Elements: Illusions of Revenge (Book 2)

Don't Beat Yourself Up (Chapter 26)

Belle and Ben wouldn't stop fussing over Brenton, who looks annoyed with their constant questions and poking of his face.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Brenton grumbles as Ben stops Belle from poking Brenton's face again. "Really, I'm fine."

"C'mon, we've known you since we were in eighth grade," Ben starts.

"You really don't think we know when something is bothering you?" Belle adds. "We know you're worried about the Orphanage so you'll be happy to know we've got a few checks for you." Belle hands him three, thousand dollars checks.

"No way!" Brenton smiles brightly, taking the checks and putting them into his pocket. "You guys are so awesome!" Brenton hugs the both of them.

"Anything to get you to stop growling all the time," Ben jokes. "I've got some pretzels."

"Dude," Brenton grins, taking the pack of pretzels and opening them. "I love you guys."

"We love you too," Belle and Ben laugh.

"But what is else is wrong?" Belle questions.

"It's..." Brenton pauses, gathering his thoughts. "It's just that I was actually believing that Wysteria adopted me when I was younger...I can't believe I let myself get tricked so easily. If it wasn't for Urana...if it wasn't for all you guys, I would've believed it..."

"Hey," Ben squeezes his shoulder. "It happens to everyone. When you're directly injected with her magic, there's no way to escape it unless you've got memories like that."

"And Wysteria is crazy. She lost herself when her entire kingdom just died from a virus they created," Belle takes Brenton's hand and pats it. "She only wants to make people suffer, the poor Hlynkas got caught up in the mess because of their ancestor."

"But I'm the reason why they're venerable to Wysteria now," Brenton sighs. "I've been training for so long yet I couldn't tell when a normal person was about to inject something in me..."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Ben holds Brenton's other hand. "It's not your fault. Me and Belle, even Sensei Ku would've been effected by Wysteria if she injected her magic in us."

"He's right," Belle agrees, nodding her head. "You can't blame yourself for something everyone is helpless to."

"I guess you guys are right," Brenton shrugs, and they let go of his hands. "But I'll feel really bad if anyone ends up hurt by Wysteria because of what happened to me."

--

Jamil watches as Amy is lost in thought, while her siblings are all also lost in thought.

"You guys all okay?" Jamil questions, worried by the lack of talking between the siblings.

"Hmm?" Scott mumbles, completely lost.

"Yeah," Red answers flatly, his eyes distant.

"Never better," Quill closes her eyes. Amy remains completely silent. Jamil gives up on starting a conversation and wonders about what happened last night.

"This doesn't have anything to do with this woman that took something from Amy right..?" Judging by the awkward shuffling, Jamil guesses he's right.

"My...significant other was killed by that woman," Amy looks glum, then anger takes over her face. "Now she's free...she's escaped and loose."

"Oh...I-I had no idea..." Jamil mumbles, taken a back by the suddenly fierce anger on Amy's face. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"The same woman killed others," Scott takes a deep breath. "She's dangerous."