Chapter 21.5: Punish The Darkness Part 2

Celes POV

Unlike my last silent journey on a carriage, this one feels particularly lively, despite the gloomy atmosphere that clung to its passengers. It’s the same open-roof carriage that I traveled on before, large enough to accommodate all six of us.

Reimuz holds me closer, onto the soothing sound of his heart, and just when I think he’s going to kiss me, he doesn’t. He nuzzles my hair and inhales deeply, making me blush.

“Erumina, how long has this maid worked for your family?” he asks over the noise of the carriage.

I never fully understood his purpose for asking these repetitive questions again and again, but I’ll take a shot in the dark and say it has something to do with that girl—that mysterious girl he seems to have an attachment with.

Knowing full well he can’t see, I pout my lips thinking about it. Who is that girl anyways? The thought of her being his past lover is unnerving and it makes my heart ache. He gazed at her so warmly, oozing with protectiveness, as if they have some sort of special bond I’m intruding on.

I am so mad at him for keeping me in the dark, but he embraces me like this, and my anger melts.

“If memory serves me right, it should be no more than three months ago,” glasses girl replies.

“Hmm, in less than three months, eh?”

Reimuz breathes a sigh, still holding me close. I flush even more when I see the guy in front of us—Wein Cruz—and his eyes dancing with humor. Meeting my gaze, he laughs softly. What’s up with him?

I look up to Reimuz, and he’s frowning, as if something is bothering his thoughts.

“Did you notice something different about her? Like an acquaintance perhaps?” he asks more questions, stroking his chin like his old man.

“No, not at all,” glasses girl replies. Blinking twice, she continues. “She came across as a very friendly person, and perfect in so many ways that even I grew attach to her fairly quickly. I would never suspect her for one who has ulterior motives. What made you think so?”

Reimuz nods to himself, like a hidden secret flashed in his dark eyes.

“I see… That makes sense. You think it’s some sort of skill, Wein?” he murmurs to his friend.

“Could be,” Wein says, winking at Reimuz… I think? “However, it’s not simple to hide those negative emotions beneath a smile. Just look at it in a different perspective. Even the two of us are guilty of deception, so you know full well how hard it is to keep a facade,” he added.

Reimuz shakes his head in disbelief. I get confused whenever these two zones in their conversation.

“I just don’t understand what made her do this…” says Reimuz, biting his lip.

“Reimuz, there’s always that darkness lurking, no matter how peaceful our world is on the outside. She could be mentally unstable, one who needed help, or just downright insane. I’ll leave it for you to decide.”

“Leave it to me…?” he cocks his head and look at his friend directly. Oh, I am so curious at what this is about. I pout to myself, lost in a series of questions forming in my head one after another.

“Yes, and I owe you an apology for calling you naive before, but I’m just as naive as you. Killing a girl just leaves a bad after taste in my mouth, so count me out. I want nothing to do with this.”

“Damn, so that’s why you were stuck in that place, huh?”

“Man, I’ve seen enough deaths, back in our world… or even here. Now that we’re talking about death, I do remember it’s my own fault that I died, because I didn’t have the guts to kill my friend—no matter the circumstances.”

“So much for being a terrorist,” Reimuz says, chiding his friend in a topic I knew nothing about.

“Dude, I told you, we’re Revolutionist. Fucking with the government, that is what we do. When our leader came across this nasty information involving inhuman experiments, we decided to raid this laboratory.”

“What’s inside,” Reimuz asks, curiosity now burning in his eyes.

Wein shrugs and longingly stare at the horizon.

“You tell me, man. I don’t know what’s inside those capsules, never had the chance to open one. But it’s big enough to fit you and I both. At the same time realization hits me, my bitch of a friend turned her back on us—either for money, or whatever her fucking reason is—And It wasn’t that long till her bullet found its way inside my skull. I had my chance to kill her, but I didn’t do it. Fuck,” he hisses.

“You must’ve like her.”

“No, man. I loved her. Loved,” he emphasizes. “Because it’s all in the past now.”

I turn to glasses girl, and her mouth agape says she’s as lost as me. I’ve encountered a lot of perplexing, profound feelings, and troubles ever since I met Reimuz. New experiences and things I never knew about myself, but this one is on a different level altogether. Reimuz is completely sincere—I know that—and I adore him much more than anyone in spite of all these dark secrets he keeps hidden inside his heart. I do love him unconditionally, but I wonder about his feelings for me.

I stare down at my fingers, twiddling my thumb. He did say he loves me, but to what extent? This fear roots me back to the same stream of doubts I have about us. That I know nothing about him, and him to me. Yes, it could be that we’re both young, but I want him to share all of his fears, his doubts, his mysteries, information about his past psychopathic lovers—whatever sort of relationship he has with that girl—to me. Only then that I can kill these insecurities residing in my heart.

Suddenly, while I’m drowning myself in these questions, Reimuz kisses my hair again. Hmm, he’s pressing me so close my nose nudges against his chest, and his scent is just so… intoxicating. I start grinning like an idiot and I can’t stop. All because of him. This guy’s not playing fair.

‘Good job, Lady Celes. I can see that he’s ultra-dependent on you.’

‘Hehe, it’s safe to say our little lady here is the same.’

On the background, I hear Sylphie and Cliona laughing like maniacs. I know they’re happy for me, but their nosiness is making me uncomfortable. Reimuz and Wein continues their conversation, both are showing their handsome toothed smiles—just like how guys their age should. Silence descends with glasses—err, Erumina, quietly following her sisters to sleep. I close my eyes to rest for a few minutes, but blackness comes in and fatigue claims me.

“………Shit!”

What… What’s happening? I hear Reimuz shouting, his voice frantic. I open my eyes, and what emerge in my vision are the busy streets of Berkut. Lost in drowsiness, it took me a while to collect myself.

“Wein, take care of the girls!” Reimuz releases me from his arms and jumps off the moving carriage.

He races through the streets, towards the gate, and quickly disappears into the crowd of people. What… A sharp pain lances through my heart. It’s because of her—that girl—I know it. Ignoring everyone’s bewilderment, I leap off the carriage myself and hurry to where Reimuz scurried off to, the two spirits tailing my back. I take a quick glance up high; the sun flares across the dismal sky.

“Celes!” Wein’s panicking voice echoes behind me, but I did not bother to return a glance.

“Sylphie, please,” I plead to my spirit, and she flies overhead, bursting away to follow Reimuz.

I push through the storm of people marching my way, bumping their shoulders, shoving them aside, and even stomping on an innocent foot. Murderous shouts erupts on my trail, but I continue my fast pace across the gate. Following Sylphie’s trail, my legs eventually lead me to a forest, and there I found Reimuz, standing straight, along with the roots of all our problems.

I take a big gulp. Why is the atmosphere so heavy? Why is Sylphie just standing there? Reimuz continue to stare at that girl, his face filled with an expression I have never seen before. Whether it’s fear, anger, anxiety, or relief—I cannot tell. He shoots me a swift glance, and quickly returns his eyes back to the girl.

“Celes, can you return? I’ll meet you back in our inn,” he orders firmly, without taking his eyes off at this girl who bears the same black hair as him. What did he call her back in the mines again? Cyn?

I blink my eyes and whine, my voice is dry.

“But.”

“Celes, please!” he shouts, his voice is raw and full of anger. Wow, why are you angry at me?

This is Reimuz I’m talking about—he never gets mad. It’s as if he lacks that emotion himself. But now, he just shouted at me. My heart clenches. No… I don’t want to leave him alone with that girl and some other woman I don’t know if she’s equally dangerous or not.

“Sylphie, Cliona… Can one of you take Celes and return her to the inn? I’ll meet you three over there.”

Reimuz, why do you have this need to keep me safe? I’m grown up already. What can I do to reassure you? How can I make you understand this?

Time stills for us all and I feel like I’m gonna faint. The girl inches closer and slowly, gently, wraps her arms around his neck. The look in her eyes, I recognize immediately. It’s the look of a girl helplessly in love—the same as I. Oh no… Please don’t…

“Kei,” she murmurs, and with a gentle touch of his thumb, he wipe away the tears that refuse to stop running down her cheeks. I want to shout in disdain, but my mouth refuses to open.

The sight of Reimuz hugging a different girl sickens me, and tears blurred my vision. Jealously? I can’t stop my own tears from cascading. Somebody tugs on my shirt, probably Sylphie, and tries to pull me away, but I resist.

“Reimuz…”

“Celes, please… Don’t make it any harder for me. I’ll meet you three back in the inn,” he requests, his voice as cold as the evening wind.

Damn, this is so fucked up. My mind refuses to work. Why does he want to stay with her? I don’t even know anymore. I feel like I’ve been slapped hard—reality slapped me hard. The same gentle touch drags me away, and this time, I concede, dragging me to whatever place I could dry my tears away.

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“Cynthia… Don’t make me do this. I do not want to kill you for the second time.”