บท 20: Half Bird Man

Elijah hesitated but she knew she shouldn't prevent someone from doing a job. If it was indeed an important task, she thought it shouldn't hinder it.

"Okay, I don't think it's a problem."

Mr. Theria smiled.

"I'll pick you up, in about an hour, so enjoy your meal in peace. If you want, you can read a book on the shelf in that corner."

Elijah followed Mr. Theria's index finger.

"Wasn't it there before?"

"I added it, so you have some entertainment while I have to do something else."

"Isn't there anyone else who can accompany me here?"

"Too bad, everyone was busy tonight."

"Oh. All right," Elijah took a breath to convince herself that she could be alone.

"Oh yes, let me know if Max is back."

"Sure," replied Mr. Theria. "Then, I go first."

Mr. Theria closed the door after allowing Elijah to sit in her chair.

After the door closed, Elijah stared at the dining table filled with food. Not only heavy food but there are a variety of snacks. Mr. Theria has taken everything into account.

"All right. I'm alone, as usual," Elia said inwardly.

Since the experience of moving places in a very very short time with Mr. Theria, Elijah's stomach has begun to snout.

"At that time it seemed that Theria also realized that I was hungry, but it would be a shame that I was very hungry even though I had just eaten," Elijah said inwardly when she began to choose which food she would enjoy first.

The aroma of Theria cuisine is very inviting to the appetite.

"I wonder what the secret recipe is. But yes it's useless also if I ask for the secret recipe, I never cooked myself anyway."

Before eating, Elijah had noticed the interior of the room which was dominated by wood brown, simple natural lighting from firefly-like animals attached to the ceiling on the dining table.

Elijah was slow when moved the spoon into her mouth. But the food is good. I don't have an appetite.

Elijah looked at the right and left sides.

"Why do I feel familiar with this place? Like it's been living here a long time. Not just the place, but since I first saw him, I've felt that I have known Theria for a long time."

Elijah looked at the bookshelf in the corner. Theria does have a good sense of spatial arrangement. The thing that didn't exist before could be made to merge with this entire room, as if it had been there for a very long time. Elijah smiled admiringly at Theria's cleverness.

Because the appetite was not good, Elijah chose to console herself with one of the books on the shelf. She sits back when she makes a decision. The book in her hand was a hard green color.

"Waw, the volume of this book is amazing. I've never seen a book this solid. What's in it?"

Elijah opened it with curiosity that made her not want to delay knowing the contents. On the cover of the book was not written the title, so she had to open the page. On the first page is written, "Half Bird Man."

"Oh, this must be a fairytale. But, this world is a virtual world that contains creatures that are considered myths all by other worlds. Maybe this is a real story, at least for the world? Half-bird Man, could there be? Who's the author?"

Elijah searches for the author's description on the last page of the book because on the front page there is none, nor does it on the cover as if the author wants to be the last thing the reader knows. Elijah discovered the name "Kinnaras."

"Kinnaras? Strange name."

Elijah spelled the name once more.

"Why did the author choose the name Kinnaras? Did this book become a hit using the name Kinnaras? No writer in the world uses the name Kinnaras. It's the first time I know."

Although not sure, Elijah continued to open the pages of the book. Looks like poetry.

"I've never enjoyed poetry. How to enjoy poetry. Anything read is enough or must use a certain rhythm. Let's just read it."

Elijah then enjoyed the verses that were written. Each verse is numbered. Every number is like explaining every scene. What happened to the character is explained in one number. Then the next number contains the feelings of the character. Next again contains the scene and so on.

"The poetry I know today is not formatted like this. The narrative is made linearly without numbering. What does this number mean?" Elijah was curious but there was no one to talk to. Then she sighed. "It feels like reading Kinnaras' work isn't the right one."

"Was I hypnotized by Theria? I could feel comfortable in a foreign place like this. Well, not entirely foreign anyway. It's just, that this isn't my home. Hah... My house doesn't feel like home either. I'm used to being alone."

Elijah moved on to another book. As a novel, the author is still the same, Kinnaras. When reading the first page, Elijah was treated to a very different writing style to today's writers.

Elijah began to feel the unique things of Kinnaras' book. The subject matter is also deep. The theme is the same, romance, but the deepening is different. I could feel the writer falling deeply in love with the characters. Not only that, the setting of the place became the setting of the story as well, the author seemed to enjoy the place, as if the author was on location.

"Could Kinnaras have been a writer who lived in those days?" Elijah thought again.

"Perhaps. There's been a lot of strange things that's happened to me since my mother's death. Even in retrospect, even before my mother died, I often experienced unexpected things. I thought I was hallucinating, but come to think of it now, after all this, I don't think it's a hallucination or dream."

Elijah suddenly sat up straight because she remembered her conversation with Melianor.

"Sunshine said I could find things I missed with the tarot. What if the person who was after my mother was already near me but I didn't realize it?" Elijah was nervous.

"What if that person wasn't a human, but an invisible creature, like a ghost or a demon. Max and everyone here told me that my mother's death was related to the underworld."

Elijah stood tall. She thought she should look for Theria and talk to him rather than wait. She wanted to do something as soon as possible to find certainty about her mother's death. She didn't want to sit there waiting like this anymore.

Elijah ran to the door.

"Oh shit!"

Elijah was shocked by the electrical power that hit her hand.

Elijah saw the hot palm of her hand. Quickly she blew it. Her body felt burning. The shocked sensation made her rise.

"Damn it! What are you all hiding from me?!"

Elijah shouted at the space. No one answered. She felt the creatures that illuminated the room with dim light understood it, but they chose silence. Realizing that no one would answer her annoyance, she then set her breath.

Elijah stood holding on to the side of the table. The sensation of the electric shock still hadn't disappeared from her hand. She felt her hands numb for a moment and was now recovering.

"What if all this is just a trap? What if Max conspired with them to frame me? What do they want from me?"

Elijah tried to think calmly. The problem was she didn't know anything so didn't know what to believe in that situation. She feels lost. She doesn't want to cooperate. Her mind was stagnant at work, all that was left was a sense of despair.

"Max..." Elijah whispered, "What are you doing?"

Elijah looked around. Then she realized the amount of food is very much, too much to eat for one person. The food was dominated by bread that would not expire for a week. Fruits, drinks, and other snacks are also sufficient for a week or maybe more.

Elijah didn't want to think about bad things but it just happened. She spread her gaze around. The shelf with the books caught her attention and soon she felt a hidden purpose for the incongruity.

"Theria deliberately prepared everything. So... a week, you guys locked me here for a week? Here!? Why!?"

Elijah analyzed, they locked me up here with a good cause. I think so, judging by the way they left food and books for me. They don't want me to starve and they don't want me to get bored either.

"Food for a week and a book to make me feel at home here," Elijah laughed bitterly.

"How critical is this situation anyway?! Why am I not directly involved?"

Elijah then recalled Theria's words describing Melianor and Max intending to get her used to the Magi, so Melianor took her to the mansion.

"Does this have anything to do with it?"

"Why don't they consider my feelings?"

"Why did he lock me up like this? This food supply is enough for a week, but who wants to eat in this situation!"

Fresh fruits look suspicious.

"Do you have poison in every food? But there's no way he's going to kill me. If Sunshine or Melianor, Max, and Theria, if they want to kill me, they can do it in the first place."

Elijah sat wondering what they wanted from her.