"ELLIS!"

I couldn\'t even contain my excitement when I saw him. He looked better than yesterday, but he\'s still sleeping. On top of that, on his chest…

"Haru?" Fei asked as he transferred his eyes from Ellis\'s chest to Haru\'s face.

"Don\'t ask," Haru said and he returned his eyes to the book.

"How is he?" I queried Haru.

"He\'s stable now. He just needs to wake up, but he\'s been resting well since last night," Haru answered.

[Is it what I think it is?] I asked Fei in my mind.

[Absolutely.]

That was the same necklace that I saw in the movie-like scene that Fei showed me. The one that Haru gave to Fenna! Does this mean…

"Where are the Brazilians?"

Finally! Ellis woke up. It seemed like he didn\'t take that massive blow last night.

Haru stood up and slammed the book on the side table. "Really? I gave you the Camo and all you did when you woke up was to look for the Brazilians?"

[Camo?] I asked Fei.

[Yeah, our pendants have names and he named it Camo.] Fei explained.

Ellis chuckled. "I didn\'t really get to chat with them. All I hear last night was, \'Don\'t die, Ellis. You must live for me.\' Several times. Like I already lost count."

[Ooh! That\'s some hot tea!] I told Fei.

[I can\'t really imagine Haru would be that involved right away.] Fei commented.

I went straight to him and hugged him. He groaned as I might have hit a wound in his body. "You crazy bitch! You saved me."

"I saved you, so stop calling me a crazy bitch," Ellis reacted. "What really happened last night after I passed out?"

Fei answered Ellis\'s question. "Haru and Salvatore stopped their fight to battle Sinead and Sorcha. They beat the Irish."

"Oh, I wanted to pull their hair together and make a wig out of it," Ellis joked, which means he\'s already in good condition, somehow.

"Stop kidding around. You\'re still not that well," Haru commanded.

Ellis was flickering the Camo. "Am I?"

Haru just grabbed the book he was reading earlier and sat down on his chair. "Just sleep."

"I\'m really hungry right now. I think I can eat an entire footlong sandwich in one go," Ellis whispered.

In just a blink of an eye, the silhouette of Fei\'s dick registered in my mind. Oh, gosh. That\'s really stupid of me!

"Do you want some footlong sandwich too?" Fei asked with a mischievous grin.

"Stop it," I murmured. Oh, gosh. This is really embarrassing!

"They sell them at Subway. I can buy them for everyone. Just stay here," Fei winked and left the room.

"I\'ll check on the visitors as well," Haru stood up and moved closer to Ellis\'s face. "See you later."

"Tell the Italian to come here," Ellis teased.

Haru growled and left the room with the door banging. Both of us laughed.

"You\'re really mean, you know that?" I spoke, as I sat beside him on the bed.

"Nah, I was being polite the entire time," Ellis said. "The last hours… Girl, crazy. Crazy is the word for it."

"Tell me more about it," I replied. "It\'s my fourth day dealing with this shit. I didn\'t know how I kept up, yet I\'m really fascinated with the sorcery and witchcraft and whatever magic I see. I actually can\'t wait to discover my powers."

"Now that you\'ve mentioned it…" Ellis pointed at the window curtain and… he opened it wide by merely pointing at it. The sun\'s rays were hitting our faces immediately.

My mouth fell to the ground. "Wait. You have powers now?"

"I guess, it\'s because of the Camo," Ellis held the necklace close to me.

"Oh, the enchanted pendant. Did you know what that is for?" I asked.

"No, but when Haru wore this on me, I felt a different kind of force. It\'s like I was slowly reviving. Like I\'m drowned in the bottom of the ocean and he was there to save me. I heard his voice, repeatedly telling me, \'Don\'t die, Ellis. You must live for me.\', as if he took me from that deep trench and we swam to the surface and that\'s when I caught my breath. I guess this pendant has a magical power of resurrecting someone," Ellis said.

"You have no idea what that is," I grinned. "But it\'s so cool that you could do those things. Can you fly or something?"

"No, but when I woke up in the middle of the night, while Haru was sleeping there, I sort of figured out if I did have any magic at all. So, I tried pulling the curtain from here, and I did," Ellis said. "I think it depends on the holder\'s body. I\'m still weak last night, and now, although I am getting better, I couldn\'t perform any magic at all yet."

"Nah, it\'s just a regular necklace. An expensive one, I\'d say," a female voice spoke from the far end of the room.

"Jia, hello," I greeted her. It was Jia, bringing a tray with a pot of tea and some cups for us. She put them on the side table beside Haru\'s book.

"Regular necklace, you say?" Ellis\'s left eyebrow moved up.

"Yeah. It\'s like our family heirloom or something. However, we decided to apply some charm or incantation to it, for the wielder\'s protection. I still have mine here. It\'s called Sara," Jia opened her hand and magically, her own pendant appeared. "And I\'m planning to give this to Dakarai soon, when he\'s done with his medical mission in Africa."

"Oh, your boyfriend, yes?" I asked.

"Yeah, I missed him already," Jia said. "I saw Fei going out to buy footlong sandwiches in Subway, per your request?"

"Mine, actually," Ellis answered. "But you know, it\'s just to tease Haru. Is he really like that? I mean, he\'s too forward sometimes."

Jia chuckled. "He just wanna get what he wants, and he works hard to get it. Come hell or high water, by hook or by crook."

"Just because he was rejected? What\'s up with that?" Ellis asked, and both Jia and I told the complicated story. Jia was surprised that I knew. I told her that Fei and I were talking about Haru when we woke up earlier.

"What? So, where\'s the bitch right now? Is she pursuing her master\'s degree in the Netherlands?" Ellis guessed.

"Doctorate," Jia corrected.

Ellis winced. "She chose those test tubes over those test—"

I stopped Ellis right away, because I know he\'s about to say something vulgar. "Ellis. There is a lady around us. Language."

Jia giggled. "No worries. The Xings are sex-positive, open-minded, and diversity-loving people. I still remembered the day when Fei opened up to us about you. We didn\'t mind if he likes a guy. What the family\'s issue is he couldn\'t bear a child with you. You know, we wanna have more members."

I liked that about the Xings. They\'re such an adorable family. One thing that I would say I\'d wanna belong with.

"Love it, girl," Ellis said. "So, yeah, that Fenna girl chose potions over penises."

"Technically, yeah. Hence, Haru\'s attitude towards rejection. As the legendary Madonna once sang, \'Rejection is the greatest aphrodisiac.\'," Jia stated.

"Okay, so she\'s a Madonna fan. I once performed \'Like A Virgin\' on stage and the crowd went bonkers. It\'s because my tuck was out," Ellis joked and we all laughed so hard.

After fifteen minutes, Fei arrived with the paper bags in his arms. I distributed the food and we all ate our breakfast. Then, Ellis rested again. Haru, as always, stayed in the room to look after Ellis.

Just as we were all done eating, Taki arrived and brought startling news.

"Fei, Jia, Haru, come to the grand hall now. Mrs. Akira Xing will announce something," Taki said. Haru and Ellis were left in the room and the rest of us proceeded.

When we arrived at the great hall, I was surprised because the elders of each family were there. Mrs. Akira Xing stood at the platform beside the grand piano and looked so serious.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Fei whispered.

To hear that from Fei is absolutely terrifying. He must have never seen his Gramms be like that in the past.

"My dear friends, I am here to give you a piece of very important information that you must know. Last night, when we were conferring about the ingelids that attacked us, an underground force is stealthily killing our colleagues around the world. Some were safe and in hiding, but the others didn\'t make it. It has come to my attention that not only the Borgs of Stockholm are behind this. They have been also in coordination with the former council heads of WOCOSO, the Sovietskys of St. Petersburg and the Saint-Pierre of Marseille. The plan… They want only the strongest sorcerers, witches, and wizards to survive. The weak ones, the beginners, those who have not attained their true power, they are in danger," Mrs. Xing explained.

"So… the tournament is not happening anymore?" an elder Hindi beside Janardan asked. I think it is his father.

"I think that\'s how they decide who joins the tournament. The survivors," Mrs. Xing responded. "Those who are here, I know you will survive, and who knows, one day we may need to fight each other. That is why as early as right now, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of you, that before we may face this fearful event in our lives, you all know that the Xings will cherish all the memories we have with all of you. You have been a great ally to us. However, if in the event that we battle, please do not hesitate to fight for your lives. As my personal expression of indebtedness, if you need to stay here in the Xing mansion, you are welcome to do so. The house masters will prepare for your respective rooms. If you need to go back to your countries, our family\'s support is always with you. Just let us know anything you need and our family is ready to assist you all. Thank you and good morning," Mrs. Xing went down to the platform and Jia escorted her out of the grand hall.

Oh, my gosh. Shit just became even more terrifying. Sorcerers, witches, wizards, and magicians are dying all over the world… and me, a human being, who just got involved in this magic mess…

What will happen to me?