The Maiden of Air

Chapter 10

We sat down at our table, and Luke was frantically apologizing for making me cry and tried to calm me down. I repeated many times that it wasn't his fault and that I'm fine. I made myself stop crying, so Luke wouldn't worry anymore. Michael was silent the whole time, not a single moment did he try to throw out a sarcastic comment.

Even though he didn't seem to like me very much, I could tell he was close friends with Luke. I noticed that when Luke was telling me his story, that Michael would occasionally stare at Luke with sympathy and... something else. I was sure what. It almost looked like guilt.

I didn't really feel like eating anymore, but I forced myself anyway. Because I didn't want the large amount of food, I stacked on my plate to go to waste and I knew that I would later regret not eating now. So, we ate in silence. I ate at least half of the food on my plate before I couldn't stomach it anymore.

Michael finally broke the silence by asking, "So, are we going to talk about what we discussed last night?"

"What about it?" I asked while playing with my uneaten food. Thinking to myself that I probably shouldn't have taken the last two bites that I did. my stomach was not happy.

"You said that Maiden Elisabeth said that one of your fellow Maidens was supposed to bring darkness back to the world, or whatever. Did she tell you who it was?" Michael questions further.

I looked up from my plate and scanned the room. Till I found her sitting alone at a table, as far away from anyone as possible. Other than her Guardians. Her Guardians were really something to behold. I knew that they were sixteen, but they looked at least five years older. One had sandy blonde hair and see green eyes. He held a flirtatious smirk on his face. He looked like a model and he probably knew it too, because he oozed over-confidence.

Her other Guardian was the complete opposite of the first one. He had dark hair, almost as dark as his Maiden's. He had tanned skin. He looked like he was possibly native american decent. I couldn't quite make out the color of his eyes. His hair was overgrown and almost totally covered his eyes. He was big though. Most likely well over six feet and he had very broad shoulders. He was so ripped that you could see the definition of his muscles through his Guardian uniform. He could do the job of two Guardians if his partner was too busy adoring his own reflection.

I nodded my head in the Death Maiden's direction, and said, "Elisabeth told me it was her."

Michael and Luke looked in the direction I nodded at.

"It makes sense, I guess. She is the Maiden of Death." Michael said, returning to his food.

"But is that enough to assume that she is... evil?" Luke hesitated to ask. Also returning to his food. So he wouldn't get caught staring

I shook my head. "I don't think she's evil. Elisabeth said that the darkness will come in the form of an ally." I stopped playing with my food and pushed my plate aside. One of the servers, waiting in a corner of the room, saw my motion, and quickly came by to take my plate away. Which forced the three of us to stay silent until her was out of earshot. I said a quick thank you, and he was off.

"Okay. Then we know what we have to do. Avoid becoming friends with her, or whatever." Michael said, sounded proud that he he solved the problem.

"I don't think it is that simple. For one, she already technically is an ally. She is one of my fellow Maidens. There is no avoiding that." I said as I stood from my chair. I stood just a little too fast and it made my chair clatter back and make a noise that brought attention to us.

"Uh. What are you doing?" Michael asked, noticing the attention we were getting.

"I'm going to make a friend." I nodded my head in the direction of the Death Maiden again.

Michael suddenly grabbed a hold of my wrist and said in a harsh whisper. "Isn't that the opposite of what we should do?!"

I looked down at his hand. His grip wasn't hard enough to hurt, but just hard enough that it annoyed me. "Let go. I am your Maiden. You are to guard and provide counsel but follow what I say. Are you defying me?"

I expected him to get angry at what I said and shoot something right back. But instead a look of shamed came over his face. He look down and said, "No, Maiden Erin. I apologize."

I was so taken aback. I now wished that I could take back what I said. I would have to apologize to him later. I was just getting so pissed off at his attitude. It's like he hated e before even meeting me. I just could figure out what his problem was. I would have to also ask about that later.

I didn't say anything more, and turned to walk towards the Death Maiden's table. Michael and Luke followed behind.

I decided on my end goal, which was to become friends with her, but I didn't think about how I was going to get there. The only friend I ever had was my sister. I didn't know how to make friends! Conversations topics flew through my mind, but I was so nervous that I could't think of one before making it over to her table.

She never looked from her plate of food to notice that we were walking towards her, but her Guardian's noticed. They both bowed towards me, and moved closer to their Maiden on either side of her. It was as if they were getting in a defense position. I'm not sure why they would do that.

Despite it being odd, I ignored their peculiar behavior and focused on the Maiden. She still didn't look up to acknowledge our approach.

Getting my nerves together, I finally said, "Hi!"

She slightly lifted her head to look at me. We made eye contact for a split second, then she looked away at anything else but a persons face.

"I'm Erin. What's your name?" I asked.

"Lillica... Lilica Peck..." She said shyly.