Have We Met Before?

Seeing that the girl's attention was all on her, Lotus was rather confused and had been forced to play a game of tag around the inner forest. For now, she was able to redirect her attention away from the guardian so that he could slip away and recover, but this girl really only has a one-track mind!

For four hours straight, this girl has done nothing but chase after her with poison and all that. All of which done nothing against her.

"Why is big sister running from the poison attack?" Little Jun questioned curiously.

"Because the poison is made from corrupted qi." Yang Hui responded with a grimace, "Our master could survive all poisons and has no problem inhaling them only because they don't have the properties to harm her and those that do are rare. However, this one is different. Spiritual qi is pure energy from nature. Corrupted qi is influenced by the surrounding's unnatural reactions. The corrupted Qi created by the girl is violent by nature and, if in contact with our master, she will get injured in the soul."

"Meaning it'll will be more fatal on her than it would be on a regular human." Xiao Li responded hesitantly.

Lotus grew confused wondering what should be done to stop this crazy girl from drawing close o the dorm. She grimaced and was suddenly met by a large red bird. She quickly dodged a plunge, but it managed to land a blow on her. A sharp pain ran through her knee as she landed on her shoulder painfully.

"Yes!" the little girl cheered with a maddened and bloddy expression across her face and launched her umbrella at her once again!

Lotus grimaced in pain upon finding that her leg has been burnt by the poison of the curse and used defensive magic to reflect the incoming attack. The umbrella bounced off her barrier and the little girl caught it in her hand.

"Just die already!" The girl cried out in frustration as if it was all just a game to her from the very beginning and threw her umbrella at her again. It rapidly spun a dance of pink silk sashes in the air coated with a thick layer of corrupted qi preventing her target from any means of escape!

Suddenly, a flash of light blinded them and a loud blast could be heard very close to Lotus. It was also at that same time that she could feel something grab her arm and pulled her away with great force as the male voice whispered harshly in her ear, "Hurry!"

She scrambled to her feet before the scorching pain in her leg made her crumble again.

"Damn it..." The voice noted rather displeased before pulling her up, "Don't let go."

Almost immediately, she was pulled onto something warm as the sound of footsteps immediately began after into the darkness of the dusk night. The light had also blinded Lotus as she kept her eyes shut, but the sound of the voice left her rather troubled and irritated. The tone of this voice irritated her greatly as she was carried away on someone's familiar back. Could this be...

"Dang it! Catch and kill that bitch and her accomplices!"

She could hear the thundering footsteps behind her as she grimaced, "Familiars..."

"We need to evacuate the students..." The voice hissed frustratingly.

"No." Lotus responded with a grimace, "An order has already been given."

"An order?"

"Let me down for a bit."

"Are you crazy?!"

She give him a kick as he crumbled to his knees to his bewilderment. Once her feet touched the ground, she struggled to stand as her eyesight quickly recovered. She breathed in a small breath of air before muttering softly, "Crystal. Can you do it?"

"Understood."

With that, Lotus released her small parade of butterflies which flew into the darkness of the shadow as their wings were soon dyed a pitch black color.

"Follow the order." Lotus instructed with a grimace once a large lion with wings and black stag appeared, "Eliminate the threat before it can reach the students."

Seeing the two beasts, the student behind her was shocked at the appearance. It was both dazzling, majestic, but horrifying!

With that, a large storm of dust rained down on them. At first, the two simply tried to push away the dust and rushed at her with antler and fangs ready. However, seconds before either one could reach her, they crumbled in agony as both let out a terrifying cry. She, then, got onto the ground and quickly set up an array. When she was done, she turned around and was shocked to see the familiar face before her. It was Vil in his dorm uniform!

Seeing him, she raised a brow in bewilderment, "Vil Schoenheit of Pomefiore?"

Upon hearing her name, he was quickly snapped out of his stupor and grabbed her hand, "Let's talk about that later. We need to evacuate the students."

"On the contrary." She responded with a sigh as she was carried out of the area, "The order has already been given."

"About this order. Who could give such an order to a little girl?" Vil grumbled in dismay.

Lotus struggled, "Someone who's standing is similar to that of the school's founders. Well, he didn't want the students to know about it, but it's already too late about that."

"Right..." Vil sighed in disappointment, "If you want to lie, then you should come up with a better one."

Lotus bit back a laugh. Wasn't it the other day that the kid was listening rather obediently? Now, he refuses to believe her? How laughable!

Lotus sighed in disappointment, "As expected of those from Night Raven College..."

She lept out of his arms and plopped a detoxification pill into her mouth, which should buy her some time before the poison could claim more than just her knee.

"Since you won't listen, then I guess, I'll just have to do this myself."

After she said this, she made her way back.

"Have you gone mad?!" Vil grabbed her and pulled her away with a surprising amount of force despite his thin limbs when compared to those from Savanaclaw.

Without warning, she was carried away princess-style without her being able to holler back a complaint at him for the uncomfortable position.

This guy just wouldn't be satisfied until he ruins her day, huh?!

As they returned to the dorm, she was surprised to see that the corridors were not only empty but also dark giving it an air of great mystery and awe from the darkness and the moonlight lighting up the fancy walls from the window. However, her mind was racing hoping to find a way to keep this matter a secret. There was only a temporary solution right now, but it would need her to be lucky!

Lotus was brought into one of the rooms for third-years seeing that it was just a single bedroom. She was placed onto the bed with a thump. Vil sighed in relief seeing that he made it back safely and glanced to her with a tired expression, "Now, just stay put as I- Wait, what happened-!"

Without waiting for another second, she reached out and grabbed his arm. She pulled herself closer to him with a force that shocked Vil who had not readied himself making him lurch forward a little. It was not until there was a few inches between them that he could smell a familiar floral scent on her followed by the sudden cold sensation on his lips. Shocked and stiffened in surprise, it took Vil a second to realize what had just happened when he heard her whisper a word so close to his ear brushing it softly, "Seal the thought..."

Magic!

Vil's eyes shot wide open as he tried to pull back, but it was too late!

Once satisfied, she let him go and hmphed with a sly smirk on her face, "Now, let's see how you're going to share this to everyone."

"What did you-?!" Vil scowled angrily at her. However, the sight of her flame red hair under the light of the moon and the beautiful porcelain-like skin halted his attempt at approaching her.

"You..." Vil bit back his anger and questioned her with a frown, "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" Lotus questioned him with a sigh, "You only thought about asking that now? I'm Peony and I was sent here by the dark mirror."

The moment she uttered these words, Vil felt a strange headache coming along followed by thoughts he easily brought forth as though it had been yearning for the chance to do so. Could it have just been a coincidence?

However, seeing the flame red hair and the shocking violet eyes, he didn't think so. He could hardly believe his eyes and ears as the familiar girl sat on the bed before him.

"Peony... As in Peony Xue?"

Lotus froze upon hearing this. She didn't mention her family name. So, how could he have known about it? Could it be that her brainwashing was not thorough enough to wipe the memories of their trip in the Underworld?

As an impending feeling loomed over her, she was suddenly grasped by the arms as Vil shouted angrily, "Do you know how long Jack went out that night looking for you?! A couple of seven-year-old and ten-year-old kids are outside for the entire night looking for you, a six year old, enough for the adults to start a search party! You..."

Vil took a deep breath as he shook his head trying to clear it and regain his composure, "Just where in the world were you all this time?"

Hearing this, Lotus stared at him with a look of confusion and disbelief, "From your words... it sounds like we have met before? As children?"