I lifted my eyes to Erion who stood beside Lavi's body, hand on his hip.
"T-they're not dead… are they?"
Then I heard a low grunt. Prince Alistair's eyes flew open. He rose into a sitting position.
I let out a breath of relief.
"What the hell took you so long?" The Crown Prince spat out the moment his gaze landed on the second prince. His bright blonde hair was ridiculously disheveled.
Erion shrugged. "I figured you could use a bit of time to rest."
"Yeah right," Lavi finally woke up. "Thanks to you letting Alis and I do all the work."
Lavi's robe was full of ripped out holes, the golden embroideries were faded as it was covered by a mix of dirt and blood.
Just what were they thinking, risking their lives by going into that forest?
The dark haired prince rolled his eyes. "Look, I wasn't wearing hunting clothes."
"Who goes into the Screaming Forest in formal attire? What, you think you'd just go sightseeing there?"
Lavi and Prince Alistair now sat cross-legged on the floor.
"Dahlia wouldn't mind, she loves it when I wear nice clothes." Erion mumbled while pouting.
"Who's Dahlia?" I asked. The name seemed familiar as it escaped from my mouth.
The three of them flinched.
"No one" Prince Alistair's jaw was clenched, his blue ocean eyes had the same kind of rage during the first time I met him.
"Oh…" I just lifted my brows. "Okay."
I saw Lavi widen his eyes at Erion. The black haired prince merely looked away.
The air around us was obviously filled with tension and uneasiness.
Just who is this "Dahlia" that made them react like this?
Lavi cleared his throat before standing up. He went to the steel cage and picked it up.
"Please don't tell me you went to the Screaming Forest just for a cat." I said as I crossed my arms.
"It's not a cat." said Lavi, setting the cage on the floor.
"Then what is it?"
The cat was curled into a white ball while sleeping soundly. For a cat, it had a very long and thick tail wrapped around its body.
"A spirit guide."
A what? And what was I supposed to do with that?
I tilted my head slightly. "Oh… okay?"
Lavi looked at me, but his eyes shifted and he instantly averted his gaze.
He fidgeted before speaking. "Happy birthday, Calla… y-you l-look… uh-"
Silence occupied the bedroom as I waited for him to finish his sentence.
Lavi's eyes kept darting everywhere, seemingly looking for words. Erion snickered from behind him.
"What he means is," He trudged closer. "You look as gorgeous as starlight in his eyes."
Lavi pushed Erion's shoulders. "You're exaggerating it."
"Oh really? The way you're looking at her doesn't make it sound exaggerated though."
The blue-haired wizard zapped a tiny light towards him, smoke hissed on the poor prince's forehead.
"What'd you do that for?"
"Sometimes you really need to shut up."
I was about to stop them when Prince Alistair spoke as he walked towards us. "That is enough. I am so tired of your bickering."
Lavi and Erion's back straightened, their lips pressed. I only shook my head as I failed to keep a smile from escaping.
Prince Alistair held out a clenched hand holding what seems to be a bracelet. "Here, take it. This is for you."
"What's this?" I asked as I took the string of shiny stones of blue, red, white and black.
"That will act as your link to your spirit guide." answered Lavi.
"So this cat is the spirit guide?" I pointed to the fluff of white sleeping inside the cage placed between me and the three boys.
"You can't call this a cat." Erion chuckled.
"Why not?"
"Wear the bracelet and you'll see." said Lavi, crouching down and opening the cage.
I just lifted my shoulders and pulled the bracelet into my right wrist. It fit just perfectly.
The bracelet glowed, along with the neck of the cat. The white feline finally fluttered its beautiful blue eyes open. It uncovered its self by raising the thick tail—and apparently, the reason why it looked thick was because the cat actually had nine godforsaken tails. It had the body of a cat and the tails are that of a fox.
As it stretched its way out of the cage, I found that its neck wasn't the one glowing. It was the collar that the lovely creature wore, the same design as mine.
It raised its head towards me and gave me a meow.
I turned to the three. "It meowed, it's a cat."
Prince Alistair shook his head once. "That's an Everbeast. A type of spirit guide—once they establish a link with a person, they share your power and can become a weapon according to your present strength."
The sides of my lips tugged upwards. "So the both of us have a connection now?"
"That's what you're curious about?" Lavi's brows met. "Don't you want to know what it can do?"
"I do, but that isn't important for now." I picked up the Everbeast and caressed it upon my arms. The smoothness of its fur was so comforting. "She's so beautiful. She's mine now, right?"
The little creature nudged its pink nose on my chest, her soft tails wiggling slowly on my arms.
"Yes, and it's a boy." said Erion.
My brows perked upwards. "Oh."
Lavi crossed his arms. "He's all yours. I don't want to see that thing for a while after this. For Khloris' sake, I might actually snap its neck."
The Everbeast barred its fangs at Lavi and hissed. The wizard's head knocked backwards.
"Why would you say that?"
I calmed the little thing down by sweeping its back. "Hush now, don't listen to that big meanie. Now, now…"
The fluffy ball of cuteness shifted its pointy ears and went back to nudging its cheek on my arm, purring happily.
Erion laughed. "I understand why Lavi would say that. He's the one who did this to us."
"Really?"
This cat-like creature was the one who brought them into this state?
"Lavi already healed all our injuries so we looked much worse than this. Plus, it took days to track him. When we finally found the Everbeast's dwelling place, he was originally huge and scary, and he only shrank when we finally placed the collar on him." Erion placed a hand on Lavi's shoulder. "We didn't expect that he'd transform into a cute little one."
Then it came to me. I looked at Lavi and asked, "So this was the reason why you had to be away for days?"
The three of them nodded in unison.
"Wow," I threw my gaze on the floor. "Thank you, really. I appreciate it."
"Anything for the young lady" It was Erion's voice.
"It's nothing." said Prince Alistair.
"Stop blushing and give it a name already." muttered Lavi.
I gave him a sharp glare. He only threw out a peace sign. Yes, that stupid gesture exists in this world.
"I'll call him Shire."
The Everbeast, once hearing his new name, purred happily.
"What an odd name." Lavi said.
"I think it sounds cute." Erion mused.
The three of us stared at each other, and then our eyes went to the golden-haired prince who stood cross-armed.
Prince Alistair's brows met in confusion. "What?"
"About the name… tell us what you think." I said.
His face obviously told us, 'Are you all being serious right now?'
But we waited patiently with expectance on our faces.
After a while, the uptight prince finally gave in and let out a defeated sigh. "It is… c-cute."
There was a moment of silence.
I snort escaped from me, followed by another—until the three of us were laughing. I worried that the Crown Prince might point his sword at me again but he merely smiled and joined in the laughter.
Comfort swelled from within me. If I'd ever get my memories back, will I find out that I've actually known these three for a long time? I certainly hope so.
All of us stopped when Shire hissed loudly while arching his back.
"What's wrong, Shire?" I asked.
His claws were hurting my arms.
Aren't cats like these when they sense danger?
"Hey stupid beast, what's gotten into you?" said Lavi.
Shire jumped from my arms to Lavi's head. He kept on shrieking, his back arched higher.
"Get off from me!"
"Calm down." warned Prince Alistair.
My heartbeat raced faster. "Shire, come on. What's wrong?"
"Bro, what the hell? He's panicking." Erion said.
Shire jumped from Lavi's head to Erion's shoulder, then back to my arms. I felt him quivering.
Then the ground shook.
The air became still and heavy… followed by a wave of ear-piercing screams from the ground floor.