"El?"
"Bro?"
But… there was only silence.
"What... happened to him?" she asked in frustration, feeling a growing dread as she recognized this familiar look on his face—a look she had only seen once before.
"I don't know…" Rizel responded, staring at the hollowed-out eyes of Ryan, his expression completely blank.
"El… Are you okay… El?" She reached forward to touch him, but just then—
"Don't touch him," said Selena, as she blocked off Ariana, who realized what she was about to do and halted. "I will take care of him," she said, then smiled, looking at her and Rizel before hooking her arms with Ryan's. "Let's go," she smiled and said, and suddenly… Ryan stood.
"Huh?" Both girls blurted, but Silver just frowned.
Then they both began walking out.
Ariana bit her lips, conflicted at this point.
Though a part of her hated him to the core, there was still a part of her that cared for him—a part that, no matter how much she might try to deny it existed, resurfaced after seeing him like that again after so many years.
Rizel, on the other hand, was fed too little information with too many scattered pieces of the puzzle, so no matter how much her brain tried to piece together the conversation she just heard, or even his sudden actions, she couldn't figure it out.
And it only made things worse.
She was becoming more curious.
…
…
Ryan walked through the corridor quietly with Selena, his movements bordering on robotic.
And that was actually what was happening here—he wasn't actually the one moving, if one could look quite closely. Due to Selena's absurd manipulation with her telekinesis ability, it looked almost as if he was the one walking.
Within an hour of walking, they were there.
She tapped his meta-watch, then a whirring sound was heard before the door clicked open.
She then walked in with him, and after a few steps he collapsed on the bed. So did she, but not on the bed—directly on him instead.
She looked at his hollowed-out ash-colored eyes, devoid of emotion. It was just as though he was a hollow shell.
"It started already…" she said, touching his cheek.
"You know…" she said, looking at the top bunk above, "You are such a fool." She smiled, then shook her head.
"I wonder what you'll do when you realize who the woman you were MADE to fall so madly in love with really is." Her finger then traced his lips, making her way down until she stopped on his chest.
"Come out, #######. I know you can hear me," she said, her previous cheerful expression gone. Suddenly, those ash-colored eyes of the young man turned to bright gold, and a voice—not his own—left his lips.
"Who are you?" was all the entity could ask, as it could not fathom how she knew his true name.