Tɪɢʜᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ Bᴏɴᴅs || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ Bᴏᴏᴋ Tʜʀᴇᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇ || ᴘᴇʀʜᴀᴘs ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs

Lucia

Stupid Zay. I thought grumpily as I stepped in yet another puddle. A mosquito landed on my arm, and I savagely slapped it. My hand came away smudged with bug-guts. Maybe I should've felt guilty. I don't really know what the protocol is when someone who is definitely not your enemy but also definitely not your friend (or anything close to) falls ill and could die at any moment.

Anyway.

"You okay there?" Niko joked, pulling me from my thoughts. "Those mosquitoes certainly seem to be loving you!" He swatted another from the air beside me.

I rolled my eyes, not even bothering to attempt a smile. Nothing could dampen Niko's spirit when he got like this, which, honestly, was deeply irritating.

Tazi, who was just up ahead, turned. Clearly he'd overheard. His eyes twinkled. "I think they prefer royal blood." He added, "because I haven't gotten even one bite!"

I opened my mouth to retort, but Tyler called to us from the head of the pack. "Keep up, back there!" He shouted, "the faster we can find Sheyu, the faster we can cure Zay!"

Hearing our guardian utter the girl's name made my stomach turn sour, and my attitude even worse. "Dumb Stetriolians." I growled under my breath, kicking harshly at a pebble.

Niko side-eyed me. "You're slowing down. Are you trying to make Zay suffer?"

That was the last straw. "Make Zay suffer?" I snapped back at him. "No! But why is it our fault that she didn't take Nectar? Or Bile? Why do we have to wander through this Tellun-forsaken Maze in search of a cure for a girl who isn't even a real Greencloak?!"

Niko looked taken aback, and for a moment I felt bad. "But Lucia," he argued, "Zay didn't have a choice! She can't help where she was born!"

"So?!" I exploded. "I didn't get a choice either! You think I wanted to come a roam this stupid world with a stupid team in search of some stupid Talismans?!"

Now he looked shocked. Completely speechless. "I- Lucia–"

"I don't want to hear it." I cut him off coldly, spinning on my heel and stomping off into the bamboo.

"Just leave her." I heard Tazi say, and I knew he was talking to Niko. But I didn't stay to hear Niko's reply, instead pushing deeper into the Maze until the tall stalks obscured most of the sky. There I stopped, unsure what to do. Regret flooded through me.

"Argh!" I yelled at the sky, punching a bamboo stalk. "Why is everyone trusting so easily?! We're in the middle of a war! I hate everything about this stupid team! Everything! Why does this have to be so hard? No one else is having problems!" I sank to the ground, cradling my aching hand. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you."

I jumped up, reaching for my weapon, but it was only Niko. "You scared me." I scowled at him, "What do you want?"

"I'm here to apologize." He replied, spreading his hands so I could see that he wasn't hiding anything.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Okay." I said finally, begrudgingly.

"Look, I didn't realize that you never had a choice." Niko started hesitantly, "and it wasn't fair of me to speak so harshly to you."

My face heated up, and I stared at the ground. "I–"

"No," he cut me off, "it was my fault. I shouldn't've snapped at you. I just pushed you past your breaking point, and I get it. I'm sorry."

I chewed my lip. "Niko, I–"

He held up a hand to stop me. "It's fine, Lucia. You don't have to apologize for what you said. I know you didn't mean any of it." His eyes shone at me from under his dark eyebrows. His very handsome dark brows.

No! What am I thinking?! I berated myself silently. "Niko, let me explain. I shouldn't've snapped at you. It wasn't your fault. It's mine."

"No. It's not." Niko shook his head lightly. "You have a lot on your mind and I just pushed you too far. You do have valid points."

"No, you don't get it!" I furrowed my brows at him. "It was my own fault for getting– wait, I do?"

"Yeah." Niko smiled crookedly at me. "You were thrown into this mission and have no will to be here. I get it. I'm sorry for prying. I'll leave now." He turned to go. "We are paying for something that isn't our responsibility. But I think that it's time someone tried to fix it."

I sighed thoughtfully, hating that he was right. I then realized he was about to leave. "Wait!" The word popped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

The Niloan boy halted and faced me again. "Yes?"

"I-I'm lost." I stuttered. Quit being so weird around him! He's nothing more then a friend!

He smiled, holding out a hand. "I can help with that."

I blushed again, but stepped forward and clasped his hand. He's just a friend! Tellun, what's wrong with me?!

Niko flashed me a charming grin. "I'll explain it all to Tyler and the others. We good?"

My heart skipped a beat and I nodded, suddenly breathless. "Uh... y-yeah."

"Perfect." He twined our fingers together and led the way back to the path. I quickly dropped his hand when I noticed Lizzie's questioning look, my cheeks getting hotter. Niko pushed through the pack, walking alongside Tyler. The two put their heads together.

"So?" Lizzie poked me in the side.

I squeaked in surprise. "W-what?"

She raised her brows. "What was all that about?"

"Oh... uh..." I avoided her gaze.

"And she doesn't mean that cry for attention." Tazi butted in disapprovingly. Lizzie shoved his face out of our conversation.

I laughed nervously and glanced away. "Niko was just showing me where to go. That's all." I stated firmly.

"I sure it was." Lizzie nodded, a knowing look on her face.

Tazi made kissing sounds in the background.

"Shut up." I nudged her away.

"Come on guys! We're almost there!" Ryan called back toward us. Laughing, we ran to catch up with the group.

Niko dropped back to trot beside me. "Tyler understands." He smiled happily. The sight of his happiness brought a grin to my own face.

Yeet! Another update. (Finally!) Hope y'all enjoyed! Comment and vote, etc. Peace! ✌️

edit 12/07/24
i'm too tired to properly edit this chapter so here
hbd sasha
enjoy or whatever
xoxo