Heavenly Mortals-Act One

VIII-Qi'ra ( I )

Qi'ra stared on at where Aetos was sleeping. He had disappeared completely. She hadn't been able to properly register it when he suddenly detained her.

She lay down and replayed her convulsion. She would have given anything to be rid of that voice. It had plagued her throughout her life.

She felt ashamed to submit so easily every time it screamed in her head. It would scream at her and pull out her worst memories. It always seemed to demand the truth from her. Every time someone asked or said something that hit too close to home...

But this time it was different. The pain was much worse, but the aftermath was surprisingly better. No one looked at her like she just had a weakling mental breakdown. No master Ikori to eye her like she was a failure.

Calum had been all over her, and he even took away the pain. Then, he became a lot kinder to her.

And then they fought again. And in the end, he apologized.

As far as she was concerned, that kind of behaviour was an alien thing.

It was so... different, but in a pleasant way. No one spoke to her in such a soft manner. It made her head hurt trying to figure it out.

She snapped out of it. She had enough headaches.

Instead, she focused on the sky. The picture of the sudden meteor shower was crystal clear. Then there was the moment Calum claimed he was causing it. She didn't believe him at first, but then he suddenly collapsed like he had a sudden illness.

And she couldn't stop coming back to when she gently pushed his head down. The whole thing made her heart beat in a way she never knew before.

Gosh darn, sleep! She told herself.

She mentally shoved the mess of thoughts to the back of her head. They were nothing but distractions. She had trained to ignore distractions.

So why couldn't she stop thinking about them?

With a grunt of frustration, she rolled around and found herself looking at Calum. He was sleeping with his arms aside. Aetos hadn't bothered to give his head something proper to lie on. That dumb bird.

She crept towards Calum's bag and took it. She lifted his head and slipped it underneath. He looked like he was trying to wake up, but was caught in sleep paralysis.

Qi'ra noticed Calum was still in his monastery clothes. They wouldn't do any good against the cold. She was wearing warm clothes, yet the temperature was a little chilly.

With a sigh, she lifted Calum's head and pulled the bag out. She opened it and found a blanket, which she tossed over him. Gradually, he eased and his expression became peaceful.

She stood over him. Her heart was beating faster than it should have. She had a desire to punch her own chest.

Calum and her were the same in many ways, but their differences were what caught her attention.

He was... good.

He was a good person. He did stuff that the Ikori monastery disciples had never done. And he never did anything they had done.

Except when he told her to, "Suck it up and move on.", She still wanted to punch him, but unlike everyone else, he didn't make her feel like breaking his limbs the first chance he got.

She shook her head and lay down on her branch. For some reason, she fell asleep immediately.

She dreamt that she was back at Ikori monastery. The very fact that she was dreaming was strange, since she had mastered a technique that allowed her to have dreamless sleep. Ikori claimed that dreams sapped one's energy and concentration.