21 I Don't Need the Prince! 18

The punches and kicks only felt like tickles to the thug, but it made it harder to steal her stuff. While being like a gangster, he still had some integrity. For example, not hurting ladies. But as he heard the guards' voices coming closer, he started to rethink his so-called "integrity." Did he, a thug, need integrity?

Grabbing her necklace, he gave a hard yank and ripped the necklace off of Ariel's neck. Ariel screamed out of surprise and pain stopping her attacks. The shouts of the guards became even more closely, and he had to escape along with his partner. He pushed Ariel away grabbing his partner and ran away.

Avina fell onto the ground wincing from the pain. She reached out to feel her neck and felt warm wetness. Scared, she looked at her hands and there were traces of fresh red blood. Jane quickly stood up from the ground and rushed towards her. Jane tried to help Ariel stand up but found her frozen with her eyes opened in fear.

If Avina had one thing she was afraid, at least the most afraid of, it was blood. It was a red liquid was that slowly flowed in her veins going from her head to the toes making her breathe and alive. But it was now outside of her body, spilled and flowing, leaking from her wounds and dripping onto the ground. It was something that made her alive but it would inevitably be the thing to make her dead. Whenever she accidentally bit her cheeks and bled, the irony taste of it made her almost puke. She would gag and swish water in her mouth till it would disappear.

And now look. There was blood, from her neck. The part where she would breathe, swallow food, and drink. It was flowing, dripping like a puddle of red. Soon, it will drown her in red and she would no longer be able to breathe. She would die and in her own cold blood.

Once Jane realized no matter how much she pulled on Ariel, she would not budge, she started getting anxious. Although there were only faint scratches on her neck with little blood, it still worried Jane. Ariel had no reactions; she was a statue.

The guards finally arrived. A set of them ran after the thugs and quickly apprehended them bringing both of them to their knees with no effort. Another guard realized the two of them on the ground and walked forward ready to help them. Spotting Ariel wounded, he was prepared to carry her to medical attention, but someone stopped him.

In a split second, the man picked Ariel up and ran away. Jane had almost no time to react but quickly gave chase after him. She faintly felt he looked familiar but she could not recall. Instead, all she knew was he took away her frightened friend and needed to run after him. Before she left, Jane thanked the officer.

Avina was in a moment of shock not even realizing her surroundings. The guards, Jane, and the man - all ignored. All she could stare at was her hands. The spot of red against her pale hands stood out even more. 5025 had repeatedly called its Host to no avail. It looked anxiously at the surroundings and even in its translucent ball form, it was prepared to protect Avina at all cost, even expending its system source.

"Ariel! Ariel!" Her mind was floating on thoughts suspended in fear and worry. She could only stare at the chaos around her while looking at the red dot. It stared at her taunting at her lack of courage. She watched as someone slowly grasped her hand and the dot disappeared. Looking up, she noticed a head of blonde and deep-set eyes.

George stared at Ariel's confused eyes. Her eyes were blank when he reached her and now, she looked like a lost child. His heart ached and how he wished he arrived sooner. After wiping her hands, he carefully wiped her neck. Gently patting away the blood, he bandaged her up. He sat beside her and hugged her tightly worried for his princess.

Jane arrived behind the two but stopped a short distance away. After a closer look, she realized the man was Prince George. Reassured, Jane knew she could leave Ariel with George. She decided to stand outside waiting for the two of them.

Avina sat there in the embrace of George. Slowly, she felt her strength coming back. Compared to her sensation of sinking, it felt like she was in the embrace of someone who loved her.

"I will protect you from now on. No matter what happens, I will be with you supporting you, holding you, and protecting you. As a fiance, lover, and soon husband," warmly holding Ariel, he told Ariel of his feelings. His feelings were always hidden away with a cold mask, but he was willing to break it for her.

Avina listened to his confession but felt cold. These were words of affection for Ariel. But Ariel was no longer here. She did not know where Ariel went to, but these words were not meant for her.

'Host! Are you all better?' 5025 flew around Avina flashing bright sparks of relief.

Nodding mentally, Avina weakly replied, 'Yeah. I'm fine. Do systems have some affection or goodwill meter?' The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was likely. 5025 seemed to not have anything important to her body except information, but everything surrounding her, it was more than just awesome.

Scramming through the files, 5025 found the file "Meter of Feels." Stuck between rows of files, it was the closest one to the Host's needs. 'Found it!'

Opening it, there was a small light, and next to all the monitors still opened, there was an additional upright rectangle. Above it was the flashing blinking texting cursor. Avina entered in "George" and the rectangle slowly filled up, all the way to the top. 100%. George felt 100% love.