Guardians of Elemental Magic (G.E.M.)

Chapter 11: Making up for lost time

A/N: hello again~ I'm aware I didn't upload this chapter yesterday, but I was busy studying for an exam! >.< Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I don't know how I feel about this chapter...maybe because i'm no good at these romance type things XD. But I chose to incorporate some of romance in so I gotta stick with it! I'm working on improving it as well! Enjoy~

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Third person POV

The next two weeks passed by very quickly. With Austen's days spent training with Ruby, then training with Mia, then with other soldiers, Austen would be too exhausted to really notice the time passing by. Although Ruby was putting him through hell, he liked his stay there. The beds were nice, servants looked after him, and most importantly, he was near Ruby every day. Unfortunately, so was Marcus. Austen and Marcus have never carried out a proper conversation, but there was already some sort of dislike forming between them. Austen thought that Marcus and Ruby were a couple, but every time he hinted at this, Ruby would say they were simply very close friends. But from the way he saw it, Marcus is in a one-sided love.

During his training with Ruby, Austen also realized how strong she really was. He's never seen her use her magic even once during their training together, or her training with her soldiers. Her martial arts was enough to defeat all of them. Not to mention that, her whole army is way over-powered. Although, that kind of makes sense when you have a crazy strong leader, training you every day. This makes him wonder how they were defeated by the Water kingdom in the war.

Austen, Ruby and Mia were supposed to head back to Earth that night, but a storm had hit their region, cancelling school for another week. They decided that they would stay there and train until they had to go back to school.

After their training that night, Austen was walking back to his room to shower. On his way, he bumped into Marcus, who was heading to Ruby's room. Austen, in the spur of the moment, stepped in Marcus' path. Marcus stopped and looked at Austen coolly. "Let's talk," Austen said, meeting Marcus' cold expression with one just as cold.

"And what would I possibly have to talk to you about?" Marcus questioned. He continued walking without waiting for his answer, bumping into Austen's shoulder as he passed him. Austen reached his arm back and clamped his hand down on Marcus' arm. He turned around and said strongly, "You have feelings for Ruby don't you? You think of her as more than just a friend, or a sister. You love her don't you?"

A look of shock appeared on Marcus' face, before being replaced by pure anger. He grabbed Austen by the collar and growled, "Don't say that ever again, especially in front of Ruby. I know you've been asking her about our relationship." Austen was taken aback. He didn't expect Marcus to respond so strongly to his question.

"Look," Austen said, removing Marcus' hand, and readjusting his clothes. "You obviously have feelings for Ruby. Anyone from a mile away could tell. Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

Marcus looked at him before looking away. "Back off. You don't understand. You don't understand anything."

"Yes, you're right. I don't understand. So say it so that I can understand!" Austen said, annoyed. He hated seeing Marcus look at Ruby with those eyes, filled with love and respect for her, then look incredibly sad when she wasn't around. What really ticked him off was that Marcus didn't make any moves to try and change that.

Marcus looked at Austen again. "This is between Ruby and I, so mind your own business," he said before walking off again, towards Ruby's room.

"If you don't confess, then I will," Austen said fiercely. Marcus stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around.

"Do what you want," Marcus said softly, before continuing to walk away.

Austen has had enough. What was wrong with that guy? Why can't he just confess to Ruby already? It pissed him off even more, because he liked her too. "Just tell her already and stop being a coward!" Austen shouted.

"You don't understand!" Marcus yelled back at him. "I've been wanting to tell her but I can't. She won't accept my feelings if she finds out that I'm the reason her whole family died that day when the Water fairies infiltrated the kingdom!" Marcus was panting now. He revealed the secret that he's been keeping for so many years, to a stranger, to say the least. "Forget it. Forget I said anything."

"What do you mean you're the reason they're dead? It's not like you were the one who assassinated them. And Ruby was there the whole time. She would have witnessed everything you did."

"No, when Ruby and her family were running towards the tunnels to escape, Ruby was captured by one of the Water fairies. She didn't escape until after her parents and her brother were killed. She didn't see how I wasn't able to protect her brother, even though I could have. Instead, he told me to go save Ruby because he could handle himself. That guy was always a convincing liar," he said with a chuckle, before continuing. "That's why I've decided to stay by her side and protect her for the rest of my life. It's also why I can't tell her how I feel about her. I don't want to jeopardize our friendship, it's too important for me to lose. I'm already very happy that I can be by her side when she needs me."

Both fairies went quiet for a moment. What Marcus just said was too much for Austen to process.

"Stupid," a voice suddenly said from around the corner. Both young men turned to the sound and saw Ruby stepping out from around the corner and towards them. "You, are so stupid Marcus," she said, putting emphasis on each word, as she continued to walk towards them, her eyes cast down.

A look of shock appeared on Marcus' face. "Ruby? What are you doing here?"

She didn't reply. Instead, she said, "You're my best friend. You're like a brother to me. Why would I get mad at you?" Ruby's voice was steadily getting louder. "And you weren't able to protect my brother? You were 12! Who can fight off Water hunters when they're 12?!" Ruby almost screamed those last words, as she looked straight into Marcus' eyes. Her eyes were dripping with tears. Austen and Marcus were both shocked. Austen, because he's never seen Ruby express her emotions so much, and Marcus, because Ruby was clinging onto his shirt and crying. He's never seen Ruby cry. She didn't cry when the Water hunters attacked, nor did she cry when she found out that her whole family was killed. Instead, she bottled up all her feelings and became almost emotionless. Hearing Marcus' words earlier was probably too much for her, and she could no longer stop her emotions from rushing out.

"I'msorry," Marcus said softly as he hugged Ruby. "I'm sorry that I didn't trust youenough, and that I didn't tell you this earlier." Austen, feeling out of placeand awkward, walked off.    

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Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!

- Raven