Chapter 65 Everybody lies

Not even letting him start prompting further possible answers, he stopped his friend mid-sentence with slight annoyance. "No..." His voice was laced with a hint of annoyance that was uncharacteristic of him. Then he continued with his gaze distant and troubled, "No, nothing happened is just a bad omen I have whenever I look at him."

With disbelief etched across every line of his face, Dante couldn't help but express his incredulity, his eyebrows arching high as if trying to reach his hair. "Gimme a sec..." Trying to contain his laughter, he quipped, "You are acting like this because of a hunch?"

He paused for a moment, studying Daniel's face for any signs of jest or something else to back up his irrational argument, but after seeing that not, Dante leaned back with a sarcastic smile playing on his lips. "And here I thought I was the girl..."

As Dante's words hung in the air, Daniel's brow furrowed deeper; he let out an exasperated sigh with his gaze fixed on his drunk-ish friend who didn't take this seriously, "I can't say much, but just keep yourself away from him, I don't like him near you..."

Dante drank his expensive gold wine while his laughter bubbled up despite the gravity of the conversation. "WAIT! You are jealous...? That's literally classic jealousy! not wanting someone to be near someone." His faint laughter echoed through the room, mingling with the flickering candlelight and the soft melody in the background.

As the words exited from Dante's mouth, Daniel's brow furrowed with concern. His frustration became palpable as an exasperated sigh escaped; he urged, "You need to seriously take everything more... Serious, but if believing that will help you, then you are free to choose whatever you want. Just be wary when near James; something bad might happen to you and the others."

Feeling the weight of Daniel's words sink in, Dante's expression shifted, and his demeanor grew more solemn with each second; he replied earnestly, "You are my best friend and savior, so I'll keep that in mind from now on."

An awkward tension followed up, and Dante was about to say a joke to shift the ambiance, but out of Daniel, the next words came with slight annoyance out of his mouth, "!#!$/!#$ @#!&/% @)(!"

Caught off guard by the sudden unknown words, Dante's eyes widened in surprise as he blinked in confusion. The silence that followed was deafening, the only sound existing in the room being the soft crackling of the fire and the distant melody playing in the background that now changed to Dante's playlist. 

Dante stammered, "I'm sorry. I think I was too drunk to understand. Could you repeat it?" his words slurred from the alcohol with his hand gripping the entire wine bottle, the liquid inside swirling as his hand shook slightly.

Daniel took a deep breath as he slowly pronounced the first part of the sentence. "!#%," he repeated, his voice steady despite the tension in the room; Daniel continued to say with an 'I told you so' tone, "See?"

Intrigued by the unexpected turn of events, Dante said, "Now that's interesting! But don't worry, nothing bad will happen! right now, I can obliterate you, and probably James. Heck, I bet now that I get my new transformation, I could probably aim for #1 in the events. So don't worry!"

Dante ordered more food, a mix of wines and sweet desserts. He took a sip of the cheap wine offered by the system, his face scrunched up in disgust from the tiny sip, he couldn't help but remark, "This tastes like water… Now I understand why the food here is free."

Daniel decided to voice his thoughts because the conversation was turning one-sided. "I'll go. I have to sleep; I hadn't been able to for a week."

"Cya," Dante casually bid him goodbye, and now his attention was already back on his drink. His fingers traced the tip of the bottle, the cool liquid inside reflecting the flickering candlelights.

Just as Daniel was about to leave, Dante stopped him. His voice was laced with worry as he said, "You want me to believe you? Don't lie to me! Your nose… It's bleeding." His eyes were wide with concern, and his usual carefree demeanor quickly vanished.

Daniel's fingers quickly went to his nose, his fingertips coming away stained with a crimson shade. Shrugging it off, his voice barely audible with his hand shaking slightly. "There was a reason why I didn't want to tell you; I just need to rest, and I'll be fine, that's also the why I can't sleep well."

Dante was too busy drinking to respond properly, so he just gave a thumbs up at Daniel's injury, his mind already wandering to the possible next drink he could buy.

...

...

...

As Daniel vanished from the restaurant sight, his steps began faltering, and his body gave up, collapsing onto the cold, hard ground. A violent wave of nausea washed over him, followed by the violent puke of blood ripping through his throat.

The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth as he thought, 'If not for my aura,' he gasped, trying to breathe mentally and physically, squeezing as hard as possible his shaky hands, 'I would have bled out right there.'

Struggling to steady his breath, with trembling hands, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. He hastily opened the vial and swallowed the potion in one gulp.

Leaning heavily against a nearby wall, he closed his eyes, wiping away the blood that stained his lips, while thinking, 'I don't know why, but when I get near James, everyone has a dark aura except for Dante, and the dark aura only gets darker whenever we are all together, while Dante's one slowly loses it's light... but when we are on our own, every single color change to a different and unique one.'

Lost in his thoughts, he sighed in frustration, his mind swirling with questions about the meaning of this. Daniel didn't know what these auras actually meant, but the dark ones really screamed a bad omen, putting him at max alert. Daniel asked inside him, 'At least you could explain what the colors mean, system?'

The system replied, "Premonition," then continued with its description, "The user of this ability, through a deep connection with the ethereal world of aura, can perceive the subtle color shifts in the threads of destiny in the individuals. Each color represents a future possible event according to the path they are following. *NOTE* The interpretation of these colors is not always straightforward and can be as complex as the human soul itself."

A bitter laugh of irony escaped Daniel, muttering under his breath, "I agree with Dante right now; you really are utterly useless."

------------

Authors note:

LET... ME... COOK!

Oh, also, don't worry, I'll upload this Saturday and Sunday; consider this chapter just... me being happy! :D