Chapter 211: Chapter 191 : Quivering

Monday….

Following a sharp inhale, Charlotte’s eyelids snapped open, her eyes swirling with traces of panic and urgency.

Only seconds earlier, she was in a dead-end alleyway, back against a grimy wall, firing upon a swarm of charging zombies. Her aim was true but her ammo was limited. After firing her last bullet, the zombies collectively cackled as though mocking her before rushing in.

The fastest of the bunch, a bloated male zombie reached her a second later, opening his rotten maw wide to reveal jagged and slimy teeth. Charlotte drew her chipped knife and moved to slash, but it was too late, the zombie's teeth sank into her flesh, sending her to another world, literally.

Now, in the real world, her chest heaved up and down rapidly as beads of cold sweat trickled down her forehead.

'Ah, that's the third one in as many days, got to cut back on the zombie games... definitely,' she thought with a bitter expression.

Anchoring herself back to reality, she quickly calmed down after a few more breaths. Putting the experience behind her, she dragged her gaze off the high white ceiling to more pleasant sights.

Rolling over on her side, all negative emotions and thoughts were vaporized from her head, for Yuki's and Violet’s resting faces reflected off her hazel eyes. The two were spooning, Violet being the 'big spoon' and Yuki being the 'little spoon' as usual.

'Just what I needed,' Charlotte thought, looking on with an approving smile.

With the first time going well, the trio decided to continue sleeping together. They knew it wasn't what normal friends did, but they couldn't care less, having left normality behind many moons ago. The trio had grown incredibly close in the short period and wanted to maintain their proximity to each other. This desire manifested itself in their sleeping arrangement, and their decision to purchase a room together.

While mostly identical in appearance and layout, the hotel room they were currently in wasn't the usual hangout room, but rather, a room from a floor below. The room was designated as their sleep-together room and was filled up with the ladies' essentials and clothes.

‘This has become quite a regular thing. I wonder how long we can keep this going, hopefully forever. Two bodacious babes in my bed, I couldn’t ask for more…well, maybe a bit more.’ A lewd light sparkled in the Onic Master’s gaze but she quickly snuffed it out with a blink. ‘No, don’t ruin it, Charl, patience patience.’

Smacking her cheeks at the reminder, she turned around and captured the alarm clock on the pedestal. Seeing only ten minutes left before it rang, she decided to get up. She slid to the edge of the king-sized bed, slowly pulled away the black and white blanket and got up. Straightening up, she broke into a simple stretch to get her blood flowing.

At the same time, her telekinesis swept over her curvy form and swiftly collected the dead skin and traces of sweat that had accumulated on her person since falling asleep, leaving her spotless. Not content, Charlotte's eyes sought the bathroom, her feet following suit seconds later.

In nothing but her racy red underwear, she strutted to the bathroom and got herself ready for the day ahead. Nine minutes later, a fully-dressed Charlotte stepped out and seated herself on a couch facing the bed. The beauty looked on in anticipation, waiting for the alarm to go off.

A minute later, it did just that, and confused and annoyed murmurs and mumbles escaped the female Mimics as they were abducted from slumberland. They wriggled like worms as they wrestled against the waking world's tug, but eventually lost out five seconds later. The two beauties' bodies turned lame and after a final twitch of defiance, their eyelids slowly opened to welcome the morning light.

"Rise and shine, my sleeping beauties," Charlotte said cheerfully after turning off the alarm clock with her telekinesis.

"Ah, Charlotte, morning."

"Charl...morning."

"Morning morning, you two. From your reactions, I take it you slept well?"

"Yeah."

"No complaints, though, I did have a pretty weird dream."

"Same here," Yuki followed up, recalling her battle with sentient milkshakes not too long ago.

Charlotte's eyes flickered with interest. "Interesting interesting. We'll have to discuss them then...over breakfast. You two, get those sexy butts in gear, I'm staving over here."

"Aha, sure, on it."

"Roger that."

Charlotte nodded at their responses, and then again as she watched them slip out of the covers. The Onic Master watched the pair - the pairs - with great delight. Just like her, Yuki and Violet also slept topless, wearing nothing but their panties.

The Onic Master's focus moved from one to the other in such quick succession, she briefly dizzied herself. She wasn't a glasses girl, but at this moment, she wouldn't mind a pair if it meant she could gain two more eyes.

'Patience Charl, patience,' the Onic Master continued to remind herself as she reined in her worldly desires.

Still lethargic from waking, the female Mimcs moved like zombies, even slower than the ones in Charlotte's nightmare, actually. They shut their tired eyes and used their Psi Scans to navigate their surroundings as they trudged toward the bathroom.

Every bounce and jiggle was appreciated by the Onic Master, naturally. Equally appreciated was their sheer inelegance and clumsiness, for unlike, their regular polished selves which everyone could appreciate, these sights were reserved for only those very close to them.

Also also, Charlotte found their zombified selves quite adorable. Making the comparison, she couldn't help but twist her hand into a gun and fire harmless Psi projectiles at them to speed them along. Her tyranny was short-lived as the Mimics quickly retaliated, erecting barriers and returning fire. Charlotte upped the ante and not long after, pillows were being thrown around the room...

Twenty minutes and a lot of shenanigans later, the trio headed out to a nearby restaurant for breakfast.

After sharing the weird dreams/nightmares they had, Charlotte thought to bring up the topic of the History test only hours away. But as she was about to, she was suddenly made to freeze in place. The metaphorical chill didn't just affect her, Violet and Yuki too became statues.

'No way,' the trio collectively thought as shock coursed through their system.

In the background, two twenty-something-year-old females were having a conversation. Mention of Ralf's name had stroked the ladies' attention initially, causing them to pay attention, yes just pay attention.

Ralf's name had been buzzing around the Academy since a week ago, so hearing it being passed between lips didn't surprise, only intrigue. What induced the trio's astonishment was hearing two related names being spoken in the same breath.

After trading baffled looks amongst themselves, the trio collectively turned to the two females discussing their friend and his other selves.

The two ladies appeared to be Assistants going by their navy blue outfits. With smitten expressions, they excitedly discussed Ralf, Ray, and Silver, gushing over how strong, cool and handsome they were.

The more Charlotte and the Mimics heard, the more taken aback they became. Ralf and his other selves; the topic didn’t surprise them. With all that had been shown, they expected such conversations to eventually fill the Academy grounds. What did surprise though, was the focus. Instead of Ralf, it was in fact, Ray and Silver that dominated talks.

“That cold piercing stare, aah, what I wouldn’t give to have him look at me like that.”

You are reading story The Silver Path at novel35.com

“Well, we all can dream.”

“More like wet dream. I won’t give up hope. Our romance has been written in the stars, it’s meant to be.”

“What, you’re going on about those horoscopes again...you know that’s bogus. Also, I’m pretty sure Ray hasn’t shown his face since Zudrad...probably to avoid your creepy ass.”

“Meanie.”

At the female’s pout and descent into silence, Charlotte took the opportunity to enter their conversation.

“Hey ladies, have a moment?” she asked, her face showing a merchant’s smile.

The two turned to Charlotte and instantly flinched as they recognized her and the Mimics.

“Ah, Miss Evans, umm, yes, of course,” the Assistant gulped as she said, immediately straightening up her posture in her chair.

The Onic Master blinked in approval. “Sorry to interrupt, I’ll keep it short. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. Ralf is a very close friend of ours, but it seems you two ladies know even more about him than us,” she squinted upon saying. “I’m interested in knowing how you came to learn so much about his other selves.”

"Oh, it's the videos from Popleigh. We learned about them from those. They just came in yesterday. You can check them out at the library…if you have the credits,” the Assistant informed before adding, “they’re super exciting, so prepare yourself.”

The trio’s eyes lit up.

“...I see, thanks for the info and sorry for bothering you,” Charlotte said, before turning away.

The Onic Master's gaze met the Mimics' and all was clear. Their previous plans were obliterated before their current burning desire, and so, set alight, they set off for the library. Their hearts surged with excitement and anticipation as the Assistant's final words played in their heads on repeat.

Since learning about Ralf's other selves, the trio had been itching for answers. They wanted to know more, anything really, but Ralf was unaccommodating on that front. And so, they kept the desire at bay, hoping that time would unravel the mystery that was Ralf's other selves. The trio expected to wait weeks, possibly months for this unravelling to occur, so news of these informative videos came as a most welcomed surprise.

Fueled by frenzy, they hastened their steps and then abandoned them shortly after. Yuki summoned an iceboat, which the trio used to fly to Evoc's Wisdom.

Entering, they quickly plopped themselves down on a lengthy couch and connected to the local network before putting in a request for 'Ralf’s videos from Popleigh'. Their request was acknowledged and the ladies were brought to the relevant section seconds later. It was as the Assistants said, the videos were freshly added. Charlotte, Violet and Yuki decided to watch the videos as a group.

There were plenty of videos on offer. Sigurd had bought the rights, allowing the Hunter Academy to view videos of the duo. The aged Ascendent believed that their example would raise the Hunter Academy's standards as well as the Psionic Association's as a whole.

The video titled, ‘Menaces of Zudrad’ stood out, promising a full account of the duo’s two months in Zudrad. With it also being the most recommended video, the trio decided to watch it first.

What followed was nearly forty minutes of awed silence, with gasps, murmurs and unintelligible mumbles leaving the trio's lips every now and then.

The video’s technical quality was noteworthy, but even more so was its depth and breadth. The makers had clearly done their research. Not only did they gather every rumour that could be found on the streets, but they also conducted interviews with key people. Jeff, Hana, Greg, Moriya, and several other notable characters were featured, either as discombobulated voices, quotes on screen or on video sharing their thoughts, Jeff and his fanatism being very prominent.

Charlotte and the Mimics recognized quite a few individuals, using Ralf's introduction account to put names to faces. Putting a face on Hana was especially eye-opening for the trio, who all recoiled at her beauty, Charlotte even letting off an impressed whistle.

The video went through the duo’s journey - as it was known - in meticulous detail.

The Turner incident, the Moriya chess game, the Morris attack, the Red Star Massacre; everything, and from various perspectives while also giving interesting background information and niche details.

The trio sat in wonderment as they took in tidbits and revelations alike.

They knew Ralf’s account had gaps in them when first hearing it, but they didn’t think the gaps would be this massive. Forget half the story, he hadn’t gone over one percent of it. Everything became more substantial and weighty in their minds as the video continued to play.

Their mental image of Ralf was being altered in real-time, while Ray’s and Silver’s, which existed mostly as blurry existences in their minds began taking shape. By the video's end, both became as real to the ladies as Ralf was.

The various Combat Arena matches were a clear standout and it was here, where all sound was robbed from the trio. It wasn’t just Ray’s and Silver’s appearances that shocked, Ralf’s did as well.

They had known he was spectacular, but not to this degree. His skill, strength and charisma were entrancing. The same could be said of Ray and Silver. Each had a special something about them that attracted the eye, the soul to them. Viewing the matches, the trio found the two Assistants’ agitation and gushing completely understandable.

Cheeky and devious, calm and collected, and arrogant beyond compare; Ralf, Ray and Silver were spellbinding existences. Their every action and gesture, big or small, from the way they walked to the way they talked, contributed to their unique charm.

Watching them so easily best well-trained and competent foes, one after the other, stirred something in the ladies. When the video came to an end, all three wore bright red make-up. Faces flushed, they sat in silence at what they had just witnessed - no, experienced. A never-before combination of emotions circulated in the trio's system, spurring on never-before lines of thought.

“Urgh!”

The prolonged silence was broken by Charlotte, who suddenly let out a groan and curled up in a foetal position.

“Huh, Charlotte, what’s happening?” Yuki asked, half confused and half concerned as she looked at her squirming friend.

Violet was equally baffled at the happening, the Onic Master could easily rid herself of feelings of pain after all. "Charlotte? What's wrong? Something you ate? Want to go to the medic ward?" the princess asked as she focused on reading the other's brainwaves.

The Onic Master’s face only further scrunched up at the words. Letting off a few more groans while rolling about, she eventually lost all steam some five seconds later. Sighing, she slumped down on the couch, seemingly losing all her bones at once.

“That won’t help for what I’ve contracted,” she said, her voice bitter and barely audible.

“What…do you mean?” Yuki followed up with a question, though somewhere deep down, she knew the answer.

Charlotte sighed again, this time releasing a long-suffering sigh. Lying to others was one thing, but to herself, she couldn’t, not for long anyway. And so, she accepted the thumping of heart and what it entailed as fact. “It pains me to admit it, I mean really…but it seems...I’ve fallen in love.”

With these words spoken, a path unknown began its construction, one that would join the fates of all three ladies present.

You can find story with these keywords: The Silver Path, Read The Silver Path, The Silver Path novel, The Silver Path book, The Silver Path story, The Silver Path full, The Silver Path Latest Chapter