Time for a new chapter! Thanks a lot for the feedback, it means a lot!
I hope you will enjoy this new chapter. Thanks for proofreading CJ ^^
''How late do we eat?'' Cana lazily said, leafing through the latest issue of Sorcerer Weekly.
''I'm visiting the library today after work,'' Lucy said as she pulled her bag over her shoulder, getting ready to leave, ''so I'll probably be home a little later.''
Lucy looked over her shoulder when she reached the door. ''Are you going to visit the community home today?''
''Maybe,'' she replied, pretending to be captured by an interesting article.
Lucy smiled. She was glad Cana at least seemed to be willing to be with people who could possibly help her. Many times she had tried talking to her friend about her problem, but she would just laugh or wave if off. ''You're worrying too much, Luce,'' she would always say.
Of course, she was worried. Cana had been drunk every day for the last four years, and lately, it had become so bad that it was impossible for her to maintain relationships and jobs. If it kept up like this, they'd lose the apartment. Or worse. She didn't even want to think about the possibility of losing her friend.
Lucy thought back about the past few days. She couldn't explain why, but the community home felt like a step in the right direction. Like fate had pulled her towards the building, knowing it could change their lives.
Cana walked down the last street until she saw the hanging sign. As she kept walking, an anxious feeling stirred her gut. She stood still. She hadn't told her friend, but after Lucy left yesterday, she had been talking about her problem with the people of the group. Not in depth, of course, but just enough to feel some relief. However, when she had walked home after it, she had felt a sense of guilt. Why would others need to help her with the problems she had caused? Why would she drag others into her mess?
Clouds starting to pack together above her head, it gradually started to drizzle. Just as she decided to turn around, she noticed someone sitting on the edge of the fountain that opposed the community home. A girl with brightly coloured hair, as blue as water in the fountain, seemed to be crying with her face buried in her hands.
None of my businesses, Cana thought, but still couldn't get herself to walk back home. As much as she wanted to go home and as reluctant she was to go comfort a stranger on the street, an unseen force seemed to keep her in place. A heartbreaking sob from the girl made her take a deep breath and walk over to her.
"C-can I help you?" she asked, kneeling down to get a glimpse of her face.
"Stay away from me!" she yelled in a raw, worn-out voice. Cana jumped back and couldn't believe what she saw; as the girl raised her voice, the water in the fountain dangerously started to stir and well up over the edge. The water that spouted from the stop now went up meters high up in the air.
Now that she stood closer to her, she had started to see the bruises on her arms she tried to hide with her hole-filled sweater. Her long hair was greasy and her tear-stained face was smudged with patches of dust and dirt, contrasting her paleness.
"You're homeless, aren't you?" Cana let out without a second thought.
The girl's eyes filled with rage once more. As if a storm was stirring in her ocean-blue eyes. ''Are you deaf?!'' she hissed.
The sky rumbled and the drizzle soon turned to heavy rain pouring down on them. All around them, the people ran from the streets and into the houses and shops. Seeking shelter from the sudden change in weather.
''I don't know who you are,'' Cana yelled through the roaring wall of water, ''but the old building across from here is full of people who can help you!'' She pointed towards the community home.
No reaction. The girl just stood there, tensed, with clenched fists and water crashing all around her. Cana looked at the surreal sight once more before running home.
She kept running and running, knowing it was no use anyway, she was already drenched to the bone. She decided to take a detour through some allies in order to reach home a little drier.
Cana slowed down her pace when she was shielded from the weather raging on the streets by the walls of the ally. Her mind was hazy from the unusual encounter she just had.
''Hello, young lady,'' she heard someone say in a crackly voice.
She turned around, but no one there.
''Come over here,'' She heard the voice once again, now sounding from the front. The alley had a recess in its wall, from which a pale hand was sticking out, gesturing her.
Cana took a few steps forward, just enough to take a peek around the corner of the niche.
A woman dressed in a cloak, only revealing her wrinkly mouth, smiled at her. A crystal ball balanced on her stretched out hand. Cana had to prevent herself from laughing. This was just too stereotypical, like she was part of a bad movie.
''I'm sorry, I kinda don't have time for your mumbo-jumbo,'' Cana chuckled as she turned around.
''You live with your friend, don't you?'' the woman asked, ''don't you want to know what both of your futures are gonna be like?''
Cana stood still and looked over her shoulder. An uneasy feeling crept up her spine. ''How do you know?''
The woman stared in her crystal ball, waving over it with her other hand. ''I see that one of you is going to have their life turned around by a mysterious, black-haired man.''
''Sounds like an ex of mine, nothing new,'' Cana grinned, ''but thanks for telling anyway, I'll wait for him to beat his ass up.'' She turned around and continued her way home.
''I never said in what way your life would turn around...'' The woman said in a last attempt to let her stay longer.
''Whatever is gonna happen, I'll make sure to decide my own fate,'' Cana said with a sly smile, ''no stranger is going to be part of my life by destiny.''
Do you already have an idea who the girl at the fountain might be? ^^
As you may have noticed, I absolutely love to set up stories rather slowly in order to flesh out the characters as much as possible :)
The next chapter will contain Gruvia. so stay tuned!