"S-Sorry…" Aiki did as they were told, holding the flame closer to themself and moving a bit closer to the door to hear what was happening inside. He could hear most of what was said now, and it made him go pale. They looked anxious and looked up at Saul worriedly, not sure whether or not they should step in. "She's hurting her, I think…" He whispered softly. "What are they doing in there…? Should we do something to stop them?"
Saul's eyes blazed, but he couldn't hear anything. The women were speaking quietly. Aiki's heightened senses were what allowed him to hear, and Saul didn't have any special abilities. He cursed under his breath. "Hurting her? Like how?"
–
Farah's head whipped back dangerously, and she fought the scream building in her throat. Instead, she let out strained groans and gripped the armrests of the chair so tightly the blood pulled away from her knuckles, turning them white.
Rosalind was relentless, a radical zealot in her quest to know everything, kill all the Burned Ones, and become the most powerful fairy in the Otherworld. Farah was one of the few that could stop her, and Rosalind was determined to keep the younger fairy pressed firmly under her thumb. "Give me… what I want." Rosalind's voice cut through the air like a blade.
Farah's eyes squeezed shut, and she let out a soft cry. The pressure mounted rapidly in her head, and she almost passed out. Instead, she clung to consciousness, knowing that if she let her mental guard down that there would be no limits to what Rosalind could discover in her mind. She let out another painful cry, this one a bit louder.
"You belong to me, Farah. I made you. I own you," Rosalind snarled, her voice raising a touch in volume.
To avoid screaming until her throat was raw, Farah kept her mouth shut and twitched her head in the shake that could only mean "No."
Aiki winced a bit as he listened, trying to figure out what exactly was happening to Farah within the room. "It's… it's hard to tell…" They said softly. "Neither of them are really moving, but they're talking, and Farah sounds like she's in pain. The floor is shaking a bit… I think she's shaking pretty bad. I don't know if you can feel it." He hummed worriedly, listening closer. "Rosalind keeps telling her to give in and give her what she wants, or something along those lines, but she won't say what it is that she wants. I guess she assumes Farah knows what it is, and she probably does. She isn't denying that she knows anything, I don't think? Um…" He moved closer to the door. "But she isn't giving in… it's hard to tell exactly what they're doing, though."
Saul's entire body tensed at Aiki's description. He wanted more than anything to break down the door and hurt Rosalind more than she had ever hurt Farah. Instead, he closed his eyes and let his fingers dig into his palm. "Is it getting worse?"
–
Rosalind's chair moaned as she pushed it back and stood up. Her eyes stayed locked on Farah's shaking body as she circled around her desk and moved to stand behind Farah's head. She placed her hands on either side of Farah's head and let the power pass between her hands and through Farah's mind.
Farah's eyes flew open at the immense increase in power, and she locked eyes with Rosalind, who smirked with delight. "This is the last time I will ask nicely. Give me access, Farah. Let me see what you're hiding from me."
"I… won't…" Farah groaned and shut her eyes again.
Rosalind curled her fingers into fists, and at once, it felt like Farah's mind was imploding. She screamed and sat forward rapidly, putting her head between her knees while folding her fingers over the back of her head. She stayed that way for a few seconds. Her breathing was short and erratic, and she whimpered and trembled like a leaf.
Aiki listened for a few more seconds before nodding. "Y-Yeah… definitely not getting better." They sighed shakily, their ears twitching with discomfort. "I don't know what it is Rosalind wants access to, but it must be pretty important for Farah to be willing to go through this sort of thing. Do you have any idea what it might be?" He asked softly, being careful to not be heard.
Saul's entire body jerked at Farah's scream. He looked as if his gaze would set the door on fire. "No," he replied shortly.
–
"Stop," Farah whispered. "Please."
Rosalind's chin lifted into the air, and her lip curled in a sneer. "Weak." She dropped her hands to her sides and circled around the front of her desk. She sat down and folded her hands on her desktop. "Pick your head up, Farah, I taught you better."
Lifting her head felt like a weight, and it pounded ferociously when she moved, but slowly, Farah lifted her head and looked Rosalind in the eye again. The first thing she noticed was that Rosalind's eyes were blue again and the weight of her abilities was gone.
"I'm disappointed," she continued. "If I can't get what I want from you… I'll just have to get it some other way." Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and turned grey again.
Farah blenched, expecting a pain that never came. Instead, she heard the click of the door unlocking, and she whipped around despite the pain to see the door open to reveal Saul and Aiki. Her mouth dropped open in shock and terror. "No," she whispered.
(For the record, they weren't being loud, Rosalind just sensed them with her magic.)
(Makes sense lol)
Aiki wasn't entirely sure what to do, to be honest. He knew he was nowhere near as strong as Rosalind must be; he would have no shot against her. They looked up at Saul, looking conflicted and anxious. They took a couple of steps backwards, staggering as their ears rang from Farah's scream. He didn't seem to notice that the door was opening until Rosalind was standing in the open frame.
It was then that they realized that they were still holding their small flame. Quickly, not as subtly as he hoped, he put it out and hid his hands behind his back. They looked up at Rosalind anxiously, their heart pounding hard in their chest.
Saul took a swift step back from the door when it opened, and he instinctively pushed Aiki behind him and stood in a defensive position between them and Rosalind. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough to block the fire's flickering light from Rosalind. The woman's eyes narrowed, and the briefest triumphant glint flashed through her eyes.
Farah stood up and instantly sunk to her knees, clutching the armrest of the chair to keep herself steady. With effort, she looked up at Saul and Aiki in the doorway. "What…" she struggled to push the words out, and she could barely hear herself over the pounding in her head, "are you… doing here?"
Aiki nervously peered over Saul's shoulder to see Rosalind and Farah, their ears flattened back against their head. His heart was pounding hard in his chest as he desperately hoped that she had managed to miss the flame.
When Farah spoke, they turned their gaze and attention to her, noticing the poor shape she was in. "Y-You just… um… left abruptly, so we wanted to check on you…" He said softly, hoping that it was a safe enough response.
"Farah, sit down," Rosalind commanded, not even sparing her a glance over her shoulder. "I'd like to talk to your friends for a moment."
"No. Please," Farah whimpered. "Don't hurt them."
Saul reared his fist back for a strike, and Rosalind's eyes glittered. "You wouldn't dare, Silva."
Aiki's heart started to race faster and they whined shakily, tightly gripping the back of Saul's shirt. He hated being afraid like this, but he just couldn't bear to be around Rosalind; she terrified him. They took a couple steps back, considering running away, but deciding it would only be worse for them if they did.
Farah forced herself up and used her own magic to pull Rosalind away from Saul and Aiki. Rosalind whipped around, shellshocked to see Farah standing and able to use her magic still.
Saul lowered his fist and looked at Farah with a mix of pride and anger that was still directed at Rosalind.
"You… You did… I…" Rosalind, for the first time since Farah had met her as a struggling 15-year-old, was rendered speechless by her protégé.
Farah's chin lifted defiantly, like Rosalind's usually was. "I said… don't hurt them."
Aiki watched Farah with wide eyes, his ears perking back up from surprise. They stayed behind Saul, still looking pretty pale and nervous. He was partially glad that Rosalind's attention was back on Farah, but he also didn't want Farah getting any more hurt. "Farah… d-don't…" He whispered softly, holding tighter to Saul.
Saul gently touched Aiki's hand with his own and echoed their words. "Farah… don't-" But he didn't get to finish, because Farah swiped her hand and used her magic to shut the door.
Rosalind's lip curled. "Farah. You don't want this."
As weakened as she was, Farah straightened as tall as she could, taking advantage of her intimidating height. "And neither do you."
This made Rosalind's eyes widen in shock. Never had Farah talked back to her like this. She was starting to regret opening the door. As soon as the feeling emerged inside of her, Farah felt it and smirked.
"No, you shouldn't have opened that door. Because if you mess with my friends…" Farah didn't finish her sentence. She let her power loose, and this time, it was Rosalind's eyes that turned silver-blue instead of Farah's eyes turning grey. At that moment, Farah looked more confident than she had ever been, and Rosalind despised it.
Aiki wasn't sure what to do to help, and they jumped when the door slammed shut. He looked up at Saul worriedly, his grip tightening on Saul's shirt. "I'm… I'm sorry… this is all my fault, isn't it? God, I…" They shook their head a bit and screwed their eyes shut, their breathing quickening. His chest felt tight and his heart was racing, and he looked terrified. "I-I… what can… what can we do to help? Can we do anything?" They asked weakly, their voice airy and meek since they couldn't breathe well.
"No," Saul replied quickly. "No, this isn't your fault. This is something Farah and Ben and I have been talking about for a long time. This was just the catalyst. Farah's defending us." His eyes continued to stare at the door like he hoped to bore a hole through it and see what was going on. "There isn't anything we can do. She knows what she's doing."
–
It was Farah's turn to push into Rosalind's mind. The elder fairy's face was shocked as Farah began to walk toward her.
"Mess with me all you want," Farah stated. "Mess with my friends… you're going to regret it."
Aiki sighed shakily, his breathing quick and shallow and erratic now. Their grip on Saul was starting to weaken, and their eyelids fluttered a bit. "We gotta… w-we gotta do something…" He whispered, trying to draw in a deeper breath, but just starting to cough instead as he failed. "I don't— want her— t-to get hurt because of us…"
Saul's eyes widened, and he moved to better support Aiki. He sighed. "I can't fight a fairy, and Rosalind can't know you have powers. We have our hands tied."
–
Farah's eyes darted to the door as she heard Aiki's coughs. Fliting her eyes back to Rosalind, Farah released her from the mental hold. "Don't mess with them," she finished. "Take it out on me, if you want to hurt anyone."
Rosalind looked up at Farah with her dangerous blue gaze. "Oh, I will."
Farah's eyes narrowed, and after a second, she strode past Rosalind and out the door, shutting it behind her. She turned to look at Saul and Aiki with a weak smile, then she passed out cold.
Saul lunged to catch her. "Farah!"
Aiki drew in a couple of harsh, wavering breaths, starting to feel a bit lightheaded. He looked dizzy, and the fur on his tail was bristling. They only snapped back to reality a bit when Farah came back out of the door, and moved to help Saul catch her as well even though they weren't very stable either. "Farah…!" He looked to the door to make sure Rosalind wasn't following behind Farah. They swore quietly and tried to draw in a proper breath.
Farah's eyes rolled back into her head as she fell, and her entire body went slack as if her muscles collectively decided to stop working. Saul scooped Farah up in his arms bridal style. "Follow me, let's take her back to her room." Without another word, he hurried down the hall, back in the direction they had come from. "Call Ben," he muttered, half to himself.
"A-Alright…" Aiki followed after Saul as well as they could, trying to keep up so they wouldn't be left behind. "Um… if you're talking to me, I-I don't know Ben's number, so…" His heart was still racing and there was a tight knot in his chest that made it very difficult to breathe.
Saul glanced at Aiki. "No, sorry. I was just saying it as a reminder. We're almost at her room." He looked to Farah, whose head lolled against his shoulder. "It's okay, love, we're almost there," he murmured to her.
Aiki nodded a bit, tailing Saul closely. They opened the door when they reached it and went to sit down as well, their legs wobbling dangerously. It was hard to shake the feeling that this was at least partially his fault, and Rosalind was honestly so terrifying to him.
Saul nodded his thanks to Aiki and laid Farah down gently on her bed. She lay limp on the mattress, her face completely relaxed for the first time in a long, long while.
Her room was identical in spacing to the boys' dorm, but instead of a three-bed, three-closet, three-dresser layout that made the space feel extremely crowded, Farah's room had a single bed, closet, and dresser, which meant she had lots more space. Her bed was pressed against the wall, and on the opposite side of the room, a large desk was positioned facing out the room's only window with a view over the Alfea grounds. Piles of papers dripped off the desk, and a porcelain cup was overcrowded with pencils, pens, and highlighters. A laptop was open, but the screen was dark and the keyboard was buried somewhere underneath all the papers, so it seemingly hadn't been used in a while. Beside the desk, a closet and a dresser were side-by-side. Each contained clothes folded or hung neatly with extreme precision. A mirror hung above the dresser, and on top of the dresser was a hairbrush, a curler, a straightener, and a large assortment of both makeup and hair supplies. The room was painted a dark blue, and the curtains and sheets on the bed were gold. In the middle of the room, a dark blue circular rug, about the same color as the walls, was spread over the hardwood floor. Farah had taken measures to make the room homey, and she had definitely succeeded.
Aiki still looked very tense and pale where he sat, and he was having trouble breathing properly. They looked up at Farah laying on her bed, their gaze a bit hazy. He shook his head and closed his eyes with a shaky sigh, turning his ears back. I hate this feeling… my chest is so tight. It's like somebody tied my lungs in a knot… They coughed weakly, their breathing raspy and shallow and quicker than it should have been. I feel like I'm gonna throw up… or pass out, maybe. I don't know. My head is spinning… I can't feel my fingers anymore… He looked down at his trembling hands as though to ensure his numb extremities were still present. His insides felt freezing cold, and chills ran up his spine.