7 Denial

Thea was bewildered when she landed on the fifth floor of Mountain Fairy Hospital. The only fairies she was expecting to see watching over Asuren was Aldrin. But sitting on the bed next to the unconscious fairy were her friends Riz, Sel, Gia, and Henry.

Three more beds had been occupied. One of the patients was her youngest brother Sarya while the other two were unfamiliar to her.

"Is that the herb Asuren needs?" Gia hurried towards the confused wind fairy and carefully removed the glowing herb from her hands. "I'll take this to Healer Vanni."

Before Thea could say a word, Gia scampered out of the room.

"You sit here," Riz pointed to where Gia had seated. There was an agitated look in his sapphire blue eyes.

Sel, on the other hand, seemed a little scared.

There was also a look of alarm in Henry's hazel brown eyes but still managed to smile at Thea.

Aldrin, as usual, was glaring seriously at the wind fairy princess.

"Looking at Sarya, I assume that Henry had been targeted by the assassins," Thea was grateful for his reliable brother. "He did a great job protecting my friend. I need to give him a nice treat when we get home," she sat between Riz and Sel. "As for those two wounded strangers, they don't have any guardian watching over them, so I suppose that they had been wounded because of the assassins that attacked either of you?" she glanced at her fairy friends and was grateful that they were unscathed.

"You seem to know everything," Sel frowned at Thea. "How about this fairy over here? All we know is his name and that you are obsessing yourself with him."

"Obsessing?" Thea laughed. "That's too much. I only want to help him out," she looked up at her dependable bodyguard. "Aldrin, thank you for guarding him."

"Who is this fairy?" Riz raised an eyebrow at Thea.

"You had a feeling that Henry could be in danger. Why did you ask your brother instead of helping him on your own? That... hurts..."

"I'm still grateful that Sarya came... Ouch!" Henry rubbed the left side of his abdomen that Sel had elbowed.

"You are her friend while this fairy is our enemy," Riz was trying to control her emotion. "Why did you help him? Where did you find that herb? Gia asked the twins. They told her that Miyara doesn't have an Odolan in her greenhouse..."

"Thea saved Miyara," Lazano came to her aid.

"How is she?" Thea glanced at the bed closest to the fifth-floor landing. Two healers were attending to the unconscious young fairy.

"According to the healers, she only has minor injuries. She will be fine. Thank you, Thea."

"What happened to her?" Riz and Sel softened up a bit.

"Let's talk about her later," Thea winked at her friends and waited for the healers to leave the room.

"You entered Southern Peaks," Riz blurted when the healers had left.

"You did?" Sel was back to being terrified. "What were you thinking?"

"That's what I said earlier," Lazano agreed with a sigh. "But if not for her craziness, Miyara will not get rescued from that terrible place."

"I'm safe. I saved Miyara and obtained an herb for Asuren. Let's stop thinking about the things that did not happen," Thea was beaming happily at her friends.

Riz sighed, shook her head, then repeated her question, "Why did you save our enemy?"

"If your enemies are willing, you will not hesitate to give them a chance to redeem themselves," Aldrin had spoken. "But this fairy is different from those previous assassins."

Sel nodded and added in an exasperated tone, "He nearly caught my neck twice! If not for Aldrin and Ayhan, I will be dead by now!"

"Did you just say Ayhan?" Thea was amazed to hear that name.

"You know that fairy?" Riz pointed at the fairy with a bandaged leg.

"He is Ayhan? Cousin of Asuren?" Thea could not believe that Ayhan was already with Asuren. The heavens must be helping her.

"That is also his cousin. Juliann," Riz glanced at the sleeping fairy with a bandaged shoulder.

"I don't care if they are cousins!" Sel was getting more frustrated. "They are after our lives. Why are you helping them?"

"Like what Aldrin had said, I want to give him a chance," Thea simply answered. "I'm sorry if he tried to harm you, Sel. It won't happen again. I promise."

"Thea, he is different from the previous assassins that you helped."

"That is why I want to help him more," Thea held the hands of her terrified friend. "Maybe there is something wrong with him. Maybe a part of him wants to kill us. But I'm holding on to that part of him that wants to keep us alive. I battled him for weeks and only seen part of his strength. Something is holding him back. I want to fully understand him."

"I think I understand Thea," Gia entered the room with a tray in her hands. In it were a smoking bamboo cup and a wooden spoon. "Juliann is strong enough to harm me, but he didn't. He saved me instead. And I heard from Emil, the other assassin that came to kill me, Asuren betrayed them and maybe his cousins want to do the same."

"I heard the same thing," Riz admitted with a sigh.

"Asuren had been poisoned because he was hesitant to kill me. For Southern Peaks, Asuren can no longer be trusted. They want him dead. I don't think that they will warmly welcome him back."

"The same goes for Juliann and Ayhan because they saved us instead of killing us," Gia sat on a wooden chair beside the bed of Asuren. "If they are already branded as traitors, we can only accept them here in Northern Peaks. Thea, can you help me feed him this antidote?"

"Of course," Thea sat on the bed and gently raised Asuren's head. While Gia spoon-fed the antidote to the poisoned fairy, Thea glanced at her silent mortal friend, "Henry, I'm sorry for dragging you in this mess. You must be scared to death."

"He is handling this situation better than Sel," Riz teased their flame fairy friend.

"Right," Sel pouted. "I never expected to be saved by a mortal."

"You saved Sel?" Thea was astounded. "How?"

"Blaze shared his power to Henry," Sel seemed annoyed.

"And Henry managed to control the fire very well," Riz was still teasing Sel.

Thea gazed at Henry with amazement, causing the mortal to blush. "You handled a fire spirit without burning yourself?"

"His resolve is strong enough to handle Blaze," Sel was glaring at Henry with envy.

"Sarya also helped us, Thea. He had been wounded because of it," Henry looked extremely guilty.

"Don't feel bad," Thea consoled her mortal friend. "Sarya gets in trouble from time to time. He will be fine. We should worry about your safety."

"True," Sel agreed with a guilty sigh. "That assassin is still alive and will surely get back at you..."

"Your father said that he will ask your mother to make an amulet for me. Let's wait for it," Henry reminded Sel with a confident smile.

"Creating an effective amulet will take several months or even a year," Sel informed Henry with a cynical smile. "Where will you stay while waiting for that amulet?"

"He can stay at his inn," Riz simply suggested. "Our nature spirit friends can check up on him from time to time. Ayhan, Asuren, and Juliann can live at his inn and guard him. They are no longer welcome at Southern Peaks..."

"No!" Sel firmly disagreed. "They are assassins. What if they kill Henry?"

"I'm okay with them living at my inn," Henry grinned.

"Are you crazy?" Sel stared at the mortal with disbelief.

"I trust Thea," Henry seriously replied. "And if these fairies chose to protect my friends, I should support them."

Asuren coughed out blood and took all their attention.

"He is waking up. Thea, move away from him!" Sel warned but had been ignored.

The wind fairy princess gently stroked Asuren's back while letting him vomit on a bowl.

After a few seconds, he looked up from the bowl and glanced around him. His eyes rested on his cousins for a minute or two before vomiting more blood on the bowl.

"What do you want?" his voice was weak and he was breathing unevenly.

"We don't want anything," Thea took the bowl from him. "Sleep. We can talk after you get better."

"Why..." Asuren fainted in Thea's arms.

"He doesn't look well. Did the antidote work?"

"It will," Gia reassured Thea. "He only needs to rest. You should also get some sleep."

"Later," Thea carefully placed Asuren's head back on the pillow. "I need to ask Healer Vanni..."

"About his wound?"

Of course, Gia will notice. She was continuously studying to create medicine for all types of illnesses and injuries. She was one of the contributors to the greenhouse of Mountain Fairy Hospital.

"Why is it not healing?"

"It is healing but very slowly," Gia yawned. "That wound is a rare case and I want to know what is causing his wound to heal that slow. I will eventually discover the cause. Just wait for it, Thea."

"But will it heal?"

"It will heal," Gia assured her.

"You look tired. You should get some rest," Thea told her earth fairy friend.

"How about you?"

"I need to change his clothes first and dress his wounds," Thea smiled before leaving the room with a tray and bowl in her hands.

"I want to drink a lot of beer," Riz dropped her weary body on one of the empty beds. "But we can't leave Thea in this room."

"We can drink as much as we want after everyone had recovered," Henry lay down on the bed where he had previously rested.

"Right. I'll just take a nap," Riz agreed before closing her eyes. "Good night, my friends."

"Gia, I need to go home and check if Mother had already started creating an amulet for Henry. I will be back here tomorrow morning," Sel promised before spreading her beautiful wings and soared back to her home.

Lazano was sitting at the chair beside the bed of Miyara. He was quietly watching over his niece.

"You can sleep," Gia heard Aldrin say to Lazano. "I will guard everyone in this room. I will never allow her to leave this room."

"Thank you, Aldrin," Lazano smiled gratefully at Thea's bodyguard.

"Protecting her means protecting my princess." Aldrin seriously replied. "I don't want any of you to drag her back to Southern Peaks."

"I also don't want that for Thea," Lazano frowned while Gia smiled.

Her friend was good at reading people. Asuren might end up like Aldrin and Lazano. They were worth saving.

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Thea smiled when she returned to the fifth floor and saw that everyone in the room was sleeping except for Aldrin. He chose to sit on the fifth-floor landing. One of his legs was spread on the floor while the other one was bent to support one of his arms. His back was leaning on a pillar while his eyes observed the starlit sky.

Thea quietly approached her bodyguard and handed him a warm mug, "I made this coffee just for my special bodyguard."

"Go back to your patient," Aldrin said after taking the mug.

Thea gave her bodyguard a light tap on the shoulder before returning to Asuren.

The poisoned fairy looked a bit better. Color was returning to his skin. His brows were no longer creasing, and he was breathing normally again.

Thea had carefully removed his sweat-soaked hospital shirt and noticed a large number of scars underneath it. Some were old wounds, and some were still healing.

"How many fairies have you killed?" Thea wondered as she lightly traced the scars with her finger. "Did you enjoy killing them? Or did you have sleepless nights for weeks? Asleep or awake, are you frequently being haunted by their lifeless eyes?"

Thea looked away from his scars and focused on his injured shoulder. She carefully removed the bandages, thoroughly cleansed the wound, gently applied medicine on it, then meticulously put fresh bandages over it.

She was straightening the blanket over Asuren when the latter jerked awake. He hastily sat up and looked around him. For a moment he looked terrified but when he noticed Thea smiling at him, he became vigilant.

"What is this place?"

"You haven't been in a hospital?" Thea curiously asked. "Or you don't have one in Southern Peaks?"

"Hospital?" he glanced at his cousins and finally noticed their bandaged leg and shoulder. He shook his head and hastily moved out of the bed.

Thea seized his wrist before he can make another step towards Ayhan.

"You cannot return to Southern Peaks," she quietly informed Asuren.

"Stop your disgusting act," Asuren pulled his hands from her grasp. "You cannot enchant me."

"We are trying to help you," Thea explained in a hushed voice. "You are in a hospital and not in prison. I want you to get better so you can start a new life here in Northern Peaks."

"I don't need to start a new life," he turned his back on Thea and tapped Ayhan on his shoulder.

"Why? Do you want to continue killing?"

"I don't have to explain to my enemy," he was insistently waking his cousin up but Ayhan only slapped his hands away and went on sleeping.

"Wake up! We are leaving this place!" Asuren impatiently bellowed and roused everyone from their sleep.

"I don't want to leave!" Ayhan sat up and glared at his cousin with annoyance. "I want to live here."

"Are you… going to betray us?" Asuren was getting furious.

"Don't you feel betrayed?" Ayhan shot back at him. "Your mother sent another assassin not only to kill Thea but also you!"

"No…" Asuren staggered and held his head that seemed to be in pain.

"No?" Ayhan went on without moving out of his bed. "Tanya left without giving you an antidote. She will only do that under your mother's command. If not for Thea, you would have died."

"My mother will not let me die!" Asuren furiously bellowed and ran towards the fifth-floor landing.

"Bladeleaf told me that your mother had already branded you a traitor," Ayhan finally moved out of the bed.

"Emil also told me the same thing. We are branded as traitors now. We cannot return at Southern Peaks and remain alive," Juliann had also moved out of the bed and carefully approached Asuren. "Stay here with us."

"No…" Asuren shook his head in denial then jumped off the fifth floor. Ugong quickly caught him and carried him back to Southern Peaks.

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