XIX ||| I Ain’t Nobody’s Shield

"But why do they follow Oliver like dogs?"

Felix covered his lips to compress his giggles is a cute way, "Aye, Hel, you sound like my uncle. In a good way, that's why I always liked to be near him when I could. He has the best bitter sense of humor."

"Thank you," I winked. "And that's because, like I said, I was pretty much raised by him. So, I got his attitude. Though I always had a smart mouth according to my mom."

"Having someone in here who has no filters will be good for a change, especially when most people go around acting up because it's convenient to them. Disgusting, I should say. But well, besides the fact that Oliver is their Crowned Prince, the Circle has his back. They are best friends and are together since I can remember, as they already came to BABS as a group. Strong alone, stronger together. Like a brotherhood added two sisters."

Felix came closer to me, resting his back on the wall by my side, with his long legs stretched out, emerald fan on his thighs.

"Circle? Is that their groups name?"

A nod, "You can think of them like… a pack with Oliver as the alpha. A pack of vampires. But don't ever call them that because they will get pissed. Especially because that's a word only used for wolf shifters. And though the said animosity between vamps and wolves aren't as ridiculous as those human tales say, they do, indeed have an animosity. But they all hate dragons more," a shiver ran down his spine softly. "Poking that will only get you on a fight again."

Grinning mischievously, I licked my fangs softly, "And do they only talk with each other? Like, is it a closed-off groups, or do they have other ties? I mean, any other friends?"

"Oh? They all date into different kinds. I mean, except Oliver who's the only single vamp in the Circle," I hate how this little piece of information makes me feel… overjoyed. It's disgusting. I need to break this. "River even dates one of your roommates, by the way."

What? "River is Oliver's brother, right?"

A nod, "Yes. That's how we all call him. Same way as we call cotton candy baby blue hair Rio," he winked at me, while quoting my words. "River dates Dorothy Kaeveney, the Princess of the Demons. She's the redhead with electric purple eyes in your dorm," oh, I know who he's talking about.

"Speaking of my roommates, there was a black and dark pink haired with dark pink almost red eyes girl with them when I bumped onto them earlier. I know she was a witch, but who is she?" Seemed important.

"That's Savannah Santino. Princess of the Dark Witches. I mean, Princess of all Witches. She is in the top 5 students BABS too. And, she's always with your roommates, they actually a group of 7, same way as the Circle, but each of them is from a different race. Most popular all-girls group in the Academy, and all of heirs."

Hah, of course.

Gulping, I tried to ignore the sickness growing inside me, "And are they… are they close to the Circle?"

"We never know. It's hard to tell, but they do get around each other. Besides, River does date Dorothy," ah shite, and I don't want to get anywhere near these people, and now I'm locked with them for a fucking year. "I see that now you must be regretting have chosen to be in a dorm instead of a single room," he grinned.

"Shite, bloody straight, I am. But nothing I can do now. Besides, I didn't want to do something Meredith expected me to, the idea disgusted me," sigh.

He held out his right hand for me and I closed his with my left, "I get it. If you had done that, they would scrutinize you like they do me. I always went through a similar situation, but after three years on a dorm with people that absolutely despise me, I couldn't handled it and switched to a single room on the first opportunity I got!"

"Who were you roommate with?"

"Kawasaki Shiryu, who's your roommate Yumi's older twin brother, also a Prince," a seraphim. "Melvin Ambrose, the Prince of the Elves; and Ivar Mickelson, strongest male demon of BABS, son of a Grand Duke. All despised me for both being a dragon, judging that the special ability I got after being in stasis for 574 years was useless, being shown favor by the Queen, and for always running from fights," that means he was bullied.

And that idea didn't sit right with me at all, especially when he's Cosmos' nephew. "Lix, I don't understand this topic quite well, but how long were you supposed to be in stasis? I mean, in general?"

His eyes darkened all of a sudden when they met mine, "I'm sorry, Hel. I can't even complain about staying that long anymore when stayed longer than two thousand years in it," sigh. "In general, the ideal time is 100 years."

What? "Are you shitting me?"

"No. The longer you stay, the more dangerous it is for your mind, as there's a higher probability of your mind getting conscious through it. However, the longer you stay, the better will be your special ability," he passed a hand through his hair, and only then I notice his nails were painted in metallic dark green. Definitely his color. "That's why they all mock me."

If there's something I know from the time I spent with grandma dearest, is that she does not waste her time on weak and lost causes. If he is shown favor from her, that definitely isn't because he's Cosmos' nephew, she ain't that emotional, she's a calculated psycho. Meaning that he must have a strong power and doesn't know it. "What is your special ability, Lix?"

He seemed insecure to say it, but after a second of faltering, he sighed, "Null!"

I blinked, "I'm sorry, what?"

Avoiding my eyes, he stared at the ceiling, "Nullification, Hel. My special ability is the ability to negate everyone else's powers. No matter how strong it is, they can't do anything to me, and I can nullify all of their attacks. It's useless. The only good part is that I can also nullify the pain of wounds, but that's also useless since I can't heal others. Well, I mean, I can nullify poison," he scoffed bitterly, "that's why I'm always called in the med wing of the academy for, to nullify poison."

"You can nullify anything? Anything? Are you sure?"

A firm nod, "The Queen herself made to torture me for about ten years to test every kind of shit out. So, yes. I am able to nullify everything. That's also how I was able to get to you, by nullifying your time magic!"

My eyes widened, "And you can recognize all types of magic?"

"Nullification comes with it's perk," he shrugged.

That means he might be potentially able to nullify aether magic. Bloody hell, he's Meredith's secret measure against the supernatural who might have the power to destroy her. Felix might be the only one who can counter the aether user. That's why she's "favoring" him. Oh my Crone.

"Hey, why are you looking at me like that?" He snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, making me focus. "You also think it's useless?"

I couldn't help it, I slapped his cheek, "Are you insane? Felix, are you fucking insane? You bloody dumb wanker. You have no idea of what you have. You fucking stupid arsehole, oh my bloody Crone. Who was the fucker who made you believe your ability is useless, you retarded dragon? That old bitch wouldn't favor you if it was, can't you see that? You can't see how strong you are?"

His eyes watered, "You slapped me."

"Get your shite together, kid. You are the one she needs. You have the ability she's looking for to save herself from the only power that will bring her to her doom!" I shook him by the shoulders. "Felix-Gabriel Moore you bloody wanker, you are her secret shield."

"I'm what?"

"Meredith's secret shield. She made me her secret weapon, but you are her shield, fucking idiot. See the big picture, will you? I'm sorry that she tortured you for ten years, I know how it feels like, but bitch, she kept you guarded because you are needed. You are strong and you can nullify any magical attack," I shook his shoulders again.

"I have no desire to be that monster's shield," he exclaimed with utter disgust. "None at all."

"Bloody right you are. Neither do I want to be her weapon. But she is egocentric and thankfully, she underestimates us. She won't ever think we won't obey her just because she's strong. I'll need you on my side for the plan to work!" If I have him, he won't be against the aether user when I find them.

And when he opened a genuine smile, I knew I had won, "I have no idea what plan is that, but count me in. If it means I can help on bringing her down, than I'm totally here for it."

If what mom babbled at the end of our meeting in the lair was about this, it means I'll need 26 people with me. But if that's also correct, it means only 12 of us will be surviving in the end.

That death note aside, we have 2 out of 26, with me, now!