PHASE 17 - BY HER SIDE

Jeannette’s golden cross sigil on her eyes glowed as she raised her voice.

“By the power of my , I command you! Alaric Eisenhower, break your limits, and destroy your enemies!”

A sudden surge of strength entered my body. I felt that there is his burning sensation in my heart as adrenaline entered all over my veins. I was covered in a glowing golden aura! I feel like I’m a whole new level now!

“By the power of my , I command this body of mine to focus on the battle and ignore the wounds I sustained.” Jeannette whispered. Then for a brief moment, her body was engulfed in a golden aura which immediately disappeared.

Tiara told me that Jeannette has a powerful Guardian Ability, and that is , which makes her able to command the person with absolute obedience. She can control the mind of a person by her voice command. Aside from that, she can force someone to use their full potential.

My body moved on its own. I charged from each of my hands!

When the gigantic tribal-fashioned Eidolon started to sprint towards our direction, my arms threw the which hit the enemy’s left and right shoulders! Both of its arms became frozen upon impact!

Jeannette then recovered her revolver from me, and she dashed forward to close the distance.

Without having a movable arm used to make an assault, the giant Eidolon used its feet to sweep, hoping that it can hit the small girl. But Jeannette was too nimble, and she drifted away from the attack!

She used the Eidolon’s frozen arms as a ladder to climb to that monster’s body! When she is finally two meters away from its head, Jeannette made a smile as she pointed both guns on its face!

“This ends now! !!!”

Two revolvers were morphed into a pair of submachine guns which released endless barrage of missiles! There was a continuous deafening explosion until nothing was left on that Eidolon’s head.

When my childhood friend finally got hold of the second Quintessence from that Eidolon, she ran into my position and then tried to look cute by smiling and blushing.

“Oh my, that was exhausting.” She said.

After two seconds of silence, she fell down! I was able to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Jeannette!” I shouted.

I used my as the first aid to her head injury. But blood continues to ooze from her forehead. She was nearly losing consciousness but she didn’t stop teasing me.

“Next time, get your Weapon Gem ready and stop being a burden… hehe…”

As soon as the Yami faded, we were transported to the world where we belong. We were already at the bus terminal when she passed out.

<>

I felt that my was not enough, so I carried her to the nearest hospital. I called Jeannette’s father through the phone as the doctors and nurses diagnose the unconscious girl.

Thankfully, the doctors said that she only suffered a graze on the top of her head and there are no internal wounds. She just needs some rest, and she’ll be discharged tomorrow morning.

Her father came to the hospital twenty minutes after I brought her here. After checking her daughter, Mr. Noctis called my attention and we had a private talk in the waiting room.

“Amy is pushing herself so hard in her work.” He said.

I had a glimpse of Mr. Noctis’s purple eyes, and I concluded that he knows that Jeannette is a Gate Guardian; Because her father also has this golden cross sigil on his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” I bowed. “She got injured because she protected me.”

“Protected you, huh?” Mr. Noctis smiled. “That’s Amy for you. It’s not like this happened for the first time. She had been protecting you from Eidolons ever since she became a Gate Guardian.”

“Ever since she became a Gate Guardian?” My eyes widened in shock. “How long has she been fighting Eidolons?”

“About three years.” Mr. Noctis answered. “Even after you transferred schools, she would still watch you from a distance. I wanted her to let go of your friendship, but as you see, Amy is a stubborn teen. She said that this is the last thing she could do to repay her sins.”

Tears went down to my cheeks. The emotional burden has struck me straight to the heart.

Mr. Noctis continued. “I know that you’re a good kid, Alaric. I don’t want my daughter to be hurt. That is why I wanted you to stay by her side and protect her. That’s the only thing I could wish for from you.”

<>

After hearing her father’s wishes, I had to reconsider what I have thought of Jeannette. Sure, she did terrible things to me, but knowing that she tried to protect me hits me in my soft spot.

For the first time in two years, I waited until she woke up early in the morning. We went to school together, and I fully watched every inch of movements she does, afraid that she may collapse. There’s no way she could be completely fine with that gigantic club smash she took for me. Sure, Gate Guardians will have their endurance increase by tenfold, but I couldn’t just sit and relax.

We’re late, but we’re lucky that there were no classes in our first period. When we entered the room, everyone wondered about Jeannette’s appearance. She’s not in her usual twintails, but instead, she had her hair down, reaching her waist. She has this bandage wrapped around her forehead.

“I-I’m fine!” Jeannette said to our girl classmates, who were quite worried. “I just slipped and got my head bumped to a chair. Nothing bad really happened.”

I never noticed that Jeannette has made friends in my class since I was avoiding to look at her and evading her during school hours. Jeannette is aristocratic, but she’s a friendly bitch. She’s good as a friend, but a terrible lover.

While she talks to our classmates, I proceeded to my seat. Never did I know that I’ve been staring at her for too long. When she noticed me, she immediately went in front of my desk. She even pushed Heushac (who was sleeping soundly on his desk) out of her way.

“I heard from my father that you talked about me.” Jeannette then puffed her cheeks and looked away. “Don’t believe what my father said.”

I just remembered, back in junior high, Jeannette and her father are always in bad terms. Her father doesn’t like me as her best friend, and he doesn’t like Kristoff as her boyfriend either. In a nutshell, his father doesn’t like any boy near his cute daughter. That’s why her father’s wish to me is breathtaking.

“Yeah, right,” I answered coldly. “But thank you anyway from saving me.”

“That’s what best friends are for, right~” She smiled and then pushed herself forward. “I remembered that you called me by my nickname. So I think I’m worthy of a promotion from acquaintance to BFF’s~”

“I didn’t say ‘Amy’ at that time, idiot.” I looked away. Maybe I’m blushing but I have to hide it. “You got your head whacked so it’s just your hallucination.”

<>

Suddenly, three beautiful girls went in front of the classroom and called the attention of the whole class. From the looks of it, they are our upperclassmen. I’ve seen them from magazines in our school, but I couldn’t remember what club they’re in. Their charming voice made the whole class focus on these gorgeous ladies.

“Good morning everyone! We received some news that there is a girl named Tiara Hikari who is enrolled in this class.”

All of the students in this class shifted their eyes to the Japanese girl who has been busy eating chocolate wafer sticks beside my seat. When she noticed that she’s the center of attention, she only managed to have a question mark face and “E-Eh?” sound.

“Wow! You really are cute! No wonder you’re the newest Madonna of this school!” The three cried in unison. Then the three girls went to her desk and revealed a flash pamphlet.

“We would want you to join the Idol Club~”