Of Magic USUK

Chapter 8

I wake up in the infirmary, a white sheet hanging to my left is the only thing that separates me from the...normal students. My wings ache, having been tucked behind me as I laid on my back. It feels like when your arm falls asleep, and I have to fight the urge to both cry out in pain and laugh at the same time.

"Artie?" 

I look to the right, finding the headmaster and Alfred standing before me. I purposely avoid responding and instead sit up, wincing at the pain in my back. "What happened?" I ask, directing the question to the headmaster, who looks between Alfred and me before sighing.

"She breached our grounds. The spells the kept her out were broken. I'm afraid she's gotten stronger."

"Strong enough to even break the spell on me," I state, looking to my wings with sadness filling my heart. All I wanted was to be normal, and I can't do that with my dreadful appearance.

"Yes," she says, giving me a look of sympathy. "I'm afraid we can't even recast it. Her magic has left some residue from breaking the spell. Any attempt to cloak your appearance again would result in the death of the caster."

"Crap," I curse, feeling my heart sink. "What am I supposed to do?" I ask, shaking my head in distress. "I can't be seen like this." I curl into a ball, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my wings around my body. 

"What are you talking about? This is so cool!" Alfred says, grinning shyly at me, but I avoid his gaze. His eyes fall, and I wince at the guilt in them. I just can't bring myself to say anything. "Arthur," he says gently, and I recoil out of instinct when he reaches towards me.

"Please, don't," I whisper, feeling broken.

"Arthur, I'm sorry about what I said..." His voice sounds as weak as mine, and he sits down on my bed. "If I'd had known--"

"That's the thing, Alfred," I say, cutting him off. "You were supposed to trust me. People in a relationship are supposed to believe in the person that they're with. You just jumped to conclusions, and you even said things that were really hurtful."

His blue eyes fill with guilt that makes me feel like crap, to put it simply. He looks as if he wants to tell me something, but he stops himself, looking away instead. "I was an ass."

I scoff bitterly, feeling angry and humiliated and disgusted, but I'm not sure what I'm disgusted with. "Yeah," I mutter, closing my wings tightly around me.

I don't look to his eyes, but I see the tears fall onto my sheets. I swallow at the sight, wishing I wasn't the cause of his sadness. I know he hurt me, but I still don't ever want to hurt him. "Please don't let it end here," he whispers, and I find myself meeting his gaze in spite of myself.

His eyes are pleading, leaking tears and causing my heart to tear itself to shreds. Why does he have to look so guilty? It's making it really hard to be mad at him. "Why?" I ask, feeling confused and angry and hurt. "Why me?"

Those bright blue irises of his travel between both of my emerald ones, and he sighs, a light blush staining his brilliantly tan cheeks. "I'm not sure," he whispers. "I don't know why my heart chose you, but I'm glad it did."

My breath hitches rather obviously at was basically a confession. "Alfred..." I say, feeling my heart conflicting with my mind. I know it's dangerous to be with him. Not only could I be hurt emotionally, because of what I am we could both end up hurt physically...or worse.

"Let me win you over again," he states, hands on my shoulders rather aggressively. "I'll prove my feelings to you." He looks so determined. I don't have any clue why he would want me, especially after he's seen me.

"You...don't think I'm ugly?" I can't help but ask, feeling even more timid than I was before, nibbling my lower lip whilst being careful of my sharp teeth. Not knowing what else to do, I look to my lap, twiddling my thumbs awkwardly as I await a response.

"Okay, one," he starts, laughing softly. "I've never thought of you as ugly." He sits down closer to me, legs hanging off of the bed. "Two, the fact that I get to see your true form, which is gorgeous by the way, makes me want to kiss you so hard." He grins happily, blushing to his ears as he bites his own lower lip.

My own face fills up with a bright red color, and I feel my feather fluff up in excitement. No. Bad body. Calm down or no cake for you later. "T-Thank you," I murmur awkwardly, and Alfred just takes the phrase in stride, moving his interest to my wings.

"So, can you fly with these?" he asks, pointing to one of them. "And can I touch it?" 

Not being able to help the smile that stains my face, I grin and expand my wing, bringing it towards him with a nod. "Sure."

He reaches out, fingers gentler than anything I've ever felt before as they card through my feathers, brushing through them and against the surface of the skin on them. It feels so relaxing that I find myself closing my eyes and leaning into his touch with my entire body. I've always found it relaxing, and no one has pet my wings in a while. 

"They're so soft!" he says softly, breath ghosting along my ear and causing small tingles to erupt along my now exhausted body.

"Thanks," I return sheepishly, not really minding one way or another as I fall asleep in his arms. 

"Are you falling asleep?"

I yawn widely and loudly. "No..."

He chuckles, and I find myself being leaned back against the bed, sitting where I was originally. "Hey," I groan, opening my eyes to give him a questioning look.

Alfred looks at me fondly, stroking my blood red hair out of my eyes and tucking some of it behind my pointed ear. "You're so cute," he tells me, making my heart skip a beat.

"I'm not cute," I return, crossing my arms sleepily.

"Yes you are. When you blush, even your ears turn red. That qualifies you as cute in my book. Not to mention, I've got a thing for accents."

I find myself smiling, shaking my head fondly before checking the time. "You're going to be late for class."

He sighs, looking at me with solemn eyes. "I'll come back right afterwards, okay?" he says, and I nod, admittedly looking forward to after his class. Apparently deciding to take me by surprise, he leans forward and places a kiss on my cheek. "I love you." And then he's gone, disappeared just like that. He used magic.

"Oh, he's cute."

I gasp at the voice, suddenly held in place by dark magic I'm all too familiar with. "Why are you here?"

She chuckles, walking around so we lock eyes. "I'm here to take you back. We both know I need the key."

"I've already told you. I can't give you the key. I don't have the ability." Her green eyes harden.

"Arthur, I know you're lying." My heart sinks at the words. She's delusional! I thought that took longer to develop.

"You've gone crazy."

"Arthur," she complains, sounding much more dangerous than one would think. She's a monster. 

"Alice..."

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Heylo, my lovely little nuggets! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to leave any comments and suggestions if you have them. They always make my day :) Anyway, I'll see y'all nuggety readers in the next update! Until then, have an absolutely fantastic and fabulous day! Bai!!! >:3

-IggyScones