Chapter 19: Chapter 19
About fifteen minutes later, they were all cleaned up, fed, and given fresh clothes.
They sat in a private room, heavily decorated with tapestries and lit by dozens of soft, flickering candles. The atmosphere was calm, almost serene, a stark contrast to their usual high stakes reality. Each of them sat on a separate couch, facing one another, enveloped in a thick silence.
"So? What now?" Jimmy asked, his voice filled with curiosity, breaking the silence.
"Take it easy. Kaldala’s just around the corner. Won’t be long." Eric replied, folding his arms and legs, his fingers tapping an impatient rhythm.
The silence returned, becoming awkward and a little too quiet.
"Is anyone gonna say a damn thing about that shower?" Eric finally said, his frustration bubbling to the surface.
"What?" Jimmy asked, a little confused by the sudden words.
"This place is a bloody desert but the water’s colder than the other side of the grave. Nearly joined the dead in there." Eric complained, his voice laced with annoyance.
Jimmy couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
"The water was cold?" he asked, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Too damn cold," Eric hissed back.
"So, you’re telling me you took the negative zero option?" Jimmy replied, trying to hold back his giggles.
"What bloody option?" Eric asked, his eyes widening in confusion. He gave Jimmy a daring look.
"There were four buttons in the bathroom, Eric. Negative zero, cool, warm, and hot. Negative zero is the default," Jimmy said, unable to contain his laughter any longer.
"What?!" Eric’s voice exploded in shock. "No one said a damn thing! So, you’re telling me I’m the only one here who got iced?" he added, standing up from his seat, his eyes wide with shock and frustration.
"Hahaha, dude! That water is meant for non-humans! It’s cold as heck!" Jimmy laughed, almost falling off the couch.
"Tell me what I don’t know! My balls shrunk, for God’s sake!" Eric yelled.
Yelena, who had been sitting in stony silence, had a soft, almost silent smirk on her face. Eric, of course, noticed.
"Oh, so now you find something funny, huh?" Eric said, his frustration shifting to Yelena. "Which one did you pick, by the way?"
"What I pick is completely none of your business," Yelena replied, her smirk vanishing as she switched back to her cold demeanor.
"Hahaha! No wonder I saw you coming out shivering like a puppy left in the rain! I swear I could hear his nipples clinking! Haha!" Jimmy laughed harder.
"Yeah, yeah. Screw you both. Laugh all you want," Eric said, returning to the couch, his frustration palpable.
Jimmy, still laughing, laid back comfortably. His laughter was silenced, however, when a pillow was suddenly slammed into his face.
"Shut the fuck up already!" Eric yelled, having thrown the pillow at him.
"Hey, what gives?!" Jimmy replied, his laughter gone, as he faced Eric with a frown.
"Keep your voice down, you’re—" Eric was interrupted as a pillow slammed into his face.
"You don’t throw pillows at people! That’s so rude!" Jimmy said, a thick frown on his face.
"You ungrateful little runt! You got any idea who you’re jawing off to?" Eric yelled back as the pillow slowly slid down his face, revealing an angry glare.
Eric immediately picked up a pillow and flung it back at Jimmy. The pillow case ripped, sending the pillow flying toward Yelena and hitting her hard in the face.
The unexpected incident caused them to instantly pause and move back a bit.
"Huh, Eri—?!" Jimmy calmly called out in shock, but Eric cut him off.
"Shut up! I know!" Eric whispered, his eyes locked on Yelena, realizing the massive mistake he had just made.
Yelena quietly stood up, picking up the pillow that had hit her. She walked purposefully toward Eric, not wanting to use any weapons from her body.
"Calm down, Yelena! I know what I did, and I’m sor—" Eric pleaded, a hint of fear in his eyes. He was immediately cut off by a pillow thrown so hard at his face that it pushed him back against the couch, causing it to flip over.
Satisfied, Yelena turned and walked back to her seat. A few inches from her couch, another pillow slammed into the back of her head.
"Oi, you nearly snapped my neck! You lost your bloody mind or what?!" Eric yelled, standing up from behind the overturned couch. He was immediately hit in the face with another pillow by Yelena.
"If a pillow dares to touch me aga—" Yelena began, her voice filled with a dangerous anger, but she swiftly dodged an incoming pillow that flew past and slammed into Jimmy’s face.
"Hey! What the hell did I do?!" Jimmy yelled, recovering from the impact. He picked up the pillow and threw it back at Eric, but it went wide and hit Yelena by mistake.
"Uhm, Eric. i think i messed up," Jimmy said, slowly burying himself into the couch as Yelena turned to face him.
"That’s it," Yelena growled. She picked up a bigger pillow and slammed it so hard onto Jimmy’s head that his face tore through the other side of the pillow.
"Jimmy!" Eric yelled, jumping over the couch and rushing toward Yelena, a pillow in hand. But Yelena was quicker. She took the bigger pillow off Jimmy’s head and slammed it into Eric, pushing him away.
Seeing an opening, Jimmy grabbed a pillow, leaped from the couch, and slammed it onto Yelena’s head. Her head tore through the pillow, leaving her face sticking out the other side.
"Ah-ha!" Jimmy playfully shouted, having landed a hit.
For the next minute, the room was pure chaos. Loud thuds and muffled shouts could be heard from outside the room. The walls seemed to tremble with each heavy impact, the occasional sharp crack slicing through the air like a warning. No laughter floated out, only grumbling, harsh breathing, and the rough, clashing sounds of bodies colliding.
It was as if the room was a battleground, something fierce and unrestrained. The door shook with each violent movement, and every now and then, a low growl or sudden yelp would slip through, leaving anyone outside wondering what kind of game had spiraled so wildly out of control.
"Jimmy, grab her!" Eric yelled, as he was pinned tightly to the ground with a pillow.
Jimmy quickly rushed to Yelena, enveloped her face with a pillow, and pulled her off Eric.
"Eric, now!" he yelled.
"Hold your horses kid, I’m coming!" Eric yelled back. He got to his feet and ran toward Yelena.
Seeing her current situation, Yelena generated a blade from her hand and sliced the pillow covering her face. She ejected forward with force, crashing into Eric, who landed on the floor with her on top of him.
"Yeah, that’s—" Jimmy began, raising his pillow to strike but was stunned by the sight in front of him.
Yelena landed hard on top of Eric, knocking the breath from his lungs. For a brief second, the world stilled.
Their faces were close, too close, and Eric froze, his hands caught awkwardly at her sides. He expected her usual glare, maybe a threat. But instead, her eyes held his in a long, unreadable stare. No anger. No mockery. Just stillness.
And then, barely noticeable, her lips curled into a small, amused smirk. Not a laugh, not even a chuckle, just the faintest sign that she might have found all this vaguely entertaining.
Eric, stunned by the shift in her expression, felt heat rush to his cheeks. Her weight pressed against him, her hair tickled his cheek, and for the first time since they met, he noticed how warm her skin was despite her icy demeanor.
Yelena raised an eyebrow, the smirk fading into her usual blank expression.
"You’re blushing," she said flatly, her voice still sharp, but quieter now.
"Nonsense. You’re imagining things," Eric muttered, turning his face away.
"Hmm," she hummed, noncommittal, before pushing off him and standing as if nothing had happened.
Jimmy stared at them from across the room, pillow frozen mid air.
"The hell just happened?"
Before anyone could answer, Kaldala stepped into the room.
"Ahem, I see you’re all enjoying yourselves," Kaldala coughed, having entered the room.
"I see new decorations have been made, quite outstanding if I must say," He said, looking at the torn pillow sheets and feathers scattered everywhere.
"I’m sorry about the mess. I’ll take responsibility for it," Eric replied, standing and dusting himself off.
"Oh, there’s no need for that, Mr. Blackmoor. We are glad to have you entertained," Kaldala responded with a smile.
"No need for titles, just call me John. Now then, this High Monarch... let’s talk." Eric said, bringing the original topic back into focus.