We decided to agree with Creuset's idea to meet. I wasn't sure what to expect with Creuset now. I thought she would be reluctant to meet us in person and yet here we were. Monika taught Yuri how to transfer themselves into a phone. It took a while before Yuri got it and so Yuri transferred herself into Luce's phone and Monika to mine.
As for me and Luce, we decided to plan ahead for the long travel. I don't have anything on me so I just checked maps and train schedules for us. Luce took a bath. I wish I could too; I didn't expect that I would be staying so I didn't have any extra clothes on me.
"So, are we going right after Luce washed up?" Monika asked from my phone which was on my shirt pocket.
"Probably. We did agree to Creuset's invitation." I looked at the contents of the bookshelf in Luce's living room. There were a bunch of thick fiction novels though I can't imagine myself reading something that thick. Who am I kidding, I don't even read.
I noticed one black book that seemed newer compared to the others. It was the only one without dust, as if it was pulled off the shelf often. I pulled it out and read the golden title.
"Heaven Divided?" I read aloud and realized it was a hardbound book without a paper jacket.
I opened it up and saw few pages in:
To Holly, who saw helped bring this world come to life.
I think she meant with this world was her life as well as the book. I flipped the book, opened it from the back, and saw the About the Author page. There wasn't a picture of Luce and the name written on it was Lucretia Ferguson. Is that her real name? Or rather her whole name?
I tried to read the book, but few lines in I found myself bored. I'm not really cut out for very descriptive paragraphs and sentences. No offense, Luce.
"You touch it, you buy it," Luce called out.
I turned around and saw Luce in a rather normal clothing: a black t-shirt and jeans.
"I see you found my magnum opus." Luce smiled. "It's also the only one."
"Don't you have other books?"
"Nope. You really need to listen better." Luce walked over and took the book from my hands. "It's the only one. Do you read? "
"I'm not really a book guy."
"Really?" Luce raised an eyebrow. "You sure look like one."
"Is that a compliment?"
"You decide."
Late afternoon. After a while, we went to the train station and waited for our ride. On my phone, Yuri looked nervous, playing with her hair with her fingers. Monika's with Luce. It was Monika's idea so we can know each other more. I guess she just wanted to be closer to Luce to avoid anymore falling out between them.
My headphones were plugged in so I can hear Yuri if she ever said anything. The problem was… I didn't hear anything. Luce and I entered the train and sat down next to each other. Luce was already talking a lot with Monika on her phone. On the other hand, I got nothing but silence from my assigned buddy.
"Um, I'm sorry," Yuri suddenly said out of nowhere. I don't know how many minutes passed since we entered the train.
"For what?" I said.
"I'm just not used to talking to people." Yuri sounded nervous. "I'm making this awkward, aren't I?"
"To be honest, I'm don't know what to say myself. I'm no good with conversations, especially strangers." I smiled.
"Really? That doesn't seem to be the case with Luce though."
I chucked. "I guess I had to. If I didn't, I wouldn't been able to talk her out of… Well…"
After a minute, Yuri spoke. "You're a kind person."
"Please. Anyone would have done the same thing I did."
"Maybe so but there are also others who would not. Luce is very lucky to have met you out of the many people in this world." I could imagine Yuri smiling as she said that though I couldn't see if she was since my phone was on my shirt pocket. "I am thankful for that."
"I guess I'm thankful for that too. I was so anxious and scared. I'm glad I forced my voice despite my doubts."
"I'm sure Luce is grateful for what you did."
Silence returned after that short conversation but it wasn't awkward. It's like we had mutual understanding that we didn't have to force a conversation if not needed. I felt more relaxed.
"Say, have you read Luce's book?" Yuri suddenly asked out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Caught by surprise, I looked at my phone. "Oh, I'm not really a book reader."
"Really? You ought to try. It is quite a great hobby to partake in. Maybe I can recommend something light for you?"
"You're gonna recommend Luce's book, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Heaven Divided? I would recommend it but I don't think you can handle it especially when you don't read in your leisure time."
"What the hell? Don't tell me Luce writes stories with complicated language?"
"Hm, I wouldn't call it complicated but rather detailed. It's important for stories that tell a vastly different world from reality. Without it, one would be left to imagine randomly or even conjure a different image from what is intended."
"Oh. I never thought of it that way. I just thought hard books are hard."
Yuri giggled. "Would you be interested in some recommendations?"
"You better not suggest children's books."
And so Yuri asked me what kind of stories I was into and I told her: action, adventure, typically what I watch in an anime. In the end, she suggested children's books but she assured me that they're quite enjoyable even if I'm not the intended audience. Well, if she had read it, I guess that means it's good. We then got off our train and it was already evening.
"Alright, back to our original partners," Luce announced. "Gotta say, Monika is pretty talkative. Usually I'm the only who does the talking."
We connected our phones through a WiFi hotspot and Monika and Yuri exchanged places from my phone to Luce's. I found it bizarre that Monika already knew how to transfer herself wirelessly.
"I like to surprise my boyfriend," Monika commented, smiling proudly.
After the transfer, Monika told me about her conversation with Luce. Apparently, there was a bit of hostility between them but they eventually cooled down overtime. They even managed to talk normally. Of course, I wasn't able to listen to Monika's story. I was more focused on what we're about to do: meet Creuset.
Creuset told us to meet in a park. She said to wait by the benches or if she gets there first, she'll be waiting. My heart pounded thinking what kind of person was this enigma really was.
As we walked, Luce talked to Yuri loudly, even laughing out loud. Either she's carefree or she's trying to be. We arrived at the park and as expected, there weren't much people at a time like this. We looked around for a bench and eventually found one and someone was sitting on it. A person with a hoodie over their head. Now that's unfair; I wanted to know what Creuset looked like, not another cliffhanger waiting to be continued.
We stopped in front of the hooded figure. She actually looked smaller than I imagined. The hooded person had her head bowed, only reading on her tablet.
"Are you Creuset?" Luce questioned loudly.
"Long time no see." The voice already sounded familiar. "Well, we never really saw each other, but it's the thought that counts."
"How about showing us your face?" I demanded.
"You sure are different in person. I expected you to be more calm and laid-back. But, since we're all here..."
She pulled down her hoodie and looked at us.
