Argent Eye III

29

Of course I hadn't set my alarm that morning. I barely remembered going to bed. So when my phone started ringing, I jumped up in my bed, confused.

I looked down at my buzzing phone- it was Kate.

I answered. "Yep, I'm late." I said, rushing out of bed.

Kate laughed. "I mean, that's expected." She said. "In fact, I'm surprised you're even coming in."

"Really?" I asked. "I'm fine now. Used to it." I laughed. I put Kate on speaker so I could get ready and talk at the same time.

"Ryan was asking where you were." Kate said. "So I told him we went out last night and you may have gone a bit too far."

I laughed. "Kate, I don't even drink. Did he buy that?"

"He looked a little dubious." She admitted. "But didn't ask."

"Are you not with him now?" I wondered.

"No, I'm in the toilets." She said.

"Oh." I said, pulling my trousers on. "I feel bad we keep lying to him at the moment."

"Do you wanna tell him the truth?" Kate asked.

I thought for a second. "I mean, not really- not unless we have to." I said. "Especially with everything going on at the moment."

"Yeah, I thought that." Kate said. "Anyway, don't worry too much- Irina already guessed that you'd overslept."

"Good." I said. "I won't be long, though. Tell her I will make it."

"Okay, will do." Kate chuckled. "I'll see you later, Mills."

"See ya." I said, and hung up before grabbing a banana and leaving.

__________

As I was walking, I thought I heard someone call my name. I turned, and at first I didn't see anyone I recognised, so I continued walking, thinking I'd been hearing things. It was quite crowded, after all.

"Silverblood." I heard, this time louder. Well, the only people who called us Silverbloods were Spirit Warriors. And it wasn't Adam's voice. My heart caught in my throat, and I stopped walking, feeling a presence loom over my shoulder.

I turned and saw Fujio standing there.

He was stood right in front of me, so close I could feel his breath brush over my cheeks.

People were walking about, and by the way Fujio was just standing there, I assumed he wouldn't do anything magical. Not yet, anyway.

"Come take a walk with me." He said calmly.

I swallowed. "I'd rather not."

He slowly leaned toward my ear. "If you don't, I will unleash havoc on all these innocent civilians." He had a smirk on his face. The way he spoke was what scared me the most- he was just so calm. I had no doubt that he would kill all these people without feeling guilty. He'd do it for fun.

Fuck.

I nodded, and let Fujio pick the direction. Of course, it was away from the university towards a more secluded area.

"I went to visit an old friend of mine just yesterday." Fujio began as we walked. "His name was Koji."

I looked at him. "Was?"

Fujio sucked in a breath, but it was all for theatrics. "Ah, yes. Koji and I got into a bit of an argument. He wouldn't tell me where one of the stones was."

My heart was racing. Koji was dead? Was it my fault? I was immediately filled with guilt.

"I had to kill him to find out where it was." Fujio continued calmly. "I'll admit, even dead, his mind was sealed shut. The only thing I could get out of it was your face. Now, why is that?"

We'd somehow ended up walking into an empty side road, which only fuelled my anxiety. No witnesses meant Fujio would be more willing to use his powers. Speaking of powers, I took a sneak peak at his belt- I couldn't see my blade, but I took a guess at it being tucked round the back under his coat. I didn't know for sure, but I also assumed that Fujio wouldn't just leave it at home. What would be the point in that?

I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you." I said. "Yeah, we went to see him. We wanted to know about the stones. But he never told us where they were. He said he didn't know."

Fujio gave me a disappointed look. I guess lying was worth a try, but in this case, Fujio was too smart. Or I was bad at lying- I couldn't tell. "Oh, Millie." He said. "If you want to lie to me, you're going to have to do better than that." He took a step closer. In turn, I took a step back, but found that I'd somehow ended up against a wall. "Now, tell me where the stone is. I know you have it."

I kept my mouth shut as Fujio continued to step closer to me. My heart rate was picking up speed, but what's more was that I could feel something else building up. The smell of smoke filled my nose, and I was pretty sure it wasn't because anyone was having a bonfire nearby. I guess this would be a perfect time for an explosion.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, wanting to stall Fujio whilst my power built up. Unlike all the other times, I actually aided it, allowing my veins to fill with the fire whilst not letting it show through my skin and eyes.

"What did I just say?" Fujio said, losing some of the calm from his voice. I was annoying him. I also thought I heard the tiger growl a little at the back of his throat, but that could have just been my overactive imagination. He pressed his hand onto my chest so that I was shoved against the wall, hard. "Tell me where the stone is, Millie."

"I don't know." I said. I mean, technically I wasn't lying. Adam had it, but I didn't know where he'd hidden it. I also didn't know where he was right at this second. Was he at the restaurant with Akio? At the pub downing a pint? Who knew.

Fujio shoved me harder, this time his hand making its way round my throat. The adrenaline only fuelled the flames in me, though. I let them keep building, trying to keep them in until the last possible moment. "Stop lying to me, girl!" He almost spat through his teeth. I saw the smokey stuff begin to gather round his hands.

The fire seemed to build up suddenly then, and I couldn't help it show through my eyes and skin. I think Fujio may have realised what an idiot he'd been- I mean, why hadn't I tried to use my powers to defend myself? Why had I continued to lie when I knew he'd try and hurt me? Of course, I'd been stalling him.

Now, I was a grenade with the pin pulled out.

I didn't hold back any longer. I supercharged my veins with the flames, causing Fujio to flinch backwards- his hand on my neck would have burned badly. Then, before he had a chance to run or do something, the fire exploded out of me. This time, it literally was an explosion.

Like a bomb.

Fujio flew backwards several feet. Flames escaped me in all directions, scorching everything in their path, including the cars parked on the pavement.

I watched as Fujio landed hard on his back, but then didn't hesitate to advance onto him. I called Ronan as I did, and then reached round the back of Fujio's belt. I was relieved when I felt the the familiar, cool metal there, and I yanked it from whatever was holding it before Fujio had a chance to react. It had been emitting this strange, smokey stuff, but the moment my hand made contact with it, all the spirit aura dissipated and it glowed red. I realised the fire was still burning through me, and that my veins were a brilliant orange. I must have looked a sight.

"Millie?" I heard Ronan say.

I turned, holding the knife. I noticed that there was a huge, black mark on the wall I'd been standing against, with a silhouette of me remaining clean.

It then hit me- all these cars were screeching, their alarms alerting the owners that something had happened. I knew what it looked like. It looked like a bomb had gone off. At that thought, police sirens started sounding in the distance. It wouldn't be long before other people came to have a look at the disruption.

I turned back to Fujio, only to see that he'd gone. Vanished. Did this guy have the ability to teleport, too?

"We should get out of here." I said.

Ronan nodded, and then took me away from the scene.

_________