Was This Truly Destiny?
"My name is Rū Vermilion Crimson, 14 years old, and if you write my name, please put a dash above the u, that's all thank you."
I introduced myself in front of my classmates.
After the girl managed to escape, I didn't manage to find her again. I tried searching every nook and cranny but couldn't. It's like she vanished in thin air.
After searching the whole campus, I looked at the time and saw it was already 6.45 am and class is about to start.
I went to the classroom with haste after my failed attempt.
Our school consisted of 2 main areas. One field is dedicated to grades 7 to 9 and one for grades 10 to 12.
The one I'm in right now is section A Junior variant, Located south of Davao. whilst the Section B Senior variant is located 2km away southeast of my current location.
Section A Junior variant consists of 4 main buildings separated correctly per grade level and a huge grass field along with a covered cemented volleyball gym.
I'm a third-year student. And if memory serves me, all grade 9 classrooms should be found in front of the Grade 7 buildings which consisted of 3 floors.
Looking at the bulletin boards which guide students to where their classrooms are, it seems like there are 8 total sections in grade 9 with 50 students in each classroom.
There are 450 students total in that grade level and searching for my name-, it looks like I'm in Class 3-A, which can be found on the first floor of that building.
When I went into the classroom, everyone stared at me for being late. not expect someone to be late on the first day of school.
The expressions added to their silence as I went inside pierced me then I was then called by the teacher to introduce myself.
"Done introducing"
When I looked at the teacher, I noticed that she was wearing a yellow sweater which doesn't really give the impression of the homeroom adviser. Looking at her ID, it says 'substitute teacher'.
Where the hell is the Adviser?
After introducing myself, the girls in my class kept looking at me. Don't tell me they were there when I assaulted that ghoul. She might be a ghoul but it's still a girl in their eyes.
I ignored their gazes and looked for an empty seat.
Since almost all of them are occupied, I tried to look for available seats and somehow, there are 2 empty chairs side by side unoccupied.
It was located center left of the classroom.
I looked at it and thought, why's no one sitting here? Is this cursed? Well, If I were to guess it's probably because the AC won't hit this spot.
Since I'm right-handed, I picked the right-handed armchair beside the other chair that was left-handed.
Sitting on the chair made me realize I knew no one in this classroom.
Except for people from when I was in 8th Grade. Since I was late, I haven't heard their names. Well, that's the least of my concern.
For now, I'll try to wait and find the ghoul who wanders in this school, Since she's not here perhaps she's in the other classrooms.
The teacher suddenly glared at us for no reason with a suspenseful stare. We don't know why she was doing it, but the entire classroom slowly fell into silence.
It was so awkward no one dares to speak.
After staring right through our souls, the teacher grabbed a phone and started playing.
"The Fck?"
The theme of a popular MMORPG game rang on her phone, and we immediately knew what she was up to.
Looks like there's no class for the first and second periods. That was the coverage of our adviser as I looked through the schedule.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, I was staring at the blackboard with nothing else to do.
Then suddenly, someone came barging through the door.
"Haaaa... haaaa.. haaaaa..."
It broke the awkward silence as the panting of an exhausted girl surrounds the classroom.
She immediately went to the table whilst catching her breath.
Her silky hair jumps around as she steps in. I didn't see her face because my other classmates are covering the view, but she looks familiar.
But imagining someone arriving later than me gives me joy.
She looked at us panting and exhausted, trying to introduce herself.
"I'm sorry, haa haa, I'm Slyvyna Lockwood, haaa haaa, 14 years old, a foreign exchange student, nice to meet you"
Why is she goddamn exhausted? the first thing we in the classroom asked in our mind as we saw her catching her breath.
The teacher looked at her and worriedly asked.
"Are you okay? why are you exhausted?"
"I'm sorry, haaa! a red-eyed per...- I mean Dog was chasing me the whole campus, I'm sorry..."
"Red-eye dog?"
Looks like a dog I don't want to adopt.
Though as they were talking to each other, I managed to see what she looked like.
Wait a minute... Wasn't she the ghoul this morning?
She's- Wait... We're classmates???
Since she was done introducing herself, she looked for empty chairs and when she found one right beside me, she immediately went over.
She didn't notice me and calmly walked over, until-
"Ah!"
She noticed me.
seeing my face made her freeze and immediately twisted her face to cover and turned around.
The teacher looked at her and asked.
"What's wrong Ms. Lockwood?"
"Um....."
"What is it?"
"N-Nothing of sort ma'am"
She looked at me again to verify that it was me. And as our eyes meet each other-
I smiled :)
sweats run down her pale skin, which made the teacher worried.
"Miss Lockwood? You're sweating are you fine?"
"Ummm...." She looked at me and thought of her next action and asked.
"Can I visit the clinic?"
Hmm.... This bltch is trying to run away.
The teacher told her.
"I'm sorry Ms. Lockwood but the Clinic Nurse is absent today, if it's not severe I can aid it up to you."
The ghoul looked at the teacher and expressed guilt for lying to her.
"I-I'm sorry ma'am, i-it was nothing."
"Is that so?"
"I'm sorry"
After that, she searched for different chairs away from me and after she found out there were none, she turned extremely pale.
Gulping her saliva, she slowly resolved herself and continued to go into the empty chair right beside me.
she's averting her gaze to avoid meeting my eyes and slowly sits beside me.
She uses her bag to act as a wall against me and sat in a graceful mannered way.
I looked at the ghoul next to me. Her name is Slyvyna Lockwood as I remember.
She is sweating crazily as she felt Incredibly pressured being sat beside me.
For someone I'm trying to find so much earlier, I didn't expect to meet her in this place.
She averted her eyes trying to take a peek at my face and mumbles something into me.
"He-he-Hello ha-, Good mo-morning eee-"
I looked at her in the eyes and when I did, she immediately averted it.
I wrote my name on the Armchair with a Flip-tel pen the school provided and wrote a letter on it.
I whistled to her to look at it and as she did, she saw a sketch of a female stick woman dying with its blood dripping on the ground.
She told me.
"Do- Do not kill me- please- He - he"
I looked at her without saying a word.
She continues.
"I'm no-not a bad person you- see, you know, I'm actually-."
I looked at her face, but she kept averting her eyes.
She looked at me again when I'm not, trying to wait for my reply.
"I'm actually, um... you see, um I'm-..., I'm-"
This girl is seriously nervous.
Ghouls is a title we derive from the type of being who has flesh and blood, anything ranging from (Duwende) to vampires is considered as one.
Even if someone is not actually undead, as long as they possess Flesh and Blood, we call them Ghoul.
This girl right here is supposed to be a ghoul yet despite that, she possessed an eye of an apparition.
Apparitions are beings that aren't divine and aren't tangible. They ranged as spirits. etc.
I touched her left hand to confirm, and to her surprise, she shrieked in a quiet tone.
"W-what are you doing to my hand?" she asked, as she sweats more nervously than ever before.
I carefully touched her hands and confirmed. "Hmm, you're not a spirit huh..." I felt her smooth yet damp hand.
"y-yeaah, I'm not a spirit, do- do I look like one? hehe?" she replied. To which I asked.
"Then what are you?"
"I'm, Be- Believe it or not, I-I'm actually a Dark elf, he he, I'm sorry" she replied.
I examined her arm and felt her hair on the skin. Her skin is so smooth it's almost unbelievable. Maybe smoother than my little sister.
so, this is Dark Elf skin huh...
"HuH?"
I repeated her answer. Did I heard that right?
"You- You're a Dark elf?"
When I heard dark elf, my mind clouded for a second.
"I-I'm sorry..." she replied.
I mean, This bltch's a dark elf?
She's the whitest person I've ever seen in my entire life,
It's like she eats Glutathione for breakfast. Her ears are so damn small, forget about being a dark elf, she's not even an elf!!!
Looking closer at the case, what's a dark elf in the first place, based on my movie knowledge, they're creatures who have Tan-layered skin and live in tropical countries.
This girl is the exact opposite of what a Dark Elf is!
This girl must be lying!!
When she saw me filled with doubting eyes, she looked at me and spoke.
"Be- Before saying I'm lying, ma-may I assume you don't know what dark elves actually are?"
"Huh?"
She starts explaining.
"Th-the thing is, Dark elves are Elves who don't possess long ears, which are branded to be a disgrace to their society That's why we- we don't look like elves at all."
"Hmmmmmm..." I let out a doubtful expression. "Do you think I will believe you immediately?"
"I- I don't know how to prove it, but I still possess Elven blood. J-Just because our appearance and naming differ but Dark elves are still elves with no long ears."
I can't even prove if she's an elf, let alone a dark elf. But considering she speaks the truth.
The Dark elves are a by-product of Racism, so wait, Tan-colored elves do not exist?
I was bamboozled!!
"I'm a Dark elf" she proudly announced herself.
You're not black.
I looked into her eyes which she immediately averted. Considering everything was the truth. I asked her.
"Do you know of a myth about ghosts here in this country?"
she looked at me and replied. " G-ghost, I'm sorry but I'm n-not really familiar with this country's culture, I'm sorry..."
"The thing is..."
There's a myth that if a person whose reflection in their eyes turns yours upside down, it was a ghost.
It comes together with the myth that when you look below between your leg and the person behind you has no legs, they're an Apparition.
"So why, a supposedly "Dark elf" possesses this trait?"
I can touch her, and I feel her warmth, she's not supposed to be a spirit but-
"Why do you have that?" I asked her.
She replied as she looked me straight in the eye. There, my reflection is upside down.
"I- I don't know what y-you're talking about?'
"You lied, aren't you? you're not a Dark elf."
She denied with a straight face.
"No! No! No! I'm definitely a Dark elf! I can't tell if you're serious about my eye, cause I really have no idea."
"Playing dumb huh? Why are you here in this school anyways?"
I keep pressuring her with more questions, the more pressured a person is, the more they spill the truth.
"I-I-I I just want to study high school-" Her eyes tweak, but her tone is saying the truth
"Why here?"
"It's the nearest Junior High school?"
Is her house near here?
"You're a member of some devil cartels aren't you?"
"De- What's that?"
Hmm, Even amongst pressure she did not spill anything, yet told no lies either.
"So, you're just a Dark elf who wants to go to a Junior high school and studies"
"I- I mean yo-you could describe me as that, um... your grip is hurting me"
I grabbed my phone and opened it, I opened my messenger app and wrote a message. The Ghoul looked at it and asked.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm sending a message to my, not your business really, I'm just asking if Dark elves are exactly as you, tsk no load, do you have one?"
"I'm sorry... but I don't have my phone right now"
"Really?"
I Forgot to subscribe to the International Wi-fi broadband Sunlink and can't send a message, if only the free data subscription works like it used to before. Mhm...
I think I've saved an Encyclopaedia about the type of Ghouls here on my phone. Let me check.
<Search: Dark Elf>
<Please connect to Wi-Fi to download resources>
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"
I grinded my teeth in anger after seeing this unfortunate event but immediately calmed myself down so as not to worsen the situation.
I asked her one thing.
"Do elves still constantly hunt you for the dark elf in exchange of bounty?"
With my hand still on her wrist, she told me.
"I heard they're still, but they don't have that much power like they used too especially in a society filled with humans"
"So elves still exist huh, 'I was not told about this', how much is a dark elves bounty worth?"
The ghoul stopped for a moment to think about the worth and finally came back and answered.
"It's in euros so I guess up to 24 million pounds per head, I'm not sure, but I guess much higher"
"24 million pound huh..."
how much is that to pesos? Let me calculate, 2029 euro to pesos exchange rate is.....
"1.6 billion pesos?"
I declared after solving it, immediately looking at the self proclaimed dark elf in front of me with a long stare that keeps observing her.
She was immediately terrified for a little and looked a bit concerned about herself and she told me.
"Yo-You're good at maths..."
I kept looking at her, especially not letting my grip out of her wrist. I told her.
"You're a walking billion pesos!"
"Huh? Eh?"
"You must die for the sake of billion pesos!"
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! No! No! No! No!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
She immediately tried and removed my arms in her wrist but I kept a high grip on it, she started drilling her nails but her nails are cleanly trimmed. I looked at her face with a crescent smile, happy about the bounty.
'Wait! wait!" screamed by the helpless billion pesos. She told me "Even if you manage to take me, it's extremely rare to find an elf and you need to travel to Sweden to find on-"
"Did you just tell me where I should hand you out?"
"They might not pay you"
"I'll find one who will, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"
I reach out my backpack to get a handcuff whilst laughing my ass out, the ghoul tries to break my grip on her hands but she's shown unsuccessful.
I slowly put the handcuff into one in my arm, and when I tried putting one on her, she stopped me and told me-
"H-How about we negotiate this?"
"No!"
"W-wait, just please hear me out I swear!"
"What are you gonna do? Give me 1.6 billion? as if there are other things that could benefit me other wise"
She slowly loosened her grip in my arm when she tried to remove it and told me.
"Does Soul essence suffice?"
Soul-....
My eyes opened wide in surprise, sweat started dripping upwards, mouth tightened and sealed. I looked at her as she mentioned the word, Soul essence.
She have the face of worriedness about her being, but my mind clouded for a moment and let my instinct dive inside me.
I instantly pushed her hands and slammed them against the wall, putting out a shockwave. She was shocked and looked at me, eye to eye.
"W-what's wrong?" she asked.
"How do you know about it?" My eyes were on fire like a snipe looking through a scope. "And by Soul essence, which one would it be?" I asked.
She was shocked to the point she couldn't talk and remained silent. But she resolved herself by answering.
"I-I heard, p-people like you grow stronger after absorbing- the- the essence"
"Why do you know about it?"
"I- I can't tell you a-about it for now I-I'm sorry"
I asked her, "Why?" As I looked at her eyes within my reflection.
"I-I'm sorry...." she apologised trying to avert the questions. I was not mad or anything, more like I'm surprised. Why is- Why does she know something only us should know about?
She must need further investigation! I took the handcuff and cuffed her into myself.
She asked, "Wh-What's this?" "Don't ask!" I told her.
After looking at my classmates after causing a little commotion, the ghoul told me.
"I have a proposal!"
I looked at her to ask, "What proposal?"
"This proposal to exchange that you'll spare me!"
I looked and observed her carefully.
"I- Instead of having to kill me just to die and having 1.6 billion pesos, How about you'll spare me and I can make you more stronger! I heard that you absorb the orbs right?"
"You! who taught you that?" how did she really know about the Soul essence! I asked "And how will you make me stronger?"
"I'm a dark elf, we were all born with a skill that attracts spirits and beings, Hunting beings is a pain I know, so my proposal that I help you attract it and you kill it"
"A skill huh, Where too?"
"I lived in a house near a forest filled with NLO (not like ours) I'll do the deed there"
I told her, "You assume I would just accept the proposal?"
"Please," she pleaded. Pleading aside, I think I need a further investigation to what this being is really is, being a Dark elf is a case, but knowing what a Soul essence gives to a lot of connection to a bigger fish.
There might be someone, behind her back, behind the scene. I looked at her.
"I accept this proposal in a condition!"
"What condition?" she asked.
"This whole entire day! You'll be handcuffed with me!"
"Eh?"
I eased my mind to the burden and let my future self handle this afterwards, I told her with a smile.
"As you promised, Bring me to your home!"