CONTROL - Ver. 2

XXVII

Rin's bare knees hit the rough ground. Her mind was filled with haze. Though she knew what she had just done, it seemed as if it all had happened in a dream. Violet eyes gazed in front of her as she barely held herself up. Her eyes were foggy, her vision totally blurred and unable to make out the scene in front of her. Her ears rang slightly, much like they had when she was having her visions.

Heavy breaths escaped her lips, her chest heaving to retain oxygen. Last thing she remembered was―

A hand gently touched her shoulder, causing her to flinch and jump back from the figure. Though she couldn't really see his face, she knew who it was. She could tell his scent apart no matter the situation.

"Rin, hey..." Sting knelt down in front of her, moving slowly so as not to startle her. He moved his arms around her body, carefully covering her in the cloak he'd stolen from Rogue's back.

"S-Sting...?" The blonde nodded, though it just looked like blurry movement to the girl. Rin relaxed at the feeling of her naked skin being covered by the material, hugging it closely to her body. The blonde's gloved fingers came up and gently held her chin as he inspected the cloudiness of her eyes.

"You can't see very much right now, can you?" The brunette shook her head, her face not leaving the touch of his hand. "Do you wanna talk about all that?" She knew he was referring to the whole turning-into-a-dragon thing, but there were too many details to cover at the moment. Plus, her transformation had given rise to new memories that she didn't know she possessed; ones from long before her childhood in Fiore.

Rin shook her head at his question. "How are your legs? Can you stand?" She shook her head again, simply staring at him with glazed eyes.

"My whole body feels weak," she croaked. The blonde stifled a chuckle as he moved around to her side in order to scoop her up.

"I bet. You used up every drop of magic power you've got. And that's saying something." Rin sighed as he lifted her body up and cradled it close to his chest. There was still some kind of tension between the two after everything that had been said within the last twenty-four hours, but her wellbeing seemed more important at the moment. Even so, there was no reason to hold her so tenderly like she was the most delicate thing on Earthland. "Seriously, are you okay, though?"

Rin finally gave in and leaned her head onto his collarbone, soaking up the warmth from his body into her cold skin.

"She'll be fine," a new voice chimed in. Sting and Rogue both broke their necks to look at a new figure who stood beside them. She was almost glowing, like an ethereal being.

"Masumi," Rin groaned. "You're not supposed to come out in front of other people." The woman shifted her weight onto one hip and crossed her arms as she moved around to stand in front of the blonde and his mate. She had long, dark hair and creamy pale skin and her attire consisted of what looked like the most expensive gold and jewels Crocus had ever seen.

"I'm the one who made up that rule so I get to break it." The brunette huffed, narrowing her gaze at the woman.

"Sting, Rogue," she called. "This is Masumi, my dragon." The boys both looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Your-"

"-dragon?" Sting tilted his head down at the girl in his arms, but found that her eyes were shut. "How is your dragon still alive?"

"I'm not, boy. My soul just lives inside her," she pointed to Rin. "That dragon you just saw was my true form. Except Rin has full control over it."

"Um," Sting replied with an idiotic smile on his face. "Why are you so big?" Rin and Rogue both rolled their eyes at the moronic question. On the other hand, Masumi scowled at him, feeling a vein pop in her forehead.