Chapter 26: Mysterious Girl

*Souta*

When Purpura and I returned home, I ate dinner with my family and left him a plate of the stuff we had for him to eat.

After, I decided to take a walk around town alone. I wanted to see if anything else was going on. That warning from the God of Dawn had me anxious.

While walking down the streets, I came across a crowd gathered in front of the library. It was surprisingly large. Usually, we didn't see such a crowd around these parts except during festivals.

Several of the people in the crowd looked like city folk too. But why would they come here? It was still a while until the next village festival.

I joined them and squeezed my way into the crowd. Several began pushing as I did that, even calling me rude. Well, they were being rude for making such a ruckus in our little town. Usually, I was the source of that! Uh, forget I said that last part.

A young girl wearing a black dress was in the middle of the crowd. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She was surrounded by people who were talking to her excitedly. At first glance, she looked like a normal high school student, but when I looked closer, I realized she wasn't.

She had the face of a goddess. Long eyelashes, full lips, and a slender nose. She had a pale complexion and smooth skin. She was stunning.

Was she a celebrity?

"So the rumors were true," said a guy wearing a nice black coat.

The guy standing next to him laughed. "Glad you listened to me, aren't you?"

He nodded.

So, she was special. But how? Was she a relative of Sekin, perhaps? She was very pretty, like his family.

"Hey, is this the book you were looking for?" a boy said as he showed her what looked like a catalog. He was a tall, handsome guy with short pitch-black hair. His red shirt was tight on his muscular body, giving him the appearance of a bodyguard.

"Yes," she said. "This is it."

"Cool. Come on, let's go inside. The librarian said we could only see it, not take it."

She frowned. "Oh, I see."

The crowd stared to follow, but the boy held up his hand, freezing them in place. What in the world? H-had he just stopped time?

"Hey, who are you?" the boy asked, glaring at me.

I smiled slightly. "Uh, I'm Souta, your friendly neighborhood farmer."

The girl chuckled. "You're a funny guy."

I felt my face redden. "Uh, thanks." This was odd. Why did I feel shy around her? Did she have some hormonal power? Or maybe it was more akin to charm. If so, no wonder she was so popular! That, on top of her looks, would make her a hit with anyone!

The boy grabbed the girl by the arm. "Let's go. I can't hold off the crowd for much longer."

"Wait, can he join us?" she said, pointing at me.

He scrunched his nose, ruining his looks. "Why? He might be dangerous."

"He doesn't seem to be."

I smiled. "Thanks."

He sighed. "Alright. Now, hurry!"

This guy reminded me of Purpura when first met him. Scratch that, Purpura could still be a jerk.

"So, what's the book you're looking for about?"

The girl crossed her fingers together. "It's called the Book of Lost Memories. It tells the story of a boy named David. He is the son of the King of Beasts, and he lives in a world where humans are enslaved. One day, he finds a magic stone that changes his fate forever. Using it, he saves the humans from their captivity. Sadly, he gets betrayed."

"Oh, sounds exciting," I said. And oddly familiar.

"Yeah, it is. Mom used to read it to me as a little girl. My copy sadly got destroyed. It's pretty rare. Probably because many found its plot non-sensical, or maybe they didn't want to acknowledge their inner darkness. Stare at the abyss, and it'll stare back at you."

I hummed. More philosophy. Sehun would love it.

"Sounds pretty grown up for a kids' book."

The boy crossed his large arms. "Well, it is a fairy tale. They tend to be rather dark."

A fairy tale? Hmm, maybe Sehun had read it before.

The girl continued ahead.

"My Lady, is something the matter?" the boy asked.

She pushed her hair behind her ear as she was drawn toward one of the shelves.

"I found it," the girl said, grabbing a book off the shelves. She caressed it. "It's been so long."

I laughed. "Seems your lady is an oddball."

Her attendant shot daggers at me. "Mind your words, ruffian."

R-ruffian? Who did I beat up?

"It's fine, Dean," the girl said, beaming.

Wow. She sure was a ray of sunshine. Think she might've been nicer than Sayuri, who was already a hard one to top.

"Well, let's go find a place where you can read it in peace," the boy said.

I smiled and waved. "Well, see ya!"

"Say, what's your name?" the girl asked, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm Souta Citrine."

Her smile widened and her silverish eyes sparkled. "Citrine, huh? So I was right. You are from one of the Stone Clans."

I gasped. "You've heard of us?"

Dean pushed us. "We can talk about this once we've found a peaceful place. My Temporal Freeze ended a little earlier. It won't be long until that crowd finds us."

"Hey, I can walk on my own!"

My eyes widened as I looked back at him. His eyes were similar to his lady's. And he had time powers too. Silverish eyes that at times looked clear. Could they be...

"Are you two from the Diamond clan?" I asked.

Dean lessened the strength of his push. "Yes. But I am but a lower class member."

His liege frowned. "Dean. Do not speak of yourself in such a manner."

He closed his eyes and continued onward, ascending a set of stairs. "But it's true."

Why did I feel his social class was a touchy subject despite readily sharing it?

She hugged her book a little. "Sounds like you are putting yourself down, though. One who is skilled as yourself should be confident even if one is of low status from birth."

He sighed. "I understand, my lady."

She smiled slightly.

"I assume you're higher on the totem pole?" I said.

She laughed awkwardly. Had I said something rude?

"She's basically the pinnacle. Only her father outranks her," Dean whispered as we arrived on the second floor.

"In theory, anyway," she added.

"Woah! You're the third Stone Clan heir I'm met."

She gasped. "Who else have you met?"

I smiled. "I've met Sehun. He's the crown prince. And uh, he's sort of my boyfriend."

Dean furrowed his brow, and he turned around. "Boyfriend?"

I averted my gaze.

"Well, that's interesting. He has siblings, right?" the Diamond heir asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, Shika."

She smiled. "Good."

I frowned. "Why?"

Her smile faded. "You've heard of the legend of the twelve sages, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have."

"Well, they were told to continue their bloodlines at least until a chosen one was born. Chances are they'll appear among the main families. But that's not a guarantee." She sighed. "Sorry if I come off as uncouth, Souta."

I shook my head. "It's fine." But come to think about it, how did Sehun's parents feel about their son dating me? Better yet, were they even aware?

"Who is the other heir you've met?" Dean asked.

"Well, she's not from the twelve sage clans, but a smaller one. My childhood frenemy, Ava Rose."

"Rose? As in the Rose Quartz clan?"

I nodded. "That's the one!"

She smiled. "So her clan's closely related to yours."

I frowned. "Yeah, unfortunately!"

"Here, I expected the other one to be the heir of your own clan," Dean said, continuing to march on. Did he have any idea where he was going?

"This way!" I said, waving at them. "I know my way around this place."

She smiled. "Take it you're a bibliophile then?"

I blushed. "Well, I wouldn't call myself one. Seems too lofty a title for me."

"What kind of books do you read?"

I laughed. "Uh, that's the thin'. I usually read comics and middle-grade books. Nothin' fancy." I bit my lip. Ahh. My accent came out.

She continued to smile. "Nothing wrong with that. I sometimes read comics too." She sighed. "But Dad does not permit me. It is usually whenever Dean can get a hold of one, but lately, Father has caught on to him."

Dean stopped and bowed like a butler from one of my comics. "My apologies, my lady."

"It is not your fault, Dean. Father does have eyes on us at nearly all times." She sighed. "The only fun thing he lets me do is sing."

Why singing, of all things?

Dean looked over the rail. The sound of people coming in could be heard.

"Think one of them is from your clan?" I asked.

He shook his head. "If that were the case, they would not have been frozen in time like you."

His lady furrowed her brow. "Or they pretended."

"If they did, they must be great actors! Everyone looked like a statue," I said, continuing on ahead.

"Maybe they hired a local in that case," Dean mumbled.

His liege sighed. "I would not put it past my father."

I swung my hands behind my head. "Hearing that makes me glad that our clan isn't much of one," I said.

"What do you mean?" the heir of Diamond asked.

I smiled at her. "The reason I do not know the heir of the Citrine is that we lack a proper clan structure." I spread out my arms and flapped them. "So we're as free as the wind!"

"So the Citrine clan isn't much of a clan," Dean said, shaking his head.

I snapped my fingers. "Yup! Though, I think I would be the heir if we had one."

"What makes you think that?" both of them asked.

I stopped in front of a door and punched in some numbers on the keypad. Usually, one needed a card to open it, but I remembered the code for the room.

"I recently met the God of Dawn. He said that I was the 'hero'."

She gasped. "The God of Dawn?" Her gaze fell to the ground.

Dean closed the door behind us. "Is something the matter, my lady?"

"If his holiness is talking to us descendants, then trouble truly is at foot."

I gasped. "Wait, he's spoken to you too?"

She nodded. "Yes. I figured it was because I was the heiress as well as the reincarnation of the Sage of Diamond."

I thought back to my dreams. Then, did that mean I was the rebirth of the Sage of Citrine after all? Wait, that would explain why he said something about rebirth when I asked if we had met before! In that case, was Purpura the Sage of Amethyst and Sehun the Sage of Opal?

"Something wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Nope." I laughed. "It's just that something I heard while in that strange realm finally clicked." Also, why I had those weird dreams from the era of the sages.

She smiled. "That you met before, right? I would have been surprised, too, if I had not known already."

"You knew?"

She walked over to the lone table in the room and opened up the book. "Since I was a child. This book helped trigger those memories." She flipped through the pages. "This book is a rewriting of a story my past life wrote. It is meant to be an allegory of how humanity might come to hate us stone bearers."

I gulped. "What do you mean hate us?"

She stared at me with those supernatural eyes of hers. "We are the only ones who can save humanity from the disasters foretold by the sages. But at the same time, we are the ones who are drawing the greatest one toward us."

"The Dark Lord..." I mumbled.

She nodded. "But, I think he's only the beginning."

Right, the God of Dawn said that more of his kind were there. The others would probably come at the time of the so-called 'Chosen Ones', but we were not guaranteed to survive til that age.

I smiled. "But at least I know that we have more allies."

She beamed back at me. "Your optimism is the same as before, my dear friend."

Flashes of a tall man with broad shoulders donning monochrome robes popped into my head.

"The lion in the book, your past life named it after himself, didn't he?" I asked, feeling light-headed.

She smiled. "Yes. David Diamond was my name. But in this lifetime, I bear the name of Davina."