For All Those Sleeping [Editing]

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Chapitre VIII

“That is the most ridiculous excuse I’ve ever been told,” the mirrored marron-headed teen muttered while bringing his hand to his head.

Needless to say, Maelstrom wasn’t very excited when he saw Sierra and I enter his unlocked house on a Thursday afternoon. He naturally acted cold towards us not because of the incident, but because he was a Thief. He was the one kid out of all of us who was a single, uninfluenced race. He was cunning, witty, unfriendly, and smart because he was a Thief. All that worried me more.

“Well I’m sorry that I didn’t know what you were talking about when you never actually stated what the conflict was,” I bitterly sighed with narrow eyes.

What I really need right now is to get chastised by a twenty-year old. Yes, thank you, Dieu. There wasn’t already enough of a mixture of stress and embarrassment. This is just terrific.

“We hadn’t talked in years and you think I was still worrying about her? It was terrible, but it’s been three years! If my dad had indeed contacted you, you would have refused that there was a problem and fought against me, no?”

“Alright guys, shut up about this!” Sierra scolded. “The miscommunication is no longer the issue. We need to figure out exactly what your father wants to do and where he is so we can stop him!”

“Hold up, why should I stop him?” Maelstrom questioned.

“Because you don’t like his plan?” Sierra slowly told him like it was the easiest thing in the world to comprehend.

“Yeah, I just don’t wanna be the initiator. By hey, whatever he’s got sounds like it’ll benefit me.”

“Are you scared to go against your father?” she challenged.

Maelstrom twitched. “I test death every day, I’m not scared of anything.”

“Then how about you do it for your poor sister outside who would be horrified to see her brother allow everyone she knows to be killed?”

In a split second, Maelstrom’s eyes lit up. The electricity in his aura sizzled through the air and buzzed against my cold skin, sending shivers through my spine and making the hair on my arms stand up. Maelstrom seemed to let go of the previous irritability he was holding onto and appeared to be shocked, if anything.

“You mean Ophelia’s here?” he finally asked in a soft voice.

Slightly confused, I nodded. “In front with Jace.”

My old friend walked towards his door and opened it slightly. His breath got caught in his throat when he saw the stranger and his sister laughing about something, and he rested his forehead against the side of the door for a moment. There was a glint in his eye before morphing the sigh that slipped from his lips into a weak laugh.

He walked outside onto his steps and looked down to the duo. “So you are alive, huh?”

Ophelia, tearing her attention away from the childish teenager, cocked her head. “Hey Mael. You’re not upset or anything? Shocked? In disbelief?”

“Remember when Leo stole that dagger the last day I saw you? He said that it told the future, so I became curious. I did some research on it and once it sounded legitimate, I stole one for myself.  It took me forever to translate - although I got some help from an old Archer friend - but I interpreted it to being about you.”

Out of his pocket, Maelstrom pulled out a small, decorated knife. I muttered to Sierra once I saw the red stains, “That’s the thing he stabbed me with, isn’t it?”