"Jenica?"
A young man with blonde hair and green eyes approached. His gaze drifted from Jenica to their linked arms, then settled on Eliot. The mask concealed his features completely. Only someone with keen eyes could spot the amethyst gleam beneath it at this moment.
"If you're here, then where's Lungris?"
A young girl from the group asked this while staring at their linked arms, then at Eliot who stood like a statue, watching everything unfold.
"He left to take care of something."
Jenica replied with a smile. They all gave her blank looks in return.
"Lungris? Left you alone?"
The young man with dark blue hair and brown eyes prompted this question. Jenica gave a deprecating laugh in response.
"What did you do, Jenica?"
The blonde asked this, but she kept silent and glanced toward Eliot instead. He instantly knew what she was doing.
She was further cutting off any chances of him escaping by bringing him here. She had looked at him in a way that suggested he either knew what happened or was the reason for it. The chances of them getting aggressive to ascertain the status of their friend was highly likely.
Perhaps she wanted to gauge his strength once again. Or use this opportunity to see his face. Or put him in a situation where he would have no choice but to beg for her help. Or maybe to see how he would react under pressure.
If there was one thing Jenica loved, it was to toy with a person. Emotionally and otherwise. A novelty she hadn't gotten over since she was a child.
But maybe, just maybe, he was wrong.
Maybe she was just using this to make him realize how valuable she could be to him. Maybe she wanted to suggest the idea of using her to his own benefit. If she defended him at this moment from this group of stupidly strong individuals, a normal person would instantly lose any reason for resistance. They would accept the thought wholeheartedly that she was their best chance at surviving this place given her status and prowess. With time, this would give her a handle over them, which she could further exploit to her own amusement.
But at this moment, where only variables and possibilities mattered, sentiments and emotional factors were thrown out the window.
All Eliot saw was probabilities. Situations turning to his advantage in respect to the characters in play. Their personalities. All possible variables and reasons for actions.
So he decided to end whatever it was she was planning and play by his own terms.
"I threw him down the stairs."
He said this suddenly. Even Jenica turned to look at him in surprise.
"You did what?"
Two of the young men were already upon him before he knew it, pinning him against the wall. Eliot didn't respond to their aggression.
"I threw him down the stairs."
He reiterated this calmly, as though the violence didn't affect him at all.
"Oh my god, Jenny, is this true?"
One of the girls asked this while staring at Jenica with wide eyes. The one with tangerine hair and slightly amber eyes. Jenica glanced from Eliot to the blonde standing before her, then to the other young man with black hair and blue eyes, then to the girl in question before she finally nodded.
"WHAT?!"
BAM!
A punch landed across his face. It made him slam the wall forcefully, leaving a dent behind it. But he didn't respond to the stimuli of pain his body surged toward his brain. He was somehow able to keep calm even in such a dire situation.
"He had been harassing Miss Jenica. I only stepped up to aid her as a friend, but he only got mad and tried to attack me. I only defended myself."
BAM!
"That's bullshit! Lungris would NEVER harass Jenny!"
The one who had him pinned to the wall screamed this with rage burning in his eyes. Dirty blond hair with blue eyes. Kaeden.
Suddenly the blade of a spear appeared a harrowing distance close to his mask. But Eliot remained calm despite the threat.
"If you don't believe me, you can ask her. She's just right there. Or you could go down and ask the enforcers. Maybe they would entertain you."
He said this while they all looked to one another, then to Jenica with confusion written on their faces.
"Enforcers?"
He heard one mutter in confusion, the word seeming foreign to them.
"Say something, Jenny. This imbecile did something to Lungris, and you were just holding hands a couple minutes ago. What exactly are you up to?"
The one with the spear asked this with suspicion dripping from his voice. A young man with blue hair and light brown eyes. Damian.
"Well... Um..."
Jenica sighed before continuing.
"Alright, here's the thing. Eliot here is a friend."
She said this casually. Eliot's eyes widened slightly at the revelation.
She did pry into my head.
He thought this because he hadn't told her his name. So how did she come to the knowledge of it? In fact, all through his thoughts, he hadn't even gotten to the part of his name. Or did he?
Maybe she had suggested thoughts in his head while he wasn't paying attention. Maybe he himself had revealed it without realizing.
No, that couldn't be it. He should at least remember thinking about his name at some point.
No matter what it was, the fact was that she had gotten into his head and heard things he didn't want her to hear.
This was trouble.
"I met him some years back while visiting my sister at Vermillion. We mostly talked through telerics and haven't physically met all this time. I just encountered him now, and since I was happy, I got a bit too touchy. And Lungris, well... He didn't like that."
She explained this smoothly, as though the lie came naturally to her. They all frowned at the explanation.
"If you guys don't believe me, I can show you a picture on my teleric dating back to said time. There you would see his face as well. Perhaps that would satisfy you."
She added this with a small smile. The guy in front shook his head in response.
"There's no need for that. The problem here is your attitude to this whole thing. You're not bothered he was thrown from such height. If something happens to him, you know damn well what would happen."
The blonde said this with concern edging his voice. Tristan. Jenny sent a hand down her hair in a dismissive gesture.
At this point, Eliot just didn't know what to say about the situation unfolding before him.
She knew his name and that he had schooled in Vermillion. Those details were never part of his train of thought from when he met her. So how? Just how does she know all this?
Even if this was a bluff, something didn't feel right about the whole situation.
Have I met her in the past?
He wondered this, but it didn't seem to be the case given his memory. At this point, she was a wildcard. He always knew Jenica was a problem, but now she just confirmed that she could as well be the biggest variable he had yet to face.
The fact that he couldn't read her at all made this whole thing more troublesome than he anticipated.
At this point, he only had two choices. Kill her, or kill her. There was nothing else to consider in this equation. She was someone he would encounter a year from now. If he wasn't able to deal with Angelica, who is already a huge pain in the ass, everything would fall apart when Jenica joins the story.
"Why are you all acting like Lungris is some weakling? It's only a fall. He won't die from it, for goodness sake. If I'm right, he should be here any moment now."
She said this with confidence. As though on cue, a voice was heard echoing through the hall.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Instantly, a blade slid through Eliot's abdomen. He was kicked so hard he blew a pillar apart, his body missing the railings with some luck as he crashed through the debris.