Grey Nirmala
I felt drowsy, I hadn't slept at all last night; I didn't want to. Not after witnessing the ruin the Endless Greatness of the Five were going to make.
I walked into my classroom and sat at my desk. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now. I had no one to talk to anyway. They hated me and I hated them.
I looked at my desk and saw the same old mundane bullying technique. My breaks were already being wasted trying to erase the annoying writing on my desk. Though, I stopped erasing them after I realized that this was the job of the janitors.
I sighed. I really hate this school, but there was nothing I could do. After remembering I had no pencil or any books, I laid my head down on it and must have fallen asleep, because someone nudged me to wake me up. I looked up, but when I couldn't see anyone in front of me, I looked back. A cheerful girl with long blue hair and sky blue eyes was sitting at the desk behind me, looking at me.
"Raya?"
Raya was looking at me, a big smile on her gentle face.
"Good morning, sleepyhead."
Raya started playing with her hair, then laughed and handed me a plastic bag.
"Here, have this. Think of it as a thank you for being a good seatmate." Her voice was awfully wry.
I curiously took the bag from Raya and opened it. Inside was a box of chocolate and two bright yellow… bananas? I had no problem with chocolate, but why would anyone give someone two bananas? I looked at Raya blankly, but she smiled at me like she knew exactly what she was doing. I tilted my head to one side and she only giggled.
"What? I thought you liked bananas."
Raya said, still giggling like a 5 year old. The moment Raya told me I liked bananas, I paused. How the hell did she know that? And why did she know that? But there was another question that I was even more curious about.
"Why? What would be the sole reason to give someone two bananas?"
Raya's smile grew even wider, and her eyes sparkled which warmed my heart.
"'Why?' Of course, to make you happy, dummy."
Raya was swinging her legs under the table. I looked back at the bag and smiled. When I stopped staring at the yellowness of the bananas, I lifted my head. My golden eyes met Raya's blue ones.
"You know? Sometimes you should smile more; it suits you." Raya stood up, chuckled and then looked around. "Don't fall asleep in class next time."
She laughed again and walked out of the classroom. I picked up the box of chocolate from the bag, opened it, and saw many different shapes inside. But my hand had already grabbed one.
I twiddled the heart-shaped chocolate between my fingers. It wasn't very big, just about the size of an apricot. I popped the whole chocolate into my mouth, and after two chews, the sweet, milky chocolate was gone.
"Raya knows how to choose delicious chocolate." I murmured to myself.
A few doomed classes later, during lunch break, I found myself under the shade of a tree in the academy yard, eating one of the bananas Raya gave me earlier. It was so hot I could have taken a bath in ice. Students were playing games, throwing balls at one another and were just being like how normal people should be. But then a short girl bit down on another girl`s nose. Ugh, mostly normal I guess. At least I am not meek like them.
After that enigmatical sight my eyes were caught by something moving nearby. A squirrel was staring at me from the short branch of the tree I was sitting under. Its tail wagging up and down. I reached out, but before I could even blink it had already fled to the top of the tree. I looked up at it annoyed. The squirrel was staring at me from the branch, then it grabbed something that looked like a coconut and threw it at my head. I groaned in pain and sulkily walked away to the hallway grumpy. I walked down the hallway, my hand on my head, my face grim. Around me: lovers kissing, girls arguing with each other, boys joking, and more. I frowned.
I thought this day wouldn't be so bad, but of course, fate has never been on my side, even before her. This academy was never commensurate.
I continued walking, then someone I knew very well called me and ruined my already half bad, half nice day. I turned around and saw Nico, tall and with short brown hair and miserable green eyes. And his group of stupid friends. They are simply irrelevant for me to even address them as human beings. No one can argue with me about that.
Nico was grinning at me and applauding me with his hands for no reason.
"Grey, Grey, Grey, I really almost forgot about you entirely today."
Nico foolishly laughed and stopped just two feet away from me, that stupid grin still on his face. Nico put one hand on my shoulder, the other hovering in the air. I took a step back, but his arm around my shoulder held me tightly.
"Why can't you just once be a selfless dick, rather than being a selfish dick?"
"I don't have time for this, Nico, let me go."
My voice came out pathetic and demeaning, and it irritated me. How could I possibly sound so obnoxious? But it didn't matter since Nico just shook his head.
"No, Grey, why would I give up on an annoying anomaly like you?"
Nico's voice was sarcastic and quite disturbing.
"At least we have something in common." I hissed.
Nico coughed deliberately and then raised a fist. Damn it. I was suddenly punched in the stomach and recoiled in pain, but Nico took his hand from my shoulder and pulled it away.
"Like always, trying to solve your problems with meaningless force. Didn't your brother teach you any manners?" I mocked.
How the fuck did I let a slave like him make me feel more pathetic then a little rat? I actually thought that he would punch me again but the next punch never came.
"Huh?" We both uttered.
A sweet, cheerful voice spoke, "Hello,". When I looked, my eyes narrowed with surprise. I saw Raya standing next to us with a calm, innocent smile. Nico's hand was just inches away from my face. Annoyed, Nico brought it down and moved out of my way.
"Lucky bastard." He snorted. "You`re no different than the Endless Greatness of the Five."
Nico and his group of stupid friends walked away and soon disappeared. I turned to Raya, and she was looking at me with a cheerful smile like always.
"Thanks."
Raya shrugged then she perked her hand up and pinched my arms.
"Aww! What was that for?"
"Why do you keep letting him bully you like that?" She pouted like a child. "And I know you for long enough to understand that you just don`t care. Why?"
I rolled my eyes and looked away from her.
"Like you said, I don`t care enough to stop him. Klein should teach him some morality, not me."
Raya scowled.
"Be at least careful, you can`t know what he`ll do next."
I weaved my hand in the air dismissively.
"Okay, okay, fine."
Raya raised her pinky.
"Promise?"
I sighed and raised my own finger, intertwining them.
"Promise."
After connecting for a few seconds I pulled my finger away. Raya then laughed and gestured for me to come, before I knew it, she started walking, and I stood right next to her, just followed her. Raya's hands were clasped behind her back and she was muttering some nonsense. I approached her, unsure of what to say. I didn't know why, but Raya had been talking to me more than usual today. I had no problems with that though. I liked talking to her, and I was very well aware of the fact that I liked her very, very much.
"Did you know, rabbits can jump about three meters." She suddenly said.
I was taken aback by what Raya had said. Why would anyone say something like that at a time like this? But Raya simply laughed.
"Would you like me to get you a stuffed bunny sometime? I think it would suit you."
I didn't know what to say. As beautiful and intelligent as Raya was, she was also saying silly things from time to time.
"A bunny?"
"Yes! A bunny."
Raya waved to Maki and Lulu, who were a little ahead of us and waving at her, and then turned back to me:
"I think this is my one-way ticket."
Raya smiled again:
"I guess I'll see you later, Grey."
Raya joined her two close friends and headed away.
After school, I was walking home, just like I always did. But as I continued walking, I realized something was wrong. Hundreds of tiny purple particles were constantly growing around me. I distinctly remembered seeing these purple particles on my desk before. But my curiosity about these particles vanished completely when I saw something, or rather someone else. That was someone, there was no mistake in that. In the alleyway across from me. Looking at me and gesturing with its hand for me to come closer. I didn't know what it was. It resembled a person, but it had no visible or direct physical features of a person. The being didn't say anything, just kept gesturing with its hand to come towards it. But I wasn't stupid enough to go near it.
I looked away, but when I did, I was still looking at the same place, and the thing was still gesturing at me. Without wasting any more precious seconds, I started running, fear quickly took over my entire body. For a few minutes, I just ran, but I stopped running the moment I realized that I was still in the same place, the same place looking at the same alleyway as if I hadn't moved at all. It didn't take long to realize that my breathing had accelerated, I was scared. The thing was still looking at me and gesturing me to come, but I still didn't care, I didn't want to care and closed my eyes and did only one thing I thought was the only way for salvation. I stood and dreamt of a place where it didn`t exist. I didn't care what was happening in front of me, I didn't want to see and I just kept trying to escape from its cold, lifeless gaze.
I stood there for nearly ten minutes straight, I could feel my body getting annoyed at itself, but despite everything I did, I didn't open my eyes. It felt like hours had passed and so I stopped fighting over it in a duel of forbearance, but I still didn't open my eyes. Because if I opened them and saw that I was in the same place again, I would go crazy. What the hell was even happening?
I sat down, touching the ground with my hands, hugging my knees and hiding my head in those small knees. I wanted to raise my head and look, but couldn't. Fear of the unknown had taken over my entire body, but I knew one other thing: If I wanted to go home, I had to open them eventually. I had to escape from that thing. I tried to perpetrate a solid plan, one that could devise me off it. Yet, what could I possibly do in order to escape the grasp of an… whatever that thing is? Maybe I was simply dreaming all this… Nah, only a fool would believe that this is a dream. I accept the situation I am in. Even if I didn't like the sight.
I raised my head and opened my eyes slowly and hesitantly. But I wish I hadn't... That thing was still there in front of me, gesturing me to come to it from that dark alleyway. I almost felt numb and lost. I slowly stood up, with my head up. began to walk towards it with hesitant but stinker steps. With every step I took, it felt as if the entire world was bending in on itself. All the purple particles were floating towards that thing and taking me with them. Before I could even realize what that thing was, I found myself right in front of the being. Now that I was this close, I could more easily apprehend its appearance. Those white eyes that pierced my heart, that short but shiny white hair that hurt my eyes, and that dark body that was sucking me in. I didn't know if it had a mouth, tongue, nose, or ears; it was impossible to tell even from here.
Then the thing held out its hand to me and waited. I stood there, confused.
"Eh..?"
I guessed it wanted me to do the same, because even if seconds passed, it still waited. But why? Would it matter if I figured out the reason? I believe the only salvation is through it.
Both afraid and hesitant I held out my right hand to it, and our hands intertwined. I was about to open my mouth to ask it a question but when I felt a sharp pain in my palm I immediately pulled my hand back. When I looked at my palm in pain, I saw something carved into it. It looked like those old runes from the Dark Age. The rune was black and resembled a star. Stars that we yet know so little about.
The being extended its other hand to me and waited, just as it had before. This time, I waited for several minutes, afraid of experiencing the same bitter pain, but the being before me did not withdraw its hand. We both waited, I was trying to muster up my courage.The being must have been waiting for me to gather up my courage too.
Even though I hadn't yet congregated any courage, I extended my left hand in fear, and our hands joined again. The same painful feeling in my palm reappeared, but this time I didn't pull back, I waited. The pain was becoming increasingly unbearable with each passing second, and just as I was about to pull my hand away, the thing pulled its own hand away. When I looked at my palm, I saw that it had carved a rune into it again. This time, the rune was different, the shape of this rune resembled a vortex or maybe something destructive
While I was still examining the runes engraved on my hand, the thing, the entity suddenly stepped back and raised its right hand. The purple particles floating in the air suddenly began to gather in the thing's palm, and the being's palm began to glow with a purple light, but then all the particles disappeared merely in a blink of an eye. The more I tried to fathom what was happening, the more I couldn't understand. The entity extended its airborne hand to me again, but this time, the entity's hand was glowing purple. This time, I would never touch that thing, never in my life. If what I was seeing now wasn't a dream and was actually happening, why me? Why was I the one who had to experience this? This bastard really knew me very well. I know that, otherwise why would a god like being like this would give me these damn runes? I am not an idiot to see through this. Yet I still ponder.
Why was fate so cruel to me?
I waited like that for minutes, maybe hours. I didn't want to reach out, I couldn't. Of course, one thing was clear: I wouldn't be able to get out of here until I shook that hand. I refused.
"No, no, never in a damn universe where I shook this bloody hand. Give one reason for me to accept your hand."
I felt something coming from the entity. Something that reminded me of… amusement.
"Salvation" it said.
It talked. Spoke like a normal human. How delightful. Well then, what can I do more? I am fucked. I am doomed. But I will not fall for of a stupid hand.
This time, without hesitation and with a sudden burst of confidence I reached out and waited. But there wasn't solely one hand reaching out. The moment my hand moved through the air, I realized my other hand was also reaching out, and worse, I couldn't pull my hands back. I was locked by my own limbs. My entire body was gripped by panic and fear. As the entity joined its own hands with mine, the light on the thing's hand slowly disappeared and began to move into my palms. As the purple light moved it turned more bright, more golden. And behind the entity for extra arms appeared. All from four other distinct entities.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't pull my hands back. After seconds of agonizing pain that felt like literal eternal torture, the entity released my hands, and I fell backward. This time, I didn't feel any pain in my palms,on the contrary, my palms felt relaxed. My entire body felt snug. When I looked at my palms, I saw both runes glowing with a purple light, and faint golden light emitting from it little by little. I then looked back at the entity, I saw that it was no longer there. In its place was a book instead. I quickly stood up and looked all around me to find out where the thing might have vanished. There was no trace left. Feeling defeated, I picked up the book and examined it. It looked just like the book I'd seen on my desk in my room. The cover was pitch black, only black, but the title… The title was glowing purple: "The Eye of the Void." When I looked up from the book with a frown, it wasn't so hard for me to realize I wasn't still in that dark scary alley, I was sitting on my bed in my room, with that black mysterious book next to me. The Eye of the Void looking directly at me with its malevolent presence.