When Arian realized Sublimus was here with him, he knew something had gone horribly wrong.
When they were still bonded, Arian had accessed Sublimus's powers through their shared bond, often enough to know the beast had never entered the vision with him.
This isn't how it's was supposed to work!
The prince questioned whether he had actually managed to get into the vision he wanted to see, or if this was instead a reality created by Sublimus- nothing that would ever happen in the future, and nothing that concerned the three girls' exhausted state.
Maybe Sublimus has set up a trap for me, and when he realized I was pulling on his powers through our weakened connection, he took the chance.
Something like this shouldn't be possible, because as far as Arian knew, a quilin could only see visions of the future; they couldn't change the future, not even change the vision of it. Their power lay in knowing the future, not in changing it.
But then again, accessing the vision together with Arian shouldn't be possible as well, and yet here Sublimus was, taking one step after another towards Arian.
If he was able to enter Arian's vision, then who could say changing the vision itself was impossible?
To his regret, Arian could not give a precise answer, which made him furious.
It happened rarely that he was misinformed about something. As the crown prince, he had enjoyed the best education and had access to all the knowledge in the world.
He might not have known much about the Akai-Dezato Academy, but that was more due to it being so insignificant, as well as Arian not really having an interest in it, and him having to deal with the changes in his life after turning paraplegic.
He believed he could have prepared himself better for the trip had he put more time and effort into it. But he didn't, so it was only natural that there were some aspects of school life that surprised him.
With this situation, it was different. Not only was Arian interested in qilins and had studied them for many years, it was also one of the best-researched beasts.
Arian cursed the books, in which he had read about Sublimus's kind. None of them mentioned anything about the abilities, Sublimus showed right now.
He had expected the books in the royal library to hold all the information one would need. And in the past, they had never failed him. After all, they were written by the greatest minds in the empire. Many people double-checked them before the emperor himself approved them.
Arian could understand that there might be aspects that writers found too boring to elaborate on or fact-check if they were true, and which the editor wasn't particularly interested in as well.
Needless to say, his father wasn't interested in everything, either.
So Arian could justify some minor slander, but not this.
This was misinformation about a qilin. This wasn't just some random topic one could brush off by only throwing a glance at it.
After all, the qilin was and most of the time still is the symbol of the Eldoian Empire. Arian's dad tried to popularise banners with his phoenix, as well, but in most parts of the empire, the qilin represented the empire. The beast even symbolized an emperor or an empress themselves. Most rulers that came before Arian's father were bonded with a qilin. Even his grandmother had tamed one.
So were the books lacking, did no human know any better, or were the powers Sublimus presented truly extraordinary?
Arian couldn't tell, and it frustrated him. If he knew a clear answer, he would know how to deal with this situation better.
By now, Sublimus was really close. Arian could hear a low growling coming from his former beast.
Qilins were usually peaceful and kind creatures, which meant they rarely exhibited behavior such as growling.
it showed how far Arian's bond with his beast had degenerated and was a testament for the animosity between them.
The problem was just, Arian didn't understand where Sublimus's hate for him came from.
If it were up to him, they would still be bonded.
But Sublimus had wanted it differently- for whatever reason. So here they were, facing each other as enemies.
Even if Arian didn't want to admit it, he had to accept it as reality. The sight of his once-beloved beast now showing only hatred for him put Arian into an emotional state he couldn't quite describe.
He didn't know if he was disappointed or rather annoyed- maybe he was actually angry.
Well, I definitely feel betrayed, Arian thought. Sublimus had rejected me in my worst moment in life, just after my best friend betrayed me, and I became wheelchair bound. At the moment when I needed his support most in life, he had chosen to abandon me.
I have the right to be angry at him. To be furious.
I deserve an explanation.
Arian clenched his hands into fists. "Sublimus!" he shouted. "Why the hell are you here? What do you want from me? Haven't you tortured me enough?"
Arian wasn't sure what kind of response he had expected from the qilin.
Probably, that the beast would ignore him.
So it came as a little surprise that the qilin halted in his tracks.
The beast lowered his head, and even though Arian could only see the silhouettes, he was sure Sublimus was staring at him.
Arian wanted to flinch, to cower under the chugging gaze of his once other half, but he resisted the urge to dive back under the water and to pretend he had never been here in the first place.
Instead, he did his best to stare defiantly back at his former comrade.
And then he heard Sublimus's answer. It was a faint whisper in the back of his mind, weakened by the lack of bond between prince and beast.
"Not as much as you have tortured me, that's for sure."
Arian couldn't help but to furrow his brows in confusion. Against his better judgment, he allowed emotion to appear on his face.
"I don't understand. I haven't tortured you, I -"
"And that's why I rejected you-"
"But-"
Arian didn't understand. His head hurt from hearing Sublimus voice in his head. Clearly, after their breakup, they weren't meant to communicate in such a manner anymore.
He was frustrated, and it seemed like Sublimus was finished with talking.
The beast made another step forward, but then suddenly, he stopped.
A frustrated- or was it more of a disturbed- snort was heard. Sublimus sniffed the water and then backed away in a stupor.
"What have you done?" a voice roared in the back of his mind, it was dulled, as if there was an invisible barrier, preventing Arian from hearing his full force, but still it blasted in his mind, like the trumpets of victory after a battle.
Unintentionally, the prince flinched.
"I?" He shook his head, dumbfounded. "I have done nothing!"
"Get out of here!" This time, Sublimus's voice wasn't dulled. In fact, it was so loud that Arain feared he would suffer a sudden hearing loss from it.
Like so often during their conversations, Arian didn't understand anything.
And it didn't matter if he understood Sublimus' attentions or not.
All he needed to know was what the beast wanted right now.
And that was to hurt Arian, maybe even to kill Arian.
He might not understand why the beast hadn't done so on the day he rejected Arian, when the prince lay powerless in his bed- but again, it didn't matter.
All he needed to understand was, right now, he had to fight for his life.
While Arian came to that conclusion, Sublimus chose to attack.