Page 41 of Dancing with Vipers and Shadows

She laughs and shakes her head.

“I have a very lengthy list of who I wish to poison in this world. Trust me, you aren’t one of them,” she assures. “But honestly, I’d never turn on another unless they wish for my demise. I can see you don’t have that drive in you, Ophelia.”

“What do you mean?”

“Some people, you can just see from a glance their true intentions. If they had to choose between moving forward in this tainted world or sacrificing a dear friend, they wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of the friend. You don’t project that energy.”

“Did anyone we saw before the entry trial give off such a vibe?”

“Alaric.” She doesn’t even hide her deadpan tone.

“Not Azrael?” I ask for clarification.

“No. Honestly, I don’t get how they’re twins if you want my honest opinion. Their energies are polar opposites. Were you like that with your sister?”

“Not necessarily,” I admit and think about it. “My sister was more into light magic, oddly enough. I was essentially yin, and she was yang. However, she had to cloak a lot of that because of my parents. They wanted N.M.U. to be the university we attended, not anywhere else.”

“Wasn’t that suffocating?” Blair pouts her lips before taking another bite of her apple.

“Agonizing enough for her to run away from it all,” I say with a sad smile. “Wherever she is, maybe she gets to be the Guinevere she envisioned for herself and not a puppet on strings.”

“I hope you get to break out of your shell as well, Ophelia.”

“Huh? I’m not in a shell,” I defend, but Blair shakes her head.

“You won’t see it now, but maybe as the Arcs go by here in N.M.U., you’ll get to see what your true likes, dislikes, forms of entertainment, and enjoyment are without your parents’ constant scrutiny. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for myself.” She looks at her eaten apple as the seeds glare back at her. “N.M.U. is the soil where we’ve all been planted like seeds. Now, as the days, weeks, and months go by, we’ll begin to grow into our blooming creations. The only difference will be whether we’ll get to enjoy the sunshine and water, survive the storms, and bear the fruit that we deem as success.”

I admire how Blair sometimes speaks with immense wisdom. It only makes me want to learn more about her as a person and a friend.

“Anyway, I hope Azrael and Alaric make it. I know they probably wouldn’t care if we made it or not, but I did like Azrael’s energy. He seems like a real one. Someone who would be a good teammate.”

“Let’s hope we get to see him again,” I whisper with a tiny smile.

She smiles back at me before she yawns.

“Off to nap I go.”

“Guess I’ll head to the library and check out the Manga section,” I playfully tease.

“Make sure it’s Manga and not Hentai,” she counters, making me giggle.

It felt odd to laugh. I stopped doing that since my sister’s disappearance.

“Maybe I can score a boyfriend while I’m there.”

“Oh, boy,” Blair calls out as she’s walking down the hall toward the stairs that lead to the upper floors where our rooms are. “Let him pin you against the bookshelves and fuck you silly.”

“You know that has to be illegal to do in what fae believe are sacred places.”

“Only if you get caught!” Blair shouts and laughs, the whimsical hymn of joy echoing as she heads up the stairs. “See you in a few, Ophelia. Wake me up if it’s reaching dinner time and I’m not awake.”

“Alright!” I call back to her before I’m left alone with one more orange slice.

Staring at it, I can’t help but wonder what life is going to be like now.

This is the beginning of my path toward a new destiny.

8

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