Remember Me *Book 3 Of The Remember the Rules Series*

The Way You Competed

(For some reason, this chapter is also really long. There's a lot that was supposed to happen, but it ended up being filler. Wtf. I don't EVER write filler. They don't even get to the start of practice for 1800 words, my god. You're gonna get that extra chapter you all wanted so much)

Peter woke Felix and I up earlier than usual. The sun hadn't even begun to rise yet. Luckily, he also seemed to be in a great mood so he wasn't a jerk about it. He shook me awake first. 

"Lily, wake up. You can't win the game unless you practice," he said, shaking my shoulder gently. "Come on, love."

I groaned in acknowledgement and reached over blindly to poke at Felix. My hand connected with his chest and I jabbed him, being much meaner than Peter had been. "Felix, up. Get up."

He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "go away." For all that Felix was an early riser, he didn't like getting up before he was ready. I poked him again and he batted my hand away sleepily.

"Come on, Felix," Peter laughed. Of course, because it was Peter, Felix groaned in defeat and rolled over, taking the blanket with him. 

"Hey!" The air was cold, and I didn't appreciate the abrupt change in temperature. It was then that I realized that I was sore all over from sparring with Felix yesterday. There was a massive bruise on my leg and both arms, and it felt like there were at least two more on my ribs. I groaned. "You really beat the crap out of me yesterday, man."

"You think you're worse off than me?" Felix sat up with a wince. "I bet I'm more purple than you."

"You two are pretty evenly matched in terms of skill, you know," Peter pointed out. "You've probably bruised a similar amount." He reached out and laid a hand on the sides of each of our ribcages. Green fog that looked black in the darkness seeped out of his hands and the pain subsided instantly. 

I saw him wince. "Should you really be doing that? We're pretty badly beaten up."

"Can't be helped. You both need to be able to move if you're going to practice for this afternoon. I'll heal soon enough." He shrugged and took a long sip from the coffee cup I hadn't noticed before. Now that I had, it made more sense that he was awake first. He was even less of a morning person than me, but if he'd prepared ahead of time, it made slightly more sense. 

I yawned, which set off a chain reaction, as always. Felix followed suit, then Peter. I thought it was kind of funny. I muttered a song under my breath. "Following the leader, the leader, the leader. We're following the leader..."

"Wherever she may go." Pan smirked at my surprise, but didn't address it. "You two look remarkably similar when you're asleep. It's a wonder that I never noticed before."

Felix shrugged. "It's not something you'd look for. By the way, why am I part of this? I'm not the one fighting, and it's not like she can't take down anyone Arthur throws at her."

"That would be true, if Arthur was going to pick someone from Camelot." Peter downed the rest of his coffee, and I assumed that he refilled it magically when he didn't put the cup down. "Which he's not. I've learned a lot of things about Arthur, but if there's one thing he isn't, it's stupid."

"What do you... you know what? I'm not awake enough to follow your train of thought yet, it's too damn early." I held out my hand expectantly and yawned yet again. "Battery acid. Share. Explain later."

Peter raised an eyebrow, but handed the paper coffee cup over without argument. "I don't want to hear any complaining about the taste."

I took a small sip and grimaced. "Too bad. This is even worse than usual." Still, I took a few long sips and tried my best not to taste it. "It's not even battery acid, it's gasoline. Is this that Italian crap you like so much?"