Blood Queen Reborn

When Vorden had asked that question, even if Erin answered truthfully, it would no doubt have more questions attached to it. Not only that, but the truth would also implicate Fex and Layla, those who were also vampires.

’I really don’t want to keep lying,’ Erin thought, ’But I don’t know how he will react if he knows the truth.’

Vorden, meanwhile was wondering why Erin kept her ability a secret. Was she an Original like him? If so, then why say her ability was affected by a drug?

"I understand if you have secrets, I do too," Vorden said, then quickly added, "I’m sure we all do, but my ability is dependent on other abilities. I told you the secret of how my power works, I just want a little trust in return."

"The truth is..." Erin began, thinking about the best way to explain it without outing the others, "My ability used to be something completely different, but it had changed a while back ago into the one you saw just now. It was something I didn’t want to have happen, but it happened regardless."

It seemed that the others already knew about Erin’s secret as they didn’t look surprised, meaning that he was the only one left out of the loop.

It sounded genuine on Erin’s end, and there was technically not a single falsehood told.

"And you don’t want it to get out because if those like the government, military, and the big families knew, they would all be trying to get their hands on you, trying to figure out how you were able to change your ability," Vorden concluded.

"The school already tried imprisoning her for it when you first arrived," Layla added, "We were able to narrowly get her out, but I’m sure you can understand why we’ve been so secretive about this."

"My new ability is rather strange, and doesn’t seem to go by the same logic most other abilities follow. As for how it happened..." Erin glanced at Quinn, "It was by accident."

Vorden nodded, but was left with the question of how exactly it happened.

’Was it the new Big 4 member, Jack Truedream?’ Vorden thought, ’No, that wouldn’t make sense. It was likely related to that one drug she mentioned before, that must have some truth to it."

"It’s okay, your secret is safe with me," Vorden said, then nodded to the others, "I really did mean it when I said that I wanted to be friends. And besides, it’s not like I get anything from revealing it. If anything, unneeded attention is the last thing I want."

Although he didn’t have the full truth, Vorden seemed nice enough. Maybe they could ease him into it later.

Their scanner started beeping, and they all looked down at the screen with a message indicating to head back to their teacher.

"We should head back," Quinn said, "Del might start moving again without us."

They nodded in agreement, and headed back to the center of the radius.

—

Deep within the jungle, Cia and Peter had managed to climb partway up a tall tree.

Ever since falling into the river, Peter had been unfortunate enough to lose his glasses, so Cia was tasked to do lookout duty. Thankfully, his vision wasn’t as bad as Quinn’s, so he was still able to see figures in the distance, just so long as they were large and very visible. Smaller details like people would’ve required him to squint in order to see them, but just barely.

They couldn’t rely on the scanner either, as it was something that also fell in the river.

"Do you see anything?" Peter called out to Cia.

Near the top of the tree, Cia had climbed onto a higher branch than Peter. She would’ve gone the whole way up if it wasn’t for her foot, so she couldn’t survey the area with a higher altitude, even if she wanted to.

"No, I don’t see anything," Cia replied, cupping her hands over her eyes, "Although I see some clouds in the distance. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get wet again."

"Really?" Peter said, then whispered, "Crap, we need to find shelter."

"Can’t you just make a shelter?" Cia commented.

"Well yeah, but..." Peter squinted, trying to find anything in the distance himself, "That would use up the rest of my MC."

"Yeesh..." she muttered, "I forgot that being a level 2 means you can’t do much."

Even though Cia meant it as a matter of fact in terms of pure MC usage, Peter winced, and didn’t say another word.

The lack of a response made Cia realize that she had accidentally hurt his feelings with her words, something that she had grown familiar with recognizing.

’Damn it, that was meant to be an inside thought.’

"Hey, wait, I see a mountain not too far from here," Cia said, then looked down, "We might be able to find a cave there, and hunker down for the night."

Despite her best attempts at cheering him up, Peter sat there, still remaining silent.

"Come on, I didn’t mean it," Cia said, then carefully climbed down to the branch he was on.

’Why am I so concerned about his thoughts?’ She said in her mind, then told herself, ’Well, it would be bad for the mission if he doesn’t like me. Of course I would be worried about what he thinks.’

They sat on the same branch together, facing one another. With a tenseness in his throat, Peter spat out, "Do you really think I’m weak?"

Cia waved her hands dismissively, "No, I didn’t mean it like that, I was just speaking matter of factly—"

"That’s even worse!" Peter cried, "Do you even like me?!"

’Crap this is bad!’ Cia thought, ’How do I get him to shut up?’

Tears began to form in his eyes, "I mean— who would want to be with some weak, useless, abilityless, loser who can’t even—"

Pressing her lips onto his, Cia stopped him from going on another self depreciating ramble. Her body pushed him against the trunk of the tree, and she ran her hand through his hair, further adding onto the intimacy. The sheer act had shocked him into accepting the kiss.

It was a strange moment, one with many complicated feelings and emotions for both parties. They took it in, ultimately enjoying it, before Cia had leaned away, leaving Peter wanting more. Was this a sign that someone truly wanted him? Really loved him?

"Hey..." Cia breathily whispered, "If we go to the mountain, we might get a better view."

Peter was open-mouthed, unable to get himself to say a word, so he nodded, a look of bewilderment in his eyes.

Cia smiled, and said, "Good boy," before tapping his head, and climbing back down.

He looked over the branch, watching her go, the light catching so beautifully in her deep purple hair. Everything about her was exciting, and confusing, a new experience at every turn. It was... exhilarating. He wanted more.

Peter blinked, "Do... Do I have a girlfriend now?"

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