Rain poured down onto the dormitory, canceling any outdoor classes, any sneaking out, and dampening the days of some people.
But not everyone.
Selena loved it when it rained.
As the rain hit the roof and various outdoor objects, the resulting sounds make a sort of lullaby in her mind. It was truly a glorious thing to enjoy.
Or, it would be, if it weren't for HIM.
He was an idiot.
A very, VERY, LOUD idiot.
She liked quiet days, but almost never got any because he was rooming with her. He dropped thing, and tripped over things, and exclaimed angrily every time. He was noisy in everything he did.
Did she mention that Maxwell had not bothered with separating the boys and girls into different rooms?
So she was stuck with Eze and Lance.
Both had their own... Quirks.
Lance was... More normal?
He was quiet, and nice... Most of the time. He talked to Drevas all the time... Meaning it looked like he was talking to himself.
All the time.
Besides that, Lance also did not really enjoy being too much around others. He was fine with us, but if more and more people joined, he closed himself off.
And Eze, again, was loud.
And an idiot.
A real idiot... Half the time he forgets Atro is male... And when he first saw Maxwell, he thought she was a boy too... And he asked Eve if she kept her kraken for calamari. He also asked Tia if she liked hunting, and wondered if Lance was a cannibal since he ate plants (the answer is no), and other questions with obvious answers, mixing things up all the time. Every time he swung Batootha, thunder rumbled loudly, which got annoying during practice.
Now, she didn't hate them.
On the contrary, she loved them like little brothers-even though Eze was taller than her. And older. Lance was her height, but a year or so younger.
But maturity-wise, she and Lance were on much higher levels than Eze was.
Almost sky high, while Eze was below surface level.
She was exaggerating, but she really did think that Eze should just sit down and try doing more intelligent things, or perhaps act his age a little. Sighing, she gets up, knowing that there would be another battle theory class in place of the normal daily outdoor training due to rain.
Selena picks up a small book. She didn't remember when or how she got it, but when she first woke up, confused, without any clear memories, she had that book on her... Inside were faded and unclear pictures with blurred handwriting...
This book felt important to her. She knew it had to be...
So in the empty pages, she wrote about what she thought, what she felt...
She poured her heart inside it, so she could remain the cold, but not mean, Selena everyone saw and knew. She could write to her heart's content, her real feelings, everything... This book-turned-diary allowed her tolerate things she wouldn't have otherwise, and tolerate Eze's antics. She never wrote when either of her roommates were around. That was pretty much a given.
And because it was so precious, she brought it with her everywhere, so she always had it with her. People were curious about it, but no one touched it.
Well... No one with common sense...
Yawning, Eze slumped over his desk in one of the most boring classes. It was taught by "Gramps". Well, Dean, one of the teachers and probably considered the least responsible adult, called him that, but Lorand, Professor Lorand, hated it. So that meant the students called him Professor Lorand. Because he was scary when he was mad.
He squinted at the board.
"When outnumbered and VS an elementally diverse opponent while your own team is own one element, you should focus on either taking out the element your team is weakest or strongest against. It is also possible to take down the ones you have neutral damage to. Different techniques can be carried out at this disadvantage..."
Groaning inwardly, he facedesks. These classes were useless to him... His mind only cleared when out in the heat of battle. When not, it clouded and hurt when he tried to think too hard about anything...
Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Selena get up and leave. At some point she asked to go do something... Eze decided he must've missed it during the headache he had gotten from trying to think through the part of the paragraph he had been reading through...
He spotted the small book on her desk... He'd seen it before. Without thinking, as per usual, he took it and opened it up, flipping through the faded, indiscernible photos and handwriting, arriving at Selena's. He pauses to read a few sentences before going ahead and arriving at a page that bore his name on it..
He stared at the sentences following them, rereading it again... and again...
"Eze is soooooo stupid. Oh my gods. I wish he'd use his seemingly non-existent brain for once!"
"Eze? He just talks and talks and never ever thinks. He's got to be the dumbest person in school."
"Natural selection, my dear. Eze'll kill himself from stupidity... Don't worry."
"Ugh, the blonde idiot? That one has enough blonde moments to cover the whole school's worth of blonde moments times ten."
"Eze fits the female blonde stereotype of being stupid and whimsical. Sadly."
"I hate the guy... Seriously! How hard is it to do such easy things?"
"Ha. Eze? How he's got that Hero title, I don't know. Why any of the other 5, you included Selena, stay around stupidity like that is beyond me. You should dump him and get a better, smarter person."
He looks through more, his name continuously followed by those same words...
Was he really this bad?
Did Selena hate him that much?
Did they all hated him that much?
He ignores everything else, and reads through lines of Selena's list of complaints and remarks about him... And the complaints of others.
Negative.
Hated.
Disliked.
Disapproved.
Looked down upon...
And when he looks up, too late, Selena spots that he's holding it. He hasn't read anything personal pertaining to her, but of course, she assumes the worst and flies at Eze, slapping him with enough force to shove him off his chair. Everyone turns to stare, wondering who was in the wrong, but immediately, they all think "What did Eze do?"
And now he knew what they thought.
Selena glared down at him. Eze cringed slightly, he was almost prepared for the beatdown she was going to give...
"I hate you... I HATE YOU!"
Selena slaps him as hard as she can one more time before running off with her book and nothing else. Everyone just sighs, exasperated by Eze's own idiocy. Lorand just looks at Eze with a bit of sympathy-the adults all remembered the past, but kept quiet, for reasons they've yet to explain and need not explain, because the teens didn't know they knew.
Silently, Batootha's wielder gets back into his chair and immediately facedesks with enough force to startle to whole room. When they ask him if he's okay, he just nods, face still down. He brings his arms up so it looks like he's trying to sleep or slack off. The whole class goes by, and when Vargas, Lance, Atro, and Magress approach, he waves them off. They protest slightly, but Eze continues to insist they leave him, he was okay...
It was going to be okay...
It was going to be okay...
It was fine.
It was not going to bother him.
It wasn't...
It... wasn't...
It was really, truly difficult to ignore every hostile face in the building.
All the girls gave him nasty looks, and some of the boys did the same.
Which was bad... Because the girls outnumbered the boys. He was pretty sure they did, at least...
He trudged through the hallways and back into his room-Selena was now in Lucina's room. She hadn't moved all her stuff there, but she had taken enough for Lance and Eze to understand that she was so angry she wouldn't be coming back. For a while, too.
It stung. Know that he knew, he noticed all the small things-the glares, the slight haughty and "better than you" feel they had around him...
Why hadn't he noticed sooner?
The ones that showed sympathy were the other of the Heroes. Lava and Vargas were in a slight disagreement over him, which only weighed down his already lead filled heart. Everyone hated him, he was causing a friend's romance to sour slightly...
The blonde groans. It was 11 PM... Lance was already asleep. Vargas and Atro had tried to cheer him up. Magress had tried talking to Selena, who exploded and yelled something about boys. Something else too, but he had shut it out.
Earlier, Edea, erm, Miss Edea, came up to me, and placed a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped.
Maxwell had done the same to ask about Selena and her choice to move out, and I bolted forward a few steps, tripping and landing on the floor.
That look she gave him... It was shock.
It was then pity.
And he hated it.
And himself.
He finds himself deep in the woods, a few hours later. By now, it is 3 AM. Eze assumes they will notice him around 8. Five hours...
Five hours to get away.
Five hours to hide.
Five hours to ensure he's never found by any in that place ever again.
Five hours...
For a moment, he thinks of going back... But while Eze acts as if it never bothers him, it does...
It's not that he couldn't think... It literally hurt to try thinking too deeply. He didn't know what was up with that, but he tried not to think about it unless he was in a "thinking mood".
And so he ran, and kept running. The only items he had were some bottles of water and his trusty sword, Batootha. He supposed all he needed was a steady water supply. Where there was water there was the potential for food, which was basic knowledge that even he knew. He also knew the forest was huge, and that only Lance, Tia, and Edea actually were able to go in to the deepest parts without getting lost. He vaguely remembered Lance talking about some edible plants, but didn't remember which ones he was talking about.
He sighed. He would probably not be able to eat for a while, and he had left on a empty stomach as there was no time to get food, nor was he skilled enough to sneak in and take some food without waking up the whole dormitory. He once again reconsidered leaving, but the thought weighed his heart down. His pace quickened.
Going back was not an option.
[8:30 AM]
Dean looks around the class, trying make sure everyone who was supposed to be there was there.
"Hey, anyone seen Eze or what? He's not here."
The girls scoff at his name, while some of the boys look a little worried.
"Hmph. He's probably hiding out. Serves him right." Ulkina crossed her arms, no pity in her eyes. Other girls nod in agreement.
Deans sighs. "Alright then... But if anyone sees him, tell him he will need to come to the next classes for sure unless something really, really shitty happened to him."
[9:00 PM, Four Days After Departure]
Eze had been traveling through the forest for almost four days, on auto pilot. Just walking, walking...
His mind was mostly blanked out. There was nothing to think about... Beside the occasional need for food and water. There was nothing else he wanted to think about.
Before long, he realized he'd walked out of the forest-it was about a mile behind him. Before him was a small village, with only girls milling about.
After taking a closer look, walking several steps closer, the girls spotted him. They seem excited as they make their way over. Eze takes several steps backwards, a little wary, but they seize his hands-some get behind him, and they all bring him towards the little village. They continue to babble excitedly, and when he is made to walk through the village, even more girls come out and look at him curiously.
Eze shifts uneasily under stares.
What's going on here?
How come there's not any guys?
However, they seemed to be friendly, and the girls led him to a woman who seemed to be their leader. She seized his hands and looked at him kindly. He couldn't understand what they said, but after she spoke, he was whisked away into a rather nice, comfy room with food.
Holy Lucius.
There was FOOOOOOOD.
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
And so he ate. With horrible manners. And of course, he didn't care, and neither did any of the other girls, who all snuggled up next to him when he was done.
"H-hey!" Eze flailed a little, but they just grabbed and hugged his arms and legs and torso, and head, and they fell asleep against him, warm bodies pressed against his. He couldn't move, so he just sighed and tried to relax, but his muscles instinctively tensed upon the skin-on-skin contact. It felt a little too intrusive for him, especially since they were all girls...
The leader walked in and laughed at seeing the situation Eze had landed himself in. She points to herself.
"I speak... Understand this?"
Eze perked up slightly. He nods. "Yes."
She smiles brightly. "Can... Fight?"
"Yes."
"Tomorrow... Help us?"
Without hesitation, Eze agrees, because he figured he may as well as pay them back for the food. The lady laughs as her eyes sweep back over the scene.
"Sorry..." She gestures to all the girls. "Man... Never seen. Only girls in village." She pauses. "Last time man here... Many years ago."
Eze pauses, trying to think about it without overloading his brain. "Uh... If there's no guys... How do you have so many... Erm... Girls here?"
The lady laughs again, but her face becomes rather sad. "Demon... Brings them. Can only care for them. Do not know where they from."
"A-a demon?"
She shrugs. "Defeat different demon. It attack us in fields... We no defense."
"I will."
She walks up and gives him a kiss on the forehead, another smile, a grateful one. "Thank you."
She exits. Eze finds that the conversation or something caused him to relax, and he manages to fall asleep.
[The Next Day]
Eze is shaken awake by the many excited girls who all hug him before leaving the room. The leader comes in, smiling.
"Good morning."
Eze yawns in response, blinking sleep from his eyes.
"When ready... tell me."
He stumbles to his feet, yawning once more as he grabs Batootha. "Food, then ready."
She laughs again. It was one of those pretty laughs, like the kind Eze was pretty sure you imagined on books with those girls that a guy could never date because some reason and such that he didn't remember. He did remember Selena liked those...
He frowns at the thought of Selena, shaking his head as he tried pushing the dormitory out his mind.
They don't want me... They don't need me. I'm nothing to them...
Eze looks up. The leader looks worried, walking over, cupping his head in her hand, lifting it up. "Okay?"
He nods as best he can. "Sorry... Bad memory."
A sigh, and a pat on the head. "Come... Food."
[The Dormitory]
Lance was a little lonely all by himself.
Just a little though. He had Drevas of course, but Drevas didn't really breathe...
In terms of human presence, he was all alone.
Selena had moved out, and Eze was gone. Somewhere in the forest yesterday, but then Eze had exited the forest's influence to the northwest and neither Drevas nor Lance were able to see outside that range at their current strength. Lance had been helping Eze along by growing edible plants as he traveled through the areas, hoping Eze would recognize them as edible and eat. Lance knew full well he didn't really pay attention to the classes.
Besides that, loneliness. Right...
Without realizing it, the sounds of Selena and Eze fast asleep, their breathing, had become something he could fall asleep to. But now they were both gone, leaving Lance alone, and nearly sleepless.
You didn't sleep tonight either...
I know, Drevas.
That Eze... I wonder how he's doing.
I'm sure he's fine.
That book of Selena's. I wonder what she wrote in it.
I wonder too. Eze was different after reading it...
You are aware of the dislike of how he acts, yes?
What about it?
I was just noting it... It may have something to do with his going away.
Maybe.
You should tell them he's left.
If he has left, then it would be better for us not to tell, since he clearly has something to do.
What if he never comes back?
...
[Eze: The Burnt Fields]
That was fucking hard.
Eze sat right in front of the "demon" that had terrorized the village of girls-it was an Omega Behemoth. He had no idea why it attacked, but after the weary battle, he seemed to have befriended it. He stroked its head like how you would pet a dog, and it would close its eyes and lay its head on the ground, allowing Eze to get behind the ears, and all the places on the head where it liked being petted.
Once again, like a dog.
It had some sort of chain around its ankles, and when he chopped them off, the Behemoth became very friendly. Eze was pretty sure it was being controlled, or something like that.
And so he walked back to the village with the big beast, and the girls cowered inside the houses and behind those tall plants they grew and stared at him with wide, fearful eyes. He swallows a little nervously. He knew they expected him to kill it, but hopefully he could explain and maybe it'd be okay.
When he arrived, the leader came out and backed away, fearful like the rest. Eze held his hands up awkwardly, searching for the words.
"Uh... Behemoth." A gesture to the creature. "Controlled." Eze points to the shattered chains of he brought along. "Now friendly." He reached behind him, and Behemoth nudged his head under Eze's hand. A gasp from the leader, followed by gasps from other girls.
After confirming his arm wasn't harmed and watching the Behemoth throughly enjoy a petting from Eze, it wasn't long until the girls took to the beast, petting him and giving him a bath and weaving pretty little flower wreaths for his horns and legs.
[The Dormitory, One Month Later-Late Night]
Selena moved back into Lance's room two weeks ago. She stared out the window. It was raining again.
Just like that day...
A week after his disappearance, Maxwell had ordered a search of all the rooms because she had initially thought one of us(meaning the girls) had killed him and hid the body. While we told her that was ridiculous, she gives us an exasperated look, as if she had heard this all before.
The search turned up empty, of course, and Maxwell sighed as she went to her room and apparently was looking through things. It wasn't until the next day that Maxwell said that Eze may be beyond the forest...
Her face looked greatly troubled and worried at that, and we all exchanged looks. We've never left the yard... Few go deep into the forest. We didn't know what was beyond this place that we all had, for some reason, been brought to. Maxwell continued to talk, and said something that interested us.
"Some of you will come with me to investigate Eze's whereabouts. Train hard, and you'll make it."
Most of us were a bit worried about Eze. Even without that little incentive, we'd have trained hard, but now rescuing or finding Eze would have a bonus.
She didn't mean it in the wrong way, but Selena knew that some would now only compete to be able to go outside this limited space... The entire forest could be explored if Maxwell didn't stop everyone. People wondered why they couldn't leave, but no one really tried.
Taking the book that had started it all, she flipped to the first few pages. It wasn't until after he had left she realized who really was in the wrong, having forgotten what the pages contained.
If only he had read faster...
If only I had taken a little longer...
If only, if only...
He would've seen how I really felt.
She stares back out at the window.
It's the silence she had always wanted.
She could hear the raindrops.
She could hear the rain's lullaby.
She couldn't hear him.
She may never hear him again.
When Selena gets up to move to her bed, (Lance's bed was closest to the window, hers was closest to the door) she realizes at some point, Lance had placed a blanket around her. Glancing back, he'd already fallen asleep.
She sighs, slowly moving over to Eze's bed, and curling up on top of it, trying to catch a little bit of his scent, burying her face in the two pillows he used, only taking one shirt out every two, three days, trying to preserve what she could still have.
Lance figured it out the night she fell asleep. He also probably snagged the book at some point, but he did say he wouldn't tell anyone unless I wanted him to.
She listens to the rain, but remains wide, wide awake.
"You know the silence you always wanted?"
"..."
"It cost you too much didn't it?"
Sorry about long month of no update, I was working on like, 3 different pairing ideas and this one just happened to come out first. No lemon here, but that means there will probably be one next chapter. Until next time, remember-safe sex... Unlike these guys. Because Maxwell does not stock condoms. Just saying.