Classy, Controlled Chaos - The STEAM Team Adventures

🥀 Wither [3/6] 🥀

Marshall's POV:

Addison and I woke up ridiculously late.

For some reason, I had passed out on her part of the bunk bed, my wings safely hidden in my fireproof vest.

She was sitting beside me, several pages deep into the novel we were supposed to be reading together.

"You're reading ahead of me?" I mumbled, my morning voice husky. "How could you, Addi?"

She let out a startled yelp, tightening the grip on her book. "Oh, uh, hi, Marshie! Haha..."

I groaned, sitting up. "Traitor."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." The librarian sighed, pulling her curly hair back into a ponytail. "It was just so good, I couldn't resist reading-"

"Seventeen chapters ahead?" Sophii snorted, padding over and pawing at my vest.

Addison scoffed. "What? No, I-"

"Don't lie, I know you were caught up in the look." The shadowshifter meowed. "Heart skipped a beat when your book buddy woke up?"

"You can stop teasing her now." I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it, anyway?"

"A couple hours after moonrise." She replied, flicking her tail. "Addison didn't get a wink of sleep."

"Again with calling me out!" The librarian squeaked, closing her book. "Can you not, Sophii?"

"Meow." Sophii smirked, sitting down beside my head and leaning over to obnoxiously stare at my face.

"Please don't attack me, I don't want to have to set you on fire." I yawned, sitting up and arching my back into a stretch. "Yes, I'm aware that Addison invested her magic on keeping you the safest out of the five of us, but we don't talk about it."

Our cloaked counterpart opened her mouth to reply, but the words silently drifted out and fell onto the ground.

"Mr. Valkyrie, Ms. Reece, and Sophii?" Someone called through the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, standing up.

"Sir Nyx." The knight replied firmly. "We need to see the three of you at once in the infirmary."

"You have some explaining to do."

☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️⭐️☁️

Fear, distrust, agony, and wariness.

That's what I saw in Tia's eyes when we saw her splayed out on a patient's bed, clutching her head in pain.

King Arthur stood beside her, soothing her with some reassuring words I couldn't make out.

Her breathing was erratic and uneven.

Every time she took a shuddery breath, her tail twitched, tensing up in pain.

Then I saw the injury.

Her royal blue blood had darkened into this inky-black goop, leaking out of the wound like a punctured pipe.

Whitecap stood beside the king, silently mouthing a series of spells to relieve her pain.

Permafrost and Beluga were backing him up, holding Tia down by the shoulders to prevent her from moving too much.

Was this an exorcism of some sort? Because it sure seemed like one.

Sir Nyx came up beside me, explaining the situation. "A few minutes ago, Tia's wound had abruptly reopened and began bleeding again with no logical reason other than magic. We're assuming it's the doing of the three of you, especially that kitty of yours."

"You finally found out." Sophii meowed, startling the knight. "What? I was just defending myself. I got scared, and cats get scared easily. Happy?"

He knelt down, staring the shadowshifter dead in the eyes. "If that young woman dies, you're going to be in a world of pain."

"Let's not rub more salt into this wound, shall we?" I interrupted, stepping between them. "This won't end well for any of us if we argue."

Before he could reply, Sophii unsheathed her claws, letting out a dangerously low hiss.

I glanced down to face her, my heart skipping a beat.

There was no house cat to be seen.

In her place, a sleek, muscular panther crouched on the marble tiles, tensed up and ready to spring.

Her stormy-gray eyes were glaring up at Sir Nyx, with her ears pressed back against her head.

"Make another threat, I dare you." She hissed, bearing her uncannily large teeth.

The knight went silent, slowly backing away from her with his hands in the air. "Alright, alright... No need to worry."

For a brief moment, I thought he was stalling for some time to attack, but he was genuinely afraid.

Then, my gaze turned to where Tia was stationed, watching her intently.

She was leaning against King Arthur for support, mumbling something I couldn't pick up.

He was sitting there, listening to her as she spoke.

The wound was patched up with bandages, and miraculously enough, it healed over.

I was happy to see that she was okay.

"You three." Permafrost stepped over to us. "Answer my questions and no one will suffer."

Addison saw that as a challenge. "What are you going to do if we don't comply, beat us to-"

I gently put a hand over her mouth. "Cool down, Addi. Let them run their mouths."

The sorceress wielded her steel staff, pointing it at Sophii. "You. Speak."

"Meow," The shadowshifter replied, pawing at the ground.

"I said, SPEAK." Permafrost hissed, prodding at the her flank. "Say something human or you're all  getting thrown into the dungeon to wither away right here, right now."

"Don't treat our guests like tha-" King Arthur began, only for his sentence to be cut short by a silencing spell.

My eyes widened in shock as I heard Permafrost's next words.

"This is the beginning of the end of your reign."