Chapter 12

Abel moved closer to Fleur's ear and whispered loud enough that I could discern what he had said.

"Do you think it's Juno?"

Fleur flipped her hair, the brown spirals at the end tumbling over her shoulder.

Abel jerked away, scrunching his nose and frowning at her hair.

His contempt quickly vanished when another boy came rushing from behind a tree with his hands spread outward to indicate his vigilance.

I was moderately confused at this juncture, why his arms were raised like he was telling someone to wait.

I glanced back toward Fleur and saw the bow she was pulling from under her hair.

"Oh."

"You can calm down Fleur, you know I mean no harm," His voice sounded younger than Abel's, but with more clement and maturity.

"Mars—you nearly scared her half to death, she froze like a prey animal," Abel teased.

'Mars?'

"I was scared? I am always prepared to act, you hadn't even realized if anyone is prey it is yourself!"

Fleur tucked her bow into whatever lost space she summoned it from, then nudged her brother as she made her way toward the boy called Mars.

"I assume I would have been the one hunted had I revealed myself a second later," Mars said, smiling despite the severity of his revelation.

"That aside, you're rather quiet–from what I've seen. That's a given I suppose, you're probably the most scared out of anyone." Mars acknowledged me, instigating two more pairs of eyes to find me.

Words felt tangled in my throat, making the stress feel more overt than my fear.

This was the first time since being in a hospital that I've interacted with more than one person in almost two years.

Unfortunately, I prevailed on the idea my uncle created when he treated interaction as an unnecessary affair that I didn't have to partake in until 'I felt ready'.

I also carry a fear of the unknown, which currently exists in plain sight.

Shortly after I finally mustered enough resolve to talk, I recognized that I misplaced my internal thoughts and what I intended to say.

"What is wrong with your eyes?"

The twins appeared to have been more taken aback by the question than the person it was directed toward.

I scrambled through ways of somehow correcting myself but came up empty-handed.

I stood awkwardly waiting for either an offended answer, or a remark with my own unique eyes.

"...Uh I am partially blind, I assume you're referring to my left eye lacking a pupil. Right iris is my natural eye color." Mars tapped a pale slender finger on the bone beneath his right eye.

The iris looked like a yellow spark in the spectacles of light. An amber filling, poorly complemented by the dull cloud impairing his vision on the left.

"Your eyes are far more perplexing if you don't mind me returning the question…I would also like to know why they look like that."

I received a portion of both replies.

"A family member mentioned it as a birth defect. Sectoral heterochromia. Although it only affects the pigment, I naturally perceive the world with a groggier quality in my right eye."

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My own eyes can both see, however from a distance one appears clear and the other like a lurid haze.

"Is that why your prettier eye resembles sterling gray spilling into a color subtly lighter than the chestnut?" Fleur responds instead of Mars.

He thinks it's prettier? Surely he wouldn't mistake himself as the individual constricted with blindness.

"My natural eye color is brown."

"Yes, I can see that."

"Your perception should be considered a skill."

Mars laughs, turning in the direction that leads further into the forest.

"That's why art is my primary occupation," he explains, walking away from me and the twins.

"Where are you going?" I ask, nearly following out of instinct.

"I knew those two would cause something to delay your arrival. So one of my colleagues requested a favor from me in case."

I knew instantly what he meant. Though, I contestably enjoyed their display of family values.

"Does that mean we are in a safe space?"

"We certainly are—Welcome to the nucleus, Hoku. Juno will return soon as well, so we won't need to wait for her. I suggest letting us guide you until you can eventually figure things out for yourself."

"I'm glad. She said there were others, but not how many…" I begin walking again, after just running like a madman through the woods.

It takes me a few wide steps before moving behind Mars and moving beside Fleur.

Abel is the last to join us, trailing behind from afar.

I get the impression that this was planned, but I neglect the contention as we approach a bare patch of ground in the shape of a large circle as it peeks through the trunks of trees gradually filling the path more and more.

How do they know that they are even inside the nucleus? There are no visible signs or barriers. Is it perhaps just a feeling?

I ponder inquiring my thoughts out loud but change my mind when I recall the most recent conversation from having done so.

I didn't necessarily see it as a consequence, but chatting about personal insecurities felt unnecessary in any circumstance.

As we saunter further in, my eyes catch hold of a person kneeling with his back turned toward where we came out of.

A rather tall man stands, over him motioning his hand at something on the ground.

"Who—"

"Li! Yu-ze! We're back with the kid!" I flinch as Abel interrupts me with a chuffed yell, throwing his arms into a welcoming cheer as he sets forth past everyone.

'He has a knack for being loud.'

The man standing turns halfway, appearing pleasantly gratified. The person on the ground, however, remained nested near the outline of trees.

"Not all at once Li. We have a visitor—you know the protocol," said Mars.

My gaze wandered as we drew near the strangers. There was sunlight and grass. I hadn't noticed it before, but the forest gradually flourished with verdant life.

Especially now, without shade and the overbearing whispers of feet shuffling through detritus, I could see a landscape filled with the rich brown hues, and vibrancy of the leaves that clung few to a branch.

When I first awoke the forest had been draped in a dreary state, with freshly fallen snow.

Upon departing the manor I was in an extensive garden of white flowers—like spring.

Now… the forest favored the traits of late autumn.

"Are the seasons changing before my eyes?" I mumbled, not realizing that a certain person's attention had been on me after all.

"The seasons in this universe have no concept of time so they are irregular."

My eyes returned to their initial place.

The person's head was half turned, and having gotten much closer I managed to also see the small black cat in front of him.

Why do I get the sense I've seen that cat somewhere?

"Are you Li?"

Everyone's chatter suddenly halted, and I peered about in confusion to spot their keen acknowledgment of whoever's name I recited.

His hand reached down and caressed behind the creature's ear, which seemed to revel in before Li extracted his arm and placed it on his knee.

He pushed himself up before rubbing the palms of his hands together and making uniform his profile to my own.

"Qi Li, and you?"

"...H-Hoku." I hadn't expected him to stand, nor had I envisioned the apathy in his drawn-out eyes.

His aura is making me feel nervous.

He didn't say anything for a moment, looking behind me and then nodding slowly.

"I take it someone else has mentioned me then. Apart from just now."

"Juno–your name is the only other name she mentioned that I would." He raised his eyebrow, and I noted that he was touching something at his hip.

Glancing down I impulsively retreated, splaying the distance by barely even a margin.

"Do swords scare you?" He asks tilting his head. His thumb rubs the shired end of the hilt.

I part my lips to answer no, that I have an uncle who collects bronze daggers and short swords, but he precludes my response.

"If so, get over it you'll be acquiring one of your own in a matter of whenever Juno returns."

"I beg your pardon?"

Without warning, Li unsheathes the sword, and a mysterious substance is flicked off the blade onto the grass, staining the blades a dark tint.

'Is that Blood??'

The Memoir Chapter 8

Rule 13

Pure energy is required to dismantle any non-human life form that resides in the stream. Be vigilant of what you utilize, and leave behind in the mantras, as ordinary possessions from the separate worlds can damage or even inhibit the course of time in the sequel.

Objective 6

Find raw materials to invent an elixir. There are copious regions of design, however each mantra will have only a single place to acquire the core agent.

Your impending journey subsists in the Recess Of Life.

-The Memoir Chapter 8 End-