“Haa, I worked damn hard to shoo you off from his vision; you lot sure are persistent.” The elegant, mouthless Davante emerged from the muddy-like spot in the white ceiling and calmly landed on his feet; the sound of his boots hitting the tile floor softly echoed in the gloomy and quiet hospital.
He stood with his arms crossed and eyeing the scribbled figures around him, unbothered even with them circling him with the eyes of lunatics glaring daggers at him. Fingers pointed at him frantically or at the closed door with the green light above; their mouths were moving in a way that looked like they were mad and frustrated, yelling at him or insulting him with no sound coming from them, but he didn’t care.
“I know what each of you is trying to say, but the trial is still going, is it not?” he tilted his head to the side as he observed them throwing another fit.
Closing his eyes with a nod before looking at them again, “A disaster might come, but I'm activated this time.” He let out a huff-like chuckle when some appeared to get more frustrated at him; he looked at them with cold, sneering eyes, “Save your fears and worries to yourselves; your turn has ended long ago. You have absolutely no right to drag Master down with you.”
They froze in place, and their flailing hands fell to their sides all at once, the frustrated and mad faces from a second ago nowhere to be found. However, they looked like they were about to flare up any time soon, judging from their eyes and dead silence.
He scoffed lightly, “Now, if you would please scram.” He waved them off easily with his hand as he started walking leisurely, forcing them to make way for him and reach the closed door.
“I'd like to retrieve my Master.”
----------------------------------------
The Red Flower
Chapter. 33
----------------------------------------
Davante blinked at the person before him, looking at the carbon copy of him, except for the missing mouth and the elegant attire. He remembers he was in the quiet, cold hospital and locked himself in his room away from the figures crowding outside and knocking at his door; then the knocking stopped, and he suddenly found himself in a large, round hall with bookshelves around the table in a circle with two seats in the middle. And he was still in a patient’s clothes.
Both stared blankly at each other in a long silence.
“Ah,” Davante blinked in recognition, “The weapon...?”
“Who did you think I'd be, Master?” the weapon looked like he held back a sigh in front of his supposed master, trying to seem polite despite the way he sat in front of Davante, which looked like he was the master instead.
Davante hummed, feeling sure when the voice sounded exactly as he listened in his head at times, similar to his, but totally different by the classy and relaxed tone. “I've had many bizarre encounters and situations lately, so I thought perhaps my twin whom I don’t know...” he observed the person before him; something about him seemed so familiar yet too foreign…
The weapon had his eyebrows lowered, looking sad for his master for some reason. “Master, please do not let mister orange influence you.”
Davante blinked, believing there was only one person with an orange head the weapon had met, not like he had met anyone else before since Davante had never used the weapon until recently. “...Elois?”
“Oh, forgive my manners.” The weapon lowered his head with his eyes closed, “I appear to be terrible at remembering names.”
Davante tilted his head a bit to the side, “Did you have a hard time dealing with him?”
The weapon raised his head with his hand brought dramatically to his chest, “Not at all; any friend of my Master is pleasing to deal with and worthy of my valuable time.”
Davante stared at the weapon’s eyes that looked like they were smiling, yet it seemed… ‘...you sound annoyed a bit, though.’
His eyes slightly widened at the sound of his thought resounding around the hall like it was broadcasting from a mike somewhere in the place. He stared silently at the weapon with questioning eyes.
The weapon crossed his arms again as he was still relaxing in his seat, “Only Master could listen to his own and anyone's thoughts in my realm.” He shrugged, “I am technically Master’s mind in a way, after all.”
Davante hummed in understanding, looking unbothered. “...what about your thoughts?”
The weapon paused, staring long at Davante with an unreadable look. He looked like he suppressed another sigh as he looked at the floor with a serious face, “...so, this is why.”
“What?” Davante blinked; he held himself back from demanding answers as the weapon looked like he was about to scold him gently.
The weapon finally sighed lightly, shaking his head slightly before looking at his master with worried eyes, “If you keep this up, it might become dangerous, Master.”
Davante frowned slightly, “...what do you mean?”
The weapon looked like he wanted to sigh again but stopped himself in respect to his master, closing his eyes calmly and reopening them before explaining, “I'm slowly becoming a separate entity from you, Master.”
“Like...” Davante took a moment to comprehend, “Rather than a weapon or mind core, are you going to be another soul residing in my body?”
“Close,” the weapon nodded tiredly and still looked elegant, “It is a bit unsettling to think about. I’m seated here in my limits because I have an owner, but what would happen if my owner views me as a distinct and detached person from him?”
Davante thought carefully, ignoring the jumbled words resounding in the place as he tried to understand in his mind. It was weird to listen to his thoughts while thinking at the same time… “You would be boundless and have complete control over my mind?”
The weapon looked amused at his master’s face as he listened to his thoughts while trying to follow his thoughts at once; he nodded. “Something like that.”
“Hmm...” Davante frowned a bit when his thoughts echoed around the place again, “Is that a bad thing?”
The weapon stared long at his master, “...that depends.”
Davante frowned again at his thoughts running to talk before him; he wondered if the weapon’s shoulders shook a bit just now or if it was his eyes playing tricks on him, though the weapon’s eyes looked like they were laughing silently at him. He ignored his thoughts again and questioned, “How so?”
The weapon looked at the bookshelves with a thoughtful look, “If Master pictures me as someone bad, I may become just as bad or worse.”
“So you will still be under my control?”
The weapon turned to look at his master, amused at the look of the other after he had managed to sync his question with his thoughts in time, “Not after I become a complete entity free from Master's clutch.”
Davante hummed again, “But if good?”
The weapon’s face grimaced as if the thought physically pained him, “Then perhaps I'll become better than now, which is not welcomed. Please don't.”
Davante observed the other silently with an unsure look; he noticed how his thoughts were silent either, or were they…?
The weapon looked sternly at his master with the eyes of someone older somehow, despite being the same age as his master, or so Davante thought. “Being overly good is a disaster, Master. Please, please keep that in mind.”
Davante felt that the weapon’s eyes looked pained and… mad? He wasn’t sure, “You speak of experience.”
The weapon shook his head calmly with his eyes closed for a moment, “It is Master's experience, not mine. I am but the final result.”
“I...” he frowned again at the return of his loud thoughts talking before him; he let out a low sigh. “Are you talking about my lost memories?”
The weapon’s eyes looked amused once again at the thoughts he heard before his master’s question, “Partially.”
Davante hummed while nodding in thought; it seemed that the weapon wouldn’t explain further by the looks of it. He curiously looked at the weapon, “Well, did you act on your own, then?”
The weapon looked caught off guard but soon seemed relieved, apparently smiling with his eyes closed, even if his mouth was invisible. “...I'm glad at least Master is good at seeing right through me. Probably even if I got separated from Master, I would still be kept under Master's control.”
Davante chuckled lightly, “So you did do something without my permission.”
The weapon looked at his master for too long in silence, making Davante question if he had said something that made the other feel uncomfortable; the weapon held back a chuckle when his master frowned and looked annoyed at the crowding thoughts heard all around them. His eyes softened, “...it's good to laugh.”
Davante paused and stared blankly at his weapon like he was suddenly told something incomprehensible.
“Is Master aware he never laughed before?”
Davante didn’t know how to feel when the weapon sounded fond all of a sudden; no, he actually sounded fond and caring from the beginning despite the teasing remarks like he was tired of taking care of a baby, but… why did he sound like someone who had lived long, longer than ever to see what he had been waiting for. “......I don't know...” he looked down, trying to recall a time when he laughed even if little, does smiling with a huff count?
Davante couldn’t see, but the weapon was smiling while looking at him thinking deeply and forgetting that his thoughts were still broadcasted through the area. The weapon hummed softly, closing his eyes with his head lowered for a moment before looking to the side at the books around them. “I suppose Master caught glimpses of the first few seconds of my mission, but I quickly...” he felt his master’s awaiting eyes on him, “I quickly pushed Master's consciousness away and hid everything from him.”
Davante noticed how the look in the weapon’s eyes seemed distant and… and disturbed. “...why?” the first glimpses… he couldn’t remember well, the images were hazy and blurry, and the sounds grew distant with every second; he wasn’t given time to witness anything, even for seconds.
“It had to be done, Master.” The weapon looked straight into Davante’s eyes, “Otherwise, Master would have lost his mind beyond imagination. And I wouldn't be able to fix anything.”
Despite the warning eyes, Davante could feel the other actually was worried for him for some reason. He wondered if the weapon had somehow expected what he had seen through the mission and got ready to hide it from him.
The weapon noticed how his master seemed to no longer pay any mind to his thoughts being shared loudly and kept thinking. He looked at the books again, “I filled in the blank pages and the books.”
Davante took a look at the many books around; a lot of them looked old, and some even… bloody? He wasn’t sure if it was the ink, but it so looked like blood to him. Some even had black pages, and some were completely red, “...are these memories?”
“Mostly, but not all.” The weapon looked back at Davante, who was still observing the books. “I locked them away.”
Davante hummed; now he knew what the faint dark-blue smoke around each book was for. “To protect me.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Correct.”
Davante observed some more; he was indeed getting a heavy and ominous feeling from the books just by looking at them from a distance. “…I don't mind, then.” He turned to smile a little at the weapon. The weapon stared long and didn’t look surprised by his master’s response.
“Master.”
Davante blinked at the careful and serious tone, “Yes?”
“There will be a time when Master unlocks the books himself.”
Davante noticed how the weapon sounded worried despite his stoic face.
“That is if we are not two different persons.” He expected the puzzled look, “If Master still has some control over me, he will be able to unlock them by force. However, if I am fully in control, Master will not be able to unless I allow it.”
Davante stared long at the weapon, it felt weird now with the absence of his thoughts around them, but he quickly brushed it off. “How will I unlock them…?”
The weapon fixed his eyes fiercely at his master, “Only when Master is horribly overwhelmed.”
Davante looked at the sure eyes. “...can you see the future?”
The weapon closed his eyes and looked calm again, “No, but I know from experience what Master's mental state could do at times, so I can predict what might cause the locks to break.” He opened his eyes to look firmly at the other, “Master could even break this realm subconsciously.”
“Ah....” Davante wasn’t sure if he could ask the other if he had done something similar before; the weapon’s eyes looked like they were pleading for him not to ask...
“However, I'll help Master whether we become two separate or not.” The weapon added with a confident nod. “Just like I helped Master this time, I can do it many times. Though I wouldn’t have been able to sneak in that white prison if I weren’t given a bit of freedom unconsciously by Master.”
Davante blinked in realization, “You dragged me out from the hospital, away from the figures...?”
“Right, Master needs to rest, but those pesky—” the weapon paused and seemed to fight himself over something before he came to a decision, “Ahem, those poor ones never know when to stop.”
He could tell that the weapon wasn’t too fond of the figures, perhaps even loathes them silently. “...what are they?” he had always wanted to understand what they were? Were they hallucinations? Were they real? Why do they always look desperate, like they were… in so much pain? So sad and frustrated that they don’t know what to do and yell frantically at him, trying to give signs and stop him or scare him from simply living. He had first thought the scribbled colorless figure with no mouth was there to help him, an image he had created to survive a traumatic experience. But that mouthless and colorless figure that looked exactly like him yet so alarmed turned out to hold many scribbles inside of him, some mad at him, some sorry for him and some worried for him…
They don’t feel too comforting as before when he started… to change. To try to wake up from the constant numbness he had drowned in for years.
Like they were slowly lulling him to sleep soundly for a long time, but he suddenly woke up, and they weren’t pleased one bit.
However, it seems… he can’t yet ask about them since the weapon turned silent and unmoving for long after the question, and his face didn’t give anything away. He wondered if they were related to the locked books… “Then, what is that hospital?”
The weapon finally moved as he blinked and contemplated a bit before he decided it was a question he could answer, “It is the mindset of your and those poor ones' life. Like a prison.” He looked reluctant before adding, “Master's mind has been locked in a long time in that place.”
“...because of what happened under the tree? Or…” did it stem from his childhood?
The weapon shook his head calmly, “I do agree with the kind spirit; Master should be patient. As I said, I will help.”
He immediately recognized who was the kind spirit that the weapon meant, Yeolard. Davante hummed quietly, looking down in thought. He then wondered, can Yeolard interact in any way with his weapon? Can they talk together the way he was talking with the weapon now?
“I think it is all right to leave the realm now.” The weapon looked up at the chandelier while saying that, humming before looking back at Davante, “Master.”
“Yes?”
“Mr. orange is safe. I took a look since his trace lingered in my realm a bit after he left. He had survived.” The weapon said with a light sigh, sounding tired for some reason.
“...Elois is safe?” but that only confirmed that what he had seen in his sleep… wasn’t a dream.
“Correct, and I presume the other friend is alive as well.” The weapon silently stared at his master’s face slowly relaxing and a small smile formed on his lips.
“...thank you.”
The weapon looked somehow bothered by his master’s gratitude for some reason, yet it didn’t look serious; like he was done with this baby who never learns, so Davante didn’t care to ask.
The weapon sighed and stood up calmly, offering his hand to his master and waiting for him to take it. He took his master’s hand and kindly pulled him up from his seat. A small black pool slowly appeared beneath Davante’s feet. “Master...”
“It's Davante; being called Master is uncomfortable.”
The weapon blinked at the small smile he received, “......you clearly want me to be a separate entity.”
“Is it obvious?” Davante tilted his head a bit, still smiling a little.
The weapon’s eyes widened a bit for a second, “Oh, is Davante joking now? This is quite the change.” His eyes looked like they were smiling fondly as he sounded pleased, “I like it.”
Davante chuckled lightly, feeling like he was talking to a twin he always had and knew when they’d just met.
“Live well and stay strong.”
Davante stared at the caring eyes looking at him; the weapon sounded so sincere… “...yes.” he would try his best; he had already promised Alvis to live better. He…
He could do it, if not for him… at least for the people close to him now.
The look from the weapon was so reassuring that he felt he finally understood the weapon’s promise of helping him constantly and would always be looking after him.
The weapon nodded, letting go of Davante’s hand with playful eyes again, stepping away and looking as the pool grew wider and moved up to surround Davante slowly, “And think of a name for me since you’re desperate for a twin brother.”
Davante raised his eyebrow slightly, smiling, “So you can block my thoughts.” Now he knew why they were disappearing and coming back randomly; the other was secretly playing pranks on him when he could listen without making it resound annoyingly for the both of them to hear. Or was it for a reason after all? Was he being tested?
Davante widened his eyes a bit and laughed when the other’s mouth became visible to show him a cheeky smile at being caught.
[https://i.postimg.cc/QdPKRpD2/1.jpg]
“Rest. Do not resist. I will block them for you.”
And with those last words from the weapon, everything went black.
.
.
“Heheheheh—”
‘Huh…?’ Davante wasn’t expecting the first thing he’d hear was someone laughing uncontrollably and seeming unable to stand in place from the steps and shuffles sounding on the floor.
“Shhh! How long are you going to laugh?!”
‘…uncle?’ it sounded like Alvis, though it seemed he was also trying hard not to laugh along with the other. Just what was going on? The last thing he remembered was Alvis telling him they would change his room again, and he fell asleep right after feeling tired for some reason. He wondered if he had fallen into a coma again this time… though Alvis didn’t sound panicked or scared just now, so it was safe to assume he had been asleep for a short while…
“Y-You— keheheheh!”
And the person was still laughing.
“Owin, the heck?! You’ll wake him up—!”
Alvis paused when he noticed a movement from the bed to his side; both he and his son turned and found the teen pushing himself on his elbow sluggishly and looking silently at them.
The three of them took a silent moment staring at each other and blinking dumbly…
“Ah, Davante, uh…” Alvis started first, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward smile, his eyes glancing anywhere but the teen’s eyes.
Davante stared with a stoic face, noticing both the father and son looking nervous for a second and seeming troubled for some reason. “What is happening...?” his voice sounded tired still…
Owin blinked, looking at Davante before looking somewhere in the room, “I came in, and he—” he pointed at his father and looked about to laugh again, “Heheh— Dad knocked Mr. Kaven—” he tried to hold back his laugh as he tried to explain properly to the bewildered teen, who had just noticed someone slumped on the chair in the corner. “H-He was supposed to— kehahahah!” Owin threw his head back with contagious laughter, then bent forward with his hands on his knees.
“Hey, I kinda panicked, okay?!” Alvis exclaimed in an attempt to defend himself, rubbing his face with his hand with a defeated look before looking at Davante, who had yet to react to the scene before him.
Davante blinked as Owin was still trying to stop himself from laughing anymore, with his father sighing beside him. He slowly looked at the person sitting unconscious on the chair with his head down. ‘......uncle knocked father out...?’ somehow, it was tiring even to imagine the scene in his head. Just what had happened while he was asleep?
Alvis noticed the teen’s face and lack of reaction and slightly frowned in worry, “Davante, you can go back to sleep…”
“Ah,” Owin abruptly stopped and took a deep breath in, then out, finally able to calm down. “Sorry for waking you up…” he coughed awkwardly and smiled at the teen while scratching his cheek lightly.
Alvis glared at his son, “Seriously?” he sighed at the small smile from his cheeky son.
‘...I am a bit tired...’ Davante thought with a stoic face, alarming the two in front of him with his complete silence. He wanted to assure them that he was all right but was too tired even to move his lips. ‘Why am I sleepy after sleeping for a whole day…?’ judging by the sky outside the window, it looked like he had been asleep for more than a few hours.
He was suddenly reminded of what the weapon had told him just before leaving the realm…
“Rest. Do not resist. I will block them for you.”
He tiredly tilted his heavy head, feeling his eyelids drooping, ‘Did he mean I should give in to sleep…? Will he block… the nightmares or the figures…?’ he slowly blinked, ‘Ah… the nightmares… they had stopped… lately…’ he felt his eyes closing and his body slowly falling back to the bed, taking a glance at the father and son hurrying to his side, ‘Oh, I should… at least say something…’
“...then I'll...” his head hit the pillow with a soft sound, “sleep...”
Alvis and Owin stared silently at the teen, sleeping immediately right after he had woken after almost a day. Alvis frowned slightly and mumbled, “…it's getting worse...” it was not a thought anymore; he was now sure that there was something else the teen was going through aside from his eating disorder and insomnia…
“His face is pale...” Owin whispered, observing the teen’s face, which looked to be sleeping soundly despite being so pale, like he wasn’t even alive.
“Let's hurry and take him somewhere else,” Alvis announced with a severe face, brushing his hair back with a sigh before looking at his son. “How long do we have until the cameras work again?”
Owin looked at the security camera up in the corner, then down at his phone to check Ellmer’s last message before rushing to the forest. “About one and half an hour.”
Nodding, “Good, let's go.” He covered the teen carefully with the blanket and carried him easily, frowning again at how light the boy was like he weighed nothing.
Owin looked at the blond man with an unreadable face, “What about Mr. Kaven?”
Alvis stilled, glancing at his childhood friend with a slight frown, “...we can't do anything about him for now.” He had a sad look before he walked to the door with Davante in his arms. “Let's take Davante somewhere safe for the time being.”
Owin hummed, staring at the slumped body with a thoughtful look. ‘…can’t we take him to Ellmer to investigate him?’ he knew it was risky; they were still unsure of what was wrong with the man or even who he was exactly; he might turn out to be a much greater danger than just a mad father and the academy’s owner, but wasn’t it the perfect chance to force answers out of him? And if they left him as is, won’t he expose them to everyone for attacking him? The man fainted right after his father’s kick, so the headmaster didn’t have time to see who had attacked him, but that was not for sure…
He suddenly noticed a faint laser pointer on the wall; he stiffened and was about to pull out his spare gun. He paused when the light moved like it was writing something.
[ Don’t do anything stupid and leave. ]
He blinked at the message given to him and looked out the window, finding nothing or no one, as expected.
“Owin?” Alvis stopped before the door and looked at his son, alarmed at the other’s tensed face.
Owin looked back at the wall and found the light writing another message.
[ I’m not an enemy, silly. Now Leave. ]
His lips twitched, feeling like he had an idea who this might be but was still unsure. Owin decided to be better safe than sorry for now. And so, he took one last look at the window before walking to his father, “Let’s go.” He would trust the twin brothers to observe what might happen after they leave the blond alone in the room for the time being.
Alvis observed his son’s face, wondering what had happened just now that made Owin look unsure and on alert. He decided to ask later since they needed to move fast.
The door closed with a click, sounding loud in the quiet room.
Wide eyes stared down. Kaven’s pupils were shaking as he slowly opened his mouth to mumble, “Is... is he reviving...?” his fingers trembled, clenching his hand into a fist with a low gasp as he recalled how he froze in place at what he felt from Davante a moment ago when he awoke in the middle of the three’s talk about him. “No… No…”
Bren smirked after hearing the blond, even from a long distance outside the hospital building. Sitting on one of the trees again as he observed the man with wide eyes, “Ha! Called it.” He jumped to his feet and stood with his hands in his pockets, still looking at Kaven with sharp eyes, “Davante is really no ordinary kid, or a man?” he hummed with a smirk, “But this...” looking fiercely at the blond, who was still busy panicking alone in the hospital room. “…isn't Kaven Fixsen.”
.
.
Elois looked at the window in cold silence, sitting at the table with a cup of coffee warm in his hand. He stared long with empty eyes. The recent events that happened just mere hours before kept repeating in his head; it felt like fever dreams now that he was back in his room with the humming, numb silence like nothing had happened. Ellmer even dropped him off and hurried somewhere else, making him now feel like the guy wasn’t there to begin with.
He slowly looked down at the cup but quickly turned his head to the door when he noticed someone standing still. He weakly gasped…
Javi looked at him with unfocused, slightly wide eyes, like he didn’t believe what he was looking at, “...Elois...” he called absently.
Elois stared at his friend, secretly calming his panicked heart. “Good morning?”
“...morning...” Javi looked unsure, looking down, then around the kitchen, then walking slowly to the other chair in front of his friend.
Elois observed his friend slowly sitting before him on the other side of the table. Looking at the eyes, it felt like his friend wasn’t even there with him. He cautiously cleared his throat, “Are you hungry? I ordered food an hour ago...” he looked at Javi as he moved his hand to push the boxes with the food toward the other but paused when his friend stayed still with absent, slightly shocked eyes.
Javi slowly moved his head to observe the place like it was the first time he had seen it, “...this is... your room...”
Elois blinked, silently fearing the possibility that the other might have been stroked with… amnesia. “Yeah, you kinda seemed to be avoiding Edmund lately, so figured I should take you here instead…” he observed Javi, looking for any sign of memory loss on his face.
Javi blinked, slowly looking down at the table. “...weren't we in the forest...?”
‘He remembers.’ He wanted to sigh in relief, but that instilled a new fear in him. Could he remember what had happened when he turned into the Shadow? “...we were.” The guy stayed still, not even blinking; he wondered if he was even breathing. “Javi?” he cautiously called, and still no response. He couldn’t help but get scared of the dead person before him. He quickly hit the table with his fist, “Hey!!”
Javi finally reacted and flinched in shock, snapping out of his daze. He looked at Elois, but his eyes seemed still unfocused.
“It's a new day, see?” Elois pointed at the window, but his friend still looked disturbingly absent. “Everything's okay. Now eat your food.” He tried again and pushed the food a little toward his friend.
Javi slowly turned and looked at the boxes, “...w... what happened, Elois?”
Elois suppressed his sigh, “…shit happened.” It didn’t feel like the right thing to lie to his friend, but he could at least hide it or brush it off. He shrugged when Javi looked at him; his eyes looked scared to Elois. He brought the cup to his lips, “But we're okay now, so no need to worry about it.” He pointed at the food with his eyes.
Javi absently looked at the food. “I don't...”
Elois waited, but his friend went silent again. “You don’t feel like eating?”
Javi looked at the table, “...sorry.”
“...okay.” Elois felt unsure of what to do as he fiddled with the cup, “Water then?”
Javi blinked, only now aware of how dry and scratchy his throat felt. “...Yes...”
“'Kay...” Elois was glad that at least his friend looked a bit alive now. He stood up and walked to grab a glass of water, walked back to the table, kept the glass right in front of his friend, then waited in his seat.
“Thanks...” Javi slowly moved his hand to take the glass, bringing it to his lips, and took a sip; his eyes still looked like he was somewhere else, somewhere far.
“Mhm...” Elois stared in long silence, not sure if he should talk to distract his friend from his seemingly busy brain or if he should just keep quiet and wait.
“Please...”
“What...?” Elois slightly startled when the other suddenly spoke, though he sounded so weak…
“Did...” Javi kept the glass back in its place on the table, but his grip around it remained, if not a little bit tighter. He looked cautiously at his friend with a stoic face, “Did I kill anyone...?”
Elois was glad it was a question he could answer with confidence. “No, you didn't.” he noticed his friend still looked absent, uncertain and restless as he looked at the table again.
“...Haha... I was scared...” Despite the weak chuckle, he was hardly smiling. Javi blinked as if he couldn’t believe his own words. He blinked again and slowly rested his forehead on his other hand, leaning his elbows on the table with a weak smile, “No, I'm still scared...”
Elois put the cup down, feeling secretly nervous. “...why?”
Javi blinked several times with his eyes on the glass of water before him, looking absently at the light reflecting on it as it oddly numbed down the cries resounding in his mind still. “What I felt... heard... seen...” he paused and slowly raised his head, absently patting his chest like he was searching for something, though his face remained stoic even after not finding what he was looking for, “My necklace isn't here...” he lowly stated, slowly shaking his head in disbelief with a weak smile. “Either I'm dreaming or...”
Elois gulped, fiddling with the cup again. “...Ellmer said you could be fine without it.” He kept his face straight when his friend stiffened for a moment before slowly looking at him with a stoic face again.
“Ellmer?”
He gave a little nod, “He saved us. He is a good guy, acts evil but is good.” He nodded again with a hum, assuring his friend that the not-really-villain guy hadn’t done anything while he wasn’t looking. However, the look he was met with was of fear, and he didn’t know why, but he knew that look very well when it never came from Javi the whole time since they had known each other. Those eyes reminded Elois of his own…
“...saved you from me?”
“Saved us both.” He immediately corrected, though he tried hard to sound calm.
“...we are friends...”
Elois blinked at the obvious fact, “Right...”
“We fight a lot...”
Elois nodded silently, getting nervous under his friend’s eyes, whose face remained oddly stoic.
“But we know when we... lie to each other.” Javi stared long at his quiet friend, who stared back with his usual deadpan face. However, his eyes had always been sharp and observant of the little details, and he could tell that his friend, despite being well at lying and acting, there were some habits Elois absently had when nervous or panicked. For example, his fingers kept fiddling with the cup, the way he sat straight despite resting his cheek on his hand like usual, the way he kept moving his elbows slightly to the side before bringing them back to their place, and the most obvious of all… the way he kept giving vague answers instead of straight and blunt.
Not to mention the faint smell of blood he could smell on his body despite the change of clothes he found himself in, “What did I do... Elois?” he finally asked.
Elois stared long, taking in a deep, calm breath. He looked down at his cup, contemplating before looking back at his friend, “I'm alive, Javi.” He calmly said, keeping his voice down as if he was careful not to scare the other.
Javi slowly brought his fingers into a weak fist, knowing exactly what those words meant. He got the message that it was best to stay ignorant, and that only made him feel worse; the voices in his head became loud again, and that made him wonder for a moment; he wanted to confirm, “......are you not an illusion?” he observed his friend who had looked shocked at the question, sighing in defeat before moving his hand to pull out something from his pocket.
“Here...” Elois left the object in front of the other. He wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing after the weak gasp he heard from his friend at seeing the broken necklace before him. Javi’s eyes looked so shaken and weak that he had to look away because it physically hurt witnessing that look on his friend, especially after knowing the story behind the necklace from Ellmer. “...now you can be certain...” he kept his eyes on the window, “You are awake. This is real.”
“...it's black...” Javi said after a long, painful silence. Staring at the black, ruined necklace on the table with shaking pupils.
Elois remained quiet, recalling what Ellmer had told him to explain the change in color. Blue when stable, pitch black when not. Meaning that Javi had gone through hell to reach the point of breaking it unknowingly.
‘It's not a beautiful blue anymore, Armand…’ he let out shaky laughter, “Hey...” he weakly called for his friend, lowering his head and resting his forehead on both hands, hiding his eyes with a weak smile. “…sorry…”
He glanced at his friend then looked back to the window. “...don't be.” He wasn’t sure what the apology was for, either for breaking down in front of him for the first time or for what had happened in the forest, but Javi shouldn’t be feeling guilty either way. But the fact that his friend hadn’t turned into the Shadow yet despite breaking down was proof enough that the vampire did indeed save them after all…
Javi weakly laughed again, letting his tears trickle down his cheeks freely as he felt he couldn’t fight anything within him anymore.
He decided; it was okay to give up just for a little while.
And surprisingly, the voices of kids and everyone he had killed and disappointed and hurt, screaming and crying and yelling in his head, slowly and finally disappeared.
[https://i.postimg.cc/fy2RYNTG/2.jpg]
----------------------------------------
The End of CH. 33
----------------------------------------
Doodles:
[https://i.postimg.cc/Sswh4xRN/3.jpg]
----------------------------------------