HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE!!!!!

"Do your eyes still burn?" Adriel reaches over, fingers hovering just above the scales under Julias's eyes.

"No." Julias leans back, batting Adriel's hand away. "Scales do though, so no touching. Do your wings still hurt?"

"Right where they came through from my back, but beyond that, no." Adriel pulls his hand back, pressing it over his eye. "Fuck that burns."

Julias looks at his hands, staring at the blue-toned webs between his fingers.

"So now we have powers." Julias looks back up at Adriel. "And we got them in one of the worst ways possible."

"Could've been worse."

"Dude, we drank blood."

"Still could've been worse."

"You're right." Julias stands slowly, vision blurring as he does. "We need to get out of here."

"Now that we have powers, escaping should be much easier."

"Yeah, if we can figure out how they work."

"You can control water, how hard is that?"

"Gee, I'm sorry, let me just-" Julias thrusts his hands out, focusing on the water spilled on the floor. It ripples a bit and then he raises his hand slowly. With it comes a few drops of water. They lift a few inches from the puddle before splashing back down.

"I see." Adriel nods, mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Your turn."

"To do what, exactly?"

"Do a backflip." Julias stares at Adriel with a deadpan expression. "I want you to do a backflip."

Adriel shrugs and bends his knees slightly, then jumps and flips and lands on his feet again, letting out a breath as he hits the ground.

"I want you to do something magical you fucking-"

"Alright, okay!" Adriel laughs, scratching the back of his neck. "You got anything broken?"

"I see you've finally gotten used to your improved bodies." Wukber and Bikfed stroll into the room, both smiling.

"Get out." Adriel keeps his eyes on the council members as he walks backward toward Julias, making sure to be somewhat in front of him.

"We're not here to hurt you-"

"Look at what you fucking did to us!" The wings on Adriel's back flutter twice, nearly hitting Julias. "You've already hurt us!"

"We're not here to hurt you further," Bifked corrects. "We want to take you to your rooms."

"We're not staying." Julias steps in front of Adriel. A glint of metal draws Adriel's attention to Julias's hand, which is holding two knives.

"You don't have a choice, dear boy." Wukber spreads her arms. "This is your new home. This is your purpose. You stay."

"Nope." Adriel grabs a knife out of Julias's hand and throws it forward, embedding it in Wukber's shoulder. Julias tosses the other knife into the air and darts forward. He grabs Bikfed and throws him to the ground, pinning his arm behind his back as Adriel catches the knife.

"We're leaving," Julias hisses, pushing Bikfed's head toward the ground. Adriel points the knife at Wukber as he walks toward and past her, turning to keep watch.

"You'll regret this." Wukber pulls the knife out of her shoulder and presses a hand to the wound. "We will find you again."

"Nah."

"You do realize that all you did was make us stronger, right?" Julias opens the door and backs out of it. "Good luck catching us now that we're on equal footing."

Adriel steps through the doorway and slams the door shut.

"We need to find our way back to Yevue," he says, turning and jogging up the stairs. Julias follows closely behind, throwing glances over his shoulder every few seconds.

"Do you really think they're gonna help us?"

"We're just like them now." Adriel spins around at the top of the stairs and watches Julias skip the last three steps. "Showoff."

"I'm sorry, who was the one that decided to do a backflip?"

"You told me to!"

"I was being sarcastic!"

"You're currently being annoying, too!"

"Can you do magic or not?"

"Probably not!"

"Then let's go!"

Adriel and Julias bicker until they're out of the building, at which point they dive behind some bushes and peek through the gaps between some leaves.

"Of course it's heavily guarded." Adriel turns around and sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I was wondering why we weren't running into any guards inside," Julias says, eyes flitting around to each guard.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but whatever happens in anime and books seems to not be happening to us."

"With the exception of a prophecy, apparently."

"With the exception of that, yes." Adriel rolls his eyes and turns back around, looking at the guards closest to them. "How do we get out of here- what are you doing?"

Julias flips Adriel off, keeping his eyes closed and his other hand raised. Adriel looks around and notices a small pond a ways away, the surface rippling unnaturally.

"I don't think-"

"Sh!"

Adriel snaps his mouth shut, keeping his gaze on the pond.

"Fuck." Julias frowns when the pond stops rippling. "I don't have the connection anymore."

"Connection?"

"Yeah."

Adriel punches Julias's shoulder, frowning when he just snickers.

"There's some feeling inside of my chest," Julias explains, tapping his sternum. "It gets really strong and kind of painful when I'm trying to control water, like the pond or the puddle from earlier."

"So you've got a connection with water," Adriel replies. "If you get near it, does it get stronger?"

"Maybe? It was stronger when we were inside."

"So the closer you are to water the more powerful you are." Adriel moves slowly around Julias, trying not to startle any guard. "Let's start there."

"What."

"We're going over to the pond. Keep up."

Julias smacks Adriel's hand when he goes to poke his forehead. "We're not going to the pond."

"We're going to the pond."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Do you want to get out of here or not?"

Julias sighs and crawls away from Adriel, toward the pond. Adriel cheers quietly before following, glancing over his shoulder nervously when they reach a spot that's not covered.

"On three, we sprint," Adriel whispers, resting a hand on Julias's shoulder. "One."

Julias takes off, diving behind a tree. Adriel rolls his eyes and runs after him, punching his shoulder when he reaches the same spot.

"Alright, in you go." Adriel shoves Julias toward the pond, then lunges forward and catches him when he starts falling in the direction of the water.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Julias stands up straight, takes a deep breath, then steps into the pond, turning to look at the guards.

Adriel crouches down next to the pond, watching as Julias lifts his hands and the entire pond vibrates.

Water moves up, surrounding Julias, who still has his eyes closed. Adriel turns his head and watches a small blob of water shoot toward a guard, sharpening just before it embeds itself in the guard's side.

"Yes!" Adriel stands and throws his hands into the air. "Do it again."

Julias opens his eyes. Adriel turns around and his breath is caught in his throat, the blue glow coming from Julias's eyes entrancing him.

The glow fades right after another water shard hits a guard. All of the water surrounding Julias drops and he sighs.

"Dammit," he hisses, slamming his fist against his thigh. Adriel scrambles forward and pulls him out of the water, holding his arms once he's on dry land.

"Don't do that," he mutters. Julias rolls his eyes and pulls his arms from Adriel's grasp, standing and squeezing the bottom of his shirt.

"We need to go." Julias looks up at the guards staring at him. "Now."

Adriel looks over his shoulder, then stands and sprints around the pond, Julias hot on his heels.

They run and run and run until neither of them can breath.

Julias stumbles and manages to catch himself by grabbing a low-hanging branch, tearing up the palm of his hand.

"We should take a break," Adriel gasps, bending over. Julias nods in agreement, sitting on the ground.

Question of the chapter: mMmMmMm any questions for me?