novelraw Chapter 244: Back and forth
Chapter 244: Back and forth
"You’ve changed"
Zen didn’t reply and started walking
"Where are we going?"
He didn’t reply either
"Are you going to ignore me all day? You sort of have a job to do"
"..."
"You’re not worried I’ll tell on you?"
That was the last thing he was worried about,in fact,that made things so much easier for him, since regardless of if he actually did this and how well he did it, she’d most likely tell Tim whatever she wanted,so there was no point in trying at all.
She smirked
"How interesting"
"What do you want?"
He finally asked
"Um isn’t that obvious? I already said I needed a chaperone"
He raised a brow but didn’t stop or look back
"You can’t keep ignoring me forever"
"She’s right"
Theia pointed out
"And why would we?"
Zen wasn’t trying to ignore her,he was trying to think. As strange as it was to admit, his current situation was a complicated one, and he couldn’t be sure what exactly to do. Though it wasn’t entirely his choice to make
It was up to a vote.
He stopped moving, eyes still facing forward as the three discussed
"There we go. Now let me see my old friend"
She said, holding his shoulder and turning him around to look at him
"Well that’s definitely different"
She said with a fascinated expression as she started circling him,her eyes tracing over him like she was looking for something
"So are we doing this or..."
"Why are you here?"
Asked Zen
"The same reason you are"
...
"Where have you been?"
Asked Zaine
"Everywhere, and nowhere"
....
"What do you want?"
Asked Zyro
"To live up to my name"
Three parallel questions,three deceptively vague answers, though they had to admit, the questions were pretty vague as well. They didn’t ask her to elaborate. That was more than enough
The chances of her lying were low. After all if she was just planning on lying,there was no need to make her answers so vague
"Are we done playing twenty questions?"
"..."
"Come on. Just show me around for a bit and take me into a dungeon. It’ll be fun"
She smirked, leaning in to whisper
"I didn’t tell anyone your little secret"
Then there was that
The three of them were still debating and luckily they’d come to a consensus
"Fine "
As odd as it was to agree to this request, they also had their reasons. It wasn’t ideal, but when was anything ever
"Yes! Let’s go"
She said, walking at his side as he started moving again
************
"So where are we looking first?"
"I thought we’d try her dad’s place. It’s the only place she’s ever talked about other than school"
"That’s a decent idea"
"But it’s on the other side of the city"
Zaria sighed
"By the time we get there and back it’ll probably be dark already"
"Meaning if she isn’t already there, we’d have wasted the whole day"
Sable finished before sighing as well
"Where are the boys?"
"Zen’s in the principal’s office and the others just said they were meeting up with someone called Giovanni"
She massaged her temple in annoyance
"So much weird stuff is going on and I can’t follow it"
She turned to look at Sable and noticed her eyes were vacant
"Hello?"
"Uh... what?"
"You’re thinking about something?"
"..."
Zaria thought for a second
"Is it about that thing you can’t tell me?"
Sable nodded
"It’s just... something’s bothering me "
"Okay?"
"I have to...do something, something I don’t have a choice in , but I just feel like I can’t "
"Is someone forcing you to do something? I can help -"
"Nah"
Sable dismissed the idea
"I wish that was it. At least then I could just cut off their hand and be done with the issue. This is... more about who I am"
Zaria seemed all the more confused and trying her best to refrain from prying, she replied
"Well then, there’s something about this situation that you don’t like, right?"
Sable nodded
"Is it something you can change?"
"I don’t think so"
Zaria thought for a second
"Well then, what would make it more bearable "
Sable seemed confused, tilting her head unconsciously
"I mean what could you do to make it less...bad. you can’t change the situation then change an aspect of it, one small thing ,something you can control. It might help the outcome "
Sable went quiet for a second
"So...if I can’t change the answer, change the question "
"I guess? Maybe I’m just rambling. I’ve never really been good at giving advice, plus I don’t know what -"
"No it’s fine,I... think I have an idea"
’Though it’s possibly the dumbest one I’ve ever had. Zen’s not going to be happy about it’
"Really?"
Zaria seemed doubtful but happy to help
"Yeah!... Maybe we can try the same with Jade?"
"..."
"Change the question,I mean. Instead of looking for where she is now, let’s start where she was"
"That might help..."
Zaria said,her voice suddenly getting lower
"Yeah, and if she’s close by I can sme- find her... pretty easily"
"I don’t know why I didn’t think about it. Zen said he already checked but he didn’t really look for her in the surrounding area"
"Alright so... the infirmary?"
"Well.... not exactly "
*********
"So where to first?"
Zen ignored her,he was already in the middle of an argument
"Boys..."
’We can’t just attack her in broad daylight. She’s a student, and now our classmate’
"Are you listening to me?"
"The library. I was ordered to get you caught up, that’s what we’re doing"
He answered finally.
"Really?"
She pouted
"I thought we’d go to your room to do that. Public spaces are loud and annoying. I’m sure you agree with me there"
They finally reached the academy library building,a place he seldom visited.
He walked in with her in tow, immediately heading towards the academic section. Weirdly enough,most of the books weren’t even physical. Luckily that meant they were also easier to hold. His eyes traced across the rows and columns before he pulled out one,then to the left another two
"This should cover the first week "
He muttered and looked behind him
She was gone
He raised a brow but didn’t think much about it and kept going , picking up more digital books that covered everything she’d missed.
He finally stopped. He was done, but now had no idea where she’d gone.
He decided to look around, wandering the library for a bit before he heard her voice
"Hey! Over here!"
He turned around to see her waving at him. She was in the romance section,nose in a physical book she’d found
"Where did you go?"
She asked, looking confused
He gestured to the books but she waved them off
"Those aren’t important now "
He just dropped them all on a desk
"Done "
She looked up from her book and at him.
"You do understand what "Help her catch up" means, right?"
"I got you your books "
She rolled her eyes and suddenly disappeared from view
Teleportation,her ability
"Yeah, and you’ve been ignoring me all day"
Her voice came from behind him.
He turned around and saw her standing there
"We used to be friends"
"We never were. You know what you di-"
She disappeared again, this time reappearing right in front of him
"Oh please. Can you even say exactly what "I did" to make you so upset?"
"..."
"That’s what I thought."
"What do you want from me?"
"Speak your mind. Mind games don’t look good on you,so if you’ve got something to say,say it"
"..."
"Try me"
...
" What happened back then. Why?"
"You don’t want to know what?"
"..."
"I thought you were someone you weren’t. Nothing personal "
"Did you think Gary was that person too?"
"Something like that. Since when do you care about him though?"
Zen didn’t answer. Did she know he was the reason her control on him faded
"What did you do to him?"
She raised a brow
"His mind is foggy, memories faded, even his abilities are unstable now "
"And what? That’s all my fault?"
He shrugged
"It all happened after you left, and I know about your relationship, everything, even what you did in the woods"
She froze for a second
"You-... I’m still not hearing any evidence. And if he likes to have a little exotic fun every once in a while, what’s it to you?"
"So you didn’t mind control him"
She snickered
"You do realize the problem with that term, right? "Mind control " as you call it is almost impossibly broad. You can control a guy’s mind by...I don’t know, spiking his food,or criticizing him,or even a fucking intervention...or just fucking. What exactly are you implying i did?"
Zen didn’t reply. She had a point. He of all people knew it and he was definitely guilty of it, probably even moreso than her.
Something about her phrasing bothered him though
No normal person would suggest she could do what he suspected she did, and she’d already demonstrated her ability multiple times, which cleared her of suspicion,unless you had access to some information most didn’t
.
.
.
.
.
Was she... trying to get him to admit he wasn’t human?