#Chapter3
I was disheartened; I lost all hope all over again. That was just a moment of the past repeating itself, but this time the one to witness it was not my parents, it was this five years old looking menace who was a complete stranger to me. I had shown my powers, to the outside world, I could feel a terrifying omen coming my way, I knew this story wasn't going to end well.
/"Say, why didn't you break when I touched you?/" Now I was curious about this guy. Maybe he wasn't lying at all. Maybe he was actually a star. To this question, he replied, /"So, you can break the things you touch, amazing Sila you got there!/"
/"What is Sila?/" I asked curiously.
/"Well, that is a special power possessed by demigods, of course./"
/"A demigod?/"
/"Yes, a demigod. It's the—/"
/"Offspring of a mortal and a God, I know. I read a lot./"
/"That's what a demigod is, and you are one of them./"
I always knew I wasn't normal, I was born for something sumptuous! I am disconcerted.
/"So then, what exactly is the work of a star?/"
/"Stars are mere familiars for the demigods who are destined to serve their master till they turn into supernovas./"
/"Basically die./"
/"Delure,/"
/"What's that now?/"
/"Stars don't die—Unless you kill them./"
Is the air around me high or is it just me? Nevermind.
/"So then, there are more demigods out there and not just me?/"
/"Precisely./"
Others like me—I want to meet them.
/"Then, why are you after me?/"
/"That's because you are mine!/"
/"How can you say that!/"
/"I can see people's red string of fate. Your red string meets mine. And plus, you're the only one who can see me./"
/"Are you serious? Do you have any idea how big of an age gap we have, you brat!/"
/"Don't worry, the age doesn't matter, what matters are the feelings attached!/"
/"Fuck you!/"
/"Now now, shall we?/"
/"Shall we what?/"
/"What do you mean 'what'. Now that everything's clear, let's form a contract!/"
/"What will happen if we form a contract?/"
/"Well, after we'll form a contract, you'll officially enter the parade to become a gatekeeper. A gatekeeper is a person who guards all the seven gates to hell and also the most important of all, the realm gates. Realm gates are shimmering portals used by inhabitants of the mortal realms to travel across between them. A gate that binds all the realms. The one that guards the gates has supreme power on all these realms and is called a gatekeeper./"
/"Is it like a war? Will I have to kill somebody? Hold up, that's if I even want this dumb job./"
/"What am I here for? I'll do the killing/"
/"That means people will be killed./"
/"Stars will./"
/"Does it matter? Somebody is dying—Be it human or star./"
I just said that on impulse but I meant that. I can't watch anyone die. Suffering, sadness, death, I've had enough of it.
/"Get out./" I mumbled /"And never come near me again. I'm never going to form a contract with you, you jerk!/"
I had my eyes shut out of habit when I shouted. I felt a slight breeze and when I opened my eyes, he was gone. A demigod? I don't deserve such a divine status. Days went by, everything became normal again and I began spending my days reading. I believed that I would soon forget him.
But, I talked to someone after ten years. So, I still exist.
I looked up at the night sky while having my head filled with all these thoughts. The terrace was cold, but the cold can't be bothered. I sometimes have a body temperature lower than the temperature outside. I don't sleep. I just sit and read in the day and during the night, I stare at the moon, rise and fall back into the horizon. I wish I could stand on the stars.
'Hey brat, could you come here and lay down so that I could stand on you?' laughed at my own joke. Was it wrong to be this young and this tired? After a week, while I was reading a novel in the library of my house, I heard that familiar chirpy voice.
/"Say, you're missing me right?/" That curly—headed menace was shamelessly standing at my window with a smile across his face. I couldn't believe it! What does he think of himself? He was so full of it, but, at the same time, it felt as if he read my mind. I was thinking about what he would be up to now.
/"Absolutely not! My life is much simpler without you./"
/"Huh? Oh, you mean boring?/" He smiled at me.
That brat, was he trying to hypnotize me or something? I was so not going to fall into his little trap.
/"Why are you here?/"
/"To form a contract!/"
/"You are the pure definition of obstinate. No, I think I told you off properly last time, I can't find someone else./"
Suddenly, he got serious and bought his face really really close to mine and said /"I can't. It has to be you or no one, I want you./"
He was so close to me, I felt, awkwardly weird. Even though his face was so close to mine, I couldn't feel his scent at all, as if he had none. While pushing him away from me, I asked;
/"Why do you want to form a contract with me so badly?/"
/"That's because I want a body. If I form a contract with my fated demigod, I'll gain a human body and a soul. I'll become a star spirit rather than just a star. I've been waiting for this for a really long time!/"
Like 5 years?
/"I want to become your star spirit. I want to help you./"
I should've realised that he wasn't five—All the knowledge that I gained by reading all these years told me one thing—Run. But, I never take orders—Not even from me myself. I agreed to form a contract. I agreed with specks on doubts lurking through my conscience. He moved his little finger crossing mine and I could see that red thread intervening our fingers together as they tangled. We looked inside a broken mirror.
We shouldn't have used a broken mirror.