A scary interaction (7)

Julius's lips started to twitch. Is he going to cry? Oh no, this is bad.

"I saw her in my dreams for the first time in three weeks today. Do you know what she said to me? Goodbye, she said goodbye!"

He cradled his face in his hands. Whaat, maybe I was wrong about this being my friend from earth. He almost never cried, well except for that one time when time when I got injured.

I patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. "If you want to vent I'll listen"

He glared at me "I don't care what you do."

"Then I'll listen, because I like helping people."

He flopped onto the ground and rolled around. What is he a koala? Sleeps all day and then threatens and cries to whoever talks to him?

"So what was the name of this 'she' you keep talking about?"

"Why should I tell you, you're just some girl that will be replaced in 2 years."

What was he even talking about anymore?

"Just pretend that you're talking to yourself."

He contemplated that idea for a moment then opened his mouth.

"Ellie, It's such a beautiful name"

Yep...that was my name. Hmm, what should I do? I guess I should tell him. "What would you do if you met her again?"

He smiled wistfully "I'd lock her up and never be away from her for a second."

Ah, danger. Yeah I don't think I should tell him.

"It's been 45 years since I've seen her..." Julius's voice broke and he looked like he was about to start sobbing

"45 years?! How old are you?" He didn't look 45

"This time? 16."

"You do realize that math doesn't add up, right?"

He glared intensely at me "if you're going to be annoying then just leave."

I stood up and brushed off my clothes "fine, good luck finding this friend of yours."

He ignored me.

I don't know if I should be angry or relieved that he didn't recognize me. what was it he meant when he said 45 years? Ugh he probably won't tell me unless he finds out I that I'm Ellie.

I wonder why he was acting so strange, I mean he was always moody, but he seemed unstable. What did he go through to make him like this?

Was it cruel of me not to tell him? But I don't want to be locked up! He's a scary guy he probably means it...for now I'll just collect information.

I opened my door and gazed in disbelief at the girl sitting on my bed. "Lucina? Why are you here?!" Are you kidding me?! The second time today.

Lucina clasped her hands together "Olivia! I didn't see you at lunch or any of the classes we have together,"

Her voice turned cold "you weren't avoiding me right?"

"Will you hurt me if I say yes?" I backed away from the door and started to slowly close it.

In a split second Lucina was at the door, she grasped it with her hand and stopped it from closing any further. "Ol-iv-ia, what are trying to do?"

Aaah, she's so scary! "I'm just trying to give you some privacy. I'll come back later."

"How considerate, but you don't need to worry! This is your room after all."

So I've got no choice huh? "Well then, I'll come in."

I stepped into my room and the door banged shut behind me, the sound made me flinch.

Now I'm trapped in here with a madwomen, it's really been a great day...

"Are going to answer my question? Or are you going to keep avoiding me until I have to do something drastic?"

I hurriedly responded "fine, I was avoiding you. You scare me alright?"

She smiled warmly "ha! You really are honest?"

My room started to grow cold "or are you just a pushover?" Lucina brought her hand close to my face and a blue flame flickered in her hand "I'm partial to ice, but you like fire right?"

"that's..I'll admit to being a pushover when it comes to situations where my life is at risk. Or honestly...most situations."

Lucina laughed "is that all you have to say?"

My cheek grew hot as the flame flickered "ummm, yes?"

Her voice grew colder "you can't take a hint can you? Say you're sorry."

"Aaah, I know this isn't a good time to say this, but I really can't say I'm sorry."

"I see so you would rather be burned in the face then tell a little lie?"

It really didn't sound very smart, but still... "it's not just about honesty, but I can't stomach apologizing to you after all the things you've done" I managed to grit out a response, but this situation it really isn't good is it?

Lucina stared at me oddly "are you an idiot? Surely you haven't misjudged me as someone who's afraid to hurt others?"

I gulped, how am I going to get out of this one? I think my fire magic could give me a chance to escape, but that's a last resort. I would rather not light my room on fire.

Lucina took a deep breath then the flame floating above her hand disappeared. "I guess you have some guts."

She started to smile brightly, like she hadn't been threatening me a second ago "oh relax Olivia, I would never hurt you~"

The silver-haired girl patted me on the shoulder "I just came here to give you some orders!"

"Don't hide during lunch tomorrow, okay?"

She clicked her tongue "and tell me about your day, what exactly were you doing?"

"I went to this odd tea party with Cyrus."

When I mentioned Cyrus her gaze sharpened. "Why were you going somewhere with that brat?"

"We're friends...sort of" I shrugged awkwardly

Lucina's mouth crinkled in disgust "you should stay away from him, he's nothing but a pain"

Her hand gestured for me to continue "Did you meet or talk to anyone else?"

Why was she so curious? "..."

"Haha, you're so brave~" Lucina gave me a dangerous look "I know you were talking to prince Julius"

"If you already knew...then why did you ask?" I tried to keep the anger out of my voice.

"Just to see if you would lie, I guess." She flipped her hair from one shoulder to another.

"What exactly did Julius say?" Her eyes held an intense curiosity

"Something about...missing someone."

Lucina's hands started to shake "I'm beginning to lose my patience. I wouldn't try me."

Scary, she's super scary. "I don't think I can tell you, it's pretty personal."

Her expression hardened again, she kept on flipping between scary and happy-go lucky. It must be exhausting. " do you want money or something?"

Now she was asking if I wanted money??? This girl, what kind of crazy is she... "not particularly, Lucina if you really want to know then just ask him. He didn't seem to mind telling me."

Lucina looked puzzled "so he talked to you without throwing a fit or harming you?"

I remembered how he had grasped my wrist and winced at the thought "...I didn't get out completely unscathed."

We didn't say anything for several seconds until Lucina broke the silence.

"...you're not going to talk are you?"

I looked at the floor "no."

She took a step closer to me "Olivia this isn't the end of this conversation, maybe next time you'll have more motivation to talk."

Ack, That can't be good.

Lucina jumped onto to the windowsill, she looked directly at me then waved and fell backwards into the night.

I collapsed onto the floor as soon as she was gone. I really hope she doesn't make this into a habit.

Faking my death was becoming more and more appealing, but unfortunately things had gotten complicated. It had only been two days, how had I managed to get involved in this mess. I had already told Cyrus I would help him, not to mention the mess with Julius ugh I didn't even want to think about what I was going to do there. Aaaah, goodbye my carefree life with no responsibilities it's not like I enjoyed you that much anyway.

Who knows maybe I could do something positive here...what a pain.

As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep an old memory surfaced and I fell into a dream...

His eyes met mine, there was a deep sadness behind them. I couldn't leave him alone, I just couldn't. It simply wasn't an option.

He was broken, so very broken. But I knew that I could help him.

The first words I heard from him, were that he wanted to die. That there was no meaning in his life, so I gave him a reason to live. Then he told me that he didn't know what to do, so I told him what to do, and our lives continued. Just like that he stopped talking about wanting to die, and slowly...he started to smile. One day I looked into his eyes and the crippling sadness was gone.

Then I smiled too, because ...I'm a selfish person after all.