Chapter 9: Reversal (Part 2)

Sona: "Don't you feel ashamed of yourself looking like the man who kicked your ass?"

Dragon: "Sona, was it? I see that you know some things I'd really want no one to know."

The dragon looks at her with the same eyes he had when the killing intent towards Ethan Kales had taken over his aura.

Sona: "Well, too bad I already know it."

But she does not flinch on seeing that. It is almost like she had expected it, even though that isn't the case.

Dragon: "But what if an 'accident' happens to you and you become unable to tell anyone?"

The dragon uses a very well-known roundabout way to threaten her. But being well-known doesn't make it any less meaningful.

Sona: "Do you honestly believe I came here that unprepared?"

Dragon: "You are telling me you expected something like this?"

Sona looks at the dragon with hostile intent clear in her eyes and the dragon asks the expected question.

Sona: "I always considered Death to be weaker than you. It's not that surprising to me that it lost. I was shocked at first because I thought it was winning but then it suddenly exploded. The end result – I'd say I had more or less expected that."

The dragon knew this is the truth. From the beginning he had known the only reason for her shock was the situation suddenly turning from her victory to defeat. But what comes next?

Dragon: "Are you telling me you came here knowing you'd lose? Or are you telling me there's still some card up your sleeve?"

She smirks.

Sona: "Which do you think?"

Dragon: "Huh!"

Her attitude surprises the dragon. It is as if the dragon has fallen in her trap and she is barely holding back on her laughter because of it.

Dragon: "What … did you do?"

Sona: "Nothing."

Dragon: "Huh?"

Sona looks up at the sky ignoring the anxious dragon.

Sona: "I just remembered something."

Dragon: "And what's that?"

Sona: "Why should I tell you?"

The dragon is irritated but trying to suppress it. Not being able to see that irritation on his face, she is a little disappointed, but still feels joy in the fact that he has became anxious and irritated.

Dragon: "Why you …"

But even though he tries to intimidate her, the dragon doesn't do anything to force the truth out of her either. He understands that something like that won't work on her. The fear caused by his special effect is barely present in her. The dragon has no idea why she is behaving in such a way.

Sona: "So you are just going to stop at intimidation?"

Dragon: "I might have to."

Sona: "Ha! Ha! HA! HA! HA!"

She laughs as if she has never laughed in ages.

Dragon: "Are you even sane anymore?"

Sona: "I don't know."

This woman has lost her mind. This is all the dragon can understand from her behavior. He thinks of just ignoring her. After all, there's no way to understand what's going on in her head. If only there was –

Sona: "What's wrong, dragon? Wishing to be a psychic now?"

The dragon clicks his tongue in annoyance.

Dragon: "Will you just shut up?"

Sona: "Ha! Ha! As if I'll ever do something because you asked me to."

Dragon: "What's wrong with you, woman? I can't remember ever doing something so horrible to anyone that they would hate me this much."

Sona's laughs came to a halt. Her eyes as they stare at the dragon are bloodshot. A silence follows. This silence is so unsettling that even the dragon is petrified in his place.

After a short while, that seemed like an eternity to the dragon, passed, Sona looks down.

Sona: "So you say you don't remember, huh? Well, that's not surprising. Why would a dragon like you bother to remember the people whose lives you destroyed?"

Dragon: "What … what the hell are you talking about?"

In this moment, the dragon, the most powerful creature on the island is trembling in front of Sona, the spirit-user without any spirits left to combat him and the weakest on the island.

Dragon: "When did I ever destroy anyone's lives?"

Sona: "When did you destroy our lives? Are you trying to make me remember those painful memories now?"

She looks at the dragon with bloodshot eyes again as the dragon takes a step back.

Sona: "I see. So it wasn't enough to take everything I had from me. You still want to bring me more pain by reminding me of those days."

Dragon: "W-wait a second! That's not what I meant and you know it."

Sona: "Stop making excuses!"

Dragon: "E-exactly, stop making excuses to lash out at me."

Sweat has formed on the dragon's forehead. His breathing has become heavy and the pressure in his brain is making him unable to think.

Sona: "You truly are and always will be – pathetic."

*******************************

When I first entered the tomb, I felt something off. It was like something had changed. But I couldn't hear or see anything happening. So I kept that thought at the back of my mind and started walking.

Slowly as I walked, the darkness lessened by increasing number of lights, I realize what was going on.

Girl: "I feel … so dizzy … right now."

She complained of dizziness earlier but I didn't realize the reason for that. I thought it would be because of the shock and fear she would have sensed when the dragon heard about Ethan. But that was not it.

Kais: "Are you going to be okay?"

Girl: "I'm … sorry to say but … I don't think … I would be … okay."

She trips over a pebble. I try to catch her falling figure but I am too far away and she ends up falling head-first. When I try to pick her up, I feel her weight is almost negligible, like she isn't even here.

Kais: "I know she is made of energy but … isn't she too light?"

And then I notice. She has started to fade away. The energy is dispersing and flowing back to the direction of the exit/entrance. As soon as I see that, my brain comes up with a theory for what's going on.

Kais: "That feeling I had when I entered – could it be related to this?"

What if this tomb is cut off from the rest of the island? What if this place is in a space of its own?

Kais: "Also …"

There's the fact that I have been walking for a while, going deeper and deeper, but I have not reached anywhere. From outside, the tomb never looked this big. What if the moment I entered the tomb, I was transported to a different place? No, if we go by that assumption, then this might just be the real tomb."

While I had been thinking, the girl continued to disappear and now she is gone. I am left alone in the tomb. I have a theory on how this situation has come to be, but something is still unclear.

Kais: "But he would have probably known about this, so why did he send her here?"

My theory about her disappearance is that because she is energy, she needs an actual host and she can only stay within a certain range of that host, which would probably be the dragon. Since she came into a different space, she could not stay here for long because the distance between them automatically grew exponentially large. But he should have already known this would happen. So why did he send her in the first place?

Kais: "I'm burdened with enough questions already and more keep piling up. What's wrong with my life?"

Of course I only say that as a joke to relax myself. I don't say it expecting an answer would come. And yet,

???: "There's nothing wrong with your life, Kais."

A voice rings out answering my questions.

Kais: "Who's there?"

I hear footsteps coming towards me. The lights are dim but enough to allow me to see someone walking towards me with a torch in his hand. The place I am is narrow like a lobby but wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side. So it shouldn't be a problem for me to run away if I can't use teleportation in this space.

???: "'who's there?' Are you serious? Can't you think of a less cliché way to ask?"

Kais: "What?"

???: "And why are you asking anyway, you already forgot?"

The voice is of a male. I can distinctly recognize it and I have no reason to not suspect him after what that girl said in front of the other two.

Kais: "Ethan … Kales?"

Ethan: "So you do remember. Good to know."

Kais: "Why are you here?"

Ethan: "Would you believe me if I said I am the ghost of Ozyllus?"

Kais: "Even if you were the world's best actor, I wouldn't believe it. I have seen how he truly looked, you are different from that."

Ethan: "I see. I guess a psychic would have trust in his eyes, even if he can't have trust in anything else."

Kais: "Tch!"

During our conversation, he kept walking with the torch in his hand and I keep slowly moving forward.

Kais: "Who or what I trust in and not is none of your business."

Ethan: "Well, I guess it's not."

Kais: "So tell me, why are you here? This time say the real reason."

Ethan: "Nah, sometimes reality is too boring to speak of, and I like to indulge myself in whatever's the most interesting thing to do."

Kais: "So basically you are a troll?"

Ethan: "A troll in a dark, cave-like place makes me look like an ugly monster from dark fantasy books."

Kais: "Well, it's not like I have a much better opinion of you than that."

Ethan: "Yeah, I figured that might be the case."

We stop as we have reached a point where we could clearly see each other with the torchlight.

Ethan: "I am curious though. With all that has been happening with you, did you get a chance to think about that object?"

I didn't. Back then I decided I'd hold on to it but now it's gone, and I have no idea where. At least, that's the truth.

Kais: "I sure did. And I have a few suspects in mind that it may actually belong to."

But no way am I not taking my chances here.

Ethan: "Well, I hope I'm not one of them."

Kais: "You are."

Ethan: "I figured."

Ethan grins. I have no idea what's going on in his head.

Ethan: "I suppose I can tell you this much. It was mine. I took some help from an Aural friend of mine to place it in your wallet."

Kais: "And that all was just a setup to meet me, I presume?"

Ethan: "Well now,"

He grin grows wider.

Ethan: "Why would you think I would have wanted to meet you so badly I would set all that up?"

That kinda makes me seem arrogant but anyway,

Kais: "You wanted to confirm I'm a psychic."

Ethan: "Oh?"

Kais: "I don't know why but I got a chill when I shook your hand. That was because you were somehow checking my aura, wasn't it?"

I don't know this for certain but it's my main guess.

Ethan: "Yeah, well done. Your guess was on the mark."

The fact that he knew it was just a guess is kinda annoying but I'll have to roll with it for now.

Kais: "So anyway, since you don't seem to be willing to say why you're here, is there something else you can help me with?"

Ethan: "Are you sure you worded that correctly and it wasn't like 'is there something I can help you with'?"

Kais: "Like hell I'd help you."

I fake a disgusted face to see if it annoys him. But it seems like he's faking a smile as an answer.

Ethan: "Oh boy! This is only the second time we are meeting and you already hate my guts."

Kais: "I get the feeling that happens a lot with you."

Ethan: "Ah! That's a psychic's intuition for you."

He says as if he's proudly displaying something he has rather than something I have.

Kais: "So, anything you'll tell me or are you just wasting my time?"

Ethan: "That's harsh. Anyway, if you want me to tell you something, then …"

He starts wondering for a while before finally saying,

Ethan: "Well, there is something that I actually wanted to ask you but,"

He pauses, probably intentionally, making me anxious.

Kais: "Ask me what?"

Ethan: "Do you know ghosts are real and Barry is one of them?"

*******************************