MORE APOLOGIES.
I would have asked myself, "What the hell are you doing!?" as I entered the shop, if I were who I was a few months ago.
But I felt like I had to enter that antique store. It was...weird. I felt compelled to enter. Like there was something I just had to see.
Like there was some sort of surprise waiting for me. Compare it to an adventurer finding a gigantic gate. The adventurer wouldn't ask any questions and would just go about finding out what's behind the gate.
I wasn't fearful. I wasn't cautious. After the battle last night, living life out in the day, away from Tartarus, was much more liveable. Much more enjoyable.
In short, I wasn't afraid because there are worse things to be afraid of. And besides, Yuka was in the shop as well. If she was in danger of anything, she'd have already left the shop.
Nothing to be fearful of, right?
...Right?
After entering the shop, I immediately regretted doing so. I felt this...aura, this presence – I don't know how else to explain it, but – it was...there was something in the shop. Something.
No. It wasn't just in the shop. It was in the products, the antiques. There was something in each and every one of these antiques, and I could sense that something fairly well. It weighed down on my mind and pressed and pressed and pressed, like it was a person asking me a very obvious question and asking it repeatedly to help me figure out the answer.
I couldn't figure it out. The question wasn't obvious enough.
I sighed and decided to stroll around this shop. Shinshoudo Antiques, I think it was called.
As I went deeper and deeper into the shop, I grew progressively more unsettled. The antiques being sold here were...strange, to say the least.
There was a lamp with a carving on it depicting a demon and a woman having sex atop a mountain of babies. Or dolls. There was a wooden sculpture of a head with an exposed brain, dull eyes, and crusted lips. There was even a series of necklaces hung up on a post, and each one had a wooden ear on it, or a wooden tongue, or a wooden eyeball.
Needless to say, I was perturbed.
What sicko even makes these kinds of things?
But I ended up finding something that I...couldn't help but be fascinated by. It was a sword. A golden sword.
It was hung up on the wall by a sword plaque...and it was truly glorious. The blade was as bright as the sun. The hilt was in the shape of a cross...a holy cross. It was golden and it had green gems at the center of the cross I mentioned earlier. It looked sharper than sharp and more regal than any king.
And out of everything in the shop...this weapon here had the most oppressive aura.
"It's called Deus Xiphos."
I turned, surprised at the sudden statement, to find a woman behind me. She was probably the owner of the shop. She had her black hair in a ponytail and wore wide glasses – too wide for her eyes. Her lips were noticeably big and she had this condescending look in her eyes. She wore a white, collared shirt and black jeans.
"It's a sword said to have been used by the Archangel Michael himself...although the fact that this lowly antique shop has it seems to have some certain implications."
"...I...guess so," I sighed. "It's beautiful."
"Wanna buy it?" she asked. "It's only three million yen."
"...So that's why it hasn't been bought yet."
"Indeed. But have you found anything that catches your eye?"
"Actually, this is the only thing that has."
She let out a small hmm and said, "I get that."
"...Okay, then."
"Would you like to buy that?" she pointed to a clay sculpture of a dragon devouring a bleeding moon. "It's five hundred yen."
"I-I'm sorry, but I'm-" still sane and lacking a fetish for nightmarish things, "-not interested in it."
"Yuki-senpai?"
I turned to the sound of that voice.
"Narukami."
She was wearing a blue tank top and dark blue jeans, holding up a plastic bag full of groceries.
"What are you doing here?" she asked me.
"Speak for yourself. I never knew that you were one for antiques."
"I'm not, but – wait, shouldn't you be resting?"
"I've gotten bored of resting."
"What kind of excuse is-?"
"Yuka," the woman with a ponytail began, "how do you know this young man?"
To that, Yuka froze up a bit, "H-he's in my school...he's my senpai."
"Really?" Her eyes were even icier than Mitsuru's.
"Yeah...really. He's helped me with homework and I hang with him and his friends."
The older woman didn't even dignify that with a response before turning to me.
"Tell me something...do you know what a Persona is?"
...Crap.
"What are you talking about-?"
"You know, don't you?"
Dammit! Why do you suck so much at lying!?
"You're a terrible liar."
The woman was right on the mark with my thoughts. Ugh.
"So...what is your relationship with my daughter, Wild Card?"
...What.
I turned to Yuka in disbelief. She was kind of sort of freaking out as well.
"She is your mother!?"
"Really, Yuka?"
Yuka's mother had us sitting in two wooden seats as she stared us down, a looming sense of doom hanging over our heads. Well, more Yuka's head than mine.
"...Sorry, mom."
"I told you not to get involved with Persona-users."
"B-but I don't know anyone else at school! He's the only cool guy there!"
"Wait, what-?"
"What have you done to my daughter?"
"I-I did nothing!"
The look in Narukami-san's eyes was as gulp-inducing as a great white shark with gatling guns. Somebody should make a movie of that, by the way.
"I should've known you'd fall for a Wild Card, Yuka..."
As a response to that, Yuka's face suddenly turned sour.
"I'm not in love with the guy. He's a friend."
And she said that with the stiffness of a board. As I just sat there, awkwardly surveying the carnage.
Yuka's mom sighed before turning to me, "To be honest, I was wondering if you were truly aware of your abilities...most Wild Cards aren't even aware of their powers until it's far too late. But seeing as how you've struck an 'acquaintance' with my daughter...I took the chance."
"Um...how did you know I was a Wild Card in the first place?" I asked Yuka's mother.
Igor and the other denizens of the Velvet Room were the only ones who even called me a Wild Card. Yuka knew, but judging from her mother's knowledge of Personas, she must have gotten it from her mother. But how'd her mother know in the first place? Hell, how'd her mother even find out about Personas?
"Well," Narukami-san stated, "it's your eyes."
"...Excuse me?"
"Has my daughter showed you her Compendium?"
"Not really..."
"Figures. If she did show you, you'd learn that a Wild Card's eyes tend to be much...brighter in comparison to other people's eyes."
"But my eyes are grey. Dull grey."
"You see...those who read the Compendium are opened to a whole new world. Even normal humans – those without Personas – can see things they normally wouldn't see. That book is how I gained my knowledge of Persona-users, Wild Cards, and the like."
"...What I meant was, how do you know about Wild Cards and Personas and whatnot?"
"The Compendium you see in that glass case over there."
I turned and sure enough, Yuka's Compendium – Grimoire Animus – was there. Inside a glass case.
"...So, where'd you get the book?"
"I found it."
...I blinked.
"You...found it."
"Yes. It was lying in a ditch and I found it."
Lying. Hah. How fitting. She was so hiding something from me.
"You think I'm lying, don't you?"
...Oh crap.
"U-um...no. Not at all."
"...You're such a terrible liar." Dammit! "But I suppose, since you backed off, I can let it slide."
This woman. This. Woman. She was scarier than any dog, more frightening than the deadliest Shadow, and more intimidating than a thousand Mitsurus. What was with her? That look in her eyes – that sly, calculating, deadening look in her eyes – it wasn't right. She'd seen things. I could tell. Her eyes just told me that.
"Dude," Yuka snorted. "Are you scared of my mom?"
"No!" I said too quickly for my own good, "Of course not!"
"Methinks you are afraid of me," Narukami-san laughed.
Damn that laugh. Damn that sounded like she was preparing to munch on my face!
"Calm down, it's not like I'm going to eat your face or anything."
Oh, what!? Reading the Compendium would give you mind-reading powers, too? Elizabeth never told me that! Crap, I should've read the Compendium a long time ago...
"Why do you look so scared?"
...Okay, so she wasn't reading my mind. "It's...nothing. I'm just kind of nervous."
"Why would you be nervous? Unless you're my daughter's boyfriend, in which case, you have every right to be nervous-"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Well, you're a bi teenager! I half-expected you to have a boyfriend or girlfriend by now, Yuka!"
"Mother!"
I did not belong here.
"A-anyway," Yuka turned to me, "you should be in bed! After last night – senpai, do you know how much you worried us!? We were surprised you were still breathing!"
"And what happened last night?"
"Mom, this isn't the time-"
"I'm your mother. It's like divine right that I know what you're up to, Yuka."
"B-but Mom...I..."
"...Are you going after Shadows?"
What!?
"And judging by how the boy's eyes widened," Dammit! "I think I'm on the mark."
Why do I suck at hiding my emotions when I'm scared!?
"Mom..."
"Tell me what's going on. Now."
Yuka and I turned to each other. She gulped, I sweat-dropped.
We were screwed either way. Might as well go for it, you know?
"Narukami-san, I-"
"There's a hidden hour called the Dark Hour that's in between midnight and 1:00 AM. In this hour, a tower called Tartarus comes up from our school and Shadows are in it and there's this group of Persona-users I joined 'cause I was bored and I wanted friends and I thought it'd be fun and please don't kill me..."
And did I mention Yuka's voice was so fast I could barely make out what she was trying to say? Even the most fluent at the Japanese language wouldn't be able to speak at the rate she spoke.
"...And you're only telling me this now because...?"
"...Mom, I..."
"Yuka, I told you to stay away from the Shadows."
"B-but then why'd you give me the Compendium in the first place!?"
"It was a last resort. It was only when the worst was to come."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll know in time."
I hate it whenever people say that.
"Mom, don't give me that again..."
"I told you to avoid confrontation with the Shadows as much as possible, and here you are, diving into battle with them? Are you mad?"
But wait. Something wasn't right here.
"You...don't know about the Dark Hour?" I asked Yuka's mom. "You know nothing about it?"
"...No. Not until now."
"...But aren't you a Persona-user?"
"I was. In a way. So was my husband. As time passed and certain circumstances took place...I lost my powers. But the Compendium's powers, I still keep."
"How do you lose your abilities?"
"You don't want to know."
"...Okay..."
The way she said that made me not want to know. Me. The guy who always wants to know.
"I'd hoped to avoid this day for as long as I could, Yuka...but I suppose this was always meant to happen. I was just delaying the inevitable."
"...Mom...?"
"Listen to me, Yuka," her voice had a sense of tenseness and weight that I hadn't heard with any other voice, "I didn't want you involved in this, but you have. As part of the Narukami family, we can see the truths hidden within the fabric of our world and sever the threads, destroying reality as we see fit."
What in the crap was she saying.
"This power comes with a cost, though..." Narukami-san bit her lip, "All power comes with a price to pay. That's just the way it is. You see?"
...I could relate with that.
"I don't know who or what our true enemies are and what they want. Though I cannot use my power anymore, you have inherited it...," she closed her eyes, "They'll be coming after you... I just hope you'll be ready when they do."
Yuka was just as taken aback as I was. What was her mother talking about?
"Mom, what are you-?"
"Now, I need you," she turned sharply to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, "to leave."
"Wait, what-?"
And within a second and a half, I was out of that shop.
The door slammed upon my inglorious exit.
I stood there, dazed and wondering what was going on.
Completely oblivious to everything.
*SMASH!*
"Thou hast established a new bond..."
Oh, come on!
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou chooseth to imbue thyself with the Papess Arcana..."
The hell's a Papess anyway?
"...So, how was it?" I asked Yuka. "What'd your mom tell you?"
"I...I convinced her to let me fight the Shadows, but she...told me some weird chant."
"Really?"
"Yeah, um...she only told me to say it only when I absolutely need to. And she seemed kind of resigned about me joining the team."
"Oh. Well. Huh."
"It was weird..."
...
And we just stood there like that. Awkwardly.
"Um...I really think you should take a rest after last night."
"I don't think I need to, Narukami. Like I said, I'm not exactly fond of rest."
"Come on!"
"No, seriously, I don't need to rest. I'm perfectly fine."
"That's what college students say to their parents every time they work on projects!"
"I promise you, I don't need to rest."
"I really have a hard time believing that. Do you know how-?"
"You asked that earlier. Yes, I do know. Okay. How about this: I'll call you if I do end up feeling crappy over time."
"...Promise?"
This was so childish...
"Yeah. Promise."
"...Okay, you'd better hold me to that."
So quickly, she accepted my offer. Did she trust me that much, or was I just too charming for her to deny?
...Probably the former-
*SMASH!*
...Should've seen that coming.
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou imbue thyself with the Angel Arcana..."
Yuka and I continued our trek in the mall for a little while before I decided to return home. Yuka said she'd stay because she had to help her mom with things at the shop. As I walked back to the dorm, I remembered how I wanted a new mp3 player...and how I'd forgotten to get one back at the mall.
...
Oh, well. I could live another day with the one I had now. It wasn't that bad.
Upon entering the closest thing I had to a base of operations (Gekkoukan was my residential village while Tartarus was my haunted mansion), I immediately planned to sleep the day away. I had but a few days left before school would start. It was high time I actually got some legitimate shuteye. The kind of shuteye that'd put someone to sleep for hours upon hours upon hours of time. Brilliant, no?
Hearing Yukari and Junpei...and Ken's words were for another time.
"Senpai?"
...Or were they.
Speaking of Ken, I saw him sitting at the dining room table. He was eating away at a bowl of ramen and he was in such a formal, adult posture. Somehow, I got the vibe that he'd been waiting for someone.
"Senpai...I...," he got up from his seat and walked over to me, "I'd like to speak to you for a bit."
...I sighed, "On the couch."
The both of us proceeded to said couch and sat upon it with a sort of...awkward air.
...I was never good with speaking to children...but in this occasion, it was required.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"I-I should be asking you that."
"I'm fine. No need to worry about me."
"That's...good. I'm glad you're alright. You should get some-"
"I don't need rest, Amada. Thank you for the suggestion, but I'm fine."
"A-alright..."
He had a remorseful look in his eyes; the kind of look a person would make once he or she would fully realize the consequences of his or her actions.
I took in a deep breath.
"Do you now understand why I wanted you out of the team?"
He closed his eyes and balled his hands up into fists. "Yes...I do."
"And do you still want to fight the Shadows-?"
"Yes." He opened his eyes while I widened mine. "Yes, I still want to fight."
...
"...Why?" I was in such disbelief that I thought the God of Stupidity had possessed the poor boy. Literally.
He turned to me with a look of spite, pride, and willpower in his little brown pupils, "I want to fight the Shadows with you."
"...Um...but...I don't...I don't understand. After last night, I thought you'd...you know."
"I...have considered doing so. I won't lie about that. But I realize now that all this is something I just can't turn my back on."
"What do you mean?"
He sighed, imitating me. Precocious little- "My mother's death was caused by the Shadows."
...Well...hmm.
"To tell you the truth...at first, I wanted vengeance. Of course, it's natural to want vengeance after that. But after my first battle...after seeing that tank, I was afraid. Fear took over me. I was frozen. I could do nothing but just...sit there. I only used my power once. After all of you had failed. I was weak and helpless."
"...No, you weren't." He blinked at how sudden my words were. "You were brave. Anyone willing to do that in the heat of a situation is brave. Adult or child. Don't put yourself down."
"...Th-thank you...," he stuttered out, "but...that fight had opened my eyes to the truth. And the truth was...while horrifying...had shown me that I cannot just fight for vengeance anymore. There are so many lives at stake. I can't allow my personal feelings to overtake the needs of the many. And these people...this city...I can't stand idly by knowing that these people need help. I want to help them."
...He was so much like me. But in a reversed sort of way.
At first...I wanted to protect this city. I wanted to save this city from the Shadows. But I guess I was just using that as an excuse. Vengeance was my true motivation. It was the reason for why I kept on doing what I'd been doing. Why I'd kept on fighting when all seemed lost. Revenge...
The power of love and justice is indeed a mighty power. But the power of hatred...has its perks.
...But he had noble intentions, and he seemed truly keen on following on through with them. He absolutely wanted to keep these people safe.
Hopefully...he wouldn't end up like me.
"...You'll still be on backup duty," I told him. "And you have to follow my orders. Those are my only conditions. Along with, 'if an enemy comes, you run and leave everyone else behind.'"
"...Very well."
I wanted revenge. I wanted nothing more than pure, unadulterated vengeance. I wanted the Shadows' blood on my hands, and nothing more.
But this kid...he wanted to save the city. If there was one desire that I could commend from all of my teammates...that desire would be the one.
If nothing else...I could at least give Ken that desire.
"Thank you for understanding, senpai."
"You're very welcome."
*SMASH!*
Of course.
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou chooseth to imbue thyself with the Adjustment Arcana..."
To tell you the truth, the pain didn't really hurt that much anymore. I'd already gotten pretty used to it.
In my sanctum of everlasting security and tranquillity (my room) I decided to waste myself away, falling into my bed almost immediately and proceeding to sleep an everlastingly beautiful sleep, free of nightmares and the horrors of everyday life with the determination of a bear in hibernation and prose so purple you could call me a-
"Makoto-san, I am glad that you are beginning to recover."
"...Aegis?"
There our resident android was, completely emotionless as usual. Well, not really. She was trying to smile. But instead, it gave her more of an...eerie, stalker-y kind of presence.
I...just didn't care at the moment. Let her stay, if that's what she wanted, you know?
"I'm going to sleep right now, Aegis."
"Very well. I shall watch over you as you take your rest."
"...You do that."
She watched me at Yakushima, she could watch me now. Why not? Not like she was planning to rape me or something...
"Makoto-san, lunch is ready."
"Tell them I'm busy."
"Busy doing what?"
"Sleeping."
"Understood."
She left the room.
She came back in the room.
"Makoto-san, they are telling me to send you downstairs, because you need to eat."
"Tell them I'm too tired and I need to get some sleep."
"Understood."
She left.
She came back.
"Makoto-san, Aragaki-san is-"
"Where is that moron?"
Oh crap.
He pulled the bed sheets off of me.
I glared at him.
He scowled at me.
He wore that same coat from last night, that same beanie, and still had that same hunched-over posture.
"Just 'cause you're tired doesn't mean you can pass on lunch."
"...But I wanna...," I petulantly spat.
"Too bad. You're gonna eat at that table if I have to drag you there."
"...Or what...?"
"Or else I'm gonna show everyone else all the doujins you've got under your bed."
The hell!?
I darted up from my bed, "Those are private."
"Oops," he snickered. "Seriously, though...you gotta thing for brunette characters-"
"Shut up!" I got up from my bed, "Fine, I'll eat lunch...don't you dare say a word to anyone back downstairs."
"Will do." As I headed to the door, he called me out with a, "Hey."
I turned to face him with a painfully tired glare. "What?"
"You did good last night. I'm impressed. Although you did manage to...frighten me a bit."
"You were frightened?"
"Kinda. Yeah. If I'm being perfectly honest. But still...you did good."
"...Thanks."
"Don't mention it. And one more thing..."
"Yeah?"
"Takeba and Iori want to speak to you."
"...Hmm. That's...gonna be a bit awkward..."
"You'll do fine. Now." He slapped me on the back, pushing me out of my room. "You go down there and eat like a civilized person."
*SMASH!*
Three headaches in one day! How quaint.
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou chooseth to imbue thyself with the High Priest Arcana..."
It could be worse. I could just have the Jester Arcana rank up...
And when I went down for lunch, guess how many people were there. One, two, or three? Two! And which two, you might be asking? What's that? Yukari and Junpei? Of course! The sheer convenience of it all was stunning! It was almost as if Shinjiro had arranged for all of this to happen.
He probably had arranged it all...
"Hey," I awkwardly muttered. "What's up?"
"Nothing much," Junpei replied.
Yukari pulled up a seat that was right next to her. "Come on. Eat, you're skin and bones."
"...Alright."
I sat down and stared at my bowl.
It was...beef noodle soup.
...At least it wasn't ramen.
"Hey...uh...you okay-?"
"Yes, Junpei, I'm fine. A lot of people have been asking me that today."
"Well, it's not like it's unjustified or anything. We were real worried 'bout you."
"I know. I get it. But I want you to know I'm alright. I'm fine. Really."
I even smiled to prove it to him.
"Well...alright, then."
"...Is my smile that plastic?"
"Kind of."
"Thought so," I sighed out. "But, oh well."
"Listen dude, I just...I need to tell you something."
"I-I need to say something too," Yukari said. "But Junpei can go ahead..."
"Makoto...I just wanted to say that I'm...sorry."
...I bit my lip.
He continued, "To be honest...you were right, back in Tartarus. I was jealous of you. Of the things you could do. It was frustrating to me. And...what happened at Shirakawa...," all three of us froze up, "just sorta compounded what I felt with anger. But I was wrong to treat you like such crap. You didn't deserve it. You were my bro, and you...you've done a lot more than I'd ever do in your shoes. Sorry."
I gulped and gritted my teeth, but hid that fact from the both of them. I told myself several things to remind myself of my own failure.
Don't let them see your rage, Yuki. Don't let them see how much you hate yourself right now. You don't deserve these apologies. You've failed them in more ways than one. They counted on you and you failed them. You betrayed them. And they don't even know it.
But I had to say something. I had to follow up on this. Not like I could just stay silent with this dramatic apology from the resident comic relief.
I...I needed to tell him the truth. Didn't I?
...Okay.
"...I'm sorry, too."
Wait, what?
"F-for what?" Junpei had the most shocked expression on his face. "What'd you do?"
"Back in Tartarus-" no, "-I got angry at you-" that's not what you want to say, "-and I put you down in front of everybody," no! This isn't what you want to say! "And so, I'm sorry for that."
...But it wasn't like they'd believe me if I told them about the masked douche and our little trip down memory lane. And besides...I did feel sorry for messing with him back in Tartarus. He deserved an apology.
"It's cool, man. What you did was right."
"No. It was cruel and humiliating. I shouldn't have put you through that. Regardless of whether you deserved it or not, I should not have done that."
"...Well, apology accepted."
"You, too."
"We cool?"
I smiled, more naturally this time. "Yeah. We are."
"Great." He held his hand out, hanging it over the table and waiting for me to shake it.
I did. With a genuinely happy smile.
I had my best friend again.
*SMASH!*
Ha! Not even the Social Link voices could kill the mood now!
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou chooseth to imbue thyself with the Magus Arcana..."
But you know what did kill the mood? And brought it to a completely new one? And completely made things unbearably awkward and uncomfortable?
Junpei got up from his seat, carrying his bowl of food. "I'll eat upstairs."
"Wh-what?" Yukari nervously chattered out. "Junpei-"
"I just want a change of mood, is all. I'll see you guys later."
Yukari had this look on her face that practically stated that she was at a loss of words and composure.
Junpei gave me a conniving grin, as if telling me, "Now's your chance!"
I gave him a cocky eyebrow raise, telling him, "You sick monster."
And so he retreated to his room.
Leaving Yukari and me here.
...
The tension. It was horrible. It was as if I'd been thrust into a thriller movie.
"At Yakushima...I said some stupid things," Yukari started up. "And even before that, I was...really unfair to you. I didn't give you a chance to speak for yourself. I treated you horribly and I even got us into danger with those guys back at Port Island Station. I just want to say I'm sorry."
"You've already apologized to me," I told her. "You don't have to do it again."
"I know. I know. But it's been bothering me for a while. You had some terrible stuff happen to you, and all I could offer was just a simple 'sorry?' That's not right. Even now, I don't think I've done enough to repay you."
"You don't have to repay me."
"It's not that I have to, it's that I want to." Her eyes...they had such fire. It seemed cool and warm, yet harmful and scalding. "You've done a lot for us, and we depend on you every time we get into a hassle. We trust you – I trust you. Or at least, I was supposed to."
"Yukari..."
"You know...," she continued, "I couldn't help but find that you and I...we've a lot in common."
"I think I know where you're coming from," I admitted.
"It's hard not having a regular family, you know?" Exactly. "Everyone else has a mom and a dad...why do we have to be different...? Why us...?"
"Now listen here," I said firmly, directing her gaze to me. "We are no different from the people here. We might not have families. But they have their own set of problems. And no matter how hard to believe it may seem, their pains are equal to ours. We have no right to classify ourselves as different."
Her face was one of shock at my sudden speech.
"But," I said to calm her nerves, "I do get why you'd think that way. I understand. Sorry if I sounded harsh."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to lump the two of us together...," she replied, "...but I feel like you understand, and have been looking out for me. All this time...after everything, whenever I remember our fights in Tartarus, you were always there to pick things up. And even in Yakushima...you tried to help me out. And I shrugged you off."
"You apologized."
"But I didn't make it up to you. Not yet. I promise you, though...I will."
"You really don't have to-"
"Like I said," the fire in her eyes burned ever brighter, "I don't have to. I want to."
I blinked before turning to my bowl.
"Thank you. So much."
She turned back to her own bowl, blotches of red popping up on her face.
"I'm glad I could help."
*SMASH!*
"Thou shalt be blessed when thou imbue thyself with the Lovers Arcana..."
"Well, there's one thing we can do," she suddenly piped up. "There's asummer festival next Sunday. And a movie marathon a few weeks from now. Wanna come with? It'll be fun."
I smiled warmly. "I'd love to."
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
This is why you should read Book of Souls. You'll learn more. Because knowing is half the battle.
And the MC is getting friends again! Yay!
