As you guys may or may not have noticed, this story now has an actual cover image! The awesome picture was created by a good friend of mine, Daisy Pragnya! Thanks again Daisy!
Daisy Pragnya/TheFallenHer0: You guys pretty much commented on the same things, so I'll answer them together. Don't worry. We'll get a lot more about the Vanished Princesses in Warrior. And the cockroaches line...yeah, I like showing Eli's inner snark when it comes to the Flower Fanclub. And this is specifically to Daisy: Yeah, I support Lulias as the ultimate bromance (not as a romance, though). XD They seriously balance each other out, even if it is violently at times.
Chapter 6—True Feelings
The next morning was Saturday, and so I was currently sitting at one of the corner tables in the dormitory cafeteria. I was looking through my notes while eating some sort of quiche thing. Only male students were allowed in this cafeteria during breakfast. Lunch could be at either, but dinner was also confined to your dorm unless it was a holiday or event or something. On weekends, though, upperclassmen could go into town. Selene did it a couple times every month for various reasons. Klaus, on the other hand, rarely seemed to leave the school.
I felt a tap on my shoulder, and turned my head to see Yukiya. "Katalina is waiting for you outside the dorm." he said.
"Why?" I asked.
He shrugged, "She seemed anxious."
"Oh sun. Please tell me she's not in trouble…" I sigh as I put my stuff back in my bag and stand up, shoving the last of the quiche in my mouth.
As I exit the dorm, I see Luca talking to her. Then he pauses, "Well, I'll be on my way before Prince Elias comes out. I don't want to see his unpleasant face on my day off." Rude.
He said goodbye to her and left.
I approached her, "What do you want this early in the morning?"
"Elias! Good morning!" She was chipper. And now that I actually look at her, she was in this pretty pink dress that actually suited her really well. She actually looked her age, and her hair was pulled back with a pink ribbon acting as a headband, and I had to notice that she actually looked nice with her hair down like tha...oh great. Shut up brain, shut up. When I didn't respond, she grew nervous, "Umm, is something wrong?"
"It's nothing."Oh, now I'm stuttering. Great. "Just...something about you seems different today."
She bit her lip, "My roommate lent me a ribbon. D-does it look weird?"
"I...didn't say that. It's just," I scrambled mentally for words. "I always see you in your uniform, so this is kind of new. It's not, uh, bad."
She smiled, "Ah, thank you."
I mentally shook my head, "You said you needed my for something?"
"Oh, right! I need to talk to you." She replied.
"Is it something important?" It better be.
She nodded earnestly. "Yes, very much so."
"All right then. Let's go." We both headed to a courtyard—incidentally, this is where Klaus and Selene practiced. At this point in the game, he wasn't really tutoring her much anymore, because she had caught up nicely. But they practiced together. Seriously, the only thing keeping Klaus from asking Selene out was his own head. Whatever the two of them are doing over in Terra, I hope it ends with them being together because, honestly, the tension between the two of them is crazy.
"Such nice weather." Katalina commented.
"Yeah." I agreed. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny, bright, light breeze. This, as Selene would say, is an ideal day.
"It feels sort of nice when there's no one here."
"Yeah." I repeated, still thinking of my brother and friend.
"Elias, what do you usually do on your day off?" she asked.
"Yeah…"
"Geez! Is that the only thing you're going to say? Yeah?" Katalina whined.
I snapped out of my daze. "Let me tell you this. Having you drag me out on my free morning is going to mess up my plans." To study. "So, straight to the point. Why did you go this far to have a talk with me."
She became nervous again, "Yeah, well. Let's sit down first."
I plopped down right where I was. I wanted to get this over with. She sat down a little more carefully and opened her shoulder bag, "A wanted to show you this." She then pulls out the Persona Mirror, wrapped in a cloth.
I'm astounded. "Wha—is that?!"
She nodded, "Yes, this is the Persona Mirror."
"Impossible!" I gasped, "Just how did you get that? The door to the headmaster's office is locked with strong magic spells. On top of that, the treasure chest that kept this mirror was supposed to be protected by a complex seal!" Klaus had made that seal—and seals were some of his best works. When he found out...I shuddered slightly, not wanting to think about it.
"Well I opened the door, and opening the treasure chest was easy, too." she shrugged a little bit.
"That just can't be!" I exclaimed.
"I don't understand it myself, but it's true!" she insisted, "A mysterious woman appeared and gave me this mirror."
"A mysterious woman?" There weren't, currently, any female professors. There was the school healer, but she lived in town, and the only other female staff member was on maternity leave on the moment.
"My roommate said she's the ghost of the headmaster's office." she told me.
"The ghost of the headmaster's office. I've heard about that." But I put no stock in rumors. I mean, none of the ones about Yukiya being cursed and whatever else were even close to being true. Besides, Selene a good point when she said things get twisted from one mouth to the next to the point where they're no longer recognisable.
"Still," she said, sounding contemplative, "I didn't think that she was a ghost, though."
"So, then what is it?" I pressed.
She shrugged, palms up, "Honestly? I have no idea."
I rolled my eyes, "Then maybe it was a ghost."
She started, "D-don't say that! It creeps me out!"
"Seriously?" I deadpanned.
"I hate scary things." She declared.
"Hmm. Is that so." I didn't care about that so much as: "Then is that the real thing, the mirror?"
"Yeah, it should be." she replied.
I was still a bit doubtful—it couldn't be that easy to get ahold of. "I'll know when I look into it." I never did have the chance to look in it, despite it having been made by my father.
"Wait a moment. They say it reflects your true self." she said in an are-you-sure sort of voice.
"True self…" I muttered. Did I really want to look?
"Do you really want to take a look?" She unknowingly echoed my thoughts.
"I…" I wasn't sure now. She slipped off the cloth and held it out to me, face-down. It was just slightly bigger than her hand.
"I'll leave that choice up to you."
I just stared at the mirror she was offering to me. I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and took it from her. I turned it face up, looking at my reflection. The glass emitted a weak light, and my mirror image no longer followed my moments, but moved on its own, and begun to speak.
"I'm scared...so worried...what should I do? Will I live in fear of what people think of me forever? Anxious and scared, the pressure is always about to crush me. Not to mention that I don't know where the heck Selene and Klaus are, or if they're okay. In order not to shame the name of Goldstein, in order not to disappoint my brother, I'll have to act brave and confident and keep up appearances. Klaus didn't want people knowing that things in Terra took a foul turn, but I hate keeping to myself...I mean, look at Luca. He's an amazing wizard, and he'd probably handle all this a lot better than I am. He's much more talented and powerful than I am. I envy him—he'd probably be able to help Klaus were he in my place. But I don't want to lose to him."
I suddenly found my voice, emitting a weak, "No…" I frowned and turned it over, setting it as far away from me as I could, my heart racing.
"Elias." Don't pity me. I'm not weak. I don't want pity, not yours, not anyone.
"No!" I cried, "That's not me! I'm not that weak! This is wrong! This…" It can't be me! It can't! I'm not that pathetic!
"No, this is actually you, Elias." Katalina said gently.
"I'm telling you! It's not!" I shouted, glaring at her, mentally telling her to drop it.
But she didn't cringe away, or flinch. She stared me boldly in the eyes and said, "This is you, Elias."
"Stop that!" I yelled at her, feeling panic rise inside me. It's not me! It's not! I slammed my hands over my ears and turned away from her. I didn't want to hear it!
I heard her speak, but with my hands over my ears it sounded like a whisper, "This is a mirror that shows your true self. Exactly as you are.
"Please! Stop!" I cried. But she scooted over in front of me and pulled my hands away from my ears, speaking softly as she held them.
"Please, Elias. Would you listen to me for a little?" I didn't say anything, so she continued, "It's not only you, Elias. It's the same for everyone. I don't think it's possible for anyone to act as happy as they would on a good day every single day. Everyone feels anxious or scared, pressured, sad or hurt. Being jealous, getting irritated when something isn't working, hating yourself for it. Everyone struggles because they want to be perfect. Even me. In fact, I'm glad to have seen the real you—even if you've just got a few more burdens than normal at the moment. I thought you were some kind of revered person. But you're just as human as everyone else. You're continuously worrying and suffering, but always moving forward and trying to grow stronger in spite of that, right?"
I tried not to choke, and looked away from her gaze, "Don't lump me in with you."
She pouted, "Maybe you're right, but even so! You know, we're both only students. It's so normal that we're worried about ourselves and those we care about. I find it admirable that you care about your friend and brother so much."
"Normal…" I repeated.
"Yeah, completely normal." she confirmed. When I didn't respond, her brow furrowed, "Elias?"
"So it's normal, huh? You really are an idiot." And there's the sharp words that always seem to slip out.
She slumped, "I'm sorry. I've said too much."
"Well, it's fine. I don't mind." Seeing as she did nothing but speak her mind and what she honestly believed to be true. "Thank you." I muttered. She looked entirely confused, but I ignored that. "I have to say, my father made quite an unnecessary thing. Thanks to him, I ended up seeing a side of myself I didn't want to see."
"Maybe I should take a look, too." she suggested, picking up the mirror.
"Don't do it." I warned, "Nothing good will come from it." Seeing as I nearly had a panic attack.
"You think so? But I'm curious."
Curiosity killed the cat. At least Selene's not hear to nag me and say, "But satisfaction brought it back!"
The mirror started speaking in her voice, "Aah! I want to graduate from this 'provisional' thing! I want to become a real student at this academy! And while Elias is moody, I love his magic! It's beautiful and amazing! I'm going to do my best to make him acknowledge me. Oohh...now I think of it, I haven't had lunch yet, I'm so hungry!" (A/N Ironically, I was eating lunch at the time I wrote this bit!) "I didn't get any sleep last night, well, maybe I should take a nap. But I'm hungry…"
What the…" Her cheeks were pink. It was funny, really, it was.
"Huh." I looked down, my shoulders shaking from the effort of my trying not to laugh. I failed, and burst out laughing. "You're...haha...just like your true self!" I couldn't help it—it was too funny!
She looked a little dumbfounded, but smiled anyway.
I was still laughing, and it felt wonderful, "You always do exceed my expectations. Seriously, I've never known a girl like you. I've always feel uncomfortable being with girls. They're really noisy, they like to pry their way into people's private lives." I wasn't sure where I was going with this, but I guess I'll just let my mouth do the talking. "Pedigree, looks, grades. They only care about those aspects of mine. But you're completely different. You called me stubborn, cold hearted, and even twisted. You're the first girl to ever talk to me like that. It seems to make you different from other girls."
"Oh? And what does that mean? Is that a compliment? And what about this Selene girl people keep talking about? Isn't she your friend?" She asks so many questions, doesn't she?
"Yeah, this time it's a compliment. And trust me when I say Selene is a special case no matter what she does. She is the special case among special cases." My voice was completely serious with those last two sentences.
"O-okay then, thank you." she said, turning red. Ha. And people say I blush easily. "Oh, right! About the subject of buddies…"
"I know, I promised you, so I'll accept you as my buddy—for now." Even though I never expected you to actually do it, you did. She's something, all right.
"R-really?!" she gasped, looking overjoyed. In her excitement, she leaned really close to me. As in, our faces were only about two inches apart. All of a sudden her eyes widened and she blushed violently, and I did about the same thing at the same time. I averted my eyes.
"Y-you're too close…" I mumbled.
She jerked back, "S-sorry." Way to make things awkward.
I took a breath, calmed down, and then cleared my throat. "However, as my buddy, you'll need to be officially admitted. As long as you're my buddy, I won't allow any unruly behavior, as it affects my status." And I think I was going to take Yukiya's suggestion from Chapter 3—er, Wednesday. "From now on, I'll drill you with magic every day after class."
"Yes! Sure, sure!" Someone was eager. I wonder how's she react when she found that it was in no way fun. At least I wasn't Klaus who'd take pleasure in the pain it causes her.
"One answer is enough…"
She beamed at me, "But I'm so glad!"
I shook my head, faintly smiling, "You're just so honest and simple-minded." She wouldn't trick the class into thinking she'd failed her trial when she hadn't, like a certain someone we all know.
"What? How could you? I'm not that simple minded!" she protested.
"The Persona Mirror has shown you just as you are, you know." I quoted her words back to her, and it made her face get all scrunched up and indignant—it was kind of cute, to be honest.
"Well, maybe! I'll try it again!" She picked it up and looked into it's surface: "That Elias! He's mean, but he's not a bad person, I guess." She promptly turned red, and met my eyes, making a bit of heat rise in my face. "S-sorry…" she stuttered.
"M-mean?" I say, "What's that about?"
"I-I'm sorry…"
The Persona Mirror suddenly started to glow. "W-woah!" she gasped.
"That's…" actually, I didn't know why it was happening. But then a ball of light floated out, and with a pop, it revealed a fluffy pink creature.
"Squeeee!" it cried. Was that a carbuncle? It was, but they're normally white...
Katalina was completely confused, "H-huh? What's this?" She yelped when it flew at her and clung to her face, "Squee"ing. "H-hey! I can't breath!" She pulled it off her face, but it just clung to her hand. "What is this thing?"
"A carbuncle, I guess." I replied.
"Carbuncle?"
"Yeah." I confirmed, "They're exceptionally rare creatures, but this one has an odd color. Carbuncles are usually white, you see. I've never seen one like this, even in a magical creature encyclopedia."
"Is that so?" she sounded thoughtful. The thing squee'd at her, and I practically saw hearts appear in her eyes, "Oh my…soooo adorable!" And then she rubbed it against her cheek, and it made happy sounds.
"It seems really attached to you." I commented.
"True. I'll try to talk to it." That's right—she had the ability to talk to animals. I'd forgotten about that. She addressed the creature, "Hello? Where did you come from?" It squee'd and her brows furrowed a bit, "Oh? That's strange. Where did you come from?" The same reply. I don't know if she understood it. "Huh? I can't talk to it?" Seems like my guess was right.
"Talking to animals was your special magical ability, right? It doesn't seem to be very reliable." I said.
"That's not true! This is the first time it's not worked! This magic has never failed like this!" she defended.
"I see. For you, it's the only magical ability that worked decently." How nice, to have a natural talent...
"Yes! I have confidence that I won't lost to anyone when it concerns animals." she said proudly.
"You should cherish that." I sighed.
"Huh?"
"The professor said, too, to expand what you're good at."
"Y-yes. Thanks."
"But in that case," I continued, "there might be another reason why you can't talk to the carbuncle. So I guess trying again is no use."
"I guess so too." she agreed.
"So what will you do with it?" I asked. And she looked like she had no clue, and it didn't seem like it was going to let go of her anytime soon.
She looked at it apologetically, "I'm sorry. I can't really take you back with me." But it just clung tighter to her hand. "H-hey! Let go!" It squees and she seems unable to pull it off. She eventually just gives up, and sighs, "No good. It won't let go."
"Then it seems you have no choice other than to just bring it along."
She tilts her head as she looks at me, "Well, are animals allowed in the dorm?"
"Yukiya has one." And so do several other students. Particular those studying to be tamers. I'm surprised she hasn't noticed that.
"Oh, you mean that wolf…"
"And since that thing won't let go, you can only really take it with you."
"That's true." she conceded, then looked at the pink fluff ball on her hand, "Okay, you'll come with me." It made a happy noise, then climbed up onto her shoulder. The hearts returned to her eyes. Geeze, what is it with girls and cute things? "Still, it's adorable! So, so cute!"
"You really like animals, don't you?" I stated the obvious.
"Yeah! I love them!"
I smiled slightly, "You're a bit like one yourself." Wait. Why did I say that? It certainly wasn't because she was cute or anything...
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing." I stood up and brushed myself off, "Well, see you Monday." I began headed back to the dorm.
"See you Monday!" She called.
And I couldn't help but wonder—was it possible that I was falling for her?
Fun Fact 7: If y'all haven't noticed by now, Elias uses a lot of Selene-isms and sayings and whatnot, and he thinks about her a good deal too. Let me explain. He really looks up to her, just like (if not more than) Klaus at this point. Selene, being Selene, has become a big part of his life by now. That's also how I deviate from the original route—keeping Selene and everything involving her in mind.
