Hey guys. I'm still alive. I'm finally back for a new update after a gruelsome week of end of the term tests. Well, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Let me know what your thought on the comment section below. I'm really grateful for you guys.
The moment he took his mask off, the world she once knew had turned to dust in that instance.
It was like a slow motion movie. Arietta remembered accurately how her breathe had hitched in her throat, as his slender fingers pull down the ridiculous mask he had always worn to reveal those smoldering dark green eyes staring back at her emotionless. She couldn't accept it, not at all, when...why...he look so, so identical to him.
The mask fell off from his hand, clanking onto the marble floor like it had no use left. Arietta stood there frozen as she couldn't do nothing but to take in all that features on his face. The silence between them stretched on so thick that she swore she could feel her own beating heart rumbled in her ears.
Sync was the one to broke the silence first. His gaze turned cold and harsh as if he was staring at an enemy, which made her whole body shiver like she was standing in harsh wind despite the humid weather of Daath. A smirk adorned his face as he chuckled cruelly like this whole event was just an amusement to him, the crouched down until their eyes were leveled and said: " Now you know".
Just three words and that was it as he turned around and walked away, the mask left untouched on the cold floor. It took her a whole minute to comprehend what just happened, but in truth, it felt like a millennia. Her knee gave out underneath her as her trembling hand picked up the mask and just like that, like a dam was finally broken, big fat tears rolled down her face and she howled because it was the only way she knew to let out these anguish emotion.
It was all her fault, her own damn fault for being so curious for what she wasn't prepared. They said curiosity killed the cat but she couldn't helped it at all. Arietta had always had an inkling on why everyone around her acted so jittering whenever she brought the topic of her dear Fon Master up. She knew they were hiding something and it frustrated her immensely to be held in the dark. Van's tactical topics changing, Legretta's scolds, Largo's side-way glances,...and to top it all, those pitiful glances that brat Anise shot her whenever their group engaged irked her to no end. So she decided to confront the Tempest, the only one whom she knew to be brutally honest.
It wasn't that the boy didn't know how to lie, no he was damn mischievous when he wanna be, but the truth was that the Tempest sadistically enjoyed the anguish expression on others' faces when they learned the harsh truth as he claimed that was what they wanted.
And like a moth attracted to flame, Arietta persuaded him to reveal what everyone was hiding. At first, Sync dismissed her attempt as childish and told her to just find out by herself. But she was persistent as she tailed after him like a duckling to its mother while pestering him to gave in. Arietta was careful to avoid doing this in front of others as it would only resulted in her being assigned on missions to keep her from finding out the truth.
It was on the third day that Sync finally yielded and revealed the truth to her. He had warned her that she wouldn't be able to withstood the truth as she was only a crybaby and that riled her up as she yelled back she would have been strong for any outcome. How stupid she was to think that.
The revelation of him being a replica hit her like a hurricane, as her mind whirled around the fact. It shocked her and her first action was to deny it. She scowled and told him to stop messing around for it would be an insult to her beloved Ion that he would partake in such activity. Arietta recalled how his jaw had clenched as his body shook ever so slightly and that she was trying so hard not to show any fear for his upcoming lashes. But his body relaxed all of sudden and then the foreboding feeling of something bad would come clenched her gut tightly in an iron grip that it made her want to vomit.
And then, the mask fell.
She locked herself in her room after that and refused to comply to any threats and pleading that come her way. At first, Legretta would come and order her to stop being so childish and immediately returned to her post as a God General at once. The woman had even threaten her that she would shoot down the door and drag the girl out whether she liked it or not. But surprisingly, the shooter never follow her words as she just left after fail attempts, in her place was tray of food that was placed neatly in front of her bedroom instead. However, no matter how hungry she was, Arietta never touched the food, even though the aroma was so good, and just opted for a jug of water to keep herself hydrate.
Her tendency of leaving food worried Largo as he would come by every three hours to check and persuade her to come out the day after she locked herself in. Arietta knew somewhat that the man saw her as his daughter, due to bits and pieces of the past he would share with her during their missions. He had once even showed the picture of his wife, and it puzzled Arietta on how she would even resemble the lightest bit to their lost daughter. But she doesn't mind being seen as such, for it was somewhat comfortable to have someone as a family member ever since the death of her Liger mom and siblings. However, in the end, they was not related by blood anyway and was just comrades who lost what dearest to them as the pleading ceased.
And then there was Leo, her beloved Liger that had miraculously survived the massacre. They were inseparable ever since she nursed him back to health and trained with him to one day avenge their mother's death. He was her sole spot for comfort and it pained her to tell him off and forbid him to enter her room. The scratching on the door and the occasional whimper made her feel so guilty that she explicably ordered him to return to the wood. Arietta had even used the titled as his mistress to force him to comply. No matter how unwillingly as he was, Leo soon left the Order as her command.
Right now, laying on her bed as hunger gnawed her stomach and darkness enveloping her like thick velvet in this curtain-drawn room, Arietta mulled over her life as she could barely feel any strength left in her body. She had lost track of the time spending in here, her long, untamed pink mane greasily stuck to her face and her body was reeked with sweat.
The others hadn't even bothered to come these past few days as it was none of their business and she wasn't important anyway. This brought tears to her eyes as she wished so desperately for time to turn back to the days when she would enjoyably spend her time beside Ion. No matter how he had treated her like a pet, at least he cared enough to give her his attention and time, unlike these broken and cold people whose sole goal were to destroy the Score. Maybe, death would be the best way to release her from this pitiful life and she could finally reunite with her mother and him, no one would miss her anyway. Arietta thought as she close her eyes contentedly.
But life just loved to play crude joke on her as her bedroom door suddenly fell open with a bang as it practically left its hinges. The noise and the light pouring from the entrance combined had hurt her sensitive sight and hearing, as she had to squinted while covering her ears to determine the culprit. Standing at her doorway was a lithe figure, the bright light shone behind their back prevent her from figuring out their gender and face. But as her keen nose pick up the scent, she quickly recognized the silhouette to be the one and only, Sync the Tempest.
Suddenly, her upper arm was yanked up as Arietta could practically feel her body being lifted up and dangling like a doll as she was dragged out of bed. Her instinct and every cells in her body rang alarmingly as they told her to get the hell out of that grip, but the fatigue and hunger barely left her any strength to even struggle so she relented.
His grip on her arm was so tight that Arietta was sure it would leave marks by the end of day. He was saying something but she could only pick up pieces and bits of the dialog like: "Man, you stink" or "...should have known you wouldn't be able to handle it...", "...weak...". She didn't had any clue where Sync was dragging her, just the feeling of rag underneath her and the sunlight pouring in tell her they were in some kind of hallway. She couldn't sense anybody else presence, but if there were, she would be a laughing stock to them right now.
The scratchy feeling of the rag ended, and replace it was the the cold feeling of tiles floor, which made her body spook a bit. They must have enter a room, presumably the bathroom as the smell of soap invaded her nose and the sound of faucet being turn on.
Wait, faucet...water..., he wasn't going to do what she think he was going to, right? Without warning, her body was lifted up and then dunked into the cold water as it soaked her nightgown. Arietta yelped at the sudden change of temperature as her body racked with shiver. Attempting to cover herself through her see-through nightgown, the Beast Tamer looked up to her offender to check if he was looking at her. The sight of his back turned to her made her felt relieved as she was about to lash out on him for this uncall action. But before she could even utter a word, Sync had already interrupted her: "Clean yourself up already, you stink as hell. And after you finish, meet me in the dining hall.".
With just that, he tersely walked out the bathroom, but not without making it dramatic by slamming the door. Feeling unsatisfied, she decided to make a face at the door by sticking her tongue out. Reaching her hand to the faucet, Arietta turned it off as the water was spilling out the tub, and took of her gown. Grabbing the soap, she started to lather herself as she watched all the grimes fell off and dirtied the water. She stepped out of the tub, momentarily drained and fill it with new water as she washed the sud away and started washing her hair.
Her hair was proved to be such a hassle as she had to untangle all the knots and gathered the big mess in her small hands to clean it. Finally done with her hair, she stepped into the once filled tub again to wash her body for the second time, then drained the water after having done.
Wrapping herself with a big towel, Arietta took down a smaller one from the rack to dry her hair. That when she finally realized aside from the soaked nightgown she was wearing beforehand, she hadn't even bring a spare to change into. Oh Yulia, it was all Sync damn faults.
Arietta was contemplating to either snuck back to her room to retrieve her cloths, or to stay here and wait until the boy realized she hadn't show up and would assist her. The second option sound so much better as she wouldn't let herself lost her dignity and be bullied around by him. Just as she was feeling smugly about herself, a knock on the door interrupted her train of thoughts as a muffled voice outside the door spoke up: " God General Arietta, the Tempest has told us to bring you a spare change of cloths. I will leave it out here for you.".
The voice along with the footsteps fade away after saying and when Arietta was sure she was alone, she opened the door to pick up her cloths. Oh, so he did have a heart to bring her cloths. 'That was weird of him' She thought as she started changing into her usual uniform.
Stepping out of the bathroom while her hair was still damp, Arietta made her way to the dining hall. The closer she got to the hall, the better the scents of food infiltrated her nose which made her stomach rumbled loudly like a starving beast. That was a little exaggerating to say as Arietta embarrassedly covered her stomach as she opened the door. There, awaited her was a table covered with food enough for three people, the aroma wafted in the air was mouth drooling.
Without hesitation, Arietta dived right into the feast, her manners threw in the air as she wolfed down the food with much gusto. Ah, she hadn't realized how starving she was as places continued to be cleaned after one and another at the grab of her skinny hands. Just after finishing the whole table that Arietta finally realized that she wasn't on her own as she sense an another presence hidden in the far corner of the room. Quickly dabbing her mouth and cleaning her hand with a napkin, the Beast Tamer turned to figure and quickly recognized it was Sync.
The boy was still clad in his usual uniform but his mask was nowhere to be seen. The ever familiar face of him staring back at her so hauntingly as it made her want to vomit all the food that had entered her stomach, while wanting to ran her fingers along his face as the same time. Sync then proceed to walk towards her, ever so slowly as the corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. Without the mask obscuring his face like most of the time, Arietta could made out the mischievous glint shone brightly in his forest green eyes this time.
He finally arrived to where she at, standing just a couple of feet apart from her, which Arietta had to incline her head up a bit due to their height difference as he spoke: " Never knew you could be that pathetic after learning the truth. Now you know why everyone is reluctant in letting you know it, cause they know a weakling like you couldn't handle it. Huh, even when he death, that bastard still have someone who would die for him. What a joke.".
Every words he spoke was like a knife stabbed her heart, it made the corner of her eyes teared up, but she was done crying, she would't even shed a single tear in front of him. Steeling herself, she yelled back: "I'm not a weakling, I was just in shock okay? And don't call Master Ion bastard.". She angrily gazed up at him and in return, he mocked her: " Oh really, I could call the Master whom you adore so much a pathetic human for all I care. After all, he ruined my life, I was just trash to him and was about to be disposed off. What do you even know of him then?"
She couldn't hold it in as anger got the better of her. Using all her strength, she pushed him back as it caught him by surprise and caused him to fell down on his rear. She then pounce on him, his unguarded moment gave her an advantage to pin him down and growled at him like a beast while saying: "You take that back. There is no way that such a respectable person as Master Ion would for such things to others. You are the one that don't know him.".
Sync had finally come to his sense as he used his leg to kick her back, the action took breath out of her lungs as she skidded across the floor. Ignoring the pain, Arietta lunged at him again while blindly grabbing either his arm or leg. Sync managed to evade most of her attacks, sometimes he would strike back but none was too rough or lethal upon her. It confused her. Normally, he would have strike to wound to those who attacked him, regardless of men or women. But the blind rage that was coursing through her vein then prevented her from dwelling too much on the thought.
Their fight might have prolonged longer than she thought as the energy inside her body from all that food she ate had started to sap out. Luckily ( for her), Sync stumbled upon a chair leg, which had flown away during their ruckus, and lost his balance. Seizing this chance, Arietta pounced upon him and use all her strength to lock her legs against him, all her weight was rested upon his abdomen to prevent him from escape.
Lowering her face until their nose was to touch, Arietta growled out each word: " .Apologize". There was a moment of silence stretched between them as she watched how his face slowly turned as red as a tomato and the warmth that starting to spread from their conjoined parts. She was about to ask him what was wrong, for all she want was an apology from him, but she suddenly fell on her rump as the boy had somehow managed to push her off and was using one of his arm to cover his strangely red face: " Yulia damn it. Fine, I'm sorry for calling your darling Ion pathetic and the like okay. And for Yulia sake, don't ever do that to me ever again." was all he said as he stumbled out of the room.
Left among the destroyed dining hall, Arietta rubbed her rear as she mulled over the strange reaction of the Tempest. She didn't know if his apology was sincere or not as his arm had obscured most of his expression. But whatever, maybe he suddenly was caught with a strange disease or something. What a strange boy he was.