Disclaimer: I do not own The Riddles of Epsilon.
Thank you to my reviewers (Wee, an 's'): an Anonymous reviewer (I want your opinion on whether you think Epsilon should be jealous, making this an Epsilon romanceish type thing, cuz I honestly did not write that to make it seem like jealousy, just anger… Please tell me what you think) and Sakura Hitsugaya (as always, I want your opinion as well! Thank you so much for reviewing!)
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The second page of the journal was already filled. Jess had copied her memory of the song down for Epsilon, hoping that if she did her job, he wouldn't be angry anymore. Then again, she was also angry with him. After a long half night, she felt confused about his reaction to the mysterious rose. Then anger surfaced. She didn't know where that rose came from either! Why had he been so mad? What did he have to be mad about? She had just been sleeping!
The next page had the date of the day, but that was all. What was there to write? Sure, she had to write about her dreams, but she hadn't slept yet, and she was not going to try to fall asleep just for Epsilon's amusement. So Jess sat there, listening to music in her room, staring at the paper, and not writing a thing. She sighed and closed her eyes, humming to the music…
She must have zoned out. She could have fallen asleep briefly. What other explanation was there? She had fallen asleep and her mother or father had come in and turned off her music. That had to be why she could no longer hear it. It had to be why when she woke up she was still humming. The thing that did not make sense was what she was humming. That song. The song she could only connect to Matthias. Only now, she seemed to know more of the words. Very few escaped her memory.
She knew she should just go back and fill in spaces on the other page, but she was tired of staring at the blank page and wanted it to look like she had actually done something. And now, she could take a long break with the excuse that she had already filled out the two pages and now needed to leave one empty. She might as well stop there every time, like a schedule. Two pages a day. So she shut the book and walked out of the room. She was hungry.
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"Your friend does not trust me," Matthias said. The two of them had been sitting side by side, staring at the rippling pool in absolute silence.
"My friend?" Jess turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Epsilon."
"Oh." Jess sat in thought for a while. "He said 'the Dreams are starting'. I don't get it. I mean, you're a dream person, so you are, like, me, right? So maybe this is me telling myself he doesn't trust me anymore? And I don't know why, so me, I mean, you, don't know why either. Maybe…"
"Woah, there, don't think too hard," Matthias said with a short laugh. He did not seem very happy with her thoughts.
Jess sent him a glare, which melted away the second he was in her sight. She rolled her eyes at herself.
"So you still think I am a figment of your imagination, as you said?" Matthias asked softly, leaning back on his elbows.
"I guess. I mean, what else could you be?"
Matthias shrugged. "Well, let us forget about your friend. We should enjoy ourselves! We do not have all day!" He stood up, holding out a hand to Jess with a grin.
"What are we going to do?"
"Swim," he replied simply, then swung her into his arms and ran toward the water, Jess letting out a scream in shock. Matthias leapt into the cool pool.
Jess came to the surface in shock. She was still in her dream, and she could feel the perfect water as if it were truly there. She could feel Matthias' arms holding her as he had jumped. She could see him now and he looked just as he should. Wet. "H-how? How is this…"
Matthias cut her off. "No more worries, Jess! Have fun!"
And she did.
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She wrote quickly. Everything from the dream. Everything from when she woke up. She left nothing out. She was scared. Very scared. She wrote this, too, hoping Epsilon would read it and return.
Jess had awoken late: about ten. At first, she just felt cold, but then she rubbed her eyes. Had she been crying? Her face was wet. And so was the rest of her. Her hair was soaked, her clothes were soaked, she was very tired, and she was completely freaked out. She was wet. She had gone swimming in a dream, and now she was wet. And alone. She needed Epsilon there. She needed someone who knew what was happening to her.
And until she had that person, she would never sleep again.