"What do you mean this is going to be harder than you thought it would be?" Niko said, turning around to face Bree.

"Toxicus Amoris is one of the most powerful spells ever to be brought upon this world. Only the most powerful can properly execute a spell that wields the amount of strength to make an organism feel affection for another." She explains.

Everyone is silent

"If done properly, then the afflicted organism will feel the affection at full force without there being any love in the first place."

"And if not done correctly?" Niko asked

"Well...then it could go one way or the other. If the afflicted person feels hatred for the organism its supposed to feel 'Love' for, then they will experience some side affects. These include slight weakness, blurred or colored vision, and migraines. However, if the afflicted person feels even the slightest bit of 'Love' for the organism, then it will supposedly 'Fall in Love' without knowing why or how it feels this way. Symptoms for that include sudden weightlessness, loss of balance, and an inability to talk."

"This is going to be very interesting." Cameron said, while Niko paces back and forth.

"Wait... how do you even know that?" Marc asks, arms crossed.

In a second, Bree whips out a giant leather book with strange symbols on the sides and cover. She flips it open to a random page and snaps her fingers. Symbols then appear on the page and slowly merge into letters.

"The Amabrę Tönķe!" Cameron squeals, running over to the book.

"Nu- uh no touching." Bree says. A large pink bubble suddenly enshrouds her, blocking Cameron from the book.

"No! No! You can't do this to me! I just want to look at it, pleeeease?" Cameron begs, banging on the barrier

I let out a small laugh and look over to both Marc and Niko. Niko is smiling, yet Marc is serious, staring at the blank wall. Something was wrong. It was usually the other way around.

"Marc, what's wrong?" I ask, touching his arm.

He flinches suddenly, as if he hadn't seen me.

"N- nothing."

"Are you sure?"

He doesn't speak for a moment, looking into my eyes.

"I- I'm just worried."

"Oh...well, you don't have to really worry. We'll fig-"

"No. It's not that." He pauses briefly, looking down at the ground. "I just want you to be safe."

With a small smile, I give him a hug as his body stiffens up.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. Plus, you'll be there to protect me like you always have been, right?"

His face suddenly drops.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Wait, was he leaving?

"Marc, are you leaving?"

"No, of course not. I- I just did something before that I really regret."

Before I could finish speaking, he left. Presumably towards the bathroom. Just as I start to walk back to Bree, someone grabs my arm.

"Jennifer."

"Niko?"

"Yes, it's me."

I sighed in relief.

"Did you hear all of that?"

"Mostly, yeah."

"Do you know any thing about what he was talking about?"

"Yes, but it's mostly a secret."

"You mean that Marc was the one who shot Jennifer?"

I look over at Bree, who just happened to pop up out of nowhere.

"Wait, what?" I was confused.

"During training, remember? For the Abrava Perdi. Decades ago... well not really, but you get my point."

"That was supposed to be a secret." Niko growled.

"Well I'm sorry. I didn't know that she wasn't supposed to know."

"And why am I not supposed to know this?" I asked, bewildered by all that had been occurring.

"Well, when that happened, he realized he hurt you, but he mostly hides that because of how it happened." Bree explains.

"Well then how did it happen?"

Marc suddenly bursts back into the room, panting, and out of breath.

"Marc? What's wrong?" I ask for the second time today.

"Dragons... loose... attacking."

Everyone is suddenly alert, as the tension and realization settles into each and everyone's bodies.

A sudden clash makes us all jump.

"Finally! I found the book!" Cameron squeals, jumping and skipping around.

He suddenly stops, looking at us.

"What?" He pouts.

That's when out of nowhere a large creature, a dragon to be exact, rips out a chunk out of the building, taking the immense leather book with it.

"Nooo!" He yells, jumping out the hole.

We all gasp as Bree runs up to the edge. Along with her, I peer over the edge, watching. From down below we hear screams and see thick smoke pouring from various fires. Out of nowhere a vast eagle flies from out of the smoke, carrying something in its beak. In an instant, it lands, sending a large echoing thud  throughout the rest of the dilapidated room.

"Cameron you had me so worried!" Bree shrieked, running towards the bird.

Slowly, Cameron started to shrink and turn back into his human form, hugging Bree.

"You can shapeshift?" Niko asked, just as impressed as I was.

"Yeah, I just... need wat-"

Thud.

Cameron fell to the ground. He was knocked out.

"Don't worry, I'm prepared for situations like these." Bree say, pouring a strange liquid over his head.

"Ahhh eck eck!" He yelled, getting up again and shaking whatever was on his head.

"Let's do this." Bree says, transforming into a vam- my bad... transforming into a Locten. Cameron follows suit, transforming into a Griffon mid-jump.

In an instant, Niko is a wolf besides me.

"Need a ride?" He asks in a husky voice.

[A/N] Get it? Husky voice? Wolf? Dog? No? Okay...

I look over to Marc, who isn't really doing anything.

"No, I think I'm good. I'll stay here with Marc. I don't think we can do much in the battle anyways"

Marc looks up at me, moments before turning away.

"Okay then." Niko says.

His emotions are harder to decipher, now that he's a wolf. All I can do is watch as his strong leg muscles contract and shoot him over the edge. Once he's gone, I go face Marc who's seated in the corner, playing with some strange cubed object. The second I approach him, he throws it aside.

"What's that?" I ask him before it's completely out of view.

"It's nothing re-"

I quickly grab it from under the bed, holding it in my hands.

"A Cubix rube!" I exclaim.

His face suddenly turns a light shade of pink.

"What wrong? Do you not know how to use it?"

"I- I do, it's just that I find it a bit difficult." He says, his face reddening even more.

"Well, if you want I could teach you." I say as I begin to work the rubix cube, matching color by color, side by side.

Once I'm done, I only switch two sides to make it really easy.

"There. Solve it."

He takes it shakily in my hands, looking at all the sides. He then stops altogether, putting it on the ground.

"I- I can't do it. They all look the same."

"What do you mean they all look the same?"

"They're all gray, Jennifer! I'm colorblind! There, I said it!"

Grief struck my heart harder than any arrow I had ever taken. Sorrow lined every inch of the arrow, coating it with poisonous anguish. That's when everything made sense to me. The day he shot me, when I had blacked out. That guilty look on his face. It was him. It was all him.

Hey guys! I know, updating time is very late and you are all probably mad at me, but I have my reasons.... okay, I don't, but I still don't have a proper schedule. Exams are still not over for me. (This is the last week😆😊😁) and also...

Drum roll please...

My birthday is coming up! Yes, this week. Try to guess the day. I can't do prizes or anything, so it's just going to be guessing. If you got the correct answer, then... I guess you got it.

If you can, listen to L.A. love song Win and Woo remix. I just heard it and it's amazing!

This time, instead of me asking questions, I want to hear your questions. If you are confused by anything, and I mean anything, put a question down below.

       - - -> question line

Hope you all enjoyed! I managed to cram in 1,300+ words

Thx 4 Reading!