Exiting the train, the boy came face to face with the girl, making it seem as if he had tailed her.
"Ahaha," The boy laughed, walking past her, using his actions to prove that their second encounter was naught but a coincidence.
This particular station was situated inside a skyscrapper, using the entirety of its 50th floor. After swiping his ID at a designated spot, he pushed through the security checks, arriving before the lift.
After a minute of waiting, a vacant lift finally arrived, making the boy thank the heavens. He boarded the lift, pressing the button numbered '28', arms crossed as he watched the lift descend.
Reaching his floor, the boy exited the lift, noticing the girl walk out from a nearby lift. She then flashed him a smile, walking towards a corridor, taking the same route as him. Before long, the two of them reached a house, their destination being the same.
"Eh? I don't remember seeing someone like you in this household. Are you one of their relatives?" The boy questioned, curiosity plastered across his face.
"As I suspected," The girl pouted, ringing the calling bell. "You have forgotten me."
Just when he was about to probe further, the door opened as Heima greeted them, "Hello! You've grown quite tall since I last saw you."
Heima measured the boy's height with her hand, moving it horizontally to herself, noticing that he was just a tad shorter than her. She then brought them inside, seating them on the sofa in the living room.
"Sister, I hardly recognised you." The boy said, making Heima chuckle. For an instant, she and the girl made eye contact, seemingly having exchanged information through that.
"Jyorta, come out," Heima shouted, serving the two some snacks in the meantime. Having realised, the boy's face reddened, filled with embarrassment.
'That was Laila all along!' He mentally screamed, covering his face.
'If I knew she would become this beautiful, I would have stayed in touch with her, dammit.' George lamented, trying this best to sport a poker face, avoiding eye contact with Laila.
"I am not!" A voice trailed out, filled with anger and indignation, followed by the sound of a door being slammed shut. With a chuckle, Heima excused herself, walking in the direction of the sound.
Followed by the sound of a door being kicked open and the screams of a certain boy, Heima returned to the living room; Jyorta curled up into a ball in her hands, lacking the strength to resist her.
"It has been a long time. Why don't you greet your childhood friends?" Heima said, dropping Jyorta. With a groan, he picked himself up, feeling tired. Just the struggle in her arms left him gasping for air, his muscles feeling the strain.
"Hello," Jyorta said, gazing at the faces of the two visitors with confusion, turning his head to Heima, whispering, "Who are they?"
"George and Laila; I assumed you would recognise them," Heima whispered. The atmosphere turned awkward as everyone just stared at the faces of each other, not knowing what to speak next.
"Well, I'll make some sweets for you guys. Keep talking until then," With a smile, Heima retreated out of the picture, walking towards the kitchen with grace. She took out some ingredients from the kitchen, switched on the gas stove, and picked up some utensils, placing a pan on the stove.
The eyes of George trailed after Heima, transfixed, mesmerised. Only when she entered the kitchen, breaking away from his line of sight did he turn his head around in embarrassment, gazing at the face of Laila who looked at him as if he were a stranger.
"Wow, you guys have changed a lot. I almost didn't recognise you." Jyorta said, etching the faces of his friends to his memory.
"Haha, you seem to have changed the most. I suspected you had turned into a girl," Laila tried to joke around like old times, turning silent when there was no laughter accompanying her statement.
"Oh yeah, I brought you a gift," George said, handing out a cover. He still felt embarrassed to take out the gift-wrapped game CD; hence, he gave it with the cover.
"What is this?" Jyorta took hold of the gift, feeling it to be thinner than he had expected. "Can I open it now?"
"Ah, no," George shook his head, "You can open it later. It is just a game CD."
"I brought something for you too," Laila interjected, handing out an item wrapped in golden-glitter paper, looking bigger than George's.
"Thanks," Jyorta received it without shame, placing it on his lap.
"Why," Laila trailed off, "Why are you wearing a gown?"
"Yeah, I wanted to ask about it too," George nodded, "It was strange to see you wear women's clothes."
"I was discharged just yesterday; so, we haven't bought any clothes that fit me. My sister forced me to wear this," Jyorta turned sullen, looking like he wanted to remove the gown this very instant.
"Well," Laila pondered, trying to find a suitable statement to describe it, "It looks…good on you?"
The room turned silent, the silence showing the gap that had formed in their relationship. Jyorta spoke, "I heard you have changed schools. Why?"
"You don't suppose we would continue to study there considering what had happened, right?" Laila replied, a slight trace of anger in her face, immediately concealed under her placid expression.
"I was unconscious for a month after that," George took the time to speak, "After that, my grandmother took the initiative to transfer me to the 2nd Academy. Since then, despite my urging, I wasn't allowed to contact either of the two of you. As time passed, I moved on with my life, getting used to my new surroundings."
"Actually, I planned to sneak out and check up on the two of you, but, when I arrived here, I only found your grandfather here. He informed me that you had shifted to a different location, the case being the same for Laila. I saw a stranger there, everything changed in the span of a month, I didn't know what else I had to do. None of the adults ever told me anything." George said, his face full of seriousness, his gaze shifting between Jyorta and Laila.
"We…shifted to the 5th Ring," Laila spoke, her voice mellow, "I couldn't do anything. My mom refused to listen to me. Within a week, we found ourselves in a new place, settled within a new home. Just getting used to the changes was difficult, and I couldn't travel between the Rings without being accompanied by my mother."
Heima returned with three bowls of sweets, placing them before each of the three. George and Laila ate in silence, giving Jyorta time to observe them. Finished with eating the snacks, George took his leave, giving an excuse.
Laila too followed suit, departing along with him. Even though Jyorta wanted to spend more time with them, judging by how they behaved, he hesitated to stop them. It looked like they had forced themselves to act friendly, like strangers that shared some history.
After they went away, the living room turned silent. Jyorta noticed Heima switching on the TV, a bowl of sweets in her hand. She watched a program as she munched on the sweets, a look of delight plastered across her face.
"Sister," Jyorta sat beside her, "Are they really the Laila and George I knew?"
"They were," Heima nodded.
"But…" Jyorta turned silent, his mood turning worse.
"Look," Heima sighed, "People change as they age. When you were asleep, they went to new locations, met new people, had their perspectives of the world broadened, and have also matured. Moreover, there has been a gap of over 5 years formed between you three. If you want to go back to being like your childhood days, you would have to forge new bonds with them. That is the only way."
"I understand," Jyorta nodded, gazing at the TV in a daze. A couple of minutes later, he began to cry. Tears streamed out of his eyes, cascading down his cheeks like a torrent. He wept, his body trembling, burying his face into his arms, crouching atop the sofa.
Heima's eyes turned cold, taking a shade of green as she observed each and every action of Jyorta. Her hands trembled, watching the crying state of Jyorta. She controlled herself, stopping her hand from reaching Jyorta in order to console him.
'There is no problem with him, after observing till now. But, I can't leave it at that. Especially, the strange things he said before falling into a coma, increasing day by day until that fateful day. Also, the language teacher that was the cause of the disaster 5 years ago, she was just a newly advanced Tier 2 Amplifier. Even if her mental state was at rock bottom, it was practically impossible for her to lose control like that.'
'After a breakthrough, the Wisdom Parasite would be at its weakest. It would then nurture itself over time, taking months and years, before becoming powerful to initiate a strike, making a person lose control. Judging by the remains of the language teacher, and based on the research results, that had been the case for her too. So, the only reason why she lost control on that day should have been accounted for by an external influence.'
Heima thought in silence, choosing to ignore Jyorta. She patted his head once, leaving behind some half-assed words as consolation, walking towards her room, stating an excuse of her work cropping up.
The moment she walked out of his sight, her eyes turned green once again, having activated her Tier 1 Skill. From the nearby room, she pocketed a couple of things, hiding them underneath her clothes. The energy in her Heart Crystal began to get consumed as she activated another Skill, making people subconsciously gloss over her existence.
Tier 3 Skill—Sensory Invisibility!
She then tiptoed across the corridor, entering the living room, watching the crying Jyorta. She silently crept behind him, the backrest of the sofa separating the two. She placed her hand over her throat, infusing her energy—light red in colour—into it, changing her voice. She crouched, tilting her body forward, inching her face towards the left ear of Jyorta.
'Silently observing him is proving to be pointless, I should take measures directly into my hands.' Heima thought, her eyes turning vicious, planning to go to the extreme if necessary.
Her mouth hovered just a couple of inches from Jyorta's face—thanks to her Tier 3 Skill, he hadn't noticed her presence. Even the small heat generated by her body was masked by the skill, making Jyorta gloss over it even if he had sensed it in such close proximity.
She opened her mouth, producing sounds that looked like one generated by a man, falling along the lines of a whisper, but one audible enough for his ears.
"Hello, Kaushik!"