Taking a hasty, startled step back, Noctis watched Raef in pure utter terror.
His silhouette slowly opened the door, every movement showing his total and utter control.
Not showing any emotion on his blank face, a strict poker face lay on. Noctis stepped to the side, revealing the layout of his room. An empty chair at the student's desk, next to the desk, a small wardrobe half-opened, revealing its mostly empty contents, and, on the opposite side, a disgruntled bed.
Even as he tried to slow his breathing, his mind darted through every possible move, grasping for strategies and possibilities.
Briefly, he pictured the creepy man named Laurence—strong, distant, and possibly the only person in the dorm who could stand against Raef should things go south.
While Raef was evaluating Noctis, Noctis subtly glanced behind him at the empty standing door, evaluating the escape route, obstructed only by one man, one frighteningly strong man.
Gesturing for an empty seat, Nox said neutrally, his voice monotone.
"Haven't had the opportunity of talking in a while… What brings you here?"
It had indeed been a while since they talked. After all, Nox had avoided Raef as well as he could, without making it too obvious.
Raef narrowed his eyes slightly, his smile growing even brighter, as he casually took a chair, turned it, and sat down.
While leaning his head on the palm of his hand, he stared at Nox, who had avoided his gaze this far.
"Oh, nothing much, really. Just taking care of Loose ends."
"Loose ends?" Nox asked in return, knitting his eyebrows together. His mask of ignorance was perfectly crafted.
"Yeah, you know. Strengthening weak connections, taking care of people who have grudges or… maybe… You know… people who have come to know too much.
Simply loose ends."
He spoke the phrase as if it were part of some ritual, then continued with a faint smile.
"We call those unresolved Threads 'Loose ends' around here—a little tradition, means tying up all the things that could come back to haunt you. The term isn't just casual.
In older circles, those who migrated through realms crossing the realm of fate. It goes back to guild practices when letting a thread hang could unravel the whole weave. People here say the first to call a person a 'Loose end' would never speak the name aloud, as if afraid it would curse them.
But old tradition or not, here, everyone knows: if you're named, you'd better make peace with your gods."
Noctis put on a confused expression. He tried his best to pretend not to know what he was talking about, as if he had no idea what Raef's intention was.
Stall time that was all Noctis could think of at this very moment.
Looking him in the eye for a few moments, their pupils never met. Raef slowly lifted his head and began caressing his chin in a long, practiced motion, as if he were used to having a beard of sorts.
"Fear… is truly a peculiar thing, dont you think?" For the first time, truly confused and surprised by the change of topic, Nox stayed silent, unsure where this was going.
"You know, what people fear can tell you many things about their character.
How they think?
What they desire.
And of course…. what they know.
Ha ha. How could it not? What one fears is dependent on what one has experienced, what one sees… and, of course, what someone has come to know.
After all, how are you supposed to fear something you dont even know about? Dont you agree, Noctis?" His last words had darkened considerably, giving them an especially sinister undertone.
Noctis wore a weak smile throughout the entire explanation. A few cracks on his facade appeared along the way. Yet, he stayed silent and let Raef simply prattle on, his heart pumping louder with every word spoken.
Questions arose like wildfire, conjectures taking their place moments later.
None of them boded particularly well for him.
Was the choice of words deliberate? Does he know about my ability?
Throughout it all, Raef wore a similar smile to Noctis, just far brighter, four of his upper teeth showing.
A genuine smile, unlike the one put on by Noctis to hold up a facade of politeness.
"You know. When one has especially strong, delicious fear, it's not really important what kind of mask one puts on to hide.
Such masks, after all, are formed by the fear of being discovered.
And masking fear with fear isn't really the most effective strategy. Dont you think?" He did not want an answer to any of his questions, as he asked with a satirical undertone.
"Tell me, Noctis… why do you feel so much fear? Such delictable fear, it's sent exploding peculiarly every time we meet. Fear over things you should not know."
Nox's expression cracked a bit further. Was this a probe, or was he speaking the truth?
What he would have given to take a peek into that book of Ouroboros at this moment, but Ouroboros stayed silent throughout the entire exchange, probably not even aware of the whole endeavor.
"H-How peculiar. Truly."
Falling down onto his bed, Nox sighed slowly, as his gaze wandered upward and his hand started tracing the bed's edges to help his mind calm. At the same time, a deep, long sigh escaped his lips.
The mask he had so carefully crafted was crumbling and coming apart. Before fully falling, shattering into a thousand pieces, his two eyes landed on Raef once more.
"Is there any scenario where you let me walk?"
"Hm hm"
Seemingly satisfied that Noctis finally showed his true colors, Raef looked through the room, as if in contemplation.
He did not even deign Noctis a threat, Raef's body showing an utterly relaxed exterior.
As his eyes wandered across, Noctis' stuff, a puppet, a few playing cards… they slowly reseteled on Noctis.
"That depends on how cooperative you'll be. You could, for example, show some goodwill by telling the truth, or at the very least by stopping to avoid my gaze."
Staying silent, a dark expression crept onto Noctis' face, before it was replaced with one of resignation.
A deep, audible sigh escaped his lips.
"Let's start simple. Speak, how did you find out about me? It truly intrigues me how a youngling like you could get on my trail so quickly."
Mulling over his words carefully, every slight change in expression was scrutinized under the oppressive gaze of Raef.
"Eljah showed me, before going to the teacher, and disappearing into nothingness."
Raef narrowed his eyes and let out a silent chuckle, his mumblings as unclear as his origin itself.
"How right you are, is truly astounding.
But I made such a fundamental mistake, it's surprising even to me. hm hm."
Switching off while talking, Raef gave off a feeling of inattention, a bit of madness as well.
Quite unlike his normally refined, polite, and calculating demeanor.
Is he pretending?
No, this was different. Noctis had seen such people in the drug-fueled outskirts on a daily basis.
The thought of escape entered Noctis' mind as he watched the display of irrationality.
His eyes drifted to the door, his hand moving along the sheets searching for something.
A minute-grabbing motion was displayed by his hand, unbeknownst to Raef.
Suddenly, Raef grabbed Noctis by the shoulders, as if noticing something, staring him straight in the eye, despite Noctis's attempts at prevention.
His eyes glowed with a bright green light and had grown clear once more, the previous madness nowhere to be seen.
Does he know?!
"You're afraid of being discovered!
You aren't telling the truth.
No, you aren't telling the whole truth!" Raef let go of his shoulders again, leaned back a bit, and held himself in place at the backrest of the chair. He started tapping his temple with his index finger at the same time.
The madness deep within flared up in his pupils repeatedly before being replaced by clarity.
For a moment there, he seemed to listen to something or someone, his gaze sharpening the next moment.
"Let's see, let's see, considering that the events with Elijah have been quite recent, Elijah is most likely involved. So that's true.
Just before he went to be disposed of, however… he should have been in a total trance, unable to even think straight.
Maybe before I emptied him?
Nooo… I would have noticed your fear earlier, and Elijah's fears would have been affected….
So when it was neither before nor after, when could he have told?"
Shifting his body forward once more, his stretching position was no longer. Raef's eyes landed on Nox once more, making Nox shudder.
A wide smile slowly returned, the one that had been replaced by a thoughtful expression before.
"Could it be that you learned from Elijah after he was taken?
Did he leave a message? No, he wasn't smart enough to escape my notice.
Could it perhaps have to do with your Authority?
Ohh oh, yes. You might be hiding it well, but fear does not lie.
Maybe you can watch people from afar?" His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Does your ability give you some kind of insight?"
Noctis's eyes stayed steady throughout Raef's every word. Internally, on the other hand, Nox was shaken. Raef had found out so much in just a few moments, or had he known from the beginning, wanting to lead him to despair.
After all, it seemed his abilities had to do with fear, and its effectiveness depended on the person's mental state. Why else would he have targeted Elijah first of all people?
"Considering that you aren't interjecting, I'll assume I'm right.
Hmm, information-based abilities. Those are rare here in the space realm.
After all, the two authorities most known for them are Time and Fate, and both are neighbors of our realm, making Authority wielders of these families succumbing to the call quite common.
What a tragedy it would be for you to suddenly succumb to the Call dont you think?" He wore a sympathetic expression as he spoke.
"How tragic. But oh right I could hel…"
Before he let him continue, Nox interrupted, his patience reaching its limit.
"Can you shut the fuck up!" Raef stayed silent, unaffected by the words, as amusement shown in his eyes.
"Do you enjoy hearing yourself speak? Your ramblings are getting crazier and crazier as you're going on. Weren't you a cunning, charismatic leader the first time we met?
How could you have degraded to such a degree?!"
Not batting an eye at Noctis's insult, Raef thought for a moment, seemingly evaluating himself.
Before a quiet sigh escaped his lips.
"I have to give you that. You're observant.
I have consumed too much, making me unstable.
Hm hm—Who could blame me, though? The plague doctor lookalike frightened all my poor lambs so thoroughly that I had to eat more than planned to keep them in line.
Well, it will pass.
This state is temporary.
But your future…."
Slowly tracing his fingers along the chair as if distracted, Raef started rubbing his fingers, a bit confusedly.
"Sticky…"
Before he could react or realize, Noctis pulled at something. Hundreds of white threads suddenly appeared from under the bed from its crevices, behind the closet, from every direction and crevice in the room.
All of them headed for the chair Raef was sitting atop, throwing the chair up, taking Raef with it. Both hit the wall a moment later, Raef's body thoroughly ensnared.
Not wasting a moment's time, Noctis jumped up and ran for the door. On his way, he quickly fastened the bundle of threads held in his hand to a metal pipe before slamming open the door.
Hoarding all of the threads had finally paid off!
I need to head for Laurence. He's my only hope. He was the only person nearby who was strong enough to take care of Raef and was unlikely to have been influenced by him. This was his only hope!
Even in the ensnared position, Noctis had no confidence in fighting Raef. After all, he seemed to know everything while Nox knew nothing.
One thing was certain, however.
Raef was no mere holder or assimilator. He had shown far too many differing traits for this to be the case.
There were simply too many uncertainties surrounding him!
Slamming open the door, a wall of flesh in the form of smiling students stood before him. All of them wore a light smile. A smile that did not reach their eyes, an identical smile, each and every one's four upper teeth showing lightly.