Bab 34: Familiar Presence
Once evening came at that very same day, I headed to the northern forest for my investigation. I knew I would get into deep trouble once somebody found out about it so I snuck out of the dorm and inside the northern forest. I dared not use teleportation either since it might activate all sorts of alarm in the area.
Minutes later, I reached the old school building and stared at the eerie building for a few minutes, debating whether it was a good idea to enter or not.
-Since I’m already here and the night is still long, I might as well enter and investigate.
I entered the old building as carefully as possible, eyeing everything despite the darkness. The atmosphere of the building was creepy and if I didn’t believe in logic, I might've believed the place was haunted.
Just as I got deeper inside, I suddenly felt a familiar presence. I immediately whipped my head around, trying to find the source of it.
-No way. It can’t be.
I felt some sort of pull from inside me, telling me to find the presence. With that, I followed my instinct. I could tell I was getting closer to the presence since I could feel my energy churning.
As I walked, I kept thinking, wondering, why the presence was there in the first place. Said presence was my fox core.
Seven years ago, when I found myself inside Luna’s body, I lost my fox core which made me unable to access my true powers. I had always thought that since I was inside a mortal body, my fox core was destroyed at the same time I plunged to my death.
-Wait, did I really die back then?
I stopped on my tracks when I felt another presence inside the building. This time, it wasn’t just one presence but actually multiple presences. Of course I was a bit baffled and immediately retreated to somewhere I could hide. To my surprise, somebody else was already there.
I slowly approached the figure, being careful not to make any sounds, and with one swift movement, I held his mouth and whispered; “Don’t make a sound.”
“Mmnnh?”
I looked at my captive and saw a pair of familiar sea-green orbs. And with the limited light that we had, I could see a few strands of white hair sticking out from the cloth that hid his hair.
“Kai?” I whispered in surprise. He only nodded and mirrored my shocked expression.
All of a sudden, I felt the presences get closer so I dragged Kai into a darker corner and hid there. I could hear shuffling of feet and whispered conversations, but minutes later, they were all gone. I immediately decided to get out of the building, dragging Kai with me.
Thankfully, the white-haired prince did not struggle and just followed me silently. Once we were in a considerable distance from the abandoned school building, I let go of Kai and confronted him.
“What were you doing there?” I asked.
“I should ask the same thing to you. What were you doing there?”
“I asked first.” this time, I looked at him with a pointed look. I saw him swallow and look down.
“I just wanted to investigate the place. I know I had been there before. Despite the vines and the dilapidated look, I know I had been inside that building before.”
“Why are you so sure about that?” I asked again. We started walking back to the academy. I immediately masked our presence just in case.
“I can feel it. My instinct is telling me, no, screaming at me. Also, I felt some sort of pull ever since we stumbled upon it last time.”
His last sentence made me perk up.
“A pull? What kind of pull?”
“I don’t know. It’s like something’s calling out to me somewhere inside that place.”
-But I felt my fox core’s presence inside there as well. Could it be... it is what’s calling him? But if it is, why? He’s not a fox or a fox spirit. How-
I immediately stopped my thoughts when I remembered something. I faltered and stumbled on my own two feet. Kai noticed it and immediately caught my hand. He held me close and even without intending to our faces were only inches apart.
Silence shrouded us for a moment and we only stared at each other’s eyes. With the limited light from the bright moon in the night sky and my ability to be able to see slightly better in the dark, I could see Kai’s face go red and I felt him hold his breath. Meanwhile, I was also getting flustered and immediately pushed myself away from him, hiding my own red face. I instinctively held my ears and covered it with my hair. Eliza and the others once told me that whenever I was deeply shy or embarrassed my ears would go red.
“Sorry.” I said immediately.
“No, I should be the one who should apologize. I shouldn’t have held you that way.”
“It’s… It’s fine.” I released a sigh and tried to regain my composure. I reminded myself that I was a mature person and I should keep myself together.
Not that it would help in any way.
“Kai.” I called once I was finally composed. “Why would you feel such a pull? And if you had been there before, when and why?”
“My answer is as good as yours, I have no idea. After the Fox’s Curse got activated in my blood, I forgot a lot of things from my childhood.”
-Oh, so I’m not the only one who has memory problems. Wait…
“The Fox’s Curse!” I almost shouted but I held myself back and covered my own mouth.
“Luna?”
“Nothing. Let’s return to our dorms. Let’s have everyone meet at the usual place. We have something to talk about.”
Kai just nodded but then, “Eh? Why were you there Luna?”
I stiffened for a bit before releasing a nervous smile. “Just like you, I felt something pulling me at that place. And besides, I had been sleepwalking lately and I always end up in the northern forest.”
“Oh. Why do we feel attracted to that place anyway?”
“Dunno.” I answered nonchalantly but my mind was already brain-storming for possible ideas; one, my fox core or at least an energy that resembled it was somewhere inside that building, and two, Kai’s Fox Curse has something to do with it. “But we have to be careful. First, let’s tell everyone about what happened tonight. And then, let’s figure out what to do next.”
“Okay. Hey, do you think whatever is inside that place is the reason why this area had become forbidden for everyone to access to?”
I stopped on my tracks and looked at him skeptically. I was also wondering about the same thing. The records in the library were not enough and Senior Leo’s warning to me sounded really suspicious.
-Like they’re hiding something.
“Also,” he continued. I was wondering why he had a lot of questions all of a sudden. “If I’m being attracted to that place because of my Fox’s Curse, then does Luna have something to do with foxes as well?”
Honestly, I didn’t know how to answer him. I couldn’t exactly tell him I was a fox deity. He might think I was weird.
-Eh? Since when do I care what he thinks?
Still, I couldn’t tell him that, so I gave him an answer he would accept.
“My familiar is a fox?” I said but it sounded like a question instead.
“Oh, maybe that’s why.”
I let out a sigh of relief and we continued our way out of the northern forest. When I returned to my dorm, it was already almost midnight and Andrea was still asleep, which was a good thing. I made my way to the bathroom and immediately washed myself. After bathing with warm water, I stood in front of the mirror with a towel wrapped around me. I stared at myself, no, at the mark on my shoulder; a red fox with nine-tails that encompassed the right side of my chest, my upper arm and my entire back.
To be honest, I had no idea where it came from either, but Luna’s body had it for as long as I remembered. The mark was usually invisible, but not by magic, but by some other means. The mark only shows up when my body rises in temperature and bathing in hot water also counts.
“Maybe Luna is connected to foxes as well.” I muttered to myself.
Hadiah
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