บท 5: Chapter5
#Chapter5
Ariel's hands were big and warm. She looked at his flowing brown hair as they ran. She felt his pulse through his palms, her heart was beating fast and so was his. She didn't know where he was taking her, they were just running aimlessly, away from that man who was chasing them.
/"Ajax! Come back to Arthur!/" He shouted as he ran towards them with his servants. She turned her head and looked at them. Arthur almost grabbed her by her hair but Ariel pulled her towards him, and moved his other palm towards Arthur.
/"DON'T TOUCH HER!/" He roared and the barely around them turned to gold spearheads, launching themselves at them. Ariel began running again and saw a train track. A train was approaching. Arthur and his servants ran as far as they could and the spears slowly turned back to barely.
But by then, Ariel and Jevelene had jumped on the slow moving train.
/"Ajax!/" Arthur ran towards him and the train began gaining pace.
/"Come back to me! I BOUGHT YOU!/"
Jevelene looked at Ariel. His brunette hair was flowing in the wind. It looked soft and touchable. The train moved faster and faster, leaving behind a chasing Arthur, left in despair.
/"AJAX!/"
His screams were covered under the horn of the train. Ariel moved towards Jevelene and hugged her gently. With his past choked under those train tracks, where was that train leading them to? There was only one way to find out.
Jevelene looked outside the window, looking at a town that never liked her. It was the first time she was travelling out of it, first time she was sitting in a train. She closed her eyes and felt the wind on her face.
Ariel smiled, /"So, you don't want to know who that man was?/"
/"I know who he was,/" She replied.
/"What? Really? Who?/"
/"Someone who didn't deserve you,/"
/"Hah, yeah. Do you think I deserve you?/"
She smiled, /"You deserve better,/"
/"I do,/" He looked outside the window.
/"I'll help you find them,/"
/"Who?/"
/"Someone perfect for you. Your star spirit!/"
He looked outside, /"You mean a fuckbuddy servant?/"
/"No! What?! Your soulmate!/"
He crossed his legs and rested his face over his palm, /"Soulmate.../"
As night hit, Ariel got up and woke Jevelene up, /"The train is slow. We should get down right now. If you go a few more stations, we might get into trouble with the train staff. We are travelling without a ticket afterall,/" He told her and she complied.
They got down on a dark road, covered by fog. It was cold and she was shivering. They watched the train leave. Ariel walked ahead of her, holding her hand in his. She followed him quietly.
/"Where are we?/" She asked as she looked up at the nape of his neck.
/"I don't know, Jevelene. What? You're tired already? Weak,/"
/"I'm not weak!/" She left his hand and walked ahead of him.
/"See! I can walk faster than–AH!/" She fell into a deep ditch. Ariel looked down from above and began laughing, /"Yeah, you're not weak. You are weak and fucking stupid,/" He continued laughing.
Once he was satisfied, he leaned down, /"You okay though?/"
She didn't reply.
/"Jevelene?/" He got on his knees and leaned on the ditch and felt something crawling on his hands.
He looked up and found himself covered by black smoke, /"Forbidden magic?/" And soon many black shadow jumped out of the ditch. His face lost its composure and his brows furrowed, /"Ghouls,/"
There were many of them. His eyes glowed orange and his nails turned to gold, resembling golden claws. One of the black shadows ran towards him and he scratched his face and jumped back. He pressed his hands on the ground and it turned into mercury. He took some the liquid metal into his arms and threw it at the ghouls.
As it flew towards them, it turned into uranium darts which exploded the moment they touched the ghouls' body. He removed his shirt and turned it into a sword. He ran at them. He slashed down four of them within ten seconds.
He was on a rampage when suddenly he heard his name, /"ARIEL!/" He turned and saw Jevelene surrounded by the ghouls. He ran towards her, /"JEVELENE!/" And all the ghouls ran away from her.
/"Are you okay?/" He asked and Jevelene hugged him, /"Jeve–/" He felt a paralyzing pain on his shoulder.
It was not Jevelene.
It was a ghoul disguised as her. Its teeth were into his flesh. He tried to push it away but all other ghouls flocked around him.
/"Divine spirit energy!/"
/"It’s delicious!/"
His fingers gently dropped the sword in his hands and his body was covered with dark blight rotting flesh. He began losing his senses as more and more ghouls flocked on his body, like vultures feeding on dead meat.
Jevelene crawled out of the ditch with a ghoul sticking to her back, /"Ariel!/" She shouted and ran towards him. But someone reached him before her. One slash and all the ghouls moved away from Ariel. He fell on ground, covered in blood and blight.
/"Ariel–/"
/"Don't touch him,/" She heard and looked beside her. It was an Asian man in his twenties probably. He wore a red changshan and held a bottle of water in his hands. He sprayed the water on Ariel while chanting some spells and Ariel coughed blood.
His body gave off steam and he screamed, /"ARIEL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!/" Jevelene screamed.
/"Removing his blight,/" He replied.
Ariel lost consciousness but his skin turned back to normal. The blight was gone. Jevelene couldn't believe what just happened.
/"I'm done, Milord,/" A man with blue hair stood behind him in a blue changshan. She looked around. All the ghouls were gone.
/"Good work, Maks. Get the car,/"
/"Ariel!/" Jevelene got on her knees and touched his face.
/"He is fine now. Just sleeping,/" Maks said.
She looked at them, /"Who are you people?/"
He looked at her and smiled, /"Hello young lady, I'm Aleksei Vasiliev. And this is my star spirit, Maks, 'The Leadership of Love'. We are exorcists. We were called here to deal with some ominous presence but looks like the ghouls got you before us,/"
/"The Leadership of Love?/" She gasped, /"An elite star!/"
/"Erm yes?/"
/"Oh my God!/" She covered her smile with her fingers, /"I never thought I'd meet one in this lifetime. You're the nineth knight, right?/"
/"She knows her shit,/" Aleksei whispered to Maks.
/"Yes, I am,/" Maks replied.
She looked into his eyes and then looked at Aleksei, /"You're really lucky,/"
He laughed and pressed him elbow on Maks' shoulder, /"So, two demigods, what are you doing here so late at night?/"
/"We are lost,/" Jevelene said.
/"We'll take you home. Where are you from?/"
/"Home?/" She looked at Ariel and then back at Aleksei, /"We don't have a home, we are lost,/"
/"Okay, you know what, I know the perfect place for you both,/" Aleksei smiled. He took them to his residence. Ariel slept comfortably on Aleksei's bed. Jevelene took a bath, Maks dressed her hair and got her a sleeping robe.
She looked at him as she ate her dinner.
/"What is it?/" Aleksei asked.
/"Nothing... I just got reminded of dad./" She looked at Maks, /"You're really so lucky,/"
Aleksei looked at her, /"Yeah?/"
/"You have someone who loves you so uncondionally. All your flaws and weaknesses don't mean a thing to them. And they would never leave you or hurt you. They will stay with you forever as your best everything. They will understand you, love you and make you more you.
Stars in human form
Are the most beautiful thing happened to the divine realm I guess.
Only lucky ones have them.
Only the lucky ones./"
Maks and Aleksei looked at each other,
/"You should go sleep now. Tomorrow, we are leaving for China,/" Aleksei smiled. Maks guided her to her room and put her to bed.
/"Mister Maks,/" Jevelene looked at him as she lay on her bed.
/"Yes?/"
/"Can I touch you?/"
He leaned towards her and she pressed his head /"...You are warm. I didn't expect that, what a surprise,/"
/"You'll get more surprises. Just get a star spirit,/" He moved away and switched off the lights, /"Good night,/"
She turned to her side, /"I'm not sure if I'm reaching for the stars...or just standing in the dark with my hands in the air,/"
Next morning, she woke up to the sunshine. She looked around. Her bed was warm, she didn't have to sleep on the floor anymore, no more cooking for her grandmother, no more rebukes.
It felt free.
It felt good with a tint of sadness like lemon in water.
Maks entered her room and kept her dress on her bed, /"Breakfast in thirty minutes. Kindly take a shower before showing up,/" He left.
Meanwhile, Ariel had a small chat with Aleksei who explained him how he got there. He had taken a bath by then and was ready for breakfast. He wore a royal blue cotton shirt and blue jeans.
Aleksei looked at his golden bracelets as he drunk his soup, /"Why are you wearing those shackles? Are you–/"
/"Yes. I've had physical relationship with a young man before. I'm a runaway,/"
/"A catemite, huh. Well, we should get rid of them,/"
/"We can't,/"
/"Nothing wrong in trying. Maks!/"
Maks took a huge hammer and Ariel kept his hand on the floor. Maks hit the bracelets and the floor beneath it broke but the bracelets were intact.
/"They can't be broken./" Ariel got back up, /"And it's fine. They aren't uncomfortable,/"
Aleksei just stared at him
/"But for a boy, you are really pretty,/" Aleksei said.
Ariel smirked, /"I get that a lot–/"
/"I'm ready,/" He heard Jevelene's voice and looked aside. She sat before him in a red frock. Her hair was well done into a high ponytail and she smelled of shampoo.
She looked at him.
He looked at her.
She looked away, but then looked back at him.
He was still looking.
-To be continued
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