Chapter 11: Confessions

In order to earn the trust of Takhorra's father, Felix must spill the beans about his past. Or at least, all that's necessary.

Felix paced back and forth in front of the apple stall, rather anxious despite being there for a good thirty minutes; without a single sign of Taka. Yesterday's training had pretty much gone as usual, and luckily, Master Rose didn't seem to suspect anything.

The apple stall clerk's eyes followed Felix like a predatory hawk. Oh Gods, it's that fidgety blond-haired kid again......

A raven ruffled its feathers and cawed a distance away, too far to be heard by Felix. I am observing as the raven above. Do you see me?

Taka looked up to see her father, taking the form of a raven. The beady eyes stared down at her from the cloth functioning as a rooftop of a market booth. Yeah.

Good. Do not look for me after you have approached the half-demon. Get as much information as you can about him, and I'll tell you if he's lying, do you understand?

Yeah, Takhorra replied, don't worry about it. That ended their mental conversation. Soon, she arrived at the apple stall Felix was pacing at, his anxiousness very apparent. The blond-haired boy bundled up with gloves, a coat, and boots with an odd winged ferret on his shoulder made him stick out a little bit. Taka crept up behind him to the point where she could breathe into the back of his neck, and she tapped his shoulder. "Hey."

Felix flinched, accompanied with a sharp gasp, and he whirled around to face her. When Taka's appearance was registered, Felix relaxed and exhaled in relief. "Oh, h--hello...."

Taka started to walk and motioned for him to follow. "Walk with me."

Felix blinked, and walked after her after a moment's hesitation. "O--ok...."

After a minute of silence, Taka cleared her throat. "So....why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

Felix cocked his head slightly. "Um....like what...?"

Taka shrugged. "I don't know, tell me about your family, your ferret, your tendency to twitch whenever surprised...."

Felix raised an eyebrow slightly. "Um...why would you want to know that...?"

She rolled her eyes, and just like that, lost her patience. "Listen." She stopped walking and faced him directly. They were in a quieter, more secluded street. "This necromancer doesn't believe you bound yourself to a demon. So you'd better spill the beans about everything you know about when and how you became a half-demon, otherwise you can keep dreaming about being accepted as a student."

Felix was surprised, but he tried not to show it. "O--oh...." He exchanged nervous gazes with Aarwing for a brief moment. "I....it's not something I like to talk about..."

Taka sighed. "Look, frankly I don't care if it's happiness and sunshine, depressing, miraculous, or boring. Just spit it out and get it over with."

He winced slightly to this. "I--....I'll try....." He sighed and looked down. Where to start.....? "Um....let's see...when...when I was young, I lived in a wealthy family. I had both parents and everything, and I tried to be really good for my father...."

True, so far, Taka's father's voice sounded in her head.

Felix glanced off to the side. "....I knew this girl named Alyssa," he continued, after a pause. "I....after a time, I really started to like her....and...after I admitted this to her, things were going really well, because she liked me too..."

Taka narrowed her eyes slightly. "I don't want to hear about your love story...what does this have to do with becoming half-demon?"

"Y--you'll see," Felix replied a little quietly. "....One night, Alyssa and I were trying to make it back to my house....but we got lost...and...there happened to be a demon nearby..."

Taka was quiet, waiting for him to continue.

"It...I...couldn't stop it from hurting her....I carried her to my room after remembering the way....then it came after me..." he stopped to inhale; it was a little ragged. "I had tried to heal her before the demon showed up again, so I could barely fight back....I was afraid I wouldn't be able to protect Alyssa if I died, so I thought that since I'd be dying anyways, I should try to take the demon down with me....so I bound myself to it....but I...didn't die....and...Alyssa..." he trailed off. I don't need to talk about that...this is just about how I became half-demon, after all...not...not her...

Takhorra gave Felix a good, hard look. She could tell without her father's confirmation that he was telling the truth. Now, he seemed quite different than when she first met him. His head was down, and he was silent and still. When she first met him, his head was up, he smiled a lot, and he was simply quite energetic. She patted his shoulder. "Sorry about that..."

Felix sighed, and straightened his back. "Please don't tell anyone about this..."

Taka nodded. "Don't worry, I won't. ...How long ago did that happen...?"

"A few months ago...I'm...I'm better now, though."

"I don't really think so...." Taka responded, eyeing his face. Then, she looked away and sighed. "Whatever...looks like you're in. You say you're not available every other day?"

Felix brushed some of his hair out of his face and nodded. "Yeah, I can't come tomorrow....but the day after that, I think I can...oh, and I don't think I can come on the weekend either...." They organized a schedule for him, and Taka described where he'd meet this necromancer when he went to train with him. After that was out of the way, it became time to part ways.

Takhorra stretched. "Well, I'll be seeing you day after tomorrow then, eh?"

"Yeah," Felix replied, "see you then..."

"You'll be fine," she reassured, "he can be a nice guy when he wants to be."

Felix nodded to this and tried to smile, although he wasn't feeling particularly nervous right now. He didn't like reminiscing his past much, and Takhorra was only the second person he's ever described his past to. So right now, he was more down and sad than nervous. 

Taka spun on her heels and dashed off. "See you then!"

"See you..." Felix turned in the other direction to head back to the cottage. Aarwing licked Felix's cheek in an attempt to cheer him up, but aside from a mildly surprised blink, it had no other effect.

Author's Note

Ok, this chapter is still pretty late, even with a temporary (hopefully) schedule of every Friday...ah well...

I haven't typed a chapter up in a while, so I'm worried it's not that good. I have my doubts about this one, and even though it's supposed to be good and all, with Felix pretty much admitting a whole lot of what happened to make him a half-demon, but...I dunno, I haven't had very much confidence recently in my chapters. ^^'

All of that aside, Enjoy~!

Reviews

[Summer'sBreeze]

;_____________;

I'm so late reviewing.

Wonderful, wonderful chapter!
How do thou make your characters so life like? I must know your secret.

I can't help but feel so sad for Felix. I love him too much to see him hurt.

Amazing chapter once again, ninja master!
I await for the next installment!

[The XYZ Writer]

Man am I laaaaaaaate. Punishment upon me is granted m'lady Dragon, for this tardiness of mine.

Awwwwwwww. ;_; My poor, poor Felix. He's such an innocent boy, but he had to go through seeing Alyssa die?
One suggestion Dragon- I can understand Felix is awkward at speaking, but he does need to get better at it....if you know how to fix that then... 's all good. :)

Awesomeness, and the secrets that were let out...feel so sorry for Felix.

[Forever Hidden]

:D
ANOTHERRRRRR
CHAPTER
PLEASE
BUT
LIKE, I'M NOT EVEN PROPERLY RREEVIEIWNG THIS D:
SORRYYYY!!! D:

[Forever Hidden]

Nice title to0!!!! :D
I can enver think of titles -.-

[Dark Rider]

I think it's great! Poor Felix. He's had a rough few months. And now it looks like it'll be getting worse.

I need to have the next chapter as soon as you can write it!

[~Dragon X]

Thank you so much for the review Rider! ^^ And wow, it was fast! o_o

Hehe, I'll try to work on that next chapter soon ^^'

[Dark Rider]

Yep! I was on when you published it, so I read it first thing. ^^ And you're welcome.