This Strange Feeling (Part 2)

This Strange Feeling (Part 2)

"Father! I can't find–"

"What?!"

Due to the shock, I belatedly realized the people who swarmed towards the rooftop. Crap.

I immediately stood up and shook the hand that tried to reach for me. The Headmasters, Guardian Timothy, and even Khiel and Nessa were there.

"Cousin, you're flirting with the Sacred Guardian?"

"What?! Are you crazy?!" I distanced myself from Khalique– errr, the Sacred Guardian. "Umm please excuse my cousin. He's usually disrespectful."

"Yes. Excuse me for the disrespect, your majesty."

"Hahaha, it's fine." He grinned at us.

"It's actually the other way arou– Ugh!" Even Timothy seemed to wanna say something before getting nudged on the rib by the Grand Headmaster.

Let's… just ignore everything.

I walked over to Khiel and Nessa's side before bowing appropriately to the Sacred Guardian. "Excuse me for my lack of awareness, your majesty. Also, I should get going. It seems you have business to attend to." I tried to rush out the door but the headmasters and Timothy included blocked me.

"Cough cough. It seems that his majesty forgot to tell you something." Instructor Lyka smiled.

My head looked back to the Sacred Guardian and my anklet was still hanging from his hands. "You forgot this." He smiled.

"Yes, excuse me." I reached out for it but he moved back and smiled.

"Let me do it for you…" Obviously my lips parted to scream out words of refute but he insisted. And in front of everyone, he tied my anklet back on my left ankle.

It might be a coincidence but he was right about which leg he should tie it to.

"Thank you, you–"

"Khalique. I prefer you call me Khalique…"

I made a side-glance at the others, the headmasters and Timothy were weirdly smiling but the other two were shifting uncomfortably, unsure of what was going on.

Me either.

After that breath-taking moment, I couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly to get away from the situation. "Ah haha I should really get going now…? I am grateful for the small service and support that your maj– Khalique had given me."

"It's an honor to be of help to you, Tabitha." He smiled.

A melancholic feeling once again well up inside me.

His eyes, smile and everything looked at me gently. Such a soft look was being given to me and I couldn't help but feel strange about it.

The wind blew during the silence and his perfectly wavy hair got messed up. But somehow he still looks perfect.

Like a sunset trying to reach out to the sky, making an impression to everything about him. To be remember and never forgotten.

That was how Khalique was to me.

I was the sky who pushed the sun away for the future. But he was still shining no matter where I look at him.

Ugh! Since when was my romance-less bones start becoming poetic?

I turned back to the door and headed out without saying anything else. I feel like if I did talk again, I could never walk away from him.

No one stopped me from going out the door.

****

Nessa and I, along with the previously cursed guardian followed Taby back inside the Office Hall "Hey, do you like the Sacred Guardian?" The guardian, Timothy, poked fun at my cousin. His eyes though, were oddly serious.

I felt Nessa's odd gaze before nudging at her to stop.

"Stop it. I know you're a guardian but please stop teasing me." Was all Taby said before piping down on her own. I wanted to talk too but the guardian had many more things to say.

'Why is he even here???'

"Call me Timmy! I told you already!" and this dude had the audacity to pout at Taby.

I still haven't forgotten the fact that he kidnapped her and almost endangered her just because of what? His curiosity?

I sighed. "Don't you have work to do, your highness?"

"Not really? I'm pretty free." He crossed his arms and tilted to one side. "Oh it's fascinating you're calling me 'your highness' hahahaha!"

"Aren't you a guardian? Don't you have some part of land that needs to be supervised or something?" Even Tabitha asked about it.

"I don't! I don't have a land for now! But I will! You're so mean, younger one!"

And they started bickering… I can't believe my eyes. A 'should-be-esteemed' guardian was arguing like a child with my cousin.

It looked ridiculous yet casual and okay. Is it fine to describe it like this?

Eventually the two of them walked even faster to who-knows-where.

"Khiel."

I turn to Nessa who finally managed to get a word out. "What?"

"Don't you think… they look alike?"

"What?!" I scanned the two beings in front of us.

Yes, there were similarities. I can see that but I don't think the guardian was an ancestor of Obiel.

"They have the same eyes and facial structure? I don't know, is it just me then?"

"I can see your point but Obiel have dominant genes. If he's an Obiel then he should have rose-gold hair at least."

Nessa stayed quiet before speaking again, "But what if aside from being Obiel, one of his parents had a much superior gene? Wouldn't that add up?"

"There are no duchy households with that hair. It's the same shade as the Sacred Tree too. Maybe he dyed it?"

Nessa finally looked at me, no, glared at me. "You're blind, cousin." Before walking in a completely different direction.

I didn't stop her.

She looked serious. Dead serious. It was a familiar look too but I couldn't recall where I've seen it no matter how much I try.

In the end I had to continue staying watch as Tabitha's guardian. The headmasters were also kind enough to give me a couch to sleep in.

Of course, the nobles who were with me at the time complained about the mistreatment although excessive words were used, the headmasters became flustered and apologized to Tabitha.

It was weird to see them do that to her when it should have been for me but I didn't mind.

Is it weird for me to feel comfortable that others treat my family better? Plus, Tabitha was originally an outsider but she had been accepted fairly easily by the people.

The most impressive thing was that even the headmaster who were known to be usually cold to everyone else treated Tabitha much better than others.

I was proud.

It felt like Tabitha had been here from the start. I'm not going to lie and tell others that I didn't feel a tad bit remorseful about not having Tabitha as a family way earlier.

I couldn't help but feel that it might break me if she was ever gonna disappear someday. No. I won't let that happen.

"You should sleep well. Is it just me or you've become a bit timid since we've met?" Taby checked up on my complexion.

It was fine for me but I guess family does see through you.

"Haha! I will! And I'm not timid! You're always just unconscious when I properly socialize." My personal defense sounded weak but it was definitely relevant.

"Sounds like I'm the cause of your worry… Sorry." I'm sure she wanted to say more but Taby just patted my shoulder before turning around.

I sighed. "No. I'm the issue, actually. No one should be obsessive about protecting someone they barely know this much…"

I said what I had to say. It had a double meaning. One, there's an issue the obsessive behavior. And two, it was an honest observation and evaluation that I don't really know who Tabitha was.

As a person, Tabitha was being honest with her opinions and how she interacts with people but there was an underlying shadow that she couldn't reveal.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I wanted to laugh. She sounded like Sister Ingrid when I first told her about it when I was young.

It made me want to tell Tabitha even more.

Tabitha sat down on her bed and gazed at me with a look of both a mixture of concern and confusion.

"Well… I know the reason why I'm being obsessive about protecting someone. It's true. I knew the reason but, it's just, I couldn't explain where it came from. "

She remained silent. The clock's hand's ticking sounded louder as time moved forward.

"Even before my parents' accident, I was always worried. There was a feeling that someone I dearly love was gone from my side." My hands started to tremble.

"At first I thought that it was unnecessary worry. The actual reason why I started to cross-dress was because it stemmed from the feeling that someone will leave me. At that time it was my parents' I was worried about but…"

The hollowed heart that had recently started to regain pace and the black-and-white world had finally regained some colors, both of those were reaching something from deep within.

"Nothing changed. Something was missing, that I was sure of. That's why I was happy and welcoming when you entered the family, and I regained some vitality."

"I thought that what I was missing was someone like Tabitha. A figure who was close to me, someone I can talk to like a sister or cousin. I'm not adopting you though…" I made a slight joke and Taby's expression lightened up at least.

"But no… The person that needed to fill the emptiness wasn't here yet, or to be precise, it felt like it was gone. Do you… wanna know how I know that?"

Tabitha looked like she was thinking about something for a bit before opening her mouth, "I want to make sure of this first… Is it something related to a crimson gem?"

Oh.

"You knew."

"That I do. I sensed it when I recently gave you one… I had to connect our mana for a bit so I accidentally sensed that you had another crimson gem on you…"

"You're right." I unclenched my fist and raised my palm to her. A red crystal appeared, floating steadily at the center.

"I can sense your mana with it but there's someone else's too. Whose crimson gem, is that?" Tabitha examined the gem closely without touching it.

"It has my blood therefore it is mine. Out of all the uncertain things regarding this strange emotion… 'I made the pact', that is what I am sure of at least…"

It was then that Tabitha reached for the crimson gem and almost instantly her eyes blanked out.

"Tabitha?"

I tried to pull the gem away but her hand that pinched on it were strong. It wasn't even physically possible.

"Tabi–"

"What?" Her eyes regained its constitution and removed her hand from the crimson gem before sitting back down on the hospital bed.

"You blanked out. Are you okay?"

Her eyes looked at me with a worried sensation. "I'm fine. Anyway let's continue. About the crimson gem, what are your initial thoughts when you first discovered it?"

It was weird. There were many strange things today.

Yet for some reason, there was an urge to answer the question.

"There was a sense of loss. One day I had a dream that I can barely remember now about someone and I woke up crying. I remember it because it was the day I received a special book."

Opening my inventory, I saw that special book at its usual reserved area. The very first slot in the inventory. Like in a dazed, it had always been placed there like it was the most important thing in my whole life.

I took it out and showed it to Taby. "Advanced Fusion Magic Techniques by Unknown Writer" was what it was said at the black cover with white ink.

"Believe it or not but I actually achieved my mana wings thanks to this book. It had become precious." I felt the tug at the ends of my lips.

"Where did it come from?"

"I don't specifically know but I can infer that it's from someone I made the millennium pact with." As I said that, I turned the book and flipped through its pages.

"Why do you think so?"

Tabitha's voice started to become quieter as we delved into the topic. I can understand.

"Because of this." As I've memorized, it landed on the page before the five page author's note. It was the last spell.

"The last spell talks about full details on how to break a crimson gem on your own."

The Crimson Gem was a pact that can never be broken once made. For both the person that promised, and, the person that was promised at.

But this book had uncovered a whole truth about the Crimson Gem and the capabilities of Fusion Magic.

It did not only help me with my specialty in fusion magic but also realize a whole new truth in magic itself. It was the same feeling I had when first meeting Tabitha too.

There was a certain strong aura. A hunch, as some may call it. Or instinct. That Tabitha will change everything just like how magic had changed this once desolate land.

But I couldn't tell her that.

"So you're certain that the one you have promised a crimson gem to, is the person who gave you the book?"

"Aside from giving me the book, there's also a sense of familiarity in the handwriting, if it means anything or not, that was the feeling I got when receiving it."

She took her time in finding questions and I comfortably answered it, except for one question. "Khiel, have you had a proper lover before?"

Lover…

"No. There was… no one?"

It was bizarre. As strange feeling crept up within me, almost ominous. Like a foreboding of an odd twist of fate. It was strange.

It was a simple question and I started sweating uncontrollably.

I felt like collapsing and everything became a blur.

"I choose you to give me my second name, Rakhiel Obiel. Will you allow me to have you again?" A voice so close yet so far away whispered inside my head. It was happiness but also sadness.

A memory that wasn't within my memories.

It was just one line and I felt like my head was breaking into two.

"Khiel!" At that sharp, agitated and frustrated voice I snapped in attention and noticed my head was uncharacteristically turned to the side, and my cheek was throbbing.

Tabitha had slapped me.

"Rakhiel! Snap out of it!" With that same look she'd always given me before breaking her promises of staying safe, she pulled me up as I remained breathless and pushed me to her bed. The blanket eventually covered me up to my neck.

"Ta-Taby? I'm fine no–"

"No. You should rest more than me. I only need to replenish my mana but I have regained my energy at least. You shouldn't worry about me. Worry about yourself first." She said with no loophole to counter about.

My intense internal predicament had subsided before I realized. I was oddly comforted by the calm-mask of Tabitha whose eyes were shaking in sheer panic.

"Pfft! Taby, sometimes you act like you're really mature but at times like this, you look like you don't know how to handle situations like these.. Hahaha!"

Her shaking eyes stopped in an instant and she glared. "I was truly worri– Ahh." From being overly-worried, she transitioned in a second, to someone who had lost her soul.

"Hahaha! What's with that look?" I wanted to tease her more but she smiled and it was my time to question her. Her smile was sad, if I wasn't mistaken.

"You should rest now, Khiel. I had something I needed to ask the headmaster too." Due to the gradually lowering sun, there was a shadow over Taby's face.

It was the same shadow I saw in her.

The wall that I've slowly broken down over the past few months had developed cracks for sure. But now it felt like it had been replaced by an even sturdier wall.

The wall had blocked Tabitha from showing her affection to others. No matter how much we tried to talk to her casually, she never talked much about herself.

A hidden part.

It didn't feel dangerous. More likely, there was danger but it wasn't aimed at us. It was aimed at someone else nonspecific.

Yet there was still a lingering speck of disbelief like a grain of salt, that small.

She didn't stay for long and left me.

I fell asleep just before the sun had completely lowered down to the ground.

Almost like a dream, I heard Taby come in to the room and muttered something to me. But maybe because I was focused on sleeping or it was actually just a dream, I couldn't hear her properly.

I drifted back to sleep.

As soon as I opened my eyes, a distraught-looking Nessa spoke words I couldn't properly understand.

Out of all the words that passed through my ears, there was only two words that stood out.

"Tabitha's missing."