I Became the Bully Extra in a Novel I Hate

Snow covered the streets of Creslan. People went about their day as usual, moving between shops and inns while horse-drawn carriages rolled through the city

Cael was asleep on the cot in the corner, his bellus curled on top of his chest, rising and falling with his breathing. Somebody had gotten a blanket over him at some point. He hadn’t moved in hours.

Arthur sat across the small table from Theodore, a bowl of soup in front of him that had gone lukewarm without him touching it much. Roz was asleep on his shoulder, ears curled, not reacting to anything.

Neither of them said much for a while.

Theodore broke it first. "Vex. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask, Theo?"

"Nothing. It’s just — you’re deep in thought." A beat. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." Arthur looked at the soup. "Just. Thinking about how fast everything happened. It’s been a week since we got to Creslan. And the situation’s already this bad."

He looked at his hands. They shook a little.

"I killed a man."

Theodore didn’t say anything for a beat. Then, quiet: "I know. But Soltice was a bad guy. Don’t forget that, Vex."

"I know. He had it coming." Arthur turned his spoon over in the bowl without eating anything. "But it’s not about who I killed. It’s the fact that I killed someone. It felt surreal at first. I woke up and just — learned it. That’s it. No memory of doing it. Just the aftermath."

He looked down.

"I already killed two men."

"Two?" Theodore’s eyebrows went up.

"An assassination. Someone hired to deal with me. It was self-defense." Arthur looked at him. "The feeling doesn’t get better. Tell me, Theo. Do I look like a monster to you now?"

"No." Theodore said it fast, no hesitation in it. "You’re still Vex. That much I know. You’re still pretty kind to me. To everyone." He smiled, warm, easy. Then, softer: "Do you regret it, Vex?"

Arthur went quiet.

Do I regret it?

Vexis sat beside him in the space only Arthur could feel, not saying anything.

Do I regret killing someone? Someone like Soltice?

He reached for the answer the way he’d reach for anything else he needed to be sure of before saying it out loud.

He found it.

"No."

The afternoon light came thin and yellow through the clouds, most of it swallowed by the snow already covering everything in Creslan in a low white blanket. Near a fireplace across the square, a red-haired woman stood warming her hands.

"Hey! Violet!" Theodore called out.

Kreasial turned. Her face went from mild curiosity to a grin the second she spotted them.

She crossed the square to meet them halfway.

"Here." She rubbed her hands together. "Snow’s getting thicker. Let’s get inside."

They ducked into a building a few doors down — warm the second they crossed the threshold, tables full, servers moving between them, faint music coming off a relic set up near the back wall. They found a table near the window and sat.

A few minutes in, Theodore was already gesturing, red-faced.

"No, no, no. I did not think any of that."

Kreasial scoffed. "You must’ve thought I looked pathetic back then. Acting all strong and confident and getting pummeled to the ground right after your match."

Arthur cut in. "You were up against a battlemagus. Of course you were at a disadvantage."

"Ha! Says you." Kreasial pointed at him, mock accusation in every inch of it. "You’re the one who suddenly showed up as a swordbearer. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? A mage using Stima? What, don’t tell me you got into mysticism too. Go ahead, I wouldn’t even be surprised."

Arthur smiled. "Well, I did. I know some short incantations of the Harvest Maiden."

Kreasial’s face went flat.

"I’m joking." Arthur laughed, and Theodore laughed with him.

Then Kreasial’s expression dropped. Something gloomy sitting under it now.

"Well. Compared to you two, I was the pathetic one, honestly." She looked at the table. "You’re both amazing. Talented, actually. You have things I just don’t have."

"Violet, don’t—"

Theodore got cut off before he finished.

"So I didn’t have the guts to show up after the culmination. I know that’s a pretty pathetic move. But showing up after what happened felt even more pathetic." She looked at Arthur, gloom sitting heavier now, disappointment underneath it. Then at Theodore.

"You know what’s actually pathetic?" Her smile came out bitter. "Theodore was winning. He was doing everything right. So why did it make me sick? Part of me wanted him to lose. Another part wanted to pull him out before he got hurt. I didn’t want him to fail. I just wanted to be the one who won."

All three of them went quiet.

Theodore opened his mouth. Closed it.

Arthur set his spoon down.

"You’re not pathetic at all." He kept his voice even, made sure she heard it land. "Without you, we don’t make it into the third category. You held ground against people twice your experience and you didn’t fold once. I watched you do it."

Kreasial didn’t say anything, but she was listening.

"And that thing you just said — wanting to be the one who won." Arthur leaned forward. "That’s not some ugly secret you need to confess. That’s just wanting to matter. Everyone in Class F wants that. That’s the whole reason any of us are still showing up. You’re not broken for feeling that. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t."

Theodore nodded, quieter than usual. "I get it too. Every time you and Vex do something crazy, some part of me wants to be the one everyone’s talking about. Doesn’t mean I want either of you to lose. Just means I’m human."

Kreasial looked between them.

"When Vivienne changed the rules and let Class F into the culmination," Arthur said, "it wasn’t so the two of us could carry the whole triad on our backs while you watched. A triad’s not two people and a spare. You’ve been in every plan since day one. You found the angle on the Class B when when I was overwhelmed . You called almost all the moves during the second format before I even saw the opening close." He held her eyes. "I’m not saying this to make you feel better. I’m saying it because it’s true. We wouldn’t be the Misfits without you in it."

Kreasial’s jaw tightened for a second, like she was fighting something back.

Then she looked at Arthur. At Theodore. Something in her face settling, the gloom easing out of it by degrees.

"Alright." She exhaled, long. "Enough with the depressing talk." She pointed at both of them, back to her usual register fast enough that it almost hid how close she’d gotten to something real. "Tell me what the hell is going on. Why are you two here? What’s with the carriages? The elves? The princess?"

Arthur looked at her.

"A war might happen anytime soon."

"A war?"

"Yes. Between elves and humans."

Kreasial’s face went from confused to something closer to alarmed. "I don’t understand. Why?"

"The Emerald Kingdom’s had enough. The trafficking. The children being taken." Arthur held her gaze. "So they’ve decided humans are guilty."

A beat.

"And Creslan’s going to be the first battlefield."

Kreasial stared at him. Confusion plastered on her face.

"...You’re joking."

Arthur didn’t smile.

The silence answered for him.

Her fingers slowly loosened around the warm mug in front of her.

"No." She laughed once, nervously. "No, stop screwing with me Vexis. You’re telling me... an actual war? Between kingdoms? And here in Creslan?!"

"The Emerald Kingdom."

"The elves?"

Arthur nodded.

"The Covenant has been kidnapping elven children for over a year." His voice remained calm, almost too calm. "Harvesting their aetheric cores. Turning them into Elven Tears."

The color drained from Kreasial’s face.

"...Harvesting?"

"They’re alive when it happens."

She felt her stomach twist.

"What... the fuck.."

Her eyes searched Theodore’s face.

Theodore didn’t deny it. And looked at his cup.

"...That’s why you both looked like that earlier. And you guys are with the princess now? Surely she’s preventing a war right?

Neither of them answered. Then Arthur opened his mouth.

"The Council thinks there’s still time to prevent a war," Arthur continued.

"If they move quickly."

"They’ll send evidence to the Emerald Kingdom."

"The ledger."

"The rescued prisoners."

"The Covenant."

Kreasial looked outside through the frosted window.Snow drifted quietly through the streets. People laughed. Merchants argued over prices. Children chased one another across the square.

Kreasial gritted her teeth.

Theodore finally spoke.

"...Do you think it’ll really happen?"

Arthur didn’t answer immediately.

"...I don’t know."

Arthur looked out at the falling snow.

"But if the Council fails..."

"...then what happened at the Fortress..."

"...will just be the first battle."

The words settled over the table.

Nobody spoke after that.

Outside, snow continued to fall over Creslan.

Cold.

Silent.

Unaware that history had already begun moving beneath it.