Chapter 13

I found myself following Cool to the library.

He immediately checked if there is anyone there before he closed the door and started to whisper some inaudible words as flying books came flying towards us.

"What are you doing?" I asked while trying to stop myself from ducking every time a flying book came rushing to us.

"You try and search for something, too. Telepathy or mind reading." He said and lifted his eyes from the book and frantically looked at me.

"You being able to talk inside my head ain't normal, Fhyra. I haven't heard about a Flamia or Glacia that can do such things." He said seriously.

I was staring straight at his eyes, that's why I immediately felt the intensity of his words.

"But it's not just me," I said which blurred out the seriousness on his face and replaced it with a confused one.

"I mean, how can you just focus on me talking inside your brain but not on you talking back inside mine?" I asked him with furrowed brows, feeling slightly wronged.

His face immediately shifted from confusion to realization.

He let go of the book he was holding and left it hanging on the air as he walks back-and-forth in front of me.

"You're right. How can we even do that?" He asked, mostly to himself.

He was walking back-and-forth with his right hand placed on his forehead.

He looks perfectly tensed, I wanted to laugh at him but his serious expression makes me feel bad about thinking of laughing, so I keep my mouth shut instead.

I was just quietly observing him and letting him come to a conclusion on his own when he suddenly stopped walking and turned around to face me.

"Can you do it again? Maybe we just--"

'Cool.' I called out on my mind with my right brow raising.

"Holy shit!" I heard him cussed which confirmed that he did hear it.

'Fhyra'

"Seriously? Are we going to keep calling each other's name again and again until you come to a conclusion?" I asked irritated after hearing him call me in my mind for the nth time already.

He acted as if he didn't hear what I just said. I saw him closed his eyes and massaged his temples which makes it obvious how this weird situation is getting to him.

"Have you done this before? I mean, can you talk through your mind with anyone? 'Cause I'm hella sure this is my first time doing that." He remarked as he opened his eyes, his expression a little calmer now.

"Nope. I just thought it was normal being able to do so here." I said and crossed my arms over my chest.

Because all the normal things for me are weir here. I wanted to add.

He nodded as if he understood what I was trying to say.

"Maybe I should go home for a while and ask around about this?" He said causing my head to snap immediately towards him.

"And what? Leave me alone here?" I asked a little over the edge.

I bet he heard the protests on my voice since his facial expression changed when he heard me.

"Right. That was a bad idea. Sorry." He said apologetically.

We kept silent for a moment.

We're both trying to figure out what to do with this situation.

A few minutes later, I heard him exasperatedly sighed and when I raised my face to face him, I was met with his fierce eyes.

"Alright. I'll look into this. For now, let's just keep this between us. We don't know who we can trust out here." He instructed which I immediately agreed on.

He was right, with the Count and that weird punong baylan claiming to be a guardian of mine as well, we sure don't know if they were saying the truth or just trying to deceive us.

The difference between their marks and Cool's is making me suspicious.

I'm sure about Cool being a guardian of mine since my parents entrusted me to him, but I don't know about those guys.

So it was indeed safer to keep this between us.

Who knows it may come handy soon?

"What did the Punong Baylan told you?" He asked while we were walking back to my room.

My brows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh! You mean that weird-looking Hailec?" I said stopping myself from chuckling on how they addressed him here.

Punong Baylan?

"Stop gloating." Cool scolded when he saw my face.

"What? I just found the way you addressed him, hilarious." I said which was immediately followed with a giggle.

He just helplessly shook his head and resumed walking.

"Back to the topic, what did he told you?"

"He showed me his mark, it was like that of the count's."

"That's about another mystery we got to unravel Princess." He said with a sigh.

"Right," I said and with down shoulders followed him when I remembered the last words of Hailec.

I immediately pulled Cool's arm to stop him from walking.

"He said something that I should prepare myself because he had another set of surprises for me. I just remembered him say that!"

I saw Cool's face darkened a little after hearing that. I figured that he really doesn't seem to have any harmonious encounter with the latter. They always end up bickering or with sarcastic remarks.

"Anything else that will give him away?" He probed. I thought harder as I go back to his words while we were talking earlier. It wasn't that easy since I was very distracted with the fact that I can talk to Cool without him around.

"He told me that it can be one of the biggest shock in my life," I said, recalling Hailec's words.

"He asked me to prepare myself for it," I added.

"That must be something big then. That guy can be a lot of things but a liar isn't one of them." He said while thinking.

"Then do you think he wasn't lying when he said he was a guardian of mine as well?"

"Yeah, I think he and the count was actually your guardians." He answered honestly.

"But why do their marks look different from yours?" I asked, confused.

"That... Was something I still can't figure out as well." He said and now looked conflicted and then his face changed once again into realization.

"What is it?" I asked when I felt his body stilled while he stared on thin air.

"Cool?" I called out but I didn't receive any response from him

"Hey," I called out once again and slightly nudged him on his shoulders

He quietly stared at me for a while like a big realization dawned on him.

Or maybe something really did.

Because I wasn't prepared when he suddenly talked inside my mind, I almost jumped in my place upon hearing his voice.

'Fhyra, I think this whole telepathy thing had some connection with my mark being different from the others.'