Chapter 75 Tear In Thyself

As he said so, our eyes met for a second looking at each other appraisingly. His eyes were really deep and mysterious, almost making me sink into those cloud like things that were swirling inside his eyes. They were really strange so to speak.

-No offense James but you have really bizarre eyes, a golden color is rare these days. In fact, I have never met someone with a color like yours; they are really something, almost shining even…

He said while smiling. He didn’t bring up my face because of my mask but he could still see my eyes which were bizarre too.

-Right back at you Valerian.

I made a small smile but he couldn’t see that and like so, we parted with a couple of steps backwards. He still kept caution between us and I also noticed that he seemed very confused and conflicted about me, while switching looks between me and Hestia.

-I won’t trouble you any further and be on my way… oh right.

As he was about to leave, he stopped in his tracks and asked:

-I hope you participate in tonight’s ball; it will be quite enjoyable if you do and maybe we could have another talk if you like?

He tried to make eyes with Hestia who outright snorted when he looked at her, which everyone saw giving us some dirty looks. Because of it, Valerian in question wasn’t fazed and acted like he didn’t see that as he turned around and left the area.

I didn’t say anything and just kept my cool as we started walking towards the elevator in peace. He was quite amazing if I had to say it, but I didn’t want to deal with him and neither did Hestia. She started whispering to me but at this point, everyone may as well heard her because the space in this elevator was small but big enough to fit us all in without feeling cramped inside.

-I don’t trust him young master and he doesn’t trust us either. We better not go to this ball tonight which he’s talking about and just stay in our rooms…

I nodded at that and just thought about the things he had said previously. Lena Hellborne, she is the leader of the Broken Brotherhood and also an Archfiend on the same level as Leraje…

This was probably common knowledge but something to keep in mind while I was using this badge after all. While I was thinking like that, I remembered that I had to ask Christina about the ticket so while we were going up using the elevator, I quickly told her:

-Christina, I want to meet up with you in my room for a discussion. Come to my room after you get your proper clothing.

I had already asked Sandra for decent clothing for the girls to wear. She assured me it would be delivered fast without a hitch.

As I finished saying that, the girls who were standing behind me all made slight gasps as they looked at Christina who seemed surprised. I could see her face flush red for some reason as she lowered her head for a second.

-Ye… yes, Master James…

I kinda felt confused with the way she was saying that. It felt like I was scolding her but at the same time, her voice suggested she was shy for some reason… Hestia who was observing this conversation next to me just made a small smile and didn’t say anything further, making a knowing look as she stared off into the distance…

I just sighed. Why do people have to be misunderstanding every time I open my mouth? It’s not like I mean any harm when I speak to people.

With that thought in mind, we finally got to our destination which was the highest floor in the fortress – the 30th floor. Stepping out, the sparkling hallway was decorated with paintings and other small accessories such as small tables with ancient looking vases, and even statues on the sides. We started walking through the hallway, stepping on the red carpet as I looked at the doors we were passing by, checking their numbers to find the right room. And soon enough, we found our rooms which were actually almost at the end of the hallway. The rooms were next to each other like I asked, and like so, I told the girls to stay in a separate room while I stay in the other room. I kinda felt like a jerk hogging a room by myself but I really wanted privacy. I also felt like that the girls needed time by themselves too, and not get overly conscious because of my presence.

They all agreed a bit reluctant for some reason. But anyways, I waved at them for a moment and was about to go inside my room until I noticed that Hestia was still standing by my side…

-I was sure I said every girl goes to the other room, Hestia that includes you too.

Hestia made an annoyed posture as she looked at me, eyebrows raised and crossing her arms for a second. I knew what she wanted to say but at the same time, I didn’t need her protection. Having her protect the girls seemed a bit more productive than looking after me. And seeing that I had saved her sorry ass from the last fight between Michael and her, I am sure she acknowledges it too, to a certain point in her mind.

I shooed her with my hand, gesturing towards the door to where the girls had just entered.

-Look Hestia, you are a bit too late to play my bodyguard. I can take care of myself and remember who saved you back then in the mansion. If you really want to guard me, then first try to figure out why I was even capable of saving you there, then we’ll talk. But right now, I need some privacy alright? The mask is really itchy at times being worn 24 hours a day.

Hestia didn’t seem to like it but in the end, she begrudgingly followed my orders and started walking towards the next door. She then suddenly stopped in her tracks for a moment looking at me.

-You know, something is strange. The reason Michael wanted to get the ticket was to find that “evil child,” and there is also you, who needs to find that child. Overall, I am not well informed about the circumstances but thinking about it, doesn’t it seem like this is a big deal?

She asked me a bit suspicious about the whole ordeal. I didn’t blame her, it was very suspicious and with Michael’s appearance, I knew that this task wasn’t all that easy, even getting the ticket took so long. I couldn’t even disclose anything to Hestia because I was forbidden to do so.

In the end, I kept my mouth shut making Hestia snort out of anger from my silence. She opened the door and slammed it shut next to me… sorry Hestia.

I sighed and just opened the door to my room and started going inside, shutting the door close and locking it from the inside. Huh…

As I looked towards the interior of the room, I was amazed by the quality it had and how clean it was. The room was fully furnished and had a total of 6 different rooms with 4 different bathrooms, each with different uses… But for now, I didn’t really care and just chose the bedroom, jumping on top of the soft king sized bed.

At the moment I started thinking about the “Creator” Michael talked about and how he ordered Michael to find that girl, he was most likely talking about God. But if that’s really true, that would mean the so called “God” can’t do anything but tell Michael to do it instead of himself. And overall, I am not really sure if he really was a God… like I had already met a God and personally seen how he could mess with reality. But I also know that Chronos has restrictions in which he can’t mingle with the mortal world… Ahh, that “God” is the same if this is the right context and he ordered Michael to kill that girl because he knew she was the daughter of Chronos, meaning that “God” has some kind of grudge against Chronos himself? But another question would be… how did Michael know where to find her when even Chronos didn’t know the place specifically? Hmm… maybe I should ask Michael about this… No, that won’t help me seeing his stubborn attitude, nothing good will happen and most likely he wouldn’t know about it.

-Ahhh, such a pain in the ass.

I groaned muttering to myself. Maybe I just need a small nap… Yeah, just a brief rest would do me good.

With those thoughts, I started passing out slowly as I closed my eyes. I felt sleepiness envelope me as the world around me started to fade away into nothingness.

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I had a dream… it was a wonderful dream. And surprisingly, it was the very first dream I had in my entire life. I can’t remember what it was about but I remember something about my childhood in this dream. For some reason, there was a woman’s face in that dream. She had a gentle smile on her face as she looked at me from above, and I could feel her soft embrace as she held me in her arms singing a lullaby…

-Hmm huu hmm huu.

I couldn’t remember her face completely but I instinctively knew that she was someone wonderful for some reason. Even though I know I’ve never met this person before, she felt so familiar to me with her soft humming sound. The whole dream was only this long and it was sweet and heartwarming, making me almost wish it would never end. But as the saying goes, all good things come to an end, don’t they?

I was still staring at the woman’s face as I saw small parts of her starting to fade away. I didn’t say anything when that happened, no; I more like refused to say anything about it. I just shut my eyes at that moment, not wanting to see any further… I could feel a part of me starting to close up for a second as I felt some kind of loss resurfacing in itself. And my body trying to close it up with random things and failing. But in the end, that gap was slowly filled by other memories about me, Stella, Cecilia, Steward and even Sera. There were other small memories with Hestia and Leraje, and it also depicted how I started doing my work. Overall, in those memories I looked… normal? Or passive I should say.

The gap inside of me was already full and with that, I finally opened my eyes again.

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Bright light greeted me as I opened my eyes which felt a bit droopy. Overall, I was half asleep…

I tried to raise my body for a bit and as I did so, I could feel the soreness of my body resurfacing of itself, giving me a heap of pain to deal with.

(Knock Knock)

I could hear the sound of knocking coming from the entrance as I shook my head for a second… how much time had gone by?

I quickly pulled out my smart phone to check the hour… I was relieved; it had been only 4 hours since we got here. It was actually midnight right now so who is knocking on the door?

(Knock Knock)

I dismissed that thought and just quickly stood up from the bed, walking towards the door. The knocking was still going on and it kinda felt annoying to hear. I finally reached the door, still a bit groggy and half asleep.

-Who is it?

I asked a bit annoyed. To be honest, my annoyance was shown in my tone. Hearing me say it like this, I could hear the person on the other side flinch for a second as she announced herself.

-Master James? It’s me, Christina. You said I should meet with you after I get clothed properly so here I am… Ehm, is this not a preferable time? If so, I can leave now and then call you tomorrow if you’d like?

I shook my head or a second… Yeah, this was my fault. It’s not like she was the reason causing my bad mood, and sending her off after calling her here seemed even more stupid. I just opened the door revealing a blonde haired beautiful woman behind it, wearing dark clothing with matching pants and top, there was also a hood attached at the top like I asked. They did a really good job with the clothing and it suited her very well.

As I was about to compliment her on her clothing, Christina looked at me a bit surprised for a second as she asked me with a worried tone:

-Are you alright Master James? Are you hurt or something?

I was confused by her question for a bit because I couldn’t understand what she meant by it, until I felt something running down my cheek… It was something like a fluid so I reflexively raised my left hand and tried to shove it away until I realized, the fluid was coming from my eyes… They were my tears… eh?

I couldn’t understand what was happening as I felt both of my eyes wet… Was I crying or something? I quickly tried to deny that because I knew there wasn’t anything I was frustrated with. And even if there was, I wouldn’t have started crying for God’s sake…

As I was doing that out of panic and a bit embarrassed because Christina was standing in front of me. I could feel a warm touch embracing me from the front as I realized that Christina had stepped forward and hugged me… She leaned her head towards my chest as I felt her warmth covering it. I was kinda lost for words for a few seconds as I couldn’t understand why she was doing this.

-Why…?

-You just looked a bit distressed and I thought maybe you just needed someone to talk to. Physical contact with people is important too… You are a bit pushy when it comes to the people around you, not really interacting with them much, more like slowly pushing them away behind a safe line…

She said trying as hard as she could not to look into my eyes. I could see her ears turning crimson red from my perspective. She was shy and did this anyways, even though she didn’t need to do so.

For a moment I instinctively wanted to push her away but I stopped for second as I recalled the words she just said. Yeah, she was right. I push people away from me whenever I get the chance to do so. It was easier to not deal with people if I had the chance to do so. It seems like this turned into a habit of mine… It was really strange how she figured out something like this even though we had only met a few days ago. But at the same time, I also started to understand why Hestia is always so forceful when she tries to interact with me. Hmm… am I really so easy to understand for other people?

I sighed for a moment as I grabbed onto Christina’s shoulders parting with her for a second.

-Come in, I wanted to talk with you concerning the ticket.

Christina nodded to my request, becoming a bit serious now as she stepped into the room pulling off her new shoes. I closed the door behind her and also started walking towards the table while glancing at Christina for a moment.

-Thanks…

I whispered. She probably didn’t hear that but I was a bit too embarrassed to tell her directly… Man, it’s all because of that damn dream I had.