Kapitel 14: [Ch.14] When Past Lives Blend Together (Past)

The following days occurred just as the one before had.

I was dragged out of bed, slept through my first class, and then read throughout my other classes. Raylon would sit next to me in class before following me in the evening to share tea and a meal. Raylon hadn't realized that throughout the days, more and more girls began to follow him staring dreamily as they giggled. Before long, an entire crowd gathered, watching him as he had tea with me.

Of course, they stayed out of my line of sight due to their fear of me.

Princess Mona walked by the scene one day and was horrified to see such a crowd of girls ogling her brother. Even worse yet, he was having tea with me so casually. She listened for a while and noticed that Raylon and Amanda would usually be conversing while I never spoke up once.

She stomped her feet as she thought to herself: "How dare Moao ignore my adorable brother!"

Overcome with determination, she walked over to the group having tea. She smiled and curtsied, "Good day, brother Raylon."

He looked at her and beamed, "Sister Mona! It's been too long!" He stood up and gave her a warm hug. He then turned his attention to me, "Lady Moao, certainly you remember my sister Mona? She's the current Princess of the Phoenix nation."

"Mmn."

Princess Mona felt her eye twitch at my lack of response, "Lady Moao, you must be so happy to have tea with my handsome brother."

Raylon smiled and posed as if it would help me notice his attractiveness. However, I didn't take the bait. Raylon nudged Mona on.

"Oh, that's right. Lady Moao doesn't find my brother handsome at all. Isn't that just surprising girls?" Mona turned to look back at the crowd, "Don't you think my brother is the most handsome man on the continent?"

The girls suddenly rushed forward as if they had gotten approval. They all began to shout and clamor in response. Raylon smiled indulging in the accolade.

I put my book down and looked toward the rowdy scene, "I never said he wasn't handsome."

Raylon's smile grew larger.

I continued in an indifferent tone, "I prefer short hair on men, but I think he is still quite handsome."

Raylon felt his face get hot. Mona looked at him with an excited smile. She tapped him quickly on his arm, "Aren't you pleased?"

Raylon couldn't help but feel flustered. He shouted out uncharacteristically, "Why would I care if you think I'm handsome?!" He felt his face twitch, "I don't care! I don't care at all!"

It's too obvious that you care…

He felt his face heat up more, "Short hair! Who cares if you like short hair!" He looked around in a panic as if he were aware of his flustered appearance. In a huff, he quickly shuffled away as he tugged at his hair.

Mona watched his fleeting figure in surprise, "Brother! Wait for me!"

She quickly ran after him. The group of girls stood chatting amongst themselves until I threw them an irritated look.

My low voice came out as a growl, "Noisy."

They quickly ran off at the sound of my voice.

Amanda began to laugh full-heartedly, "Wow! Sir Raylon isn't honest at all!"

I returned to my book indifferently.

Raylon wouldn't visit us or even look us in the eye a few days after the incident.

I continued on with my days not even noticing his lack of absence. Amanda, on the other hand, missed her new conversation partner. I began to get annoyed by her constant fidgeting and looking around impatiently. I put away my book and looked over at Amanda.

Amanda saw my look and took it as a sign of me asking what was wrong. Amanda spoke quickly, "I just wonder if maybe we offended him somehow. Maybe we should apologize."

I continued to stare at her. Apologize? Just what is she talking about now?

"Maybe if we offer him some desserts and tea he would forgive us. Wait, what if something happened to him?!" She gasped, "What if he hates us?!"

I looked at her unresponsively, "We didn't do anything."

She puffed out her cheeks as she scolded me, "You must have chased him away somehow! And here I thought you actually liked this one."

What gave her that idea? I merely only entertained him for a moment. Really. Amanda has a superpower of connecting dots that may not be there.

She pouted when she didn't hear a response back from me, "But, you've gone and chased him away. Now I'm lonely. Oh well. I guess I will just tell you about that little beetle I let live in the corner of the bathroom."

Am I going to have to bring Raylon back just to cure myself of her chatter?

The next day I began to search for him on my way to class. Every time I saw him, he quickly ran away. I sat down in one of my classes and watched him over my book as he walked in. He quickly noticed me and rushed to sit on the opposite side of the room.

I wasn't the only one to realize what had happened.

Everyone else realized that Raylon must have been another victim of the merciless Moao. They all began to pity him.

Raylon however, felt as though he was being stared at by a predator. He hesitantly turned to me and saw me staring at him over my book. I didn't even try to hide my gaze. He quickly turned away in embarrassment. Although he managed to remain calm and collected, he wasn't able to listen to the lecture.

After the class was dismissed, he began to talk to another group until he saw me approaching out of the corner of his eye. His face twisted as soon as our eyes met. He quickly said goodbye and disappeared within a blink of an eye.

I froze in my steps and looked at the now-empty space indifferently.

He is avoiding me! And what did that look even mean? Oh well. I guess I will just have to deal with Amanda and her whining.

I turned away and walked into the garden. Amanda turned in anticipation, but her face fell when she noticed it was only me. As I sat down, she began whining, "So he's really not coming again?"

"He avoided me." Amanda's face drop in surprise. I pulled out my book as I confirmed her fear, "He may hate us."

Amanda began to sob, "We won't even be able to make up for this with our lives!"

I quickly tuned out Amanda's dramatics and began to read my book. I wasn't going to waste my time if he really didn't want to speak with us. Over the next few days, I went about my business as normal. Eventually, Amanda had run out of steam.

I walked to my second class of the day looking forward to it. They only held the history class once a week and it was one of the few classes I could tolerate. Learning the history of the world helped me understand where I was. This one was particularly interesting because it was dedicated to the dark arts.

Ever since I arrived in this world and found out there was magic, I only had one agenda.

To learn the dark arts.

I flipped open my book and began to read it as men entered the room. This class was required for the men of the academy to learn. Women didn't usually take this class because it was seen as too vicious and dark for a "poor weak" woman. Instead, the women of the Academy took light magic courses which usually included healing and herbalism. I wasn't as interested in these topics as I had already learned everything that they could have possibly taught.

The short teacher hobbled in and looked around the room. He had a grumpy attitude with chin-length curly white hair and a short beard. He didn't like me since I never paid attention in class. However, the headmaster always told him to keep his distance and not to challenge me. This only infuriated him more. He couldn't believe that the headmaster wouldn't do anything about my behavior.

He was the Headmaster! His strength and skill in magic were the closest to the Gods.

The teacher ignored his ire and cleared his throat, "Alright class, today the topic will be on the use of dark arts in torture during the Quing Dynasty."

He looked at me and glared when he noticed I was reading a book paying him no attention. He continued angrily, "Their most favored form of torture was the use of fire spells. This kind of magic is now prohibited in all nations due to its unpredictability and destruction. Before it was prohibited, they would use it to burn prisoners alive or to burn their limbs. They would also heat up sharp metals to use on the skin, usually attacking the most critical and sensitive parts of the body."

As the professor continued to explain the method of torture, I felt my hands shake. I gripped my book to quell it. I grimaced as the sensation of fiery needles began to spread from my fingertips across my arms. I gritted my teeth as I felt the familiar feeling of someone digging in my arm with a cauterizing tool. My screams from a previous life echoed in my ears.

Please! I don't know anything! Stop! Just Kill me!

Laughter echoed in my mind, "Burn the bottom of his feet."

NOOO! Please, just kill me! PLEASE!

I shook my head trying to dispel the distant memories. I could feel my body start to convulse. It was telling me to run. I stood up quickly dropping my book to the ground. I hurried out of the room, struggling to stay conscious in the present moment.

"Oi!" The professor shouted at me as I was getting up to leave. It was as if all his pent-up frustration began to pour out at once. He shouted, "I am sick of your rude behavior! You can't just not pay attention or leave whenever you feel like it just because- YIP!"

Before he could finish telling me off, three knives stuck into the wall. Two were beside his head and one between his legs.

All were too close for comfort.

Nobody had seen them thrown, but all knew who it had come from.

I quickly rushed out of the room as the professor fainted from fear. Chaos ensued in the room as half checked on the professor and the other half began to chat to themselves. Sure enough, you should never try to tell off "the terrible Moao". They all shivered as the room seemed to have dropped several degrees from the incident.

Raylon looked towards the door and felt unsettled. He picked up my book before rushing out of the room with a troubled expression. He quickly ran after me, not knowing if it was out of concern or curiosity, he just knew he had to follow.

I took deep breaths to stabilize me, but quickly felt my steps fall out of sync. My vision began to blur as I struggled to stay aware.

The exquisite walls and floors began to morph into something much sinister. Everything began to turn dark as the only light was from the spare candles on the walls. The wax dropped onto the cold cobblestone floor.

Blood and earth assaulted my sense of smell.

I clutched my sides in pain and fell to one knee. Their voices echoed as a searing pain burned my hands, causing me to double over in pain.

I trembled as I looked at my hands in front of me.

No longer were they the hands of an elegant, pale woman. The hands were now thicker and covered in blood. The fingernails were missing and the skin that was visible was covered in festering blisters and burns.

A voice echoed from beside me, "Looks like that wasn't enough. He's still awake. Lash his feet."

A painful slash whipped against my foot, tearing its skin wide open. The blisters were broken open and mixed with the blood.

I couldn't catch my breath as the world spun from the pain.

Ugh. STOP! AGH!

"Heh, not so tough now eh?"

*gasp*

"Maybe we ought to cut off his toes until he talks? HAHAHA!"

I threw my hands over my ears to drown out the hideous laughter. But it was in vain. I started screaming, "SHUT UP! YOU-! KILL ME!"

Raylon heard the sudden scream and flinched.

He didn't ponder the reason why and broke out into a sprint. As he got closer to the person screaming, it became colder until eventually, it was as if he was in the tundra. He came to my side, but I had no idea he was there as I doubled over in pain.

His intuition told him to run as he saw the magic currents begin to crawl over my body. I snapped my back towards him and in response, he took a step back unconsciously in fear. My head snapped back to the side and bent towards him, revealing the whites of my eyes.

I no longer knew where I was.

I strained to speak through gritted teeth, "It hurts. It hurts. Please, kill me. It hurts. It hurts."

As I repeated the phrase several times, a sharp cracking sound sounded around us. Slowly, the windows began to crack as they vibrated from the pressure.

He realized what was happening.

He had only heard about it in stories because it was so rare. Individuals with overwhelming power can lose control of it when faced with instability. They become human bombs that could destroy an entire nation. His body wanted him to run, but he knew he had to stop me if he had any chance at survival.

I let out a bloodcurdling scream sending shockwaves into the hall. The windows burst and he tried to protect himself from the shards. He quickly ran up to me and quickly jabbed at the vagus nerve in my neck causing me to pass out.

He held me and looked at me with a complex expression, "...I'm sorry."