✨ A Little Bit of Magic || READER X RAY || The Promised Neverland

✨ Chapter Forty Six

"Wake up sleepyhead!"

A familiar girl's loud, hyper voice filled the bleak, bleached infirmary. White sunlight broke through those sad excuses of curtains, the thin sheets imitating more of a tissue than a cloth. My eyes, still mostly closed, caught the small specks of dust floating about the room. I guess no matter how many times Professor Krone insisted on the weekly cleaning of the room, it would find a way to keep a stain, or a tiny ball of lint. An exasperated groan that wasn't mine resounded from the left side of the bed. "Good morning, Emma," Zack and I greeted the orange haired girl, who's jaw dropped to the floor. She dropped the metal spoon in her hand before frantically disappearing, calling for Norman. "I told you not to sleep with your shirt off," I hissed, pushing myself up with my right arm. A sleepy Zack just laughed in response, pulling on the gray t-shirt he insisted he couldn't sleep with. "Sorry, mom." Silly Zack. I punched his shoulder playfully, shuffling towards the tray Emma had left on the bedside table. "Apple?" I asked, tossing him the red fruit at the corner of the meal. He thanked me, catching it easily. I was glad the two of us were getting along again. Very well, too. I can almost say for sure I'm over Zack romantically. What he is now, like a fun older best friend seemed far more comfortable than a crush.

I glanced at the wooden clock hung over the doorway Emma had escaped from. "2:43 p.m." I muttered, taking a bite from the breakfast sandwich Emma had left. "Well, I did have a lot to tell you. Enough to keep you up until five," Zack replies, combing through his hair with his fingers. I'm sure normal girls didn't think of their gay best friends as sexy. So I should stop this. Platonic friendship, y/n. Platonic friendship. Well yeah, he is sexy but- but let's try to keep the fantasies in my head to a minimum. Or I might end up liking him again. And I'm trying to move on.

Last night, Zack and I discussed the curse. He said it appeared the night after the party, right after he woke up. And ever since then, it's grown, the limbs it's reached dying by the minute. "It's been stuck at my wrist for about three days, so maybe we've reached a stalemate in its growth." He'd said, clenching the fist. It scared me, thinking of such a thing that could end up taking your life.

Zack also shared what he'd learned about curses during the week he disappeared. "I've been talking to Professor Yuugo about my hand. I figured if anyone should something about a 'killing' spell it should be him. And he did."

"What did he say about it?"

The boy grimaced, laying down by my side. His stare was fixated on the wooden ceiling, a feeling of uncertainty and gloominess washing over the room. "He looked horrified, actually. I never thought of Professor Yuugo to be the one making such a face, but he did. Curses are a very powerful spell to perform. Though they're known and documented when they can be, they don't fall into a class of magic. You know how we have casual magic for lazing around everyday life, elemental magic for battling and whatnot. Curses don't fall into either categories. It wouldn't make sense in a the quick nature of a pyro duel, nor would anyone want to curse someone for shits and giggles. It's serious magic, costing something usually expensive from the user. The one downside to the so called mystery of the curse is the marks it leaves behind."

"And that is..?"

Zack grinned, pinching my cheek. "When an individual curses another person, all magic used against them will be a corrupted form of magic. Hydro won't heal. Dendro will crumble. And pyro- Pyro will kill. It's a mark of some sort."

"So that's how you decided to check if I was the one who cursed you? By asking me to literally, if I was, murder you?"

He had shrugged. In retrospect, it probably wasn't a good idea. But in the heat of the moment, anything can seem like a great plan. "So who do you think it is, Zack? Who do you think cursed you?"

"No clue."

So that's where we were at. Square one. Concerns about Zack's curse and saving face all collided in my head. How do I explain to Emma and Norman why a shirtless Zack was in my bed? He's the guy who broke my heart. I clicked my tongue, taking another bite. "Here," I muttered, giving him the other half. "You look upset," he replied, happily taking the sandwich. "I'm just thinking." "Abouft wat?" I groaned, wiping his face with a napkin. "Everything. We don't know how much time you have left. And we don't know who cursed you. How do we stop this?" "Maybe we should ask Professor Lucas, he's the guy for weird magic shit and stories. Maybe he'll have a story about a curse."

The words 'killing' and 'magic' have been finding ways to stick themselves together a lot recently. It shouldn't be that way though. Killing is hurt, pain, destruction. And magic should be beautiful, healing, and giving. Even pyro magic was just that. And I had Ray to thank for showing me how a blood colored flame can accent the most beautiful gardens. Ray's showed me a lot of things. A lot of emotions.

It's been a long time since I had a goal. But today, I've made a few. Save Zack and learn to love magic.