"Welcome back guys," Catherine glanced up from a white and purple flower in her hand and smiled at us. "Where'd you guys go—"

Catherine abruptly stopped talking as her eyes zoned towards Gray's hand. She shot up from her bed and rushed over to him. "What's wrong with your hand?"

"It's just a little sprain—" Gray tried to quickly dismiss her concern while eyeing me nervously.

"Sprain?" Catherine narrowed her eyes at Gray's finger and grabbed his arm. "It looks broken! Look, it's already starting to—"

"Alright, alright," Gray quickly cut in. "Let's just...just sit down and work on it."

I had to look away as huge waves of guilt crashed into me. It couldn't have been me. It was impossible. Guren even said himself—

Guren's flabbergasted expression flashed through my mind again, and I wobbled over towards a bed. He wouldn't have looked so surprised if my Guang was actually what he hypothesized. Does that mean my Guang wasn't Earth Tier? What did that even mean?

If it wasn't Earth, then what was it? How many powers were there? Did I have to go back to Guren to find out?

I squeezed my eyes shut and collapsed against the mattress, trying to calm the storm of questions exploding in my brain. I'm pretty sure I'm banned from going to the prison until Guren gets out which I suspect he won't have trouble since he was the head of the Royal Army.

"Sakura?" Catherine approached me. I opened my eyes and sat up. "Tomorrow, I'm going to be heading out with Yuri to get some supplies. Can you stay behind and watch Justin for me?"

I nodded. "Oh...oh yeah. No problem."

"Thanks," she nodded. "Before you go to bed, go wash up and eat this."

Catherine handed me a bowl of rice and meat. I took it, not sure if my appetite was up to eat but she stared at me until I put a spoon in my mouth. Satisfied, she went away to tend to Justin again.

My eyes followed her and watched worriedly as she bent over to examine him. He looked more pale than I had remembered, and his expression had contorted into one of pain.

"His wound?" I asked.

"Barely changed," Catherine responded without looking back.

I got up from bed and started walking over to Justin, but Gray suddenly popped up in front of me and motioned for me to get back in bed. I was about to argue with him, but once I saw his broken hand, the overwhelming guilt sucked every word right out of me.

"You can check on him tomorrow," Gray said. "Either go take a bath or stay in bed and eat up what Catherine cooked for you."

I nodded, not meeting Gray's eyes as I walked to the back of the room and out towards the well. As I headed towards the well, I remembered Guren's purple eyes drilling into me and shook my head.

Royal Demon.

I drew a sharp breath. Those were the words Guren had mouthed to me when I looked back.

Royal Demon. That was what I was.

I wasn't just a human anymore. I wasn't ever just human.

I was a Royal Demon.

~

Chirp. Chirp.

I woke up to the sound of a bird singing in my ear. Blinking, I sat up and squinted through my blurring vision to stare at the red bird in front of me. The windows had let sunlight stream through and lit up the room.

Rubbing the sleep away from my eyes, I pushed myself up and looked around the room. Tristan and Jake were back in the hideout, sleeping without a sign of life. Catherine's and Yuri's bed was already empty as well as Gray's. Stretching widely, I began to eat the food Catherine had left for us at the medical table.

Eventually, Tristan and Jake woke up. The two of them ambled forward sleepily and chewed down their breakfast. They stood over Justin and tried to help re-wrap the gauze around his body but just resulted in making a mess.

I shooed them away and told them to go play outside. They simultaneously stuck their tongue out at me and walked out of the room. Scoffing, I could see the two had made up and felt a sense of motherly pride for them. Pulling up a chair next to Justin's bed, I began to unwrap the gauze around Justin's arm and started cutting up new pieces.

I didn't look at his wound; I was too scared I might burst into tears. Squeezing his hand, a part of me hoped that if I squeezed hard enough, he would wake up and talk to me. I missed talking to Justin, even though half the time all he did was tease and lecture me.

His lean, but well defined body was filled with old and new scars. There was a scar on the left of his abdomen, and a tiny scar under his collarbone. A scar, the length of my finger, ran over Justin's shoulder like an arch. I reached out and touched his scars. My hands shook as my fingers grazed his skin.

These scars held memories. And they probably weren't very good memories. I never said anything because every time I tried to ask him about his past, his face would get stormy, and his eyes would dull, but I've seen him looking up at the sky many times with a lost expression when everyone was sleeping.

He always acted tough and emotionless in front of everyone, but when no one was looking, he would looked like lost and scared child. Always having to put on such a strong front was so exhausting, yet he was probably too busy saving my stupid ass from trouble to even have time for himself.

"I killed his parents."

I drew a sharp intake of breath and shook my head. No, don't focus on what Guren said yesterday. Let's just do this right...

It was quiet and rhythmic work. I busied myself with the cutting of the bandages to keep my mind from wandering to other things; I didn't want to get mad and then accidentally tear a hole in Justin's body—

"Ow!" I cried as Rezin suddenly flew down from the open window to poke my head. I waved my hand dismissively at the bird, trying to shoo him away from my tedious work, but I earned a harder poke on my hand.

I clicked my tongue and looked up at the bird. "What?"

The bird squawked in my ear and began flapping its wings in front of my face. I waved it dismissively away again, but this time, Rezin zoomed towards me and cut my lip with its talons. Blood dripping from my lower lip, I tried to grab Rezin, but the bird zoomed out of my hands and did a full circle around the room before landing right next to Justin's head. I looked over at Justin and back at Rezin. "What—"

All of a sudden, Justin jerked in bed. I froze, the bandage roll dropping from my hands. I held my breath, my heartbeat suddenly racing as I waited for Justin to move again when he suddenly  started to violently cough.

Gasping, I stood up from the chair and touched him shoulder, leaning over to see what was wrong only to recoil in shock when I saw blood on the mattress. For a second, Justin stopped coughing, and I thought he had settled down, but when I stared at him for a moment longer, I felt my heart drop when I realized his chest had stopped moving up and down.

Hovering my ear over Justin's mouth, I strained my ears for any sign of breathing but heard none. Panicking, I yelled for Catherine. "Catherine...Catherine!"

I looked around the room and suddenly realized she wasn't here. She had gone out. It was just me, Rezin, and a knocked out Eugene. Shaking, I yelled, "Rezin! Find Catherine!"

Quickly remembering Catherine's first-aid that she had taught us in case she wasn't there, I stood over Justin and began pushing onto his chest for thirty beats before hovering my lips over his. Tilting his head back slightly, I pressed my lips against his and blew two breaths of air.

The taste of iron entered my mouth, and a strange coldness spread through my chest, but I ignored the strange feeling and kept going. 

Push, push, push. Blow two times. Repeat.

Justin can't die.

He can't die.

Not in front of me like this.

My eyesight...it's blurry...

I reached up to rub my eyes, but the blurriness worsened.

A stinging pain began to grow in my eyes, and I squeezed them shut as I continued the chest compressions.

Please...

Someone...

Anyone...

I need to save him—!

Clink.

My eyes snapped open at the strange sound. I looked around, trying to find out where the sound came from when I realized—

I gasped and looked down. Justin wasn't here with me anymore. No one was. I wasn't even in the backroom.

Instead, I was standing in the middle of a strange mist that surrounded me tightly, but gave me a large enough space to walk around. My heart was still beating fast from what had just happened, and it was painfully loud in the awfully quiet space that I was in.

I walked forward, wincing at how loud my footsteps seemed to echo and cautiously neared the fog when I spotted a dark shadow emerging from the mist. Quickly stepping back, I waited in bated breath for the person to emerge.

My eyes widened as a small pale girl dressed in a simple white dress walked out from the mist. She was barely taller than five feet and had long, straight white hair that went to her waist. Her ears were pointy, and her eyes were red with black pupils as big as slits.

"Hmm?" the girl in front of me smiled. I saw her teeth as she smiled, all of them looked as sharp as knives. "Looks like I was finally able to reach through."

Repressing a shiver, I managed to find my voice, "You...you..."

"Jeez, I expected to inhabit a better and stronger body, but I guess titles don't matter here, do they?" she grumbled to herself, completely ignoring me as she flicked her white hair over her shoulder. She glanced over her shoulder at me and smiled. "Give me a second."

I blinked once, and the girl was suddenly in front of me. I blinked again, and her hand was suddenly in my chest—no—pierced through my chest.

My body suddenly felt very cold and empty, as if all the warmth I'd ever felt disappeared. I clutched my chest, heaving for breaths because now it felt as though someone was pressing against my heart.

Suddenly, I heard a yell and looked up. My heart stopped.

Mom?

I recognized her shaking figure as she was taken away by Guren's men. Fear and shock ran through me as I reached for her. Eyes locked on her, I tried to run towards her, but my legs refused to move. They felt as if they had been cemented to the floor.

I watched helplessly as she slowly melted into the crowds. "Mom! MOM!"

The ground fell from under me, and I found myself weightless for a second before crashing onto the floor. Groaning, I looked up to see a scarred face staring down at me.

I jumped away and backed up, adrenaline coursing through me. Narrowing my eyes, I tried to get a closer inspection on who it was when I felt chills run down my spine.

Mom.

I tried to run towards her, but my legs suddenly gave out, and I found myself crawling towards her when suddenly, a barred cage appeared in front of me, preventing me from touching her.

"Mom!" I cried, sliding my arms through the bars in front of me with the hopes of touching my mom.

She reached out for me slowly, and I pressed myself against the bars harder, longing for my mom's touch. Suddenly, she clamped down on my arm hard. Her hand began squeezing my arm so tightly I felt my hand go numb. Wincing, I tried to pull my arm back, but she wouldn't let go.

With cloudy eyes, she croaked, "Look at me. It's because of you. Look at me. Look at what the king has done to me because of you. I'm going to die! I'm going to die because of you! Why didn't you come for me! Why did your sister, who is seven years younger than you, came for me while you stood there?"

My insides turned to ice. It was difficult to swallow suddenly; my arms and legs went numb. I felt myself slipping back into the same dark place.

Useless girl. Ridiculous.

Thinking you can take on the king? With just four people that are just using you for their own personal reasons?

Dream on. You still can't save anybody, no matter how hard you try.

Where's Petal?

Where's Hayden?

Where's May?

I gasped and clutched my chest. Doubling over, I collapsed on all fours and tried to stop myself from thinking anymore.

N—no—

"Ahhh," a sweet velvety voice echoed in my ear. "That's right. Let your soul sink into the depths. You won't have to think anymore. I'll take care of your body."

Sweat dripped from my forehead, and strangely enough, even though I was still at room temperature, I felt freezing cold. My body didn't even feel like it was mines anymore. 

"Now," the voice whispered into my ear. When I heard that voice, I felt strongly compelled to listen to whatever it wanted me to do. "Just relax. Think of the blissful moments in your life...your dear sister, your dear mother...."

Just like it instructed, my mind drifted to May. I remembered her light and cheerful laughter, her tiny figure running into the flea market, her hair flying in the wind as she ran...

Wait. Her hair. What color was her hair again? And her eyes. Were they brown...or black? All of a sudden, I found myself unable to remember her face. All I could remember was...was...

Wait...who was she?

I felt panic immediately surge into me as my brain blanked. My mind blacked out, and I couldn't remember anything anymore. Gritting my teeth, I squeezed my eyes shut and pushed for a memory when a small candle suddenly flickered on. Reaching towards the small light, I felt myself begin to see a blurry image of a small girl when a sudden gust of a cold wind extinguished the flame, leaving me in the dark again.

The voice giggled. "It's okay, just relax."

Suddenly, many faces began to fly past me. They were too blurry for me to recognize any and only lasted for a second before disappearing into a void of emptiness. 

I was lost.

"Almost done," the voice ushered.

Even though, I didn't know what was going on, I could feel myself growing tired. I suddenly had a hard time keeping my eyes open, and my body began to droop. Just as I was about to give in and let my eyes close, a face passed by me. It was the same fleeting moment as all the other faces, but I caught it. Blond hair and a large smile and...

Green eyes.

A flame suddenly incited from the dark I was stumbling around, and I realized I recognized who it was.

Yuri.

A familiar cold breeze flew past me, trying to extinguish the fire and pull me back into the dark, but I clung on to Yuri's face. I stretched my conscious towards the light, towards Yuri.

The flame grew larger, and this time, I could see Yuri's face more clearly. I felt the darkness and wind chase after me, trying to put out the flame that was growing, but I held on to the warmth I was given and trying to expand it through my freezing body.

"What are you doing?" the voice hissed. "Don't resist. Don't you want to—"

Squeezing my eyes shut, I snapped. "Stop."

At my word, the wind stopped blowing. The darkness stopped chasing after me. My body stopped shivering, and I began to feel warm again.

Faces returned. And I could remember who was who. Slowly, I opened my eyes and found myself staring at a pair of bright maroon eyes.

Realizing I was lying on my back, I pushed myself up and glanced at the white-haired girl. She stared back at me without a hint of expression. We were back in the misty reverie; the both of us continued staring at each other until she spoke up. "So...you broke out."

So this was what Guren had warned me about. 

"Jeez," the girl suddenly let out an aggravated sigh. "Why'd you suddenly come back! I was literally two seconds away from—"

"Hey," I found my voice and glared up at her. "Don't try that again."

She stopped her rant and turned around to eye me. Breaking into a smirk, she rolled her eyes. "There's no need to act so tough around me. I've seen all your breakdowns already."

I narrowed my eyes at her as she placed her hands behind her back and twirled around me. So this was my demon? I expected something a little more...demon-like.

The girl stopped in front of me again and stared down at me curiously. "Although, you did surprise me. You were already so dead inside. I didn't expect you to attack back at me like that. Especially since the one that made you come back was that blond idiot. I thought at the least it would be your family or that black-haired boy..."

"Justin," I gasped, suddenly remembering the state he was in. "I need to go back. I need to save Justin."

"The black-haired boy?" she frowned with a disinterested air. "Didn't you already kill him?"

My heart stopped. I could barely hear myself over the roar of blood in my ears as I whispered, "What?"

"You idiot," she sighed. "You can't mix—"

Suddenly, she stopped talking. A contemplating look flashed in her eyes as she placed a finger on her lips. I felt chills run down my spine as a small smirk emerged on her lips. "Maybe that's why I got weird feelings from someone in the group..."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

She glanced back at me and shrugged. "Well, we'll see if he survives or not."

"I have to save him," I shook. "I have to finish the first aid—"

"Oh, he's beyond whatever you humans do to resuscitate each other," she waved her hand dismissively. "It all depends on whether someone decides to rescue him or not."

"Me," I snapped. "I'll save him. I need to continue—"

"Didn't you hear me?" she stared at me. "You were the one who killed him. By this point, he is already dead."

~~~~~

Gosh, I was so busy watching Youtube videos I almost forgot to upload today. I was just watching some random videos like dog videos, animals crashing into sport games, kids messing up weddings...you know...the random stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How have you guys been? What have you guys been up to? Find anything interesting lately or just lazing around? I know some schools have already opened up so if that is for you, please stay safe and wear a mask! 

Thank you guys for reading today's chapter! If you enjoyed, please leave your comments below and hit that star!!!

See you guys next Sunday <3