Both turned towards the intruder, getting face slapped by reality by the madam with the high end ponytail firmly sealed in a spandex leather trouser that complemented her long legs accompanied with some fitted black heels.
Her shiny black leather jacket curtained over her white tank top which was inked with the words;
—I Eat Men For Breakfast—
Her gothic makeup was perfectly baked on her face, giving an ointment to her name— Jinx.
She began to speak softly, a smudge smile appearing on the side of her lip. "The description clearly stated; 'Under construction, DO NOT VISIT'."
"I invited him here," Dawn said, taking a step further towards Jinx. "Do you have a problem with that, Jinx?" She asked, raising an eyebrow just to draw the line on Jinx questioning her audacity.
An awkward stare rushed through their faces before Jinx finally broke a small chuckle to cleanse the air.
"Of course not, princess." She replied, shifting her attention to Ace. "Not anyone is allowed to—"
"You might want to talk about how your plan to get rid of me in the dungeon flopped." Ace said softly, taking a step towards her and forcing her to stop mid sentence.
"What do you mean by that?" Jinx asked, her mean demeanor carefully hiding the skip her heart had hunched at the mention of the dungeon.
"Thought you could avoid this conversation for long?" Ace continued, managing a sheepish smile on his face as he trailed around Jinx like a manipulative being with his hands casually tucked in his pockets.
"I'm sorry, I'm not following-g." She stuttered, a sense of unease creeping over her, causing her heart to race with a mix of fear.
Dawn twitched a little, her gaze boring a hole into Jinx despite the distance between them. She folded her arms as she watched Jinx in the kangaroo court Ace had set up around her.
"Trying to play dump, are you? You should know better to clean up after yourself after making a mess, don't you think?"
"Huh?"
"Remember my first day here? You made Damien turn limp with your elemental acupunctures, same thing that took my consciousness in that dungeon and this can only—"
"To hell with your baseless assumption!" Jinx flared, her fists clenched hard by her side, her face turning pale with each truth she heard about herself. "Anyone else could master that trick and use my skill, Ace. Don't try to play smart with me. Why-y would I want to eliminate a prawn like you?" She continued, fumbling with her last words as she landed with a slight stutter.
Hearing her make a spill, Ace chuckled, his mind brewing with gladness as he had found a way to corner her to spill the truth already. He continued taking turns around her, elevating the tension between them which made Jinx a lot more uncomfortable.
"If your aim was not to eliminate me…" He paused, watching Jinx shudder a little in anticipation of his next words while her fingers tightened in anger. "We can all assume you were after Dawn."
Dawn's face glistened a little in surprise, her mind dazzling with how smooth the interrogation was coming up. Her eyes trapped Jinx in an intense stare, driving Jinx to bite her lips continuously as it seemed Ace was hitting a spot.
"You bastard!" Jinx gnawed, shooting at Ace to grab him. She had summoned a condensing mistball, ready to ram her attack into him, but he was a step ahead of her, tilting his shoulder to the side with smooth precision while she caught the air, almost falling.
Before she could fall face down and smudge her face into the marble floor, Ace had pulled her back seamlessly, grabbing her arm and cornering it behind her while pinning her to a shelf close by, closing the distance by activating his dash skill.
BAM!
The shelf relled as they landed against it, awaking the ancient books that had been in slumber for hundreds of years. A small mist of magic crept out of the pages of some book, giving the library a little ethereal feel as the mana energy seeped out.
"I really have no business with you yet, Jinx." Ace said, still holding her firmly against the shelf, a smirk of domination playing on his lip.
'Ugh!' Jinx grunted in annoyance, hoping to break free from his hold with brute resistance,but her attempts flushed down the drain, her face brushing against the books on the shelf, smudging her gothic makeup.
She couldn't believe a first year had just cornered her with both words and physical contact. For a brief second, she hated her existence, hoping she could turn the hand of time back a little to deprive Ace of taking dominance over her.
Only if she could.
"What do you want?" She inquired, her breath hot as lavar.
"Admitting to your crime so fast?" He returned, laughing hysterically.
Jinx tried to struggle against his hold again, the corner of her eyes catching Dawn in a frame. She sucked in her teeth, realizing she was falling deeper into the trap.
"Seems there's something you want from me real bad."
"Ou… you're a smart one, Jinx, I like that— and what I want from you is Six."
"What?!" She spat. "You just be out of your mind. That rat can only be mine."
"Don't bother to resist, Jinx because things will only get harder for you as from now."
"I should have killed that bitch when I had the chance to. I knew she'd want to leave when I put her on your tail."
"That's enough talk. My patience is running out."
* * *
"You both might want to wrap your romance up now as today might be your last together." Jinx said, after handling Ace the soul ring Six was trapped in.
She groped her arm like she was injured, having read the questioning expression on their faces, she continued.
"Talent registration for all dungeon adventurers starts tomorrow." She added before walking out of the library in defeat, her silhouette knifing the marble floor with rage as she sprawled off.
"Surprised you let her leave in one piece even after finding out she was after your neck." Ace murmured, wearing the ring on one of his fingers.
Dawn nodded, a relaxed sigh escaping her lips. " This is not her first try and her aim is probably to stop me from getting to the book."
"Book? What book?"
"The universal cosmic book— which is no longer in here." She paused, giving him a lovely sad stare. "The only book that can lead us to Anya."
With his attention fully drawn to Dawn, Ace's face hardened as he heard her speak.
"If the book is not here, then…"
"Jinx has left a clue, which means the book will come back to surface tomorrow—" She stopped again, looking away from him and walking towards the giant window.
"During the registration for dungeon adventurers."