This is a time for me to start fresh. No one knows me, everyone here is a genius; I guess I am too, huh? No one knows this shy girl, and it's my time to break free from her. But… Honestly if you were expecting that, then you really must not know me. Not that anyone knows me. I'll… be alone forever, I guess…
She thought it was upsetting. How this orphanage was only for smart kids. Why do they have to be put somewhere else because they're different? But then again… would it be considered better? For all those kids to be put together, and have people who are like them around them. She decided to drop it, and just be indifferent on the whole subject. Her opinion didn't matter on this subject anyways.
The car stopped in front of the big estate, and Eris thought the place looked so big and fancy. She went out of the car after Watari, and looked into the afternoon sky. She was sure this wasn't a dream anymore. But her lack of hope was still gone; she assumed it wouldn't be coming back anymore.
Watari took her inside, and brought to an office that had another man in it. He had white hair and a slightly tired face. When he noticed the opened door, he glanced at Eris and then Watari, "This is her?" To which Watari nodded, and walked in further. He murmured some things to the un-introduced man, and then went back to Eris.
"I am afraid I am going to have to leave a bit earlier than expected. This man is Roger, who is the head of Whammy's House; he will help you when needed," Eris nodded, but still remained shaking uncontrollably, "Goodbye, Roger. Echo," and with that, he left.
After he left, the man, Roger, smiled warmly at Eris, "Echo is your new name?" She nodded, still too scared to speak. "You must not give your real name to anyone, or ask for anyone's real name. This is an important rule. From now on, you are known as Echo, not Eris Eilas," She nodded again. "Good. I will take you to your assigned room. After putting your things away, you may look around if you'd like,"
She nodded, and the rest of the way was silent, as she tried to memorize her way to her room. "Here is your room. At the moment there is no one else in this room, but you maybe get a roommate sometime in the future. Dinner is at 6:30, breakfast at 8:00, and lunch at 1:00," He said he'd see her later, and left to herself.
Eris sighed, put her book-bag on her bed, and dumped out the contents. Inside consisted on three outfits, one pair of underwear and bras, three pairs of socks, and one pair of shoes. She also had three notebooks, four pencils (two mechanical, one charcoal, and graphite), and small stuffed cow. In a smaller pocket, she had pills the doctor had given her, reading the label it said: Lentizol. The doctor was kind enough to not put her name on it; she assumed Watari had told him or something.
Eris wondered around the estate, looking at other people, some younger, some older. They all scared her none the less. She had found three different libraries, all so vast; she wondered if there were even enough books in the world to fit in them all. But, one thing that caught her attention was the music room. In there were different instruments, and what she saw had made her little more happy: The baby grand piano in the far right corner of the room. She walked up to it, the sliding noise her shoes made echoing through the empty room. She wondered if it was okay to play it, but thought Roger would have told her if she couldn't.
She sat herself quietly on the bench, putting her journal next to her, and positioned her hands. She paused, and wondered how much she actually remembered. The loud sound of the piano overflowed the music room. The tune sounded both eerie and distressing together, and she played; expressing how she felt into the music. Hesitating not once, and forgetting the fear that filled her mind. Forgetting it all until the end, where she stuttered on the keys forgetting what to play next. How did it end…?
She stopped playing all together, and the silence screamed in her ears; not that she wasn't used to the cries that silence gave her. Looking at the clock she saw it said 6: 27 PM, and her stomach decided she should go down for dinner… Until she realized she didn't know where that was. She thought she could follow someone discreetly, so she wouldn't have to trouble them.
She saw a boy and a girl walking and listened to their conversation, wondering if they would go to dinner. "Mmhmm, that's fascinating, Mells," The boy who spoke wore a black and white striped shirt, and held a DS in his gloved hands.
"…And then fucking Near was right there!" Eris shook her head, that voice was not feminine at all. That guy was prettier than her! He sighed, "Whatever, let's just go to dinner," At that, Eris jumped and decided to follow them from a distance. They didn't notice her, as the blonde had been too busy ranting on this Near person to notice her… That is, until he turned around to look at her and said, "If you needed help getting somewhere, you could've just asked,"
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed the saliva that formed in her mouth, trying to bring down the nerves she had as well. The way he talked made her wonder if he was naturally a mean person; but either way, she felt terrified when he stared straight at her with his icy stare. She mumbled an apology so quietly, even she wondered if she actually said it or not. She looked down, away from his gaze, and tried to shrink away.
"Come on Mello, I'm hungry," The red head hadn't taken his eyes off the game, as he unintentionally saved Eris from a heart attack.
The pretty boy know as Mello started to walk away with the red head trailing behind as he called out, "You comin' or not?" She didn't want to miss out on dinner, so she followed with her head down the whole way.
After picking a medium sized sandwich, she realized she didn't have anywhere to sit. And she most definitely didn't want to bother those two boys again.
She saw a pale looking girl sitting at the far back of the dining hall alone. Eris walked up to the table and stood there, sandwich and water bottle in hand, and waited for the girl to notice her. The pale girl took out a notepad and quickly wrote on it, "You may sit here if you want," In pretty cursive.
Eris put her sandwich down and began eat, just as the pale girl was. The dining hall was loud and many different conversations filled Eris's ears. She quickly ate her food, in a rush to leave back to the quite of her room.
The hallway was empty; she assumed most people would rather talk with their friends the stay in their room.
Her room was plain; having a bunk bed, two dressers, and a medium sized desk with nothing on it. The walls were white and the floors a light wood.
She took out the bottle of pills for her bag, and took one of them, sipping her water so as not to have choked. As she closed the cap, she heard a knock on her door and dropped the bottle out of her hand and onto the floor, jumping at the loud noise. She opened her door and saw the pale girl from dinner. She tilted her head to the side silently questioning the girl as to why she was there. The girl handed her a piece of paper that said:
I had followed you from dinner because you had looked lonely and new. I was wondering if yuo youwanted to be friend?
Eris looked at the small girl in front of her, and hesitated. Did she really want a friend? Was she even capable of being a good friend… if all she did was cower away? She looked at her once more, she saw the shy posture of her small figure, and how she used paper and a pen to communicate. Eris could only assume she was incapable of speaking and, therefore, probably wasn't the most popular of people.
But that was just an assumption.
She bobbed her head once, and noticed that the blonde girls blue eyes had sparked for a few seconds—and a few seconds only. She quickly jotted on her small notepad and handed it to Eris.
I am Mute. May I please come into your room?
Eris moved out of the doorway, and closed it slightly, but leaving it slightly ajar still. "I'm Echo," She sat herself on the ground next to the girl who was kneeling across from her. The room was quiet, and neither of them spoke. Mute being unable to, and Eris not used to speaking.
Scribbling could be heard and she showed her paper to Eris. Do you have something you are able to do?
Eris didn't get her question, and showed her confusion with a small hesitant, 'hmmm…?'
Well, Matt plays video games, Linda is an artist, Near is always solving puzzles, I write.
Eris understood what she was saying and nodded, "I- I play the piano… though I haven't played in n-nearly 10 years," She sighed, and stared at the floor. The blue eyed girl scribbled something on her notepad, and stood up. She ripped the paper out and handed it to Eris.
Good bye, Echo. I shall see you tomorrow.
Eris nodded her head and smiled at Mute. She left, walking in a shy manner, and closed Eris's door. She sat down on her bed and picked up her tattered stuffed cow. She gave it squeeze and chuckled lightly, she had a friend. And she wasn't frightened.
A/N: Well, this is it. I had a difficult time trying to come up with a way to end this chapter. I know I haven't really introduced the Whammy boys yet, but I'm trying to make this story seem realistic in some way. I wasn't even to sure on the idea of adding Mute in the story yet… :/
Though I would also like to say thanks to: ShootingStar02 and MahuruRaji, for putting this on their favorite or alerts list. So… Thanks guys! :)
If you were curious as to what the melody that Eris played sounded I like, think of Victor's Piano Solo by Danny Elfman:)
Music for this chapter: Ningyo Hime by Rie Tanaka and Voile, The Magic Library- Josh Agarrado's transcribed version.
Also, don't be too upset, I'll probably add Matt and or Mello in the next chapter. So, see ya then!
Burry-chan