Chapter 25

"Introduce yourself, perhaps?" The girl stood there, her arms crossed. Zeik stared at her, stunned.

A moment of silence later, the girl got up close to Zeik and waved a hand in his face.

"M-my name's Zeik!" He quickly snapped out of it. "Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Aris." She replied with an introduction of her own. "I'm guessing you were the one who found me?"

Zeik guessed that she was talking about on the floor in the Academy. "Yes. You were passed out, without a pulse and everything. I almost convinced myself you were dead!"

Aris pressed a couple fingers to the side of her own neck. "Oh, you're right. I've got nothing."

"Wha-" Zeik reached over, not being able to control his impulse. He placed his fingers against her neck. It was just as cold and pulseless as before.

"You're freezing!"

"So I've been told."

"Doesn't that concern you at all?" Zeik was dumbfounded. "There's no way a normal person should exhibit the symptoms of a dead one!"

"I'd prefer if you calmed down a bit. It's not like I'm a normal person." Aris cracked a smile. "I'm the only one chosen to travel with the Otherworlders who isn't one. Of course I'd be different!"

Zeik had been wondering who she was, since she gave off Otherworlder vibes, but she says she isn't one? That'd connect a few dots, Zeik supposed. But it still unsettles him.

"Then, just answer me this." Zeik got ready to turn and run in case he got an answer he didn't want to hear. "Are you human?"

A moment of awkward silence passed.

"Say, you haven't met everyone else from your world yet, right?" Aris said.

That creeped Zeik out a bit, but he wasn't about to try and dig into it.

"No, I haven't. I was going to try and find them, but..."

"You got a little lost?" Aris smiled. "I can't help you with that one. I ended up here the same way."

So they were both lost. Great. Zeik was really hoping that she'd show him the way.

"So, uh..." He raked his brain for a possible conversation topic. "How did you end up passed out in the school?"

"... I got a head rush and passed out."

Well, that conversation ended quite abruptly. Zeik wasn't sure what he was expecting.

Having nothing else to talk about, he prayed for someone to find them so that this awkward silence wouldn't continue.

"I..."

"It's fine if you've got nothing to talk about." Aris interjected. "I totally understand."

"Ah... Thanks."

They sat there for a good amount of time, not wanting to go anywhere in case they got even more lost. It was the right choice, because eventually, Juni managed to find them.

"I've found you!" She exclaimed. "God, where have you been?"

"We got a little lost." Zeik admitted.

"We...?"

She looked over at Aris, who was still sitting against the wall, zoned out. Juni's eyes widened with fear for a reason that Zeik didn't know.

"We're going." Juni said, dragging Zeik along as if Aris didn't exist.

"Oop." Aris snapped back to reality, and stood up. "Looks like someone found us."

"Oh yeah, this is the person who dragged me here in the first place. Her name is-"

"We're going this way, Zeik." Juni tugged on his arm, speed-walking away.

"Hey, calm down!" Zeik tried to break her hold on his hand, but couldn't. "What's up with you?"

Juni took another look at Aris, and started walking faster, her fast footsteps making actual noise through the carpeted floors. Zeik had to almost run to keep up.

"It doesn't seem like she likes me very much." Aris caught up effortlessly, and whispered to Zeik. "Any clue why?"

"No idea. I don't really know her too well."

"How'd she manage to get you to come here then?"

"Well, she tried to kill me once?"

"Fair enough."

Zeik laughed at the absurdity of that answer. He had said the first thing that came to his mind, but didn't expect an answer that was so casual. It reminded him of the random stuff that J would say at times.

Juni looked over her shoulder, and then started walking even faster. She almost seemed... Afraid?

"Did you do something to her?" Zeik asked Aris.

"Not that I know of. I don't even know anything about her."

Juni was walking so fast that the two had to stop talking and run to catch up. She would have lost them around a corner if it wasn't for that.

One high-speed chase down the halls later, they reached the room where every Otherworlder hung out. Only a few were present this time, the rest of them were either training or in town.

Annabelle turned towards the three as they entered the room. "Welcome ba-"

She dropped the deck of cards that she was sorting, her gaze locked onto Zeik.

"Master Prin- Zeik?" Annabelle blurted.

And, to his own surprise, Zeik replied with "Annabel?"

He immediately blurted her name, but didn't recognize her at all. Trying to think too hard about it gave him a painful headache, one not unlike a really serious brain freeze. Zeik winced and put his hand to his head.

Juni's eyes widened in surprise, but she caught herself and went back to looking indifferent.

"You guys know each other?" Aris said.

"I... Should." Zeik scratched at his head. "But it's almost like part of my memories are frosted over."

"Annabel... Annabelle... Wait... You can't be..."

Upon hearing that, Annabelle's timid manner suddenly vanished, and she tackled Zeik with a hug. "Zeik! Zeik! It's really you, isn't it?"

"Something tells me to leave the room." Aris said, turning around to walk out.

Juni glanced over her shoulder warily as Aris left the room.

"It... is, but how do you know?" Zeik asked.

"You were reborn as my master in this world, remember? A blue-haired kid named Prince?"

"I... Was?"

Juni's eyes drifted towards the pattern in the carpet, but nobody really noticed.

Annabelle looked confused. "Don't you remember? You wanted to go see the city, found a couple of little girls who were half cat, chose to protect them..."

She stopped herself, realizing that Zeik didn't seem to know the story from the look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I really remember none of that."

"oh..." Annabelle paused, unsure of what to say. "Well, you're here now and you're you. that's all that matters, right?"

"Right..."

Juni turned and left the room, a look of pure guilt on her face. Even she couldn't manage to keep that from surfacing in this situation.

Neither Zeik nor Annabelle saw her expression, which was lucky for her. Unlucky for her, someone else was standing right outside the door as she opened it.

One glance at her face told J all he needed to know. His lips curved up in a slight grin.

"Feeling a bit accountable, are we?"