emergency. She gave one to my mom, my mom pushed it to me before she died, after the Princess disappeared, I panicked and used mine, but I had no idea where it would take me. I found myself in the human realm, I tried to comeback, but given the lack of magic there, it took the ring 7 years to recharge, and that's when I came back. 8 years ago."

His eyes darkened, "That's why it feels wrong," he exclaimed. "It was the direct interference of the human realm that made your magic feel so different, like with the girl that came in last year. It wasn't the anti-magic tool that pressed your magic so much to make you loose it like that, it was the atmosphere of the human world that repressed your magic violently like that. You were locked with humanity 7 years, which resulted in that chaos."

"We imagined that could be the case, but we didn't know how, or if it was really it. We saw a similar case last year, way less catastrophic, but similar, and the girl told us she had been in the human realm for 7 years, that she had left our world at 14, and she only managed to comeback then. She was luckily adopted by a noble family, which is why she got here a year before you, but she was originally an orphan."

"What?" It couldn't be…

"What happened to your ring?" Dove asked.

I swallowed, "It was stolen some time after I got in the orphanage."

"Then it fits," Cat finally spoke again. "The girl in question told us she had stolen the ring from someone in the orphanage she was initially in, to runaway in the last minute, but that she thought it would take her to a place in the fae realm. We asked to see the ring, but she said she lost it as soon as she got back here. She must have,"

No way, "Is… is her name Rose?" No way, no way.

Cat and Dove a look and turned back to me, "You know her?"

I felt my eyes burning, "Rose is alive?"

"I guess that answers your question," he mocked Dove.

"Is Rose alive?" I asked, needing to know.

"Yes, she's alive. Rose Kishimoto," Cat told me.

"Not Kishimoto, she's Greg's older sister. She... she's alive."

Finally, the bastard sat down in the seat located in front of the end of the bed I'm in. "What's your deal with her? You are acting strange."

"She defended me from Lisa when I had just arrived in that hell, at that time, she was Lisa's target, and she was beaten and thrown in the torture room because of me, because she defended me from that bitch. She came back the first three times, and she was kind to me, she was lovely, friendly like none of the others had been. But in the 4th time, little after my ring had been stolen, which I thought to be Lisa's doing, she didn't come back, and we all thought she had died.

"Greg was 10, I was 14, he suffered a lot and I grew protective of him, so I took Rose's place and became Lisa's target. I couldn't show that much affection for him, because it would make him a bigger target to Lisa, so, I did what I could. I blamed myself for Rose's death, because I thought the torture room had gotten to her, after she got badly beaten for me again, like an older sister would, even if she was just 2 months older than me. She had defended me with her life, as if I was precious to her, so, she became precious to me, and so did Gregory.

"That's why I didn't think twice before jumping from the demonic dragon to save him, just like she would do it for both of us. In a certain way she reminded me of Ravenna, she was an older sister, and the type to do all in her power for her baby siblings, which definitely broke her when they died, if it broke me too. In the human realm, I was adopted soon after I got there by amazing parents, and I used the little magic I could gather to help them unknowingly have the babies they couldn't, because I didn't want to leave them alone when I left.

"I stayed there long enough to meet my baby siblings, and not to let them get hurt with my absence, I wiped all of their memories of me, making sure the babies would be healthy and lovely children to them. And it hurt having to comeback, I felt like I was losing my second family, and then I got Rose and lost her too. There was no way would loose Gregory too, even if we were never so close, because, again, Lisa would target him to harm me and I couldn't afford that. I protected him and the youngest kids from her the best I could, but that got me constantly punished."

Pointing to myself, I chuckled self-deprecatingly, "The rest is well, history, you already know how the torture room fucked me over. My family was always blessed with great magic, so I knew that I if I took it all and waited to make sure I would get inside WIA, I would be able to use it again and then I would make Lisa pay. I also came here to become strong so I'll be able to help Princess Ravenna murder all the Kings and Queens when she makes her grandiose comeback, which I have faith in. If you think I'm strong, corrupted or not, it's because you don't know her power."

"You shouldn't be saying that," Cat gasped.

"I meant it. Besides, what? Are you going to tell them?"

Dove cursed, "You are too reckless, Davina. We won't tell them as I owe no explanation to them, and they have no authority in the academy, they are Royals, not Imperial, and this an Imperial institution."

That shocked me, "You didn't bend your knee?"

She scoffed bitterly, "No. But I have no power against the God of Death, and he wants Ravenna."

"Well, I want to kill the Kings and the Queens myself, but we can't have all we want, can we? Seems like he's just another spoiled brat, who is trying to force both the fae and the demon race to do his biding. Isn't he the almighty God of Death? Why doesn't he go there and find Ravenna on his own? Is he incapable of such?" I mocked, angrily.

He can't expect me to give myself to him. Not going to happen!

"Who said he isn't doing that too?" He spoke, his voice guttural.

Damn it, he's so damn hot and for what? What was the reason for making him this damn hot if he's such a piece of shit? This is infuriating and so painfully unfair. "Then let him do it on his own, he's a God, why would he need the help of insignificant beings like us? What are we close to a God like him? It's unreasonable."

"He does it, because he can," he exclaimed.

"Oh, of course, of course," I scowled annoyed out of my dam mind. "He's a tyrant then, who uses his power just because he can."

"How does that makes him a tyrant?" He growled.

"Why are you defending him?" I snapped.

"Because he's the God od Death?"

"And?" I growled. "Are you submissive too?"

His eyes darkened so much, it made me wonder if I made the wrong question for a second, "I guarantee you, you annoying little thing, that I am not submissive in any way."

Well, great, now my mind will take it in a dirty way, damn it. "Oh, yeah? Because it's not showing. You are looking like a submissive stupid mindless brat, who thinks he's better than everyone around him, and who thinks everything should go according to how he and his little foolish God judges right. But you know what? You are not a God, and I'm not scared of you. You're nothing to me, and I don't give a shit about what you judge to be right or wrong. And your God is even more foolish to make deals with lowly beings like us, and be made a fool of."

"Didn't you say I should let you come with me so you would avoid me from jumping on her and breaking her neck or something?" Dove said before he could open his mouth, but he kept his glare on me. "Why is it that it's you who's nearly jumping on her."

Well, that sounds ambiguous.

"Which Lord do you serve?" He asked me, ignoring her.

I frowned, "Lord? Ravenna?" I mocked.

"Lord as in God," he hissed.

He's very hot headed, "None? I worship no God, it was a God who fucked my family up, and the Imperials. I don't believe any of them could ever help me in anything, none of them would ever make me get to where I want to be. And for as long as I'm against the God of Death for what he caused, and I don't give a shit if it was payback, I don't see how I could serve any of them, if they're the same kind, I'm no short of insignificant to higher beings like them."

"Then let me rephrase it," he clenched his jaw. "Which God was the one responsible for corrupting you?"

The God of Death. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He narrowed his eyes, "You are laughing."

"This is not me laughing, love, I assure you," I mocked. "I have not laughed in 15 years, and it won't be something that came out of your damn lips that will change that. I am grinning, because what you are implying is absurd. I have never met any God, neither have I contacted any of them, even less allowed one of them to corrupt me. That's preposterous, and it's offending me, genuinely so. I'm grinning because I'm incredulous. And I am incredulous with your audacity."

"Do you know where Ravenna is?"

I am right here, you dumb ass. "Dude, get over it."

"Do, you, know, where, she, is?"

I couldn't help it, I laughed, even though I said I wouldn't, because fuck if he isn't an insistent one. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Torture me if you want, you will get nothing out of me. When she's ready, she will come around to get her revenge."

"That sounds like a yes," he groaned.

"No, a yes sounds like a 'Yes', nothing other than that. And you are sounding too stressed, you should try sleeping around, sexing that stress out of your body, you're getting unbearable to be near," I snapped, angry.

"Excuse me?" He yelled, standing up, stressed.

Oh, he's just proving my point. "Hah, you must be a virgin if you are so frustrated over sex. Or do you people not talk about normally? Is it a taboo around here or something? Really, you should try that out, it does wonders to the body, it would have the same effect as cardio exercises, but with pleasure. Your stress would go puff. But well, if you're like this with everyone, I doubt anyone would be up the daring charity of going down with you. So, that would definitely explain why you could be a virgin and,"

"Fuck that, I'm going to kill you myself," he yelled and instantly, both Cat and Dove jumped off their seats to stand between us, Dove's white feathery wings and Cat's fairy dark pink with green wings out. "Fuck off."

"Who are you to decide who lives or dies?" Dove gasped, using his own words against him. "Remember the real problem, bastard."

"This bratty little thing is,"

"She has no idea what's at stake," Cat snapped at him.

"We need her power, and whatever she knows," Dove exclaimed.

I blinked, confused, "What is… at stake?"