[22.2] All Better Now

I awoke from my slumber to bright sunshine on my face. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the window which was open.

I clicked my tongue, "Whoever opened that curtain must have a death wish."

Suddenly I was pounced on by an overly excited demon. Zephyr stared at me in such close proximity I wanted to hit him.

His tail wagged, "Oi! Are you the right Reika??? Say something! Anything!"

My eyebrow twitched, "Get the f*ck out of my face."

His eyes lit up, "It is you!!"

I pushed his face away and sat up. I still felt a bit weak, but my body didn't ache as much as it had.

I rubbed my head, "What happened?"

All I remember is a rock monster…

And….

My eyes shot open, "Where's Goldilocks?!?"

Zephyr held me down in bed so I couldn't run, "He's fine! Ah… Well, more like he's recuperating."

I let out a sigh in relief, "I thought he had died…"

Zephyr clicked his tongue, "You should be more concerned with yourself. You were the one who almost died… If it wasn't for Felix-" He paused, then shook his head. "Look. Just stop caring about the golden-haired brat. If you died, I would too!! Stop being selfish!!"

My face twitched.

Who is the one being selfish?!

He glanced at me cautiously, "How did you even get hurt? I didn't see anything or anyone attack you."

I felt my chest and frowned, "Nothing attacked me… I think."

"You think?"

I shook my head, "All I know is one moment I am fine, and then the next moment I'm dying. But…"

"But?"

"Is it possible that someone could die because another person dies?"

Zephyr tilted his head, "You mean like depression?"

I shook my head, "No. For example, is it possible that there's this string connecting you to someone else, and then as they were dying, the string started bleeding which made you die?"

He leaned forward to feel my forehead with his own, "Do you still have a fever?"

I forced his face away from mine in a hurry, "I'm being serious!"

"I think you must have dreamed that. There's no way that's possible. I've been alive for a long time and I've never heard of that."

I frowned and looked down at my chest.

Is it possible I dreamed it?

No. There's no way. I know it's real.

That was the second time I saw that string.

Zephyr watched me for a while before speaking, "By the way, you were acting crazy while you were sick."

I looked up, "Eh?"

"You don't remember? You kept telling me that your boyfriend will be angry if I helped you."

My expression darkened.

He leaned forward with a mischievous grin, "Just who is this mystery man? Hmm? What kind of man was he? Was he-"

"SHUT UP!"

I screamed so loud my voice echoed off the walls.

Zephyr stared at me speechlessly.

I cleared my throat and smiled, "I actually don't remember anything from before I came here. All of my memories are gone. You know that."

He studied me carefully, "Yeah… That's true… But-"

I interrupted, "Did I say anything else that was weird?"

He perked up, "Ah! Yeah. You also cried a lot whenever the Snowman came in and then tried to leave. You kept calling him Papa and begging him not to ignore you."

"Hmm…" I pondered this for a moment, but couldn't recollect any memories. I shook my head, "I don't remember-WAIT! You said I cried!?!"

He nodded, "Yup."

"Like CRY cry?!?! Like with real tears?!"

"How else would one cry?"

"AHHHH!" I buried my head under my covers, "NONONONONO!!"

Zephyr sat on the edge of my bed with a wagging tail, "Why are you so upset? It was actually kind of cute. You looked just like a real child."

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

Suddenly, the door flew open and the Headmaster ran in, "I heard yelling!"

He noticed me hiding under the covers and ran to pull me out, "You're hurt, aren't you!?! Where does it hurt!? Show me!!"

I threw my pillow at him, "GET OUT!"

The Headmaster blinked in confusion at the sudden harsh treatment, "Eh?"

Zephyr snickered, watching from the side. "She's embarrassed."

"Ah." He cleared his throat, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I thought you were quite adorable when you-"

I sat up with a threatening glare, "Where is my wand!?"

He looked taken aback, "Why?"

"Because I'm going to burn this place to the ground."

I felt around on my bed when I discovered it wasn't in my usual hiding place.

Zephyr chuckled as he looked at the Headmaster, "I guess it's a good thing you hid her wand."

I froze and slowly turned to look at him, "You took my wand?"

The Headmaster nodded, "I just placed it somewhere momentarily because if you were to use magic-"

I held out the palms of my hands and summoned a fireball, "I don't need my wand to-"

Suddenly the fire disappeared into a wisp of smoke and I fell back onto the bed.

I kicked my feet as I held my head, "Hurts hurts hurts!"

The Headmaster rushed to my side and placed his hand on my forehead. I sighed in relief as the freezing chill of his skin alleviated the pain.

He spoke, "Your body may have healed, but your mana hasn't. Right now it's too dangerous to try to use it."

I whimpered, "Why? Did I have a backlash again or something?"

His expression turned serious, "No. Something else."

I slowly opened my eyes to watch him, "The stone I swallowed?"

He nodded slowly, "That could be one explanation but I'm not sure. Did you feel any black magic when it happened?"

I tapped my chin, "Black magic?"

How would I know what that feels like?

All I know is the things I see when I smell, but I wasn't smelling when I was attacked.

Zephyr spoke up, "I didn't sense any demonic energy except for that rock monster and the shadow puppets."

The Headmaster turned to him and narrowed his eyes, "How would you know demonic energy?"

He turned pale and averted his eyes with a guilty expression, "Y-You know… I'm a familiar… so I can feel those kinds of things… Heh heh…"

His eyes narrowed more, "Really?"

I interrupted, "What happened to that b*tch in red? Did you catch her?"

"Don't say b*tch." He scolded me then shook his head, "But no, we didn't catch the b*tch in red."

My mouth dropped, "You let her go!?!"

He frowned, "I realized once I saw the rock giant that she had been distracting me all along. I knew you were all in trouble so I had no choice but to let her go."

I groaned and leaned back, "Great. I was really hoping you had captured her so I could torture her and force her to die a slow and painful death."

The Headmaster blinked, "You don't mean that."

I sat up abruptly, "Of course I do!!! She told me her entire plan was to kill Cyrus!! I want to rip out her organs and bathe in her BLOOD!"

I huffed angrily and noticed the two staring at me with shocked looks.

I cleared my throat and forced a smile, "I'm not serious. I don't really want to torture her nor am I possible of killing on purpose. I just want to see her punished. Hehe~"

The Headmaster narrowed his eyes at me.

Zephyr nodded in admiration, "I like the idea of torture."

The Headmaster gave him a glance, "No torturing."

I guess I will just have to do it behind his back then.

He turned back to me, "How are you feeling?"

I looked back into his eyes expecting his frosty expression, but instead, I saw genuine concern.

I averted my eyes and shifted uncomfortably, "I feel fine."

A warm smile crossed his face, causing me to freeze in horror.

The snowman…

He's smiling!

He rubbed the top of my head affectionately, "That's good."

I felt the heat rise to my cheeks.

He stood up, "Your friends have been wanting to see you. In a few days, I will let them visit."

My eyes sprung open, "Goldilocks?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Do you mean Prince Cyrus?"

"Yeah. Is he okay?"

"He's perfectly fine." His expression turned dark, "Why are you so concerned with him?"

My face twitched, "Because he almost died?"

He clicked his tongue, "I suppose."

He turned to leave, then hesitated, "By the way... Is there anything you want?"

I nestled into my bed with a yawn, "I just want to sleep."

He glanced back at me, "No. I mean do you have anything you would want as a gift?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Why would I want a gift? Do you want to give me a congratulatory gift for surviving?"

His expression froze over, "...No."

The room became quiet.

Is this a test?

I cleared my throat, "I would like normal things."

"What are normal things?"

I paused, "Uh…. Dolls?"

Zephyr picked up his head, "Why would you want dolls? You hate childish things."

The Headmaster looked at him quickly, "You know what she likes??"

He nodded cautiously, "Sort of?"

He stepped over to him and bent down so that their faces were barely inches apart. He spoke in a menacing tone, "Tell me."

Zephyr gulped, "Uh… Fire?"

He clicked his tongue, "...Worthless."

I watched utterly baffled as the Headmaster left the room.

What was that all about?

Oh, who cares.

I want a nap.

With a shrug, I got comfortable in bed and quickly fell back asleep.