you're incredibly wicked

24: new moon in scorpio

As the new moon progressed, so did Serena's Devil's flu. She laid in bed and her eyes were shut, hoping that she could sleep off the pain.

Nikolai was in his half raven form, dabbing a damp, cold washcloth on her head when he felt her head for a second.

"Can I cook an egg on this?"

He spawned an egg and cracked it on her head.

"OW!"

"Shhhhhhh, this will take a second."

And it did, the egg was done in exactly 3 seconds. A perfectly cooked sunny side up egg.

Nikolai ate the egg.

"Would you like one too? I'm making eggs?"

"On my head?"

"Your head is probably the best griddle in all of Grozine. You can make some decent currency by opening a breakfast joint."

"Please tell me that you're joking. OW. Really?"

Nikolai cracked another egg on Serena's head and cooked it for her.

"You're not you when your hungry. Have an egg. You cooked it technically."

She slowly got up and Nikolai summoned a lavish platter for her.

"Thank you."

Serena took the fork and started to chew. Unlike when Nikolai made her pancakes, she ate slowly and gracefully. 

"It pains me to see you like this." Nikolai admitted.

"You know, one thing I learned about was that girls in this world have a thing called a "Devil's Cycle", I think it's similar to that."

Nikolai shook his head.

"You exhibit an extreme case of the Devil's Cycle. Like, you're in constant pain extreme."

"That's what I'm feeling right now." Serena had a mouthfull of egg.

"Do you want me to cook you anything else? You would just have to lay down."

"I think you just want to cook."

"True. Absolutely."

Serena finished eating after a bit and Nikolai cleared the table with a snap of his fingers. 

When they locked eyes, Nikolai saw how Serena's once blue eyes turned grey with a hint of fog around them. He looked closer in her eyes and noticed a strange red dot in the middle.

"Nikolai. Please don't come near me. I'll get you sick."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is you feeling better."

"What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like something's wrong?"

"Because there is. Do you know why it's called Devil's Flu?"

"I thought it was because my body temperature was hot and my mouth is dry."

"There might be a devil in your body as well."

"A devil? But, how can that be?"

Nikolai got away from Serena and looked out the window. It was a stormy night and rain could be faintly heard from the windows.

"Did your siblings ever tell you about their curses while they went to the academy?"

"No, never. Nobody ever brought it up. In fact, they never told me about their experiences in full detail."

"You come from a strong family with an elite background, maybe everything was hush hush so nobody else could get freaked out."

"Most likely. All they told me about was that they were the perfects of their classes and met their soulmates. Now, the soulmates are up in heaven with them, living the best life they ever had."

"So, no mention of curses or dark magic?"

"Nothing at all."

"That makes sense." Nikolai murmured.

"What?"

Nikolai took a breath.

"It's sad to see how you all of a sudden were forced into reality with no explaination about anything. You fight villains, deal with a curse, and there might be something more. I read about this in a book."

"Read about what?"

Nikolai finally looked at her.

"Despite the fact that you were born and are an angel, a bit of demon blood must have gotten into you. Curses don't appear in heaven but rather here. It's all so much to think about."

"What are you saying?"

"I can't confirm if this is the case or not, but when you were born, a devil must have disguished themselves as an angel and hurt you in some way. You may have a scar somewhere that proves it."

Serena pulled her hair back and revealed the back of her neck to have a bizarre dent, almost the shape of an unfinished triangle.

"Check here."

Nikolai examined the dent.

"I see."

"What about you? Do you have a mark or whatnot that is part of your curse?" Serena looked up at him.

Nikolai shook his head.

"I can't tell you right now."

"Why not? Nikolai, you're scaring me."

He just walked away, but stopped for a minute.

"It's a.... long long story. And besides, it might not even be true."

He turned back around.

"For now, I only want to take care of you, nurse you to a more stable condition. We can talk about me later, I was being selfish anyways."

He walked back to her and held her hand, which was pale.

"Sweet Serena. I wished that you didn't have to suffer like this."

"Nikolai...."

He dabbled another wet washcloth on her and kissed her hand.

The two of them were silent for a little while. Serena went back to sleep.

"Asleep already?" 

No response.

Nikolai got up and quietly walked towards the balcony doors. The rain was picking up and if he didn't leave soon, he wouldn't be able to get back home. He looked back again at Serena and then went back to the window. As much as he would kill to stay with Serena and take care of her, he knew that not only was he breaking their promise and the school's rules, but he would get caught by Serena's roommates.

Just as he was about to leave, the door suddenly opened.

"Who are you?" Claudia's voice boomed.

Nikolai froze in fear and turned to see all of Serena's roommates in the door.

"What is going on?" Aubree was shocked.

"A masked man dressed as a raven?? I thought this only happened in the novels!" Lizzie squealed.

"GET HIM!" Claudia shouted.

Just as the girls chased after him, Nikolai opened up the balcony doors and made a run for it, turning into a raven and flying into the rain. All of them stopped at the foot of the door and watched the raven fly away.

Claudia looked away in shock.

"What was that?"

"I thought I was seeing things." Aubree replied.

"He looked SO COOL!" Lizzie blushed.

Everybody looked at Serena and then back at the door.

"Whoever this is, I don't have a good feeling about it at all." Claudia said in a concerned tone.

"Who could it be?" Lizzie asked.

Aubree all of a sudden came to a realization.

"It must be the missing heir to the royal family that died years ago! They were ravens!"

"Aubree, they are all dead, magic henchmen killed them, all 3 of them." Claudia snapped back.