-Break-
As we both sit down on the ground, I slowly peek my head up, where I see her head has blown up to be nearly three times the size. "I am sorry for whining."
Whilst her head shrinks, she says, "No need to be sorry, I was just taking a minute to digest all the information. So if I got this right, a bunch of kids who bully you at school ended up following you and stole one of your family's prized books, the curse encyclopedia. And you can't tell anyone because if it comes out that the Frumos family's new heir let one of the country's most prized possessions get stolen, it would bring shame to your house."
I nod and say, "That's about it. What do you think we shou-."
Looking at her, I see her head melt, which makes panic flow through my body as I say, "SLIME, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"
"This is really complicated, to be honest, I am not very smart, the only reason I am even in the city is that some of the produce my family farm won in a competition, which got me sent here as a reward."
"No, you're not dumb; it's my fault for allowing something so stupid and dangerous to take place."
Her two hands slap both of my face cheeks, then she says, "That's enough apologising today, it ain't getting us anywhere. Let's think about solutions. First, do you think they will destroy the book?"
"I doubt it. They should see from it's encasing that it is a valuable artefact, even in the worst case, they'll probably try to sell i-. Wait, why are you smiling?"
"No reason. But that means most of the danger is gone, so now we should give them a bit of payback."
"Payback? You don't mean."
"VIOLENCE!" She says, slamming her right fist into her left palm. "The farm animals and I used to rough house all the time, so I know a thing or two about getting beasts in shape."
"No way! We'll lose! All of those boys are from military families. I'd get my butt kicked if we fought."
"Fists aren't the only form of violence; your noggin can be stronger than the deadliest of swords. You have technical access to whatever cursed tool you need through the use of Balaur. If you play your cards right, I am sure you'd subdue them."
"NO WAY!" I shout as I lower my head. Covering my face with my hands, I say, "I freeze whenever I am in a combat scenario, I can barely keep my legs from failing me. It's been like this ever since I was a child. Even if I have all the curse tools I need, my body would freeze, and I would just end up handing it over to them. I am not Intrare, I can never be her."
Smacking me on the top of my head, she says, "Men don't raise their voices to ladies."
Feeling tears well up in my eyes, I say, "Sorry for shouting at y-."
Smacking me again, she says, "NO MORE SORRYS!"
I reel back and say, "What am I supposed to do then!"
She flicks me in the forehead again and says, "Annoying, isn't it, but that's how you come off when you create all those imaginary reasons."
"It's not imaginary, I am a cowa-."
"You lied to me earlier. The books contain a massive amount of information on how to forge cursed tools, more than any other book in history. If that got out, it would be a national incident that would make many more corpse robbers appear in our lands. Even if it would bring shame onto your family, you wouldn't let others get hurt due to that Dragoste. But if you did report this, the boys who hurt you would get a massive amount of punishment, and would be massively socially shamed to the point where they'd probably have to leave school. You're doing this to protect them, because you're a really nice person, Dragoste. That's super brave, so don't pretend like you're not."
A bright smile washes over her face, and seeing it, I say, "Pretty."
Smacking me again, she says, "You're not getting any treats for that sugary language. Though you can enjoy my blush. Now let's find a way to get these little street rats to respect you!"
Nodding, I say, "Right!"
"Also, don't call me Slime, my name is Liina, Liina the slime!"
-2 days later-
Location: Nightmare Nation, Blestemate; Căderea-Dracului; St. Alucard Community College
Holding my backpack tight, I take a deep breath and walk into my classroom, and as I open the door mid-lecture, I see my teacher turn and say, "You do realise class is almost over."
"Yes," I say as I stare him directly in the eyes.
He reels back for a moment, then says, "Why should I even let you into this classroom?"
Pointing at Lich, I say, "Because I am the next head of the Frumos family, and unlike warrior family trash, I can make sure your retirement is far more comfortable than even a royal of some countries."
"Really?" he says as a smile crawls onto his face.
A girl in the class says, "Taking bribes, teacher."
"What, no! I don't have time for this. Just sit down."
I walk forward, taking a seat, and turning my head to Lich, I hear him whisper, "You're dead human."
I give him a side glance before turning my head to face the teacher, and then it begins. Their whispers hit my ears.
"What an uptight prick."
"Does Mister Human think he is better than us?"
"Guess he stopped pretending to like us."
"Throwing wealth around is all people like him are good for."
"Warrior family trash? Sorry that we can't all be born into a family that is only powerful due to getting a lucky curse."
"Someone should shut his mouth."
Along with the endless items they throw at the sensitive bones in my hair, which irritate my mind again and again to the point where my thoughts struggle to form.
It bothers me again, and again, like an itching inside my brain that I can't touch. My bones pick up on everything around me, especially the ones in my hair, which have a direct connection to my brain.
Feeling overwhelmed, I hold out Grandma's tattered bracelet, and looking at it, I see some slime intertwined with its body, which causes me to grip it tighter than normal. I can do this.
My mind calms as their onslaught against me continues, and soon the bell rings and the teacher says, "Make sure to be back by next period, ON TIME. Enjoy your lunch," whilst walking away.
As the teacher leaves, I hear Lich sit up out of his chair, and I follow suit. Turning to him, I give him a glare as he walks up to me with the rest of his friends forming the chairs into a circle around us.
"What's with that nasty look in your eyes, Dragoste, the sight of a Nightmare too purtied for you."
"No, it's just your half-rotting stink that has infected my nostrils. Maybe before you get insulted by me insulting warrior families, you shouldn't be the one shaming them in the first place."
A few giggles move across the class, which are quickly shut down by a stomp, placing his fist in her palm. Lich cracks his neck and says, "You really want me to punch in your teeth today. Did you end up growing some balls after yesterday?"
"No, people like me actually have them from birth; it's called being a man. But I guess little boys like you can't find your tiny ones."
He swings his fist right towards me, and I freeze for a second. I am going to get hit, I am going to get hit, I am going to get hit! I am scared, I am scared, I am sca-. 'That's super brave,' Her words play in my head, and in that instant, I start feeling the world around me with the bones in my hair, and shift my head just barely dodging his punch, and trip him over as I do.
Then, using my bones to reach into my backpack, I pull out a small tin bag and throw it at Lich's face as he turns his head towards me.
The moment it hits, it bursts with black powder covering his face, and with a smile, I say, "Now you're starting to look human. See ya."
Turning, I move through the crowd and rush out the door, then, following behind me, I hear him scream, "DRAGOSTE, COME BACK HERE!"
I look back where I see him and his friends chasing after me, and I rush forward at full force as I say, "All according to the plan."
Reaching into my back with my bones, I throw feathers at them, then keep moving forward. "Got to stick to the map, and make sure I get everything right."
Rushing to the stairs, I head up them as they follow me and move through the next flow. I follow this process over and over again, throwing fur, oil, tar, flowers, eggs, and milk at certain points as I keep moving.
Turning my head, I see them huffing and puffing as they chase me, "This feels pretty easy, I guess the distance I travelled to get away from everyone each day was helpfu-."
In front of me, I see Intrare standing on one leg in front of three Nightmares, one with hair shaped like a chessboard, another with moss growing on her and a third, large one with hair that reminds me of an ecosystem, on the windowsill of the penultimate floor. She twirls around while posing like a ballerina, carefree from all that happens around her, until she trips, and is caught by her friends who pull her up.
Seeing this, I charge forward and tackle her to the ground. As I hold her on the ground, I shout, "IDIOT!"
Annoyed, she says, "YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN TO ME IN MONTHS, AND THE FIRST THING YOU CALL ME IS AN IDIOT!"
"BECAUSE YOU ARE AN IDIOT! DON'T DO DUMB THINGS!"
"WHY THE HELL WOULD I LISTEN TO YOU!"
"BECAUSE I AM YOUR OLDER BROTHER AND I LOVE YOU, NO MATTER WHAT, I WILL ALWAYS BE LOOKING OUT FOR YOU. REMEMBER THAT! IDIOT! SO YOU GOT THAT!"
Nodding, she says, "Yeah, big brother."
"GOOD!"
Getting off of her, I start running and shout, "DON'T COME AFTER ME!"
As I rush to the top floor, and reach the door closest to the roof.
Standing in front of it, I keep opening the handle pretending for the door to be locked, and as the footsteps come closer behind me, I turn in the narrow corridor leading to the roof, and put on an anxious smile.
Full of rage, Lich says, "You got lucky, you bastard, but it ends right now. I hope you enjoy the pain."
Taking a step forward, I use my bones to grab something from my bag, then say, "If you're going to beat me up, at least keep your pants up."
I squeeze a cursed tool in back bag, and in an instant, all locks, knots, buckles and buttons within the corridor come undone, and all of their pants fall down.
They all instantly reach their hands down to grab them, but in that moment, from the top of the corridor, Liina falls down, and using her slimy body, she forces all of their hand to be stuck right into their shoes, making them unable to bend their bodies back up.
Confused Lich says, "What, what is going on!?"
"My revenge. Now let's begin your ride." I grab another cursed item from my bag and say, "Did you know that right below this point is every single place I threw stuff at you? Have a look!"
Holding the tool, the ground beneath them turns into sludge, which falls down, and through it they fall, sliding right into all the things I threw at them on their way back up, and as a large thud hits the ground, I say, "Oops."