I tried to get the fortune teller to tell me what he meant by that, but he really didn’t know. He could only really say the words, and not what they meant.

Walking back to the dorms, I kept pondering what those words meant. “You will either save your friend from the pits of darkness, or die attempting to do what the greatest have never done.”

If these words were true, and one of these outcomes would happen, I would try to steer it into my favor. Save your friend from the pits of darkness. There are only 3 possible outcomes, right? There is San, who’s always talked with me, and we share similar interests. Then there was Clara, but I didn’t interact with her too much, so it wasn’t likely. As much as I hated to admit it, the most likely outcome was that Cel was the one I would save, or die trying. Whatever it is, it would most likely happen on the quest I would be assigned in 3 days.

Cel did a sidetrack because he was craving ice cream. That left me walking to the dorm by myself. Right before I headed into the building, I heard “Hey.”

I knew that voice, though I barely ever spoke to him. “Imo?”

I turned and saw Imo, he looked as disheveled as usual, this time wearing a black leather jacket over a white shirt, with the usual blue jeans. He was holding a case, which I was assuming was his violin, so he probably came back from practice.

“Hey Imo. Quite a surprise for you to talk to me. Do you need anything?” I felt very nervous when talking to him, as he always either ignored me, or didn’t seem to care about what I was saying.

“Well, I decided I needed to make more friends, looking at all the people in the class, you're the most like me.” Then I realized I was just nervous, but Imo was sweating. I bet he hadn’t done much social interaction his whole life.

The nervousness I had from talking to Imo melted, and I had a newfound sense of gratitude for him. I smiled, not one to make Imo feel better, but a genuine one, to prove to Imo that his efforts were not in vain.

I looked over to his violin. I always saw him carrying it around, but I never got to see how he plays. “Well then Imo, can you play me something on your violin? I’ve always wanted to see your skills.”

Imo flinched. “Are you, uh, sure? My playing isn’t bad but…”

Before Imo could finish his sentence I cut him off “Come on man! Don’t beat yourself down! Your playing is not so bad that it’ll hurt me!” It was really hard for me to be enthusiastic, with Inter screaming ‘KILL HIM’ on repeat, but I tried the best I could.

However, Imo winced, like I had said something wrong.

After much deliberation, Imo pulled out his violin. I recognized what he was playing, Vivaldi’s - Four Seasons, Spring. It was honestly beautiful. Even the way he moved, everything was choreographed well. However, as I was really enjoying the music, a thorn popped out from the ground and slammed me in the face. Imo’s eyes widened.

“Crap! Wait, I’m sorry! This is what I was trying to warn you about. I don’t know how to control my thorns yet, so I always end up hurting people when I play.”

My eyes widened, and an idea for Imo popped into my head. I sprang up

“If you could control those thorns, you can make the craziest performances! It would be spectacular for the eyes! You know, I could help you, cause I’m really good at magic manipulation. It's my specialty.”

Imo didn’t smile, but I could tell he was happy “You could do that! Wait, let me give you my number!” Imo handed me a slip of paper, then ran off “See you!”

I looked at the slip of paper that had Imo’s number. I then realized, he always had his number on the slip, like he was planning to give me this from the beginning. I chuckled. Imo was really determined, I couldn’t not help him out.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

…

I reached the dorm, then felt a rustle in my pocket. That’s right! The note! I could open it now!

When I opened the note, a horrible memory hit me. The note said, “One of the students here will be the key for you to find Marie, aka “The Butcher”.”

Her. The lady I wanted dead the most in the world. The lady that got me so mad, I let Inter out just to give her the most painful death possible.

I scowled at the paper, Marie was supposed to be dead. Inter killed her with my own hands. Something is going on here. I wanted to find out more, but Cel barged into the dorm.

“HEYO! I brought you some ice cream as well. Sorry, there wasn’t Papa John's flavor!” Cel surprised me so much I dropped the note.

“OOOOOOH, A NOTE! LEMME SEE!” Cel snatched the note from the floor before I could even react.

“Wai-!” But there was nothing I could do, Cel had read the note.

“Who’s this Marie, and why is she called “The Butcher”. Don’t tell me you have some super secret crazy past!” Cel looked excited, but I could tell there was nervousness in his gaze.

“No Cel, absolutely not!” Just act normal, Just act normal, “Marie is just an a-animal butcher I have business with.”

‘If he finds out, we should kill him.’

“GOD INTER! SHUT UP” I realized I said that out loud. I held my hands over my mouth.

“Who's Inter?” We stared at each other for a few seconds, like how we stared at each other when we first met at the lobby. Cel’s eyes widened.

“Sol, do you have your own spirit?” When he said that, I was dumbfounded

“How did you…” Then in my head, the dots started connecting.

The mark on Cel’s head probably indicates that he also has a spirit inside of him. That’s also why he saw a mark on my head that no one else saw. These marks indicate if you have a spirit inside of you.

“Cel, what’s your spirit like?” I blurted that out, not really considering it before it left my mouth.

I thought it was a touchy subject for Cel, but his eyes beamed. “My spirit, Resti, is the best! He helps me with so many things and gives me so much advice! I’m glad to have him around.” Cel paused for a moment when he saw my gaping mouth, “Wait, Sol, is your spirit not nice?” Cel looked at me with surprise.

At first I didn’t know what to say, but then all my years of bent up frustration let out in one large explosion of words. “MY GOD, INTER IS THE WORST! HE MADE ME KILL MY PARENTS, WHEN I WAS THREE! THREE I’M TELLING YOU! THEN HE MADE ME DESTROY SIX ORPHANAGES! SIX! MY LIFE HORRIBLE BECAUSE OF THIS MAN! HE’S HONESTLY A -”

‘Watch your tone.’

“Sorry!” I squeaked. Cel looked at me with a gaping mouth, I realized I said too much.

Then Cel’s eyes darkened, I thought he was going to report me to the police, and I wouldn’t blame him. He put one hand on my shoulder then said.

“Sol… no matter what, we will get this soul named Inter off of you,” Cel looked at me with a gaze I had never seen inside of him. What was this, his determination. For once, I actually thought Cel looked cool for a change.

‘Good luck with that.’ Inter came into head once more. If there was one person that was more annoying than Cel, it was him.

What do you mean?

‘There is only 1 way I’ll leave your body, and that is if you defeat me while I’m taking it over!’

That was the worst possible outcome. There was no way they could ever defeat Inter.

“Well Cel, thanks for the concern, but let's worry about that later.” I looked around the room. “Let’s at least enjoy our school life to the fullest.”

“Okay, but at least have your ice cream before it melts.” Cel grumbled.

“Woah!” I saw that the ice cream was dripping on my shirt. Cel laughed.

We sat and talked while eating the ice cream together.

That was the first time I considered Cel my friend, and I had a great time just eating and talking with him. However, this would be the last breather I got with him for a long time.