Interlude 2: Confrontation and Preparation

Damian meandered through the halls of the academy, his shoulders stiff and his legs ready to give out. It had been weeks since he was told to ignore Scarlet and it was getting to him. His fathers rules were absolute and if he were to break them the consequences would be dire alongside Dariel's disapproval. Maybe if he was as strong as Diantha he could escape his fathers grasp but in the end he had nothing. He didn't have a spark like his sister, he didn't have the training of a man like Kael. As he solemnly trodded through the halls he was suddenly grasped and pushed. Scarlet slammed him into the stone walls of the academy. Damian barely felt any pain but he still flinched from it. He tried to look away from her, not willing to push back against one of his only friends.

She hadn't seen him in weeks and now she finally found him. Class had ended twenty minutes ago and she should have been in her next one but instead she chose to follow the man who ghosted her without even a word. What had she done to warrant him leaving so suddenly. Or maybe he was just bored of her just like her past partners. But now he was in front of her and she wouldn't let go until she had answers.

“Where the hell have you been Damian!” Scarlet nearly shouted at him but she held herself back so as to not garner the attention of the entire school.

“I'm not supposed to be seeing you.” Damian bluntly stated before attempting to push through Scarlet.

Scarlet pushed back against Damian and only seemed madder. “What's that supposed to mean? You suddenly disappear for a month and I'm supposed to just accept that? Why can't you see me?” At first her voice was full of contempt but she knew from his words someone or something wouldn't let him be with her.

“I can't be with you Scarlet.” Damian offered no explanation, no apologies, he emptily spoke as if not allowed to do anything else. However in doing so he stated at her, that blood red skin, those horns, and that eternal heat that rose from her.

“Just tell me why Damian. We can fix this together, tell me.” Scarlet pleaded with him for any sort of real answer but it seemed like she was getting nowhere with him.

Damian on the other hand didn't expect Scarlet to keep asking the same question over and over. Maybe if he told her then she'd leave. “My father told me not to.”

For a moment Scarlet's grip on him loosened at that absurd statement. “That's it? You just stopped seeing me because your dad told you to?”

“Yes.” Damian wasn't sure what else to say so he said the truth.

“He doesn't control your life Damian, you can do whatever you want.” Scarlet let go of him as she spoke, her voice calmed down as she realized Damian couldn't help but listen to his father.

“You don't know him Scarlet, my mom, he-” Damian stopped himself before he said anymore, nobody was supposed to know that, especially not him. Bitter memories resurfaced, ones he'd much rather forget than ever remember.

“He can do things to people, stay away from me please.” He pleaded, hoping she would just listen to him.

“You know what fine, I'll leave you alone.” She lied without even blinking., “If you help me with something.”

Damian couldn't believe she would so easily relent but he trusted her. “What do you need help with?”

“We're setting something up for Mikayla. Her birthday’s coming up and we want to do something for her.” Scarlet explained.

“You looked for me because you want to set up a birthday party for Mikayla?” Damian didn't understand why he was invited in the first place, he barely knew Mikayla and he wasn't that close of a friend.

“I'm not the one who came up with it, Diantha did.” Scarlet was unsure why Diantha would host something like that but she wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to celebrate a friend. 

However the words caused Damian to pause realizing that even more so now he couldn't refuse. “I'll help.” If Diantha wanted to celebrate then he would be there.

“Good. Meet up at Mikayla's dorm when classes are over. She won't be there.” Scarlet said as she hesitantly left as if Damian would disappear the moment she looked away.

Damian watched her walk away. The entire conversation had been brief yet much much too long. If his father ever found out he might never see Scarlet again in his lifetime. Yet he knew he couldn't ignore her. As much as his father wanted him to obey, his heart was somewhere else, yearning to be like his sister. Walking off towards his next class which he was late for Damian realized he had no idea where Mikayla's dorm was.

—

Lily couldn't take much more of this. Her book had been stuck on the same page for the last half hour. Snow had fallen asleep despite the noise and now she was stuck in this stupid room listening to four people chat about her roommate. Scarlet and her boyfriend were yammering on and on as if the two of them hadn't seen each other in years. While the actual couple had this strange divorced atmosphere to it that Lily wanted to be nowhere near. They kept bringing up moments from their past, their time adventuring, their time living together, but they always stopped talking after a few sentences before switching topics. Her pet fox was sleeping sound in her lap making sure her mistress couldn't leave the room.

The romantic tension in the room was beyond the roof and this meeting was supposed to be about a stupid birthday. Aunt Diantha had brought it up so casually that Lily thought why not indulge her. Then Uncle Kael agreed with her so readily and Lily thought maybe the two actually had adopted Mikayla. Scarlet agreed saying she wanted her friend to feel special and Damian just showed up out of nowhere. Now nothing was getting done and Lily was getting tired of it. Now she decided to take matters into her own hands.

“So what presents do you guys have prepared?” A simple question, yet said firmly and curiously enough that people couldn't just ignore it.

There was a lull from the constant noise as everybody looked around at each other wondering who would speak first. When nobody spoke up Scarlet took the initiative and raised her hand before quickly taking it down remembering she wasn't in class. Despite Scarlet's faux pas she didn't go forward with her present, maybe out of embarrassment. Then once the silence lingered a little too long Uncle Kael of all people stepped forward.

“I'm giving her a knife.” He said with a grin as he pulled up a dagger and sheathe from one of his many belts.

It was a brand new black leather sheathe that lacked the dirt from the rest of his clothes. Kael unsheathed the knife revealing a simple single sided dagger, something easy for someone who's never used one. Lily expected nothing else from her uncle, he was always the type to give people dangerous gifts. And well for a Steilae like Mikayla it didn't hurt to have another way to defend herself.

“Really Kael a knife? Honestly that's on brand for you.” Scarlet responded chastising him.

“It's just a knife and Mikayla already has a gun, what harm would a dagger compare to that.” Diantha added nonchalantly.

“The fact that she has a gun in the first place disturbs me. I'm making another plushie, a little shark that should be as big as her other plushie." Scarlet produced a blue fish plush with a tail and prominent fins, its underbelly being white. It was obviously incomplete but the general shape of a fish and some eyes were sewn in.

“What's a shark?” Lily asked, not being well versed in animals especially sea creatures.

“They're harmless creatures, in fact it's normal for people like her and me to get shark plushies in my world." Scarlet said with pride in her voice. What a strange tradition.

In all of this Damian stood silent, he had no gift with him being dragged here last minute. The very fact that he arrived at all was a miracle to Lily, she didn't want her cousin to miss out on his new sister's birthday. Though the opinions of said relationship varied wildly if you asked each person in the room what Mikayla meant to them.

“I'm getting her a pair of earrings.” Suddenly the light mood halted once again at Diantha's statement.

The air thickened at Auntie Diantha's words. A pair of earrings, jewelry, given to a young girl without parents during her birthday. The implication was clear to everyone in the room including the wayfarer. It seemed that Scarlet had been studying Selukan birthday rituals and her education had paid off. For a person with a relationship like Diantha's to Mikayla to give jewelry meant only a single thing. Lily brought her hand to the amulet on her neck, her own gift from her mother just a few years ago, one she may never remove.

“It's just a pair of studded earrings, nothing fancy.” Diantha tried to downplay what she had just said but nobody took the bait.

“Diantha, are you sure about this?” Of course Uncle Kael asked, he had to. If Diantha was doing this then Mikayla would be closer than ever to the Karizin family.

“I've thought about it for weeks and I think she deserves it. The way she looks at me, how she clings to me when nobody else would take care of her. I want her to have a family Kael.” Diantha pleaded with Kael, the conversation shifting to just the two of them with none daring to step between the couple.

“She doesn't know what it means, that you'd become her mo-” Kael was cut off by a flustered Diantha.

“It's just earrings!” Once again the downplay was futile, after all she said Mikayla deserved a family. Diantha was uncharacteristically emotional about the present, so much so that Lily couldn't believe her excuse.

“Alright, but on that day you have to tell her what it means. Promise me that at least, and if she doesn't want it don't make her take it.” Kael gave his ex an ultimatum with finality in his voice.

“I promise Kael, I'll tell her the truth.” The argumentative nature of the conversation somehow turned into a bittersweet moment between the two.

“If you say so.” Kael conceded, then turned to look towards Lily who had been reading the entire time. “What're you getting for Mikayla?”

“Nothing.” Lily said bluntly, Mikayla was just a friend and she had already gotten her a dress during their shopping trip. Though she was the princess it wasn't as if she had unlimited funds, her mother made sure she wasn't raised that way

“You can't just get her nothing.” Scarlet spoke out still holding her half made shark.

“Why not? She's just my roommate.” Lily reasoned with the Cambionite downplaying her relationship with Mikayla. She figured that the celebration was a gift in itself, most people were never celebrated so having something like this was quite an achievement.

“Can't you just get her something simple? It doesn't have to be anything fancy.” Now Scarlet was trying to offer a lesser deal but it didn't seem like she would relent if Lily said no.

“Fine, I'll get her something.” Lily conceded, the glares from the four people who cared too much about a random Steilae were getting to her.

Her mind raced with ideas, much like Damian she didn't have much time to actually make something. She could of course purchase something nice for Mikayla like a dress. But she had already done that and well giving a person a gift you just gave them was too much of a faux pas for her. There were other options too, something temporary that Mikayla would appreciate. Then the idea hit her, it was so simple that she had glossed over it. No birthday was complete without a cake and although Lily wasn't a proficient baker she was decent enough to make a satisfactory cake. It would satiate not just the Steilae but everybody else as well.

“What about you Damian?” Lily called him out hoping to defer attention away from herself. “What are you getting the birthday girl?”

“I don't really have anything planned yet. I only learned about it today.” Damian gave a reasonable excuse that Lily would have loved to have.

“Make sure to get her a gift by next week. As much as I'd like to continue this meeting, Kael and I have duties as teachers to attend to.” It sounded like a half truth from Diantha and Lily suspected the two were going off to talk about Mikayla.

As Diantha and Kael left the room Damian made a similar statement. Something about his father missing him, then once it was just Scarlet and Lily left the former made another excuse. For her part Scarlet seemed genuine about studying. She was always peeking her nose in some ancient text trying to make a breakthrough in weaving. But with the millions of wayfarers before her she wasn't going to make a dent where they made ditches.

Now finally alone Lily began to pet the fox in her lap. Flake was still asleep despite the loudness of the conversation. However Lily had grown tired of her chair and yearned for her bedside. With a sigh she picked up her companion before returning to her room. As she changed into pajamas she wondered what kind of cake she should bake for Mikayla. Tomorrow she would have to go to the library as the Steilae had so commonly been to in the last week. Mikayla had done little outside of class except study in the library, what she was studying Lily didn't know

Resting her eyes Lily wandered off towards sleep making sure Flake was comfortable whilst doing so.