Mystical Saga - The beginning

20. Fire cooler (F)

A/N

This story is unedited so apologies for grammatical and spelling errors if any.

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Fiora (POV)

I woke up snuggled in Zack's strong arms or I suppose. Shouldn't I have been panicked? I mean, I'm sleeping with a man, which is considered unethical by society's standards. Does that make me a classic-labelled woman? "What the hell am I thinking, pondering that too first thing in the morning... ahh, my head," I muttered to myself. I struggled to extricate my head from his stronghold, attempting to move it from his chest to outside the blanket. 

However, it was cold, so I found myself slipping back inside, only peeking out slightly to see who I was snuggled up to. He was asleep, and his sleeping face was drop-dead gorgeous, with perfectly kissable lips. I entertained the thought of biting them, figuring well-behaved sophistication could wait for later. As I twisted and turned to meet his eye level, I missed his eyes badly, poking his lips lightly a few times before he finally opened his beautiful arctic blue orbs.

"Theo," I exclaimed excitedly, closing the distance I had initially created for a specific mission, only to be distracted by the fact that he was shirtless. My hands itched to run through his body, but my logic had to hit me. Why did she have to exist in these moments? I don't know. I could have bitten this man's neck if not for this damn logic, pretty sure, my face was red as tomatoes I quickly got out of bed, wrapping the blanket around me, and made my way to the washroom, leaving a probably confused Theo behind.

"Argh... how embarrassing," I muttered as I entered the washroom. But as I looked at myself in the mirror and removed the blanket, I noticed my dress was riddled with holes from the burning. Panic surged through me, heightening all my senses. Without a second thought, I dashed out of the bathroom and scanned the entire room, but there were no burn marks anywhere. Then, I quickly checked on Theo to see if I had inadvertently harmed him in any way. I was so scared, but fortunately, he was unharmed. I was almost teary-eyed when Theo cupped my face, lifting it so he could meet my gaze, and kissed me on my forehead. Tears welled up in my eyes as I spoke, "I... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, you didn't harm me. Just the other room is a little charred," Theo tried to appease the situation, but I quickly got up after hearing what he said about the next room. My heart sank as I entered the adjacent room, only to realize that the entire bed in this room had turned to ashes, while the side tables were blackened and charred. I was heartbroken at the sight, feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next.

Zack pressed his palm against my eyes and turned me to face him, guiding me to the other room and gently sitting me down on the bed. He crouched down to my eye level, and I instinctively recoiled. "Stay away, Zack. I might hurt you. It's not safe around me," I said, feeling completely shattered.

"It's not what you think happened. Calm down, Fiora, and listen," he said in a gentle tone. I remained facing downward, unable to gather the courage to look him in the eye, fearing he would see me as a monster too.

"After you fell asleep, I picked you up and settled you in that room while I went to fetch a blanket. You must have had a bad dream, that's what I suppose, and you broke into fire. I quickly went there to save you, but as soon as I embraced you, you cooled down. However, the bed was already on fire. I transferred you to the other room while you were smiling in your sleep, holding onto my shirt. So, I removed it and went to put out the fire. But your fires were too quick and consumed the bed entirely. All I could save were the side tables. When I checked back on you, you were sleeping peacefully. After a while, I could see you panicking again. I figured I'm your kryptonite, so, I stayed," he explained.