Capítulo 22: Unlucky Seven
Growing up, Seven would say he's lived a pretty decent life. He was living alone now, but he was fine. He made enough to get by and not struggle. He had a roof over his head and food to eat. He even made a few friends along the way.
As such, Seven would describe himself as a pretty normal person.
Or, as normal as they come.
Some sort of normal.
Everything about him, even down to his looks, was pretty normal. Brown hair and eyes. Not too tall nor too short. Not too outgoing but not yet boring. He fit in wherever he was, and blended in with the crowd. It was as if he was just your average human, one that you see every day and do not think much about it.
Anyway, today wasn't the day that Seven was planning to change his life.
He just happen to come across a couple who looked as if they were struggling. The blond one seemed to want to eat a Tomato Cheese Bread. They've been really popular lately. And seeing how the blondie was crying and the hooded one unable to do anything about it, Seven assumed that they must be struggling to buy some food.
Usually, like the bystander he was, Seven would just walk by and pretend he didn't see anything. It wasn't any of his business after all. Someone will help them. And that someone is definitely not going to be him.
But when he saw the blondie's eyes. Those deep, blue eyes filled with nothing, he felt a bit of pity. He's never seen someone alive yet dead at the same time. The hooded guy, definitely alive, looked more lost if anything else.
Seven was hesitant at first, but out of the goodness in his heart, he felt like he could be that someone today.
It's okay to not be a bystander once in a while.
So, for the first time in his life, Seven was selfless.
He walked up to them and handed them some money.
Even though he couldn't make out the hooded guy's face, he could feel that the hooded guy was scary. Unbelievably scary. So scary that he can even see the black aura oozing off of him.
But nonetheless, Seven achieved his goal. He was able to give them some money.
Then as he walked away, he felt good about himself. About how much of a kind and giving person he is to those around him.
Now he understood why people liked helping others!
It was a bright and fulfilling moment.
Unfortunately, that happiness didn't last very long. He wasn't even a block away when he started hearing whispers from those around him.
"That must be him!"
His ears perked up.
"He's the one who won against an A-Class Swordsman!"
"I heard his sword is extraordinary!"
"We should recruit him!"
Seven poked one of the whispering members, "Who?"
In disbelief, one of the members kindly answered him, "Don't you know?! That guy with the cloak! I bet he's loaded, I want a sword like his!"
Immediately, Seven felt betrayed.
He turned back to look at the couple he just helped. And sure enough, they definitely didn't look poor. Seven's eyes even caught a glimpse of that bag of money that hung underneath the cloak.
'I've been tricked!'
Seven cried nonexistent tears, but despite how much he felt deceived, he decided that it was fine. It was okay. It was just a few coins. It wasn't going to kill him. He could live on. The world will keep spinning. Time will go on . . .
He just won't ever help anyone ever again.
But just as he steeled himself, he saw how the hooded man disintegrated the bread in his hand. And immediately, Seven was offended and began marching forward.
Out of the goodness of his heart, he lent this man some hard-earned money only for it to be thrown away!
Thus, how he ended up in the current situation.
If Seven could turn back time, he would tell himself to just keep walking. Don't try to be selfless today!
Present:
Seven doesn't know why he's listening to a complete stranger, but he knew his life was on the line.
And that he couldn't say no to money.
So . . . yeah.
He did the only logical thing to do. He stored away all his precious belongings, locked his house, and took only the things he needed. The trip to Tevalon was going to be a long one. It's been years since he's been there.
And, just like he's been told to, Seven was waiting by the gate by dawn. In fact, he's been there since even before the sun had risen. Now, the sun was already fully visible above the horizon.
Currently, Seven was stabbing a small stick into the ground, furiously digging to let out his anger.
'WHERE IS THIS GUY?! I'VE BEEN STANDING HERE FOR HOURS! HE'S THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO BE HERE! IT'S DAWN ISN'T IT?! I'M AT THE RIGHT GATE, AREN'T I?! IF HE DOESN'T COME RIGHT NOW, I'M GOING HO-'
"-Looks like you made it,"
". . . ." Seven shuddered at the low voice before he quickly turned around and greet Rey, "Ehehehe, I'm here,"
"Good," Rey stated, "Let's go,"
Seven followed behind, inwardly crying about his misfortune. He hasn't been threatened nor robbed, yet he felt as if he was forcefully taken as a hostage.
Seven was not going to say anything, but from what he can see, the blondie was still asleep. The hooded guy, Rey, carried him on his back like he weighed nothing. And if Seven remembered correctly, this blondie was a full-grown man who was at least a head taller than he was. He wondered where they got their genes from.
'They're giants . . . '
It's been almost half a day since they've begun their journey and Seven was quiet the entire time. Though he would very much like to talk and have his questions be answered, the aura oozing off of Rey was something he'd like not to trigger. He seemed to be irritated or something.
'He must've woke up wrong or something,'
"Hey," Rey called, making Seven jump, "We're going the right way, right?"
'YOU ASK ME THAT NOW?!' Seven quickly composed himself, "Yea, the next major city isn't far from here. We should be there by tonight,"
"Hm,"
. . . .
'Does this mean . . . . it's okay to talk?'
Nervous, Seven cleared his throat, "I heard you defeated an A-Class Swordsman, congrats,"
Rey abruptly stopped walking, making Seven shut his mouth real quick.
He began to sweat profusely.
". . . He was an A-Class Swordsman?" Rey asked, his voice slightly quiet.
Seven nodded and began to ramble nervously, "Y-yea, Simon right? I believe he just got promoted a couple months ago. He was recently employed by the Jocelyn Family. They're close relatives of the duke! People call Simon the uh . . . the uh . . . I actually don't know, but I heard he's really strong! He also has many-"
"-Quiet,"
"Please spare me!" Seven cried and groveled onto his knees, pleading for mercy.
" . . . " Rey twitched in annoyance.
Today was actually one of the worse days for Rey.
He woke up early this morning and found himself drenched in 'someone's' urine. Then it just so happens that today is the day that Leon decides to have a hard time waking up.
When he went to return his room key, he was surrounded by a small crowd of employees, all wanting to talk to him about something (he didn't hear since they were all talking over each other). Anyway, he somehow found out that there was no breakfast this early in the morning and Rey was not just going to fill his or Leon's stomach with some unhealthy Tomato Cheese Bread.
Then as fate would have it, he saw city guards currently putting up wanted posters of himself. He didn't know why, but he must've done something to attract them. And seeing how the inn employees didn't know of this yet, it looked like the guards have just started doing this.
And if that wasn't bad enough, he found out that there were actually six gates in this city. So he ended up running all over the city trying to find the right gate. Luckily, he saw Seven waiting for him by the fourth gate.
Now, he was just informed that he defeated an A-class swordsman who worked for a family with noble connections.
His discreet, no-attention plan has failed him.
"What else did you hear about me?" Rey asked.
"W-well, you have an amazing sword apparently,"
Rey tsked, 'I should've just bought a dull sword,'
"Um . . . I guess, there are people wanting to recruit you,"
Rey tsked again.
"And you're really really strong!"
This time, Seven heard Rey sigh. But when he peeked up from his groveling position. He saw that the once irritated Rey was now a fuming with anger Rey.
'What do you want me to say?!' Seven cried inwardly.
"What are you doing on the ground?" Rey stated, "Get up,"
Seven quickly got back onto his feet. He stood in a straight posture like a soldier saluting to his captain. And in what felt like a lifetime, Rey began walking again. Seven waited until Rey took five steps before he began walking as well.
After a couple minutes of silence, Seven tested his luck once more.
"So . . . um," Seven began, "Why're we going to Tevalon?"
"Because I want to,"
". . . Oh, I see,"
Seeing how Rey was a powerful swordsman that arose from nowhere, Seven thought this was going to be some sort of grand adventure with an important world-saving mission, but he guess some people really do just travel for fun too.
"Then uh, why am I going with you?"
Rey stopped in his tracks again, making Seven grovel to the ground once more.
There was a really long silence.
'It must be my end for real this time!!!'
As the seconds ticked by, Rey still didn't make any move. Then, as if on queue, Leon had finally woken up from his sleep state. Rey noticed this and set Leon down, stretching his body and trying to get his blood flowing to fully awaken him. Seven watched absentmindedly. When Rey was done, he turned towards Seven. Seven quickly sat up from his groveling position, looking up towards Rey.
"This is Leon," Rey said, "he's my friend,"
'Oh,'
"Tell me, what do you see?"
Seven tilted his head, confused.
Rey sighed, "Look at Leon and tell me what you see,"
"Uhhh . . ."
"I won't ask again,"
". . . Well, I guess he's good-looking-"
Rey glared.
"R-right! You're not asking about his appearance!! Then, um . . . honestly, he looks pretty bad," Dead actually, but Seven wasn't going to say that. It's rude.
"What else?"
'WHAT ELSE?!' Seven panicked. He began eyeing Leon, trying to find anything that sticks out.
First was the eyes, the most noticeable thing Seven saw, even from yesterday. They were definitely dull and lifeless eyes, but that wasn't the only thing. They were slightly puffy, most likely from crying. He had eyebags despite sleeping for so long, probably some sort of stress. He was awake, but it didn't seem like he was actually 'here.' His mind must be somewhere else. Somewhere really far away.
That's probably what Rey wants to hear.
"Well," Seven stated, "Mentally, it doesn't seem like he's here,"
Rey nodded.
Seven then observed the rest of Leon's body. He was definitely in good shape, he wasn't actually dying. And seeing how Rey was carrying him around, he must be taking care of his physical health. But, it seems that's about it. Seven is sure that if Rey wasn't taking care of him, Leon would already have died from sickness or starvation.
"Your friend looks fine, physically," Seven stood up, letting his legs walk over to get a closer look at Leon.
If Rey's deathly aura appeared, Seven didn't feel it as he was too absorbed in his observation.
Seven waved his hand in front of Leon's eyes.
No reaction.
He snapped his fingers, testing to see if those eyes, or his head, will move.
Nothing.
"HEY!" Seven suddenly yelled, making Rey jolt slightly, but nothing from Leon.
Seven then turned around and waited a couple seconds. Then swiftly turned back and loudly clapped his hands together in one single motion, just a few centimeters away from Leon's face.
"Huh," Seven wondered as he tilted his head, "Still nothing-"
"-Are you looking for death?" Rey uttered in a low voice.
If Seven wasn't aware of Rey's deathly aura before, he was definitely aware of it now.
"No!" He began groveling on the ground again, "Please spare me! I was only trying to see if your friend will react! I dare not forget my place again (Whatever that is), please let me live!"
Rey deeply sighed in annoyance, but he held himself back, "So, what did find out then?"
Seven was dumbfounded, "Huh?"
Immediately, Rey had a sword in his hand.
As if that forced Seven's mind to work again, he yelled loud and clear, "We need something to trigger your friend into the same headspace as us!"
"Good," Rey put the sword away and began walking, "You've found the reason why I'm bringing you with us,"
". . . " Seven cried a single tear, 'Why didn't you just tell me?'
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