CHAPTER 7.
The pain had faded but he still felt fatigued as he slowly widened his eyes. The rushing wind blew against his face, promptly him to quickly close his eyes.
His back was aching while his butt was hurting — wherever he lay had been quite rough, and he was just coming to realize that.
He stretched his hands, widening his mouth as he let out a yawn. His feet shifted from the tree bench, and he fell straight to the ground.
" Ouch." He groaned, slowly getting up from the floor and gripping his head with both hands.
Memories of what led him to his current state slowly began to flood his mind, shrouding it in a cascade of fog.
He began coughing violently as the fog of memories began clouding his mind. Everything he was seeing made no sense at all.
He was certain that he passed out after the strange cat cast whatever spell it cast on him, but somehow, he had ended up sleeping on the top of a tree.
Slowly, he raised his head to look around and saw multiple scratches left on the trunk of the trees around him, most likely caused by some wild animal...
Except it wasn't.
Trembling at the sight of the destruction around, he slowly raised his hands only to be hit with a shocking reality.
His nails were now over three centimeters in length and far more sturdy than usual.
" What the hell is happening to me?"
He stood up from the ground and began running back to where he had come from, his tiny feet thudding against the ground as he tried to reach his house as fast as he could.
*Thud!*
A soft bang was heard as he hit something while he was running. The grunting of a familiar voice was heard immediately after that, and he instantly knew who it was.
" What the hell are you doing here?" He asked slowly getting up from the ground.
His head was still in pain but he managed to tough it out as his gaze trailed towards the boy who was sitting on the ground before him.
" Nexus..." He said with a slight groan as he slowly got up from the ground, " I think there's something I need to tell you."
Standing opposite each other, they both had their right hands on their forehead and their gazes on the ground due to the pain from bumping their heads against each other's.
" Ehh, what are those?" He asked, stepping a bit backward with his eyes now fixed on Nexus's hand.
The shocked expression on his face returned immediately as his gaze turned to his fingers. He took another step and tried to continue his run, but his hand was quickly grabbed by the boy.
" Leave me alone." He ordered, pulling his hand from the boy's grip.
" I know you got possessed by the cat, okay? I saw it happen, so you should know that your secret is safe with me; I mean, I did see it happen. But as a favor for keeping, I would be very grateful if you could just hear me out." He pleaded ever so reasonably, staring at Nexus with irresistible puppy eyes.
" Fine, what is it?" He asked, rolling his eyes away.
He paused for a moment, turning his gaze to the ground while scoffing on the ground with his feet,
" I need to put in a word for me."
After making the request, he quickly went on to explain his current situation to Nexus and how greatly it was affecting him.
It turned out his name was Leon, and he was actually Nexus's cousin — born to his uncle's second wife and scorned just like him.
Apparently, it wasn't because he was weak or bad in mystic energy aptitude, but simply because every single one of his siblings had ended with a specification better than his.
They had ended up using it as a way to mock him and push him around until he ended up at the very bottom of the family, despised by even his very own siblings — two girls — one the same age as Nexus and the other two years younger.
" So you want to talk to my elder sister, tell her to lie about you coming to visit?" He said, looking around with a look of worry on his face, "Why didn't you leave after the cat attacked us? The possession didn't happen in an instant did it?"
" I get it. I was ignorant to ask you for such an offer knowing that you're in a huge predicament yourself. I'll see you some other time, and thanks for having me the other night." He said, a sad smile slowly appearing on his face as he turned around and slowly walked away.
" Leon!" A voice called out from the distance just as the boy took a few steps forward.
It was a piercing female voice and sounded quite young as well.
" Leon, gosh where are you!?"
" The piercing voice came a second time and the boy turned towards him with another smile before turning around once more and continuing forward.
He could be wrong, but at that moment he could only feel that the boy was having it way worse than he did.
He wasn't going to try and be a beacon of hope for the unfortunate boy anyway. He had his own problems and trying to aid him would only increase his own problems.
From the distance, he could see a girl, a bit older than both, coming to pull him away. He could only stand there and watch in awe as he was dragged along with her.
Biting his lower lip miserably, he turned around to see his elder sister leaning by a tree right behind him. She was looking into the distance just like he was and seemed quite disappointed.
" He was your friend wasn't he? Trying to talk to her was the least you could do." She said, slowly turning her gaze towards him, "Trying to talk to her was the least you could do... Your lessons will be starting soon, so it would be best if you returned home quickly."
With that she slowly walked past him, leaving behind one last line of words,
" Your lack of courage is really what sets you behind everybody else."
Those words were truly besieging, but he couldn't do anything else but do as she had said and slowly return home.