Closed Eyes

Perspective of Ella following the split up:

He's all silent… looking ahead without even checking up on me…

How am I supposed to say anything… 

"I… um… Leader Arial…"

He stopped and turned around; he's nice but I feel anxious, I know I need to fight this. "Yes, Ella, is everything okay?"

"I need to… umm…"

Thanks to my pausing, Arial further added, "hmm?" Afterwards, he tilted his head out of confusion.

Awkwardly and quietly, "uhhmm… I need to… pee."

He then put his hand behind his head and scratched his hair. Subsequently, Arial turned away from me, sighed, and said, "silly girl, why'd you struggle so much saying something so simple?"

I'm not sure why— or well, I guess I do know why, but it's hard for me to speak up when it comes to adults. "Y— you're right, I'm sorry."

Let out a reassuring small laugh, glanced at me, smiled and then, "don't worry—you're okay, just remember that you don't need to be scared around me—we're all just people, right?"

I shook my head, "yeah! You're right again, Leader Arial!"

Afterwards, Arial took it upon himself to ask people around regarding the bathrooms. "Hello there, would you happen to know if there's a nearby restroom around here?" The man prompted with the question stood without answering—he appeared to be in a deep daze. Quickly, Arial replied in the man's stead, "uhhh… never mind?" He then glanced at me and, with an awkward smile, stated, "I guess we gotta keep moving then."

We walked for another few minutes and then saw a woman selling apples at a food stand, "Leader Arial, what about this one? This lady looks nice." His eyes lined up towards where I pointed, then answered, "sure—let's see if she'll be any nicer than the last guy."

Stepped towards her but she strangely began just looking at the sky with her head tilted upwards; something about this felt unequivocally creepy or even out of this world.

Suddenly, "Ella!! Get on the floor!!" Arial shouted with anger in his voice. I screamed and got to the ground, covering my head with my hands—as I was getting down, I saw the woman's mouth open wide.

*Guuuuush!!*

My heart dropped out of my sheer intuition screaming at me over that sound; it was beating unbelievably fast, in severe discomfort and uneasiness. "C— can I get up now?" I asked in debilitating fear; Arial further fueled my feelings, "keep your eyes closed and don't open them until I give you the permission to do so." This… wasn't a request or anything along those lines, this was… a straight up order.

As my heart continued to age by the second, I felt a hand on my eyes—it was Arial—his hands were soft, I could even mix them up with a woman's if I didn't know any better. Without saying a word, he had me stand up—he didn't say a word, just made me turn around and we proceeded to step where we came from.

The place was hustling with people, then suddenly after that sound, everything was in silence… I walked with closed eyes through the guidance of our Leader and not a sound in the atmosphere had flown by.

We stopped. "You can open your eyes now," I slowly did just that—opened my eyes just to see every single person frozen without moving an inch.

"W— what's this?" I asked in anxiety and terror; I was turning around in the process; as I had finished doing that, my heart further sunk, this time straight to the depths of abyss. "A— Arial?!"

His eyes were wide and the entire front of his body was covered in blood—only his eyes and the entirety of his back weren't tarnished by the color of crimson, the rest bathed in depraved red.

Suddenly, I couldn't help but have tears run from my eyes. "Don't worry, everything is okay, Ella—this blood isn't mine, and the only reason it got on me is because my barrier only didn't allow any magic to pass through—I am seriously all okay!" He stated in confidence but emptiness.

"W— what happened there?" In struggle, I raised the question from the depths of my dread.

"Hmm…" He glanced towards the direction we backed away from, "someone exploded! Like… exploded to nothing but blood! No insides or anything!! Just pure blood!!" My throat abruptly had a rock inside it—going back-and-forth inside it and clearly tearing it to shreds, taking away my ability to answer.

As Arial turned back towards me, suddenly, as if nothing had happened, everyone started moving again—no one paid any attention towards him in spite of all the blood, they just ensued roaming around, almost seemingly without destination or purpose.

"I don't know what exactly happened there, but right as it happened, I felt a sudden surge in MANA from that woman—it could be suicide, since hooooly boly, if there's a spell like that I'll be shitting so hard no bathroom will save me from the shit I'll have to eject out of my ass."

Arial's humor ended up slightly vanquishing my anxiety… what a silly man he is… saying lines like that while looking like he's straight out of a horror movie. I didn't laugh, but a small, frail smile showed up on my face—it was filled with negative feelings regardless, but a slimmer of faith and hope managed to glitter upon its appearance.

"Well!! Anyhow!! We gotta urgently find Xter and Dantes!!" He then put up a massive grin which showcased his white teeth in the sea of redness.

"R— right… Also, Leader Arial… umm…"

Answered instantly, "yes?"

"I'm… not particularly good at reading people or anything… right… but… I can tell you're…"

"...excited out of your mind, aren't you?"

He glared at me in silence; soon after, tilted his head as if his neck got snapped.

"Let's just hurry, Ella—we have no time to waste," said while turning his back towards me—a clean back without a drop of blood.

Just… what is this town…