―― THAT DUMBFOUNDED LOOK ON HIS FACE MIGHT MAKE HIM LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT, BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER.
The only thing he was focused on was you. It's odd seeing you like this, he knows you for years at this point and he rarely ever get to see you in this state.
The point is, he never saw you this shocked for years. And last time was because of some of your country friends leaving you without an explanation. It was Serbia, or.. something. He didn't remember, it could probably be anything else entirely.
It's like you've seen a ghost or reliving that same exact memory.
Well - alright, that doesn't matter, gawking won't solve anything and comforting the damn human would be better. Dumb idiot.
Warily, the Athopian stepped closer, though keeping a respectful distance as he got a better look of you.
"Hey-"
"You're.. real, right?" You cut him off, finally lifting your head to look at the male. "I'm not just.. hallucinating?"
Ruby blinked,
then blinked again.
.. blinked one last time for good measure.
"What?" Was all he could muster up after a few seconds of silence, before pointing at himself in confusion. "I am clearly here." He continued while you rub your eyes, as if not even trusting your own vision to double check your close friend was even there or not.
Ruby idly crossed his arms over his chest, shifting slightly closer. "Are you okay? You're pale." He asked worryingly. You took a deep breath, slowing down your racing heart to be able to think clearly. "Tell me what's wrong," he continued.
"Okay, this might sound crazy.." You started off, looking at Ruby seriously.
".. I think i have schizophrenia."
The Athopian almost choked on his own spit at that very moment. "What the fuck?" He blurted out immediately, his facial expression is as dumbfounded as it can get. He put his fingers on his temple and rubbed it gently. "No, Y/N L/N. Riddle me this, If you're schizophrenic .. shouldn't i know? I would've seen the signs by now." He explained as logically as best as he could, though there is a lingering thought that it might've happened while he isn't watching. He did some research about mental illnesses before in his free time a few months ago, he remembered these generally can start at an older age. But that couldn't be it. Y/N seems completely fine, your behaviour didn't change at all for the past couple of years. You're not aggressive or hostile as far as he knows.
"Then why the hell was I seeing things?" You whisper-yelled at the male frantically, not wanting the countries nearby to hear.
"What things?" Ruby whispered back just as frantically, putting on the same energy as you since you both are equally panicked.
"I'm panicking, I can't breathe- everything is so overwhelming," You said in-between a few puffs of breaths, you thought you've calmed down by now. But this newfound crazy information did not treat you well, anyone would be just as confused if you realised you might've had a mental illness. But then again, maybe you're just jumping into conclusions? You hope the latter internally.
Ruby jumped in and grabbed both of your shoulders, squeezing them in reassurance. It was a miracle none of the countries were here to witness this, it's such a sign of weakness. You didn't like the feeling of it. "Calm down," He whispered gently, "Let's go outside and take a fresh breath of air outside. How about that?" You slowly shook your head in response, "The front door is on the living room, there's so many countries." You sighed heavily, "I don't want to sound like a pussy or anything, but I don't want to face them in this current state."
The Athopian rolled his eyes at your usage of words, gently leading you far away from the living room. "You're not a 'pussy' for this, I'll take you to another passageway outside." He said, patting your back before releasing you from his grip and leading the way. "We'll take the backyard door."
He quickly walked, making you follow behind him closely as to not get lost. It's a big place, but that'd be expected for a literal mansion. You're not used to being in here, and it might take a few months for you to get used and remember the areas.
After two minutes or so, a large wooden door can be seen in the distance. The windows beside it gave you a glimpse of the outside, and the backyard was bigger than you expected, it seems pretty too.
Ruby rummage through his pockets, before pulling out keys and testing out which one worked. You stood there, waiting for him to get the right one. Eventually it didn't take long as he open the door wide up, looking at you and stepping out, wanting you to do the same. You did so quickly, and damn it's a nice view. It's better than looking from the window, that's for sure.
The place was shielded with high fences, no one can get it or out - unless you climb it? possibly. But it's about fifteen feet tall and flat. Other than that, it's mostly empty except for the trampoline, a few of those outdoor tables and chairs, a baseball, a basketball, and a tennis ball with the rackets on the corner like it's just thrown there without a care.
You didn't remember the air being so cold and fresh, and it seems like Ruby noticed you enjoying it and spacing out; so he just stood there patiently.
After a few minutes of silence, the Athopian decided it was the best time to speak up. "Do you want to stay here? There's another door to outside the backyard. When we get to the other side, it's basically just leading back to the neighborhood." He suggested, "We can take a walk if so."
You blinked a few times, gaining conscious again and slowly went towards one of the chairs nearby. "Maybe we'll just.. stay here." You decided, slumping in the seat comfortably and spread your legs.
Ruby sat Infront of you and he did the opposite, crossing his legs and seating stiffly as if still high alert.
Silence envelope them once again, you were still shaken up about what you just say and couldn't muster up anything else to say.
After you saw that painting, those same flowers showed up, this time as if it's leading you somewhere with a trail of them going into a specific direction. It took you a hell of a lot time to decide following it since you're already lost - you hoped it's just trying to help you. But eventually it led you to another dead end, and when you blinked they're all gone.
But it showed up again, revealing a different direction. Following them closely, it was just going to another dead fucking end.
It kept coming and coming again and you lost hope when they all tricked you into a wall.
You had a dubious idea to go to the exact opposite of where it's trying to lead you and that actually is the reason how you finally got out of the maze of hallways. It was a disaster.
While you may have the desire to visit Italy, nine times out of ten you're not gonna try visiting the secret passageway unless he's already somewhere in the main rooms.
You kept thinking and thinking, wondering how and why these kinds of hallucinations are showing up, and for whatever reason - only in that specific place. And with nobody there. Now that you think about it, maybe it's not a mental illness? Does magic actually exist? Well, it definitely does. You remembered Ruby saying something about wielding dark magic, but only Athopian species can wield them; is what he said. And you don't ever recall him being able to do any hallucinations.
"Ruby," You said, breaking the silence. "Is there any other magic or powers other than dark magic?"
The Athopian thought for a moment, his gaze shifting somewhere to think before looking back at you. "No. As far as i know, the Athopians were the only one to be able to have the capability of spells in this world. Except for hierarchies like those different demons and angels. But they aren't in the world."
He pursued his lips, "..Maybe. Who knows, I didn't do a deep investigation on that matter."
You leaned on the chair, "Just to confirm, you can't make hallucinations, yes?" You asked, making him nod; "Mhm, I can only do so much and it isn't something dark magic can do no matter how hard I push it." You raised your eyebrows at that, you remembered he said dark magic can do anything if you push beyond it's limits; but you decided to ignore it. For now.
"I've rarely seen you do anything about this power. What do you use it for last time?" You asked, your questions are now driven in curiosity rather than skepticism, you want to try forgetting about it at this point, maybe it won't drive you crazy.
The Athopian smiled at this, "Remember the time when I said I was gonna be gone for a few days? I think that was a month ago," He recalled, "I used my magic to build a portal and explored a new planet. You know I've done that a few times by now, it's practically a free time hobby." You nodded immediately, crossing your arms over your chest and scoffed lightly. "I bet it's just a random planet with those random letters and numbers and have nothing interesting in it, this happened twice before your recent expedition."
Ruby waved his hand dismissively, proving you wrong. "No, surprisingly. This is the most interesting planet I've ever seen. There is actually alot of habitat and species, even humans like us." You raised your eyebrows at this, mouth slightly agape at this surprising discovery, "Are you serious? Tell me all about it," This has your full attention now. There may be hundreds, if not thousands or millions of planets out there, but it was something always impossible for you to think any living creatures would exist in almost all of them, because it's so rare to be able to have a planet that's perfectly balanced with life, enough oxygen, suitable gravity, and water.
"Get this," Ruby started off, tapping the table rhythmically,
"The name of the planet is Earth."
"Oh, the humans must've named it. But Helvacony sounds better," You boasted with a proud looking expression, and Ruby just rolled his eyes playfully, "You only say that because it's our planet, of course you'd be biased." He was right, earth does roll off the tongue better, but still.
"Anyway, Earth and Helvacony are almost indistinguishable. The only difference is our planet is way smaller and has less population. Because let me tell you, Earth has a hefty amount of humans - maybe a tad bit too much." The male explained, his stiff posture began to soften as he got more relaxed. "Over more than seven billion people while we don't even scratched any close to two billion."
"That's interesting," You commented, "So it's overpopulated?"
Ruby shrugged, "Probably, I didn't have enough time to explore and learn more about it. I only stayed there for a few days since i do have work to do here in Helvacony." He leaned back in his chair, "You know how it is."
"Anything else you know?"
Ruby shook his head in disappointed, "No, most of the time it's just me trying to hide my appearance While I look around, I didn't get to talk to anybody. It seems like humans only reside in Earth and i definitely look different than them. I want to spare the embarrassment." He shrugged, "If I have time, I'll look into that planet more. It's an insane discovery in my books."
You nodded in agreement, and the topic ran out after that as they're in complete silence yet again. But it's not uncomfortable, not with Ruby anyway. It was never uncomfortable with him even if you both didn't say anything, it was just.. peaceful. Sometimes it's great to have a little breathing room to collect your thoughts.
Maybe it's the best time to ask him about some of the hallucinations now that you've calmed down.
"When I was trying to find my way back, I saw.. things that weren't there. And the only thing notable was those strange flowers and a picture of Philippines," You revealed, gaze slowly drift away from Ruby's curious eyes. "I don't know why she showed up like that."
The Athopian combed through his own hair whilst responding to your statement, thinking thoughtfully beforehand. "Hm, maybe those hallucinations have something to do with her? I'm not quite sure, this is something I've never heard of before." He questioned out loud while humming, "Maybe you were just going crazy because of the corners and hallways look exactly the same? And maybe, Philippines showing up is just a manifestation of your most inner hatred currently." You tapped your fingers on the table, slowly nodding along his words until he stopped his speculations. That is a possibility, and the only reasonable one. Because just like what Ruby said, only demons and angels have powers other than the Athopians, you doubt theres one tormenting you for this when they have better things to do, no?
".. There's always something weird about her," Ruby spoke up, making you perk your ears and fully focus om him instead of zoning out.
"Female countries.. doesn't exist." He said, and judging by your face he immediately clarified something he knows what you're currently thinking about. "Only Male ones exist, and they never needed the opposite gender to give life since they have the power to make one with the help of angels and demons blessing them with a creation similarly to the father's patterns. Though the only drawback is the baby's gender is determined by their parent's gender as well. All countries refused to mingle with any male or female humans- not sure why, but they didn't. So there's no weird mutations of both species into one baby."
He leaned in closer, "So that's why i was initially confused when Philippines was in the picture. I don't know of her origins, too. I know her brothers origins- but not her. No one knows, but they never questioned it. Most simply got enamoured by her 'beauty' to not care." He thinks out loud, your facial expression scrunched in confusion and curiousity at this newfound information.
"I wanna get to the bottom of this," The male continued, "It's been a long mission since I'm busy, I know I can't do it on my own. So if you're done getting used to the mansion and not in the mood to find new job posters, you could maybe try to find out too for me." He offered, letting out a hum as if it'll convince you more, and damn he didn't need to do that since you're already in on it. You're curious too.
The country on the window inside the mansion took a few step back from the two engaging Athopian and human, then walk away calmly.
∆
―― Hello, i really don't have anything else to say, but! i do want to do more q & a stuff since its fun. They'll be answered in the next chapter.
―― comment here and ask me something if you want, you're not limited to one question, it can be multiple.
―― also, if i depicted mental illnesses wrong please do say so, I've done my research but i might still be wrong. I'll try editing some stuff if it's wrong :]
―― ok bye