Chapter 52: Invitation
I barely had to walk to find Allister. Not that he made himself hard to get back to, as the moment he made it out of the possible field of view of Bea, he pressed his back against the wall and sat while hugging his knee.
His gaze looked lost, and so were his hands that fidgeted together with no real purpose.
I watched him silently before sitting next to him.
He didn't look like he wanted to talk, nor even look at me presently. Still, I picked up the Mimikyu plushie beside him and put it directly on his lap.
Allister didn't look toward it, in fact, he barely moved so I wasn't even sure if he felt it.
But I was proven wrong as Allister still reached for it with an absent look and put it closer to his chest.
He didn't say much after that, so I just waited for him as I looked around. There wasn't really anything interesting, but I grew used to just looking at the hallways for the majority of my day when I was still in the Sanctuary, but at least this one is prettier looking.
I continued to look that way until Allister finally opened his mouth.
"I…I should probably go apologize to her." Allister finally said in a rough voice.
"Why should you go apologize? Did you do something wrong?"
Allister weakly nodded. "Yes…Bea only tried to help me become stronger, she didn't mean anything wrong…yet I still slapped her hand and said something rude to her."
I briefly nodded. This was indeed a valid reason for apologizing. "So it was because you were rude to her…why were you rude then?"
"Eh?" Allister looked at me weirdly, before remembering who he was even addressing to. "I acted rudely…because she kept insisting that I became strong…but I don't want to be strong…I do not want to stand for myself."
"Mmh? But why not? Isn't being strong fun? You get to run away when people are annoyed at you, and they don't dare to pursue."
Allister brow slightly rose at what I said, before pushing a weak scoff. "If Bea were there, she would say that running away when you're strong automatically makes you weak…" He slightly opened his eyes to look at me. "Say Luciel…do you consider yourself as strong?"
I immediately shook my head at such a question. "I'm not strong, I'm dangerous."
"What's the difference?"
"Someone strong gets to choose if he wants to be dangerous or not…I do not get to choose. My progenitor is someone strong, even Volo can be considered as strong, but not I."
"…what about Bea?"
I stopped to consider the questions. I didn't know a lot about her, but from what I saw… "She's foolish, she's kind but she's foolish."
"Why? Because she thinks that protecting the weak is something the strong should do?" Allister leaned more into his knee as his face grew more depressed.
"No, there's nothing foolish in that. The strong have the right to impose their thinking on those weaker. And if someone opposes them, then they simply have to prove they are among the strong…and if they're not, then they are weak."
Alliater looked back at me with widened eyes, even if I ignored the cause of what even made him react this way. "Then…why is she foolish?"
I turned my head to look straight at Allister before uttering my next words. "Because she's weak. She does not have the power or the intelligence to spread her will to others, the proof is that despite protecting you, others kept bullying you. Which means she's weak."
Allister grabbed his head as he kept shaking it, as if he was attempting to deny what he just heard. "No…no…it was because I was weak…it was because I was a weak esper that ghost bullied me…and it was because I was weak that Bea's attempts were in vain…I was just an easy prey… It's my fault for being weak."
"So why do you refuse to become stronger? It seems to cause you a lot of worry." I asked in complete disinterest in Allister's panic, not because I didn't care but because I could feel that it would lead nowhere.
Allister wasn't offended by my interrupting, but more shocked that I even did it. But it also made him able to calm down. "Right…you asked this first…sorry…well, the reason why I don't want to be strong…is because the process is painful, and the results are even worse."
Noticing that I didn't fully understand, Allister explained more. "The definition of being strong for Bea is to stand strong to your ambition no matter what others say to them…this is why I can assure you that Bea is strong…but this doesn't mean she's happy. When people said she was the reason they were starving, despite being the one who ate the least even when her condition made her desire more food, she took it with a smile and didn't try to change their minds. When we did got extra food, she gave it to others. When I got bullied, she took the brunt of the attack while never fighting back. Despite all that, she stood strong…"
Allister took a deep breath before hugging his plushie.
"This is why I don't want to become stronger. I do not want to remain strong in front of others…if I had the strength to take all the food for myself…I would, if someone tried to attack me, I would bury them in the ground."
"So if you were stronger, you would be dangerous…like me."
Allister weakly nodded. "Yes…because deep down, I'm a bad person. So it's better that I stay weak for the safety of everyone."
"I do not think so." This time, Allister couldn't hide his surprise at me. "Of course I'm probably wrong, I barely know how the world works, so I can't say I would know you better than yourself…But I feel that if you were truly a bad person, then you would desire more power, you would use your esper power to your benefit even if others had to suffer through it. But you didn't."
Allister pushed a small chuckle at my reasoning. "Eh, I can't do much with my esper power Luciel, I'm only a level 1 after all. This barely allows me to see ghosts, but only if they decide they want to see me…and I can also do this." Smoke suddenly left from Allister's eyes as he pushed a chuckle from my reaction.
"Wow, I didn't know you could do this!"
"Eh…well it isn't really useful." Allister said as the smoke stopped leaving his eye before he took his hand to rub them. "And it also makes my eyes dry, so I avoid it."
"Oh…sorry for making you use them…"
"I was the one who decided to show it to you, so don't apologize…I'm also happy that I got to show it to you…I used them to draw off the bully, so it's fun that it happened in a better context." His smile fell after. "Still…that's the proof that I can't really use my power for anything else…it's not because I'm kind, just that they are useless. Even worse, the simple fact that I'm a ghost esper makes my skin paler, and my muscles more feeble…so gaining strength is harder for me."
I fixed at him before hugging my own knee. "So it's a question of it being too hard, and that you think the results will only harm others?"
"…yes."
I nodded at the reasoning. "Well, that makes sense. I also wouldn't want to get stronger if it only makes me harm others."
"You…you won't try to convince me that I am wrong?"
"About what?"
"That…that I should still try to get stronger?"
"To what end? You do not want to, and I wish to protect you, so I see no point in you becoming stronger."
"Then what about that I'm evil deep down?"
I put my hand on my shin to think. "Well it's true that this is a more difficult problem. Because you are completely persuaded that you are evil, while I'm persuaded that you are not, so if it is impossible to convince either of us, then we might as well agree to disagree."
"…and why do you think I am a good person?"
"Because you're my friend, despite me being dangerous, you still decided to remain, so how can I justify that other than you being the kindest?"
Allister blushed hard and tried to hide his face in between his laps. "Thanks…you."
I stood up before reaching my hand toward me. "So, are you ready to go watch that movie…oh wait, do you prefer to apologize first?"
Allister looked at my hand in hesitation, before bringing up his meltan. "I will apologize now…one instant." He started to press on his keyboard, then closed the screen.
"Alright…I apologized…and I will do it again tomorrow morning…we can go try to convince others to come with us now." He took my hand with some hesitation then stood up.
"Oh right, do you think we will still be fine trying to make them join us? You did say that with Bea, we would be able to completely sway them on our side?"
Allister widened his eyes as he remembered the justification he gave me. "Well…I still believe we can manage something…how bad can it be?"
***
"AAAH!!! PLEASE DON'T EAT MY SOUL!!!" A girl I remembered being called Shauntal screamed as she tried to crawl away from the door.
"…do you want to join us in watching a movie?"
"Hiii! You want to film my murder and make it a movie!"
"That's not what I said."
"Aaah! I made him angry, he will probably eat my soul now!?"
"Is your soul really that delicious?"
"Ah! He is getting curious!"
I felt a thug on my shoulder, which prompted me to look at Allister who shook his head at me. "I don't think she will be convinced."
This wasn't our first dorm we entered, but it was certainly the first one where they didn't slam the door the moment they saw me.
So we try to make Allister knock instead, but it appears she still managed to notice me. Happily, she was too scared to close the door on us, bad news, she still doesn't seem she want to join us.
"Don't…don't worry…Luciel…doesn't want any harm…he just wants to…invite…invite you, to watch…watch a movie." Allister tried to persuade her, but what he didn't expect was for her to lunge at him.
"You must be the herald of this beast! Please! I will serve you for eternity, just allow me to leave beyond it!"
Allister was clearly weirded out, but he didn't have the heart to push her back.
"Can you stop screaming! Some people here are trying to do their home…" A girl with ashen hair was leaving the hallways with an annoyed expression, but froze when she saw us.
"Oh, hi Karen, do you want to watch a movie with us?" I was able to recognize her easily, but she didn't like to appreciate that fact as she turned around wordlessly and walked away.
"NO!!! DON'T LEAVE ME TO THIS SORDID FATE!!!" Shauntal begged as she removed her arm from Allister, but the silence was her answer.
"Is that a no?" I asked just to be sure.
Slam
But my answer was only the sound of a slamming door, quickly followed by the sound of someone moving something heavy right in front of their door.
"Guess that's a no." I said dejectedly before setting my gaze on Shauntal. "What about you?"
"Hiii! I…"
"Of course she would accept, she would love nothing more than the be used as a sacrifice for your future conquest!" A familiar voice suddenly grabbed the shoulder of the girl and pushed her forward to us.
I briefly looked down to see the resigned esper before looking back at the girl I remembered identifying as Acerola, another of the archon. Apparently she was also one of the three archons who wasn't on the side of Lance, but I don't think it mattered, it's not like Lance would try to force us into his team or something.
"As for me, I would gladly take a position in your group, with this offer and as the payment. Be gracious!" Acerola stepped beside her sacrifice with a haughty attitude.
"Oh, yes, thanks you Acerola." I thanked her, but suddenly, Allister placed himself in front of me with his arm outstretched.
"Get out! I will not let you harm Luciel more than you already did."
Acerola looked at Allister with tired eyes, then she set her gaze on me as if she was telling if I really let him speak for me.
I grabbed Allister by his shoulder to make him turn my way. "Why are you against her joining us?"
"Eh?" Allister turned his head toward me, as Acerola grinned. "Don't you remember? She was the one who drove you to run away from us! She's selfish, inconsiderate, and most importantly, she's mean!" Allister directly pointed at her accusingly.
"Pff, you're exaggerating, I do consider what other people feel, it's just not my place that they are doing it wrong." She scoffed.
Allister didn't even bother to reply and simply looked at me with a raised eyebrow as if he had just told me to see for myself.
But I wasn't sure what was obvious from it. "What did she do to make runaways?"
Acerola's haughty attitude lowered as she started to look at Allister in worry.
He did notice it and even grew hesitant to answer me from how pitiful she made herself look. But he still decided to tell me the truth.
"She tries to…steal Pandora from you." But he immediately regretted saying this, as the whole atmosphere around me changed.
The next moment, everyone could hear themselves breathe, for it was the only sound they felt they were allowed to make in my presence.
All of their gaze settled onto me as the memory I had concealed deep in my mind forcibly came out. As for me, my attention was on Acerola, who was the least affected by my pressure despite being the one taking the full brunt of it.
Still, that didn't mean that she was able to stop herself from trembling as I noticed her body starting to appear transparent, as if she was just about to phase through the floor the moment she could.
I briefly considered giving her body the sensation of having a gasping hole in her neck, so she would choke in her own blood even if she were to disappear. This would be fitting for her daring to take Pandora away from me.
But mere instant after, the pressure around me immediately extinguished itself as I proceeded to reseal this memory again.
"Mmmh? Is everything alright?" I asked as everyone around suddenly seemed paler, as if death had just finished greeting them.
"Augh…" Allister suddenly expelled all the air inside of his lungs, as if he was keeping it inside him for a full minute, before looking at me with a mix of worry and guilt.
Does he think I'm mad because he breathed in my direction?
That was the only thing I could think of as the only thing I remembered was Allister telling me Acerola did something to anger me previously, but I doubted anything of that sort could have ever happened…what do you think Pandora?
"Kyu. (Last time she asked if she could borrow me.)" Pandora instantly answered.
I tilted my head as the answer that I had no recollection of, but if he says so, then it must be true. I probably just sealed that memory…I wonder why I wouldn't consider a little action as something worth forgetting.
"Muky, ky. (It was during you drank this nasty medicine, so you had to delete it too.)" Pandora added to explain my doubt.
…well that's suspicious…but that's probably because I forgot too much, thanks Pandora for reminding me.
Oh, right, where were we? Ah right!
I looked at Allister one last time to see if he was done breathing before addressing Acerola. "So, are you interested in joining our movie night?"
Acerola blinked as she looked at Allister as if she wanted to confirm that she didn't mishear what I just said. "Is…is that just something he does?"
"On a lower scale usually…" Allister responded hesitantly.
"Do you have…like dementia…or bipolarity?" We all looked down on Shauntal, who started to feel more curious than afraid presently…or maybe she accepted her fate and tried to enjoy it the much as she could?
Still, why do they refuse to answer my simple question?
…well as long as they don't just slam the door on us…
"I do not have any problem in my brain, because I'm the one controlling it, so everything it does is under my own will." I answered her question, which only made her even more confused, but I didn't really mind. "So, do you want to join us in our movie night?"
"Wait…are you serious about that movie night?" Acerola asked as if the simple idea was beyond ridiculous for her.
But I still nodded to her. "Yes…We aren't sure what movie it will be, but you are allowed to give your idea!"
"So…it isn't…a machination to gather your own group to form your organization?" Allister asked just to be sure.
"…my organization?"
"Oh by the death, you are seriously not even using the excuse of watching a movie to gather us all."
"…does that mean you don't want to watch a movie with us?" I lowered my head and made a sad face, as I already expected her to refuse me now.
But contrary to my expectation, Acerola pushed a sigh of relief. "Good…that's mean you weren't actually attempting to form an opposition to Lance…that's mean I can still be free." I noticed that her eye glinted as she looked at Pandora for a brief instant, but she immediately removed them before I could assume anything.
"So…"
"Yeah sure, I also feel like watching a movie now." Acerola shrugged her shoulders before looking down with disinterest. "Well, then…do you still need the sacrifice?"
I followed her gaze as I was reminded that Shauntal still didn't say if she wanted to join us or not.
Her whole body shook when she felt Pandora gaze over her. "Please don't sacrifice me…nine out of ten cultists said I was a really bad sacrifice…so don't sacrifice me."
"Who…who is the one who thinks you are?" Allister couldn't help but ask.
She didn't respond and only made a sign to look up, which turned out to be Acerola.
The ghost archon also noticed her behaviour and raised an eyebrow. "What? Oh no, you're a pretty bad sacrifice, no one likes it when their sacrifice begs for mercy…well no one really likes having someone getting sacrificed these days, but even in the good old die when people died much more easily, they still had some standard…and you don't fit them."
"So you wanted to give Luciel a sacrifice below your own standard?" Allister said with a judgmental face.
…I'm still impressed that Allister is able to act this confident toward an archon, but fumble toward anyone else…we are apparently considered a big deal after all…
Well…thinking about how Sabrina and Acerola act…and even including myself…we aren't really advertising it…that must be why everyone lowers their guard around us, but raises it toward the group of Lance.
Acerola simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I thought he was into that, so I simply obliged. So, do you want it or not?"
"Remember! I'm not recommended by ten out of ten of the cultists!"
"…I don't like when other people scream…or make any amount of noise…so I will decline this sacrifice."
Well that does it, you can go away now, shoo shoo." Acerola waved her hand to chase away the supposed sacrifice.
Shauntal looked at me as if she was asking for confirmation, before slowly standing up and moving backward.
I was fully expecting her to start running away into her room after this experience, yet her gaze still lingered on my way. "Say…can I…can I also watch the movie with you?"
If I had eyes, they would have probably lit up in joy, but as I lacked them, I had no other choice but to raise my arm to show it. "Yes you can join us! You will have so much fun!"
"Alright, let's go then." Acerola said as prepared to leave, but I shook my head.
"No, we must go invite the other students first."
"…yeah sure, and while you do that, I will do something less bothersome." She didn't even argue with me and simply passed beside me.
Well that's positive.
I looked at Shantal to see if she wanted to accompany us in our quest, but she passed us and started to follow Acerola.
…well that's…not negative.
I did consider entering their dorm to see if anyone else was interested, but as I wasn't invited inside, I could only close the door and leave to the next room.
…and at least they didn't break the cycle as last time. All of them slammed the door right in front of me before I could even question them.
I even met Lance while…and he didn't really seem happy to see me and gave himself the task of slamming his door the hardest of them all.
…that was…not the worst.
The worst was one who didn't even bother answering me at all…or maybe they were all asleep?
Well all that is sure, is that right now, I faced the last dorm.
I knocked on the door then immediately covered my ear so at least they won't break them with their annoying theatrics.
But unexpectedly, when the door opened, no one screamed nor slammed the door in me.
So as I focused back on the one who answered the door, I saw someone wearing a makeship maid uniform with pink hair. It wasn't hard to guess who she was, even if Iono never told their name out loud, I could still easily recognize the maid who always followed Natural. And this one was Anthea. "Salutation cursed one, how may we be of help?"
Her voice was so pleasant that I had the impression she lowered her voice only to please me.
But it is impossible that anyone would care enough about me to do that, so I ignored this possibility to answer her.
"We wanted to invite you to watch a movie with us."
Anthea briefly nodded. "Do you wish to invite me specifically or were you referring to Natural?"
"Everyone who wants it."
"Understood, I shall speak of this matter with him if you don't mind waiting."
I nodded at her as she delicately closed the door.
"She seems nice." Allister mentioned as his gaze suddenly looked nostalgic.
I didn't have the time to tell him that the door reopened once more.
"Master Natural as permitted you to enter." Anthea said as she completely opened the door for me this time to reveal his other maid and the yellow girl standing right beside the sofa where the king was sitting with a cup of tea in his hand.
Natural diverted his attention from his cup and lightly waved at me. "Welcome, please take a seat." He gestured in front of him, yet he could barely distinguish that as my full attention was on him.
What a glorious being, I should…wait, why do I even care about that?
The cloud that was inside my head suddenly dissipated as all of my captivation from him disappeared in an instant.
Did he try to control my brain? Why would he do that? I'm really not worth the effort. Especially that it is extremely hard to affect me with this type of power, as I independently control each of my thoughts before acting. So if someone wants to influence me, it will be easily cleared in the next second.
Still, he didn't seem bothered at all by me breaking his connection, so maybe he just made an accident.
On these thoughts, I started to move toward him, but stopped when I realized Allister was also transfixed on the king.
"Could you please not mind-control him? I promised that I would protect him, and I think that includes his mind. So if you continue like that I fear I might have to break your."
The only one who reacted to my comment was Yellow, as the other barely acknowledged what I said.
"Wait wait wait! Nat…lord Natural doesn't do this of his own will, that's just a side effect from his power!" Yellow tries to explain in panic.
"Oh, so like me? You should try to think of a happy memory, that's what my psychiatrist said."
This time Natural did seem captivated by what I said, but slowly shook his head. "My sincere apologies, but I am constantly happy, for what is there not to love about this world that could bring me any kind of sorrow?"
"Pain." I answered truthfully, but he only looked at me as if I were a silly child.
"Pain is but a mere invention made by those who are scared."
…really? Well I didn't know that. "Well good thing that I'm able to feel fear, otherwise I would have been quite foolish for hating it."
Natural nodded at my comment before pointing once more at the sofa in front of him.
I didn't want to be ruder than I already was, so I briefly looked at Allister who still seemed distant and made a simple decision.
I took Pandora off my shoulder and put him on Allister.
"Kyu? (Luciel?)"
"Don't worry Pandora, I will be fine, he can't affect my mind for long. But I'm not sure if it applies to Allister as well, so I will leave him here with you so you can protect him if anything happens."
Pandora looked at me with hesitation before slowly nodding. "Mimi, kyu, ky. (If anything happens, scream, and I will come.)"
"I know you will." I petted Pandora's cute face before turning around to oblige to the politeness Natural accorded me.
"I see that you can speak to your pokemon, how wonderful. There are few who have this ability, I'm just saddened that it had to come from someone as selfish as you." Natural pushed a sigh in disappointment.
So there is something that bothers him! So he is a liar!
…well, not that he lies with his last sentence.
"I know, I'm quite lucky that Pandora accorded me his trust…even if I really try hard to dissuade him, he just kept insisting." I replied to him, when suddenly I saw the door close from Pandora's perspective, leaving me completely blind to what was happening in front of me.
"I'm glad you are aware of it…but if you don't mind, I would love to ask you some questions." His voice grew even more tender, which almost made me want to kneel before him, but this sensation disappeared immediately after.
I nodded to him, it's not like I minded his action, my knowledge is worth nothing after all, nor was my will.
"Wonderful, so explain to me Bringer of Eclipse, why do you dare to breathe?"
***
Author speaking...so I have bad news. I will have to stop writing Leuko for a while. I just started university, and I would prefer to put my full mind into it, so I won't be able to update Leuko anymore.
It's been a good journey. I remember when I started it last summer because I just wanted to write something, so I did. And I'm glad that I did, I was able to experience so many things while writing, some that I would have probably never been able to feel otherwise.
Also, thank you to everyone who kept reading it. I know it wasn't the best literature you read. I made too many characters, too many plot lines that I had no idea where to put my head in...but I had fun, and I hope you did too. Special thanks to Maidup for being there the longest. But still, thanks to everyone, it was because of you that I was able to continue for so long. And sorry for not meeting your expectations. So if anyone has a question about the plot I had planned, please just ask, I will respond.
There will be 3 more chapter after this one, these are the one I prepared in advance, so you won't starve just yet...I just wanted to warn you guys.
NStar, out.