Voiceless Bird

Chapter 22

|| Day 6.5 Semi-Finals Round 2 ||

A Pain in the Neck

I was still pondering this newly discovered information when the door knob started to turn. My heart skipped a beat and my head snapped from left to right, figuring out where I could hide.

I couldn't be caught eavesdropping- especially not where Robin was concerned. I dashed to the side, behind a wall, just as the door eased slowly open.

"Stop by again after the Aureas Tournaments when things are less hectic." I peeked out at their voices and saw a woman with platinum blonde hair and a tall, thin figure give Robin a warm smile. "We'll see how to fix this problem then."

He nodded in response and with another smile, the woman walked off towards the arena. Robin glanced around and I quickly ducked back behind the wall, hoping that he hadn't caught sight of me.

His footsteps went off to the opposite direction and slowly faded away. I let out a breath that I hadn't realised I had been holding, relieved that I had escaped notice. I tried to refocus my thoughts to focus on my task at hand, which was to find Meraella, but I couldn't stop thinking about Robin's dilemma.

I needed to stop whatever was causing his dreams- there was obviously some foul magic at play here. As I headed towards the West garden- which I supposed was somewhere in the general westerly direction- I pondered my options.

I had no clue as to who or what was inciting these dreams to turn Robin against Meraella. I sighed to myself; this was a lot harder than it seemed.

For a moment, a despairing thought entered my mind. What if this was all my imagination? That I could be making something out of weird hallucinations and my imagination. Before panic could fully bloom in my chest, I pushed the negative thoughts away.

First things first- I had to find Meraella.

**

I spotted Amie at the entrance of the West garden and waved to catch her attention. A bright smile appeared on her face and she waved enthusiastically back. I glanced behind her, expecting to see Remi, but she was surprisingly alone.

"Hey Night! Are you alright?" A small crease of worry appeared between her eyebrows and I waved off her concerns.

"I'm fine..." I replied softly.

Amie smiled cheerfully again, "That's good! I heard that you were exhausted from your matches- and with good reason too, you did so well!"

"You did well too." I felt a blush creep into my cheeks as I returned her smile

She looked at me in surprise. "I've never heard you talk that much!"

My eyes widened in horror- had I done something wrong?

Noticing my distress, Amie laughed goodnaturedly. "No, no- it's great that you're finally coming out of your shell."

Realisation dawned- I hardly spoke to Amie at all and this was pretty much the first time I had done so.

I laughed, uncertain of what to say. I wasn't sure if Meraella was still in the garden, especially since it had been awhile since Alistair had seen her head in that direction.

"Uhm... have you seen Meraella?" Amie might've seen her, and even if she hadn't, it didn't hurt to ask.

"Meraella...?" She frowned slightly, pink lips pressed together in thought. "Isn't she still in the infirmary?"

I shook my head and Amie looked even more confused.

"Well, I've been here with Remi since morning and I haven't seen Meraella at all."

That meant I had no idea where Meraella was. Deep down, I was hoping that Meraella might have had some answers. If I could just ask her about Aurora, perhaps she might know something.

Amie must have seen the disappointment in her face, and she put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry too much Night, I'm sure she's fine."

I bit my lip and nodded uncertainly. Both Meraella and Robin were out of my sight, I wasn't sure if she was fine.

"Anyway... I'm going to head to lunch. You coming?"

I looked uncertainly towards the garden before making up my mind.

"Okay."

Linking arms with me, she skipped towards the Academy.

"Do you know if something's wrong with Robin?"

The suddenness of Amie's questions startled me. Did she suspect anything?

"Umm..." An awkward silence followed as she waited for my answer.

Amie laughed, breaking the silence, "I meant, he was pretty violent during the battles. When I was fighting him... he seemed really determined."

Determined? It was probably his insistence on winning the Aureas Tournament- which was something that would be particularly hard to do- considering I was next to useless.

I shrugged non-committedly.

"How was Dracai?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Amie looked slightly stunned again, before breaking out in a bright grin.

"I thought no one would ask me that! Thank you so much Night- oh my gosh you do not know how long I've been wanting to tell someone about it." I could see her bubbling with excitement as she promptly forgot all about Robin and chattered on about her trip.

I watched the ground go past my feet as I listened to Amie's comforting chatter.

"... and we went inside the Golden Palace, I couldn't even believe it! Oh and then we visited th- watch out!"

Amie's warning came too late- I had already tripped over a rock on the pathway. I tried to catch myself with my hands but before I could, I stopped short.

Warm hands grasped my shoulders, leaving me face to face with the crook of someone's neck. I was so close to my saviour that I could feel the warmth emanating from their body. I instinctively relaxed into their hold, a feeling of safety flowed through my body and I nearly sighed in content.

"So you're tripping over rocks instead of training?" Robin's deep voice reverberated right next to my ear and I jerked out of his grip, taking a step back. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Is that how you thank me for saving you from potential death?"

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I had wanted to defend my capabilities of breaking my fall but we both knew that if he hadn't been there, I would have suffered from a very sore face. Speaking of which, he had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you sneak out from?" Amie asked, looking suspicious.

Robin smirked. "Just because both of you have zero awareness, doesn't mean I sneaked up on you."

"Whatever." Amie rolled her eyes; good mode evidently gone. "Let's go, Night."

She walked off and I started to follow behind her. Robin caught hold of my wrist and pulled me- surprisingly gently- back.

"Now that I have conveniently found you- let's go train." He said, dragging me in the direction of the training grounds.

Amie glanced back at us and narrowed her eyes. "Unlike some people, we need to eat."

Robin's hand tightened around my wrist as he ignored Amie and continued walking. She gave off an aggravated sigh and stomped her foot.

"Fine! Be like that! Night- I'll bring some lunch to the training room later." Amie turned and stalked off, head held high.

"Finally." Robin muttered under his breath. I twisted my wrist out of his grip and he willingly let go. I sighed in resignation as I trailed behind him.

The Aureas Tournaments were such a pain in the neck.

A/N: Yay another updated chapter. If you didn't notice, it is a bit short. Sorry about that I tried my best to extend it but some things are just not meant to be. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!