From what I've gathered so far from this world, Peritum believe they are superior to humans in every single way. And, in a lot of those ways, they are.
Peritum can manipulate the world around them to do things that humans can't.
Peritum are apparently considered the most advanced, intelligent, and powerful race still alive from any realm.
Peritum aren't bothered by the horrible wars and conflicts that plague Earth in our every day lives.
But in my experience, Peritum are very similar to humans. They can be petty. Blinded by their emotions. Cold and distant for very trivial reasons.
They are not perfect.
They can hurt.
Peritum, despite acting and appearing like gods incapable of doing any wrong, are just as flawed as humans are.
I stared at Thomas from across the room. He was sitting on the couch, feet kicked up on the leg of it. He held his book a couple of inches away from his face. If I didn't know him any better, I would say he was invested in it.
He was a pretty good actor.
But his posture was too still, too rigid. His jaw was set. His eyes were stuck in one place and not moving up and down the page like they would have been if he was reading. He did not look relaxed at all.
Once, he looked up at me, moving the book to the side slightly. When he saw me watching him, his eyes widened, and he quickly darted back to the book.
It was a horrible punishment, but I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing in his situation. I deliberately went behind his back and betrayed his trust. But it still hurt to be the object of the coldness in his gaze.
I opened my mouth, ready to talk to him. I couldn't do this anymore; I had to at least try to make everything alright again. But before I could get a word out, I felt a soft hand brush against my shoulder gently.
"Leave him," a feminine voice gently side from behind me. The wisdom was not wisdom I was looking for. In fact, I would rather do anything else than to leave him alone.
I glanced behind me and was greeted by Peggy. She shook her head in regard to Thomas and turned, sitting down at a table in a corner apart from the others, who were playing some card game. When I didn't make a move to join her, she rolled her eyes and gestured for me.
"I hate it when he's like this," she said, eyeing him as I sat down across from her. Her tone was light despite the heavy feeling in my gut. "He's like a toddler."
I bit down on my lip to stifle the retort I had for her.
"Anyway, I'm going to give you advice even though you probably don't want it. Just leave him alone. He'll come around. He always does. More importantly, how are you doing?"
"And what if he doesn't?"
"He will." If she was bothered by my ignoring of her question, she didn't show it.
Her certainty of the statement surprised me, and her lack of helpfulness was frustrating. "How can you possibly know that?" I demanded, pressing forwards. His silence was becoming too much to bare.
She shrugged, leaning back in her chair. "I'm omniscient. I know everything."
I pushed my tongue against my teeth to hold back a smile that demanded to break free. "But what if he doesn't?"
Peggy sighed deeply, the sound strange coming from the normally cheerful girl. "Look, Alex. Thomas isn't really... well..." She paused as she considered her next sentence, her mouth scrunching up on one side.
I tensed, ready to spring to Thomas' defense.
The next words came out very carefully. "I'm not trying to say that Thomas is a bad person, because he isn't. Not at all. But oftentimes, he doesn't really care what the outcome of his actions are as long as he gets done what he set out to do. He doesn't care about doing the right thing, he cares about getting the job done."
"What are you trying to say?"
"That Thomas isn't the best influence on you."
"I'm not an impressionable child."
Peggy didn't so much as flinch. Her face remained impassive. "I didn't say that you were, did I?" The stone in her gaze wavered and soon disappeared completely as she looked away from me. "Don't worry about Thomas, okay? He isn't the kind to hold a grudge for long."
I'm not sure how much time 'long' meant for Peggy. Days trickled into weeks, and Thomas still refused to utter more than a few words to me.
I missed him. I missed his warmth. I hated this coldness he would throw my way whenever his forlorn gaze sharpened into a glare after meeting my eyes.
Simply put, I wanted his friendship back.
I sat on the grass warmed by the sun's gentle beams along with Elizabeth, John, Angelica, and Hercules. They were sitting further away, seeking refuge in a spot of shade casted by a nearby tree, but it was too cold for me. Not like sitting in the sun's path was any better. The cold was getting much worse without Thomas there to expel it.
I drew my knees up to my chest, my head tilted back at an uncomfortable angle as I watched the streak of magenta climb higher and higher into the air. Its size slowly diminished until it was just a barely visible dot against the white clouds that occupied the entire sky.
Seconds passed as the dot hung there in the sky for a few moments, unmoving. Then, it began to descend with rapid speed. The dot grew bigger and bigger until it took the shape of Thomas again.
He was hurtling towards the ground headfirst, his wings tucked close to his body. He seemed unbothered, even as he got closer and closer to the ground without so much as a break in speed.
I had to remind myself not to hold my breath as I watched Thomas' dive with apprehension. I had seen him do similar stunts before, and each time he always walked away without a bruise. But the nagging thought that this was the time where he could get hurt was always present.
Thomas dove with all of the grace and power of a falcon set on one goal and one goal only.
I couldn't help but admire his shape, his form, his speed. I bit down on my lip to hold back a yelp as he approached the ground, unwavering in his speed. Then, in a single, practiced movement, his great, elegant wings unfurled and caught the air, slowing his descent.
He shot forward like a bullet, whizzing past me. A rush of air followed him, sweeping my hair to the side. A grin fought its way to my face as he shot upwards once more and spiraled up into the sky. He slowed to a stop in midair, his wings flapping behind him.
I waved at him, and although he didn't wave back, he slowly brought himself back to the ground. The instant his feet made contact with the ground, a bird, resembling that of a small peacock, was on his shoulder in an instant.
Thomas smiled in greeting at the bird, but his smile quickly crashed and shattered as the bird chirped a single syllable before taking to the sky again.
"What's wrong?" Angelica called as he hurried over to where the five us were sitting.
"Lafayette and James are in trouble," he explained quickly. "And we have to go, now."
"Where are they?"
"What happened?" demanded Hercules, his voice going over Elizabeth's.
"I only know that they're in town." Before Thomas could get another word out, Angelica grabbed John's arm, and the two disappeared with a flash of light. Elizabeth was gone a few seconds later.
"Stay here," Thomas told me pointedly, his words clipped. He spread his wings and shot to the sky before disappearing just as Elizabeth had a moment earlier.
Hercules flashed me a knowing smile.
"What?" I demanded.
He held out his arm. "You coming?"
"Thomas said—"
"Yeah, and I don't give a shit what Thomas says. Go or stay here, but choose quickly."
It wasn't much of a choice for me. I grabbed Hercules' arm without a second thought. The world around me grew and warped, twisting in on itself.
For a second or two, I couldn't think. But the feeling disappeared almost as immediately as it had come, and I heard the crunch of my feet against a gravel pavement.
Hercules was standing next to me. "I turned you into a light particle."
"W-what?"
He shrugged nonchalantly, though a hint of acid lined his next statement. "Fastest way to travel if the only thing you can do is shapeshift."
"And most painless," I agreed, mostly to myself. He heard, and he laughed.
His laugh was cut off by a loud, sudden noise that exploded through the tiny village. I swiveled on my feet, arms up and ready to defend myself.
Thomas was grappling with someone behind me, slammed his sword against his opponent's weapon.
The person he was fighting would never have caught my attention in a crowd. Their face was bland, unoriginal. They were dressed in an all white uniform unscathed by any color.
A second later and Thomas drove his sword into his opponent's chest. An explosion of dust replaced where they had been standing. He paused for only a moment to catch his breath before sheathing his weapon and throwing his hands in front of him.
I spun to see another one of whom I presumed to be a Kingsmen go flying backwards, slamming into a tree and falling to the ground.
When I turned back to Thomas, his gaze was on me and his jaw was set.
"Hi."
Thomas didn't say anything. His cold gaze just passed on, glancing over at a panting Lafayette.
"What happened?"
"Well," James said. "We were attacked."
Thomas' mouth opened to answer him, but he decided that a sigh was good enough. "Yes, I can see that."
"Look, we don't have time to argue. We have to go, now. More of their men are coming and if we stay here—"
"We'll be killed," Elizabeth finished for him.
I glanced up, adrenaline racing through my body as I heard the distant sound of feet marching in rhythm against the gravel pavement far away.
"We have to go."
"Here," exclaimed a voice unfamiliar to me. "You better hurry."
Elizabeth froze as a flat expression spread across her face.
A girl was leaning against a nearby building, looking relaxed and unbothered. Dressed in red and hair loose and hanging to her side, her smile looked like it belonged to someone who was on a picnic.
"What do you want?" Elizabeth demanded, her arms crossing as she turned to face her.
"Hello, Eliza!" she chirped brightly, either not picking up on the ice in her voice or not caring. "It's good to see you two! Anyway, I don't want anything. But if you all want to not die, then you should probably follow me."