Chapter 17

GREY

I was standing just outside the dining hall, waiting for Caera. We spent most of the school day just talking about stuff. My plan was to… well I didn't really have a plan. I told Caera about my plan to become an ascender but in all reality we already made a plan. Since both of us had such a fascination for the relictombs we spent a lot of time together researching. Also that promise she forced me to make back around the time we first met. It was pretty much a certainty that we would become partners.

"Hey Grey," I turned to see Caera approaching. She was wearing the dress I suggested her buy back during our outing with Seth and Mayla. "Hey Caera, what's with the get up?" I asked. I myself was in just my school clothes. "I just thought I should wear it," replied Caera.

"So, what do you have planned for today?" I questioned. "I just planned for us to go to a restaurant," replied Caera. Caera then walked up and grabbed my arm. We made our way to the on campus restaurant.

"Come on, I booked us a private room," said Caera as a servant led us to a closed off room. It was pretty small, I'd say about the size of a private room in a gaming cafe from my old world. Not that I've ever been in one but I've seen it in the media. On both sides was a red couch with a table in the middle. There wasn't even any foot room other than under the table.

I sat down and Caera sat next to me rather than across from me. "So, what's for dinner today?" I asked. Caera turned to me," Depends, what do you think we should have?"

I looked at the menu and saw my favorite food, beef stew. "I don't know about you but I'm going to get the beef stew, it's my favorite," I replied. "Hmmm, I think I'll get the grilled steak," said Caera as the waiter took the order.

After a while our food arrived. Caera eagerly started to eat her steak. I bit down into my stew. My favorite food in both lives. Expecting for the savory taste of beef and carrots I took a spoonful of the stew. Instead I got a disgusting bitter taste. The bitter taste must've shown on my face because Caera commented. "Something wrong?"

"Yeah, it tastes bitter," I replied. Caera raised an eyebrow in confusion," How can beef stew be bitter? Here, let me taste," said Caera as she took an extra spoon and tasted my stew.

"I don't know what you mean Grey, it tastes fine. In fact, it tastes really good," said Caera. Confused, I took another bite, only to find it as bitter as the first. It was only on my third bite that I realized why the taste was bitter. It tastes just like the beef stew Alice would make. I shoved the bowl across the table, disgusted by it. Guess I'll need a new favorite food.

"What's wrong? I thought it was your favorite?" asked Caera, clearly confused. "It was, now it just holds old memories," I replied. Caera cut her steak in half and handed me a part. "Here, have mine."

"Thanks," I replied as I grabbed the steak and started to eat. After we were done I walked Caera back to the entrance of the girl's dorm. "Hey Grey, is it possible to stop time and allow someone else to move with you?" asked Caera.

"Yes…why?" I questioned as I raised an eyebrow. Caera put on an evil smile,"I want to scare Mayla," said Caera as she pointed to her open window. I smiled in the same way she had before activating my first phase. Caera looked around surprised. "Come on, I can't hold it for long with two people," I said as I picked Caera up into a bridal carry.

She put her arms around my neck as I jumped up through her window. There was Mayla, at her desk tinkering with her shotgun. I put Caera down, "A bit of warning next time," said Caera as she stood up. Caera then positioned herself behind Mayla, ready to scare her for when I unstop time. "Alright, I'll see you later," I said as I jumped out the window.

Once I landed I deactivated my first phase, immediately hearing a scream coming from Caera's room. Despite the backlash I felt I couldn't help but chuckle.

I went back to my room to prepare for tomorrow. I have a weird feeling about tomorrow.

CAERA DENOIR

"AHHH!!!" screamed Mayla as she jumped up and roundhouse kicked me, luckily I blocked it with my arm. "Hey, Hey, Hey, calm down," I said in a desperate attempt not to get kicked again.

"Caera?! How?!" Mayla exclaimed once she noticed it was me. "So I asked Grey and it turns out he can stop time and allow someone else to move, although it's much more straining on him it works," I explained.

"So you decided that the best thing to do with this information is to scare me?" asked Mayla, clearly annoyed. I chuckled shyly, "I mean, at least Grey's surprise attacks helped you."

Mayla just sighed, "Anyway, did you get the information we need?"

"Sort of, he said his favorite was beef stew but when he tried to eat it it apparently tasted bitter. He said he has some bad memories attached to it," I replied. Mayla sighed once again in disappointment. "It's his birthday tomorrow, how can we have his birthday without his favorite food?" I asked Grey his birthday solely so that we could celebrate it.

Yes, it's Grey's birthday tomorrow. We've been planning this for a while. We had everything planned, except for his favorite food. We needed a way to find out without alerting him to our plan. A dinner date was the best way I could think of, even if it was on the spur of the moment.

"I don't know. We'll just have to come up with something on the spot," I replied. But that in it of itself was a problem. Since we had maids doing everything for us since birth only Mayla had any cooking skill.

Suddenly we heard a knock on the door. A letter was soon put through the letter slot. I went over and opened the letter to see a… recipe? At the top it read, "Use this for Grey's party." I read through it, while the ingredients seemed normal enough even I could tell this was a rather strange dish. I read out what the title of the food was called, "Pi-zza."

It was a weird word, I had never heard of it before. "What's up?" asked Mayla as she took the paper from my hand. She read it over carefully before her eyes went wide. "Well, this will certainly be an interesting party." commented Mayla.

"You think it came from that guy that seems to know Grey?" I asked, thinking back to the black-haired boy Seris brought over to meet Grey. "Probably, he's the only other person in Alacrya that knows Grey," analized Mayla. She was probably right.

***

Today was the day, it was Grey's birthday. We turned the hangout part of the lab into a little birthday setup. You see, during the normal school day I noticed that Grey doesn't even realize it's his birthday. Everything was planned and ready. Valen convinced his grandfather to keep Grey in a long and boring meeting while we set everything up.

And, can I just say this? The 'Pizza' Mayla made was absolutely heavenly. We made a test sample to try and see if it would work and despite it being a first attempt I couldn't help but want more. So, Mayla made about a dozen of them each with different toppings. The only thing left was the man himself.

"Hey, he's coming!" said Enola as she turned off the lights. We all took positions and hid. Greyn entered the lab," Hello? Anyone there?"asked Grey as he looked around.

"Happy birthday!" We all shouted together as Mayla remotely turned on the lights. Grey's face showed one of pure surprise. "G-Guys, did you do this all for me?" Grey questioned, completely bewildered.

"Of course we did!" exclaimed Seth. That's when I noticed it, a stray tear that was climbing down Grey's face. "Thank you guys so much. You guys have no idea how much this means to me," sniffle Grey.

"Don't be like that, you crybaby," said Valen as he pulled Grey into a headlock. Fortunately Grey seemed to calm down. Grey then looked towards the table and his brows furrowed as confusion Grey on his face. "Is that, Pizza?"

"Yeah, we believe that black haired boy sent the recipe," I said. Grey's eyes widened in shock. "He did that, I thought…" Grey started to trail off.

"Thought what?" Seth questioned. "Nothing, let's just eat," said Grey as he walked up to the pizza. "Why are there so many?" Grey questioned, confused as to why there were so many.

"We really liked it so Mayla made a ton," answered Valen. Grey just raised an eyebrow at Mayla who giggled nervously. Grey just sighed,"Well, at least we'll have leftovers for a while."

We spent the rest of the night just talking about stuff. From classes to just basic teenager stuff. I ate more pizza than I would like to admit. That stuff is dangerous, why was it made? It's way too good. Soon we were on our way to presents. "Here, I got these," said Enola as she handed both Grey and me a small pendant.

"What are these?" questioned Grey. "What do you think? They're simulets. These ones are linked, with how much you two spend talking about the relictombs I'm sure these would be super useful," Enola explained. I ran forward and gave her a huge hug, "Thank you so much! Even though it isn't my birthday," I said as I released my hug.

"No problem," she replied. "Well I guess it's our turn now," said Mayla and Seth. "I managed to get my hands on one of those telepathy paintings and I reverse engineered it to make these," explained Mayla.

She handed Grey and I two rings. They were simple and quite thick. I wasn't going to ask how she got her hands on one since they're super expensive; hopefully it wasn't illegal. "What do these do?" I asked. "When you imbue mana into it it'll send your thoughts right into the other's head. It will only work within 5 meters, just like the paintings," explained Seth.

"I feel so out of it, not giving the both of them something," said Valen as he sighed. "It isn't my birthday. I shouldn't even be getting anything," I laughed.

Valen handed Grey an outfit. It was a slim black outfit with a hood that would cover most of the head. It had a cape on the back that started at the waist and ended just above his ankles. Instead of arm holes it had fingerless gloves. It looked really fancy. "It's a bit big but that's because it's for the future," explained Valen. "Thanks Valen, it means a lot," said Grey as he observed the suit.

We kept talking for a while. I tried out the ring and much to my surprise Grey didn't flinch when I sent him a mental message. Once the party was over and we ate more pizza everyone left for their rooms, leaving just me and Grey in the lab. "Hey Grey, happy birthday," I said as I leaned up and gave him a kiss to the cheek. "That's my birthday present," I said before leaving for my room.

I wonder how he'll interpret that. I hope he returns my feelings. I truly do love you Grey.

GREY

Caera just kissed me. It wasn't much, just on the cheek. But why? Does this mean she likes me? Is that even possible? Maybe considering she doesn't have anyone else in her life. What do I feel towards her? I don't know. I certainly feel something towards her.

But I'm not deserving of love. Why should I be? I'm a monster that took over Arthur Leywin's body. Everyone made that much abundantly clear. I killed my friend, I fooled everyone into thinking I was a normal 12 year old. The only thing I'm deserving of is pain. I killed Arthur so that I could live on.

Why me? Why was I brought to this world? To suffer? To have everyone I cared for betray my trust? Maybe, just maybe if Nico forgives me I might be deserving. I might be able to live a normal life with Caera.

I sighed, my thoughts were stuck between, "I want to return her feelings" and "I don't deserve this." I returned to my dorm and flopped down on my bed. What should I do?

ELEANOR LEYWIN

I walked into Arthur's room. Today is Arthur's birthday. Had everyone not pushed him away he'd be here; celebrating his 13th birthday. I went to the local bakery and bought a cake. It was a nice cake. It cost me three silver coins but it was worth it.

My anger towards everyone grew today. None of them remembered Arthur's birthday. If they had they certainly never said anything about it.

I set the cake down on the floor, I was about to light the candles when I heard a noise from the door. I turned around to see Sylvie looking at me. Tessia had said she's intelligent so why is she here? "Kyu?" It was a sad kyu, a depressed kyu. Sylvie came over and put her paw on my leg, asking me if she could sit on my lap.

I complied, lifting her up and placing her on my lap. "Want to sing happy birthday with me?" I asked the small white fox. She kyu'ed happily but I could still hear sadness in her voice. Sylvie then spewed a little flame from her mouth and she lit the candles. "Thanks Sylv," I said, using the nickname Arthur used.

I then started to sing. I kept my voice quiet, "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Arthur, Happy birthday to you…" I trailed off. Tears started to fall down my face, I couldn't stop them.

Sylvie just started to cuddle up to me, as if to say "please stop crying." I started to pet her back, it was soothing and calming. I cut a small slice for me and one for Sylvie. I spent the rest of the night recalling my memories with Arthur, both the good and the bad.

I fell asleep in his bed, cuddling Sylvie in my arms. "Come back soon Brother."

***

I woke up and went downstairs. The only reason I was back in the manor was because I wanted to celebrate Arthur's birthday. Once I got downstairs I saw mom making breakfast. "Good morning Ellie," said mom as she put breakfast on the table. My relationship with mom isn't what I would describe as good.

She still hasn't fully accepted Arthur despite everyone else already doing so. Even though they accepted him, that doesn't forgive them. "Good morning Mom," I replied, not hiding my anger. "I'm sorry honey, you know it's hard," replied Mom in a pleading tone. Not wanting to deal with Mom I left to return to Xyrus. Mom tried to follow me but I just ignored her. Sylvie followed me since that's also where Tessia is.

Once I got back the guards let me in quite easily. Ever since Arthur left the Director let me stay in Xyrus academy because of my parents. I managed to reach light red. I returned to my room and started to refine my core, hoping for Arthur to come back home.

TESSIA ERALITH

I watched as Ellie returned from spending the night at her home. Yesterday was Arthur's birthday. I celebrated it by buying a leaf pendant I plan to give to him once he returns. "Mama! You should've come singing happy birthday to papa with aunt Ellie," said Sylvie as she jumped into my arms.

"Is that what you were doing?" I asked my daughter. "Yeah! Why didn't you come?" she asked.

"I didn't know, I bought him a leaf pendant," I told her as we made our way to a teleport portal. Grandpa wanted me to return to Elenoir for some reason, he only allowed me to stay because I insisted on celebrating Arthur's in Xyrus. I made my way to the teleport portal, as I entered I heard a voice. "Why are you holding Lady Sylvia's daughter?"

I looked around to see everything warping around me. Once I saw where the voice came from I struggled to breathe. The sheer amount of aura coming from the figure caused me to fall to the ground out of breath. "Sorry, I forgot lessers can't resist my aura," said the figure.

The aura suddenly dissipated and I stood up to see a man in a military suit. He had platinum blond hair with eyes that looked like a starry night. "I will ask again, why is Lady Sylvia's daughter in your arms, Princess Tessia Eralith," the man said with pure hostility.

If I said the wrong thing, I'll die. That's what my instincts are telling me. "She was bonded to a friend of mine. Although he is no longer with me," I replied. "I see, so the one Sylvia trusted her child with is gone. How unfortunate. Does she have a name?" the man asked.

"Sylvie, that's her name," I answered. The man's serious gaze softened, "I see. I see you two have bonded, I must break it. I will also reunite Lady Sylvie with her grandfather," said the man. Before I could retort I found myself in Elenoir. Sylvie was gone and my bond with her was broken.