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'Oblivious'
That's probably true.
'Gullible'
I've heard that one a lot.
'Foolish'
I guess I've never been the brightest.
'YOU'RE the one who stole everything from ME!'
I'm sorry Kalim thought. Im so sorry. I didn't mean to…
It had been a week since Jamil over blotted, and kalim decided to give Jamil as much freedom and spotlight he could have without their families finding out. Kalim had been learning to dress himself, apply his own makeup, cook himself food, he even started studying alone, and he's happy. Really he is.
He noticed Jamil smiling again. He had become one of the top 3 students in their grade and kalim could see how happy that made him.
Kalim wasn't going to ruin that,so he kept his distance and helped from afar.
Since the incident kalim hadn't tolerated any gossip on Jamil. Within the first three days he had already yelled at a couple people because of it, most of which were from their own dorm.
He didn't know if Jamil knew but if he did he never said anything and kalim wanted to keep it that way, he wasn't going to ruin the mans life again.
Kalim was happy that Jamil was finally expressing himself but he wasn't doing so hot himself.
Kalim cried and cried and cried. He couldn't believe that he could make the man he claimed to be his best friend hurt so much, the man he grew up with, the man who again and again saved his life.
When the sun rose in the morning he would put his smile back on and hold it all in until his bedroom door locked at night.
People noticed, of course they did but they never said anything. He was grateful for that because he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it in anymore because every second of every day Jamils words weighed down on him and they were right. Kalim knew they were and that's why he couldn't cry, not in front of anyone at least because he knew if he did he would look like a victim and he couldn't let that happen.
The weight of the situation got heavier every day, normally he would call a sibling or his parents or…
But he couldn't do that. If he did that Jamil and his family would meet a cruel fate.
So he stayed silent.
That was until one day in class Crewel called out to him "kalim?" His voice was soft and quiet like he was trying to keep something secret. "Are you okay pup, do you need to leave, are you in pain?" Kalim looked up confusion covering his face "what? No im fine!" He added a smile to reassure Crewel . "Are you sure" the teachers face was sympathetic only making Kalims confusion grow. He looked down to notice his hands were wet. He lifted one to his face lightly wiping the side of his cheek realizing that he was tearing up.
He was crying?
Kalim looked back at the man in front of him and spoke "um… c-can i go to the bathroom?" Kalim stuttered through the question weakly. "Of course" Crewel spoke softly before walking away and continuing to speak with the rest of the class.
Kalims legs moved fast and he walked to the bathroom. He kept his head down the only thought in his mind being 'I can't do this anymore' when he reached the bathroom he splashed cold water in his face and looked at himself in the mirror.
'I have to talk to someone' he thought to himself before shaking his head. 'No, i can't i can't ruin this for him' he put his head down and stared at the floor.
He pulled out his phone and stared at the blank screen before building up the courage to unlock it.
He scrolled through his contacts, picking one and listened to it ring hoping they would pick up.
"Hello?" The voice on the other side questioned
"Mina… i think i really need you right now, do you think you could come to NRC tomorrow?" Kalims voice came out weak and hesitant.
Minajael walked into the scarabia dorm with a duffle bag hanging off his shoulder much to Jamil's surprise. "What are you doing here?" Jamil asked immediately not giving Minajael the chance to say hello. "Kalim called me. where is he?" Minajaels words were not serious then the vice-housewarden had ever heard them before.
"He called you?" Jamil asked looking the RSA student up and down judgmentally.
"Yes." Minajael crossed his arms.
"Why?" Jamil raised an eyebrow.
"That's what im here to find out" he tapped his foot impatiently.
The two always seemed to but heads with each other when kalim and Minajaels families visited each other. Right now was nothing different as they had a stare off in the scarabia common room.
"MINAAAAA!" Kalims voice shot through the air breaking the stare off.
Kalim through himself a Minajael who had already braced himself for impact.
Kalim hugged him so tight he could hardly breathe. "Kalim, please," he wheezed out causing the other to let go. "Haha, sorry" kalim said rubbing the back of his neck before grabbing his wrist and tugging. "Come on lets go!" The shorter began dragging Minajael in the direction of his room, completely ignoring his servant.
'That's new' Minajael thought to himself.
The moment the door to Kalims room closed Minajael asked "what happened?" His voice was serious and concerned. He had never been more scared in his life than when he heard Kalims voice on that phone call. Kalim had been poisoned, kidnapped, tortured and faced numerous assassination attempts and not once had he ever heard him sound like that. He had never heard his cousin be anything but happy. What was even weirder than that was the fact he said he needed HIM. Why him? Sure he called Mina from time to time asking for advice but it was always little things that anyone could help with. This was different.
"I-i can't do it anymore Mina" kalims voice cracked as he turned around eyes already tearing up.
Minajael was taken aback for a second by how fast kalim broke down.
If he had to guess this was either related to the expectations that came with their family or the over blots he had been hearing about at NRC. He really hoped it was neither and kalim was just being dramatic about something stupid but looking at him right now Mina wasn't so sure he could keep that hope so he bit.
"Is this about your family?" He asked.
"No" kalim answered quickly somewhat to Minajaels relief.
"Then what?" He crossed his arms.
"Me,"kalim looked down,"Jamil," he spoke again.
Now Minajael was confused, usually he was good at this stuff, he might be the nations 'most brilliant' but he never really wrapped his brain around his cousin, that could be because kalim was and idiot or because he never really cared, or because kalim always seemed genuinely happy, but right now he really wished he could.
"Okay you're avoiding the questions, what happened?" He asked again getting a little annoyed now.
"Promise you wont tell anyone, not even your family"kalim looked back into Minajaels eyes.
"why?" Minajael asked curiously.
"MINA!" Kalim raised his voice desperately.
"Fine i promise" he said.
"Pinky promise?" Kalim asked holding out his pinky to Minajael.
"Kalim, you're ridiculous" Minajael said linking his pinky with kalims anyway. "Okay now tell me what happened and why im here."
Kalim lock the door and sat down on the floor of the room before gesturing to his cousin to do the same. Mina sat on the floor in front of him waiting for an explanation.
"So about a week ago … something really bad happened" he said looking at the floor.
"How bad?"Minajael asked seriously.
"Jamil…h-he he over blotted." The words made Minajaels stomach drop. His eyes widened as he stared at the man in front of him. Kalim didn't seem to notice his reaction as he kept talking. 'A-and h-he did something really bad and I can't tell you what b-but it made me feel so betrayed" kalims sobs interrupted his own words. Minajael took this as his opportunity to ask a question.
"Why can't you tell me?" He asked placing his hand on kalims shoulder.
Kalim sniffled before answering "because i promised Jamil i would never tell anyone his unique magic, and i didn't i never did!" Kalims tears started again "not even when under a truth spell, i-i " he started sobbing again making him stop talking.
"It's that important to you?" Minajael asked.
"Yes!" Kalim yelled through his sobs.
Mina calmed himself before confirming his suspicions "so its safe to assume he used it on you?" He felt anger burn through his body when he saw kalim nod while rubbing his eyes.
"I- i thought he trusted me with it because we were best friends" kalim spoke again much to Minajaels confusion. Yeah he could see the slight resentment in Jamil's eyes and behavior when they used to visit each other but he still thought they were friends he just thought it was complicated because of the power imbalance.
"What?" He finally asked in confusion.
"H-he said that he hates me and he always has, a-and he said i stole everything from him" kalim choked out looking at Minajael again.
He had enough of this he's gonna talk to Jamil himself. Just as Minajael was about to get up kalim spoke again.
"And h-he's right! I'm the worst i never noticed he was suffering!"Minajael looked back at him in shock. Never once had he ever thought kalim would think of himself like that.
Kalim grabbed Minas hand before he elaborated. "L-l-like did you know hes never been aloud to be better than me just because im rich" he took a deep breath before continuing "did you know that he's better than me at everything and he's never been aloud to be proud of it! Because what? Because i have money, because my last name is Al-Asim!?" He broke into sobs again, still holding on to Minajaels hand.
"Kalim, that's not your fault." That's all Minajael could think to say because no, he didn't know that he knew Jamil was in a shitty situation i mean what kid wants to be a personal servant, but he wasn't aware it went that far. Then again its not Kalims fault he was born rich and it wasn't his fault Jamil was a servant to begin with and Kalim treated Jamil better than anyone else, which was saying a lot .
"But it is! So i-i started doing things on my own and I've been making sure Jamil can show off in every way that doesn't involve our parents knowing b-but I just- i just miss him." Kalim shouted at Minajael before going back to his crying.
Minajael slowly hugged him "you listen to me, you are not responsible for your dad hiring a child as a servant, it's not you fault for being born the Al-Asim heir. Jamil doesn't hate you he hates the system he hates his job he hates the fact that he never had a chance at freedom. If you were anyone else this would still happen." Kalim lifts his head at the words and pulls out of the hug. "You are trying to help him, you're trying" Minajael says before standing up.
"Alright im hungry i didn't eat anything before i came here so why don't you show me those new cooking skills." Minajael says with a smile.
"Okay!" Kalim gets up wiping his tears before smiling and rushing out the door.
The food wasn't bad, it wasn't great but it was okay. Kalim did cut his hand while cooking but he didn't seem to care much so they just ignored it. They had been talking about their school life's and drama while they ate.
The two were in the middle of talking about a very interesting scandle at RSA when Jamil walked into the room.
Jamil waved at the two and began to look for something. Minajael continued to talk about the scandle but he noticed the way Kalim shifted uncomfortable in his seat.
From across the room Jamils voice cut through their conversation "have either of you seen my alchemy notebook?" Minajael threw his head back and groaned loudly at being interrupted.
Kalim looked around at their surroundings seeing the book on a table nearby. "Yeah its right here!" He said grabbing the book to hand it to Jamil who was already walking over.
"Did you even look?" Minajael said earning glare from Jamil and a small laugh from Kalim.
When Jamil grabbed the notebook from kalims hands he stared and kalims right hand for a minute before speaking.
"Did you cut yourself?" He asked reaching to grab the heirs hand.
Kalim pulled his hand away and gave him a strained smile "oh that its nothing!"
Jamil reached farther roughly grabbing Kalims hand anyway and inspecting the cut. "Did you wash it?"
Kalim looked at Minajael who just looked at him with a blank look."yes?" Kalim answered.
Jamil let out a tired sigh "why didn't you at least put a bandaid on it?"
Kalim yanked his hand away his smile dropped "i told you already you don't have to care for me anymore, I'll call you if it's serious."
Jamils eyes were wide as he looked at him with a somewhat sorry look. "Yeah,sorry." He said before just walking away.
Kalim just looked at Minajael.
"So… are you gonna go wash it?" Mina asked laughing when kalim just stood up and walked towards the kitchen.
About an hour later they sat talking with a couple other scarabia students about anything that came to mind when kalim out of nowhere perked up twisting fully in his chair to face his cousin.
Minajael raised an eyebrow at Kalim. "What?"
"Mina." Kalim put a hand on his shoulder.
"What?" He asked again
"Mina!" Kalim started bouncing in excitement.
"Kalim if you don't answer me im going to hit you." Minajael said.
"I totally forgot i invited some people over for a small party today, you in?" Kalim finally said to which Minajael smiled widely
"I'm always in for a party." Kalim cheered at his response.
"K im gonna text them and let them know you're gonna be here. Oh! Do you wanna see them? I have a ton on photos of my friends."
"Sure i mean we've got nothing better to do" Minajael said shifting closer to Kalim to see his phone.
"Okay so i invited a good about of people but not all of them are gonna make it so ill just show you the ones i know for sure." Kalim said as he finished texting some of the people.
He opened his magicam and started looking through photos until he stopped on one. He turned his phone showing a photo of three people. One was a laughing red head with green eyes and a red diamond drawn under his right eye beside him sat two annoyed looking guys one with hair the same shade of red and a heart on his left eye and the other had blue hair and green eyes and a spade on his right eye.
"Okay this ones cater, he's an influencer and pretty mysterious for someone so social but he's great." Kalim pointed at the first one.
Minajael nodded not having much to say.
"These two are a package deal. This one is Ace and this one is Deuce there always getting into trouble with Riddle but they said Riddle gave them permission to come ." Kalim named the other two.
"So they're all cards?"Minajael asked.
"Yeah its a dorm thing" he said before quickly searching for another photo.
The next photo only had one beast man. The beast man sat at one of the scarabia tables smiling widely while he filled his plate. The boy had light brown hair and looked a little scrawny .
"This is Ruggie, he's really nice, i mean he's a bit mischievous but he's pretty smart if you ask me.oh! He also plays spelldrive. I think you two will get along really well."
"He looks a bit scrawny for a spelldrive player,"Minajael thought aloud.
"Oh, yeah you don't need to worry about that, he's fine."Kalim reassured.
"Ruggie's like the definition of poor," a student sitting across of them supplies. Kalim quickly lifted his head to the student.
Minajael watched as kalims smile slowly dropped. "I'm sorry are you talking to me?"
The student shrugged his shoulders slightly,"well i mean i was more talking to him." The man pointed toward Minajael lazily.
"Please don't talk about Ruggie like that," kalim said with a polite smile. The smile was obviously fake and to be honest it really got on Minajaels nerves, the fake,proper,polite,and regal manners that he saw all too often.
"Why, it's true i mean he is dirt poor, besides i don't think i was being ru—" the student was interrupted by the violent flood of water that hit him. Minajael turned his head back to his right only to be greeted by an uncharacteristically angry kalim. His red eyes were full of a fire that Minajael had never seen before. He sat up quickly and placed a hand on Kalims shoulder.
"Oh my sevens! I'm so so sorry, i don't know what got into me." Kalim said running to the student.
Minajael watched as kalim fussed over the student he had just drowned in water before he heard someone ran in.
"What happened?!" Jamils voice boomed through the commotion.
"Kalim jus—" Minajael started.
"NOTHING!" Kalims voice yelled out overwhelmed and full of annoyance.
Jamils eyes widened at the word in surprise.
"Kalim…" kalims head whipped around at his name with the same anger from before in his eyes.
Minajael shot up from his seat quickly grabbing Jamil by the arm and pulling him out the room.
"What the hell?" Jamil asked once they reached the hallway.
"You need to leave him alone, or fix this." Minajael got straight to the point.
Jamil looked offended as he spoke, "excuse me?" He yanked his arm free.
"I need to fix this?" He said raising an eyebrow.
The prince before him crossed his arms."Yes you," he paused "Kalim just attacked that student and you and me both know Kalim would never do that under normal circumstances."
"How the fuck is that my fault, how do you even expect me to fix it?!" Jamil glared at the taller man.
"I don't know, talk to him" Minajael said condescendingly.
"YOU talk to him he's YOUR family!" Jamil raised his voice.
"I did," Minajael uncrossed his arms to point a finger at Jamils chest "and im telling YOU to do something about it."
Jamils eyes sharpened at that "that's fucking stupid."Minajael rolled his eyes at the comment."Kalims a big boy he can work out his feelings on his own, i don't need to hold his hand through that too."
Minajael let out an amused laugh, "what, like you did?" His eyes narrowed slightly "because that went sooo well for you."Jamil stiffened.
"W-who told you about that?" Jamil stuttered out.
"Seventeen years and not once did you think its not his fault," Minajael said ignoring Jamil's question.
"Who. Told you that." Jamils words came out more threatening this time.
"Seventeen years,Jamil. Seventeen years and you couldn't work out your resentment alone but you think KALIM can!?" Minajael looked away from Jamil crossing his arms again. "Seriously Jamil, you're smart. Think." He said with a bitter laugh.
"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!" Jamils voice roared through the hall. Anger and fear mixing in his eyes creating a muddy mess. Minajaels eyes widened as his back hit the wall behind him.
Before Minajael could push Jamil off him he was already on the floor.Minajael looked down at Jamil soaked in water.he followed the trail of water to the right to see Kalim holding out his magic pen keeping it pointed at his ex best friend. His eyes were full of anger not like in the common room but deeper and far clearer.
"Kalim what the fuck!" Jamil yelled in anger.
The anger in Kalims eyes faded and was was replaced with a more apologetic. "Im sorry, just don't touch Mina." His voice came out both confidant and apologetic. Minajaels eyes softened slightly at the words, not that he couldn't fight Jamil if it came to it but Kalims words were kind of sweet.
Jamil stood up with pure anger radiating off him, "WHY WOULD YOU TELL HIM YOU PROMISED!" Kalims eyes widened in recognition.
"Jamil, listen he wont—"
"How can i trust that now?!" Jamil said cutting him off.
Kalim brought his hands to his chest . "Because—"
"This is exactly why i hate you!"the rest of the scarabia students began to flood into the hallway upon hearing Jamil's yelling. "You have nothing in that tiny rich kid brain!" Jamil poked at his temples mockingly. "You might as well be brain dead i mean it'd be the same fucking thing at this point!"he took a step closer to Kalim who was on the verge of tears. "You just signed my death certificate and some how you're the one crying, come on" Jamil rolled his eyes.
"That's enough." Minajael stepped in. "You don't get to talk to him like that especially when he made me promise not to tell anyone family or not."He glared at Jamil, "he needed someone that he could trust to keep you safe so he called me."
Jamil sucked his teeth at that. "Whatever,"he said before walking away.
Minajael walked to a crying Kalim placing a hand on his back, "come on lets go to your room." Kalim weakly nodded letting the RSA student guide him through the crowd of people and to his bedroom.
"Mina,"Kalim called out in between short, desperate and panicked breaths.
"Kalim breathe." Minajael said putting both hands on Kalims shoulders.
Kalim began to slide down his bedroom door. "Mina, i- i- I shouldn't have —I shouldn't have told you,"kalim said hyperventilating. "He's right i- i promised him." Kalim let out another sob.
"No he's not!" Minajael took a deep breath, "i get it, i do, he thinks you put his life in danger."
"I did!" Kalim cut in.
"You don't trust me?" Minajael asked earning a soft 'no' from Kalim. "Alright then," he said before continuing "he has the right to be scared and upset but so do you." Kalim picked his head up. "Tell me, if you didn't call me what would you have done?" The question caused a long silence to stretch between them. "Would you have talked to a friend?" He asked again. "Would you have talked to Jamil?" This time the question got a head shake from the white haired boy. "Okay… would you have shut down?" Kalim looked to the side opening and closing his mouth looking for an answer. "Or would you have taken it a step farther?" Kalims eyes widened at the implication. Minajael sighed softly "im glad you called me, im so glad you trusted me Kalim." Minajael enveloped Kalim in a tight embrace.
"Mina… i just want to go back." Kalim choked out.
Minajael hugged him tighter, "im sorry." Was all he could let out.
Kalim woke up in his bed still wearing his uniform. He turned around to see his cousin laying on the other side of the bed scrolling absentmindedly scrolling on his phone. "Mina, how long have i been sleeping?" Minajael turned his head to look at him.
"It's only been like an hour," he answered calmly.
Kalim shot up on him bed startling the man next to him. "We have to get ready!" He shouted in both excitement.
"What for the party?"Minajael asked him.
"Yes! Come on, lets go!" He said grabbing Minajaels arm and dragging him off the bed.
They spent the next two hours doing or well redoing their makeup, choosing clothes, and preparing the dorm for the party. Although Kalims normal smile was back on his face, Minajael could tell it wasn't a true smile. To others it would be easy to mistake it for one of pure joy but to anyone who truly knew him would be able to tell. The other dorm students had long forgotten about making sure he was okay, more focused on setting up for the party.
When the people had started arriving they were already setting out the food and drinks and turning the music on. Kalim was greeting everyone with smiles and hugs at the door. He only began introducing them to Minajael when the man started recognizing them.
"Mina this is Ruggie,Ace,Deuce,Cater,Yuu,Floyd,and this one is Epel" Kalim introduced them pointing at each one in order. A couple of them waved at him, some smiled, and the one Kalim named as Floyd just outright ignored him. Kalim turned around putting both hands out in Minajaels direction as if presenting him. "Guys this is my second cousin Minajael Tealrajah!" Kalim introduced him enthusiastically.
"Hey it's nice to meet you guys," he said taking in the group before him.
The hyena stepped forward putting forward a hand for him to shake. "Likewise," he turned his head toward Kalim while shaking Minajaels hand "you didn't tell me he way hot." Kalim laughed at the comment.
"Not gonna happen." Minajael said letting go of the others hand.
"Shishishi, it was worth a shot," he said shrugging.
Kalim stopped laughing pointing a finger at the group, "have fun, but NO flirting with Mina." Yuu and Epels shoulders slumped over in disappointment.
"Okay are we gonna party or not?" Ace asked with a smile on his face.
"Yeah come on!" Kalim said to which the group cheered.
Minajael had to give it to Kalim he did throw together a good party no matter how down he was. His friends were also pretty good company. He had spoken to pretty much every one of them but at the moment he was in a conversation with Epel and Ruggie Amir spelldrive when he heard a loud groan from behind him. The three turned around to see Ace sprawled out on the floor with his shirt halfway off and his pants rolled up to his knees.
"What ya can't handle a little heat?" Epel teased him. Ace shot up to glare at the purple haired boy.
"I can handle a LITTLE heat but this is actually insane, how have you guys been dancing like this!" He exclaimed. Minajael couldn't hold back his laughter as he looked around to see he wasn't the only one. Both Deuce and Yuu were laying in similar states to Ace.
"Of course YOU'RE laughing!" Ace yelled slightly offended.
Kalim skipped over from the makeshift dancefloor in the middle of the room. "Hey what's going on?" He asked already smiling at the sight.
"Your desert sun is trying to kill us!" Yuu yelled.
Kalim laugh was loud and full of joy as he offered a hand to pick them off the floor. "Oh! Why don't we make it a water party!" He said already taking out his pen.
"Oh my sevens please save us!" Ace yelled.
"Isn't that gonna be hard to clean up afterwards?" Deuce asked sitting up to look at Kalim.
"Oh it's fine I'll deal with that after." Kalim dismissed the question already putting magic sprinklers around the room. Deuce looked at Ace confused.
"Not Jamil?" He asked hesitantly. Minajael whipped his head toward the younger frantically signaling he messed up. "What?" He asked Minajael.
Kalim slowly turned his head toward look at him before smiling again "No." He said still sounding as chipper as ever.
Minajaels shoulders dropped in somewhat relief.
"Oh i love this song! Come dance guys!" He perked up and grabbed Ace and Epels arms at randoms and pulled them toward the dance floor.
Minajael watched as Kalim and his friends danced while he sat next to Yuu gossiping about their schools. He hadn't really been paying attention to the sight before them until he saw Kalim weaving through the crowd of dancing people. Minajael made an excuse to see what he was headed towards.
When he reached the edge of the dance floor he saw Kalim talking to a very angry Jamil.
"I wanted to say sorry." He heard Kalim say only to be shot down.
"You're sorry? For what, for putting my life on the line because you couldn't handle having to do stuff on your own?" Jamils voice was sharp and unforgiving.
"No i—" kalim tried again.
"Or are you sorry you didn't just call daddy for my execution?" Jamil accused Kalim.
"What i would never!" Kalim defended himself.
"Okay so then you're sorry for not being able to keep your mouth shut and actually be trust worthy for once!" The music began to lower as more heads were being turned their way.
"What!" Kalim yelled clearly offended.
"You couldn't be trusted with information even if it would kill you"Jamil said doubling down.
"That so not true," Kalim said.
Jamil laughed crossing his arms "okay so its only when it affects m—" Jamil was cut off with a punch to the face. The crowd around them reacted with a gasp.
"I never told anyone any of your secrets!" Kalim yelled angrily hitting him again.
"Oh you little…" Jamil muttered before he punched kalim back. Kalim stumbled back before regaining his balance.
"I never once told anyone your unique magic even to this day!" Kalim yelled again stunning Jamil
"What?" Was all he was able to let out before he was tackled to the floor.
"I treated you like a friend!"
Punch
"like my best friend!"
Punch
"I never treated you like my servant!"
Punch
"I never let anyone talk bad about you even after you over blotted!"
Punch
"I would have let you shine!"
Punch
"In would have given you the spotlight"
Punch
"I would have given you money!"
Punch
"I would have given you freedom if you asked!"
Kalim dropped his head on Jamil chest letting out a sob.
"Why didn't you ask?" He cried before he was shoved off. Kalim was met with a heavy blow to the head.
"Think kalim!" Jamil yelled, "fucking think!" Jamil punched again before they began rolling around in their fight throwing punches back and forth and the crowd cheered them on.
"Holy shit, should we stop them?" Ruggie asked from Minajaels left.
"Nah i think its best for them." Floyd said leaning on him.
"You think i didn't know you would do it?!" Jamil yelled in between punches and kicks. "You think i didn't want to ask!" He said again.
"Why didn't you!" Kalim tried to kick Jamil off of him.
"Because your family wouldn't allow it, they would have me and my family dead!" Jamil yell stopping all resistance Kalim had been putting up.
"My family?" Kalim spoke weakly as Jamil finally got off him.
Kalim slowly stood up, "so you hate me because of the blood in my body?"
"What?" Jamil asked looking up at Kalim who's eyes were blank.
"So i just have to find a way to get rid of this filthy name and you wont hate me anymore?"kalim asked grabbing his magic pen from his pocket. The magic stone inside almost completely black. A wash of dread came over Minajael as he watched Kalim hold it up.
"Okay now we have to step in" Minajael looked toward the voice only to be met with the group Kalim invited all frozen in fear.
"Kalim." Jamil put a hand out to calm him.
The group ran forward crowding kalim all yelling different things.
"Kalim please lets just talk about this!" Cater pleaded.
"Come on dude why don't we just go back to the party" Ace offered.
"Yeah weren't we having fun?" Deuce followed after.
"Sea otter gonna ruin the fun" Floyd added not really helping.
"Hey why don't we just go out for air?" Epels accent was heard through the crowd.
"Let's go to my dorm, it'll be a sleepover!" Yuu shouted trying to mask the fear in their voice.
"Maybe we could go to off campus and calm down." Ruggie thought aloud.
Kalim ignored every plead, every yell, every scream, he ignored it all only looking at the man before him, the cause of his tears.
"Kalim stop!" Minajael screamed louder than he ever had in his life. "Please!"
Kalim took a step towards Jamil. "Right?" His voice was desperate and defeated. "That's all i have to do right?"
"That's no—"
"right?" Water began dripping on his head. The dips soon morphed onto a strong flood that knocked Kalim off balance. Kalims pen slid across the floor stopping before Minajaels foot. They watched in horror as the black enveloped the entire stone. They looked back at the scene before them to see the once clear floor of water now fogged with a pitch black.
"What is that?" Minajael asked still frozen in place eyes glued to the scene before him.
"He's over blotting!" Yuu's words struck fear through Minajael.
"Kalim!" Jamil sprung into action pulling him out the pouring blot. That came to a stop the moment he was pulled from it.
Kalim coughed violently. He placed his hands on the floor pushing himself up."what's wrong?" Kalims voice came out destroyed like two voices overlapping. The blot left on the floor started moving towards him. It floated up and spiraled around him trying to shield him from eyes. "Isn't this what you wanted?" Kalims voice came from the curtain of blot.
The blot fell to the floor again revealing an unrecognizable Kalim. The whites of his left eye and the red color in his left was completely shrouded in black. The once white henna that covered his arms had now grown to cover the left side now black and more intricate.Red, white, and black cloths draped across his body He was covered head to toe in gold jewelry. It hung around his neck, waist, shoulders, arms, and the turban that now sat on top of his head. The turban was black with a red gem and feather on it resembling the sultan from the story of the princess and the thief. The sight was terrifying the person before them wasn't the Kalim they knew.
"We have to be careful we don't know what he's going to do right now." Yuu told the group.
"What so where just gonna sit and wait for him to attack us?" Ace said in disbelief.
They all turned their heads back to kalim when they heard loud distorted sobs.
"I-is he crying?" ruggie asked.
"I think so…" cater spoke up.
An astonished laugh came from Epel as they watched the tears fall at a rapid pace. The tears soon became a puddle around Kalim.
"That's a lot of tears" Floyd noted.
"So do we just hit him?" Deuce asked.
"That seems too easy" Minajael added.
"I mean ain't it worth a shot?" Epel asked.
without another word Ace rushed in to hit Kalim but when he got close he was thrown back and into a wall by a heavy unexpected current of water coming from the opposite wall. The current left behind a constant stream of water coming from the wall.
"Ah shit that hurt." Ace said grabbing on to the hand Ruggie offered.
The puddle around Kalim got significantly larger already covering the entire floor as he cried harder.
"This isn't good." Jamil muttered to himself.
Minajael looked around the room in silence before he started speaking. "We can't keep attacking him like that," he looked at the rest of the group pausing for a moment. "But if we take too long this waters going to be an issue."
"But if he can't hit him how else are we gonna get him back?!" Ace yelled.
"We have to find another way you get closer to him without him shooting us back or were just going to speed up the water "Minajael stated pointing at the stream that had thrown Ace back. The water was rising faster with its addition and if they continued to attack recklessly the water covering the floor would actually be dangerous. In other words they were on a time limit.
"Maybe Sea Otter just doesn't like crabby" Floyd said before meeting the same fate as Ace.
”Hey!”
"FLOYD!" Ace,Deuce,Yuu,Epel,Cater, and Ruggie all yelled in unison.
"Well at least we know that it's not Ace's fault." Ruggie said trying to stay optimistic.
The water had already risen to mid calf with the addition of the new stream.
"What if we attack from a different angle?" Cater asked.
"That's basically the same thing those two idiots did," Jamil spoke up. Minajael nodded in agreement. "We can't afford to mess up a hundred times!" Jamil yelled again.
"Let's try items," Ruggie said already pointing his pen toward a couch. When he heard no protests he began levitating the couch high before shooting it in Kalims direction.
The couch was thrown to the corner of the room adding yet another stream of water.
"Damn it!" Ruggie yelled.
"What are we going to do nothing's working!"Ace yelled from Ruggies left.
"Maybe we could try multiple things at once,"Epel swished around in the fast rising water as he walked over to the two.
"I guess we wont know if we don't try," Minajael said lifting many things from around the room and throwing them at Kalim all at once. This time multiple streams started at once hitting each and every item down. "This isn't going to work there is too many streams and the water is rising way to fast." He looked down at the water that was only knee high seconds ago already reaching their chests from the amount of water coming from the streams.
"Kalim! You dumbass stop this bullshit!" Jamil yelled out catching Kalims attention.
"W-why are you still mad at me?" Kalim uncovered his eyes."i got rid of it."
"What are you even talking about, look at this!" Jamil demanded now kicking his legs around as the water started slightly lifting them.
"I got rid or it" kalim said bringing both arms above his head placing a hand on his forearm. "I got rid of that filthy blood," he dug his nails into his arm dragging it down revealing black instead of the typical red. "I freed you!" He yelled as the blot ran down his arm and into the swiftly rising water.
"What the…" Minajael started watching the black spread through the water covering over the clear blue.
Kalim started scratching all over his body desperately showing the blot to Jamil. "I got rid of the thing that tied you down to me so why!" Kalim screamed.
"We have to stop him!" Minajael yelled out.
"I can stop the scratching but i don't know how much that will do." Ruggie yelled back pointing his pen at Kalim. "Laugh with me!" Ruggie cast the spell and place his hands on his head. Kalim followed the exact movement still crying. The rising water had already been fogged over almost completely fogged with black blot."I can't do this forever so whatever you're going to do, do it fast!"ruggie shouted.
Without thinking Minajael threw the first thing he saw at Kalim only for it to get shot down again.
"Jamil why do you still hate me ?!" Kalim questioned hands still on his head.
"Guys hurry up!" Ruggie yelled out.
Yuu panicked putting a hand in the air only for it to hit the ceiling. "Jamil you have to—" Yuu tried to plead with Jamil.
"No!" He yelled.
"Please were going to die!"
"Sea snake you're not going to be free if your dead." Floyd reasoned
Minajael swam over to Jamil grabbing his shoulders and looking into his eyes. "I don't care what they're talking about but you better stop the bullshit and do it!"
"Guys my spell wore out!" Ruggie shouted from behind Minajael.
"Do it!"
"Okay!" Jamil shoved Minajael off and swam in front of Kalim. "Kalim i don't hate you!" Kalims head shot up eyes shining.
"Really!"
"The one you behold is your is your master. When i ask you a question, you with answer. When i give you a command, you will assent. Snake Charmer." Kalims eyes glossed over and his arms dropped.
"Yes master," his voice was distant like a robot.
"What the hell did you do?'"Minajael asked only to be ignored.
"Floyd im going to stop him from fighting back, you are going to go down their and knock him out of the frenzy."
"Yessir" Floyd said already in eel form.
Jamil turned back to kalim,"You are not going to fight back, you are to let yourself be hit until you are knocked out of the frenzy. Do you understand?"
"Yes master."
Minajael watched in complete silence as Floyd dove under the black water. He didn't know what to think, Jamil could mind control and Kalim knew it. How many times had he done it? Why did he hide it? It was an extremely powerful spell. Was it so no one suspected it or was it so people weren't scared of it.
Through the black Minajael saw a faint lavender glow and before he could think kalim sank under the water. Ruggie swam forward grabbing Kalims body keeping his head above water.
Floyd resurfaced with a grin,"Did it." He looked around at the water and his smile dropped. "What do we do about the water?"
"Ain't there a balcony down there?" Epel asked to which Jamil nodded. "So just go down there and open the darn thing!"
Floyd let out a dramatic sigh before diving down again.
Soon the water drained and their feet met the floor again. Ace kissed the floor while the others let out a relived sigh.
Minajael rushed to Kalims side taking ahold of his hand."Is he going to wake up?"
"We've had four over blots this year and none of them died, i have hope," Yuu placed a hand on his shoulder.
Jamil stepped towards Kalims body with a somewhat sad look on his face. He knelt down and placed a hand on him.
Kalims eyes fluttered open with a sort of dazed look. He looked around at his friends and Jamil before his eyes teared up.
"Not again,"Floyd groaned.
"I'm sorry!" Kalim let the tears fall down his face.
Jamil let out a laugh causing Kalim to sit up straight to get a batter look at him. "Sevens we've got a lot of problems."
"Not really it's kind of the same problem,"Ace said. "Ow! What was that for!"he yelped after Deuce elbowed him.
"Anyway" Jamil sighed, "im sorry too, i should have just had a civil conversation with you."
"It's not your fault, im so sorry!" Kalim threw himself on Jamil.
"I think we can give a shot at being friendly," Jamil said while prying Kalim off him.
"Really!"
"Yeah i guess."
It's been two and a half weeks since Kalims over blot and he and Jamil had become far more honest with each other about their feelings even id it didn't concern the other. Kalim still tried to do things on his own but now he allowed himself to ask Jamil for help. His typical smile returned to his face again. He started laughing for real again. Kalim also started to contact Minajael more often even for little things like how he had to kill a bug for Jamil that day.
Jamil on the other hand continued to shine where he could. He tried to be more understanding with the things Kalim did and he started letting Kalim know when he was crossing a boundary. The biggest difference of all however was that Jamil actually started to like Kalims company. They weren't friends yet but Jamil certainly didn't hate him anymore.
And although it definitely wasn't good maybe that day wasn't the worst thing to ever happen.