"Redder!! He is in danger!  Redder!"

Cicero kept screaming in my head.

Even without her alarm, it was obvious. Aside from the fact that the whole arena was screaming out of fear for Vic. And apart from the fact that even the elders who had been sitting stiff on their couch as if they had no feelings,  were up on their feet with jaws dropped just like the rest of us. And the terrified look on the face of Vic himself. And also the fact that my whole body was shaking due to the shock of the tingles.

I could see it for myself, Dean was engulfed in flames. Not just any flames, but blue flames.

Just before the huge fireball reached Vic, Jody appeared in front of him, and in a split second she disappeared again and Vic had gone with her.

Sighs of relief were heard all over the arena. But the worry shot up just as fast when Dean was sighted once again.

He fell to his knees, releasing an agonizing scream. Tears filled my eyes, without even understanding what was going on.

I felt a piercing pain in the middle of my head, and then, it spread to the marrow of my chest. It wasn't just a sharp pain.  It felt like a hot burn, or hot air passing through me, from my head to chest and back again.

I closed my eyes tight, as tears flowed from it. Clenching my chest, I prayed and hoped for it to cool off. I tried to imagine it cooling off, but it wasn't working.

"Hey, Redder,  let's try something, shall we?

Try to picture yourself putting off a fire, or to cool something down. What will you do if something is too hot, and you want it cold?

On a normal circumstance, I wouldn't have listened,  but here I was trying to visualize what she tried to convey to me.

So I imagined myself  pouring a bowl of ice cubes on my chest and head, and waiting for it to cool. I poured it directly at the center of my chest where it hurt the most.

Just immediately the bowl of ice reached my chest,  it cooled off. Like magic.

I looked around to notice the confused and alarmed look on my friends' faces.

Blue, looked panicked, and even Taylor had tears in her eyes.

"What happened to you JJ,  we have been trying to get your attention for over five minutes now." Taylor cried out.

"Oh! Eh, I was tired, so I decided to take a nap?"I responded, clearing my throat.

The look they gave me was clear, they didn't believe me. Even if I was to say the truth, I don't think it will be taken well.

So I tried to change the topic.
"Hey, what about Dean and the fight? What happened?"

That did it,  because they moved their attention from me, to the field, where a now calm and fire less Dean stood with hands in the air and a very broad smile.

What the heck?

Everyone was on their feet looking as confused as I was. Until Jody and Jobber appeared in front of him with a bow.

"Ladies and gentlemen,  Valkyries and Non- Valkyries,  that was a spectacular play, by our one and only Prince Dean.

Apparently,  since he was going to win, he had to add  a little drama to it. So what do you all think, with our little ending!"

The whole arena jumped up and down with shouts and claps, showing their excitement. Blue, Taylor and Sammy all forgot about me. And Jobber declared the tournament officially started.

What did I think of their play?

Well, I thought what any reasonable human being would think. And  that is not saying a lot, since I'm the only human here.

I believed that it was just a cover up. It wasn't a play, I could feel it in every bone in my body. Something really big had happened and they were covering it up with a stupid drama.

I looked at the elders, and just as I expected, their heads were all down, like they had done the last time before making a decision.

I looked at the captains to see that they weren't even concentrating on the tournament. Even Jobber and Jody, weren't as excited as before. In fact, they wore fake smiles.

I stood up from my chair, ready to head out, when Blue stopped me.

"JJ, where are you going?"

"I - I am going to the restroom, I will be back."

I didn't wait for her reply, instead I rushed out.

I was out of the arena, so fast you would think someone was chasing me.

Rounding up the corner, I heard whispers.  I tip toed closer, to avoid being found out.

Staying low and hidden, I took a glance at the hallway, to see Dean and one other person standing and facing each other.

Dean faced me, while the other man backed me, so I couldn't see his face, but he seemed kind of old. And he was tall with black long hair.

He wore a robe that looked so expensive that it could put my moms money to shame. It was black in color and had golden stars on it.

I tried hard to listen to what they were saying, but they talked in hushed voices.

I observed the expression on Dean's face. He was furious, and he looked at the other man with disdain. The look he had on his face could cause even a grown man to run for the hills, but this man stuck out with a pose, and talked more.

All at once, Dean announced with a crimson eye and clenched jaw.
"You possess no right to say that to me! Absolutely no right."

"And you hold no right to verbalize to your father that way." The man responded. His articulation  was so deep and scary.

Father? And coupled with his weird dressing, he also spoke weirdly.

Dean looked seconds away from exploding.

But his father continued.

" Or you consider you posses the right?  Because you are who? The almighty guardian?  You and I  both know, that you are no guardian."

Merely a glance at Dean and you could tell how angry he was, but looking at his eyes,  it was a whole lot of emotion.  Sadness, hurt, even guilt. It was all there.

But Dean's father either didn't care, or he didn't notice, and went on.

"You do not qualify to sit on my throne, You can't even control yourself, how will you rule."

"I never said anything about ruling, father!" Dean spat.

"Yeah, I drew a blank.  You only seem to know how to destroy, just like you were about to earlier, and just like you did..."  a gasp was released from Dean as he stared far away. His expression grew from sad and guilty to despair and extreme pain.

I could only stare with sadness, at Dean, as his eyes portrayed his pain. It was so gloomy and dark. Whatever it was, affected him so much.

"Redder"  Cicero called.

" I know Cicero, I know.  But what do we do? How do we help?"

His father,  Spoke again.
"You..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because he was interrupted.

He was cut off by a very dumb girl, that felt it was a good opportunity to stroll the hall while singing her favorite Ariana Grande song.

You can guess who the dumb girl was. Yeah, your right, it's me.

I walked towards them with my heart poured out into the song I was singing.  Nope, just kidding, my heart was about to burst out of fear. And I was sure, I was about to burst their ear drums with my terrible singing. 

But I walked with fake confidence. On reaching them, I threw a glance at his father.
" Hey Dean, what's up!"

"I am embarrassed on your behalf Redder,  really?  Hey Dean what's up?"

"What was I meant to say? I was nervous."

"Who even said, you had to say anything,  walking past them was enough distraction.

And what the hell are you doing standing in front of them like a fool?"

"What? Oh..."

"Exactly"

I looked up,  to see them both staring at me with confusion.

"Hey, ha-ha, I didn't notice you here.  Ha-ha,  Hello, man I don't know,  I didn't hear anything, I didn't even realize you are his father, ha-ha. I guess it's your identical looks that told me that right now.  And your dress, I mean your robe is so pretty,  um, I mean handsome, no, um, it's expensive and so good looking, so...

"Oh dear deity!  Will you shut up now?"

"Yes, absolutely." I shouted out loud. Then I realized my mistake and corrected myself.

"Oh, sorry, I wasn't talking to any of you. I actually have a pest in my head that keeps irritating me, well, not as much as I'm irritating myself, but you get?"

Dean looked at me, as if I had gone mad.

" I feel so embarrassed!" Cicero cried out.

I opened my mouth to talk again,  when Dean immediately grabbed my hand and began dragging me down the hall.

"Bye bye, sir, nice to make your acquaintance. Hope we meet again!" I shouted as we rounded the corner.

After walking a distance,  or rather,  being dragged a distance. He stopped and turned to look at me with his scary eyes.

"Just what the hell, were you doing?"

"I-I was s-singing and walking."

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, then opened it again and looked at me.

"Why do I always have this conversation with you?

Well, you know the drill. Don't tell anyone what you just heard."

Smirking at him, I responded.
"You also know the drill. On one condition."

He glared hard at me, but I wasn't moved, an inch.

"What is it?" he finally grumbled.

"Oh, nothing big, you will only escort me to the middle of the arena, when it's time for my fight. And you will be the one to  introduce me to the crowd."

"Is that all?"

"No, I will tell you the exact thing to say. And after my duel, you will come and scrape me off the ground and take me to the healers wing."

He looked as if ready to back out, then thought about it again before he nodded in agreement.

"I can't understand why you would want me to do that, but if that's what you want, then I'm happy to comply, as long as you keep your mouth shut." 

I extended my hand up to him, to shake on the promise,  and he looked at me weirdly before giving in.

"So, for my first part of the deal, let's go."

"Huh?"

"You know, remember,  I have to escort you to the arena for your fight?"

"Huh?"

"It's time for your fight, little Banshee. I wonder how you will fight with that dumb brain of yours." He said, giving my head a knock.

That seemed to snap me out of it.
"What do you mean it's time,"

"Your duel is about to start, let's go meet the headmaster."

___________________________
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Well psycho's, buckle up. Her duel is next.

I noticed. Any time I ask or beg for comments and votes. I get none.

So I'm changing the tactics, I'm gonna use reverse psychology. 😁😁.

So readers, do not vote and comment what you feel, I repeat, I do not need your votes and comments.

Hopefully that would work.....