In 3 minutes, her body is fully healed. But she still unconscious. It might be bad to leave her in this dark scary alley.
"I guess we have to get outta here" I lift her body up and manage to get her on my back, then look around the alley to make sure it's safe to leave. Then I start walking.
"Wait, where should I take her..."
image [https://i.imgur.com/fauraq5.png]
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“God what have I done…” I said while staring at my bed. Yep, I took her to my apartment. I mean, I can’t think of anything else beside this. It’s already late night to leave her on the alley, and there’s a chance that the danger she faced still around there. I can’t ask Rishia’s help at this hour, moreover I don’t know how to explain the situation.
“Guess I’ll just wait for her to wake up” I took a seat on my desk beside the bed and open up a snack I bought from the convenience store.
Anyway, I’m not an ordinary person. I think… I started to realize that I have some kind of healing power when I was around 6 years old. That time I was trying to save a little kitten that got injured after trying to get down from the tree on it’s own. I feel sad that it ended up scratch it’s own ankle after having a courage to get down by it self, so I pray that that their leg would be cured. That time I saw my palm glow and the kitten got healed, I freak out then tried to tell my friend and family but they think I’ve gone nuts. In the end I gave up and try not to think about it again.
“Oh, right.” I pull out something from my pocket. It’s a bow-shaped pendant. I found it around the time I saved the kitten. I’ve been thinking that it has some kind of connection to my power, and I’m keeping it as a good luck charm.
“Mhn…” a small voice comes from the girl. I guess she’s waking up now. She slowly opens her eyes, her lashes fluttering like the wings of a delicate butterfly.
“Wakey wakey, you’ll grow mushrooms on your head,” I said, trying to lighten the mood as she stirred. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to crack jokes while waking her, though.
It wasn’t. As soon as she was fully awake, she jumped up and summoned a sword out of thin air, pointing it directly at me. The blade gleamed menacingly under the dim light. I reflexively raised my hands, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Wow, wow, wow, calm down. I’m sorry! I don’t know what pissed you off, but I’m sorry!” I quickly spoke, half scared. Everything happened so fast, I just realized I ended up sitting on the floor, my back against the wall.
“Ah!” she started speaking, then quickly put away her sword before it disappeared into thin air. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, her voice softer now.
I got more than startled, you know? I almost pissed my pants! She then looked around the room with a confused expression.
“Where is this?” she asked, her eyes scanning every corner of the room. Oh man, will she get mad if she knows she got kidnapped into someone’s apartment? Wait no, I didn’t kidnap her, right?
“Uhh, you’re in my apartment. My room to be exact,” I replied, a bit scared. I glanced at the window, half-expecting her to bolt for the exit.
“I see.” She then sat on my bed, her movements graceful yet deliberate. I guess she’s cool with it. She looked at her own body thoroughly, inspecting her arms and legs. “My wounds…” she mumbled, looking puzzled.
“Ahh…” I tried to explain that I healed her wounds but worried that she might think I’m insane. Or not? I mean, she herself can summon a sword out of nowhere, so she might understand something?
“I healed them,” I spoke up, my voice steady.
She widening her eyes. “What?” she asked, even more confused. Oh man, does she not understand?
“Ah, it’s nothi—”
“You can heal wounds?” she shouted, a bit excited, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.
“Yeah…?” I replied, a bit hesitant.
“So you’re a Holder too?”
I blink. “Holders?” Now I am the one who got confused.
“Huh, you don’t know about Holders and Ornaments?” She brought her face closer to me, her eyes searching mine for answers. Too close! Then she smiled, pulling back her face, her expression softening. “My name is Noarin Otorii. You can call me Noarin.”
“Ah yes, I’m Aruta Kuroyuki-”
“Can I call you Aruta?” she asked, her tone friendly and warm.
“Eh… sure,” I replied, feeling a bit awkward. Usually, the only people who call me by my first name are my close friends. Though some of my friends still call me by my last name, I don’t really care how they address me. As long as they don’t give me weird nicknames.
Noarin looked around the room again, taking in the modest décor and the soft glow of the bedside lamp. “You have a nice place,” she said, her eyes lingering on the pendant I still held in my hand.
“Thanks,” I said, glancing down at the pendant. “This… I think it has something to do with my power.”
She leaned in again, her curiosity palpable. “Can I see it?” she asked, reaching out.
“Sure,” I handed it to her, our fingers brushing slightly.
Noarin examined the pendant closely, her eyes narrowing in concentration. “This is an Ornament,” she said finally, looking up at me. “It’s definitely connected to your power.”
I blinked, trying to process her words. “So, you’re saying this thing is like… magical?”
She nodded, handing the pendant back to me. “Yes, and it means you’re a Holder. Like me.”
I took the pendant, feeling its weight in my hand. “So, what does that mean for us? For me?”
“It means we have a lot to talk about,” she said, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
“Since you don’t know anything about Holders and Ornaments, I’ll give you a brief explanation,” Noarin began, her tone serious as she settled into her explanation.
Basically, Ornaments are some kind of foreign object that comes from another world. An Ornament holds some magical circuits that allow someone with low or no magic power to use magic. People who can use and are compatible with the Ornaments are called Holders.
“So who creates the Ornaments?” I asked, curiosity piqued. She just gave a shrug as an answer.
“No one knows how these Ornaments are created; the creators have remained unknown for a long time,” she replied, her eyes reflecting the mystery surrounding them.
“And how do you know all this stuff? Did one of the other worlders tell you?” I took two small bottles of mineral water from my drawer and handed one to her.
“Yep,” she said, taking the bottle and slightly bowing to show her gratitude.
“Daym, for real?” I sat on the floor and opened my bottle, taking a sip to process everything.
“She should be around here,” she said, looking around the room. Then another unfamiliar voice suddenly came from beside me.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Greetings, earthlings,” the voice said.
“Hyah!?” I jumped from my seat, spilling some water from my bottle. I looked at the source of the voice and saw a white cat. The cat came out of nowhere.
“You’re that white cat from the alley back then…?” I spoke to the cat, my voice trembling slightly.
“Thank you for your assistance,” the cat answered. So the cat can talk? Why was she just meowing back then?
“So… the other worlder is a cat?” I took some tissue from my desk and wiped the spilled water on the floor, trying to regain my composure.
“No, I can’t send my real body into your world, so I’m using a smaller volume of living beings to connect my consciousness between worlds,” the cat explained, her voice calm and serene.
“Oh right, then what happened to you? You were dying in the back of that dark alley, right?” I asked Noarin again, turning my attention back to her.
“Before answering that, do you know what will happen if these Ornaments got into the wrong hands on a massive scale?” she asked, her tone grave.
I sat again and tried to imagine. If more people discovered Ornaments and each of those Ornaments held different amounts of power…
“It’ll be chaos…” I mumbled, the realization hitting me.
She nodded, then continued explaining. “Ornaments have been appearing in this world for the past 20 years. Some people might have already discovered them and might be using them, whether for good deeds or bad. But the chance for someone discovering it is very low since an Ornament can only be used by someone compatible with it, like you and me,” she explained, then pulled out something like a sword keychain from her pocket.
“This is my Ornament. Usually, they take the shape of accessories or jewelry,” she said, then put it back in her pocket.
“From what I see, yours is a light attribute Ornament. You should be able to do something else other than healing, something that reflects the nature of light.”
“Like throwing a flashbang with my palm?” I stretched my hands forward, trying to imagine the possibilities.
“Yeah, that might be one of them. You should try different things by yourself,” she responded, then snapped her fingers and a flame emitted from the tip of her finger.
“Mine is a fire attribute. I could throw a flame ball, burn something from a distance, anything that’s fire-related,” she said, demonstrating her control over the element.
“Whoa, so you can light a campfire without touching it?” I asked, genuinely impressed.
She nods. “As long as there is some oxygen around,” she said, waving her hand to put out the fire.
“The reason I got beaten up is that I fought someone with a steel and wind Ornament. He’s been committing crimes with his ability, so I had to stop him. Also, he might be working with someone we’ve been searching for,” she explained, her expression turning serious again.
“A person can hold more than one Ornament?” I asked, trying to piece everything together.
“Yeah, as long as your body can handle it,” she replied.
“I see.” I turned my sight to the cat.
“No, I’m not the one who brought these Ornaments into this world if you’re wondering,” the cat spoke up, seemingly reading my thoughts.
I widening my eyes. “Oh, you know what I was about to ask?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah, I can guess it from your face,” the cat said, jumping onto my bed and sitting beside Noarin.
“My name is Saria. As you know, I’m an other worlder from the place these Ornaments come from,” the cat introduced herself, her voice calm and wise.
“So what’s your purpose in coming into this world then?” I asked, then drank my water, eager to hear more.
Saria paused for a moment. “I actually didn’t mind if some of the Ornaments were pouring into this world. The real problem is someone is intentionally doing it, and it’s creating imbalances in this world. I work with Noarin to deal with it,” Saria explained.
“And that person is…?” I asked, leaning forward, my interest piqued.
“I don’t know,” Saria said, shaking her head.
“Man….” I leaned my back against the wall, feeling a mix of frustration and intrigue. “So there’s still a lot we don’t know about, huh?”
Suddenly, I heard someone’s belly rumbling. Not mine, of course. I looked at Noarin, who just looked down, embarrassed. I stood up and grabbed one of the onigiris Rishia put inside the plastic bag.
“Here, you can eat this,” I said, passing the packed onigiri to Noarin. She caught it, her eyes lighting up.
“You sure?” she asked, and I nodded. Then she smiled and tore off the onigiri wrapper before eating it with excitement.
“That fight made you hungry?” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
“Shuddup,” she said, her mouth full.
“Well, I guess I’ll go,” Saria said, standing up. “Even though it’s frustrating, the only thing we can do now is wait and look for clues. Would you mind helping us out, Aruta?” Saria asked me, her voice sincere.
I do lied about being an ordinary person, but I did feel life was boring until now. Then I discovered that there’s more about this pendant I randomly found 13 years ago, the existence of another world, and more mysteries about magic.
I think for a moment. Maybe with this, I can start doing other things aside from eating, working, and sleeping. “Sure, I guess…” I answered.
“Well then, I’m looking forward to working with you,” Noarin said, extending her hand, still chewing her food. I smiled and shook her hand.
“Are we working with someone else?” I asked, curious about our team.
Saria shakes her head. “No, it’s only Noarin and you for now. Looking for Holders in this form is hard, you know,” Saria said, walking towards the window.
“See ya,” she said, then faded away. At this point, I couldn’t look at cats the same way as before.
“So where do you live? I’ll walk you home; it’s dark outside,” I offered, concerned for Noarin’s safety.
“Don’t worry, I can walk home alone. I live in an apartment near the place where you found me,” she said, throwing the onigiri wrapper into the bin. Then I realized something.
“Wait, what?”
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“No way….” I muttered, gaping at the revelation. I realized that this meant we lived in the same building, but I didn’t expect it to be next door. We were standing in front of her door right now.
Noarin turns at me. “How come I never see you?” she asked, her eyebrows raised in curiosity.
Fair enough, I rarely go out of my apartment after all. “Eh, I’m a busy man,” I said, smiling wryly.
“More like a hikikomori from my perspective,” she teased.
“Thanks for the compliment,” I replied, rolling my eyes.
She chuckled, then unlocked her door. “Good night. Also, thank you for today.”
“Don’t mention it. See ya,” I said, waving.
She smiled, waved her hand, then walked inside and closed the door. I turned and walked towards my room, reflecting on the day’s events.
“Oh, by the way,” Noarin called, opening her door again.
I turned around, a bit surprised. “Yeah?”
“I’ll teach you how to use your power. Can I visit you tomorrow?” she asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.
“Sure, see you tomorrow then,” I replied, nodding.
“Alright,” she said, smiling brightly before quickly getting inside and closing her door again. I walked back to my room, my mind racing with the possibilities that tomorrow might bring.
image [https://i.imgur.com/DUCC8CF.jpeg]
I’m throwing my body on to the bed and let out a sigh. What a day, it’s been a long time since I got that tired. I mean I literally going home with some weights on my back. Glad it’s already dark and there’s no one around to witness it. I’m thinking about our discussion today, trying to understand everything and slowly falls asleep.
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“What do you mean you can’t?” Said the voice across the phone call.
Right after I woke up, I change clothes and brew my self some coffee. I thought I could just start my day with clear minds and a nice scent of my coffee until this guy decided to ring up my phone, disturbing my morning peace. For real, I just need some relaxing time after processing everything that happened last night.
“It means I have something important to do today so I can’t join you” I replied. “Besides, why do you invite me just now? Shouldn’t we make a plan first, decide what date should we go and so on?” I continue while sipping my coffee.
“Well, I just thought about it now and wanna go right away. Rishia also agreed”
The person I’m talking to right now in phone is Kai Yosuga, another one of my close friend. He invites me to go to the beach together and have fun right now, which is too sudden since I already promised with Noarin to teach me stuff.
“C’mon Aruta, you’ve been stuck on that apartment for 6 months. It’s about time for you to taste the sunlight”
“Again, I would come if I can but now I got something to do. You two can just go and flirt right? I don’t have to be around so it should be good for you” I replied, teasing him a bit. Yep, they both already dating since high school.
“I have my own schedule to flirt, but now is the time to hangout with friends! What is your so important thing to do anyway?” he asked. Damn, how should I answer him…
“Work stuff…” I replied hesitantly.
“Lie, today is Saturday”
“Well-”
“Is it because a girl?” Kai suddenly ask.
“Wh-?” I jolted.
“Oh well then let’s cancel the plan, I’ll talk to Rishia that you already have-”
“Wait wait wait, hold your horses!” I tried to explain. “It’s not like that, I can’t tell you the reason but it’s-”
“Yeah yeah, suuuureeee I get it man don’t worry”
“No you don’t!” I sighed. “Well, we can reschedule. Tell me the date next time you plan to hanging out together” I tried to change the subject.
“Alright then, how about next week?” Kai suggested.
“Yeah sure, that’ll do”
“Might as well we go to an island, how about it?”
“Sure, I’ll tag along” I replied flatly.
“Great! See you next week” Kai quickly hang up. I sighed again and put down my mug.
“Why the long face?” A sudden voice comes out.
“Nyeah!?” I startled, then I see Noarin on my balcony. “When did you get there!?” I ask, surprised.
“1 minute ago”
“How?”
“Parkour?”
“Use the door would you!?” I shouted. We’re on a 6 story building you know? What if you falls down?
“I already knocked but no answer so I’ll use the balcony” she shrugs. Then casually walking into my apartment. “We’re you on a call with your friends?” she sits on the sofa.
“Yeah, sorry I didn’t hear you knocked” I sit across her.
“Huh, that’s unexpected”
“What part?” I raised my eyebrow.
“You having a friend” She chuckled.
“Well that’s rude” I finished my coffee. “So, how do we start?”
“Well, we better doing it on a place with bigger space and less populated. You’re free till afternoon?” Noarin ask while pulling out her phone.
“Yeah, no problem. Where should we go?”
“Here” Noarin shows her phone screen. It’s a picture of a building that has been abandoned for years.
“It’s on the other district, around 8 miles from here” She pull back her phone and stands up.
“8 miles huh, would be a new record” I stand up and take my jacket.
“New record?” Noarin tilt her head, confused.
“Nah, don’t worry about it” I put on my jacket and walk to the door. Noarin just follow with her puzzled look.