Better Let Them Know Who's Boss {mxm}

24.

"You're not all that bad."

I slurped up some Lucky Charms as Nya came to sit next to me, a look of calmness filling her features. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I raised a brow, looking into her blue eyes as she nodded. "Yes," She replied and I took the moment to analyze her. She was Nya, true, but something about her seemed off.

"I'm sorry for slapping you that day," I chewed on my cereal as she spoke hollowly, placing the journal that I found on the table. "It's good. It's not like I find my face attractive or anything," I snorted in disbelief and she smiled, flashing her blue eyes at me. The area fell silent before I looked to her, ready to rip off the bandaid of whatever this situation was. "So..." I trailed off, pushing my empty bowl away from me as I turned to face her entirely. "You're gonna tell me what is that has you all bent out of shape?" 

I wasn't trying to get into her business, but I was trying to help her cope with whatever it was that was weighing her down. She seemed to be completely valuable to Maddox, so in turn, she was valuable to me. 

Nya took a deep breath and slid the journal over to me, watching me carefully. "Open it," She demanded in a soft tone and I complied, turning back the cover to see the same name written there. The handwriting seemed to be old from the blurred lines, and it made me think back to what Maddox was telling me about who he was. "Nicola," I muttered and Nya sighed. "Know anything about that?" I raised a brow and she leered at me as if she was contemplating whether or not she should tell me. She should, evidently because Maddox was only going to tell her what she had no business knowing. I was going to be real with her because not only would it help her in finding solace, it would help Maddox because he would see that he wasn't alone in this situation.

She let out a low breath and shook her head. "...no. I just have bits and pieces of where I was on this white land and instead of these black wings," She pointed to the appendages that were peeking out of her back. "They were white, shining like the brightest diamonds ever picked. I didn't have black hair, but it was white too. I didn't look like I do now," Nya chuckled pathetically. "I remember that I was a lot happier then. I don't remember this place in my memories," I flipped the next page to see that it was dated almost four centuries ago. 

"Nicola Ferarri, September 5th, Eighteen Eighteen," I read out loud, unable to decipher the text written beneath. It used some ancient characters that made me feel illiterate. "Can you," I stuttered. "Can you read this?" I slid the journal back to her and she slowly nodded, allowing something to dawn on me. "It says, Lord Tion came and requested of me that I be a Royal Guard to the throne. I too would've accepted the request had I not have sinned." I blinked rapidly, things in mind piecing together like a puzzle.

The room fell silent once again.

"Nya," She flinched when I said her name and her eyes started to darken, which let me know that things were starting to come back to her. Whatever Maddox did to make her forget, it was wearing off. "What did you do?" 

Every single sin that landed these people in Hell were based off of the Seven Deadly Sins. I could only imagine what she had done. "You know, Emily's father was the younger brother of Tion," She spoke hollowly, gritting her teeth, the sound ricocheting into my ears like the crumbling of paper. "He didn't want her after I told them I fell with child. He forced me to lie and say that the father was someone else because he didn't want to be tied to me," Nya took a deep breath, clicking her teeth. There was something sinister in her mind, I knew. "In a bout of rage, I poisoned him." 

"I—

I started to cough because I forgot to breathe for a second. She really did what now? "Tion wasn't supposed to find out, but I guess I wasn't as slick as I liked to think I was," She smirked as if she was pleased with herself and I made a mental check to applaud Maddox for picking someone so crazy as his right-hand. "I guess that makes it a viable reason," I mumbled, allowing it to settle in my mind.