Valerie had always thought she had made herself clear on the nature of the knights she fought. Ghosts that had somehow acquired a physical body only to fade to dust after receiving a blow that could have killed them or incapacitated them to fight had they been alive. At least she had never lied or exaggerated. This somehow seemed to have gone amiss to Arthur whose eyebrows were knit together in puzzled confusion.
"They turn to dirt?" he blinked a couple of times. Valerie nodded. It was the fourth time he asked the same question.
"Kinda, yes." Valerie hesitated. "Sometimes they're dirt with something else, whatever they're made off, I suppose. I don't know what to tell you, I just fight them, I don't analyze them." she lifted her hands in pretend surrender.
Arthur hummed. "They are not alive." the way he said it made it sound more like a question than an affirmation.
"I mean there was one that might have been an actual human..." Valerie began, Arthur's eyes shone with interest. "but he sort of vanished right after and I had more relevant issues to figure at the moment." she made a vague movement with her hand.
He tilted his head, his face with a slight expression of disbelief. "Such as?"
"Being left alone with a boy I was not talking to and a friend bolting out like if death was chasing him and possible broken rib." Valerie stated matter-of-factly. "Those things can be dangerous, you know? I could have had a hole in my lungs."
Arthur put a hand over his mouth. For some reason Valerie couldn't quite comprehend, he looked concerned. It wasn't the first time she had told him she had gotten injured on a fight. The way he tended to react was by giving her a pat on the back and laughing about it.
"This means you have never seen anyone die?" he questioned. Valerie pressed her eyebrows together. Valerie's heart dropped.
"I saw my mom die." Valerie stablished. Eyebrows pressed together and her eyebrows turning into a line. Most of the time, -or at least when he wasn't correcting her-, she found Arthur amusing. Now, all she could feel was a lingering bitterness on the pit of her stomach. "But that's not interesting enough, I suppose." she spat. The color disappeared form Arthur's face
"No." Arthur was quick to correct, shaking his head. He rose both hands in front of himself. "I don't mean it like that, I apologize"
"Then what did you mean?"
"There is a process before becoming a knight, boys begin as pages, work their way as squires and then they become knights." he began. "By the time they become knights, they are already aware of the weight that comes with being in battle."
"Sorry for being born in the modern world?" Valerie muttered. There was also the fact that if she had been born in Arthur's time she wouldn't have been allowed in the battlefield as a page, squire or knight. However, it was not something that was worth touching on at the moment.
"Valerie, this is important." Arthur pressed. Valerie sighed, with a slight roll of her eyes. "Taking a life is no easy matter, it's painful, and dangerous, and it haunts you."
She crossed her arms. "Mordred has limited his hunting to ghost knights and magical humans so far."
"I wouldn't put it beneath him to start recruiting regular humans."
Valerie could understand where Arthur was coming from. The realization when the sword came out stained with blood shocked her. If Mordred intended to use England as a steppingstone when it came to ruling, he needed living allies that would fight battles for him. Preferably living ones who would convince more living people of following him.
"So what am I supposed to do?" Valerie questioned. Not killing them was always an option, but she had no way of knowing if an armor held a living person inside or a ghost until after she had pushed the sword. Even then, she couldn't exactly get too picky about where the sword got in.
Not to mention, she was perfectly content with Mordred keeping his knights as already dead creatures.
"I need you to be more aware of what you might face when it happens." Arthur pressed. "Sometimes the first person who you see die on a battle haunts you, even if you had nothing to do with it."
The seriousness was uncharacteristic of him. It made Valerie feel uneasy. Death was not something she was unfamiliar with. Fighting with knights that were already dead by the time they went against her allowed her to take the concern of taking a life away from her mind. She had not pondered on what she would do were she to be faced with an actual person.
"I'll try..." Valerie wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. That she wasn't going to kill any actual humans? That she'll keep check of where she aimed the sword? "Do you still remember them?"
The question seemed to have taken Arthur by surprise. His face softened immediately after and he looked at Valerie.
"Sometimes, and some better than others." he confessed. "I was twelve when I was first taken to the battlefield and saw a man die, it was nasty, the knight I was a page for pushed the sword through his neck, the blood just poured out."
Valerie wrinkled her nose. He scoffed in amusement.
"Just... be careful out there." Arthur asked, ruffling the girl's hair. Valerie couldn't even promise she would try. Her definition of careful wasn't precisely tight.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Growing up, Audrey had gotten accustomed by the idea that Valerie was the brave one out of the two. If she had trouble with a teacher Audrey would return to her seat and try to ignore it for the sake of keeping peace. Valerie would be very vocal about her concerns and issues. It had landed her in trouble more than once, but Audrey admired her for it.
She found it tasteless when people compared the two of them, whether it was without malice or not. Despite being friends since they were eight, they were very different people which made comparisons unfair. Valerie demanded to be heard and Audrey was perfectly happy with only getting the spotlight when she was dancing on the stage.
The knight's sword swung above her head. Audrey's stomach filled with dread at how close she had been to be beheaded. It wasn't that Valerie made fighting look effortless. There was nothing effortless about falling to face flat on the floor, getting knocked or bleeding; but at least Valerie had an ease for it. No one would have ever trusted Audrey in a fight. If it was up to her, she would be the last person she would pick for a fight.
Until some senseless knight decided to trust some sword on her hand.
It was easier to manage than her pitiful attempt at Excalibur when she and Jonathan had deemed Valerie's concussion made her unable to fight. At least this sword wasn't unnaturally heavy and the small training Valerie had given her alongside the knights that had already attacked them seemed to have served for something. At least she wasn't dead yet.
So far, most of her fight against the knight consisted of shields crafted by Jonathan and her moving backwards, swinging her sword. The times the swords contacted against one another were far and in between, with Audrey far more concerned about surviving rather than killing the knight. She didn't even have the certainty her own sword would have any significant effect. She had focused her efforts on serving as a distraction while waiting for Valerie to land the final blow.
"Come on, Audrey!" Jonathan tried. He twisted the plants on the pots to hold the knight enough for her to take a breath. "Channel your inner knight or whatever,"
"Are you cheering on me?" Audrey tilted her head, lips pressed in both amusement and confusion.
"It was either that or remind you that you are supposed to hit him with the sharp end." he shrugged. "I want to think that you are smarter than that... I mean, not smart enough to not kiss the boy your friend likes in front of her house, but people usually learn from their mistakes."
Audrey rolled her eyes, stumbling back on one of the chairs. The knight dropped the sword where she had been and parted the chair in two. Audrey's heart dropped. Her grip around the sword tightened as she swallowed hard.
The knight swung his sword at her. She managed to stop the attack for a few seconds, before her sword flew on the air. She wasn't sure where exactly it had fallen, but it couldn't have been too far because she had heard the clank it made when it hit the floor. Audrey let out a curse before focusing most of her attention on avoiding the knight's attempts against her life.
A shield rose above her, and the knight hit it relentlessly. Audrey flinched a little with each hit.
"Audrey, where is the sword?" Jonathan questioned, one hand up, probably holding the shield.
"It flew away!" She let out in a hist of panic, eyes looking around until she saw it had landed near a trash bin. Audrey rushed to it and lifted it from the ground, an strange sense of security washing over her.
"Do you have any idea what to do?" Audrey questioned him. He blinked a couple of times, the shield still up and his mouth opened and closed. His bushy eyebrows, that had been previously pressed together, shot up.
His eyes widened, and the shield faltered for a second. "Audrey, do I look to you like the kind of person who makes plans?"
He wasn't and she was aware of that. Audrey hoped that if anyone could understand her predicament, that person was Jonathan. The only person who had a deep understanding of what Valerie was like. Although thin, she also held a thread of hope that her impulsiveness had somehow rubbed on him.
"I am pretty desperate at this point, and you read a lot."
"So do you." he defended.
"I read horror." Audrey clarified, "Unless you can give me a chainsaw, a mask and a group of clueless people there's not much I can do."
"Then think your sword is an ancient chainsaw," Jonathan spat, the shield vanished, and he withheld the knight by growing the branches of the bushes. "And think of that knight as a dumb desperate teenager running around in a forest." He suggested.
Audrey took another deep breath and tried to undo the pressure on her shoulders. It didn't take long for the knight to free itself from the hold Jonathan had created.
When the knight flung the sword to Audrey. She moved to the side. She couldn't be sure if she was holding her sword properly. She went back and forth with the knight. Less than half of her attacks collided against her sword, but it was enough to keep her alive.
Her foot slipped on a small puddle of soda that had probably dropped from one of the broken tables. It was lucky enough that the floor hadn't gotten sticky yet. She managed to steady herself as the knight nailed the sword where she had been. Her heart skipped a beat and her eyes opened wide as she tried to grow the distance between her and the knight while eyeing the nearest table.
"Ice." Audrey turned to Jonathan, shouting, as she blocked one of the knight's attacks. The boy stared at her with a baffled expression, until his eyes opened wide.
"Are you sure?" He questioned, baffled. Audrey nodded. No matter how she looked at it, her plan had a higher chance of success than if she continued to come and go with the knight.
Jonathan shook his head, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. His hands touched the floor, eyes glowing golden as a frozen layer began to cover it. Audrey jumped on top of the nearest table and the knight, trying to follow her stumbled forward.
As it felt to the ground the knight's sword graced her cheek. She was fast enough for her sword to pierce through the armor. He stiffened and dropped to the ground like a nutcracker doll. The sound of heavy metal falling at once echoed on the empty mall. The frozen layer that had formed evaporated. Audrey blinked a couple of times, staring at the stiff knight and turned to Jonathan.
"Is this supposed to happen?" she questioned. Jonathan opened his mouth, his eyebrows dropping.
"How am I supposed to know?" He lifted his hands in defeat.
"You work with magic" Audrey tried. She pulled her sword out of the knight and hitting him with her shoe to make sure he wouldn't move.
"Yes, magic, not magical swords." Jonathan scoffed, one hand on the pocket of his coat. "Two different things, and do I have to remind you I'm not particularly good at the one I'm supposed to be good at? Valerie's knights turn to dust, probably the properties of the swords are different, or it might be due to how it was obtained."
"Should we leave him here, then? At least until everything's clear and Valerie can turn it to dust?"
"Probably...?" Jonathan shrugged, leaning over the knight. "I mean... We can't really do anything else, can we? I could try freezing him but..."
"There's no warranty on how long it will last or if it will actually work." Audrey finished, only then she spared Chris a glance who was staring at the scene as if it was him who Jonathan had frozen. He was very handsome and being so still, it reminded Audrey of a sculpture that should be in a museum.
She turned her sword back into a comb, and allowed her legs to give out on the nearest chair.
"How on earth does she do it?" she sighed "I've only killed one and..."
"I'd say your count round more towards one and a half"
"How nice of you." Audrey scoffed, "Anyways, I've only dealt with one full knight and all I want to do is drop to the ground."
Jonathan tilted his head and sighed, lifting an eyebrow. "Why did you ask me?" he mocked.
An amused smile made way to Audrey's lips. "Because you are in love with her, I suppose?"
Jonathan scoffed, a hint a blush on his face. He glanced to the side. "It's because she's full of spite, clearly." Jonathan was quick to dismiss, in a tone that even she could tell was not entirely honest. "I mean, do you know a person who is as eager to fight and as full of anger as she is?"
"That's the only reason?" She rose an eyebrow.
"Of course, what's a better anger outlet than stabbing people?" he continued, making a vague movement with the hand. "It's healthy, considering they're dead already"
"But..."
"But... I would have thought you knew the answer as well as I do." He mumbled, and Audrey scoffed. She wasn't sure of what he meant but she didn't have enough energy to keep pressing the topic either.
"Now, if you excuse me, I won't be able to rest my conscience until I make sure everything's fine with her, will you be able to stay alive until then? I don't think she will forgive me if you were to die."
Audrey tilted her head, putting a hand on her chest as if it ached. "You wouldn't care if I died?"
Jonathan rolled his eyes. "Don't get too mighty on me, just because you defeated a knight."
"Is that how you treat seven years of friendship?"
"Seven already? I barely know you." He scoffed, turning his back on her. Audrey shook her head, turning her attention to Chris. She rose from her seat to provide the necessary explanations.
--.-.-.-.-.-
Valerie was certain Audrey and Jonathan would be alright. It might be out of blind faith, or because she was carelessly optimistic when it came to her friends, but they both were smart. She had faith that they would be able to figure something out.
She let out a deep breath as the knight turned into dust in front of her. Valerie rose her shield to block two of the upcoming arrows. She had taken down two of the knights, she had entrusted Audrey and Jonathan with one, and by the looks of it, there were at least two more left.
The fresh cut in the side of her abdomen wasn't bleeding like she was certain it would have had she not carried the scabbard. Now all she had to do was take care of the archers. Which was a feat that seemed easier to say than to do. They moved out of their very own volition, arrows shooting from different directions each time
She needed a way to hold them together. Or at least a way to stop one of them at the time so that they would stay in a single place and she wouldn't waste energy running around. Valerie had to be fast about it before an arrow pierced in any place that could be particularly dangerous. She wasn't in the mood to test the limit of how much the scabbard could protect her.
Valerie scanned her surroundings. The archers were nowhere in sight. It was unlikely they had vanished. With her shield high, she began to take careful steps. She was beginning to consider meeting with Mordred just to set a schedule on the times she could be attacked. She didn't want to risk a knight appearing in the middle of a dentist appointment, or an exam.
The tingling sound of metal armors moving filled her ears. She turned, only to curse her luck. Leave it to her to miscount. Rather than the two archers she assumed she would be facing, there were five knights standing in front of her. Each with their own bow and arrow already aimed. Valerie glared at them. The chance that they wouldn't hit her if she ran to them was slim. She could cover her upper body, but the shield wasn't big enough to cover her legs as well.
As the archers tensed their bows, Valerie sunk to the floor., making sure she stood behind the shield. The arrows pierced it, its metal points shining as they fell to the ground. She barely managed to lift her head over the shield when she saw they were already ready to charge again.
"Stupid magic." She cursed.
She stood up and rose her shield as she moved slowly. She couldn't stay down forever. Valerie pondered her options for a second, as the knights released the arrows. Most of them fell on the shield. All but one, that stuck to the side of her thigh. Valerie hissed and counted herself thankful. It was painful, but not as bad as it could have been.
Valerie reached for the arrow and pressed her lips into a line and gritted her teeth as she pulled the arrow out of her thigh. A small thread of blood began to drip down her leg. She hissed at the pain and tried to focus her attention on the fight in front of her. She got ready to cover herself again and take a run for the nearest knight. She couldn't wait forever.
Only then, she realized a girl stood on one of the benches behind one of the knights as they got ready to shoot again. She was holding one of the food trays from fast-food restaurants. Before Valerie could say something, the girl hit the knight closest to her with it.
The tray broke in her hands as if it was made of glass, but it moved the knight just enough for the arrow to miss its target. Valerie was able to move fast enough for her sword to pierce through the knight and to attack the one next to it, turning both of them into dust.
"Thank you." Valerie nodded. Turning to the girl after she saw the knights vanishing. Her hands pressed together and she looked to the floors above to see if she could get any hint on their whereabouts. She turned to see the girl staring between her and the now empty space with eyes wide open.
"Please, go hide somewhere." Valerie was quick to say. "Belive me, it's for the best. Maybe you'll be fine in the parking lot, I will avoid it." The girl jumped down from the bench, eyebrows pressed in a line, mouth opening and closing more than once.
"How did the...?" she began.
"Valerie!" Jonathan's voice echoed. Her shield was still up but a smile rose to her face upon seeing him.
"Jon! Is Audrey..."
"She's fine, she stayed with that guy." He nodded, bending over to catch his breath when he reached her. "The knight froze when she hit him, but you... Valerie, your leg and that..."
"I'm fine." she assured, holding the shield up to stop an arrow. "It could have been a lot worse,"
"How many are left?" Jonathan questioned, staring in the direction where the arrow had come from. Valerie imitated him, even if she knew she would be unable to see the knight.
"Three, all of them archers," Valerie explained, leaving a hand free to lift three fingers. "Are you sure Audrey and Chris will be..."
"They will be fine, seriously, worry about yourself a little more." he chastised. A half smile rose to Valerie's face as she shook her head.
"I worry about myself the right amount." She rolled her eyes. "All I need to do is figure out a way to defeat three knights that I don't know where they will end up... how fast can you teleport now?"
He paused for a second. "About the same speed as always, the issue ending up in the right place..." Jonathan mumbled, "Why?"
"Can you move to where they are and destroy their bows?"
"What?" He questioned. His eyes glowed golden, and a shield, nearly as large as a wall was lifted next to them. Valerie stared at it for a few seconds, noticing it only covered the area in which they were standing.
"They are archers." she began. "I won't be able to catch up to them if they keep moving like that, but if you go to them and destroy their bows, they will have no other option but to come to me." She explained. Jonathan's lips pressed in a line, as if he was still trying to figure Valerie's plan.
"The other option is you go to them and restrain them, but both options involve you teleporting." Valerie explained. Jonathan rubbed a hand over his face.
Valerie realized how quick Jonathan's face turned into his overthinking face. Lips in a line and eyebrows in a strange middle between furrowed and relaxed, eyes moving in all directions, but focusing particularly on his shoes. She rolled her eyes, sighing.
She pressed a finger against his chest in a small tap. "Hey,"
His eyes shot in her direction.
"Look, I told you before and I'll tell you again, I know you can do this, if I can run with a stabbed leg, I'm sure you can teleport inside a mall." She gave him a pat on the back and he leaned forward slightly. "Even if you end up first in Madagascar or Dublin, you are the only person I can rely on right now for this plan to work."
"Fine..." He surrendered, shoulders dropping alongside a roll of his eyes. "I'll send you a signal once I destroy the things or whatever."
"Great!" Valerie grinned, grabbing his face. "I knew I could count on you."
His cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. "You have to," he muttered through pressed cheeks. Valerie let go of him, a strange sensation in her fingers when she realized what she had done. "I'm one of the four people you know."
"Very funny." she scoffed, elbowing him softly, "The arrows are coming from there." Valerie pointed to the floors above them. "One of them must be there, good luck."
"I should be the one saying that to you." he spat before disappearing in front of Valerie's eyes.
-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.
He cursed his luck.
One day, maybe someday, he would have to learn to say no to her. It was merely a miracle he had appeared in front of the knight he intended to. He didn't even know how to fight. Practicing with Merlin wasn't the same as being on a life-or-death situation. Even as a child, he had tried fighting a grand total of two times only to get his ass handed back to himself. He made Audrey vow to never tell Valerie about it.
The knight seemed indifferent to Jonathan's presence, as he charged its bow towards Valerie, who crossed with another knight. Jonathan's eyes glowed golden and he clasped his hands together. He knew he had to be quick. He focused his attention on the bow and arrow. All he had to do was get rid of that and half of the problem would be solved.
Jonathan threw a chair in the knight's direction. This seemed to be enough to catch his attention, because he changed his aim to Jonathan. He rose a shield in front of himself and the arrow burned as soon as it made contact with it.
Seeing the arrow wither made an idea come to light in his mind. It wasn't a perfect plan, but it was the best thing he could come up with. He walked towards the knight, careful to stop the arrows. He hoped the plan would work. He had done something similar before. Entirely on accident. It still was worth a try. Even if they might have to call Merlin to stop his heart again.
His hand reached for the bow and he focused his energy on it. The bow was made of metal, and it was even colder than what it should be. Jonathan felt how it turned into rust under his fingers. The soft and hard sensation of the metal replaced with the rough texture that began to spread.
The knight pulled the bow towards himself, almost bringing the boy alongside it. Jonathan stumbled forward, and the bow cracked under the pressure of the knight's grasp. It broke in two and turned to dust when both halves touched the floor. For a few seconds, the knight stared at his previous weapon as if he couldn't believe it himself.
Jonathan sighed in relief. All he had to do then was send a signal to Valerie. It had worked.
It had worked a little too well.
The knight's gloves began to cover in rust. A dark stain showed on the floor where the pieces of the bow had fallen. It began to spread just fast enough for Jonathan to catch ahold of it. He wanted to hope its spread would be slow enough for them to take care of the knights before there was any significant damage.
He couldn't hold onto that hope. Before he fully realized it, the stain reached the glass that was meant to prevent people from falling. The sound of it cracking reached his ears and his stomach recoiled.
"Fuck me" he mumbled, passing one hand through his hair. He should know better than to try things that came as a result of him being unable to do something else.
Before he could even send the signal Valerie was already behind the knight. The knight's movements had become stiff and monotone, so he didn't put much of a fight as Valerie approached and pushed her sword through his back. He crumbled, forming a small mountain of dust alongside the bow. Jonathan didn't miss how every few steps she limped from the leg that had been injured by the arrow.
"Thank you." she sighed, a soft smile on her features. His heart beat fast in his chest. Her eyes lingered on the dark stains on the ground, she walked around them as if by instinct. "I think there's only one left." She turned to him.
"Two, technically, if you count the one frozen downstairs," Jonathan mumbled, unable to take his eyes off the growing mark.
"What happened to the rail?" Valerie questioned, pointing at the panel of cracked glass and rusted rails that had been damaged further.
"Don't!" Jonathan was quick to say, putting a hand in front of her before she could even touch it. "Don't touch that, I will fix it once we're done."
"Alright then..." Valerie hesitated, Excalibur tight on her hand. Her shield already showing multiple scratches and dentures. Lines crossed what used to be a picture of a dragon. "I don't see the other knight anywhere, so let's go downstairs to deal with the one Audrey and you defeated."
Jonathan grabbed Valerie by the shoulders and moved her as far away from the rail as he could. It was becoming easier to notice, much to his horror, how fast the damage spread.
Once they reached the Burger King, the scene in front of him was almost comical. Chris was waving his arms up and down, while Audrey tried to talk to him about how it wasn't abnormal for something like that to happen to them.
Ever since Valerie had introduced them to Chris, Jonathan couldn't get rid of the uncomfortable sensation that settled in him. It begun in his back and the closer he was to Chris, the closer it got to his chest. He was trying his best to ignore it, even if it was for the sake of keeping peace.
Next to them was another girl, whose attention was focused on Audrey. Jonathan, however, was almost certain she wasn't paying to what Audrey was saying and instead focused more on her features.
Valerie walked around the knight, kicking it with the point of her shoes. At the lack of any noticeable reaction, she rose her eyebrows and pushed the sword through his chest. The knight followed the same fate as the others they had been fighting, crumbling to dust.
"I bet you two beat him with ease." Valerie smiled, approaching Audrey and giving her a small hug. "I wish I would have seen it." It was probably her best attempt to cheer her friend. She was aware that there was nothing easy about fighting them.
Audrey was the one to break the hug, an awkward gesture on her face. "I wouldn't say with ease..." Audrey began.
It took as second, in which Chris pulled Audrey and Valerie down. The trio fell flat against the floor and an arrow landed where they had been standing.
The small group rose as fast as they could, noticing the remaining knight standing a few meters away from them. Valerie and Audrey drew their swords. The knight lowered his bow and arrow and put against the rail. As soon as the bow leant against the cracked glass, it began to rust and the glass shattered, leaving an open panel.
Such thing made no difference to the knight. He pulled a warhammer from his back. It was easy to see it was heavy and at least a meter and a half in height
Grasping her sword tight in her hand, Valerie rushed towards him. The knight rose the hammer and it echoed when it reached her shield. The sound it made threw Valerie off balance for a second. She still moved quick. She was doing her best to avoid putting too much weight on the leg that had been injured by the arrow. Something complicated to achieve when the knight attacking her was relentless.
The hammer echoed when it hit Valerie's shield another time. This time, she was holding it close enough to herself that it took her a couple of seconds to adjust after being stunned. That second of hesitance was enough for her not to be careful of her steps and she leaned on the rail. Valerie felt as the glass shattered behind her and the metal gave up upon contact.
"Shit." She gasped and her heart stopped. She stepped forward as fast as she could, grasping onto one of the knight's arms. She took advantage of the leverage and pressed her sword against his armor.
The knight turned to dust in front of her. The little grasp on something that she had faded with it.
Her eyes opened wide. The air caught on her throat as her foot slipped on one of the pieces of broken glass, taking away the only opportunity she had for balance. She wasn't sure when her hands dropped the sword, but she soon realized they were painfully empty.
Her heart stopped. Her hands reached, desperate trying to grab anything that would put a stop to her fall. No matter how powerful her scabbard could be, she didn't want to risk falling onto a bed of glass and rusted metal. The beating of her heart soon became erratic, and everything was too fast and slow at the same time.
A lump formed in her throat and she could feel the tears dwell on the corners of her eyes. The shield fell before her. Out of all the things, Valerie didn't think a thing like falling on a mall would be the one that could kill her.
There was a pull on her arm. The voices that called her name sounded more distant than what they should be. Someone had reached for her, which was strange because she was certain neither of her feet should be touching the floor anymore. A pair of arms held her tight as she stumbled onto them like if someone had pulled a rope a little too harshly. A familiar scent reached her nose. All she could focus on was the ringing on her ears.
"For fuck's sake, Ree, I told you to stay away from the rail." He spat; but his voice resonated strained and lingered with concern. It reminded Valerie of how he sounded when he thought his favorite book was damaged only to realize it was safe. It brought a smile to her face.
He held tight onto her, his arms wrapped around her in an embrace as if he had no intent of ever letting go. Heat grew on her cheeks. Whether it was because of the way in which she was being held or because up until a few seconds ago, she was certain she would die; she wasn't sure.
Her face was pressed against his chest. Valerie didn't when she had grasped onto his shirt. For a fleeting moment, in her mind flew the possibility that she could have dragged him in her fall. The thought made her clasp onto his shirt tighter. She couldn't tell how long they stood like that, but she could feel everyone's eyes on her, making her cheeks grow hot.
"You're not letting go..." Valerie mumbled. He his arms opened and he took a step back. One hand on the back of his neck and the other on the pocket of his pants.
"Well, neither were you." He stumbled in his words. His face a bright shade of red as he looked everywhere but her. "Now, stay as far away from edges as humanly possible, I've gotta figure out how to fix this before the entire place crumbles."
Valerie tilted her head as he grabbed her by the shoulders and moved her softly towards the wall. As far away from the rail as she could be. "Is that so?" she managed to say, her voice more strained than what she intended.
"If anyone remembers anything we do and with the habit people have on fixating on the smallest things, I don't want to go down in history as the guy who turned an entire mall to dust. Even if the people seems to have disappeared, again." He shrugged. Valerie could feel herself smiling.
They had yet to find an explanation as to what was it that made people disappear when they fought a knight. She had figured, however, that they returned in the same position as they had been when they disappeared. Time didn't seem to pass for them.
"Which reminds me." Jonathan spoke, taking off his pea coat, "How are your injuries?"
If she was being honest, she had almost forgotten about the pain she was supposed to be feeling. It had been more significant when the injury was first inflicted, but by then, she only felt it like if she had hit her leg. She pressed a finger against it, realizing blood wasn't coming out of it either.
"It's alright" Valerie shrugged. "It doesn't hurt."
Before she could stop him, he put his pea coat around her shoulders. She had forgotten she had dropped her sweater at some point during a fight and would have to look for it before the place began to flood with people once again. Jonathan stared at her up and down, eyebrows forming a line on his forehead before he nodded. He glanced over to where the rest of the kids were and turned his back, hurrying to the second floor. She stared at him for longer than she would admit.
Valerie took a deep breath and stared at the bloodstain on her jeans. She turned to look at the cut on the side of her ribcage. Her blouse was ripped and most of the blood that stained it had almost dried. She hadn't realized how large the rip had become during her fight. Which it was probably why he had put his coat around her shoulders without a word.
The injury looked more like a scratch than a cut. She took Jonathan's jacket off from her shoulders and put it on properly. It reached down to her mid-thigh, and she had to pull the sleeves back so that they wouldn't cover her hands.
Valerie stared at the ground, until she found her sword. She rushed to where Excalibur had fallen and counted herself lucky that it hadn't dropped floors below like her shield had. She turned to the small group, putting a relieved smile. Audrey stared at her, her face as if she was breathing for the first time in years.
"I'm fine, Audrey." she was quick to say, lifting both hands. A smile on her face. "I'm in one piece at least, so stop worrying, you look like if someone knocked the air out of you."
"What do you mean stop worrying?" Audrey replied, in a sigh. "If Jonathan hadn't... Valerie, you need to be more careful! I've been telling you for years..."
"I know, I know, but he did, and I'm fine." she continued. "You worry too much."
"You are the girl from the video, aren't you?" A voice resonated. Valerie turned to it slow, feeling something drop in her stomach
Behind Audrey her stood a girl, barely taller than Audrey with brown skin and vitiligo on her arms. Her long hair was held up in a braided bun and she was looking at Valerie as if she was dangerous. It was the same girl who had broken the tray against the knight's helmet. It also was the first time Valerie gave her a proper look. Valerie knew exactly what video she meant.
"No, wrong person." Valerie shook her head. She gave the girl her best attempt at an empathetic smile. Valerie put her hand with the bracelet behind her back and adjusted Jonathan's coat
The girl let out a bitter laugh. "You don't think I'm that stupid, do you?"
"If you want to call yourself stupid, that's your issue, not mine, I don't know you." Valerie shrugged, the girl rose an eyebrow, an amused smile on her face. "I'm thankful for what you did, but..."
"So you admit it was you." Her tone was more accusatory than playful.
"I haven't admitted to anything." Valerie put a hand on her chest and kept the hand with the bracelet hidden behind her. "I don't even know what video you are talking about."
As far as lies go, Valerie could recognize it was a lousy job. She wasn't sure how to deal with being recognized, nor was it something she had any desire of facing.
The girl scoffed, putting a loose hair behind her ear. "If you worry, I will go around spreading what I saw you are mistaken," She put her hand forward, extending it towards Valerie. "My name is Nyra"
She sighed, taking thegirl's hand. "Valerie."