Chapter 29
1708 Words
29
Gravlax Tuesday was the best day. There were many problems in the world and almost all of them could be solved with cured fish.
I hummed a little tune on my way to the dining hall, where I ran into a familiar face.
“Hey, Ryoko.” I could barely say her name without grinning like a fool.
“Hi.” Her dark eyes shimmered as she looked at me and only me.
I desperately wanted to pull her into me for a kiss, but that would be social suicide. For both of us.
“How’s your day going?” she asked.
“Pretty good.” I dug in my pocket and showed her a new piece of brass. “I’m working on my second key. To make it more personal, I’m carrying the metal around. What are you up to?”
“We just learned to make smoke tendrils. Want to see?”
“Always.”
She pulled me aside, her hand warm around my wrist. With a soft giggle, she pressed her eyes shut and surely, wisps of dark smoke rose from her ears and nose. They curled around her like vines and hung there for a second, until they evaporated.
I chuckled. “Cool!”
“Soon, I’ll be able to turn completely into smoke.”
“As long as you don’t vanish into thin air,” I said, gently squeezing her hand.
Her smile softened. “Never.”
We locked eyes, caught in a moment that was just ours. She was the sun on my face and I the wind playing with her hair. Everything drew me to her, every breath I took, every heartbeat I had.
Gods, I really wanted to kiss her.
We inched closer, too close. Ryoko broke away, her cheeks blushed bright red. “Ahem.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, introducing more space between us. “I should, we should, ummm. Yes.”
“Yes, totally. Of course.”
With arms made from jelly, I waved and gestured around, not making any real sense. Ryoko tried to step out of the way, but I bumped into her in my attempt to move around her.
“Sorry,” she muttered, growing even redder.
“Just... To the left...”
We finally broke apart and each went our own separate way. Ryoko to the Shinigami corner of the dining hall and me to the Valkyrie tables.
The girls were sitting at the head table, but Flavia wasn’t there. Odd…
Without her, it was weird to join them. I didn’t really know any of the others and it seemed wrong to join their group without Flavia.
That only left the outsider table, where an enthusiastic Wood Elf was waving at me.
“What was that?” Aellyn asked, gesturing to my face.
“Huh?”
“That little thing you did with that Shinigami girl.”
“Oh, that. Nothing.” I sat down on my usual spot, sneaking another look at the head table. Had something happened to Flavia? Was she sick? Hurt? Why was she not sitting with them?
Aellyn scraped her knife along her plate, the sharp noise sending shivers down my spine. “Isn’t that your roommate?”
“What?”
“The Shinigami girl.”
“Oh. Yes, she is.” Why was she asking me these questions?
“Hmmm.” The Wood Elf tapped her chin. “I think she was flirting with you.”
I choked on my saliva. “W-What? You’re crazy.”
Aellyn shrugged. “Yeah, it looked like it from here. There was a lot of giggling on her part.”
Right… I had my back turned to the dining hall, so she only saw Ryoko’s reactions. That was probably a good thing. Unfortunate that she had read it right though.
I made a mental note to talk to my girlfriend about it. We needed to be more careful about our relationship if we didn’t want to be outed to the entire school. A Shinigami-Valkyrie relationship would not go down well with… anyone.
To escape the conversation, I rummaged through my bag. “Damn, I need to go talk to Dagmar. She, ummm… She borrowed a pen and never gave it back.”
What a terrible excuse, but that was what I’d have to go with. Without daring to look Aellyn in the eye, I rushed up and made my way to the head table.
“Hey, Dagmar.”
The girl with the brown braids looked up from her gravlax cracker. “Ylva. Hi.”
“That salmon looks so good,” I muttered, staring at it longingly. We didn’t get to have cured salmon every day, due to the smell or something? The other students complained and now we only got it on Tuesday.
Dagmar wiped her mouth. “It’s really good. There’s plenty left.”
“Maybe later. Where’s Flavia?”
“Oh, right. I have a note for you.”
“For me?”
The girl nodded and pulled a piece of folded paper from her breast pocket. “Here. I didn’t read it.”
“I didn’t think you had.”
The note contained Flavia’s handwriting and a single sentence.
That sounded urgent.
I immediately turned on my heels and rushed away from the girls, past the outsider’s table.
“Hey, Ylva. Are you—”
“Later!” I shouted at Aellyn, gesturing at nothing. “I’ll see you in class, okay?”
“Yes, but—”
I turned away, hurrying towards the Valkyrie dormitory. I didn’t stop running until I reached the third floor and was completely out of breath. With my lungs in my mouth and my muscles screaming in protest, I fell into Flavia’s room. “Is everything okay?”
“Ylva.” Flavia rose from the couch. “Come in.”
“What’s going on? You alright?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You weren’t at lunch?”
“Oh, that.” She crossed her arms, her eyebrows knitting together. “That’s not why you’re here.”
I gulped. That sounded ominous.
The third-year gestured to the table. “Sit.”
“Okay…?”
“Do you know what this is?” She reached inside her pocket and placed a small, familiar vial on the table.
My eyes widened. “No?”
“It’s nightroot. The poison that killed Oda.”
Heat crept up my neck and around my ears. How did she find it?
“Is this yours?”
“N-No.” The lie made me trip over my own tongue. Definitely not good.
Flavia’s intense glare had my stomach coil into knots. I should confess, but that was like signing my own death certificate. I couldn’t admit this, she wouldn’t understand. It just looked so bad.
The third-year rose, her hands balled into fists. “You’re lying, Ylva. I hate liars.”
“I…” I cast my eyes down in shame. I cared for Flavia and if this was the end of our friendship, I owed her the truth.
“Aha!” A figure jumped out from behind the kitchen and Astrid’s wild eyes spat fire at me. “I told you she’d deny it.”
“You.” My mouth turned ashen. “How—”
“You were acting suspiciously in the library. After you left, I returned and searched all the books. There were a lot of books, but wow, was it worth it.” She clacked her tongue dismissively. “I found the vial of nightroot hidden in the spine of a book. The same book you were standing right next to when I found you, straight after Flavia said we were looking for this poison. It knew it was yours.”
And I thought we were finally on amicable terms. Fool on me.
I stared at the vial Flavia was hiding, my mind twisting and turning in all directions. Maybe I could convince her this was actually the potion that killed Oda, but if I did that… We might never find out what really happened to her.
I couldn’t do that to her. I had to woman up. “It’s mine.”
“Hah!” Astrid ended her victorious walk at the table, where she took place next to Flavia. “I told you.”
“But it’s not what you think,” I insisted. “I can explain.”
“Then explain!” Flavia screeched, losing control for the very first time since I knew her. Even down in the bunker, trapped and without all hope, she hadn’t acted out like that.
I looked down at my hands, guilt gushing through me. “It’s a long story.”
The third-year sat down opposite of me, her eyes spitting fire. “I have all the time in the f*****g world.”
“Of course… I don’t know where to start. No, I do. Remember when the dusk wolf puppies went missing?”
Astrid snorted. “You mean, when you stole them?”
“I didn’t steal them,” I countered. “And I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Keep talking,” Flavia commanded.
“There’s an old Elf myth, maybe you know about it. It’s about the Keeper of the Forest. He’s… I don’t know what he is, but it’s about the forest where people get lost. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, but when I tracked the thief, I got lost in the woods.”
“Blablabla,” Astrid mocked.
Flavia glared at her. “Silence.”
That was my cue to continue. “I met someone, Var. He’s the man that came to the bunker with me. He’s also a… A Shadow Walker. He tried to teach me how to control my powers, but his method involves pain and suffering. I—I refused. I couldn’t do it. But then we got stuck in the bunker and I had no choice. I had to do something, to save you, all of you.”
“And?”
“I… He told me about a plant. Nightroot. He said if I take it, it would strengthen my affinity with the Veil. That’s how I managed to guide all of you out of it. It was the nightroot, it helped me. I didn’t know it was poisonous, I swear. When you told me that’s what killed Oda, I, I panicked. I hid the vial because I didn’t want to waste the potion. It was stupid, I should’ve just come clean. But after what we’ve been through, after what you thought of me… I was afraid you’d think I was responsible for Oda’s death. I was afraid… Afraid to lose you as a friend.”
For a moment, the room stayed silent. Favia stared at me, conflict carved into her features. “I want to believe you, Ylva.”
“I’m telling the truth!”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I said. Because I was afraid that you’d suspect me. I wanted to avoid exactly what’s happening now.”
“It sounds like it could be true, except for one thing. If you took the nightroot, like you said... You’d be dead.”
“No, no, no. It’s different for me because I’m a Shadow Walker.”
The third-year cast her eyes down. “I wish I could believe you.”
“I’ll prove it to you!” I pulled the vial towards me and popped the cork. “If I drink this and I don’t die, that proves I’m telling the truth, right?”
“Ylva, don’t—”
“Right?” Without waiting for Flavia’s response, I brought the potion to my lips. I’d wanted to save the nightroot for an emergency, but I had no other choice. I couldn’t lose Flavia’s trust or friendship. I couldn’t go back to being an outcast.
At the risk of death and everything at stake, I heaved the vial to the sky. “Skol.”
- Writer
