Rubielle
"That's enough!" Ethan snaps, yanking me away from Gabriel.
"We need to go home now, so we're leaving," he says, dragging me along as if we're late for something.
The sun was almost gone, and the sky was getting darker. Stars started to show up, but my mind was still stuck on that Gabriel guy. I didn't have a good feeling about him.
While we were walking, Ethan was still holding my arm, stomping his feet like he was annoyed.
"Hey, how long are you going to hold my arm?"
"S-sorry..." Ethan quickly let go, looking surprised.
I grinned and teased, "What, are you jealous?"
"Hm? About what?" He tilted his head, confused.
H-huh? That's not the reaction I wanted... now it feels awkward.
"I just got irritated by his weird, wiggly attitude. Who kisses people's hands out of nowhere like that? Is he another chuuni or something?" complaining to himself.
"I think he knows something... like, that I'm not from this world?"
"Really? Is he a psychic?"
"What's a psychic? I don't know about that, but it's more like... his eyes are special."
"Special? But it seemed to me like he's blind."
"Blind?"
"Yeah, like he's not really looking at anything."
"But he was clearly looking at me."
"That's true... Anyway, will you teach me magic now?"
"Why are you so set on learning magic?"
"Because it's so cool!" Ethan said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Hmm, sure. I'll teach you something," I finally agreed.
"YAY! SCORE!" Ethan shouted, practically jumping in excitement.
"Magic is the manifestation of desire, no need to learn it. To understand magic is not to understand magic—at least, that's what my teacher always says. Though, I don't know if you can use magic or not."
"Eh? That's it? Kinda anti-climactic. I don't get it. Your teacher's probably just too lazy to teach you."
"How rude! She's one of my sisters, you know! She's called The Wise because she knows every bit of knowledge in our world!"
"If you don't get it, that's your fault for being stupid. I understood it 'cause I'm smart," I teased.
"What the heck? Why is it my fault…"
"Come on, walk faster. I'm getting hungry too."
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Lillian Graveshade
After wrapping up today's task, Gabriel and I started walking home.
Even with the supernatural settling down and people finally finding some peace, there's always small troubles like this, huh.
"Hey, Gabriel," I began, glancing over at him.
"What will you do after graduation? You gonna stay a priest? It's not like we're required to be exorcists forever, y'know."
"Maybe I should be a detective?" I joked with a smirk.
"Well, my life has no meaning right now except for this," Gabriel replied flatly.
I let out a small sigh. Figures.
"But looking at her... maybe she'll give me what I want."
"Are you talking about Rubielle?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Gabriel was born blind—or at least, to others. But in truth, his eyes were different. His family called them the Eyes of God because he didn't see the world like we did. He saw the true nature of everything that exists.
"You..." My voice dropped, a chill running down my spine. "What exactly did you see?"
His smile didn't fade, but something about it felt off.
"A shell..." he whispered, his grin widening.
"She's an empty shell," he continued, voice soft but laced with something dark. "But I saw something more. A great existence. And she is just a mere doll of that."
"Anyways, I'm transferring to your school starting next week, so help me out, okay?"
"What?! That's the first time I'm hearing this!" I shouted, smacking Gabriel on the arm.
He just laughed, brushing it off like it was no big deal.
As we continued walking home, an odd feeling crept up sending a shiver through me. Something felt... off.
Then, out of nowhere, a small black marble rolled to a stop at my feet.
"What is this?" I muttered, crouching down.
But the moment I reached out to pick it up, a wave of ominous, familiar energy pulsed from it. It was the same dark presence Rubielle and I had faced before.
My instincts kicked in. I immediately stepped back, drawing my sword, ready for whatever was coming.
Gabriel's expression darkened as he saw it too, his brow furrowed in distaste.
"Lillian, what is that? It's unpleasant to look at," Gabriel said, squinting his eyes.
"I felt the same way. Should we get rid of it?" Lillian replied.
"Yes, we should," Gabriel agreed.
I readied my sword, intent on destroying the marble. I had already destroyed many of these dark creatures before, so this should be just as simple.
I threw a rock at the marble, watching it bounce off the wall and fly into the air. And with my sword I—
*CLANG!*
"Wha?!"
The marble fell to the ground, completely unharmed, leaving no mark or scratch. It was so hard, so ominous, that it left a nasty stain on my blade. I quickly cleaned it off with my energy.
"It didn't work? It's worked plenty of times before!"
Confusion spread across my face as I tried to understand what had happened. Gabriel approached the marble, carefully picking it up with a white handkerchief.
"What do you mean by 'before'?" Gabriel asked, inspecting the marble.
"Remember that story I told you? About something possessing others, but not a supernatural being?" I explained. "It was something like that, but it didn't challenge me before."
"Hmm..." Gabriel stared at the marble, his expression turning serious.
"You go on first. I'll take this with me," he said, glancing up at the marble he's holding.
"Are you sure?" I asked, still a bit hesitant.
"Yeah. If something happens or if I discover something, I'll contact you first."
"I see. Be careful handling that. I'll go now."
"Yeah, see you on Monday."
"Yeah, you too."
I left the scene, heading home, while Gabriel went in the opposite direction. That night, as I tried to sleep, the marble lingered in my mind, unsettling me.
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Ethan
"Hmm~ hmm~ which hero should I use?"
As always, I sat in my chair gaming before bed, a part of my daily routine. Tomorrow's the weekend, so I should be fine, right?
While the game loaded, I noticed a notification on my phone.
[midterm exam: Monday]
"Geh!"
"It's midterms already?? Well, I can still cram it," I reasoned lazily.
"Oh, wait, I should let Rubielle know about it... maybe after this game."
I played for another round and secured a sweet victory.
Afterward, I went downstairs to tell Rubielle about the midterm, and I started wondering—should I give her an old phone now?
But when I turned on the lights, no one was there.
"Huh? Where did she go?"
I looked around the house, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe she's on the roof again."
I decided to climb out the window to get a better view, and sure enough, I saw her standing on the roof, staring blankly into space.
"Hey! Rubielle!" I called out.
She noticed me and began walking toward me.
"Oh... what's up?" she murmured, her tone distant.
"What are you doing?" I asked, puzzled by her blank expression.
"...What am I doing..." she muttered to herself, her words trailing off.
"Are you so sleepy you forgot? You should sleep now. Midterms are starting next week," I reminded her gently.
"Midterms?"
"It's a written exam for all the subjects we've been taking so far, so we need to prepare. Is tomorrow good?"
"...Yeah... sure..."
She still looked blank, like she wasn't fully herself.
"Are you okay?" I asked. "I think you should sleep now."
"Yeah..."
I looked at her with a hint of concern. Was she really just sleepy?
"I'll go ahead now. You can come back later if you want," I said, but she didn't respond.
I hesitated for a moment before leaving, returning to my window and going back to my game.