*Chapter 6*

~Mateas~

》Kidnapping the Captain《

Time moved in slow motion. Everything slowed down. Nora wouldn't stop counting, and Lyna simply stood still. Waiting.

Why wasn't she fighting back? Was it because she didn't have enough energy? Enough power? Would she die?

I couldn't let that happen. But what should I do? If I pulled Nora's arm back, she might pull the trigger on Lyna on accident. If I summoned a blade, it would cause a loud commotion, drawing attention.

Nora was on her last count when Lyna opened her eyes, and I froze. Her eyes were blood red. The same color as Oblivion's red eye, without the black covering. The tips of her hair changed into the same color, and I didn't budge.

What happened to her?

She pushed the gun from Nora's hand as soon as she pulled the trigger, making the bullet fly into the wall behind her. Nora pulled her fist back, and just when she was about to strike, Lyna caught her hand.

I've never been scared of anyone before. Not even Oblivion, who I was angry at. But this one... was something else.

I was frightened.

She pulled Nora forwards, and struck her elbow right at her neck. Nora gasped, and then fell down senseless.

"Don't make me angry." She looked down at Nora, and then crossed her arms. I simply blinked at her.

"Is she dead?" I looked down at Nora, but could clearly see her chest move regularly. I sighed in relief, and put my hands up at Lyna.

"Now I see why he wanted you on his side." She smirked at me, and then her eyes returned to their deep violet color, along with the tips of her hair. I put my hands down, and looked at Nora again.

"What do we do with her?" She was about to answer me when the doorbell ran again. Her eyes widened, and she looked into my eyes. She glanced at Nora, and then indicated the room behind me. I nodded, and she ran to answer the door.

I heard her talk to someone outside, and began dragging Nora inside by the arms. I set her on the floor, and then summoned a blade. Who knew who it would be this time?

Standing ready at the door, I tightened my grip on the blade handle. This time, I would fight back. This time, I wouldn't be a bystander.

I heard footsteps, and closed my eyes. Judging by how was it was coming, they would reach the room in a few seconds.

On feeling the slight breeze that came along with someone's movement, and the loudness of the footsteps, I struck. I opened my eyes, and regretted my decision.

"Um..." My blade was just a little distance from her neck, almost piercing her skin. Lyna blinked at me, and then put her hands up.

"I surrender?" She did look pale, and about to fall. Shoot, I was about to cut her head off, simply because I was on edge.

"Just the neighbors. I told them I was watching some action movie..." she explained, and I realized that I hadn't put the blade down. I threw it to the side, and nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'm paranoid right now." I said in a rush, and she nodded with wide eyes. She looked over at Nora, and then at me. I understood what she was thinking.

I grabbed both of Nora's legs, and one of her arms. Lyna walked over, and did the same. Nora's long hair spilled to the floor, her head just barely grazing the ground.

We lifted her higher, and Lyna looked up at me. I indicated that I wanted to move her to the other room, and she nodded. She lifted her higher, and began following me. We took small steps, and began going into the room before Lyna yelped.

I turned to look at her, only to see that she was wincing. Looking down, I saw that Nora's head was bumping into the doorframe. I cringed, and turned slightly so that we could drag her in.

Lyna pulled a chair, and set it in front of me. I carried Nora bridal style, and set her down on the wooden furniture. The devil handed over some of my spare handkerchiefs, and rope, and we set to work. Lyna took the captain's ankles, and tied them tightly to the frame, while I did the same to her wrists.

Finally, we tied the handkerchief around her mouth, to prevent a loud scream. I sighed as I sat on the bed.

"We just kidnapped a captain." Lyna stated, sitting next to me. I nodded, not quite believing it either.

"Yup." I agreed, and pursed my lips. Well then, this was quite interesting. Within the span of two days, I had run away from my coronation, found Lyna, took her into my apartment, and kidnapped Nora. Not to forget that we learned that Azazel was coming back.

I jolted as I heard Lyna start to laugh. It started with a sudden small outburst, a small chuckle. Then she began giggling, and then full out laughing, holding onto her stomach. I could only stare, nervously chuckling as she laughed.

She was beautiful, no doubt about it. Her white hair lightly spilled on her face, gently framing her features, her eyes a mix of light purple and blue. Her entirely pale cheeks were lightly flushed with a pink color.

"Man, what a day! In 24 hours, I met Azazel, got kicked out of my own void, fell from the sky, lost most of my powers, met a runaway prince, and now kidnapped a captain. I feel like a human again." She looked over at me, a bright smile on her face. Looks like our train of thoughts followed the same tracks. I laughed along with her, unable to believe it myself.

"Thank you." She breathed out, now able to take in air after her laughing outburst. Her hand was on mine, lightly pressed on my knuckles. I blinked, and a light blush took over my cheeks.

"Thank you too." I turned my hand, and squeezed her small fingers lightly. She grinned, and stood up, looking at Nora.

Nora... how did she find me so quickly? Only one day had passed, I was expecting to be found at least a week later. Hopefully no one else knew...

"They don't." Lyna spoke up, and I looked up at her. They don't? Who was she talking about? She turned to me, a smirk on her face.

"I can read minds. It doesn't take as much power as I thought it would... which is a good thing. Nora didn't tell anyone about this place. She came here on her own, by walk." Lyna looked at Nora as she spoke, her eyes focused on the top of Nora's deep brown hair. The last sentence was said in confusion, as if she wasn't able to understand why she did that. But I did.

The royal army kept very close tabs on their soldiers. With Nora being captain, they would know each and every movement she made. She would've probably taken her leave, worn a long black coat over her uniform, and caught a cab. She would've taken it till the edge of the city, where she walked from. Just in case the driver recognized her.

Lyna stared at me in shock. I shrugged, this was what we both knew from the Academy. Not running away, but how to make the perfect planning in our heads. How to make the best of a situation.

"That's what she did then..." She looked back at Nora, squinting lightly. For some reason, I didn't even mind thar she could read our thoughts. I didn't even mind that she was doing it with ease.

"But suspicion..." I shook my head. There was no way she would have any suspicion on her. Everyone trusted her completely, of she said she didn't know where I was, she didn't. But she lied in this case.

"Can you figure out how she knew where I was in the first place?" I asked Lyna, and she bit her lip and nodded. She started turning pale again, and I gulped. Was she straining herself? Was she over using her power?

Lyna concentrated on the top of Nora's head, holding her hands together. I stood up, standing next to her, just in case she felt weak. I was tall compared to her, the top of her head barely reaching my mouth.

"She knew from before..." She squinted hard at Nora, and pulled back. "She was rummaging through your room, searching for her notebook, when she found this key. She stole it for a day, asking a friend to make a duplicate, and then put it back. She later went to a real estate agent, asking for some apartments that were out of the city, but not too far, and after a lot of wrong tries, she found this apartment. Using the duplicate key, she was able to unlock it."

I could only listen in shock. That did sound perfectly like Nora. That was exactly something she would do. She knew all along...

"Then why not bring me before the coronation?" I asked aloud, and she looked up at me. Her face was almost a complete paper white, and her eyes were almost closed in exhaustion.

I held her, and she didn't resist. She was far too tired to move. Maybe reading minds did take more power than she realized.

My hands were placed on her cold shoulders, holding her upright. She was breathing very slowly, and she looked up at me.

Pursing my lips, I kneeled down slightly, using my left arm to hold her under her legs, and right arm around her back. She seemed surprised, and a blush took over her face, but she didn't push me away.

"You really need to take care of yourself more." I stated, my voice losing all of its playfulness. She blinked at me, then smiled lightly.

"No, I don't have to anymore." She stated, her eyes turning a little blue. I narrowed my eyes at her, and my eyebrows turned down.

"Why not?" I asked, my tone barley hiding my anger. She had to take care of herself. Why was she saying that she didn't need to?

"Because now I have you." Her voice was soft, and sweet. Like a rich cream that you couldn't resist getting addicted to. I stopped breathing when she said that, and I knew my cheeks were turning red.

"Alright then, devil. You are under my care." I smirked lightly, and she giggled under her breath. She leaned against my shoulder, exhaustion taking over her.

I carried her to the other room, setting her down on one side. She curled up, my shirt hugging her figure softly. It took everything in my to take my eyes off her, and wrap her in the blanket. She fell asleep in seconds, and I chuckled under my breath.

Walking to the other side, I looked out the window. After the news of Oblivion returning here once again... my heart wouldn't beat properly. Why was he coming back?

Who would be our allies? How would we gain people to join us? How would we convince them?

I looked over at Lyna, who was sleeping peacefully. She was a devil. But what did that even mean? She had powers unmatched with anyone I knew. And I knew plenty powerful people.

But right now, she wasn't alright. Yesterday, she fell from just one blast of ice. Today, just from reading Nora's mind. She said her powers were on par with what I had seen of Oblivion... which meant she was running on really low energy. I had to get her back to normal.

I looked over at the room Nora was in, and went over to close it. I would deal with her tomorrow.

My thoughts raced as I thought of where to sleep. Maybe it was the couch for me today.

"Mateas?" My cheeks flushed as I heard her gentle voice call out my name. The way her accent hung on the last part of my name, softly wrapping around it. I had to take a huge swallow before I could reply.

"Yeah?" I walked back to Lyna, wondering if she was alright. Her eyes were wide open, a deep purple color that struck me hard. Like someone shot a bullet right through my heart.

She didn't say anything, just curled up further in her blanket. She looked like a small child, in need of their favorite soft toy. Her hair fell on her face, some strands in front of her eyes. My haaands itched to move them away, but I shoved them in my pockets.

Her eyes met mine again, and she took her hand out of her blanket. It was so pale, and small and fragile. I was amazed that it carried so much strength, to be able to strike Nora, the Academy topper, down.

Her fingers wrapped around the middle pillow's edge, pulling it sideways, so that it formed a small wall between her, and the empty space on the other side of the pillow.

"Stay." I heard her say, as she patted on the space. It wasn't very princely of me to stay with a lady like this, but I found myself walking over to the bed. She gave me a small smile, before closing her eyes again.

I laid down, moving the pillow slightly to her side for some space, and looked at the ceiling. I don't know how I felt so calm. How I felt like this was all normal. I didn't risk another glance at Lyna, fearing that I might disturb her.

Closing my eyes, I placed my arms behind my head. Let's hope that I would get a good night's sleep. Maybe.

And that night, I saw dreams of black wings... and deep purple eyes.