Scarlet

Fortunately it doesn’t take me long to reach the station. But one thing about the trip does bother me a little.

I glance behind me as I run straight into the vast station to find Blaze still following me.

Why is he here?

I’m in too much of a hurry to stop and question him though, instead rushing straight into the building and pausing for a moment to raise the sensitivity of my ears again and listen for Arthur’s voice. And after a few seconds of searching, during which my tail catches up to me and stops, I hear his voice coming from a place only several dozen meters down, inside of the car.

And he’s cussing. Which isn’t a good sign.

I open my eyes before immediately running in his direction, ignoring the man who is still following me. Which is getting creepy at this point.

Doesn’t he have somewhere else to be right now? Or did he follow because he knew I was going to a Class II Fracture?

Actually, didn’t he say something about a duel before? I wasn’t really paying much attention to that part.

“I think he mentioned his father wanting him to challenge you to a duel when you’re strong enough,” Tar comments as I run towards Arthur’s voice as fast as I can.

Ridiculous. But not something I’m against.

I’m always up for a battle.

“You really are a battle junky,” Tar mutters, sounding just as tense as I am despite this conversation.

At some point though I stop hearing Arthur’s voice. Which can’t be a good sign. So I start using blood sacrifice even more to increase my speed, still with Blaze following right next to me, keeping up with his much higher level.

This time when he sees me sending him a weird look though, he finally explains himself, “I still need to get your contact information for that duel.”

Oh. That makes sense. I guess.

Doesn’t matter right now though as I continue running straight towards where I heard Arthur’s voice before, only stopping when I reach the outside of the car he’s in and narrow my eyes, not finding anyone but a single person inside of it. Someone who smells human and sounds as light as one considering the very faint shifting sounds they’re making.

At the same time, there’s a fomorian who seems to be breaking through the entrance to the train. So I don’t wait for it to finish, instead rushing in and smashing the train door inwards with my own transformed fist, leaving a massive dent in it that I follow up with several more punches, sending the rather durable door flying inwards after the tenth strike to smash the fomorian who was hitting it. The creature is then crushed by the weight of the now destroyed door, yet still alive somehow.

I ignore it though as I step into the train, briefly pausing to stomp on its face once, my foot sinking partway in before I continue on to the door to the car, which is heavily damaged. So I pull my fist back, only for Blaze to stop me by saying, “Wait.”

I glance at him to find him holding some sort of key card.

He has a key? Why would he have a key?

“Well, he’s Red’s son,” Tar says as if that explains it all.

And it kind of does in a way. Since the children of the Knights, even if there are only two public – now probably three thanks to Blaze’s blurting out who I am in front of a camera – are all treated basically as royalty in a lot of places.

Blaze walks up to the door and swipes the key card on it, making it open. And I don’t waste any time walking through and then all the way to the end where I focus on a corner before frowning.

“Arthur?” I mutter, slightly confused why I’m not seeing anything but am hearing a heartbeat and some very slight shifting noises. Not to mention smelling a faint human scent.

“Scarlet?” I hear his voice after a second, then a wall of shadows suddenly vanishes to reveal the man who is currently as pale as a sheet with literal eyes made out of shadows. “Oh thank the stars…”

I stare at him for a few seconds, and he stares back for just as long. Then Blaze walks into the room and sees us, only to suddenly ask, “Wait, aren’t you the guy who’s supposedly dating one of her former team members?”

That has both me and Arthur turning to stare at Blaze.

No one says anything for a few seconds before he realizes that we’re waiting for him to explain why he knows that and says, “My father had me look into you, so of course I’d know about your former teammates.”

I stare at him for a few more seconds despite getting my answer, then I simply declare, “You’re weird,” and turn back to Arthur while ignoring Blaze’s scoff to ask Arthur, “So you’re a Guardian now?”

He nods his head as he finally stands up, briefly sending a slightly creeped out glance towards Blaze before he asks, “And who is this?”

“Just someone who’s been following me around for a while now,” I answer him with a dismissive shrug before asking, “So what’s your magic?”

Arthur turns back to me and smirks slightly as he answers, “Shadowborne magic.”

“Oh?” I mutter, startled a little at that. Then I hear Blaze stating, “That’s a rare one. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same one Uncle Black has.”

I glance at Blaze before asking, “Uncle?”

Blaze nods and says, “Yeah. Black and Red are close in a way, so Black visited a lot while I was a kid.”

Interesting. I’m starting to wonder if Black just likes kids considering how he actually briefly brought up the idea of adopting me before he blew that idea away just as quickly as he brought it up.

Not that I’m a kid though, considering I’m nineteen. So any adoption at this point would just be figurative and for social benefit.

Wait, so Arthur has the same magic as Black? That’s cool. Would also explain why he was contracted if he had that sort of potential.

Makes me wonder why he wasn’t contracted back when Belle was though.

I turn back to Arthur to find him looking pleasantly surprised by that fact.

Then a fae suddenly appears in front of us before it bows towards the tanuki currently lying on my shoulder, stating, “Greetings, Fourteenth Prince Tarankar.”

Tar responds rather briefly, “You may rise.”

Silence passes as I stare at the fae for several seconds, and out of the corner of my eye, I find Blaze looking between the fae and my ears a few times.

Then I can’t help but turn to Arthur and ask, “So why’s your fae in the form of a wolf?”