Grey Nirmala
Nya stood with her arms crossed, glaring at me. Even though we were in the same class, we had only spoken a handful of times, and none of those interactions could be praised as friendly.
"Haven't you been getting a little too close to her lately?"
I frowned. Out of all the people who could judge my relationship with Raya, she was the last one I wanted to do it with. Not that I had many people to argue. Still, there was no reason to panic—it wasn't like I'd confessed to Raya, yet. The last thing I wanted right now was to be interrogated by the supposed "foe" of the girl I liked. Ah, highschool drama, how kooky, how pointless and foolish.
"Have we? I hadn't noticed," I said innocently.
I tried to laugh to lighten the mood, but the sound came out awkward and stupid. Maybe I was just bad at laughing, or just Nya was not worthy of my laugh.
Nya narrowed her eyes, and I had a feeling she thought I was mocking her. She frowned and let out a sigh.
"Anyone with working eyes can see you like her. You do know that, right?"
I could feel my face heating up. For no reason at all, I gave a few fake coughs. At that moment, I would have gladly thrown her off the roof to escape.
"Look… if you could just not tell anyone, I'd appreciate it."
I tried to make my face look a bit sweeter and more innocent, but it clearly wasn't working. It didn't take long to realize Nya was starting to get irritated.
"You're an idiot, I'm sure of that. Don`t worry, I`m sure that there isn`t a single soul here who would care about who you like here. Even if it is Raya." She covered her face in a dismissive gesture. "That girl is far more secretive than she lets on. Far, far of innocence."
My frown came back harder.
"Thank you." I simply said.
I gave her my most innocent smile, which only served to annoy her further, and she knew it. A tight smile formed on her angry face. Pulling a pack of mint gum from her pocket. Taking one out, she popped it into her mouth. Nya was probably even prettier than Raya, her silk long black hair and fierce brown eyes were the source mostly. She was taller than me, which was annoying.
"You're so annoying." Her brows twitched as she said the words.
"You're the one who wanted to talk to me."
Nya stomped her foot like a child and stormed out of the classroom. I felt a small sense of pride, though—one of her utterances was left jumping around my mind. "Far, far of innocence."
With half an hour left before the first class, I decided to get some peace on the quiet, empty rooftop. The roof was usually locked, but the janitors rarely bothered to secure it in the mornings. The privilege of studying in Legacy`s Academy.
As soon as I stepped outside, the fresh air hit me, and I felt the weight on my shoulders lighten. Still, I wasn't sure what to do. I looked down at the runes on my palms. Both were unusual, unnatural, and I had no idea what they meant or what to do with them.
Thinking about the runes, the book, and that entity again only confirmed the reality of these supernatural things. But those damn purple particles… What were they? The entity seemed able to gather them, even manipulate them.
I looked up at the sky, as if it might give me an answer. Of course, it didn't. The Eye of the Void was a source unheard, it was a ghost reacting to nothing, nothing on its nude page—only the rules it clings to.
I left the roof and started heading back toward my classroom, but something, or rather, someone, just had to get in my way.
Walking down the hall, I came face-to-face with possibly the dullest person in the entire world.
"Grey!" he called out.
"What do you want, Klein?"
He looked at me with innocent but determined eyes. Why could I never meet normal people?
Klein was nearly as tall as me, I was just inches taller. He had soft black hair and shining green eyes. His face was above average in the Lineage City.
"Dude, you seriously need to get a friend."
I didn't even look at him. I just shoved past and kept walking.
"Aw, come on, Grey!"
"Sorry, but I'm not interested."
Klein trailed after me, rambling about something or other.
"Grey, sometimes you can be really thoughtless."
I stopped and turned to him, a rough expression was on my puss.
"Alright, if you're done, please just go away."
Klein scowled. I frowned back. Honestly, maybe we could have been good friends. I laughed quietly to myself. Then again, even I didn't believe that lie.
There was a very clear reason for why I was bullied at school. In these corridors which were filled with students of all ages were nigh to become the end of me.
Klein kept following me down the hallway. It didn't take long for him to realize I was heading toward my class. He probably suspected I wanted to shake him off. I chuckled to myself, though I was pretty sure he heard it, because he shot me a sideways glare.
When we reached my classroom, I didn't even turn around. I just lifted my right hand and flipped him off before heading to my seat.
Klein was about to leave and head to his own class but before he did, I noticed him looking at empty air, trying to figure something out. My eyes widened, tiny purple particles drifting through the air. I looked closer and traced them back to their source. They were coming from my bag. I immediately dug through my bag, trying to find that cursed book, but it wasn't there. I cursed under my breath, though it wouldn't help. Around me, I could see the purple particles drifting through the air. They were rising from above my bag, yet the book was nowhere to be found. It was as if it was both there and not there at the same time.
Some of the particles floated toward my palms, and I realized they were being absorbed into the runes carved there. Instinctively, I pulled my hands back, but just then, I noticed someone staring at me. Klein's eyes were wide, fixed on my palms.
It was too late to hide them now. Then I noticed something else, Klein wasn't just looking at me. He was looking at the particles as well. He could see them. And if he could see them, he might be able to interact with them. Maybe he knew something I didn't. Maybe I could use him. Or maybe he knew shit. "Klein the Hero", time to help the golden princess.
A small smile crept onto my face as I walked toward him. Klein seemed uncertain about what to do, and I intended to take advantage of that.
"You know you're not supposed to be in other classrooms, right?" I said.
He took a step back, opening his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again without a word.
"What? Didn't you want to talk to me?" I pouted and crossed my arms. "Aren't you the hero of this school?"
Klein's eyes weren't on mine; they were still on my palms. That irritated me. The more he knew, the more trouble he could cause, but at the same time, the more useful he could be. All I needed was to find out exactly how much he knew, or how much he did not.
He narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Talk? I didn't know you had that kind of a quirk."
I frowned.
"You know," he said, "I believe we both know why we are standing here. I am sure that we both are not schizophrenic."
We, for a long, intense moment, stared at each other's eyes. Klein was not a bad person in the slightest. But I knew him shallowly, I barely knew anyone here. No one wants to spend time with me.
Klein pointed straight at my palms. "If you don't want me to yell: 'Hey everyone, look at Grey's hands,' then you're going to explain what's going on. Properly." He smiled. "Please."
I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists. I gave a short nod. Klein made a thumbs up and left the classroom, holding out a hand as if to invite me along. Instead, I shoved it aside and made sure I walked ahead of him.
"I'd rather talk about this in the bathroom," I said.
"This? Since when did you have a friend to talk about this with?"
I stopped and turned to glare at him. Klein was smirking, barely holding back laughter.
"Relax. I'm just joking."
I turned away and kept walking, but I could still hear him chuckling behind me. We finally reached the bathroom, but Klein grabbed my shoulder to stop me from going in.
"Class is about to start, and I'm not wasting my time getting chewed out by a teacher."
I frowned and shrugged his hand off. "Then why the hell did you drag me all the way here?"
He just laughed, which only made me more annoyed. We'd walked all this way for nothing, and now he was saying, "I don't want to be late."
"What a jerk." I mumbled. Was he playing with me?
Klein stopped laughing and straightened himself. "I just wanted to see you do something someone else told you to do. Thought maybe it'd chip away at your narcissism a bit. Is that so bad? Who knows, maybe if we keep it up, we'll fix that awful personality of yours."
I let out a groan, then took a long breath. My face fell. "At least my personality isn't as boring as yours."
He flinched slightly. "What part of me is boring? I'm just someone who enjoys life."
I raised my hands in mock surrender and grinned at his flustered face. "Exactly. What part of a person who loves helping everyone isn't boring? What are you, the heroic main character in a fantasy book?"
"What's wrong with helping people? I just do what I think is right."
I chuckled. "And that's exactly why you're boring."
Klein gave me an upset look. He opened his mouth to argue, but stopped mid-breath and looked past me. Curious, I turned around. Raya was walking toward us, smiling and waving.
Raya Marin
The number of purple particles was increasing with every passing second. I knew they had been there long before I started seeing them. What I didn't understand was why now? Why could I see them only at this moment and not before? Why did these particles disappear and return years prior? These were questions that needed to be asked, and answered.
I stepped closer to the mirror in front of me and stared at my reflection. My hair was neat but demanding to maintain, my eyes a deep blue that could seem almost intimidating. I slowly raised my hand and, with hesitation, touched the mirror where the reflection of a killer stood.
Several things happened at once. The purple particles suddenly aligned, the mirror warped, and my reflection shifted. I was no longer looking at the person I hated the most in this spurious world..
Something, or someone else was there.
It had hair the same shade of blue as mine, but unlike mine, it was translucent. Its eyes were in the shadow of a piercing violet, and its body shimmered with those same purple particles. Beyond that, its form was impossible to make out, as if it existed but I couldn't fully see it.
The figure in the reflection was touching the mirror with its hand, just as I was. From its palm, the particles flowed outward, and it felt as though my own hand was drawing them in. I tried to pull away but couldn't, my hand was locked in place. I couldn't feel it or move it.
Only when the reflection pulled its own hand back did I manage to do the same. It straightened its posture, and I found myself doing the same, my body no longer my own. It was in control, as if the reflection was me.
The aligned particles began to scatter again, but that didn't last long. The moment the figure raised its hand, they lined up once more, and so did my own small hand.
Fear consumed me. I couldn't stop it from overflowing my body.
The being in the mirror began drawing all the purple particles toward itself, yet they remained fixed on the surface of the glass. Then, it moved its fingers. Just as I expected, my own fingers moved with it. With each motion, the arrangement of the particles shifted.
After some time, the figure stopped and pointed a finger at the mirror. It was showing me something.
Within the mirror, hundreds, perhaps thousands of particles had been arranged into a single word.
"Aether."