Everyone Died (1)

"The moon is beautiful isn't it Noel," said with tears in my eyes.

I gazed at the glowing orb hovering just above the sea, the moon, up in the sky. White ripples reflect the surface of the water.

To the reply of my voice: the sound of crashing waves and rustling leaves at the gentle sea breeze. I continued to hold my knees, feeling the sand in between my toes. It was cold, freezing.

How long has it been? Why wasn't he talking?

Snow continued to fall bit by bit, the beach gradually blanketed in white.

Why?

Noel isn't dead is he?

He can't be dead right?

Then how do I explain this aura of death?

"Noel isn't.. he can't.."

Status window-- I tried to mentally initiate the system but nothing appeared. It should appear. It must appear.

"Status window," I croaked.

I saw nothing.

Nothing.

..

He's not dead right? He's not dead right?

I struggled to turn myself towards him, my vision blurry with water but I could see his face well in the dark nevertheless.

Lying facing up, the large patch of blood on his chest-- sitting just beside him, blood had already soaked my nightgown.

His peaceful face, lips that had lost colour, eyes closed. Unmoving.

Black-blue patches on his skin that continue to spread.

He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping. He's sleeping.

"Noel.. wake up," tapping his cold-hard cheeks.

He was cold.. too cold. No movement, no reaction.

"Wake up.. Noel.. I can't live like this. Wake up. WAKE UP!!"

WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP.

Both my hands held onto his shoulders, frantically shaking him to wake.

I did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.

I did nothing but inserted the Philosopher's stone inside his heart.. it shouldn't be like this. I made sure to heal his wounds. I made sure he was comfortable. I made sure to position it correctly, I made sure to make the smallest incision yet.. yet..

This must be a dream. Yes, there is no other explanation. I'm not at the beach, I should be at home, with Noel, Prune and Nine. I should be there.. this isn't real.

So wake up.

Wake up me..

WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP. WAKE UP!!!!!

I don't understand.

I can't..

No matter how much this pain feels in my heart I just.. cant. I can't wake up..

Someone embraced me from behind. Jerking a little, she said..

"It's alright Liliath."

Her familiar voice, enchanting, delicate yet scary.

"This is a dream.. wake me up from this, please," I cried.

"You did nothing wrong."

"Wake me up. Wake me up.. wake up. Wake up..me.. wake up.."

"Liliath, this isn't a dream."

It's a dream. It can't be anything other than a dream.

"Wake up.." I pulled on my hair-- this sensation of pain, it's real. There's no way it's real. I dug my nails into my flesh, the pain transmitted to my nerves. It was real-- too real-- not real. The blood, the flesh, the smell..

It's not real.

It's not real. Not real. Not real. Not real. Not real. Not real. Not real. NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL! NOT REAL!!!

"Noel.. what should I do.." I glanced at his body.. his corpse, tears couldn't stop falling.

"It's okay Liliath. Noel is eh.. how should I phrase this? He's fine?"

I turned around to meet the voice and saw myself-- my other self. The one I usually saw in my dreams. She had four horns, wearing an unusual mantle around her.

And beyond her embrace, standing there behind her was.. Noel?

It was Noel.

Noel..?

"Hello?" he looked at me awkwardly with a smile.

But..

Why did he have horns?

This is a dream. There's no doubt about it..

Two Noels and two mes.

"What should we do again? We have to do something right?" Noel asked the other me.

"I believe I was killed by this me last time," she replied.

"Let's not move out of script then," Noel turned to me, a smile laced with nostalgia on his face? "Liliath, send my regards to the past me alright?"

Past me? What did he..

The other Liliath tightened her embrace around me. As I remained in a daze to how real this dream felt, she brought her mouth to my ears and said:

"Take care of Noel alright?"

Pain spread through my chest. I was engulfed in darkness.

"Enjoy your trip."

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"Hey, don't you think someone should check on her?" Saria asked with a yawn.

"..." Prune looked out the window, the snow continued to fall. Though it wasn't really heavy, the snow was gradually piling up. The current time was close to 1 am. Wendy was already asleep, Saria looked like she could pass out any time.

Prune wondered when Liliath would return.

"I'll go check on them then."

"Do you think they're doing that?"

"That?"

"Nevermind, just go, I want to sleep already.." Saria crawled to her bed and wrapped a blanket around herself.

Prune went to put on her jacket and another layer of leggings. She headed to the door. Holding the doorknob, she glanced at the interior of the wooden-styled lodging one more time. She, Wendy, Saria and Liliath had shared this room for the past 3 days. She was going to miss it.

Currently, all first and third year students are in the midst of a 5 day 4 nights field trip to Gilgamesh's Urban Green House. U.G.H. in short. It is a man-made forest with a specially breed species of mangrove forest that serves as both tourist attraction and green zone. The lodging area they were staying in was situated close to the sea.

This trip was arranged by the school and they would be returning the day after tomorrow. Liliath had said that Noel wanted to meet her at the beach, so she went alone. And.. that was 5 hours ago.

It would be a lie to say Prune wasn't worried.

It wasn't like Noel could bring Liliath to his room either as there were three other male students there. It was illogical.

The cold chilly winds brushed against her face, the colding biting her skin. Prune couldn't help but shiver as she walked down the stairs.

The orange lights interspersed around the lodging grounds, most of them situated along the walking pavements, allowing her to barely see her surroundings, the silhouettes of bare trees, the snow that continued to pile on the floor. Winter replacing autumn.

Just as she reached the last step of the staircase, she noticed someone standing there. Similar silver coloured eyes, fringes of orange-silver hair peeking out from the robe-hoodie she was wearing.

Prune took a moment to process the person in front of her.

"Huh?"

"Um.. nice to meet you again?" with a wryly smile the person uncovered her hood and said.

"You are.. me?" Prune was certain this person in front of her was-- her. Except that her height had increased and she had a weird orange tinge to her messy hair tied into a loose braid.

"It's been a while. No, perhaps it's the first time we've met? I wonder what I should say to you before.. um.. maybe I shouldn't say too much but.." her voice was soft and mellow, it carried with it an odd sense of maturity.

With a bitter smile on her face, she brought up a UI similar to the one Noel had.

"Take care of Noel and Liliath alright?" she tapped on a button.

Prune lost her senses and everything disappeared.

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Nine yawned, her fingers hacking away on his laptop. It's like what? 1 am? Her coffee had already grown cold from the long exposure.

The room was all dark but the small lamp shining on the desk provided by the room. Stretching her hands and tilting her head to look behind, the other three girls were probably soundly asleep.

"Editing is hard work. I guess I'll work on it tomorrow," Nine muttered before deciding to call it a day.

While staring at the shutting down process, she went closer to the heater in the room and sat there with her face pressed against her knees. She stifled a yawn.

Warm..

Nine made sure not to lean in too much. She wouldn't want to burn her back due to the heater source. It's a surprise how this cabin-like room still uses such a thing. Isn't there supposed to be like a two-way air-conditioner thing in the market now? Noel's apartment had such a thing.

Shaking her head, she got back up on her feet and folded the laptop. Afterwards, stuffing it back inside her duffle bag.

"Sleep.. sleep.."

Nine muttered and made her way to the bathroom. For the sake of.. you know, the typical ritual practiced by modern humans all over the world just before hitting the sack.

Raising her skirt and pulling down her panties, she sat down on the toilet bowl.

An obscene sound resounded, not that Nine really minded. She even let out a satisfying yawn.

"Yo."

"Hm?" still in a daze, Nine turned to the voice.

"Hehe. I'll never forget this."

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE Y-- !!!!!"

"Shh… you're going to attract a bunch of attention.." the other Nine, who was a male wearing a cool ass dark robe, had one hand to Nine's mouth and the other on his lips.

"Pe-rt" Nine tried to mutter in astonishment.

What in the fuck was going on.

The sounds of water stopped, it was then Nine realized how her other self was right in front of her as she did it. Nine felt so embarrassed, she wanted to explode. Steam blew up from her head as her face became beet red..

"Hehe, you're not alone. I also got to experience something like this last time. Well.. in any case," with a toothy grin, the male Nine said, finally removing his hand.

"Who are you.. and get out! YOU PERVERT!" Nine of course, shouted in a whisper.

"Well, it's not like I've never seen my own 'that' part. If anything, I've seen it more times than you," the male Nine brushed off Nine's retort with a shrug.

"What the fuck.." what in the actual fuck. Nine couldn't comprehend what male Nine was saying.

"Welp. You'll understand what's going on soon enough. Good luck me, go become the best assassin in the world."

He brought his hand to her neck in a chopping motion, and in the next moment, Nine fell unconscious.