Chapter 25: CHAPTER 25: FEELINGS (1)

Sulfur. Blood from the recipient. Arctic wolf fur.

I continue reading the mind link ritual, memorizing the chant and learning how to draw the Incense Symbol. The symbol looks like a darkened half circle with a wavy line coming from it. It’s associated with the element of air, so it is used for rituals that have to do with communication, wisdom, and the mind. Essentially, I, the castor, will stand at the base of the wavy line next to the half circle. The recipient will stand at the tip end of the wavy line that is laced with the recipient's blood. The magic will flow along the wavy line from the base where I am and escape into the recipient at the end.

The ritual takes a lot of energy from the caster because of the concentration needed to channel the magic from the base which represents my mind and have it flow steadily along the blood-traced wavy line into the recipient's mind. Too much magic flow and the recipient will be able to hear everything the castor is thinking. Too little magic flow and the castor will be able to hear the thoughts of the recipient. Any disruption from concentration could have horrible effects on either or both parties.

Standing from my father's chair, I make my way over to the training hall with the sulfur that Delic has retrieved for me and tell him to bring the boys over immediately so that we can start the ritual.

"Do you understand the conditions of the ritual?" I ask the twins who stand tall in front of me. The boys nod, so I hold out a knife. "You two will need to spill your blood over the wavy line. Delic will be waiting for you at the end of the line to bandage your hand. Who volunteers to go first?"

The two boys look over at each other. I can tell how nervous they are. I mean I would be scared too if I had to gash my hand open.

"As the older brother, I feel that it is only right that I go first," Xander declares, grabbing the knife in my hand. We both walk over to the sulfur-drawn symbol that I made in the center of the training hall. Xander slices his palm, squeezing it to get enough blood to drip on the line. Once at the end, Delic applies a sterile ointment and wraps Xander's hand closed.

I make my own way over to the base of the sulfur to get into position and motion for Delic to stand behind me after he finishes with Xander to catch me in case I fall. "Are you ready?" I ask Xander for the last time.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Xander replies. "Are you ready, Master?"

Hm? Am I ready?

I was stunned by his sudden question. I wasn't really thinking much of the ritual just as long as I did it correctly, but what would happen if something went wrong? Will Alex forgive me if I accidentally hurt his brother? Will Xander beat himself up if something happened to me?

A warm familiar touch slides onto my shoulder. I turn to find Delic next to me. He gives me a firm nod and walks back over behind me.

What in the world was I thinking? I have to be strong right now. These two boys are willing to do whatever they can to save their village, but I'm holding back because I'm scared someone might get hurt. I have to do this.

"I will begin," I declare, holding my arms out in front of me. A swirl of air streams around Xander and me. Section by section, the sulfur would click to light. "I, Viola Winter, and Xander the Dark Elf stand before you Hypnos, God of the Mind. Your power and strength within the mind has no equal. I ask for your blessing and guidance to link my mind and thoughts with Xander the Dark Elf in the hopes to become mentally one."

The blood-traced line rises from the floor. It connects my forehead to Xander's. Once connected, a beam of blue light races from my head to Xander's with a beam of purple light coming back to me afterwards. After the tail end of the light enters my head, the sulfur line drops to the ground, and the wind ceases at once.

Xander drops to one knee, holding his pounding head in his hand. "Is it finished?" he asks as he slowly tries to stand back up.

Leaning on Delic's outstretched arms, I look over at Xander. 'It's finished,' I answer through the mind link out of breath to actually speak.

"Woah! It sounded like you were right behind me!" Xander remarks astonished. "That's some scary stuff."

I glance over at Alex who is sitting on the bench still shocked by what happened. "Are you ready, Alex?"

"Me? What about you? You look like you are about to collapse, my Lady," Alex states as he walks over to me. "You don't have to do it if you are too tired. We can do it another time or not at all even."

I struggle but manage to stand up in front of Alex. "The mind link is essential in our mission to rescue your village. It is especially critical for you to have it since you won't be next to us the whole time. Don't worry. I will be just fine after some rest."

Alex throws the most worried expression one could ever see. He looks over at his brother who has mostly recovered from the whole ordeal. He knows that he has to get this done, but he doesn't want me to get hurt any more than I already am. I punch Alex in the arm and give a confident smile.

"Fine, but stop if it gets too much," Alex finally says.

"Fine, fine," I respond as I wave off Alex's worry. I won't be able to stop even if I wanted to, but I won't tell him that. He is already worried as it is.

Delic finishes with the new Incense Symbol since I am too exhausted to make the new one myself. Alex cuts his hand and pours his blood along the line, and I once again start the ritual.

"How do you feel?" I ask Alex as I barely hang on to Delic's arms.

"I'm fine, but what about you? Are you okay, my Lady?"

"Me? I'm... just... fi--" I completely crash and fall onto the floor, so Delic picks me up and carries me out the door.

"You two should get some rest," Delic advises. "The mind link is harmless, but some of the after effects could distract you from your work. It is important to rest well after such a ritual. I will tend to Master in the morning and let you two sleep in a little. If you aren't awake by breakfast, I will come by your room to wake you up."

The twins nod, and Delic leaves the training hall with me in his arms.

The next morning, I am disturbed from my sleep due to a rubbing feeling on my arms. I open my eyes to find that I'm in the bathtub, and Delic is behind me washing my arm.

"Where are the twins?" I groggily ask, desperately trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

"I'm letting them sleep in for a while. They should be here by the time breakfast is ready."

I am extremely limp. I can't even move my arms completely by myself let alone lift my head. That ritual did an extreme number on me. I'm going to need one of the twins to pay more attention to me today. It would be excessive to have both tend to me constantly at the same, but I know that the twins will fight if one gets more treatment than the other.

I think Xander will be better suited to take extra care of me today. Judging from how I literally can't move on my own, I'm going to need someone to carry me around school. As embarrassing as that is, it really can't be helped. Xander is the strongest of the twins muscle wise, so it's only logical to have him do the brunt of the work.

Alex can tend to me tomorrow. I should have some of my strength back by then, but I will still need some help. Alex is better when it comes to delicate work and adjusting to my speed, so he can help me out on some of the finer things that I can't do alone.

"Good morning, my Lady," Alex greets as he walks into my room.

"Good morning, Master," Xander says, following behind Alex.

I slowly look over from the bed to the boys at the door. "Ah, good morning, you two," I sluggishly reply. "You're early. Delic said that you two would be asleep until breakfast is ready."

"We are grateful for Delic's consideration, but sleeping in for too long when we have work to do kind of defeats the purpose of why we are here," Alex chuckles, walking over to me.

"Are you feeling okay, Master?" Xander asks as he sits on the bed next to me. He puts his hand on my forehead to see if I'm warm. "You look completely out of it."

"It's just the after effects of the ritual. I should be fine in a couple of days," I respond while falling onto the bed. "However, I'm going to need extra care for the next two days. Xander, you are in charge of me today."

"What do you mean?" Xander questions bewildered from the abrupt command.

I pull on Xander's school uniform trying to pick myself up but fail epically. "As you can see, I do not have the strength to simply sit up on the bed. I'm going to need you to carry me around school, feed me during mealtimes, and overall tend to every small thing I need."

"B-but why not let Alex do that? He is a wh-whole lot better at taking care of people than me."

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"To put it plainly, you are physically stronger than your brother. Alex is able to carry me around, but you have the muscle strength to keep it up all day."

Xander looks down at me and witnesses my helplessness. "Well, since it is your command, it's not like I can refuse."

"Good," I weakly say. "Can you please carry me to the table and help me eat breakfast?"

"Of course, Master," Xander replies as he gently slides his arms under my back and knees. He carefully pulls my body closer to him so that he can stand up. "A-are you comfortable, M-master."

I glance up to find Xander has gone completely red. Not a shred of his beautiful brown skin can be seen from under his embarrassment. I giggle to myself and nod, so he makes his way over to the table and lightly sets me down in the long chair sitting next to me after he finishes. He readies my plate with an assortment of breakfast items unaware of the coldest scariest stares that are throwing daggers into his back from the two guys sitting opposite of us. This is going to be an eventful couple of days.

Entering school was an interesting event. With Xander carrying me in his arm, whispers reverberate throughout the halls. Alex covers my legs with the shawl that Delic always carries around to keep my lower half from exposing more than necessary. Plus, my mind isn't quite as calm either since part of the mind link ritual is to see how much you can hear from both parties. Since my mind isn't calm, the snow and ice within me is going to try to escape, so I need to stay warm as a precaution if ever my body gets too cold.

'Xander, are you okay?' I ask through the mind link.

A pause of silence is heard until Xander replies, 'If I told you how incredibly embarrassed I feel at this very moment, will you do something about it?'

I laugh to myself and look up at Xander's face. He has great features for someone so young. A chiseled jaw-line. A small yet prominent nose. Not to mention his flawless brown skin.

'No. It's fun watching you scramble to keep your composure, but the hint of pink on your cheeks says otherwise,' I tease.

'I had a feeling that you might say that,' Xander sighs. 'Hey, I have a question.'

'What is it?'

'Is there anything else you can hear in my head?'

'I can only hear your thoughts if you are directly speaking to me via mind link. If you aren't communicating through the mind link, then I can't hear anything that you're thinking about.'

Xander glances down at me but quickly looks back up. 'Ah... okay...'

I smirk and gently poke Xander's chest. 'Why? Are you thinking something inappropriate that you don't want me to hear?'

"I will let you know that I have only clear thoughts in my head. There is no room for inappropriate thoughts."

I burst out laughing but not because of what Xander said.

'What's so funny?' Xander asks through the mind link.

'The sentence you just said. You said it aloud, you know.' I point over to Alex.

"You have to be kidding," Xander says aloud, looking back at Alex next to him. "Did you hear what I said?"

"You mean the lie about you not having inappropriate thoughts?" Alex replies, crossing his arms.

"Shit..." Xander shrinks.

I continue to laugh as we make our way down the hall to class.

Lunch time rolls around, and the three of us are having our usual picnic lunch in the garden area. Like this morning, Xander prepares my plate with an assortment of food that the cook prepared for us. Xander holds out a spoon full of rice with a piece of meat on top, so I obediently open my mouth and take in the food that Xander gives me. The cheekiest smile swims across my face.

"It seems like you two are closer than I thought," Alex comments from the other side of the picnic blanket as he tightly grips onto his fork.

"Nothing is better than being fed by a good looking guy. Right?" I reply, teasing the twins.

Xander has no idea how to take compliments that aren't about his fighting abilities, so he becomes flustered. Alex doesn't like that someone other than himself is tending to me so closely, so he becomes jealous. These twins are so easy to read.

"I-I'm just doing w-what you told me t-to do!" Xander stammers, shakily preparing the next spoonful of rice with egg this time.

"I know," I say. "You are a good aide who obediently does what he's told." I eat the food that Xander feeds me and innocently smile.

"Mmmmm~ This isn't funny, Lady Viola!!" Xander defends as he continues to feed me.

Meanwhile, around the corner, Abigail peers over at the three of us with nothing but hate and disgust.

After school, Xander once again carries me into the house. It's always fun listening to the whispered gossip of how any one of the three aides and I would look nice together, but it seems like Xander is accidentally garnering some extra points for taking really close care of me today. The cooks seem to take a liking to Xander since he helps out in the kitchen sometimes, so they always make an extra portion of every meal for him aside from his original set.

The three aides and I arrive in my room, and Xander gently lowers me onto the bed, sitting next to me in order to hold me up.

"Delic, can you and Alex take care of my everyday rounds for today?" I ask, placing a hand on Xander's thigh to support myself. "I don't think I'm really capable of going anywhere else right now, and I'm pretty sure Xander is getting a little tired from carrying me around all day."

"As you wish, Master," Delic replies, taking the clipboard that is on my table with the list of things to do.

"We will report any and all findings when we finish," Alex adds, following Delic out the door.

I weakly wave at the two as they leave, but once the door completely closes, I collapse on Xander's lap.

"Holding myself up was a whole lot more exhausting than I thought it would be," I heavily breath out. "Xander, help me change out of these stuffy clothes, please."

"Of course, Master," Xander agrees as he lightly raises my head up so that he can get off the bed.

Xander goes into my closet to retrieve one of my looser dresses that I usually wear as a backup in case my nightgown got dirty and delicately unties the ribbon around my neck and begins undressing me so that I can breathe a little better. After he finishes, I pass out on the bed never to wake up until the next morning.

However, the new thoughts that swarm through Xander's head are just beginning.

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