Chapter 2 Mystery.
P7. Esteban's sins.
Esteban wasn't pleased that I had stopped Zazaba from stealing his time. Now he just mentioned that he made a "mistake" with deep regret.
"What mistake are you talking about?" Leyla said with a compassionate voice.
Esteban did not reply straight away.
.....
He wiped away his tears and faced Leyla with his hair covering his eyes.
"I-I can't explain it without showing you," He said.
He stood up and led us to a house in the middle of the night where only the street lamps illuminated the city.
We stood at the side of the house where Esteban pointed to a specific window on the ground floor.
"Inside that room lies the greatest of my sins," He was hesitant to approach the window.
Myself, Leyla and Cecilia looked inside the room where although curtains were hung at the window there was still a gap for us to see inside the room.
Inside we saw a teenage girl about the same age as the three of them unconscious on her bed.
I used my magic eyes to examine her while doing so I noticed something strange but before I could speak Esteban explained everything.
"Her name is Gina. She's been my best friend since we were kids, she is a few months older than me and acted like a loving big sister. She would look out for me as if I were her little brother. Those memories are my greatest treasure. 10 years ago she taught me magic…."
Esteban couldn't continue without shedding tears.
"Esteban you don't-" Cecilia wanted to let him know that he didn't need to finish his story if it was too difficult for him before Esteban cut her off.
"No please just give me a moment," Esteban took a deep breath.
He continued to explain.
" We were in the middle of a forest. She taught me magic eyes," Every Vampire has magic eyes however depending on the person's magic they have different abilities and power output.
"Like she said I poured magic into my eyes and at first I was amazed. I could see long distances and things so small that I couldn't see them normally," That's the most basic skill of magic eyes almost every Vampire is capable of doing so.
"But then something terrible happened…As I used my eyes they began to feel hot and painful. I screamed in pain to the point where I thought that my vocal cords had been torn then, my eyes shot beams of magic which destroyed the surrounding trees and landscapes," The ability he described was the magic beams of disintegration.
"I panicked and so did she and I accidentally hit her with my eyes. At that moment the beams stopped and I realised what happened before she closed her eyes she said that I had beautiful eyes. For the past 10 years, she wouldn't wake up and no one knows why," He said, shedding more tears.
We saw a woman enter her room.
"That's her mother," Esteban said.
Her mother placed a towel on her head praying to the Celestials that she would wake up.
"Please let my daughter wake up," The Mother said with tears streaming down her face.
The mother left the room and closed the door behind.
"For 10 years I have researched medicine and magic on how to wake her up until recently a voice echoed that I can save her with my time," That was Zazaba praying on his struggles, despair and sorrow to steal his time.
"Zazaba would have kept your time as a trophy. He never had the intention to give your time to her," I explained.
Esteban looked disappointed and at wit's end.
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
I walked up to him and placed my hand on his shoulder.
"The reason why she isn't waking up is because when you hit her with your beams, you didn't just damage her physically but also parts of her soul. Without a complete soul she can't awake from her coma," I explained to him.
Esteban didn't speak a single syllable. Esteban had the look of someone who had truly given up with no hope.
"Esteban, don't worry, fixing her soul is not a challenge for me," I said with a reassuring smile.
Esteban looked at me and despite his hair being in the way I saw his eyes being wide open in surprise hearing that.
"Is that really true?" He asked.
Leyla and Cecilia smiled hearing me say that.
I nodded and walked around to the front door of the house.
*Knock*
*Knock*
*Knock*
The door was opened by Gina's mother.
"Can I help you?"
Esteban looked scared seeing her Mother.
"Esteban…Is that you?"
"U-Uhm yes…" He said with a quiet tone of fright.
The woman looked angry.
"Go away! You didn't show up for years and now out of the blue you stand here in the middle of the night," She stopped speaking further.
Esteban felt that she was right and couldn't counter her.
She was about to slam the door when I placed my arm against the door preventing her from closing it.
"Ma'am, Esteban told me everything that happened in the past…How Gina ended up in this state. For the last 10 years, he felt nothing but guilt for the incident and went to great lengths to heal her, even trading his time for her. I can save Gina Ma'am," Before I could finish my sentence Gina's Mother cut in.
"Can you really save her?" She asked.
Leyla and Cecilia stepped in.
"Yes, he can!" Leyla said with determination.
"He performed a miracle in front of us," Cecilia was referring to the time I saved Leyla's mother.
"Please come in," She said, opening the door wider.
We went inside Gina's room where Esteban had a hard time seeing her like this.
"Don't worry, you won't see her like this any longer," I told him.
I stood at the side of her bed and cast a magic circle over her body.
A blue transparent sphere of light came out of her body which took the shape of Gina.
"What is that?" Gina's mother asked in worry.
"That is her soul, if you pay close attention you see holes which are the damaged parts. All I need to do is fix it and place her soul back in her body," Compared to fixing Holie's essence, fixing Gina's soul was an easy task.
My hand began to glow orange and her soul began to heal.
"What kind of magic is this?" Esteban said with astonishment.
"We have to tell you something later on," Cecilia mentioned to him.
Esteban looked confused but put that topic aside for now.
Moments passed and I completed repairing Gina's soul.
With the soul repaired I placed her soul back in her body.
"It's done. I placed a sleeping spell that will last 8 hours. Once she's awake she will feel reborn and full of strength,"
Gina's mother hugged me with tears of joy.
"Thank you very much for saving my daughter," She said, filled with gratitude.
"You are very welcome," I told her.
Esteban was happy but at the same time didn't want to face Gina in fear of her hating him.
"I hope Gina will do well from here on out," Esteban said with his head facing the ground.
Gina's mother hugged Esteban.
"Please come and visit us," She said.
Esteban began to tear up.
"How can I face her after what I have done? I stole 10 years of her life," He said with remorse.
"I always knew that it was not your intention to hurt her. She knows that as well I'm sure of it," Gina's mother told him.
Esteban thought for a moment.
"I'll visit soon. I promise," He said, wiping off his tears.
I was glad to see Esteban finally being himself and free of the guilt and sorrow he endured for 10 years.
"What are your names?" She asked all of us.
"I am Ilyas,"
"I am Cecilia Bloodfallen,"
"My name is Leyla Gilfelia,"
"Although I only knew you for a moment…I am truly grateful to you," She said.
With that, we left the house and called it a day.
Outside the home, Esteban bowed his head.
"Thank you," He said.
I nodded and told him that it was alright.
We went back to the academy inside our dorms ready for the next day.
The next day
Inside the class, we waited for Esteban to arrive.
"Where is Esteban?" Leyla asked.
We were met with a surprise that we didn't expect.
Esteban entered the class and all eyes were drawn to him.
"Is that really you?" Cecilia couldn't believe that it was Esteban who stood before us.
"Yes and I am done hiding," He said with a smile.
Esteban cut his hair, the one thing which isolated him from the world and people.
"You look great," Leyla said.
This was the first time his red eyes could be seen properly.
"Thank you," He replied with a smile.
At that moment the bell rang and Gastella walked into the class.
"Alright! Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" She said with a serious tone.
Whatever she had to announce was very important based on her tone and expression.