Chapter 33: Leave?

What to do , oh what to do.

I paced back and forth in my room, hands behind my back as I thought of ways in getting out of my situation. Going to school was a terrible solution, but leaving this place… This place. I paused. Gazing around my room, I saw that there was noticeable damage to it.

A few cracks and burnt wood in some corners, while the door was barely being held up by its hinges. The amount of times someone bursted in my door was counted in one finger, yet that one time was enough to utterly wreck my entire room.

My bed was in fine condition, simply because I used some defensive symbols on it, surrounding my bed like a protective area. It was the only reason why it hasn't been destroyed yet. Listening to Ms Flying Tigers lesson on ancient symbols was indeed useful.

There was the slight creaking of the windows, with the wind gently entering my room that created a relaxing atmosphere within it. There was a serene silence, ignoring the constant cacophony of shouting on the first floor, it was mostly peaceful.

I weakly sat down on the edges of my bed, thinking and thinking. It seems that the only thing I can do is think. I lied down and looked at the ceilings, its brittle wood slightly chipped and worn out. I don't want to leave.

Why must i leave? To run away from the damned inquisition? Like hell I'm running away anymore, I'll stay here and fight those guys even if it's the last thing I do. So long as I get to stay here, I'll do anything.

"Cosmo, what's the problem?"

Mr Lucius asked, lying down beside my head in his mini form.

"They're making me leave… Something about being a student of that school will protect me or something. I don't know Mr Lucius but what I do know is that I don't want to."

I closed my eyes, feeling a waterfall of sadness washing over me. Leaving my home was already bad enough. I might have left due to my own decisions but it doesn't mean i dont miss mom and dad, and of course my sister.

And now I have to leave here too? When will it stop? When will I stop running away and keep being chased by something or someone? Constantly on the run for the fear of being caught, the fear of having something taken away. Why must I do this?

I felt my eyes become wet, tears trickling down on my face. I rubbed it away as Mr Lucius might see but I think it's already too late. He floated above me and watched as I tore up like a small child. I didn't notice that my face was already covered in tears.

Mr Lucius gave a sigh and floated away, I didn't follow as all I wanted at that moment was to lie in bed.

"Come, Follow me."

Mr Lucius said, as he waved at for me to come. But I didn't hear his words, I couldn't hear much of anything at that moment. Then i heard a snapping sound as i was suddenly by Mr Lucius side.

I looked to my bed and noticed that my body was still there, eyes closed with tears streaming down my cheeks. This was weird. I looked at my hands and noticed that it felt wrong, like my own body was like a ghost.

"You're in your Astral Form, and so long as you don't get eaten by a monster from the Astral Plane, you're going to be fine."

He languidly stated, before floating out of the room as he passed through the door like it did not exist. With the fear of trying to be eaten by something again, I quickly followed as we made our way out of my room.

Soon, we were already in the bar. The song of merriment and drunken reverie underway. Mr Frank was manning the bar today since he allowed me to take a day off, with Amy acting as resident waitress and guard and referee for gambling. Now do I realize that Amy takes on a lot of roles inside the bar.

Mr Lucius didn't seem to be stopping here and so we continued on outside. He already passed through the air and just as I was about to do the same, I heard someone call me.

"Come back safely kid."

Startled, I looked back and glanced around, thinking that someone saw me. Noticing that Mr Frank was the only one looking in my direction, wiping a glass as he gave me a nod before looking away..

"Okay…" I unconsciously smiled as I peacefully went outside.

The soft moonlight shone on my Astral Form, its everlasting glow illuminating the streets of Zorvaile City. The citizens were as busy in the day, as well as the night. Some had food stalls parked in some corners while some cloaked figures were selling merchandise on the side of buildings.

Once I bought an item from them, thinking that it was a Mirror that led me to the Mirror Dimension. But only later did I find out it was just a normal mirror. I had to spend a quarter of my money on that thing and just as I wanted a refund, the person who sold it to me disappeared.

Once Mr Samuel found out about it, he mocked me to no end and only stopped recently because he got bored of it. My life.

"Cosmo, follow along now."

Snapping me out of my wits, I closely followed Mr Lucius. We rose to the air in rapid fashion, and soon enough we were high enough that we overlooked all of Zorvaile City.

Its twinkling city lights and its high rise buildings that almost reached to the sky. All across Zorvaile city were various buildings belonging to the homes of Aristocrats, merchants and Guild Leaders.

One of them even belonged to Mr Samuel, its height taller than the rest. This city… A bunch of memories resurface, to the east of the city there was the local sports coliseum. All of us at the bar used to watch the Gladiatorial Battles events there, though it took a lot of convincing Mr Frank to go with us.

A slight chuckle escaped my mouth when I remembered. I had to literally pull Mr Frank with us since Amy wont be coming if Mr Frank isn't. Mr Samuel just watched from the sides and laughed at my attempts. How mean.

To the west was the Entertainment District. And at first when I heard of it, I thought it was some sort of place of prostitution. But nope, Amy smacked me in the head when i voiced out my thoughts.

She told me that it was none of that at all, it was just a place for entertainment, a place of storytelling and wonder. Out of all the places I've seen in the city so far, it was my second favorite. First was the bar of course.

It was the place I accidentally went to when I first came here. If I focus my mind, I can still hear the fireworks blasting in the sky, the laughter of people and the woman?

Strangely, I seem to have a memory of meeting someone, yet I can't remember. Huh. Weird. Well whatever.

There were still the north and southern parts of the city, but unfortunately I didn't have enough time to visit them. And i didnt visit them because i thought that i could go with Mr Frank, Mr Samuel, and Amy.

I thought that there was plenty of time. I thought that we could do it all. I thought…

"Cosmo?"

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked towards Mr Lucius and saw that he was giving me a worried look. I was confused but when I touched my face, I felt that it was wet again. I wiped my tears and pretended that nothing was wrong.

But it seems my high level acting wasn't enough to fool Mr Lucius. He came near me and wrapped his illusory hands around me. At that moment, I let myself go. Tears started streaming down my face like that of a waterfall.

The sound of my sobbing was loud, yet it was not heard by the others and only heard by Mr Lucius. It was one of those nights I wont ever forget.

…

"Frank, he's not here isn't he."

"Yup."

Frank replied, not bothering to look back at Samuel. He kept repeating one single motion, that of wiping down a glass. Then pouring it Sorel and giving it to a customer. It continued throughout the night, and for a single brief moment, he stopped wiping and replied.

Then I went back to doing it again. Samuel gave a sigh and downed his glass of Sorel. It's absurd alcohol content directly assaulting his body and mind. Too bad he was already used to it, or else if he was drunk enough he might murder everyone in the room for fun.

Slamming his glass down, he thought of a fun idea. Like Assassinating the pope in his bedroom, or killing both Aki and Jaque and bringing their heads to Cosmo. Maybe that might cheer him up.

"Stop thinking of useless things Samuel." Frank said, as if he saw through him.

"What! I'm just thinking of it, it's not like I'm actually going to. Well maybe but still, it's only a thought for now.``

"For now." Frank emphasized.

"Okay maybe i might do it if a certain someone ordered me to."

"He won't."

"Well how do you know that? He will if he saw the situation with his own eyes instead of just listening to it as the information is passed."

"He did."

Stunned, Samuel looked at Frank to see what he meant. But then a memory struck him. He slapped his face and said.

"Oh yeah, I forgot he had that."

"Leave him be."

"But Frank, sure he may have survived the attempts of those two guys. But he's still A kid, a snot nosed sensitive brat. He may act tough but his low level acting isn't enough to fool anyone."

"We aren't his saviors Samuel. No one is."

Samuel begrudgingly listened, muttering some curses under his breath but he knew. He already knew all those things yet it made him feel even more despair, powerless as the situation already turned upside down on itself.

Then a thought surfaced. The Inquisition knowing of Cosmos existence was always a certainty, yet it happened way too fast ahead of schedule. They weren't even supposed to know he existed until at least two years later.

So why now? As if he suddenly realized something, bloodlust started leaking out of him, with the people in the room freezing in fear. Samuel chuckled lightly, then he started laughing and then his laughter echoed in the room.

All sounds of merriment and drunkenness seem to have gone mute. Only the sound of Samuels laughter was heard.

"Of course. How could I miss that?"

He stood up and began leaving the room. Before he did, he snapped his fingers and in the dark corners of the bar. Something squirmed within it, and the moment he stepped out of the door. Shadows lept out from all directions and followed Samuel out.

It Caused a brief moment of respite. And when the door closed, the sounds of drunken reverie went on as usual. Acting as if what happened did not happen.

Yet now, in the corner of the bar. Whispers could be heard. Amy overheard one of them.

"Someones dying tonight huh." said a drunk.

"Shush, watch your mouth! Somebody might hear you." replied another drunk.

The funny thing is, their voices were loud and clear. All of the people might not have heard it, but all of them knew it. Someone was dying tonight.