Kamari, stopped by the girl's words, turned back around to face the apricot-haired Eastern girl, standing like a statue with his hands in his pants pockets. "You are the Dark Nature boy?" the girl asked with an Eastern accent, her eyes fixed on him with a warm gaze.
'Dark Nature boy?' Kamari thought to himself. 'Is that what these people are calling me?'
"Sure. I have a Dark Chronicle, so I guess." Kamari replied.
"Can I see it?" The girl asked with a small smile, surprising Kamari. Everyone else, besides Tom, looked at Kamari as if he were some sort of devil, but she looked at him with kind eyes. Based on their previous interaction, he thought she feared him, but her request proved otherwise.
Saying nothing, Kamari approached her as he waved his hand in front of him to summon his Chronicle. He sat next to her, holding the black book in front of him and presenting it to her. "Only the owner can hold it, but... here." Kamari said plainly, displaying the book and its pages to her.
The girl's eyes lit up upon seeing the legendary Dark Chronicle before her. Its black pages flipped on their own, showing the many hexes that it already held with see-through white ink. "Wow, it is so different compared to the others. The color is so deep, and the pages are so dark..."
Kamari didn't really know what to say, so he just let her continue to gawk at his Chronicle to her heart's content. As she was distracted by his Chronicle, he couldn't help but look at the sunny girl's pretty face. She was one of the most beautiful girls that he'd ever laid eyes on, her most prominent features being her clear, beautiful, almost golden skin and her fox-like eyes. Soon after making the realization that he was admiring her, he could feel his heart thumping against the interior of his chest, a sensation he'd never felt before by simply being in the presence of another person.
The bubbly girl noticed his gaze, causing the boy to sort of panic and look elsewhere. Realizing they still hadn't introduced themselves, the girl told the boy her name. "My name is Hana Seon, most people just call me Seon." she told him with a smile. Kamari shifted his gaze back to her, introducing himself in return. "I'm Kamari. Kamari Yelekal." he said plainly.
"Where are you from, Kamari?" The girl asked, leaning back on the couch as she began swinging her feet. The artificial sun was starting to set, reflecting off of Seon's eyes as she looked forward at the simulated window.
"Eswaria. You?" said Kamari.
"I am from Wonkolia." She had lived in the country that used to be known as both South and North Korea, before it was combined into one nation, for her entire life.
"How is it? Wonkolia, I mean. The censorship laws there are rather intense, you can't even find a picture of the place online."
Seon chuckled slightly before giving him his answer with a bleak voice. "It is... all I've ever known so I do not know how I feel about my home relative to others. I have always wanted to visit other nations, but international travel is banned for commoners." Her cheerful gaze toward the artificial sun shifted to a more solemn one as she thought about the world and how she craved to see every corner of it.
"Maybe if you win, you could visit the places you want." He knew the odds of her winning were low, at this point, it was 1/249 chance after Edgar's death. Nonetheless, he thought he'd try being enthusiastic for once.
"It does not matter." Seon retorted gloomily.
"Why not?"
"I only have less than a year left before my disease kills me. That is why they sent me here, Wonkolia always sends someone dying to participate, since their death wouldn't matter in the end."
"Is there no treatment?"
"There is, but it is too expensive. If I do make it to the end of the tournament and somehow win, I'd be able to pay for it, but by that point, the treatment likely will not be effective. The disease would have progressed too far."
"I see..." Kamari didn't know what else to say. He didn't expect to hear such a depressing backstory from the girl due to her seemingly bright attitude, one that was the complete opposite of his own.
Realizing she'd killed the mood, Seon attempted to change the subject. "What about you, Kamari? If you win, what will you do?"
Kamari hadn't thought about what he would do with the money. Winning was something that he saw as impossible, due to the odds. "I don't know. I don't really plan on winning." he answered.
"Why not?"
"Well, if I win, I don't really have anything that I look forward to or desire. I don't know, it all just feels sort of..." Kamari didn't finish his sentence, realizing that he was killing the mood with his negative viewpoint.
"Pointless?" Seon added, already knowing what he was going to say and also sort of understanding his feelings.
"Yeah, pointless." Kamari repeated monotonously.
"Maybe you can find a point." Seon added with a slight, solemn smile, keeping her eyes locked on the artificial sunset. Kamari glanced over at her, noticing the beautiful violet and orange hues that reflected off her eyes as she gazed forward.
"Maybe." Kamari answered, shifting his eyes back toward the imitation window.
"Have you seen a real one?" She was talking about a sunset, as she'd never gotten the chance to see one for herself. She lived in one of the underground cities in Wonkolia, so she'd never even felt the sun's rays before. To make up for not having any type of interaction with the sun, the residents had to take daily supplements. Her lack of sunlight was one of the main reasons why her immune system was so weak.
"I have. I would watch the sunset every day at the beach near my home."
"How different was it?" Seon questioned, not breaking her gaze toward the artificial sun.
"It looks the same, but the difference is in the other senses. You can feel the sun's warmth hugging your skin, slowly fading until the cool, ocean breeze takes over. Hearing the waves, smelling the sea, it's all very... cathartic. It was the only thing I looked forward to for most of my life."
Seon was no longer looking at the sunset, but at Kamari, as he explained the feelings of watching Earth's star descend. His face, much like when he first laid eyes on Seon, no longer had that seemingly permanent frown. Instead, he looked tranquil, giving his brow a rest.
"That sounds amazing."
"It truly is..." As those words left Kamari's lips, the orange and purple hues of the sun setting had dissipated, being replaced by the night sky.
The two were silent for a few seconds, not knowing what else to say to each other at that point. "Well," said Seon. "I enjoyed talking with you, Kamari. I'll see you tomorrow." Seon stood up, smiling down at Kamari as she started toward the exit.
"Tomorrow?" Kamari questioned. He didn't really understand what she was implying.
"Yes, you said you watch the sunset every day, right? Well, I'll be here. Waiting." Seon smiled, waving to the boy before walking out of the lounge, leaving him alone with his own thoughts.
Kamari watched as the door closed behind the bubbly Wonkolian girl. He couldn't understand his feelings at that point. His chest felt as if his heart was ready to burst out of it, it was a sensation that he'd never felt before, one that he couldn't understand.
He felt like he wanted to know more about her. Though he felt something similar with Tom, his feelings were very different at that moment.
Seon was different.
He couldn't understand his feelings, they were too unfamiliar and complex. He felt excited and optimistic even, but at the same time, he felt horrified. He wanted to see her again, but he wondered what he would do once the day came when he couldn't.