"Cough... It hurts... It hurts a lot."
William spat blood and gritted his teeth in pain, bright red blood covering his lips, caused by a small knife that had penetrated his chest, reached his lung and pierced it. He could feel the blood filling his lungs, he felt excruciating pain, he was drowning in his own blood.
Ashley, the only other person alive in the cave, held her throat with her left hand in an attempt to stop the torrent of blood flowing from her wound. William had torn half her neck apart, his nails had expanded, thickened and sharpened like a wolf's, and Ashley's soft skin offered no resistance.
"You shouldn't have done that. I don't know what kind of thoughts crossed your mind, but you should have realised it wasn't a good idea" (William).
Ashley attacked as soon as she could reach William. Her movement was quick and accurate. It was a fatal wound for anyone other than William. If Ashley had known about William's regeneration, she would have waited to attack until his psychic strength had been restored.
"Tsk... It hurts."
William quickly pulled Ashley's knife out; her wounds would not heal if it remained in her chest.
Life left Ashley's body, and he fell to the dust-covered ground.
"I don't want to know why you did it, nor do I regret what I did."
William wiped his lips with his white handkerchief. Perhaps it would be better to get a red handkerchief next time.
Perhaps Ashley blamed him for her father's death, perhaps she didn't want to share the discovery with anyone other than her father, or perhaps she was afraid of him. A beautiful woman, wounded in a cave in the middle of nowhere, whatever the reason, she attacked first and did so with the intention to kill.
"Slap"
William slapped his cheeks to calm himself and took a deep breath with his restored lungs. He moved forward decisively and searched the girl's pockets, finding only two things that caught his attention: one was that she had no identification or mobile phone, and the other was a gold coin with some words inscribed on it.
"Perhaps she left her bag at the hotel with all her belongings, but she didn't forget this coin."
"The Relic Collection Society, like a tracker or something."
William crushed the coin between his claws, now fixing his attention on that large, solid stone tombstone that rested in the centre of the room. He walked across the bridge over the hot water pool and touched the monolith.
As if reacting to him, it vibrated intensely and its outer layer gradually peeled away, revealing a material as smooth as marble, with golden runic letters covering its surface.
[He who passed both tests and obtained both keys, let your blood fall upon me and prove yourself worthy of an eye.]
(It seems we took the easy way out, we just need to blow up the door) (William)
The letters were very old and confusing, but William interpreted most of them and placed his bloodstained handkerchief against the stone.
"Pufff"
The monolith split in two, and from its base emerged a pedestal with a delicate mechanical figure. It was shaped like a moth made of gold with a spherical gem on its tail. It fluttered its wings and flew towards William.
[Dawn Moth: Contains an eye of destiny. Effect: Cures any illness of its bearer. Warning: Does not heal physical wounds.]
When the moth landed on the back of William's hand, a system window popped up.
"This is the first time my system has done this. Perhaps it only works with high-level objects."
"If this eye has this ability, I wonder what ability the other one has."
The Dawn Moth shrank and walked to William's bracelet, settling right in the centre as its resting place.
"CRACK!!!!"
The entire cave shook, large sections of the ceiling began to fall. Without the artefact, the cave could not support itself. After a while, this place would be buried forever, along with its dead inside.
"It's time for me to leave here."
William took the form of a Grimm and ran towards the exit, dodging and jumping over huge chunks of stone falling from the ceiling. He ran through the tunnels and flew through the cylindrical hole in the shape of an owl.
He could hear the sirens of police cars approaching the scene. This time, William changed into his Eagle Fury form and flew towards Nevermore.
Nevermore Caliban Hall Dormitories
William entered his room, wanting to take a nice shower to wash off the sweat and sleep until noon.
"What are you doing up so early, Xavier?"
"Can't you sleep, or are you busy with something?"
William left his leather case on the bed and placed Titan on its wall mount. Xavier was lying on his bed holding a sketchbook and charcoal in his hands.
"I couldn't sleep. I had another bad dream." (Xavier)
"You should take a shower and try to sleep again. It's bad for your health to stay up late so often."
William took a change of clothes from his wardrobe and went into the bathroom. About 15 minutes later, he came out with wet hair and a towel in his hand.
"Xavier, I'm going out for a while. You and Bianca can continue what you were doing before I arrived... studying, I think?" (William)
"Pock"
Bianca suddenly raised her head, hitting the base of the bed. They had both heard William's keys opening the door. Panicked, Bianca hid under the bed.
"Thanks. Next time we'll leave a note on the door." Xavier hid his face behind his notebook, which he held upside down.
Bianca pulled his middle finger out from under the bed.
The room reeked of Bianca's perfume. William didn't feel like sleeping there tonight, so he headed for Ophelia Hall.
Ophelia Hall dormitories
William confirmed that Yoko was not in the room before returning to his human form, entering through the window in the shape of a crow.
(As Enid said, Yoko went out for a sleepover with the rest of the fangs.)
"Enid, can I sleep here?"
William approached Enid and whispered in her ear. It was still morning.
"Will, is that you?" Enid barely opened her eyes, still sleepy.
"Yes."
"Of course you can sleep with me, darling." (Enid)
(Darling? That's new.) (William)
(There's no way William would be in my room at this hour...) (Enid)
William smiled. Enid was very pretty, even when she was sleepy. He planned to take the form of a cat and sleep on one of Enid's pillows.
But Enid apparently had other ideas. She took William's hand and pulled him towards her.
(This wasn't what I had in mind, but it's much better) (William)
William got into Enid's bed, took her in his arms and hugged her. She was soft, warm and fluffy.
Three hours later.
Enid was the first to wake up. At first, she panicked. She could feel William's hands on her body, his right hand on her stomach under her simple T-shirt and his left hand on her thighs.
"Will, you're here. I thought I was dreaming." (Enid)
"I appear in your dreams regularly" (William)
"From time to time" (Enid)
"And what are we doing in your dreams?" (William)
"Well, you and I... how long have you been awake?" (Enid)
"It hurts, it hurts... Just a moment ago"
Enid turned around and held William's cheeks tightly.
"I'm sorry for touching you without your permission."
William apologised, removing his hand from Enid's belly and hugging her waist against him.
"It's okay, you asked for permission this morning."
"I'm glad everything turned out okay, with your hobby of going out looking for dangerous things."
Enid buried her face in William's chest. She woke up late today because she stayed up until dawn waiting for William to return.
"Will you let go of my cheek?" (William)
"Will you let go of my thigh, you little pervert?" (Enid)
"Okay..." (William)
"You're still not letting go." (Enid)
"I'll hold on a little longer." (William)
"Just kidding." (William)
Enid got up, showered, and changed her clothes. Now she was ready to put on her make-up.
"Are you going to participate in this year's Poe Cup? Xavier told me it's next month." William was still lying on Enid's bed, tossing and turning between the sheets.
"I won't be participating until next year. An older girl from Ophelia Hall is going to lead the team this time."
Enid replied with some disappointment as she put on pink lipstick.
"What about you, will you be participating?" Enid raised an eyebrow at William from the mirror.
"I owe Xavier a favour. He wants me to participate and lead the team this year." (William)
"I don't feel like it." (William)
"Come on, it'll be fantastic." (Enid)
Enid was excited by her words. She would love to participate and win the Poe Cup, and she would support William with all her might.
"With you at the helm, they'll definitely win."
"They'll snatch the cup from Puck Hall and those sirens."
Enid jumped with excitement. She couldn't believe William was participating in such a school event. She kissed William on the lips, and they both left Ophelia Hall hand in hand.
"Wait, Thornhill must be guarding the exit door." (Enid)
"I almost forgot." (William)
William had to change shape into a fluffy white cat. Enid picked him up off the floor and carried him in her arms.
"Let's go to the cafeteria first. They have butter cookies today." (Enid)
"Wow, what a cute kitty! Can I pet him?"
A girl wanted to pet William, but Enid stopped her hands midway.
"He doesn't like strangers. Maybe next time." (Enid)