Chapter 7: By the Setting Sun

After Shirley’s initial breakdown, the two eventually separated. They sat on the ground, shoulder to shoulder, with their backs pressed against the wall. A soft orange glow illuminated the surroundings. Dark clouds loomed in the far distance. It was going to rain, not today, but soon.

Theo glanced down at her through the corner of his eye.

Shirley’s eyes had puffed up. Her cheeks glistened with tears, while a trail of snot ran down her nose. All in all, she looked like the same little girl that had gotten lost in the forest all those years back.

She sniveled and turned to look up at him. “So, where did you go?” Her voice sounded hoarse and cracked halfway through her words.

“I was…” He hesitated.

Theo did not know how to explain it to her. Others always say that honesty was the best policy, but in this situation, would telling her the truth really be the best option? He certainly didn’t think so. Other worlds filled with monsters and demon kings, tales of heroes and magic… that’s the sort of thing you’d say to get your ass locked up in a mental hospital.

Without any solid proof of Mistelhan, he did not dare tell her the truth.

In that case, what should he tell her?

Make something up? Feign amnesia? Theo shook his head. None of those options would work. He knew that even if he lied, Shirley would certainly find out all the same. It was always like that with them; whatever secrets they tried to hide from one another, sooner or later, the other would find out.

He was not afraid of Shirley finding out the truth, what he feared was her not believing in that truth. If he told her his truth, Theo knew she’d believe in him, but that belief was not the same as acknowledging the existence of another world. It would be the belief that Theo truly thought that he had been to another world, not that he had actually been to one.

The last thing that he needed was for his childhood friend to think that he had gone insane.

“I… I can’t.” He bitterly stated. “I can’t tell you.”

Shirley stared straight into his eyes. He made no attempt at hiding the conflict within his gaze.

“You’re not even going to bother with lying?” She asked.

He let out a forced chuckle, “Even if I did, you’d just see right through me.”

“That’s true.” She subconsciously nodded. That was the sort of relationship that the two of them shared. He could never lie to her, and vice versa, she could never hide anything from him. Sometimes, she felt that they were a bit too close, but at the end of the day, Shirley could never imagine living a life without him.

That was why the last seven months had been especially hard for her.

“…”

She pursed her lips and turned her head away. After seeing that sort of expression on his face, she knew that pushing the topic any further would be a fruitless endeavor. She let out a soft sigh and rested her head against his shoulders. As she stared off into the distance, she quietly spoke, “Do you know how long you’ve been gone for?”

“Seven months, right?”

“Yeah, seven months.” She nodded. “That’s a long time. You realize that, right?”

“… sorry.” He mumbled out an apology.

“I know you’re sorry.” She curtly stated. “I know, but… I was worried. Your aunt, my parents, everyone… we were all worried. Even the school was interested in your disappearance.”

“They were?” Theo raised his brow in disbelief. He did not think he was such an important person for the school to worry about.

“Yeah, but it was a sort of courtesy worry. They thought that your disappearance might give the school a bad reputation, so they tried especially hard to search for you. They searched for the first week, but after not finding anything, they eventually gave up. Because they didn’t want your case to affect their standing, they suppressed the news and told anybody curious enough to ask that you ran away.

“You don’t have a lot of friends, Theo, so convincing people wasn’t really all that hard for them to do.” She paused for a moment as if to gather her thoughts. “Even the police started saying the same thing. Because of that, rumors spread about your aunt.”

“Rumors?” He frowned. “What type of rumors?”

“That she abused you. She did so many bad things, that you eventually snapped, and ran away.”

“That’s ridiculous!” A somber expression fell on his face. He gritted his teeth, and forced out, “Is, is she okay? Was the school the one behind all the rumors?”

“The school had nothing to do with the rumors.” She shook her head. “You know how private schools are, right? All they care about is reputation. It’s the way they gather students and funding. They were the ones that spread the theory that you ran away, but everything else about your aunt were things that spread through word of mouth.”

Hearing Shirley’s explanation, he clamped his mouth shut. A bubbling rage burned within the pit of his stomach, but there was nothing he could do. There was no one to blame and no outlet where he could release all that anger out on.

“… As for your aunt, she’s fine. She did not let the rumors bother her.” Shirley reassured. She hesitated for a moment, before she finally asked, “Did you really run away?”

“Of course not.” He shook his head. His aunt had always taken care of him. She was always there for him. Aside from Shirley, she was the only person that he had ever truly opened up to. When his parents had died, she was the one who picked up the broken pieces of his heart and melded it back together. He owed her so much, that he did not know if he could ever properly repay her.

Shirley sneakily glanced up at his expression, before she let out a soft laugh. “I didn’t believe in the rumors either. Aunt Lynn is such a nice person, I can’t ever imagine her doing anything bad. If anything, you’d be the one doing the bullying... She’s so pretty, after all.”

He let out a carefree chuckle. “You know we’re family, right?”

“Not by blood…” She muttered underneath her breath. Looking up at his nonchalant attitude, Shirley suddenly regretted bringing up the topic. She hurriedly shook her head, and said, “Aunt Lynn didn’t think you ran away either. She said that you’d know what she’d do to you if you really ran away from her.”

“That sounds exactly like her.” He smiled wryly, distant memories floated to his mind.

“Yeah, she was so adamant that she even kept you enrolled in school, despite the costs.”

“I’m actually still enrolled?” He widened his eyes. He was half certain that his current status was that of a drop-out. At the very least, he thought that he would have to retake the year after coming back to Plume.

This is good though. Since I’m still a student, I can probably just take a few special tests or maybe attend some extracurricular classes, and I’ll be able to graduate on time. Private schools are a bit more lenient, so I’m sure I can somehow convince them to wave off my seven-month long absence…

“Didn’t you already know that?” Shirley widened her eyes in surprise. “You went to school, and even attended class, so I was sure that you already knew…”

“No, I didn’t. I mean, I didn’t know until now, but… well, it’s a long story.” He muttered out incoherently.

“A long story that you’re not willing to tell?”

“Yeah, sorry. No matter how often you ask, I won’t tell you.” Once again, he resolutely stated.

She tilted her head down and stared at the ground for a long time. “You really won’t tell me?”

“I won’t tell you.” He decisively responded. “At least, not now.”

“Not now?” She raised her brow at his statement. Theo simply nodded.

If I can get my powers back, that might make my argument a little bit more convincing. When that happens, I’ll make sure to convince you.

“Fine, be like that.” She turned her head away and huffed out.

“Fine?” he stared at her. Shirley’s cheeks inflated, while her brow creased. She was pouting like a child who had just gotten her toy taken away from her. That doesn’t look fine to me.

He breathed out a sigh, before he seriously said, “I promise. Someday, someday in the future, I’ll tell you everything. Until then, please. Just wait.”

“You’re awfully serious about all this…” She muttered to herself, her pout already disappearing. At the same time, a thought floated to her mind.

What could be so serious that Theo’s not willing to share anything with me? Is he in trouble?

Her expression slowly paled as wild fantasies started running through her head.

Maybe he went missing because he got kidnapped? Is he still running away from his captors? Or maybe he was taken, brought to a secret underground facility, and underwent intense training… Or maybe it was the mobsters…

She looked back at him and hesitated. Right now, she could see it. Someone throwing a sack over Theo’s head, and a group of men dragging him into a white, unlicensed van. She tentatively asked, “Should… should we call the police?”

He reflexively groaned. Just thinking about involving something as troublesome as the police really stressed him out. The school security guard already forced him into such a situation, he did not want to deal with anything even remotely similar.

Without thinking, he shook his head, “The police will only make things worse….”

Hearing his words, Shirley grew even more concerned. What sort of situation would worsen with the police getting involved? Right now, she was almost certain that his disappearance had something to do with either mobsters, international mercenaries, or maybe even terrorists.

Did they implant a bomb inside his skull? If he says anything bad or reveals too much information, will Theo’s head explode?

Shirley wore her heart on her sleeve. Seeing the varying degrees of worry and fright that flashed through her face, Theo wondered just what sort of wild delusions this girl was currently having. He knew full well of her overactive imagination, so naturally, he also had a rudimentary grasp on just how capable Shirley was at concocting outlandish scenarios.

“Trust me.” He reassured her. “Just wait a while, and I’ll get everything sorted out. And for the love of god, quit worrying so much. Nothing bad’s going to happen.”

She hesitated for a moment, before reluctantly nodding. Shirley did not immediately calm down, but nevertheless, she decided to trust in Theo. Also, she feared that if she continued pushing, his head might really explode.

****

Sometime later, the two were walking through the school’s front courtyard. Aside from the ones involved in sports, most of the regular students had already gone home. The front of the school was nearly isolated. Theo could see the school gate out in the distance, along with the large water fountain located smack dap in the middle of the courtyard.

In the distance, he heard a distant bell chime.

He looked up. The image of a certain place flashed through his mind. “That thing’s still up?” Theo asked curiously.

“Yeah,” Shirley nodded. As they walked side by side, Shirley practically clung to his arm like a koala. Inwardly, she was afraid that he might just disappear the moment she let go. It was a fear so great that it even overcame her original personality’s shyness.

Luckily, the school was practically empty, so the pressure on her mind was considerably low.

“The church recently got a new sponsor, and they decided to keep the bell tower.” She explained.

The place that Shirley talked about was the old church located on Marble Love street. It was a rather famous landmark within Harwick’s Mountain district. Most of the residents knew of it, but almost none were willing to involve themselves with it.

It was a large gothic style cathedral. The place was rumored to have existed as far back as the 18th century. Legends say that it had once been the execution grounds for those accused of witchcraft back in the early days of the country. Another tale went on to claim that the cathedral was built on an ancient native burial ground.

Nowadays, that place was most commonly known as being a hotspot and gathering point for the city’s unwanted.

Theo was surprised that someone was actually willing to purchase the building, especially considering all the bad reputation that it possessed.

The duo eventually stopped at the front of the gate. He glanced over and noticed the security guard from before giving him the stink eye. He ignored him and turned to Shirley. “Then, let’s go home?”

She was about to agree, when she suddenly remembered something, “Ah, I have club today.”

“Club?” He tilted his head in confusion before his face contorted in shock. “You? You’re actually in a club?”

“Rude!” She punched his shoulder. “I joined recently, while you were gone. It… it kept me distracted.”

“Ah…” He nodded. He was silent for a moment before he nudged her shoulder. “You should go.”

“Go?”

“Yeah, go to your club. It’s not often that you involve yourself with… well, anything.”

Shirley hesitated. In truth, she had joined the club as a way to keep her mind off of Theo’s disappearance. Now that he was back, there was no reason to keep going, but… she grew attached. After a few seconds, she shook her head. “No, it’s fine, I can miss a day.”

“Are you sure?” He asked worriedly.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m letting you go home alone today! Who knows if you’ll suddenly disappear again. I have to make sure to escort you safely back to Aunt Lynn… plus, if you want, I can take you to the clubroom next time. Maybe you can even join.”

Me joining a club? He gave it some thought. Usually, he was averse to such things, but if it was with Shirley… no, precisely because Shirley was there, that he needed to go. Who else but him would watch over this ball of jittery nerves?

Theo nodded. “Alright. Then, let’s go home for today.”

Shirley looked up at his calm expression, before nodding back. In a voice filled with genuine happiness, she exclaimed, “Yes, let’s!”