|| Day 4.5 The Search ||

It Wasn't Like I Asked You

"I can't seem to locate him."

Those six words caused a range of different emotions flit around the room.

Linnea squeezed her husband's hand and lifted her other one over her mouth. Alerion frowned but otherwise kept his face impassive.

I, on the other hand, looked quizzically at the headmistress. Did that mean that Robin was not on Academy grounds?

Glancing at me, Ms Golds gave a comforting smile, "I'm certain he's not in any immediate danger; there's a reason why the Academy's blocking my sight. That might be a sign that we need to physically find him."

"Isn't there a possibility that someone is blocking you from finding him?" The skeptical tone in Alerion's voice made Ms Golds raise a delicate eyebrow.

"There is no higher power in Anatosia than that of the Academy's." Ms Golds sighed and her eyes went slightly out of focus, "The third year battles has ended."

"That's not important right now!" Linnea snapped angrily, before paling as everyone looked at her in shock, "I-I'm sorry... I'm just really worried."

The headmistress nodded, "Don't worry, I know for a fact that Robin can take care of himself."

A look of disbelief passed through Linnea's face, "That's what they said last time and look what happened."

"Linnea..." Alerion warned, his eyes darting to the headmistress and then to me.

"No, let me talk for once!" Linnea glared at him, "Both of us are the Ruling Royals, not just you. I want to make sure my son is not in any danger- but no one seems to be able to help me!"

Ms Golds rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers, "Well, if we sit around talking for any longer we could be leaving Robin in this so called 'danger'."

Her tone made it clear that she was very doubtful that Robin was in the way of any harm, contrary to what Linnea thought.

I observed the headmistress subtly- I never really took a good look at her before. She was around the same age as the Ruling Royals and she had pale brown eyes that were almost a shade of gold.

"Fine then, Reina- what do you propose we do?" Linnea looked none to happy about the situation but this time, she kept her thoughts to herself.

"You can come in." Ignoring Linnea's question, the headmistress waved her hand and the door swung inward.

Meraella poked her head through and cautiously stepped in, followed closely by Primo.

"The first years will search around the Academy grounds- I'm certain he is not in the building but you two," Ms Golds glanced at the Ruling Royals, "should go back to your duties."

Linnea opened her mouth and Alerion put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. I saw that he tightened his fingers slightly, making Linnea bite her lip.

"Robin is our son... but if you're so sure that he is safe- we will leave the search to you."

"No-" The look on Alerion's face silenced Linnea effectively. She looked down, her face impassive and nodded.

"We'll take our leave now."

Together, they walked out, Alerion in the lead and his partner walking slightly behind him.

Ms Golds gave a soft sigh and turned her attention to the three of us.

"As Remi and Amie are not with us today, we'll have to make do with three of you to find Robin."

All of us nodded in understanding and Meraella gave me a questioning sideways glance. I shrugged, my guess was as good as anyone's to where Robin was.

"Try searching the Gardens and Forests- I'll keep trying to reach Robin, but I have to get down to the second year matches soon." She gave us a soft smile, "Off you go."

I filed out of the office behind Meraella and Primo, the door swinging shut behind me. Glancing back, I saw the headmistress before the door closed fully. Her eyes were glowing a bright molten gold but before I could fully process this, it slammed shut and what I saw could have almost been an illusion.

Meraella and Primo were already far up ahead but angry voices echoing from the hallway on the left stopped me short of catching up to them.

"Why do you always listen to her?? " A voice that I recognised as Linnea's carried itself over to me.

A loud sigh and then low, comforting murmurs- most likely Alerion.

"No, I'm your partner- not her! After all these years I thought..." She trailed off and I could hear quivers of held back tears in her voice.

"Not this again- its been years."

"Yeah, but your feelings never changed did they?"

Footsteps started down the hallway, and I was still in front of the headmistress' office. I hurried off to Meraella and Primo before Linnea could catch me eavesdropping. My eyes widened in disbelief, it seemed like Linnea, Alerion and Ms Golds had some... history.

"Something wrong?" Meraella looked at me in concern. I shook my head and she nodded, "Ok then, let's get searching then."

"But there are the West, East, North and South gardens to search." Primo looked uncertainly at the both of us, "Not counting the two forests, that is a lot of ground to cover."

"Let's split up then- Primo take the gardens," he grimaced at the prospect of covering so much ground but with a look from Meraella, he nodded, "Night you can search the South Forest and I'll... check the Starlight Foris."

Primo's eyes widened in shock, "The Starlight Foris?? Don't go there Meraella, it could be... dangerous."

He looked at her worriedly and she dismissed his concerns with a wave of her hand, "Those are just rumours, don't believe everything you hear Primo."

I had heard about the Starlight Foris before. Located in the North of the Academy grounds, it was a gigantic forest full of all sorts of creatures. Our Magical Animal teacher had spoken about it before, with a twinkle in his eyes.

We had reached the front of the Starlight Forest now and Primo jogged off towards one of the gardens, leaving Meraella and I alone.

The front of the forest was dense and it was impossible to see the inside of it. A feeling sparked deep inside my chest and I really didn't want Meraella going into that deep, dark forest. And the possibility that Robin could be in there...alone with her.

No, I definitely shouldn't let that happen. I wasn't too sure of Meraella's capability of defending herself.

Meraella was already on her way into the forest when I saw her glance back at me.

"Aren't you going to the South forest?"

I took another look at the Starlight Foris behind Meraella and the strange feeling in my chest intensified.

I shook my head and stepped closer to Meraella, "A-actually... can I search here?"

Meraella cocked her head, frowning for a moment before a bright smile appeared.

"Sure! Did you want to see all the different creatures?"

I nodded, glad that she had given me an excuse other than my gut feeling- or rather, chest feeling.

Meraella smiled one last time before skipping off towards the South Forest- which was all the way on the other side of the grounds.

She had a lot of skipping to do.

**

I had walked for what felt like hours and I was exhausted. My search for Robin had not been fruitful, though shouting his name would probably help...

The sun was still up, but the dense trees had made it almost impossible for the light to shine through. I gazed around me, taking in my surroundings. Birds of all different colours flitted around high up in the trees, chirping with delight. The air was cool and plants covered the forest ground obscuring any signs of a man-made path.

A tiny- about the size of my hand- snowy white rabbit appeared before me and twitched its nose. It flicked its ears before turning away.

Transparent, gossamer sprouted from its back and they flitted, propelling the creature upwards. That wasn't a rabbit- it was a Dewlope.

I felt my mouth form a wide grin and I almost laughed with delight. This was my first time seeing a Dewlope in person; I had only glimpsed them before in one of our textbooks.

It fluttered off and I followed it, trailing quite a distance behind as I was afraid to scare it away.

When I had first entered the Starlight Foris I could feel the presence of life that teemed in this huge forest. But this Dewlope was the first creature that I had actually come face to face with.

The creature flew faster ahead and I increased my pace. At the same time I glanced around, trying to look for signs that Robin might have come this way as well.

Looking up again, I saw that the Dewlope was gone and I had entered a spacious clearing. The grass was long, almost reaching my knees and sunlight streamed through the open canopy, kissing my skin.

I sighed in content. Something about this place made me feel at peace. The soft grass was beckoning me to come lie down, take a break. Robin could wait... right?

I walked towards the middle of the clearing, almost as if drawn by an invisible force. My knees sank down into the plush grass and laid my head back, stretching my arms out. This was so relaxing... I could stay here forever.

Involuntarily my eyes drifted close, lulled into a gentle sleep by the sounds of the forest...

... my eyes opened and was met with a sky full of glittering sparkles. Billions of stars twinkled up above me and I smiled with satisfaction. Naming this forest Starlight Foris had obviously been a fitting choice.

Turning my head, I found that Leander's silvery eyes were staring back at me, "Wow- can't keep your eyes off me it seems."

I smirked, playfully smacking his arm and he chuckled.

"Always had my eyes on you..." His soft whisper made the hairs on my arms rise up and I cast my eyes up to the sky again.

We were both stretched out on the soft grass and I sighed in content; it was nostalgic, remembering the days before we were Chosen.

"So what did you ask me out here for?"

"Do you... remember?" Leander shifted closer, his arm touching mine and I leaned into the familiar warmth of my best friend.

"Remember what?" I twirled my necklace idly with my fingers, wondering what I might have forgotten.

He paused, as though contemplating what to say next, "What we promised- all those years ago."

Realisation dawned and I suppressed my urge to grimace. All those years ago I had made a promise I could no longer keep now. A promise I now saw was stupid and careless. Conquering other countries with the power of Anatosia was definitely not something I would ever want.

I shrugged, "My decision remains final... I want Anatosia to be a peaceful country."

"Please... for the friendship and the all the promises we made, help me make our dream be a reality."

I almost felt my resolve slip but I steeled myself.

"Your dream, Leander- Mine had long since changed."

"I'm going to propose my idea again... I've convinced some of the Council over to my side since last time."

I remained silent. Instinct told me that by convince, he didn't mean voluntarily. A feeling of fear passed through my chest but I knew that Leander would never hurt me and I pushed it away.

"Will you support me?" He took my hand and held it tight in his grasp. My past self ached to give in to him, support him and make sure that his dream was fulfilled. But Zander had changed everything with his peaceful ideals and adorable red hair.

I slipped my hand out of his grasp, "No, I'm sorry. I'm no longer who I once was."

The shift of Leander's mood was almost imperceptible but having known him for all of my life, I sensed it immediately.

I made a move to get up but Leander was faster. He rolled over, pressing his body over mine and pinned my arms above my head with one hand. I struggled, trying to buck him off of me- what on Anatosia was he trying to pull?

He leaned in close and I twisted my head to the side. My fear was now amplified by a hundred. I had no means to defend myself and we were deep in the forest, alone.

No one would be able to hear me scream.

His breath tickled my ear and my heart thudded loudly.

"It would have been so easy... oh, Aurora, why did you have to make this so difficult for me?" The tone in Leander's voice was nothing I had ever heard before. This was not my best friend.

"You knew how I felt about you, and you chose to ignore it." His free hand gripped my chin and forced me to look at him. Our lips were only millimetres apart and I could feel his hot breath wash over my face.

"Zander was the one who corrupted you- we would've taken down the world together if not for him. He was always in the way... I could've been the one to cherish you, I could've been the one to protect. And I could've been the one that you loved."

Leander had always been my friend and I really had no idea of his feelings. I felt the ridiculous build up of tears in my eyes and a familiar lump surface in my throat.

"Aww, don't cry... it will all be over soon..."

He pressed his mouth to mine, my chin firmly in his iron grip. Forcing his tongue past my lips, I started to struggle again, trying to twist my wrists out of his grip.

Leander's tongue swept into my mouth and I bit down on it.

Hard.

Releasing my chin, he cursed. "You-"

He struck me across my cheek and the taste of blood welled up in my mouth. A sharp ringing in my ear drowned out the rest of his sentence.

My head now wrenched to one side, he again leant down close.

"I loved you."

Those were the last words I heard before a gut wrenching scream left my mouth. Hot, searing pain streaked over my chest to my head and I fought against the oncoming slaughter. Leander was trying take control of mind with his powers.

"If you had just helped me- I wouldn't have done this..."

His hands gripped the sides of my head and the crushing pressure of his power ripped through my mind. There was nothing I could do but succumb to the onslaught. I blocked my mind, trying to collect the remnants of myself before they were all lost to Leander.

His words drifted in and out as I struggled against him. But it was no use. I could already feel him take control of my mind.

I made one last attempt to lash out before hearing a sadistic chuckle. White hot agony pierced the side of my head, and exploded inside. One last scream left my mouth and the smell of smoke reached my nose before I succumbed to the darkness

"...ingale!! Nightingale!!" Someone was shaking me awake but I couldn't seem to open my eyes.

"Wake up!"

I tried my best to lift my eyelids and they opened just a crack. I glimpsed a flash of familiar pearly eyes before they closed shut again.

"I know you're there Willow, wake the hell u-" A warm trickle of liquid oozed out from my nose, coating my lips with the sickly taste of iron.

"Shit, what happened?!"

A finger brushed my lips, wiping away the strange liquid. I could feel darkness threatening to take over again and my consciousness started to drift away.

"... you better not be heavy..."

My mind latched onto those words and I felt a silly smile grace my lips. My head spun and I felt myself being lifted by strong arms.

Thoughts floated past my mind and I tried to grasp onto them before they drifted away. I couldn't seem to remember where I was or what I had been doing to put me in this situation.

"Jeez, Willow," grunted the strange guy, "you're a lot heavier than you look."

I would've scoffed if I had control of my face.

It wasn't like I asked him to carry me.  

A/N: drawing at the top (can't actually be seen for some reason. :( )of Nightingale in her Academy uniform by the very talented SpiderPrincess !! :D

here's a close up:

check out spiderprincess' 'Anime Doodles and Drawings' if you have the time to see more drawings like these!!

anyway, thanks for reading!! votes are appreciated and drop a comment down below <3