“Where do you want to go after this?”

“I don’t have any particular plans.”

“Pu’er?”

I opened my eyes, noticing aei looking at me through the rear view mirror.

“No.”

“Then we'll head straight home. Will that be alright?”

I nodded.

“Hello? Can’t you talk?”

I want to sleep, can’t you see? Why can’t you ask mom for her opinion?

“Yes,” reluctantly, I said in a tired tone.

I closed my eyes once again.

The journey went on silently. No music in the car, I wonder why they didn’t complain about it this time around.

===

“Who used this?! Can’t you clear it up? Pu’er!”

I dragged my sorry ass to where my mom shouted. The shelves lining one of the walls of the living room, I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. All the items were there, chargers, various ports, a worn air purifier, old electronic plugs. But there my mom was glaring at me.

Her superficial miasma is high as usual.

What do I need to clean up anyways?

[It’s the coffee stain on the shelf.]

Lily hinted.

Hell could I tell that there’s not supposed to be a coffee stain there. It must have already dried up by this point. She’s really just wanting a fight.

Any word that comes out of my mouth will only make her angrier.

Wouldn’t shutting my mouth be the best course of action?

I stared at her and she stared at me.

“What are you standing there for? Are you deaf? Did you even hear what I said? Clean it up already ah!”

Yelling so, she herself barged into the kitchen to grab a towel or something to clean up the place.

I clenched my fist and calmed my palpitating heart. Lungs felt airy, my mind spinning.

Scary..

What.. what should I do?

I’m quite certain that mom will do a big clean up of the entire house, ridding it of dust. At the same time, she’ll use the chance to complain about how unrefined and filthy we’ve been living our lives.

It’s only dust! What do you expect? That I wipe the house of it every day? That’s not even my job!

And even if I did that, like hell would she care. She’ll find something else to scold me for.

I dragged my feet up the stairs.

I got to my room and locked the door behind me.

“Where.. where is aei?”

[Xe’s working in hirs room.]

“Then why is my mom so free? Doesn’t she have work?”

[That I don’t know. I’m sorry.]

“Something must have happened.. ugh.. so what? Does she think she’s the only one that has the problem? Just because she’s angry she can do whatever she likes?”

I held back the urge to shout.

But I couldn’t hold back the urge to cry.

The sound of rough shuffling could be heard from downstairs.

I browsed through the ShareWiw feed mindlessly. A lot of clips from Stuart’s interviews, photos of his promo shoots, and even fan theories on who the mysterious girl is.

Soon the sound of the vacuum coming on.

Ignore it. Ignore it.

More searching found that this girl most probably comes from a distinguished family, with some big title or backing. On that note, she’s my age.

Speculation is that she’ll move to Saint High next year, which I infer that she wasn’t among the students that were already present.

There’s also news saying there’s going to be an influx of new students transferring to Saint High. Stuart sure makes the girls and elves go round. I can’t wait to see what happens. It’ll be an interesting year.

“You think you’re a queen do you! Hiding in your room playing your games all the time you don’t see that I’m trying to clean the place!”

My mom’s dull yell echoed.

I can’t wait.

[I’m here for you Pu’er.]

“Thank you Lily.”

It hurts.

Why did I come from such a family?

I continued browsing, finding myself gravitating towards Stuart’s content all the time. It just keeps popping up on my feed.

He’s been in his line of work for 4 years now. But his struggles began way before that. When he first started out, the tribulations he had to face were insurmountable. I couldn’t imagine being in his position and facing all that hate.

He was alone.

Even now he’s alone.

No.

He said he found someone.

Ah.

Don’t think about it Pu’er.

Just.. don’t..

I’m alone.

‘Your not.’

Really? I’m pretty sure I am. I don’t have parents that understand me. And all I do is laze around all day, trying to stay sane.

‘I understand. It must be difficult.’

It is.. I’m hallucinating. Hahaha. I can’t believe I can talk to myself like this.

‘Do you need my help?’

What kind of help?

‘I’ll handle your life. You can just go to sleep, knowing that everything will turn out alright.’

“Yes please.. huh? Wait.”

My senses were all over the place. Parts of my body feel numb, my vision might go missing one moment and flash in the next. The world was flashing in a kaleidoscope of light.

It felt similar to when I got thrown into the astral space yet different.

It’s like..

I’m going to be eaten.

“NO! HELP!! HELP!!”

I was losing myself.

Ah, that’s right. I am losing myself.

Suddenly, all my senses returned to normal. The odd feeling went away.

I found myself shivering.

‘I’ll wait until you’re ready. Just tell me when you can’t handle your family. I’ll give you rest.’

W-What.. do you mean? Who are you..

‘I thought Avner had already explained. Have you forgotten?’

What has this got to do with him?! We’re over already!

‘You are me, and I am you. We’re one in the same.’

“L-Lily. Something is talking to me in my head.”

[Talking in your head?]

“I feel like I’m hallucinating. There’s this voice trying to get me..”

What is this.. it’s so scary.

Who is this voice in my head? Why so suddenly?

W-what the hell?!

‘I’ve always been here. I’ve been watching you ever since that evening.’

“W-what evening?”

Go away! Go away!

‘The evening you passed out. I took over your body and we met Avner together, remember?’

“What are you talking about you..”

[Pu’er, do you need me to call for help?]

“P-Please.. I don’t know what is going on..”

[I’ll also be notifying your mom and aei about.]

‘Aren’t you scared?’

“Shut up!”

I covered both of my ears with my hands.

‘Master never gave me any commands on how I should handle you. I suppose I’ll decide once I see what worth you have.’

I don’t have any worth. I’m just a useless elf. That’s all there is to me..

‘There’s no such thing. You’ve done well to provide me with cover.’

[Called for help.]

“E-Eh? Lily you actually.. w-what will happen now?”

[I decided to call for a volunteer counseling hotline instead. For now, please share what you want to the counselor. Don’t worry, it’s free.]

“H-Huh?”

The screen suddenly changed to an audio call.

[“Good afternoon, I’m Rachel from the F.R.I.E.N.D.S hotline, may I know who is calling?”]

“I-I’m alright.. uh..”

[“It’s alright. Whatever you say here will be kept strictly P and C. Feel free to share any problems you may have. I’m here to listen alright?”]

“Uh I..”

I turned to Lily who was floating in the air. The AI twirled once.

“I’m.. I’m hearing voices.”

[“Voices? What kind of voice? What does it say?”]

The caller sounded genuinely interested. I found myself being sucked into the conversation.

From the voice, to my family situation. Then my feelings.

I cried as I spoke.

[“It must have been really hard. Stay strong.”]

“I’m going to break this rate. But what other choice do I have! It’s not like I can just go out and live on my own either. Why do they always get angry, I don’t understand at all!”

[“Your parents are still human, you know? They have their share of troubles just like all of us. It’s hard to understand why people do what they do. They’re most probably trying to vent their frustration. Though, I will have to agree with you that they may have gone a little overboard.”]

“I know! Just early I got scolded because there’s a coffee stain on the shelf. I don’t even know how it got there. And then later I don’t know what I should do because I ignored my mom and locked myself up in the room!”

Oh god.

I ignored my mom.

What will happen later during dinner?

[“Yikes. That does sound bad. You’re not doing anything wrong, I assure you. It’s scary to be the one being scolded, I feel that.”]

“W-What.. what should I do? I.. I’ll have to meet her again later. I’m scared..”

[“You have to face it.”]

“B-But I’ve faced it so many times.. I don’t know how much more I can take..”

[“You’re a strong elf. I believe in you. ”]

“But.. b-but..”

Ah. Wait.

I see..

I’m venting.

In the end, the call was pointless.

It doesn’t solve anything.

It’s only a temporary solution to my problem.

It doesn’t do anything to resolve it.