Embers || Ikemen Revolution || Sirius

Chapter 19 ~ Two Days

"It's a letter from the king of hearts," Ray simply said, handing the letter over for me and Sirius to read.

I skimmed over most of it, but from what I know, it says that we have two days left to decide whether we're surrendering or not. The Red Army will attack in two days, but everyone will hold one last military meeting at the Garden before that happens. I apparently have to go too, since I'm Alice or something.

Sirius didn't say anything beside me as he looked over the letter again and again.

"I agree with the idea of having a meeting," Ray said. "It'll make sure that we're actually going to war, and it'll give the citizens of the Central Quarter time to evacuate. If the fighting breaks out randomly, there's more chance of innocent lives being taken. But our answer is clear. The Black Army will fight for freedom."

I frowned slightly. "Wait a second, you guys are fighting in the Central Quarter, right?"

Ray nodded his head. "Yeah, it's the spot right in the middle of our territories."

I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "I thought fighting was banned from the Central Quarter? And if you guys really are going to fight, shouldn't you guys ask the citizens for permission to trash their homes?"

Ray was silent as he looked at the letter, still in Sirius' hands. "We're giving them time to evacuate."

I let out a big sigh. I hope they're ready to pay for damages then. To both the families and to the territories. I hugged my knees to my chest as I let those words from the letter really sink in.

The Black Army is going to war. The Red Army is going to war. I really came at such a bad time, just my luck. Why couldn't we just have fun all day everyday, until I find my brother!?

Right, I'm supposed to be looking for my brother. But I got too distracted with relearning magic and helping out, I forgot to ask around for Amon Wynter. Maybe Amon Jabberwock, if he takes on his father's last name to hide. He hates that name though.

I need to find some time to ask around before this whole war really breaks out.

"Emberlynn," Sirius asked, gently shaking me. "Hello? You here with us?"

"Huh? Oh! Sorry!" I smiled at everyone sheepishly. I guess I was too lost in thought to pay attention to what was going on. "I guess I'm just still trying to process the fact that you guys are going to war," I murmured into my knees.

"Don't worry about it," Sirius sighed. He looked at everyone around us. "Do you want to go to the Garden for this meeting? You don't have to if you don't want to, or if you don't feel safe."

"No, no!" I sat up upright. "It's fine! I'm sure I can manage! And I feel safe with all of you guys around anyways!"

Sirius sighed, rubbing his temples. "I was afraid you were gonna say that," I faintly heard him mutter.

"Hm?" I cocked my head to the side worriedly. "Do you not want me to go, Sirius?"

"Of course not, it's dangerous to leave the headquarters." But even as Sirius said this, I knew that going along with Lancelot's request is the better option.

"I'll be fine," I said, patting Sirius on the head like he was a big puppy. "Don't worry about it! I can take care of myself! Kind of."

Sirius sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Well then, I guess that's settled. Ray, Luka, Fenrir, Seth, go get some sleep."

"What about you," Ray protested. "You look exhausted as well!"

"Yet you look like you can't even keep your eyelids open any longer." Sirius gave Ray a wry smile. "Go and rest, I'll go to bed later."

I frowned slightly as everyone else left. Sirius took a seat at the desk and started reading the papers on his desk.

"Are you not going to go to bed," Sirius asked when I made no move to leave.

"I'm staying up late as well," I said, going to the bookshelf to look at a book about magical studies. "Why not stay here instead of going to my own room. It gets lonely in there sometimes."

Sirius looked up from his work for a moment. "Don't stay up too late," he said, turning back to his filing. "And be careful when using magic, it's dangerous. I would ban you from it, but I doubt you will listen."

I smiled at Sirius. He's not wrong. And with that, I started my readings. The peaceful quiet of the room was really calming as I slipped the pages, letting my eyes scan through everything before moving on.

"By the way," I murmured into the still air. "Do you know anyone named Amon Wynter?"

Sirius frowned, not looking up from his writing. "No, I don't know anyone by that name. Why do you ask?"

I was silent for a moment before answering. "I just heard some rumors about him, that's all."

"Mm."

And with that, the silence came back. I stifled a yawn as I flipped through the pages even faster, looking for something that was useful and that I didn't know already. Geez, these books just seem to repeat themselves over and over again.

I sighed, putting the book back on the bookshelf.

"You going to bed now," Sirius asked. His pen was flying over the page as he worked silently, diligently. Does he not get bored? Or tired?

"No," I murmured as I looked at the spines of the books. "Not yet, at least. Maybe a few more minutes."

But as I read the books silently, my mind started shutting off on it's own, drifting away into the world of dreams. Aw, dang it! I wanted to spend some more time reading!

*~*

When Sirius finally looked up from his paperwork after such a long silence, he saw Emberlynn, book in her lap, golden eyes closed as she slept peacefully. Watching the girl's sleeping figure, Sirius couldn't stop the smile that made its way onto my lips.

With a sigh, he got up, carefully taking the light girl and bringing her into her own room. He placed her onto her bed, taking off her shoes and socks and gently tucking her in.

"Good night, Embers." Sirius folded a strand of copper hair behind her ear, and Emberlynn let out a soft sigh, snuggling in deeper to her bed.

"Night," Emberlynn whispered back faintly. And that brought a small smile onto the lovestruck man's face. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

A/N: 

Hai! Sorry I almost forgot to update this week. I was pretty busy on Wednesday because of school stuff. Man, school just started and I'm already getting a bunch of homework. Just yesterday I had a math test! (Though it wasn't too hard and we were allowed to use calculators 🥰) 

Word Count (not including A/N): 1106 

2021//09/11