EIGHT

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“Ahh! Ahh! Ouch! Yeah, yeah! Oh my gosh, you got it! That's the spot. Hit it, hit it hard!”.

“Blayze! Will you shut the fu–frost up? Quit with the moans!”. Leigh shouted exasperatedly as her eyes darted momentarily towards Fiorella, who in return, rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

She had noticed Leigh's slip–up. Fiorella hated cuss words and she had constantly been admonishing them against it. It was easier with Amaury because he rarely used them, it was also fairly easy with Hunter or she thinks so because well, he only talked occasionally, only when he was interested in the topic being discussed and that rarely happened. He was more of a listener than just a talker.

Then over to Blayze and Leigh, they were the ultimate cuss words users of the century. Fiorella had been constantly glaring to the point where her eyes would almost pop out from glaring so much, she had shouted to the point where she lost her voice and she had cleared her throat to the point where it got so scratchy and sore. She was fed up and she resorted  to just watching them and covering her innocent ears whenever their cuss–o–war was about to begin.

“Why?! It hurts so bad and I'm enjoying what Fio is doing”. He whined as he rubbed the nape of his neck.

Blayze, as his lazy ass self, had been complaining about the muscle, back and biceps aches he had been having since the three hundred push-ups punishment given to him by professor Ethan. Every conversation of his always drifted back to him ranting about how he had been unable to sleep at night due to the agonizing pain and the immense throbbing of his biceps and that was starting to wear out the group of friends.

“Just shut the frost up. It's been a whole fuc–frosting week since the punishment, a bloody whole week! Suck it up and be a darn man”. She scoffed. “And you're a titan, the strongest of most supernatural species. I can't believe it”. She shook her head as she continued to glare at him.

“I don't know why you even care about what I'm going through. You're just shouting at me as if you know one third of the pains I'm currently feeling. If you think I'm over exaggerating, then try doing the same thing. I bet you would do something much worse than moaning”. Blayze grumbled under his breath as he returned her glare in ten folds. She rolled her eyes and waved her left hand dismissively in the air before speaking.

“Whoever said I cared about what you're going through. I'm not telling you to suck it up because I care about you. I'm telling you to suck it up because you're overly annoying and your disturbing sounds are like poison, making my ears bleed. So shut the bullshit mouth hole of yours up and eat your damn food”. She ended with a smirk.

“Sick asshole. I wonder why I'm even still friends with a walking icy pussy hole”. He attempted to grumble incoherently but unfortunately for him, the wind was able to carry his words to Leigh's ears as her face hardened and cold steam began to rise from her tightened fists.

“What?! What did you just say?”. She seethed as the air around her became icy cold. Hunter, who had been seated with his back resting on the seat and his arms folded across his chest as he only paid half of his attention to their heated conversations, looked up slightly as he sensed the slight shift in the air around their table. He looked back and forth between Leigh and Blayze before he rolled his eyes blankly and returned his eyes to the table expressionlessly.

Amaury, who had been thinking and consciously playing with the green peas on his plate continued to sway the peas, oblivious to what was happening amongst his friends. He was facing a predicament of his own and that was already too much for him to handle. Plus, the way his mind always seemed to constantly drift to the intruder was not helping at all.

This past week since Doom arrived, he couldn't count the countless amount of times his mind had drifted off to him in concern. If it wasn't the concern for whether he had eaten, it would be the concern for whether he was adjusting well to the environment of the camp and if he was alright with everything. If it wasn't that, then it would be about how he felt about the doubtful looks he had been getting from the students and teachers since he arrived. If not that, them it would be the nipping feeling to give him a few of his own clothes.

The latter thought had been dominating Amaury's mind a lot. He noticed that Doom kept wearing the same clothes over and over again and his shoes were also being repeatedly worn. He had noticed that there were a couple of rips on his trousers and how the hoodie had faded so much that the black colour was starting to look grey. He had also noticed how worn out the spiked boots he wore were.

With all these thoughts and images playing at the back of his mind, Amaury was frustrated at why he felt pity for the stranger. But what frustrated him the most was that this pity, over the past week, had evolved into concern and it surprised him that he was concerned about an intruder, someone he knew absolutely nothing about. It was shocking, really and he couldn't seem to focus on his own problems.

“The fuck did you just call me?!”. A loud, angry voice together with a loud slam on their table was enough to make him jolt to reality as his previous thoughts flew away from his mind and he finally took in the situation around him.

He rolled his eyes when he saw that it was just the usual altercation between Leigh and Blayze. This wasn't the first time this was happening so when people around them saw what was happening, some only rolled their eyes and returned to what they were previously doing while the others continued to watch in anticipation of what was to happen. They were used to their usual quarrels, it wasn't surprising anymore.

Amaury looked down to the table and saw frost covering where Leigh had slammed her fist and he couldn't help but pity Blayze. If ice was already emitting from Leigh's hands, then that only means that she was infuriated enough to actually kill him and he didn't blame her. Blayze was famous for being annoying although Leigh did have her own flaws.

Leigh was a person who had a tongue that was as cold as her powers and the words that left her mouth were like icicles piercing the heart of the receiver. She had no filter for her words. In total, you could say she was an overly blunt person, in other words, a natural born, fierce critic.

And that was quite surprising, considering the fact that she was the daughter of the snow queen, Queen Glacielle, thereby being a princess. Everyone had expected her to be the type to always curtsy whenever she greeted someone or giggle or do those shitty things princesses normally do, in other words, they expected her to be Fiorella but they were proven wrong when she got into the camp.

She didn't care less about anyone other than her friends and she still doesn't, and Leigh was tough enough to best most of the males in the camp as well. The proof that she really was the daughter of the snow queen though, stood solid. Her icy cold words and acts were clear signs and of course her powers.

Blayze was just an annoying brat who acted childish most times, if not all the time. He had the tendency to piss off the people around him and he was very sprightly. In the eyes of everyone in the camp, he was marked by vivacity and joviality but sometimes, his joviality gets the best of him. Blayze was also a person who had no filter for his words. He spoke just as it came to his mind. This was the common factor between both Leigh and Blayze and this always caused them to clash like deers battling for a doe. That was what was occuring presently.

“Sit down, Leigh. Chill. You don't have to be so frost tight even though we all know that you're a frost princess”. Blayze snickered as he attempted to go back to eating his meal but apparently, Leigh wasn't having any of that and before he could place his hand on the cutlery, she froze the whole half of his table together with his plate and meal, narrowly missing his hands.

He looked up with a deep frown etched on his face as Leigh exploded in anger. “What the fuck did you say about me?! I wasn't done with you and you were about to eat? Why the fuck are you so stupid, Blayze?! YOU, pigheaded, lazy ass macho with a pint–sized dick!”. She shouted, making Amaury, who had been sipping cold water from his bottle, choke on the water as he coughed intensely. Fiorella sighed tiredly as she proceeded to rub Amaury's back to ease his choking.

She was becoming really frustrated by their meaningless quarrels that seemed to happen every single time they decided to do something together. They never agreed with each other on anything, not even on the simplest of topics.

They were like polar opposites and this was annoying, seeing as Leigh and Hunter agreed well on some topics and they were exactly polar opposites, literally as well. Leigh was the princess of the frost kingdom while Hunter was the son of Pluto, the god of Hades. They were ice and fire and by nature, they never went together but physically, they agreed with each other on things unlike Leigh and Blayze.

The same applied to Hunter and Amaury's relationship. Their powers were squarely polar opposites of each other. Hunter, the demi–god of fire and Amaury, the son of the god of the seven seas, Poseidon. And although Hunter seemed to not care about anything as he carried about his usual nonchalant attitude but he actually really cared about his friends and he was particularly quite close to Amaury. So people didn't understand why Leigh and Blayze were so against each other.

“What the heck is also wrong with you, Leigh?! Did what I say warrant me almost losing my hand?! My bloody, fucking, darn hand! Just chill, okay? And it's hard to understand why that is such a problem considering the fact that you’re the frost princess. Although the fact that your heart is completely stone cold is completely understandable”. He grumbled again but he was loud enough for everyone within a few feet away from him, to hear.

“Why, you–”. Leigh attempted to speak as she took a threatening step forward towards Blayze but she was cut off by a turkey lap appearing in between her lips likewise Blayze's. They both looked up and saw Fiorella standing with a deep scowl on her face. She was standing akimbo with her legs slightly apart. She took the stance of a mother scolding her kids and from the look of things, she wasn't going to speak encouraging words to them either.

“What is wrong with you guys? Why must you guys quarrel everyday? We're friends, aren't we? Why is that you guys act like sworn enemies of each other? This is bad, this is not good at all. It doesn't depict love, unity or friendship and that is what we have for each other”. She mildly chastised.

“But he/she started it!”. They both shouted simultaneously in defense as they pulled out the drumstick in between their lips. But Fiorella put up her index finger and glared deeply at them, causing them to bow their heads to avoid her piercing glare.

“Hush up! I don't want to hear a single word from you both, not even a squeak. I'm highly, highly disappointed in you both. Leigh, you’re a princess whether you like it or not so deal with it.

People would call you the frost princess sometimes to get you pissed off and you’re definitely giving them the satisfaction of their actions by yielding to their traps.

No one is asking you to curtsy or bow or be polite to them just because you're a princess and them calling you a princess is most definitely not make you bend to their will. So stop being so aggressive when you're being called a frost princess. And as for you, Blayze”. She spoke in a hard tone as she turned to look over at Blayze, who was already chewing on the drumstick in his mouth.

“We all know you have a tendency to piss people off and we all definitely know you're the most incorrigible and obstinate thorn in the roses of most people here, especially to Leigh. You're an intransigent pain in the daisies of most people here but we also know it's in your nature to be so sprightly and energetic. In fact there hasn't been a single day where you have been lackadaisical or languid, well except only when it comes to studying, but you get my point.

Stop pissing Leigh off. Yeah, you're a titan and all of that, your species are pretty strong and all but if this really gets out of hand, you could end up killing each other one day. You had almost your hand if not that Leigh had narrowly missed her target and this is one step closer to your grave if you're not aware, I'm informing you now. But I won't sit back and watch you guys kill each other, so heed my advices before it's too late”. She said as her eyes swept over their droopy figures.

She raised her head a little, feeling quite accomplished as she watched their sagging figures. She had that effect on them. She was like the mother hen of the group and of the entire camp even. Some people would bring their disputes to her if they were too lazy to go to the staff members and she would gladly settle them.

Fiorella was a fairy but not like the typical one that granted wishes in fairy tale stories. She was like a younger version of Nurse Clementine, so gentle and meek but could be very fiery when such attribute is demanded by the current situation and this continuous quarrel between Leigh and Blayze was the right situation to input a little of that fieriness.

“Now I want you both to apologise to each other right this instant”.

“...”. No one spoke and they only looked up and glared at each other subtly, hoping Fio didn't catch it but she did and she moved to stand in between them before thumping both their foreheads with her fingers, successfully gaining an ‘ow, Fio!’ from them.

“Shut up! Now apologise to each other”. She gritted out, already getting angry by their unwillingness to apologise to each other.

“Fine. I'm sorry, Leigh”. Blayze apologised quickly followed by Leigh.

“I'm also sorry, Blayze. Happy?”. She asked Fiorella, who in turn, looked over at her and clapped her hands twice. A ring of flowers formed into a very sweet smelling necklace appeared on both their necks. Leigh and Blayze looked down at it and smiled sickishly.

No one wanted to see an angry Fiorella. Yeah, she was meek and gentle but she wasn't all roses, she was akin to a beast whenever she was angry. She smiled and nodded triumphantly before proceeding to eat her meal as though nothing had happened.

Onlookers, who had been watching the event unfold, all returned to their previous doings and the cheery bustling in the cafeteria returned until the atmosphere stilled as a puissant power encompassed the entire cafeteria and everyone stilled.

Fiorella, who was about to put her spoon of stir fried rice into her mouth, stilled with her hand in mid air. Blayze, who had been constantly tapping on the frozen remains of his meal in frustration, also froze with his  index finger almost tapping the ice. A deep frown made its way to Hunter's face as he had also been resting with his eyes closed as he tried to block out the hassle between Leigh, Blayze and Fiorella, the mediator.

And lastly, Amaury who had been playing with the peas, completely zoning out the others as they quarreled and settled, immediately froze while the peas rolled around on his plate. All at once, his head whipped up in the direction of the strong aura and he spotted the same kenspeckle figure that had been taunting the minds of all camp members and staff.

It had already been a week and they were still very much vigilant about her. As she had approached the cafeteria, she had heard the quarrel between the frost princess and the indolent titan. She had also heard the fairy's chastising session and she admits that she had actually enjoyed it.

The way she had spoken bluntly to frosty girl about being called a frost princess, not regarding her rigid stance. She was pleased by how garden girl had handled the situation by approaching them directly and bluntly. Being nice or filtering your words would mean prolonging the issue but being direct and coming clean is the best antidote to end a long term quarrel. State the faults of both parties and let them both adjust their attitudes.

Immediately she had walked in, everywhere went quiet as everyone tensed up and the few teachers present gave her wary glances before looking back to their meals. She walked over to the refrigerator to get a can of drink before she walked to the counter and grabbed a sausage before putting some vegetables on her food tray. The amount of food she put in wasn't even up to three–quarter of the tray, that was how little she ate.

As she did all these, the watchful eyes of all camp members watched her every move warily as she took all she wanted and turned to leave. She started walking out of the cafeteria to go to the new spot she had found for herself.

Amaury kept watching as Doom put all he would eat into his food tray and he couldn't stop the crease of his eyebrows as a frown took its place there. The food was so small. It was the quantity a toddler would consume and not be contented not to mention a fully grown adult. He had taken notice of how many times he had visited the cafeteria and the previous week, he had only been there twice which wasn't good for his health at all.

As he watched him leave the cafeteria, he couldn't stop himself from staying calm and he did something that was probably the most stupid thing anyone could have ever done to a total stranger and to someone that had such effect on everyone.

... Something unbelievable...

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