Thank you, Guestgod, for reviewing! I must say, I was extremely flattered to see your comment w And for you, I tried to write this chapter as quickly as possible!


Chapter Eight

Marx was speechless. There was so many things that made no sense. His brain was practically going into overload, but at the same time, he was barely speaking or registering anything at all. He was simply staring at Bear with visible panic in his eyes, gripping onto the table behind him for support.

Bear knew that he had killed Clarissa? But how? Nobody had been around to see!

...Then again, he had thought that nobody was around when he went up into the clock tower, but he was mistaken... Look what happened then...

Bear grinned at his little victory; a cocky grin that, in any other situation, Marx would have frowned at. In this situation, however, Bear had definitely won the right to grin like that.

"Do you want me to explain, perhaps?" Bear asked tilting his head ever so slightly to the side. "You look utterly baffled."

Marx slowly nodded at the offer, slowly releasing a breath he hadn't really realised that he was holding.

"Well, lad," Bear stepped back a bit to give the smaller boy some room, "It's really rather simple. The first death in this place in over how many years? Over twenty? Of course you'd be the culprit."

Marx frowned a bit. So... this entire thing was hinging off a hunch with no real evidence?

He was about to rebut, until Bear's next words took all the air out of his argument.

"It was an accident, wasn't it? You didn't mean for her to fall, but there was nothing you could do to stop her, was there?"

The way Bear said that really shook Marx. He wasn't really cocky, as if to mock something Marx might have said, but he wasn't really sincere either. It wasn't as if he felt a bit sorry for the other and was trying to take the weight off his shoulders by shifting the blame. In fact, the way he said it make it seem like he was like he was trying to prove a point.

But what point was there to make?

"You're going to kill the next one in the same way. An accident. Unavoidable. It may not be your fault directly, but indirectly, you will have caused the whole thing."

"...W-why?" Marx finally spoke, voice soft. "How do you know all this?"

Bear shook his head a little. "Marxy, there's one thing you've got to know about this place. Every person here has some kind of magical potential. I should know; Drawcia told me herself, and I'm sure if you asked, she'd tell you too."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Marx frowned, unconsciously tensing a little, baring his fangs slightly.

"It has to do with everything." Bear snapped at him, glaring right back. "There are two kinds of magic; dark magic and light magic. You...? You have dark magic. You bring death wherever you go. It was only a matter of time before you killed somebody."

Marx bared his fangs more, growling a bit. "What?! That's stupid! How can you even tell?!" He had to be making this up. He had to be; it just didn't make any sense.

"People with strong magical potential have noticeable differences, lad." Bear gestured vaguely away. "Think of Drawcia. You know she's a witch. She has light blue hair, and golden eyes. Gold eyes are a strong indicator of light magic. People with bright blue, or gold, or sometimes green eyes. They have light magic. Unnatural hair colour, too. Bright or warm colours, like pinks and oranges and reds, bright greens and blues. A sunny disposition, usually. All the signs of a person with light magic.

"People with dark magic, however, are the opposite. With red, dark green, or black eyes... or even purple eyes." He stepped closer to Marx as he said this... Uncomfortable close, in fact. "They have unnatural coloured hair too... Blacks, dark blues, dark greens and reds, purples..."

Bear had trailed off a bit, as if losing focus. Then, without warning, he had his hands up near Marx's face, trying to force the boy to show his teeth. "Sharp fangs, too. Almost all the signs of somebody with dark magic."

When Marx attempted to bite Bear's big hands and pull away, he found that he was too slow, and Bear had already let go, before he got a chance to do anything. Nevertheless, he growled at the other, baring his fangs viciously. He didn't like being touched, especially near his face. Being handled roughly like that was even worse. It made him feel like he was an inanimate object, or something.

"Ooh, touchy, are we, little brat?" Bear asked in a rather mocking tone. "Usually I would give you a good backhand slap for behaviour like that, but this time, I'll let you go. After all, it isn't often you get told the truth, is it?"

"Shut up."

Bear sighed a bit. "Oh, Marx, I know you don't really believe you have magic, but that's why I'm trying to help you! You see, light magic is brought out by good feelings, like happiness and love, until it can be controlled. Dark magic is brought out by bad feelings, like fear and anger and sadness. The sooner you get that magic brought out and the sooner you learn to control it, the better. Otherwise, you'll just keep accidentally causing people's deaths."

"That's a lie!" Marx snapped. "You're lying!"

"Oh, am I?" Bear started chuckling slightly. "Oh, we'll see about that."

He started walking away from make, smiling smugly. "I'm smarter than I look, Marx. It'd be unwise to underestimate me. After all, not only can I seriously hurt you, but I can make it look like an accident. But of course, you already know that, don't you?"

With that, he and Jasper left, leaving Marx all alone in the dining hall, with nothing to distract him from his own thoughts.

"...He's lying." He mumbled to himself, eyes drifting to look at the floor. "He has to be."

He had to prove Bear wrong. He couldn't let him win. But how could he do so...?

"...Otherwise I'll keep accidentally causing deaths." He repeated out loud, looking back up. "Oh, we'll see about that. I'm not going to kill a single other person. I'll make sure of that."

It would be easy not to cause another accidental death. He just needed to avoid any dangerous situations. He already did a rather good job at avoiding people. All he needed to do now was stay away from anywhere in which he could observe an accidental death, like anywhere up high, or with potential dangers hanging above. He just had to be slow and careful and quiet, which he already was. Only now he'd be even more so.

...Yeah. He didn't have any of this silly dark magic. He was rather well read, and if it existed, he would have probably read about it before. Obviously, it didn't exist, and Bear was just making the entire thing up.

Though, of course, it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion... And as much as the thought annoyed him, he knew exactly who he could ask about the topic at hand.