"The Void Wears A Crown Of Forget-Me-Nots"

Chapter 13: The Rising Dawn

It was him.

Xelqua smiled back and without even thinking, leaned over and kissed Sitruat's forehead, only to be startled by how blisteringly feverishly hot it was.

"How are you feeling?" Xelqua asked, still a bit shocked, as he stroked back Sitruat's short hair.

Sitruat's eyes slid closed, "Awful," he responded, still wearing that butterfly-inducing smile.

Xelqua's wings fell to his sides as he sighed to himself. Xelqua's body blistered at the memories of agony.

'Was he sick, too?'

He kissed Sitruat once again. "Do you want a bottle of water or something?" Xelqua asked, his wing sweeping over Sitruat like a blanket.

Sitruat hummed, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. Sitruat weakly touched Xelqua's hand, his skin was so hot it almost burned. Then Sitruat smiled at Xelqua like he was in some fever dream.

"Can I have you?" he breathed.

Xelqua laughed and cocked an eyebrow, "I'm a bit too much for you to handle, especially right now." he brushed back Sitruat's sweaty hair and kissed his burning forehead.

Xelqua grabbed a bottle of cold water. "Here, drink this," he said, handing Sitruat the bottle.

Sitruat downed half of the bottle before setting it on the side table and promptly falling back asleep.

Xelqua looked at the clock, it was time, he thought to himself bitterly.

Throwing open his wardrobe Xelqua grabbed one of his tight-fitting black shirts, the one he put a hole in the back of. and stripped off his clothes. Xelqua was slightly sad to take off the red sweater, but he knew it was for the better.

He changed into his running outfit and took the normal precautions of hiding his face, voice (using the "cursed" voice), and masking his magic.

It may have been overkill for a five-minute task, but you could never be too safe.

Finally, he was ready to leave. Taking the box and papers instructing how to use them and what to expect when your wings emerge, Xelqua gave Zezy one more glance over, before heading outside.

It was cold, so cold that Xelqua could even see his breath in front of him. Now, more than ever, Xelqua was thankful for the thick cloke and his magic to be burning at full force.

Xelqua stepped out into the hall and began his tedious task of placing the small red-filled vials, in pairs of two with a note, at every door. It was oddly quiet that night, not even the sobbing that always came from the triplets' door could be heard.

They must have cried themselves to sleep again. Xelqua didn't really know whether or not that was a good thing. But nevertheless, the silents was deafening, and it hummed in his ears in a way it never had before.

It made Xelqua uneasy, and the uneasiness only grew as he made it a quarter of the way through his task. Xelqua was desperate for any noise, any sign of life outside of his silent self. Maybe that was why he felt the slightest bit of relief when he heard the click of a door, that was until his, admittedly fucking terrible, common sense kicked in.

'And this is why you can never be too safe.'

Qakel stepped outside of her room, closing the door and leaning against it only a few doors away from Xelqua. Her breath froze in the winter air and rose in puffs of white.

Qakel's breathing was raspy as she shivered and rubbed her arms. She wasn't even wearing a cloak, only a tank top and pajama bottoms.

Xelqua's insides twisted as he watched her shiver in the cold.