Burning Hope

Chapter 16: Everything's More Romantic When it's French

As I neared Xiao's room, I heard chatter inside. I was about to knock the door, until I heard the conversation that was going on.

"Adrian, we know you're innocent." Came Xiao's voice. "Watch, the spy will be found and everybody will be sorry that they ever doubted you."

"That's not the point!" Came a panicked Adrian. "You heard Mr. Zarskoff! He wants me dead! If the killer isn't found in five days, I'll die! Do you know what that will mean? I'll never graduate! I'll never get a college degree! I'll never get married and raise a family!

"Calm down, Adrian." Xiao scolded. "You're a user of Mind magic, and Kali's son. That gives you an extreme advantage! Using your powers and your experience, you could easily do a mind search through the school-"

"No!" Adrian yelled. "I've already spent the last five months trying to forget about what she's done to me, and now you're telling me that I need to revisit my own personal hell?! I don't want that!"

"Adrian, I understand how you feel about your mother, and I know it's been difficult with your Post traumatic stress disorder, but could you put it aside for the future of Sciana? For the future of the Crown itself?"

"I-I don't know, Principal Xiao. Every time my mind goes back to those memories, I immediately shove them back down, i-it's like a reflex. Do you have any idea what it's like to know that the one who conceived you thought that you were nothing but a waste of space? Do you have any idea what it's like to sit back helplessly as your body is taken over? Do you have any idea how painful it is to look back on these memories? It's torture!" I heard Adrian sobbing. "Believe me, I want to help Scarlett. She's the only person that's been truly nice to me in a long time. She's the only one that hasn't looked at me like some freak or monster. To her, all I am is...me."

I finally mustered up enough courage to knock on the door and hear Xiao's voice invited me into his office, so I opened the door and walked in. My heart broke at the sight of Adrian in a chair with his arms wrapped around his knees, rocking back and forth. I had to help him. There wasn't a doubt in my mind now.

"There's got to be some way that we can protect Adrian!" I said. "Please tell me there's some sort of protective charm we can place over him, or maybe we can send him to a foreign country until this whole thing boils over. Please, let there be something. Anything!"

Adrian refused to meet my gaze. Xiao sighed and looked towards me. "Prince Scarlett, I'm afraid there isn't really anything we can do. If we send him out to a foreign country, that would raise suspicion, and then Mr. Zarskoff would definitely hunt Adrian down and kill him then and there. And as for a protective charm...there are some things that even Scale Children cannot do."

"But that's not fair!" I protested.

"The world isn't fair, Ren Flavia. The sooner you learn this, the better." He said sadly. "If you really want to protect Adrian, the best thing you can do is find the spy. If we don't do so, not only will you and the Heirs die, but that most surely means Adrian's death as well. I will do my best to protect Mr. Skalanias, but I cannot make any promises. We're counting on you.

That's what I was afraid of. I thought glumly to myself. Defeated, I walked out of the room, silently cursing the reality that was the world. I tried to hold my composure until I fled to the safety of my dorm room. I closed the door, and sat next to my bed.

This was it. Everything and everybody I cared for was going to die. There was no possible way that this was going to work out. I tried to hold them back, but it was futile to try and stop the tears that were forming. I had all these people putting this pressure on me to save them from this tyrant—to conquer her—when I could barely fight my own issues. Even Xiao had said, 'Just find the spy' like it was some easy task.