Decision

Activities within the city resumed normally after Ceda’s announcement as Raven and Lia find themselves at an amusement park, full of children and couples enjoying their youths to the fullest.

Lia, as usual, had the same dull expression, contrasting her actions. Her eyes were intently admiring all the rides in her sight. The roller coaster, double shot, Carousel, and the Ferris wheel mainly caught her attention, making her rush out of excitement.

“Ah! Wait for me, Lia!” Delighted at how Lia is reacting, Raven, followed her with a smile.

Lia went straight to the roller coaster’s entrance but was stopped by Raven as she held her hand.

“Wait, Lia. Before that, we should get your height checked for safety measures.” Raven followed up while pointing to the station for height measurement. They went towards it and got the undesired result that Lia was too small for it. Lia hopped in hopes of reaching it, but it was no use. Raven just watched her and was about to stop her, but then suddenly, she noticed a change in Lia. As she jumped, one of her Oblivoid ability activated unconsciously.

The genes that activated within her was the Dragnapede’s. Aside from this Oblivoid’s unique trait of having sturdy scales, some rare breeds can alter their sizes. These breeds are similar to albinos, with their colors differing from the others and are more powerful than average.

“W-wait, Lia! Could you stand still for a bit?” Raven stopped Lia from hopping and attempted to measure her height. Aside from her Height, Lia’s appearance also changed from a 10-year-old kid to a middle school girl to match her appearance.

“Can I ride that metallic monster now?” Lia asked while tilting her head. Since she could hear screams coming from the people riding it, Lia perceived it as a monster’s roar, making her refer to it as a “Metallic monster.”

Raven has now confirmed that what she is seeing is real. Lia grew several inches taller with the help of her Oblivoid genes. Now, Lia has surpassed the general height limit needed to ride the roller coaster.

“Of course! Let’s go!” Raven answered with a bright smile and was happy for Lia as she led her to the ride.

A staff guided Lia and Raven to their seats on the metallic monster located in the front row and prepared for the ride. Raven was grinning, while Lia had her same old expression, but as the ride got higher, Lia’s face turned pale. Upon reaching the highest peak, Lia peeked at Raven, who was grinning from ear to ear. Raven didn’t fail to notice Lia’s gaze and held her hand.

“Don’t worry! I’m here with you!”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” The sound of people screaming with excitement resounded throughout the park. Lia kept her eyes wide open as she gripped her seat belt and Raven’s hand tightly. Soon after a few seconds, she began to enjoy it but didn’t scream like the others, and… she finally smiled.

“Whew! That was fun! Where do you want to try next, Lia?” Their time with the roller coaster ended in a flash, but it didn’t feel like that to them. Lia and Raven are now walking away from the ride’s exit. Raven stretched, and Lia rushed once again to other rides with her a lively expression.

“I want to try that next!” Lia hopped in place and pointed at the next ride she wanted to go next. Raven, seeing how Lia is expressing a drastic change in her emotions, Raven felt glad she brought her here.

“Alright then! Let’s go!”

Raven and Lia rode the Double shot, Carousel, and Bump cars. Sadly, after riding those, Lia’s ability seemed to have deactivated and have returned to her original height.

Raven measured to clarify, and it seemed that it was the case. It also seemed that Lia didn't notice the change. Taking this into account, Raven decided to offer Lia something different like the photo booth, shooting booth, and many others that do not include rides.

“Hey, Lia, would you like to try something new? Like that shooting game over there? They’ve got good prizes!” Raven offered while pointing at the section of the park full of game booths. On the other contrary, Lia seemed to have caught an interest in something different.

“I… want to try that…” Lia said as she pinched a portion of Raven’s clothes who was facing the opposite direction and slightly pulled it to grab her attention.

“Hmmm?” Raven inclined with Lia’s gesture, but she gulped at the sight of what Lia was pointing at.

“U-Ummm… Lia, do you want to go try something else?” Raven tried to convince Lia as her expression became pale. Lia shook her head in response, and Raven swallowed her breath once again.

What Lia was pointing at was the horror house, the only horror-themed attraction within the park. Raven is terrible with jumpscares.

“T-Then, I’ll wait for you here,”

Raven said as she hugged onto a nearby pole with no intention of letting go. Lia, on the other hand, pulled Raven. It seemed that her Dragnapede gene also activated again, giving her the strength equivalent to it. Because of it, Lia pulled Raven with ease with her usual expressionless face and dragged Raven with her inside the attraction.

Lia and Raven now find themselves inside the attraction with the theme of an abandoned school that looked very realistic. Even in broad daylight, the interior was very dark and only had flashlights as the source of light. Cracks and cab webs can also be seen everywhere they set their eyes.

Raven and Lia are now walking by the corridors with Lia having the same dull expression and Raven hiding behind her, shaking in fear.

“Eek!” Raven squeaked when a bloody handprint suddenly appeared at the window with matching sounds and also startled Lia, making her point the light towards it. Soon after, loud sounds of hands trying to break open the rows of windows was heard, accompanied by blood prints.

“HIIII!” This made Raven panic and ran while closing her eyes, leaving Lia. Surprised, she tried to catch up to Raven with a rush of adrenaline, but then all of a sudden, Raven tripped over something, causing her to fall flat to the cold floor.

“KYAA! What was that…”

“Are you okay, Big sister?” Lia caught up to Raven and tried to assist her.

“I-I’m fine. Thanks for worrying,” Raven answered as she scratched the back of her head and tried to look for the cause of her fall but immediately regretted it.

A very pale arm was peeking out a classroom door, slowly struggling to move until the head of whatever it was peaked out. Its eyes were wide open with blood-red sclera peeking out of its long straight but messy hair.

“Don't... run… in… the hallways…”

“KYAAA!”

“KYAAA!”

Raven and Lia screamed their lungs out as they ran again as fast as they could.

After some time of running, they finally stopped as they leaned their backs beside a wall, breathing heavily, as they try to catch their breath. But all of a sudden, a fast white entity moved past them with a cold breeze. This made both Lia and Raven hold back their breath as they heard something drop.

A head without a body rolled on the floor and stopped directly in the middle of Raven and Lia. The head stared at them, grinning with empty eye sockets, and said-

“Found…you…”

“KYAAAAAAAAA!!” That was the loudest scream that Lia and Raven ever let out, so loud that it also be heard outside of the building. Raven and Lia got too scared that their souls almost left their bodies.

Sometime later, a staff-assisted Lia and Raven because Raven somehow passed out after that last gimmick. Now, the two of them are near a food stall with Raven back to her usual self, ordering crepes for two.

“Ahahaha! That was quite the jumpscare!” Raven said as she handed Lia’s Crepe.

“Here!”

“Ummm… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have forced you to come…” Lia, realizing that she did kind of forced Raven into partaking in it, apologized and was hesitant to take it. Raven, on the other hand, bonked Lia’s head slightly.

“Don’t worry about it too much, I had fun! Now here, take this!” Raven assured Lia who was feeling bad for dragging Raven. Lia took the Crepe gratefully, and they began eating away their snacks.

As they were taking a break, Lia couldn’t help but observe other people passing through them, kids and adults alike. All of them had pleasant smiles and laughter on their faces with the kids playing around joyfully, while the parents wholeheartedly looked after them, enjoying the peace of not having Oblivoids around. This somehow made Lia empathetic, making her feel a strong emotion that she thought she lost aside from happiness and sadness.

“Now then, shall we get to the final ride?” Raven told Lia as she got up and offered a hand to her, and headed to the last ride for the day, the Ferris Wheel.

“Will this be fun..?” Lia asked when she saw the slow-moving Ferris Wheel and doubted that it was an exciting ride. Since most of the rides Lia rode were fast-moving and fell short of her expectations.

“You’ll see, hehe,” Raven answered with a bright smile as they entered the Ferris Wheel and sat comfortably inside it. The ride activated as soon as the door closed and elevated slowly. Upon reaching a certain point, something caught Lia’s attention, making her stare out at the transparent window.

Lia saw the beautiful scene of the city mixed with the vibrant color of the afternoon sun. The amusement park was located on one of the highest terrains in the city which made it possible to see a good bird’s eye view. It had mixed advanced technology as well as beautiful landscapes. Drones and automatons are also seen not as an owner-tool relationship working alongside humans. The city was peaceful, and everything was in good harmony. Seeing this somehow triggered an emotion within Lia.

“Lia, did you have fun?” Raven asked cross-legged with her usual calming smile, catching Lia’s attention. Lia didn’t answer right away. Instead, she looked back outside the window and held her chest, which was unusually beating stronger than usual. Then, she remembered what she heard at the headmaster’s office.

“I…”

Lia trailed off and was hesitant to reply.

“Hmmm?” Puzzled, Raven tilted her head and waited for an answer, but what she heard was something unexpected.

“… want to know more about Royal Phantoms…”