Celestial Discord

Chapter‌ ‌16-‌ ‌Support‌ ‌

"Well if that's settled, then make sure you four get some sleep tonight, because you're due to head out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow!? But mah off days," Tucker whined.

"You'll be granted a week off after you two come back," my father said. "For your troubles, it's the least I can offer."

"Whoo!"

I expected him to raise his hands up in celebration, but I didn't expect him to lift up mine too.

I couldn't help but laugh. It's hard not to around Tucker sometimes. Seeing this, everyone else eased up and dinner conversation returned to normal. As usual, I finished first. I finished my plate, scooted in my chair, and went upstairs to my room. I plopped on my bed and held up Essentia.

Is the blade that interesting to you? Miss Myala said.

Kinda. It just feels comforting to have around a knife. Feels more secure than my gun. You don't like this blade though, do you?

It's more or less a prison for me, she said. Can't say I enjoy being trapped in here.

Suddenly, I heard a knock at my door. I sat up to see Sophia standing at my doorway.

"May I come in?"

"Sure."

She walked in and looked all around the room. Then she looked at the bookcase and smiled.

"Still fond of reading I see. Adventure tales and heroic fables I presume?"

"For the most part, yeah."

She sat down next to me and looked at Essentia in my hand.

"Is that the blade that caused a pandemic a few days ago. May I see that it?"

"Umm sure," I said handing it over. "Just be careful, it's really sharp."

"I think I'm pretty comfortable around knives," she joked.

She held it up to the light, and turned it so it shined brightly. "It's so pretty. I wish I had one of these."

I looked at her face and was reminded of the hug she gave me earlier. I could feel my face start to blush and I looked at the floor so she wouldn't see it.

"So umm, is there a reason you came here?"

She looked at me and put the blade down on the bed. "Well," she started, putting a strand of her long hair behind her ear, "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I feel like you think I might've been attacking you."

"I mean, I get it, you just wanted to make sure I was safe and not making reckless decisions. If anything I'm happy to see you looking after me."

"Oh look at you, you sweet talker." She nudged me a bit.

This is calming, I thought. It's like having an older sister I never knew I needed.

She looked at the ceiling. "I like how you turned your father's words back at him. It was pretty entertaining to watch."

"Ahh, thanks."

"Do you two always have mental battles like that?"

"No, not really, I usually never see him and when I do I usually just go along with whatever he wants."

"That's not right though, you should stand up for yourself more. You are going to most likely lead this mansion someday so you should get in the habit of making decisions."

Everything she said was soundproof. There was really nothing to argue against.

"Arthur."

"Yes," I answered, now fiddling with the Essentia.

"You don't want to go on this expedition, do you?"

"...no."

"But you feel you need to, right?"

"Yes."

How does she just see through me? Or does she already know about me somehow?

Then what she did next was unexpected. She scooted over and grabbed the back of my head and gently pushed it to her lap.

Uwah. My brain went blank again. I couldn't think of anything.

She put her fingers through my messy brown hair, which admittedly felt really nice.

"Like I said earlier, you can always talk to me. I know you don't like talking about how you feel, but just know I'm here to listen." Her words were soft and sincere. I didn't need to see her face to confirm that what she was saying was legitimate.

She continued stroking my hair and my eyes were beginning to get heavy. I tried fighting it but it felt too comfortable.

"Don't think about anything Arthur. Just ease your mind."

At a certain point my body gave in and everything went dark.