Chapter Chapter V: Personal
Killam is watching Fey speak with Icarus alone at the table. He does not know what she is saying, nor does he know if he is talking. He cannot see the movement of his mouth under his mask.
“Why is she talking to him?” he asks. “Is she that needy?”
“Probably to piss me off,” Tilray says. Fey and Tilray does not like each other, but not as much as Phoenix. They have a rivalry between all of the three groups, but Fey’s group is not as hateful as Phoenix’s.
“Maybe she is not doing it for you,” Norm says. “Maybe she is doing it for herself or her group.” Tilray looks at Norm, waiting for him to continue. “Well, what if she is just trying to gain points with him? Maybe she is trying for Icarus to like her and then her group. It would add preference.”
“No,” Tilray says. “It is not that.” She stabs her fork on her potato. “She is doing it to irritate us. Think about it. If Icarus chose all of us then why did he choose Phoenix, Fey, and East? Obviously, he is testing me. He wants me to quit.”
“Or maybe he just thinks that we are the best,” Ilya says. Killam would like to agree with her, but Icarus killed Urho. Even if it makes sense, he will never give Icarus the benefit of the doubt. That guy deserves to die a slow and painful death by Killam’s bare hands.
“You know what?” Killam says, even though Tilray was going to say something to Ilya. “Let him come to us. Let him play with us psychologically. We have gone through much worst. We can beat his mental games.” He crosses his arms and smirks. “We will all graduate, and then he will be mine to kill.”
***
“When are you planning on eating that apple?” Fey asks. She is eyeing him and the apple. She licks her spoon twice, and Icarus knows what she is implying.
“When I get hungry,” he answers, ignoring her hints.
“But it is lunch,” she says, finally setting the spoon down. “You should be hungry by now.”
Icarus shrugs, already ready for an answer that would stop her from sending signals. “I don’t give in to human needs,” he says. “They are weaknesses. I made the decisions for my body, not my body for me.”
Fey opens her mouth to say something, but her brown eyes shift to someone heading towards them.
“Well, well, Icarus,” Quin says as she leans in to place her arm on one of the chair’s back. “I should have known that you were joining us. I heard from a couple of other instructors that you were the assassin on the trial. How did it go?”
Quin dresses the same way every time that Icarus sees her. She wears black clothes that traces her skin without leaving any space for her to move. The clothes always have white. This time, the white is on the fur that traces her neck. Even though the clothes always cover her whole body, there are parts that she leaves visible for everyone to catch a glimpse. This time, the white fur that surrounds her neck forms a V between her breasts and stops inches above her belly button.
“I passed the trial,” Icarus answers. “That should be enough.”
Quin fakes a laugh as she passes her hand through her ginger hair. “Morning said that you killed one hundred students,” she says. “Don’t tell me that you have gone soft.”
“He has not gone soft,” Fey answers, even though Icarus knows that she does not know what she is talking about. “He could have killed more if he wanted to.”
“Oh, what is this? First day and you already have a new kitty?” Quin asks Icarus, her green eyes showing malice. She turns to Fey. “Let me warn you. Icarus, here, is a cat lover. He will find a new kitty, nurse it, love it, play with it, and then throw it out on the streets when the kitty couldn’t be happier.”
“What do you want, Quin?” Icarus asks. He has learnt to never show emotions to her.
“To wish you luck,” she says. “My team, Angelic, will be ready. We will be the ones to graduate, but it won’t be fun if we do not face strong opponents. Now that I have seen that you are here, at least we will have some fun using you as carpets for us to walk on.”
“You do not know who you are talking to,” Fey says. “Draconic will wipe that grin from your face. Just wait.”
“Fey,” Icarus warns.
“Oh, really?” Quin asks. “Care to bet?”
“I–”
“No,” Icarus’s voice is steady as he stabs a knife on the table. He stands up in the same move. “This is my free time, Quin. I would like to eat in peace.”
Quin looks up and down at him. She bites her bottom lip. “Very well,” she says. She pushes the chair back under the table and begins to walk away. “I will see you later.”
***
“So, he is human after all,” Slier hears Phoenix tell Rin and Zanna.
The rumor has spread, and before lunch, everyone knew. Icarus has someone who crawls under his skin and makes him lose his patience. Apparently, she is another mentor of another group.
Slier sits down on her chair beside East. “That does not help us,” she says in a low voice only for East to hear.
“Why?” East asks. His eyes are on Tilray. He hates her, and so does she.
“Stop looking at her. She will think that you still have feelings for her,” Slier says.
East turns his head to look at her. “Sorry,” he says. “What were you saying?”
“That it does not help us that there is another mentor who can easily get under Icarus’s skin,” Slier repeats. “She will be a distraction, and we cannot afford a distracted mentor.”
“I don’t know,” East says. “He seems strong and focused. I doubt that someone can get to him that easily.”
Icarus enters the room slowly. He has a green apple in his hand, which he places on the desk. “Grab a partner and continue playing chess.”
“Again?” Tilray asks.
“This is not teaching us anything,” Phoenix says.
He sits on top of the desk. “Then you should have answered when I asked you a question,” he says.
“What question?” Hakea asks.
“The one about telling a memory that changed you,” Beta answers.
“I see,” Tilray says. “This is you punishing us.”
“No,” Icarus says. “This does not get close to how I punish. Now, get to playing.”
***
Agrion returns to his room with Hakea by nightfall. Hakea and he have been roommates since they arrived at Morningstar. Xeon, unfortunately, is not his roommate.
“Stie and Oren have not arrived,” Agrion says as he enters. Those are his roommates. “They must still be practicing with their mentor.”
Hakea closes the door. “There is something about her that I cannot stop thinking about,” he continues the conversation that they were having.
“Can we not talk about Phoenix?” Agrion asks as he searches in his wardrobe for clothes for when he showers.
“But it benefits you,” Hakea answers. He feels Hakea’s hands grab Agrion’s waist from the back. “Thinking about her makes me so horny and there is only one way that I can scratch that itch.”
Agrion sees Hakea’s hand unbutton his pants and lowers them. Then he feels how his underwear is pulled down. Hakea pushes Agrion’s back down, and he obliges. He takes a deep breath when he feels something pushed inside of him.
Hakea lets his breath go and it sends a shiver through Agrion’s body. He feels pain for a moment, but then it turns into pleasure. Hakea moves him towards his bed. Agrion continues standing with his chest laying on the bed.
He hears Hakea moan, but then he whispers the thing that Agrion does not like him to whisper during. “Phoenix.”
***
Vil returns to her room after taking a shower. Her roommates are already asleep, except for Lindy, who is drinking on the floor. Her lover was killed by Icarus the day before.
“You should really go to sleep,” Vil whispers.
“Fuck off!” she yells.
Vil flinches. She slips into her bed and under her sheets. She closes her eyes and falls asleep to the sound of Lindy’s bottle of rum. She hears a voice in her sleep. She does not understand what it is saying. She is suddenly cold. She extends her hands to grab the voice, but how can she grab something abstract? She wakes up.
The moon is shining the room. Vil waits for her eyes to adapt. She is not freezing, but she is feeling cold. She checks the window, but it is closed. She looks towards Lindy’s bed. She has gone to sleep. Vil pulls her sheets closer. When she closes her eyes, she hears it again.
“Vil.” She opens her eyes, expecting someone to be there. Instead, she finds the same empty room. Whoever is calling her is not in the room. She closes her eyes, expecting the voice, but it never returns.
***
Lexan walks out with Wither from the lunchroom after eating breakfast. It is still early. They have a few minutes before meeting Icarus again at Draconic. Lexan has not wanted to leave Wither alone. He lost Yenta, which was his best friend, and he seems as if he could break at any moment. Everyone needs a friend. Lexan is just glad that he can help.
“What is he doing?’ Wither asks.
“Who?” Lexan asks but Wither has already nodded towards the figure. Icarus is standing against a tree. He has one hand in his pocket and in the other a green apple, which he is looking firmly. “I do not know, but let’s ask.”
If Wither does not like the idea, he does not say it. He follows Lexan closely out of the light stone path and across the field. Icarus looks up from the apple.
“What are you doing?” Lexan asks directly. He does not like wasting time.
“Waiting to be hungrier,” Icarus answers.
“W-W-Why?” Wither stammers. Lexan thinks that he might be scared of Icarus. Seeing past the assassin that Icarus is might be difficult for Wither.
“I am training my body,” he answers. “The human body starts salivating and wishing for food when they are hungry and have food in front of it. I am teaching my body to last a little longer when it is hungry.”
“What’s the purpose?” Lexan asks.
Icarus looks at him. “There are going to be some moments when I won’t have any food. My body needs to be ready for that.” He pushes away from the tree. “Come on. Let’s get to class.”
***
“Take out the chessboards and the pieces,” Icarus says as he enters the room. He places the green apple that he is holding on the desk.
“Again?” Shin complains.
Phoenix is tired of this. She does not like chess. Chess is nothing like the battlefield. No one moves a certain way. They do not take turns to hit. They see you and kill you without thinking about it twice.
“No,” she says. East was going to speak but silences himself.
Icarus looks at her. “Pardon?”
“I am not going to play chess,” she answers. She does not care if he is her mentor.
“It is not a suggestion, Miss Phoenix,” he says.
“But I am not following your order either,” she answers. His icy blue eyes do not show anything. She does not know if he is taking her seriously.
“I am your mentor and instructor,” he says. “What I say is what–”
“No.” She sees his eyebrows furrow for a second. That is the most emotion that she has seen from him.
“Did you just interrupt–”
“I said that I am not going to play chess,” Phoenix says. “We have to train or otherwise we won’t survive the trials.”
“Let me make something clear, Phoenix,” he says. He does not even call her miss. “I have not placed many rules in here. I let you speak your mind. I let you yell at each other. I let you address me as how you would address anyone, but one thing that I do not like is when someone interrupts me. It is the least pinch of respect that I ask from you.”
“You want to be respected, but still you let someone yesterday treat you way worse,” Phoenix says. “What was her name?” She fakes thinking about it by looking away from him. “Oh, right, Quin. What does she do when we aren’t around? Does she whip you into submission?”
Icarus’s eyes become dark as if Phoenix has crossed a line. “Open the windows,” he says. It is not directed to anyone in particular. Then he yells, “Now!”
Phoenix does not remove her eyes from him, but she watches through the corners people moving to open the windows. “Come with me,” he says. “The rest of you stay in here.”
He steps out of the room without waiting for her to follow. Phoenix follows, of course. They walk out of the room as Phoenix analyzes the situation. Has she crossed a line?
***
“She is going to get it,” Tilray says.
Kobo watches from the window, but he is not the only one. The whole group is pushing each other to get a view. Phoenix and Icarus appear outside. Icarus is holding a rope that he was not holding before. They stop by a tree.
“What is he saying?” Beta asks, hitting Kobo on the shoulder.
“I need silence to hear,” he says, which he realizes that it was too loud because everyone becomes quiet.
Kobo focuses. He has always been able to hear things that people can’t. He also can smell odors that people can’t. He focuses on Icarus. If he could see his lips, it would be easier.
“He is going to punish her,” Kobo says. Everyone is hearing him. “He said that she can hate him for as long as she wants, but he will only ask to not be interrupted nor that she adds her opinions on his personal life.”
Kobo sees Phoenix open her mouth to argue, but Icarus places a hand under her jaw, near her left ear, and on her neck. She falls to the floor unconscious. He lowers into a crouch and ties the rope around her ankles. He then throws the other end of the rope above a branch of the tree. He pulls that end and Phoenix’s body begins to be lifted. Once she is one or two feet above ground, he ties the end of the rope to the tree’s trunk.
“Is he going to leave her upside down like that?” Slier asks.
No one answers. Icarus pull a dagger and makes two cuts, one on each side of her waist. He pockets the knife before turning and heading inside. Kobo can see from where he is standing Phoenix’s blood spreading on her clothes. He left her to bleed out.
Kobo has respect for Icarus’s skills, but now, he is afraid of what he can do.