Grey nocked a second arrow to his bow, loosing it toward the orange silhouette.
FWOO-
The arrow whistled in the air, alerting the orange blob. It un-crouched, running into the open, revealing Aurora.
The arrow struck the ground behind the hedge, but Grey was already aiming at Aurora.
She ran unpredictably, occasionally stopping or crouching, in an attempt to throw him off. He sighed, un-nocking the arrow, and running to a new position.
In the middle of the courtyard was a fountain, making the courtyard similar to the one Grey saw when he first entered the castle. The only difference was in the color of the flowers and the statue above the fountain. Instead of the King, it was a statue of a Queen.
He ran to the statue, peeking through the water.
FWOO!
An arrow cut through the air, catching Grey by surprise. He turned to see it, only to get struck in the heart because of that.
'Damn.' The arrow bounced off, leaving a mark but nothing more.
Aurora came out from behind a statue, the one opposite from where Grey first hid, her bow behind her back and a large smile on her face.
"I win!" She laughed, reveling in her victory.
"Yeah. Impressive positioning." Grey complimented, getting up off of the ground. He dusted off his clothes, looking around. Whilst they hadn't done damage, they had made a hole in one of the hedges. Well, he did.
"Are you sure she won't get mad?" Grey asked a second time.
"Originally, yes. But now, I'm not so sure." She put a hand over her mouth, giggling.
"Oh well. It's not the end of the world."
"I don't know. Mom loves her garden." Aurora teased.
"Then why did you suggest that we fight here?" Grey asked.
"Why? Because of the design. Sometimes there are things you can't hit in a fight." She explained.
"Couldn't we just set up obstacles in the training ground?" Grey inquired, confused. The training ground could have obstacles placed inside it, so why not?
"…" Aurora froze, a look of panic on her face.
'Don't tell me she forgot.' Grey almost facepalmed.
"I forgot," Aurora replied with a frown, slumping over in disappointment at herself.
"I see. Well, there's no need to worry… probably. Just say it. If you come clean, there's only a small chance you get in trouble. As my Mom says, 'It's not that you made a mess, it's that you didn't own up to it.' Although, I always told the truth, so…" Grey grew silent, contemplating his life. Why had she said that to him?
Aurora listened intently, nodding along and then watching as Grey grew still. She immediately recognized that he was going through his memories and knew that he would take a while. Whenever he went into his memories, it was, to her at least, as if he truly went into his memories.
Suddenly, she was acutely aware of the fact that they were alone in the garden, and Grey was preoccupied. She stared at his face, and then at his cheek. The one she kissed.
She blushed but then had an idea.
Aurora walked up to Grey, poking him in the forehead to ensure he was deep in his memories. Upon finding no reaction, she set her plan into motion, kissing him on the cheek. It was a short kiss, lasting a second, but was infinitely longer than the one that night. For Aurora, at least. Once she backed away, she realized what she had done.
'Why did I do that?' She questioned. 'We're not like that. ' Aurora bolted, running away in embarrassment. 'I'm losing it!'
---
Meanwhile, Grey was busy with his memories. You see, whilst Grey had what he considered a perfect memory, it was far more than that.
There was someone else in the class with a perfect memory like Grey, yet their memories were rather different. Whilst that person could remember everything they'd seen, it was just that, a memory.
When Grey remembered something, he could choose to view memories as if he were in the third person, remember all the senses that his body recorded, and feel the exact emotion of that moment, in the same intensity.
Of course, he was limited to what his brain had processed at that moment, but that was still an incredible amount of information at his disposal.
He had what could be considered a 'true' perfect memory.
Because of this, he was completely unaware of what Auror had done. When he exited his memories, he stood alone in the courtyard.
'I've got to stop doing that in public. Oh well, at least I'm now sure that I've done nothing wrong. I have no reason to worry about Mom.' He shrugged, heading inside.
- But there's someone you should worry about. - Fallen Star said cryptically.
'What do you mean?'
- You've sinned, my child. - Fallen Star gagged.
'Explain before I never speak to you again. Better yet actually, before I stop letting you enjoy food.' Grey threatened. If there was something he'd done wrong, he needed to know.
- Aurora shared affection with you, and you weren't even there to receive it. -
'Wait, what?'
- She kissed you, moron. And you were too deep in your memories. -
'She kissed me?! And I missed it! Damn, I've got to stop delving into my memories.' Grey berated himself for a few seconds, before remembering he had to ask something. 'Where, how and why?'
- On the cheek, a short, second-long kiss, and how would I know? I'm telling you, it's fate! I think she likes you. -
'There's no way she likes me… actually, that's probable. Do I like her? Yeah, I do, but-' Grey was cut short by Fallen Star.
- I'm glad that you've finally admitted it, however, there are other concerns. You need to get stronger, you need to declare your love to Aurora, and you need to tell your parents that you're staying here. -
'Mhm makes sense,' Grey nodded, ignoring the second concern. 'I'll tell them at dinner.'
---
That night, both families enjoyed a sumptuous meal, too busy indulging themselves with the food to do anything else.
Once they finished, they moved on to small talk. They had fun speaking about their day, and half an hour passed once everyone had finished.
"So, Aurora is headed to The Island tomorrow. Are you going to stay a while, or…?" Queen Tyana addressed Grey and his family.
"We'll be going home, but Grey is almost an adult. He's free to do as he wishes, as long as he doesn't get hurt too badly." Samantha replied.
Hearing this, Tyana, Matteo, and Aurora turned to Grey, alongside Lucas and Samantha. He looked each of them in the eyes, finding Aurora looking at him expectantly, and noticing a glint in Queen Tyana's eyes.
"I'll be staying here… with Aurora," Grey said shyly, scratching the back of his head. While he had previously affirmed the fact that he liked Aurora, saying anything that had any relation to her made him embarrassed.
The Queen made a hidden fist pump, noticed only by the King, who sighed. Lucas nodded, and Samantha's eyes flickered between the two teens.
Aurora smiled at this and then began to explain. "Grey and I talked this morning and decided that we were better off if we stayed and trained together. Also-"
The Queen cut her short with a wave, gesturing for Aurora and Grey to look at the faces of each of them.
All four adults were smiling and nodding. After all, they too had fallen in love. They knew what was going on.
---
The next morning, Kim Jaehyun woke up, rubbing his eyes. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up.
Once he was done, he got changed and brewed a coffee.
He sat down on his couch, half an hour before The Island started, and turned on the news. Coffee in hand, he listened intently to the news, before receiving the shock of his life.
PFFTH!
He spat out the coffee in his mouth, coughing.
'What!'
He quickly checked the news again, finding it hadn't changed.
"Grey! What have you done?!"