Smolder in the Afterglow | Tales of Luminozenko

Chapter 17| It's a "You" Problem

I looked over the handrail and stared down at the circling stairwell beneath us. "At least we're going down," I said, in an attempt to assure myself.

"It'll be faster if we could just jump down, you know?" Delaney gave me a knowing look, which I mirrored and we simultaneously crane our necks to the twins, who refused to climb down the stairs next to the rail.

I meant, if they fell from here, they'd make a bad . . . red paint.

"Well, we could carry them down," I suggested and watched them stare at me, before slowly averting their two-colored gazes and hurrying down the stairs. Ny and I followed them down. "Come on, Your Highnesses, it'll save us—" Guren turned, which made me come to a sudden halt. Thanks to him being one step down and my heels, our eye level was the same.

"How do you, then, propose to carry me or Lazul?" He asked, the glow in his eyes flickering for a split second.

"Coming through." Delaney passed by us, turning sideways so he wouldn't hit any of us with his wings. "I had enough—hey!" Lazul grabbed the back of his collar, stopping him from leaving us.

"You're not going anywhere," Lazul declared, the corner of his lips shifting up to a mischievous smile.

Jeez. I guess I shouldn't really carry him. He seems irritated. Besides, we're not close, not really. Not . . . yet?

I shrugged. "Well, I don't know," I said and climbed a couple of steps down sideways. "And it'll be dangerous if I accidentally loosen my grip on you."

"So, you're chickening out?" Guren asked with an amused scoff and we resumed going down. Lazul had let go of Delaney, who rolled his eyes and fixed his collar.

I raised a brow and turned to look up at him. Since I was a couple of steps forward, he was much taller than me. "Oh, were you looking forward to me carrying you, Your Highness?" I jested, a grin forming on my lips.

"Well, no, not really," he said in a nonchalant voice and shrugged. "I was just curious. Have you ever carried someone and flown?"

I looked down the steps. "Yeah, I did. I had done it with my mother several times before. It was fun. She really likes being high up." I put my hand on the rail. "She said Dad also used to do that with her. Maybe that's why she's not afraid of heights."

"Do you know how your parents met?" Lazul questioned, glancing at me over his shoulder as he was before me.

"Not exactly, but Mom told me that she disliked Dad when they first met and kicked him." I sighed loudly. "Apparently Dad just landed in front of her and stole her food. I guess the old man didn't have any money when he first arrived on Earth."

"Stole her food . . ." Delaney mumbled. "I guess the Millennium Glory did deserve that kick."

"Ah, that kick wasn't just any kick, by the way," I added and grinned proudly. "She kicked him down there." I cackled right after.

"Faenice," Delaney cringed and shook his head. "No wonder."

Lazul let out a low and forced chuckle. "I see where you learned."

ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ

Unlike the yard where our Weapon's Art and Combat class took place, this yard had weird trees further at the back. And by weird trees, they were swaying nonstop even though there wasn't a strong wind making them.

I let Ny and the twins get ahead of me and flicked a glowing finger toward the dancing trees. They stopped for a moment, which made me frown, only to watch them wiggle even more violently than before. My mouth flew open. "What the fu—"