At first glance, many would think she was a psycho lunatic who'd be lucky to recall her name, but she was far smarter and more dangerous than one would expect.
An advantage Charles let slip from his grasp.
I felt horrible for being a little happy that they hadn't killed him. Not because I actually gave a shit about his life, but due to the fact that I wanted to take part in eliminating his existence.
Finishing setting up the monitors, I made sure Lisette's head was positioned on the pillow properly before I realized she was still pretty drenched from the fight.
I should change her clothes or at least dry her clothes off while she rests.
Deciding to at least remove her uniform shirt and tie so I could dry her off properly, I began to do the very dead until a felt something sharp press against my neck that forced me to remain still.
With a heavy sigh, I felt the darkness swarm within me before I turned my head just slightly to see the culprit.
"I'm only going to play nice because Lisette would probably shed a tear if I hurt you. Not to mention it would inflict her as well," I began and locked my side-eye gaze to Ceil. "But if you don't move that stupid sword of yours, it's not going to end well."
He didn't budge at my threat, and it only made my eyes narrow as more of my dark power began to seep into my body.
Being cornered was a pet peeve of mine, and even if I tried to stop my dark element from being a controlling ass, it would be absolutely useless.
When neither of us moved, I was ready to make the odds in my favor, but a plushie smashed into my face, making me grunt and pull my head further back to see the rather familiar dark unicorn plushie staring right in my face.
From the groan that came from my right, Ceil had been hit with a similar attack, which forced him to lower his sword.
We both looked at the culprit, which was Shadow Jade with her head hung low. She lifted it just slightly to give us an exhausted pout.
"Ki..llll...lll" she slurred the word like she was stuck in slow motion, which soon left me worried as she wobbled to one side and dropped her plushies. They didn't even hit the floor as Ceil somehow put away his sword, grabbed them, and caught Shadow Jade, who was tipping right over in dark unicorn pajamas.
"Shadow Jade." Ceil sounded pissed and yet the sound didn't seem to match the level of angry I thought he'd portray to anyone but Lisette.
"Pu...ppy...help...Lis...sleepy." She couldn't even keep herself standing, but somehow managed to remain in her form instead of fading away.
Ceil looked unimpressed, but grumbled, "Fine. I'll spare him."
Spare me?
That irked me, but I decided to let it go for the sake of Shadow Jade. How she'd materialized in time to butt in was a shocking mystery, but I couldn't be mad. I was a tad grateful since I really didn't want to fight right now.
Even though it would have been nice to let off some steam.
"Slee...py. Ki...ll," she mumbled against him, and all he could do was stare at her. I had a feeling he was trying to hide the way his expression was softening by the second, but he seemed to give up and picked her up entirely.
"Shadow Jade, go back to sleep."
"N...o," she answered, her eyes closed and her head resting against his chest. "Must...protect...everyone."
That made me frown as my heart seemed to sink a little. Shadow Jade could barely stay conscious, and yet she was fighting to remain in her form in hopes of protecting us.
Trying to keep us together after Charles hoped to tear us apart.
Ceil let out a long exhale, but he didn't argue as he carried her over to a lounge chair that was opposite from where I stood at the side of the medical bed and monitors.
He turned around and gracefully sat down as he lowered Shadow Jade to rest in his lap. He did it so smoothly that it didn't seem out of place, even with him being in a completely black fitted suit in comparison to Shadow Jade with her rather comfy purple pajamas with black unicorns all over it with golden stars.
He placed the two plushies onto her lap, offering the dark unicorn she'd used to crush my face. "Are you going to protect your dark unicorn plushie?" he inquired.
She seemed to realize she was missing that one as her hands reached to grab the air. He lightly pressed the doll in her grasp, and she hugged it against her while snuggling in his hold.
"Yes. Ki...ll!" Her exclamation was a little flat with its sluggish declaration, but it was also adorable to witness, and calmed my dark element enough to let Ceil off the hook.
For now...
"Then who's going to protect you?" Ceil inquired, and I wondered if he was just asking questions to help her drift off to sleep once more.
"You," she replied and seemed to smile just slightly in her sleeping state as she further relaxed. Ceil didn't say anything in response, but I caught the uplift of the corner of his lip as he gave her his full attention.
It was as if he'd forgotten my existence entirely, and in the entire universe, it was just him and her.
"True," he finally answered.
I watched quietly while I fought the pinch of jealousy in my heart. I wasn't necessarily jealous that there seemed to be a blossoming relationship happening with Jade and Lisette's shadows, but I craved to allow myself to fully give Jade my all.
Why can't my shadow self be cooperative like that? Oh right, we don't trust anyone.
Trust issues were the number one problem I had. It was what was stopping me from enjoying Jade whenever there was the perfect moment to be alone with her. I'd definitely progressed with being able to kiss her and for us to even sleep in the same bed, but the moment I thought of more, there was the ugly head of my trust issues and their desire to rid all the happiness from my life.
I feared that my happiness and stability would be short-lived - ruined by my sick father, who wanted nothing but to destroy everything I cared for because I wasn't his perfect boy. It was thanks to him that I still had open wounds, ones that poor Jade was willing to be patient with and allow to heal as I tried to adapt to our growing relationship.
My suffering was thanks to him, and it only frustrated me that he was inflicting so much pain to all those around me. I had his blood running through my veins, but I couldn't use it to locate him as he was somehow using me to find Jade.
"Sleep, Shadow Jade," Ceil quietly whispered. I felt that he hoped Shadow Jade had already drifted off. "I'll protect everyone while you sleep." That seemed to do the trick as her body began to fade. She was gone before we knew it, leaving the pink unicorn plushie behind. Ceil picked it up and inspected it for a long moment.
"If it wasn't for the fact she likes this thing, I would have destroyed it."
"Why?"
"It's the one you ended up giving her, correct?"
Oh. His way of payback, huh?
"Yes," I finally answered.
"Hmph." I expected him to throw it somewhere, but he rose up and stuffed it in the front pocket of his suit jacket. I didn't realize what I was doing until I pressed the capture button on my phone and took a picture.
Ceil merely stared at me and I mumbled, "That's for putting a blade to my throat."
He was behind me in a second and I added, "And it would be a good souvenir to give to Shadow Jade for Christmas."
I swear this man was going to murder me with his bare hands, but he seemed to pause at the mention of a potential gift.