(AS USUAL,, ENJOYYYY)
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The celebration soon ended and the preparations for Emma, Ray, and I's departure began. The meeting room had been mostly dispersed of people, besides Emma, Ray, and I, who explained about Mujika's abilities to Don, Gilda, and a few others who stayed behind. It was at that moment that I noticed the lack of a certain ravenhead.
Just then, a slight bit of movement caught the corner of my eye as Ray slipped from the room silently. I excused myself for a minute and followed after him quietly until he got to the entrance of our current home. He then looked left and right before exiting through the door.
Once the door closed behind him I quickly followed after him and opened the door once again, catching sight of his figure trudging up steps in the distance, as he slowly began fading into the darkness of night. 'Where could he be sneaking off to now?'
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"So that's the plan?" The albino boy hummed, lacing his fingers together as he leaned forward at his desk. "It's along the lines of what I expected, though." He sighed, resting his chin on his folded hands.
Ray leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "You know, it's fairly unnerving, the way you act like that." He raised an eyebrow, a slightly amused expression crossing his face for the first time since entering Norman's office.
Norman smiled lightly. "Y/N feels unnerved by it as well. You two are more similar than you think." He teased, but Ray didn't appear to be having that.
The ravenhead hummed with an unimpressed tone, raising an unamused eyebrow. "I suppose that's all you need to know. I'll be taking my leave, then." He stalked towards the door, hands in pockets. He grabbed hold of the handle, before Norman spoke once again.
"Are you sure it'll be worth it, Ray?" Norman asked as he stood up from his desk, approaching his lifetime best friend. "What you intend... it may end up backfiring." He spoke worriedly as he placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder.
Ray shrugged Norman's hand off, on his face, a determined expression that overshadowed the underlaying worry. "I can't just let it happen all over again, Norman." He turned to the albino with a dark expression on his face, matching the one his albino friend wore whenever plotting plans behind his friend's backs. "I'm sure you understand." Ray's eyes narrowed as he glanced to the side before leaving, closing the door with a 'thud'.
Norman took a seat on his desk and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. "I think... I've made a mistake..." He cupped his chin, deep in thought. "Sorry, Ray...Y/N..."
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I finished shoving the things I needed haphazardly into my bag with a tired sigh. I pulled my hair back into a high ponytail, the long pale strands of white hair reaching down to the small of my back.
I stared at my face in the mirror, now familiar after a few years of being in this body. I turned to look away from the mirror when my stomach flip-flopped as I caught a glimpse of Ray passing by the doorway in the reflection of the mirror. I guess he was back, now. But where had he been? It couldn't've been Norman, right?
I swallowed dryly as I picked Ray's scarf up from my bed and stared at it for a moment before wrapping d it around my neck with a sigh, nuzzling my nose into it subconsciously as I grabbed my bag from the floor. 'His scent... it's barely detectable now.' Without realizing what I was thinking I sighed sadly. Suddenly my thought registered in my brain and my eyes widened. I covered my face with a long, exasperated, sigh, as my ears turned bright pink. 'What are you doing, noticing something like that, Y/N???!' I cussed myself out, followed by a sad sigh. 'Plus...recently, he's been...' I thought of all the times he'd avoided my gaze, avoided me in general, or spoke in cold tones towards me.
Ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in my heart that squirmed about as I thought about these things, I walked outside to where all the others were already waiting.
"We'll be leaving for the select clearing in a few." Ray hummed, checking his pocket-watch for a moment before stuffing it back in his pocket. My eyebrows scrunched in thought for a moment as I considered his words and the impending goodbyes. 'Did Emma and Ray leave without everyone originally?'
Pushing my thoughts aside once again I walked towards the people as they gave their goodbyes.
"Oh, Y/N!" Emma called as she caught sight of me approaching from the corner of her eye. "You're late!"
"Per usual." Poppy chimed in with a grin.
I raised an eyebrow, a small smile making it's way to my face despite myself.
"Well, now that Y/N the slowpoke is here," Emma began, until I delivered the ginger girl a swift kick to the shin. She completely ignored my low blow and laughed through her pain while she continued speaking. "-we'll be off, then, everyone!" She exclaimed with a grin, waving to the countless people that surrounded us.
The younger kids gave us a wave. "Stay safe!" They exclaimed before leaving to go to bed, yawning cutely, until only a few of the older kids remained.
"Make sure you come back alive." Zack smirked, raising his closed hand for fist-bump.
"We will." I grinned, pounding my fist against his. "Balalalalalala" I made little explosion noises as I pulled my fist away from his and put it back into my pocket. He then ruffled my hair as I was attacked by two little pests from behind.
"Stay safe, Y/N!" Poppy and Daisy exclaimed, wrapping their arms around me in a hug. I smiled and hugged them back, watching them scurry back for a moment before I was approached by another person with the intention of saying goodbye.
"I wish I could go as well..." Oliver laughed lightly as I turned to him. "But we'll leave it to you this time... again..." He muttered, looking like he felt a fool.
"Don't feel guilty, Oliver You've been a great help." I patted his shoulder comfortingly. "We'll be back soon."
"Yeah." He smiled thinly. He hesitated as his eyes slid to Ray then back to myself, his lips pursing slightly. I took note of this with a frown as he turned back to me with the same smile as always, any hint of guilt or worry gone. "Stay safe, Y/N." I was distracted from my suspicion as I heard the same repetitive goodbye.
"'Stay safe', 'stay safe',' stay safe'. Really, is there nothing else to say-"
"Stay safe."An amused voice said from behind, as a large hand was laid on my shoulder.
"You..." I irked and cocked an eyebrow, turning around as Yuugo grinned gleefully. I let out a long sigh which turned into a loud groan as time went on.
"I'll be fine, ok?" I reassured the tsundere man with an exasperated sigh. "So you can rest easy." I grinned while I patted his shoulder while teasing the older man.
Yuugo frowned. "Are you implying I'll lose sleep over you." He huffed, crossing his arms as he raised an eyebrow in question.
"No, definitely not. Who would ever do such a thing." I muttered, the sarcasm in my voice likely palpable in the air.
"Good." Yuugo huffed. "Because I haven't, don't, and never wi-"
"Your dark circles say otherwise."
"Why, you little-"
"Alright, alright, my turn." Another voice spoke anxiously in a sigh, and I turned to Lucas as he gently ushered a angrily muttering Yuugo to the side.
"You ate well, right? Not tired or anything?" The red-head quizzed as he touched my forearms in a motherly way.
"Yes, and no. I'm fine, mom." I intended it sarcastically, but seeing as Lucas' face turned bright red and he held it in his hands, the proper tone used in sarcasm was likely lacking from my words.
"Then, bye everyone!" I finished my goodbye, quickly leaving the embarrassed Lucas and following after the suspicious emo and cheerful ginger.
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"...I'm more like the father, right?" Lucas anxiously murmured, his hands clasped in front of his face as Y/N walked away.
"What?" Yuugo inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"She called me mom!!" Lucas whined, in the middle of an existential crisis. "I'm not a mom, right?!" He asked, shaking Yuugo as he rested his hands on the man's shoulders.
Yuugo sweated anxiously. "Ahahahahah nooo. I'm sure you're the... fatherly... figure..." He spoke as if it was hard to speak the words. "-in her life, don't worry." He patted his anxious friends shoulder. 'What does that make me, then? The nanny?' Yuugo cringed at the thought, his nose wrinkling in disgust. 'Sorry, Lucas. You can be the mom.'
I raised my hands above the jar of golden water as Emma placed it down on the hard ground, the pale moonlight glinting off the sparkling surface of the golden water as it rippled slightly from the movement.
As the pale light from the moon reflected off of the knife in my dominant hand as I carefully dragged it across my other hand's palm, my blood spilling into the jar along with Emma and Ray's.
I gulped as it spilled over, both hands, the one spilling blood and the one holding the sharp knife trembling slightly. I steeled my nerves as I grabbed the Vida flower, placing it in the jar. I watched as the flowers adjacent to it began to bloom, sucking up each of our blood. As they continued blooming I looked around the clearing as it stared back emptily, the lack of children being the reason for such. My stomach suddenly flip-flopped. 'No. They were here with us originally. So why... why would Ray clear them away?'
At that moment his plan clicked, the lack of onlookers, my still unbloomed flower, and the knife supplied by Ray... I shot up from my crouch. "Ray, did you-?!" I exclaimed as I whipped around, beginning to feel the effects I'd feared; my vision becoming blurry as the world swam around me.
Just as I collapsed I landed into Ray, who stood behind me, helping me stand up for just a moment, grabbing hold of my shoulders. Then, gently, he laid me on the ground as I struggled to stay conscious.
"You...drugs...on the knife..." I managed to push out as he set me down, my face resting against the padded dirt of the clearing. I'd of made some comment about that, if I wasn't so focused on the situation at hand.
Ray nodded his head in response to my accusation, a determined expression on is face, not a trace of guilt. 'This b*stard...'
"Why?" I asked quietly, my eyes crinkling as I held back tears as sweat began to roll down my face from the drugs he'd added to the blade of the knife.
But Ray simply stayed quiet as he turned to Emma, who looked between us, confused. "What's going on?" She looked to me worriedly. "What did you do to Y/N?" Emma turned an accusing glance at Ray.
"Nothing." He muttered, turning back to the jar of golden water, blood, and flowers. "We'll be going soon." He said as he pulled my Vida out of the jar, setting it on the ground.
"But what about-" Emma began to ask before Ray interrupted her.
"She'll be fine."
"*sshole." I murmured lightly, barely holding onto my consciousness, my throat tightening as Ray and Emma vanished.
The jar of Golden water was all that remained, the two red Vida flowers in full bloom along with the crushed one that lay on unbloomed the ground. "*sshole." I muttered once again as tears spilled down my cheeks, the ravenhead and ginger long gone.
I stayed in that condition for quite some time, barely responsive, my eyes closing slowly as time ticked past slowly, until there was an approaching sound of footsteps.
'Ray?' I thought to myself groggily as the quiet sounds came closer, the footsteps barely audible even on on the rough ground. 'No, whoever is walking is too heavy to be Ray.' My eyes blinked slowly as the world blurred once more, my tearstained cheeks stinging slightly.
The person who came up behind me and gently lifted me off the ground carefully, unaware of my still stubbornly conscious self. I peeked through my eyes, the shadow of the person above me becoming clearer as I squinted, recognizing a head of white hair. 'Norman?' The person came into focus, a streak of red hair amongst the white. 'Oliver...? Oh... so earlier... he knew...' I remembered his glances between Ray and I and his hesitant goodbyes. I would've done something- cuss him out, punch his face, maybe even cry, alas, I couldn't manage to move my body at all.
The older male looked down at me, his eyes widening for a moment as he met my own still-awake blue ones. The teen boy smiled thinly, his eyebrows scrunching in guilt. "Sorry, Y/N." He murmured, before looking back ahead. "You can rest now." He tried to reassure me, but it only made my worry worse.
'Rest? Ray or Emma is about to make the promise in my place, and you expect me to rest?' I continued fighting against sleep but to no avail, soon closing my eyes as at last I drifted off, a heavy feeling in my heart.
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Edit: Y'all. Ig it wasn't obvious but NO THEY DID NOT LEAVE YOU TO DIE 😭😭 When Ray talked to Oliver earlier, he asked him to stay behind and watch the clearing. Didn't specify much else tho.
Also Emma had NO IDEA about what Ray was planning. But she could see Oliver and knew you would be okay.
End of edit.
(LOL NOT ME CUTTING OFF THE LAST PART OF THE STORY SHORT AGAIN (if you can call 2,000+ words short LMAO) BC IM NOT SURE OF MY FEELINGS LOL SO UHHHH WE'LL SEE WHERE THIS GOES.
Does this count as a cliffhanger, btw? ...I mean probably LMAO
LMAO, DON'T WORRY, IF ANYTHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENS,,, CHANCES ARE I WASN'T EXPECTING IT EITHER...
UH...
RIP, ME.)