Chapter 17: CHAPTER 17: SEARCH AND RESCUE PART THREE

A loud boom can be heard from the halls outside the corridor. The doors burst open and in walks the three idiots I never thought I would be so happy to see.

"I hope we're not too late to the wedding," Xander comments, tossing a baseball bat over his shoulder.

"Nah, there should be time for us to object to this absurd ceremony." Delic responds walking in behind Xander with his hands behind his head. "As if I'm going to approve this wedding."

Who said that I need your approval in the first place?

"My Lady, they didn't touch you. Did they?" Alex asks, filing inside last with bloodied brass knuckles decorating his hands.

I try to run to them, but the large lion beside me grips my arm.

"Delic! Help me!" I yell from the other end of the event hall.

Delic targets where I am and zooms down the aisle. He clutches the lion's wrists as he stares deep into his eyes.

"Let go of Viola," Delic demands, tightening his grip.

"And who's going to make me?" the lion replies also constricting his hold on my arm.

Delic notices me wince from the sharp pain which makes him growl under his breath. "I'm going to ask nicely one more time. Unhand my master."

"As if you can stop me."

"Who said that I was going to be the one who stops you?" Delic mentions as Xander emerges from the lion's shadow and puts him in a choke hold.

The crowd inside the event hall starts frantically running outside leaving me, the three boys, the leader, and his men in the room.

"How did you get behind me, boy?" the leader asks, struggling to release Xander's hold while still grabbing onto me.

"Dark elves are known for their stealth and ability to move in the shadows. Once I was able to master this trick, shadow moving became almost like breathing."

The leader was beginning to lose his breath, so he releases me in order to use both of his hands to remove Xander. "You won't be able to leave here alive even if you manage to defeat me," the leader threatens.

"Who said that we were going to defeat you?" Alex asks from behind the pride of felinoids. He struts his way down the aisle seemingly floating through the felinoids in his way. "We just have to show that we are stronger than you." Alex makes his way next to me and picks me up. "Sorry my Lady, but having you walk out of here on your own is out of the question," he whispers in my ear, "but that doesn't mean you don't have a part in our plan." Alex points to the feet of the pride who still stand shocked because their leader is struggling to escape from Xander's choke hold.

I catch what Alex was throwing at me and freeze the pride's feet to the floor. Unable to move, the pride is rendered useless. Xander lets go of the leader and flies over to where Alex and I are.

"It was short, but thanks for inviting us to such a disappointing wedding," Xander snickers before we all disappear into the shadow of a nearby curtain.

Shortly after, we reappear in Delic's car's shadow. Alex sets me down and quickly turns around. Xander also spins around and covers his face. I look up at Delic, and he has this devilish look in his eyes.

"What's wrong with you guys?" I ask still unaware of what's going on.

Xander points to the back of his neck. I didn't understand this until I touch the back of my neck.

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The string. Where's the string?

I realize that the string that ties the dress around my neck has gotten loose. It must have shaken apart from the constant tugging and pulling Delic and the leader of the Golden Lions' were doing. I look down at my chest and notice that one side of the halter top has dropped down showing half of my chest. The other side of the halter top is only being held up because the string to that side is still slung over my shoulders.

"Delic, stop getting weird ideas and tie the string back together," I command, turning my back to Delic.

"I don't have any weird ideas, Master, just a short fantasy." Delic quietly states as he reaches over my shoulder and grabs the string that fell slowly bringing it back up and around my neck. He slips the other string into his fingers, and he ties them together. When he finishes, he covers my shoulders with the shawl he always has wrapped around his hips.

"It's safe to turn around now, boys," Delic teases, walking away from me.

"Why were you two so flustered from seeing my body? Haven't you guys had your share of my naked body yesterday?" I ask, fixing the bottom of the dress.

"I-I-I wasn't flustered!" Xander declares. "It was just so sudden! Yeah! I'm only used to seeing your body when I'm the one that takes off your clothes. And why are you acting like it's fine to showcase your naked body to men? Aren't you supposed to be embarrassed or something?!"

I open the back passenger door and slip inside. "Why should I be embarrassed? I trust that my three personal aides will not do anything to me. Is there a reason for me not to trust you?"

"You can trust us, my Lady," Alex replies. "I know that we still have ways to go to normalize seeing you like that, but you can trust that we won't dare to touch you inappropriately."

I smile at the twins that are awkwardly standing in front of the door.

"Let's go home."

During the ride home, the events that happened during the wedding keep replaying in my head.
"Alex," I suddenly say, breaking the silence in the car, "how did you do that back there? Going through the pride?"

Alex, who is sitting next to me in the back of the car, averts his eyes from the window over to me. "Oh! You mean Serpent Wave? It is an ability that water magic users can utilize to weave between crowds of people by using the water that's within our bodies to basically liquify ourselves so that we can fit in tight spaces. I never mastered it since I didn't need to use it thanks to the Shadow Movement ability that Xander has. However, the other night when Delic told us that we needed to come up with a plan to rescue you, I wanted to master it just in case it could give us an advantage. I was confident in my physical strength since that is something that dark elves naturally have, but I wanted to be of more use than just brute force."

"Yeah, this kid spent almost the whole night practicing," Xander teases from the front passenger seat.

"You can't say anything! You were also practicing your Shadow Movement so that you can transport more people through the shadows," Alex remarks, crossing his arms and looking out the window.

"Those two were so focused on their practice that I had to come into their rooms and knock them out just so that they can go to sleep," laughs Delic. "Despite being new recruits, they put in a lot of effort in just an extremely short amount of time in order to save you."

"Why didn't you use your snow and ice powers to escape on your own?" questions Xander turning to face me.

"It was too dangerous for me to try to escape by myself," I reply. "I still don't have a good grasp on this ability. So far, I only know how to make flurries and icicle spears, but I don't know how to manipulate each individual component. I don't have anyone to teach me. Plus, I'm not strong enough physically to fight off those lions alone. It was just safer for me to go with their pace at the time."

That's right. I'm not strong enough. Did I think that training for just a month or two will automatically make me stronger? I must have been out of my mind. Did my ego suddenly shoot up just because I was able to make some advancements in such a short time? I need to be realistic. I still have a long way to go before I can fight off anyone by myself.

The rest of the car ride was awkwardly peaceful.

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