…
"Now, it's your turn," Ran said while glaring at El.
…
"Wait, Ran. I think we have some misunderstanding here," El stated while slowly putting Gill to the ground.
"Misunderstanding???" Ran raised her eyebrows but still drew closer to El.
"Yeah, misunderstanding," while slowly stepping back and mulling something inside his head, El then explained, "You know. We. Umm, we… we are. We are actually not laughing with you – we are actually laughing at you. So, ehehe hehe, you know? You should laugh with us too. It's funny…"
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny, huh?"
Finding Ran's expression darkened instead, El's lips twitched as he said, "Am I remember it wrong though?"
And that was how another unconscious person was left on the field, with Ran dusting her hands at the end of it.
However, she did so while frowning, "This guy purposely holding back," she said while looking at El who peacefully passed out atop Gill's body.
…
Another week passed since then.
And today, was the day Sir Giles approved El to go back to his house, which was located at the border between the 'upper side' and the underside.
Holding onto the red gemstone-like ruby on his necklace, he dazedly looked at the path in front of him.
"Let's go," Ran said from behind him, walking alongside Gill.
The three of them, side by side then venture to the alleyway. Their destination was El's house.
Meanwhile, at the base, currently inside the office room, Sir Giles and Aunt Celine were on the window, watching the three of them leaving through the path that was already arranged.
"Are you sure this is fine Sir Giles? I never knew you could risk doing something this dangerous for that boy you barely know," Celine said, still rather formal in her voice, though, there was a hint of concern apparent behind her tone.
"Oh, c'mon Celine. You don't trust your cat. Aren't we surviving here with the princess because we follow Luna's direction," Sir Giles raised one of his eyebrows to Celine, rather amused by her worry.
"Meow," Luna chimed in while leisurely resting herself on Celine's shoulder.
Feeling rather burdened by the weight, Celine put the small, but rather heavy orange cat, Luna, to the table, while saying, "But, we can't always trust fate, right? Luna can see the string of fate, yes, but what she sees isn't always the final result. I can't even save the lady…"
Her words trailed at the end of it, with her eyes glistening under the dim light of the lamp above their head.
"Sigh, I already told you before, it wasn't your fault. Luna is also just born from your soul. Her death is no one's fault. Just, I guess it is an unfortunate event," Sir Giles replied to her after heaving a deep sigh, just like the depth of tangled emotion in his chest.
He then resumed his words.
"Besides, you do know how we become the current us, right? In the past, me, and the other Hybrids are constantly mocked for being half-human…"
"But you are more human than any of them, sir," Celine cut off his words, resolution carved on her face.
"… you know what, I can't help but think, your loyalty is the real problem as to why you stayed single till now," Sir Giles rubbed his nose in exasperation.
Hearing that, Celine eyebrows knitted itself.
"You know very well sir that I can't serve you anymore if I marry someone, right?"
"Uh, stop following that rigid noble blablabla, whatever it is. I'm already kicked by my family. I'm nothing but a disgraced noble. Besides, your true loyalty is to my wife, not me, isn't it? I already told you countless times to just leave and live your life. But you are stubborn."
"But I already promised my lady…"
Her words halted, interrupted by Sir Giles, who didn't want to continue that part of the conversation any longer.
"Stop, stop. We're sidetracked here. Anyway, they will be fine. You already left your mark on the princess's necklace, right? Gill brings something with him too. As for El, that necklace on his neck is worth a whole city if I'm not wrong. They will be fine."
"Okay then," Celine looked down, feeling rather wronged that Sir Giles kept not wanting her to work at his side.
"You know, my wife and I treated you like our own daughter since the first time we saved you, right? Can you stop being so, you know? At least at her death, you call her mother. How about calling your sir here father instead?" he teased her with a smile.
On the other hand, Celine stayed silent in her place, accompanied by her inscrutable expression, making Sir Giles sigh in defeat.
Looking out of the window, Sir Giles voiced his opinion.
"I've gone through many death experiences just so I can be accepted by The Central. Even my wife doesn't have it easy within her family. And you, even if you don't tell us anything, I know it must be hard for you to come back to us, Celine. Who knows how many dangers you face and how many times you need to escape death to be accepted by 'The Covens.' Fate has its way, and destiny is the one that guides the people and creates the path toward the end of it. We are still just humans deep inside, even if half of us―are not anymore. We can't do anything if what we face is different from our plans and hopes. But still, we need to endure it and fight back against all odds. I believe the three of them are fine. And that boy, if Luna is right, perhaps he will become a key for us to fight back against the emperor. No matter what, we need to keep struggling until the day we manage to bring him down, or all those sacrifices…"
"Will be for nothing."
…
On the alleyway…
"Hey Ran, what do you think this necklace is?" El pulled out his necklace from behind his shirt and showed it to Ran.
He resumed, "Sir Giles or Aunt Celine refuses to say anything about it."
"Nah, don't mind them. They like being mysterious…" Gill shrugged his shoulder and interjected from El's right side.
"Uh-huh," El nodded his head, agreeing with Gill's statement.
Ran inspected the necklace, then shook her head while commenting.
"I don't know. I've never seen this kind of necklace before."
*Krtring-tring-tring*
*Thud*
Suddenly, their conversation paused as the sounds of a bouncing can on the pavement resounded, filling the space around them. It came from the intersection they had just passed a second ago.
It was another path that led to another road.
Slowly inching closer, their three heads peeked over one by one. Ran's head was below El in the middle, with Gill, who was the tallest among them, at the very top.
But then, El, Ran, and Gill widened their eyes as they saw an unbelievable scene before them.
It was a little girl holding a can. She threw it to the ground, then picked it up again.
She was wearing dirty clothes that seemed to have been soaked for quite a long while in sewer water. That was the only way to explain the glued waste and the color of her shirt.
Her long hair was also disheveled and dirty.
But what chilled them to the core for most of the reason was her face.
One of her eyes hung limply outside of its socket. One side of her cheeks had halfway fallen from her face, with the flesh hanging limply, exposing the gory sight of her teeth.
After seeing the three of them, she mouthed something inaudible.
Though they still managed to understand the words she was saying.
And it was, "Help…"
…
"Slowly back away. We don't want to mess with 'A Cursed' that can gain a tangible body," Ran whispered to them.
Their heads then simultaneously retreated from the wall.
They resumed walking backward, step by step, while their eyes remained on that earlier path.
All of a sudden, their hearts skipped a beat, and something felt like it was stuck in their throats.
The three of them shivered at the same time because that little girl, who was 'The Cursed,' was currently peeking, even managed to follow the way they had earlier done so, by gradually showing her head.
She even tilted her head like a cute little girl, if only she weren't a ghost, of course.
The three of them froze in place. No one moved for a few moments until El all of a sudden stepped forward.
Ran and Gill widened their eyes. They wanted to scream at the top of their lungs for El to stop, but they held themselves back.
After gathering enough courage, Ran and Gill concurrently reached into his hand, stopping El's step. Ran's hand was already clasped on her necklace, ready to use any magic necessary to run away from there.
The cursed attention was easy to divert, so Ran was sure they would be fine. However, she had never once used it against this kind of 'Cursed.' All she knew were a few bits of things she had heard long ago about 'The Cursed' that could make their body seen by others.
Meanwhile, turning his sight to them over his shoulder, El, with a baffled look on his face, responded to them.
"I think it's okay. I don't feel any danger from her."
"Don't feel any danger? Are you for real right now, buddy?" Gill hissed at El's face, still rather scared at the current situation.
…