The Atonement of a Writer

37. Divine Punishment

The first thing that registered was smoke.

So they weren't kidding, he thought, when they said there was a fire. The palace was burnt--as in, there were traces of fire, but the fire seemed long gone. When he stepped out of the palace, however, it wasn't what he expected at all.

The world was in flames.

He sighed, hand gripping the mask on his face, making sure it wouldn't fall off. He owed this world nothing. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a girl around his age running around, trying to save everyone, and failing miserably.

Honestly, he never liked that type of person--overconfident that they alone could fix something bigger than they could handle. He let out a derisive snort, and was about to leave, when he paused.

Think of it as one more thing the royals owe you, he coaxed himself. Wouldn't that be fun?

His mana hadn't been used for a long time--but it was still there.

~*~

Before Lili could respond, the doors to the wine cellar flew open. Both she and Colette swiveled their heads in that direction, staring in shock as three familiar silhouettes burst through the door.

Clovis and Killian rushed in first, full-blown panic on their faces.

"Stop!" Clovis panted. "You..."

Lili merely raised an eyebrow at them. Why were they here? More importantly, where did they come from? Wherever that was, from the way they were gasping for air, it must've been really far.

She glanced behind the two, where Julien was standing a few paces away. He could only shrug at her questioning stare. He, like the others, was too out of breath to speak.

Lili and Colette stared blankly at the newcomers. Neither had expected this, and it took a few seconds for them to react.

Colette, less confused than Lili, recovered first, muttering under her breath, "I see. So this is how it is...?"

Clovis was the first to recover. In a single fluid motion, he drew his sword out and to Lili's ever-growing surprise, pointed it at his sister. "Let her go. Now."

"C-Clovis?" Colette, her grip not even failing on Lili's neck, stared at Clovis in apparent surprise and panic. This development must've been recent, Lili mused, if even Colette was shocked. Or maybe she was faking. That stutter was fake enough--who knows? "Why are you...?"

"Didn't you hear me?" Clovis's voice was devastatingly cold. "Let her go."

"It's fine." Lili's tone was dry. Everyone else in the room, perhaps not expecting her to be able to speak so well, turned to stare at her surprise. Lili just grabbed Colette's arm. "Look at these muscles. She's not even hurting me."

With a growl, Colette tightened her grip. Okay, maybe she shouldn't have said that. Lili cursed and gasped out, "Well, maybe a little..."

The whole room stiffened. Out of reflex, Killian reached out, but pulled back in again, wary of Colette's powers. Taking what little she knew about self-defense, Lili squeezed hard in the area between Colette's thumb and finger, simultaneously stomping on her feet, digging her heel into Colette's shoes. If there was one good thing about the fashion in this world, it was the heels. Her grip immediately loosened out of pain, and Lili took that opportunity to twist her arm back and get out of her grip.

Almost immediately, Julien came from behind Colette and grabbed her arms, holding her back when she tried to leap at Lili again. To Lili's ever-growing surprise, instead of going to his sister, Clovis came up to her and flicked her forehead.