Chapter 13: Everybody's Watching

Sebastian sat on the bed in his room, his fingers fidgeting with the covers while his feet jittered non-stop. He sighed then looked up at the mirror across the room from where he sat, locking eyes with himself as he'd enter a deep state of thought.

"Is life even worth living anymore?" he muttered, his tone and appearance matching the wave of depression and guilt that he'd experience at the moment.

"What are you? Stupid?!" exclaimed a voice that boomed on the inside of Sebastian's head. Frightened, he frantically scanned his surroundings, looking for where the voice came from, not knowing it originated from within his own head.

Slowly, he got up out of bed, his hands stretched outwards as he'd prepare to be ambushed in one way or the other. He scanned the room once more, coming to a stop when he faced the mirror where his reflection stared back at him, however with his hands crossed and an annoyed look on his face.

"Who are you?" Sebastian asked nervously, keeping his distance away from the mirror without breaking eye contact.

"Who do you think I am?" his reflection responded, an eyebrow raised in amusement, "Don't worry, I'll wait."

"Are you... Me?"

"There you go! You're not as stupid as I thought you were,"

Sebastian furrowed his brows, lowering his guard and made his way a bit closer to the mirror.

"If you are me, then why aren't you against the whole vampire thing? You'd know how much I hate them."

"Yeah, yeah, but look at it this way. You got a gift," responded the reflection, a smug smile on his face, "You couldn't catch or kill a vampire earlier, so you couldn't graduate and be an actual hunter right? Now think of all your possibilities as a hunter with these new powers that you've been given."

"What new powers?" Sebastian asked, more confused than ever, however. before he could receive a response, his door flew open. Standing in the doorway was a boy with curly white hair and bright red eyes. He wore a full black uniform with the crest in the shape of five lines that curved out from the centre in the top left corner of the shirt.

His hands hung halfway on the outside of his pocket, a smile on his face as he entered the room.

"Hello, Sebby, long time no see,"

"I wished it stayed that way," Sebastian said, scorning his very presence.

"Oh, the pain!" he exclaimed, "To think I've been gone for months at a time and you haven't even worried about me a bit? What if I had perished and died?"

"Then you'd perish and die, and I wouldn't care in the slightest," Sebastian looked him in the eye as he neared him, both of them hovering a similar height range with the new boy being slightly taller, "What do you want Lucas?"

"I heard you're a freak now," he chuckled, "I just wanted to see for myself what you've become, but it seems you're the same poor loser that you were when I left."

"You came here to belittle me. What else is new?" he asked in sarcasm, a sigh escaping his lips as he uttered the words.

"Now now, don't be like that. You've just been a hot topic around the association... So I expected-"

"A monster? Is that it?" Sebastian asked, curling his hand into a fist, taking a step closer to where Lucas was, "You expected a bloodthirsty, savage monster so you'd have an excuse to kill me on spot?"

Lucas gave no immediate response, however, he turned on his heels, turning his head to the side, thus allowing for him to watch Sebastian from the corner of his eyes.

"I'll look forward to working with you in the future," he said with a sinister smile, making his way out the room, pulling the door shut as he did so.

"You're really gonna make him push you around like that?" asked Sebastian's reflection, watching him stand still with an expression of pity on his face.

"He's the best witch in my group... Even if I tried to shut him up, it would only end badly for me."

The reflection didn't respond, but instead of being its own sentient being, it faded away, being replaced with Sebastian's actual reflection in the mirror. He glanced to the mirror, expecting an answer, but only saw himself glancing back at him, and he knew the entity that spoke to him earlier was gone.

He sighed and sat upon his bed, glancing between the mirror and the door before he laid down, staring at the ceiling above him.

"What has my life become?"

***

"What am I supposed to be doing again?" Sebastian asked, following behind Nana Moe's footsteps who simply glanced at him from the corner of her eye from time to time.

"You're gonna be sparring... Of sorts... Before an audience."

"Why?" Sebastian asked, "Is the audience really necessary?"

"We have to figure out the extent of your... transformation in one way or the other."

"Ah, so you're trying to tell if I'm a monster or not too?"

"Too?" Moe asked, confused as she came to a stop, turning to look Sebastian in the eye.

"Ah, don't worry about it... It's no biggie," he chuckled, "Who am I sparring against?"

Moe stopped before the door that led to the arena, embracing Sebastian in a tight, long hug before pulling away to look him in the eye, "Does it matter? Just promise me you'll do your best okay?"

"And if I'm merely a monster?"

"A monster wouldn't have cared whether or not they are one," she smiled before kissing him on the forehead, "Now go in there and make me proud."

Sebastian smiled, feeling confident and somewhat happy since he first heard the news two days ago. He pulled his hoodie over his head, looking back at Moe before he pushed on the door, "I'll do my very best... I won't let you down, I promise."

When he pushed the door open, he walked into the arena's battlefield that was confined in a large dome-like area. Based on the texture of the arena's floor along with its glossy brown colour, Sebastian has come to the conclusion that the floor was tiled with brown marble, with streaks of white lines carrying themselves from each corner till they made an X in the centre.

He looked up at the seats that were filled with people, his eyes widening as it seemed that everyone under this faction has made it their duty to attend to see this fight. At first, he was fine, confused, but still holding his composure, however that changed once he spotted the administrators of the faction sitting in the back far back of the staff block.

"Is this really that important?" he thought to himself as anxiety slowly took over, having him second guess how he carried himself from this point on. However, his anxiety did subside once he took a look at his opponent who stood at the opposite end of the arena from him.

He smiled, pulling back his shoulders, and readied himself for attack eyes locked on Corniellia, who did the same.

They were both ready for combat, awaiting orders from their higher-ups, thus giving them a few seconds to themselves.

"To think I'd be put against you of all people," Sebastian said, the smile still prominently present on his face, "Time to finish what we started in that hospital room."

"I'm not gonna pull my punches like I did last time," Corniellia said, pulling her hair away from her eyes, "Best prepare to be sent back to the hospital after this."

"I hope you aren't all talk, and can actually follow up with it."

"We'll just have to see."

As soon as their conversation has come to an end, a horn sounded in the arena, signalling the start of the match, both of them immediately stepping off toward each other the moment it sounded.

<Chapter 13: End>