Don't panic; That's the one piece of advice that kept flashing into my head. Think a way out of this that didn't involve blatantly lying to Mary.

I looked at Mary, who was still loosely gripping my arm, waiting for a response.

I don't want to lie to her, I thought. Mary is nice and does a lot for me. But I can't just say I saw her and started following her on a whim...wait, couldn't I? If I just changed the wording so it didn't sound as creepy, it might not come off so bad.

I looked at Mary. "Well, I saw you walking and you looked distressed so I wanted to make sure you were okay. Was I wrong to do so?"

Mary didn't say anything. She just stared at my face apathetically as usual. After a second of what seemed to be our usual awkward silence, she let go of my arm and loosened her shoulders, which told me what I said was most likely effective.

"Young Master, thank you for your consideration," she said.

"You're we-"

"However," she cut me off, "please refrain from following me in the future. Reckless actions like this may have you end up in unfavorable situations that may endanger your life and I would hate for anything to happen to you."

Ah...did Mary just subtly threaten me? No, it was probably unintentional or I'm just reading too much into it. Mary isn't the type of person to threaten others. At least I think she isn't.

"Ahah, I understand," I said. "I'm sorry for following you. I hope you weren't on alert the whole time."

"No, I only noticed you outside of the hospital."

Huh. I guess my theory of how much space to be away from Mary was good. But what happened at the hospital to where she noticed me? I'm pretty sure I kept the same spacing. I even waited to make sure I didn't run into her. Did I make a mistake somewhere along the way? Whatever, it doesn't matter.

Mary bowed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I must be going. I have other things I need to attend to."

I shook my hands to dissuade her. "Please, you don't have to bow to me. At least, not in public."

I'd rather not be identified as a rich kid in public. It causes too many problems.

"Apologies. I didn't think about your position."

"I mean it's fine. Don't beat yourself over it."

"Well regardless, I must be going. I'll see you tonight at dinner."

"See you later," I said.

Mary started walking down the hallway towards the elevator. As usual, she walked at a perfect pace that you couldn't call too fast or too slow. After a few seconds, she disappeared down the hall.

Well, I guess I should get going, I thought. I have no reason to be here any longer.

I started walking down the hall when my mind went blank. It was just like earlier. It felt like I had no control of my body and my mind was fuzzy. It didn't hurt but it felt extremely uncomfortable watching my body move like it had a mind of its own.

My body jerked around and started walking near the direction of the room Mary was in. Without any control, I walked into the room, much to the surprise of the bedridden woman, who was now sunken into her bed reading a book. The television was on but the sound was muted like I predicted.

On closer inspection, the woman appeared to be considerably older up close. Her auburn hair was unkempt and her face, despite being nearly flawless, looked drained of any color. She looked like she hasn't slept in days.

When she saw me, she jumped and dropped her book. Her sorrowful expression switched to one of surprise and aggression. Despite looking sickly and frail, she exuded an aura comparable to a wild bear defending its territory.

"Who are you and what are you doing here!? Leave or I'll call security!"

It was at this time that I regained control of my body again. My mind was no longer scattered and I could comprehend the atrocious situation I was put in.

Not again, I thought. Why do I keep being put in these unfavorable positions?

"Ah-" my voice cracked.

"You have three seconds to explain yourself. And don't think I can't tell if you're lying."

I coughed to clear my throat. "Please, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm sorry for barging in but I really wanted to meet you."

"Meet me? Who are you!?"

"I'm a friend of Mary's. My name is Arthur."

"Arthur...as in Arthur Price?"

"Huh, yeah. Have we met?"

Her face grew pale once she figured out I was. Her aggressive demeanor quickly switched to an apologetic tone as her voice got softer.

"Ah, I'm so sorry for interrogating you. Please don't hold it against me and tell your father."

I looked at her, confused. "Why would I do that?"

"Y-you mean you're not upset?"

"Why would I be?"

I couldn't understand it. What was she so afraid of? Even if she was rude to me and I told father, what would he do to her to warrant this fear she had?

She took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. "Well, if you're not upset then it doesn't matter."

I looked at her, still confused, but didn't say anything.

"Anyways, I have a small favor to ask."

"Hmm?"

"Please let me touch your face?"

"Oh, Sure."

She looked at me, shocked that I agreed to it so readily. This should've been a really weird question but because I grew up with a baby face and soft hair people always asked to touch my face and my hair.

I walked over to her and bent down so she didn't have to strain herself by sitting up again. She put her thin fingers on my cheeks and gave me a small smile as she looked at me. She then let go, but only to surf her hand through my hair. Then she lied back down as I stood up straight again.

"So this is what you look like now."

"I'm sorry?"

"I haven't seen you since you were little," she said. "You were such a cute child. It's good to see you haven't changed too much."

I blushed. "Thank you."

She chuckled. "I see personality isn't too different either.

"It's unfortunate I can't say the same about Rosemary," she said with a melancholic smile.

"Was she not always this way? Did something happen to Mary?"

She stared at me in disbelief. "You really don't remember anything do you?"

I scratched my head. "Sadly I don't remember much about my childhood," I admitted.

The woman's face grew more apologetic, like she pitied me. "That's so sad. You and Mary were such good friends when you were little. You guys were inseparable. Most people outside of the house assumed you were brother and sister."

"We were?"

She nodded. "Although you're older, Mary always acted like the big sister. She'd protect you from bullies from the other noble houses' children and would often teach you something if you didn't understand it. She loved you so much. I believe that part of her didn't change."

"Umm, what exactly happened to Mary?"

Her face grew colder. "It's all because of those stupid Amazons. They decided to randomly invade and tried to start a war with us. Those stupid brutes just ruined everything!"

Amazons? I remember reading about them in the fairy tail books. Is she telling me they're real? And worse, they have history with the house?

She bawled up her fist and began hitting the bed in frustration. I grabbed her fists and stopped her, afraid she was going to potentially hurt herself.

"Please stop ma'am."

She put her hands up like she was surrendering.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me. Not that anyone but that idiotic girl does anyway."

"..."

The woman looked down and sighed. "I don't think it's even fair to blame the amazons. If anything, I'm trying to alleviate my guilt by blaming them. I clearly know that it's my fault that Mary is the way she is. I was the one who killed her smile."

"No way," I said. "As much as you seem to care for her, I doubt you'd do anything that would harm Mary."

"Is that how I appear to you? I'm glad. If only that was the truth."

"But miss-"

She squirmed a little, trying to get into a more comfortable position. "You see Arthur, Rosemary was a very happy and energetic child. She was intelligent and adventurous. But she also enjoyed reading and learning new things. She was so precious."

A tear rolled down her cheek as the woman fondly reminisced over the memories of her daughter. Noticing this, she quickly wiped it.

"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing her nose up. "I guess I remembered the past a little better than I thought I would."

I smiled at her. "It's okay," I said. "I'm just happy to see you care so much about Mary."

I wonder what it's like to have a loving parent like her. Honestly, it made me kind of jealous.

"No Arthur, it's not okay," she said, slightly raising her voice. "I took away that beautiful innocent smile of hers. Because of my selfishness, she may never be able to express her true feelings. Worst of all, she may have lost her emotions entirely."

"I don't think that's the case though. I'm sure she still has emotions."

Her downcast expression only grew colder. "Sadly, I think it may be true. I haven't seen her lips form a smile in years. Her tone was dry and devoid of emotion. I'm afraid that the happy child I once knew is gone. Instead she's been replaced by an unfeeling robot who simply analyzes and responds. She offers nice gestures and supports me but the warmth is gone. And it's all my fault."

That's not right. Mary isn't the most emotional person in the world, but calling her a robot is injustice. Even I know she has feelings that she more than likely wants to express. For her mother to talk about her as if she's just a monster just isn't right.

"Your fault? What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, I've already said too much as is."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No Arthur, it was me who was in the wrong here. I ran my mouth too much. I'm not used to having visitors aside from Rosemary."

Did something I say set her off? What did she mean too much? Is there something being hidden from me? Why couldn't she tell me more? I wanted to know more if possible, but it was clear she was going to remain tight lipped.

"In that case, I'll make sure to visit you again in the future," I said cheerfully.

She smiled. "You're so nice Arthur. You remind me so much of yo-"

She caught herself and halted her sentence. "Ahah, I almost let something else slip. I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

"Yeah, you probably could use some rest."

She nodded.

She lied down flat on her back. Or well, as flat as one could lie down when their bed had an incline. I scooted the covers up to her chest and took back to make sure it looked comfortable. She looked somewhat at ease so I figured it was probably comfortable for her.

She looked at me and smiled. "Thank you Arthur."

"For what? What did I do?"

"Just thank you."

Confused, I just looked at her.

"Your welcome, miss, umm?"

"Amber. Sage Amber."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Amber. Or uh, well, I guess you already know me. Nice to see you again, I guess?"

She chuckled. "Nice to see you again, Arthur. Please do visit me again."

"I will. I promise."

I turned to walk out when Ms. Amber stopped me.

"One more thing before you go."

"Hmm?"

"The Amazons are a blight in the mansion's history. It would be best not to mention it." I could hear the seriousness in her tone.

And with that I walked out of the room and closed the door. I was walking down the hall towards the end elevator thinking about all the information I was given. Or at least I wished it was information. If anything, she just gave me a plethora of questions.

The questions swirled around in my head. What happened to Mary and why was it her mother's fault? Why isn't she allowed to speak about it? Who are the Amazons? And most importantly, who was she about to compare me to?

I thought about all these questions and an idea popped into my head. I could ask the self proclaimed queen of knowledge about this. The only problem is I had no way to talk to her. I only ever met her once so I didn't know how to contact her. I thought about it for a second before looking around for a secluded place. Luckily, there was a bathroom right up ahead.

I walked inside the spotless bathroom with blue tile that encompassed everything but the ceiling. On the right were the sinks with a large mirror above it. On the left were three urinals with a cramped stall and a spacey stall. I chose the spacey stall, locked the stall door and sat on the toilet seat. I unsheathed Essentia and once again admired the beautiful blade.

Snapping back to senses, I remembered why I took it out and gripped the hilt with both hands. I neared it towards my chest and took a deep breath. I started sweating and my hands started shaking as I couldn't keep the blade straight anymore.

I still remembered how painful it was the last time I got stabbed. It's really going to suck if this doesn't work, I thought. The consequences definitely outweigh the benefits.

I once again took a deep breath. Please Ms. Myala, I thought, heed my call and answer me. If you are as knowledgeable as you claim to be, please lend me your assistance.

Overcoming my fear, I thrust the blade with all the force I could muster. And for a second, I felt nothing. I could visibly see the blade going through my chest but I didn't feel anything. However, not even a few seconds after my body grew limp and everything around me went dark.