anime artist – The Ringmasters Society

Aiden’s Day Off

September 30, 2022 imeryli

It was a quiet afternoon at Ringmasters Training Academy. This wouldn’t be normal for someone like Rey or Neil, but it was the norm for Aiden. At least when Rey and Neil weren’t randomly trying to jump him during the day. Aiden got up from his office desk. He got together a bunch of papers and placed them in a file folder. Once Aiden exited his room, he headed over to Headmaster Devil’s office. As soon as he walked in, Headmaster Devil was alone to his surprise. He was instead more occupied with a book in hand.

“Is this the Tatia effect?” Aiden asked.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You seem to spend less time with women in here.”

“Since no one knows how to knock around here, this is no longer a good place to invite the ladies over.”

“When was it ever a good place for that?”

“Enough bickering. What do you need?”

“I have the one file you wanted me to put together for you.”

Aiden handed the file folder to Headmaster Devil. “Nice work,” Headmaster Devil said as he briefly flipped through the folder’s contents. “So, you’re with Shuto tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How are things going over there?”

“Not much has happened yet. I’ll keep you posted.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s a nice break from all of the work you do here. Anyway, I’ll see you next week.”

“Yeah. See you.”

Aiden left the office and let out a deep sigh.

***

The following day, Aiden reported to the Ringmasters Society building early in the morning. He grabbed an egg and cheese sandwich from the cafeteria for breakfast and headed upstairs to Shuto’s office. Before he could knock on the door, Shuto stepped out of the room and said, “Good morning, Aiden!”

“Good morning.”

“Did you already eat?”

“Yeah. I got a sandwich. What are my duties for today?”

“About that…I have a rather simple task for you today.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Today, your task is to have fun.”

Aiden found himself puzzled. He was wondering if Shuto was messing around with him. He questioned, “Is this a joke?”

“No, it actually isn’t,” Shuto chuckled. “You see it’s been a while since I took Yashi out. Work here gets pretty hectic. So, I thought I’d take the misses for a nice day out.”

“That’s cool, but what about me?”

“That’s why I’m telling you to take the day to enjoy yourself and relax. You hardly take any time off, so here’s a chance for you to do that.”

“And do what exactly?”

“Seriously, boy? You need to get out more often. Catch a movie. Go roller skating. Anything. Just go have some fun.”

“But…”

“Look, I really have no work for you today. I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Shuto headed off while Aiden watched him leave. He couldn’t believe he had a whole day to do whatever he wanted. Normally, anyone would be elated for a day off, but he was stumped. He didn’t have a clue as to what he would do today. Aiden took the elevator and headed down to the lobby. As he was about to exit the building, he heard a voice say, “Hey, Aiden.”

Aiden turned around to see it was Haruka. She walked up to him and said, “How are you this morning?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Master Shuto gave me the day off.”

“Oh, that’s nice. It’ll be good to enjoy yourself today.”

“Not really. I have no idea how I’m going to spend my time today with no assignments or tasks to do.”

“Sweety, you’re fifteen. Save this energy for your thirties.”

Aiden sighed. He really had no idea how he was going to spend the day.

“Here’s an idea for you. Take yourself back to Daredevil City. I’m sure a bus ride there can help you pass the time.”

“I guess so. I’ll see you later then.”

As Aiden left, Haruka watched him leave. She shook her head, thinking, That boy…he really is something.

***

And so, Aiden took a bus to Daredevil City. As he was on board, he thought about what he would do while in the city. He could go to the city library, or he could go to a local coffee shop and read. Though he did think that Shuto would give him an earful for not adhering to the concept of “having fun” today. Aiden realized the best way to go about this was to treat it like an assignment. He looked at the bus schedule in his hand and noticed the next stop was Orchard Springs Park. He figured that would be a good place to start.

After some time passed, the bus stopped at Orchard Springs Park. Aiden got off and headed inside the park. As he entered, he realized it wasn’t your average park. With springtime, there were flowers blooming within all of the trees. Fallen petals covered the grass like beautiful jewels forming a necklace. Aiden thought a stroll around a peaceful place such as this would be a nice way to pass the time.

Aiden began walking around, taking note of how quiet the park was. There weren’t many people walking by, which was fairly normal for the time of day. As he continued to walk along the pathway that went through the park, he found himself at peace, but as time passed, he was bored. It wasn’t the scenery that bored him. It was the fact that he was all alone in a decently vacant park.

Aiden sat down on a bench and sighed. With no responsibilities at hand, he had no idea how to spend an entire day’s worth of free time. This sucks, Aiden thought. Is my life so bland that the only thing that I can think of doing now is work? I wonder what Neil’s doing now. It’s Friday, so class probably won’t be all day. Then again, that doesn’t stop him from skipping or anything.

Before he could get lost in more thoughts, Aiden was smacked in the head with a soccer ball. He fell off the bench as the ball rolled further away from him. As he got up, irritated, a kid about his age with short brown hair and brown eyes ran toward him with some other kids behind him. The kid shouted, “Hey, what did you do with our ball?!”

“Nothing, considering I was hit by it,” Aiden said.

“I don’t care about that. Thanks to you we lost it!”

“How exactly does that make sense?”

“If you weren’t in the way, it wouldn’t have gone so far!”

“Well, that’s a pretty stupid argument.”

“What did you say, kid?!”

This is absurd. I’m arguing with this kid over nothing. I should just go, Aiden thought.

As Aiden was about to leave, the kid shouted, “Hey, punk! Where do you think you’re going?! I’m not done talking to you!”

“Kid, I’m no punk. I certainly don’t want to waste my time with a useless argument.”

“Useless?! HA! You’re just afraid of me!”

“Listen, I’m now in a very irritable mood. So, if you want to agitate me further, you’re not going to like it. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

The kid got his fist ready and aimed to swing at Aiden. But before he could land his punch, Aiden caught his fist, surprising him. Aiden said, “I’ll say this once. You threw the ball that hit me. Therefore, you’re responsible for losing it. Not me. Your second mistake was trying to blame me for your incompetence. And thirdly, you tried to throw a punch at me when I told you I’m not to be messed with. What does that say about you? You’re a foolish little boy. Now, leave and don’t make things worse.”

Aiden released his grip on the boy’s hand. The boy looked very shaken and began to scurry away along with the other kids. Aiden sighed. He turned around and was stunned to see Shuto with Yashi at a bench not too far from him. While Yashi was seated at the bench, Shuto was standing and very clearly looking at him. Aiden couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but he could certainly tell he had something to say.

***

After seeing Aiden, Shuto took him to an ice cream shop called The Scoop. He was still set on spending the day with Yashi, but she didn’t mind some time away, so he agreed to meet with her at a different park. While they stood in line, Aiden couldn’t help but wonder why Shuto had to take time away from Yashi to talk to him.

“So, what are you ordering?” Shuto asked.

“What?”

“I brought you to get ice cream. So, you’ll need to tell me what you want.”

“You brought me here to talk about me almost getting into a fight with that kid. Can’t we just get to it already?”

“Boy, I’m helping you out with this “having fun” thing since you clearly suck at it.”

Aiden was stunned. He sighed while Shuto put in an order, saying, “Hey, can I get a small scoop of Ube ice cream?”

Shuto looked over at Aiden, waiting for him to place an order. Aiden sighed and said, “I’d like a medium scoop of strawberry ice cream…with cheesecake bites.”

After getting their ice cream, Shuto and Aiden took a seat at one of the tables inside the shop. Aiden was eating the ice cream, and he was quite fond of it. He hadn’t had ice cream in ages and tasting it again felt rewarding. As he ate, Shuto said, “Enjoying it?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty great. How’s yours?”

“Very nice. You can never go wrong with Ube. So, do you want to talk about what happened back there?”

“Not really. It was simple. A stupid kid got in my face, and I told him off.”

“I know. You’re not to be blamed for how you handled it, but it seems today’s assignment is harder than anything that’s been given to you in the past.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that.”

“Do you know why that is?”

Aiden sighed. He hadn’t really given it much thought. He took a few seconds to think before giving an answer.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve never really done the typical fun things kids do. From when Neil and I were kids, all I focused on was training.”

“Are you sure that’s it? Or do you just not remember what it was like to have fun?”

“What?”

“You don’t seem to remember that Haruka used to take you and Neil out for ice cream all the time back in those days. If they didn’t have strawberry, you’d get cookies and cream.”

“With the extra chocolate chunks. And Neil would get mad because he’d want the same thing and they only had enough for one person.”

“Yup. Haruka would make you flip a coin to see who gets it.”

“How could I have forgotten all of that? I’m like an old man.”

“Hey, respect your elders, boy!”

“Sorry, it’s just…I didn’t know how much I’ve been missing out on.”

Aiden let it all sink in. It was a lot for him to think about. And as he was processing it all, another surprise came walking in. Krystal, Zayn, and Neil walked into the shop. As soon as they walked in, Aiden could see Neil stall upon making eye contact with him. Shuto turned around to see the group and said, “Well, I think now is the perfect time for me to take off.”

“Seriously, old man?! You leave when I come in?!” Neil exclaimed.

“It’s not about you, boy,” Shuto said as he got up from the table. “Have a good day, kids.”

As Shuto left, Krystal said, “So, Aiden, what brings you here?”

“Shuto took me out for ice cream,” Aiden said. “I’ve been having a rough day.”

“Oh, yeah?!” Neil said.

“Neil, come on,” Zayn said.

“It’s okay, Zayn. So, why are you guys here?” Aiden asked.

“I was going to take Zayn out for ice cream, and Neil decided to tag along,” Krystal said.

“Why do you sound like you wanted to just go with him?” Neil asked.

“Zayn, let’s get in line,” Krystal said as she quickly got in the line with Zayn following.

Aiden was left with just Neil. He could tell Neil didn’t want to say anything. He figured he’d try to say something himself.

“So, what are you going to get?” Aiden asked Neil.

“Cookies and cream.”

“With the extra chocolate chunks?”

“You remember that?”

“I was just talking about it with Shuto. Those were the times when I used to actually have fun.”

“Geez, you sound like an old man reflecting on the mistakes of his life. Get a grip. You’re fifteen not fifty.”

Neil went in the line while Krystal sat down, holding a spoon and a cup with a scoop of raspberry swirl in it. She said, “So, what’s going on?”

“I was supposed to be doing internship stuff today, but Shuto decided to give me the day off to go learn how to have fun.”

“That’s a bad thing?”

“Well, considering all I did was walk in a park, get bored, and almost get into a fight with some annoying kid, it’s been pretty bad.”

“To be fair, I think we tend to forget you’re our age.”

“That’s the problem. I don’t even act my age. Hell, Neil just told me off for acting like an old man.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say you act like an old man. Maybe you’re just very mature for your age. You’re also quite the workaholic.”

“Yeah.”

“Lucky for you, I can help you.”

“You can?”

“Yeah! Not to brag, but I’m slowly helping Zayn out of his loner boy phase. He hasn’t thanked me yet, but one day he will!”

Zayn and Neil came back to the table with their ice cream. Seeing them come back, Krystal said, “Hey, guys, why don’t we go to the beach after finishing our ice cream?”

“I’m cool with that,” Neil said.

“Same,” Zayn said.

“You coming?” Krystal asked Aiden.

“If you’re fine with it,” Aiden said.

***

And so, later on, Krystal, Zayn, Neil, and Aiden took a bus that eventually stopped at a small beach called Onyx Beach. Once they got there, Aiden could feel just how loose everything was. The way the breeze gently waved over the water, the way the shells popped out in the sand like little sparkling specks, and the way the others took in the atmosphere was all so freeing to him.

“You like it, Aiden?” Krystal asked.

Aiden turned to her and said, “It’s beautiful.”

Aiden walked closer to the water, hoping the waves would touch his feet. While Krystal and Zayn slowly walked in the sand, Neil stopped and watched Aiden. This may have been the calmest vision of him he had ever seen.

The water finally splashed at his feet. He could feel it caress him ever so gently. He let out a deep breath and thought, So, this is what peace feels like.

As he basked in the freedom he was feeling, Krystal called out and said, “Aiden, after this, do you want to go see a movie?”

Now recognizing he certainly had the time and the energy, Aiden said, “Sure.”

Books, fantasy, Uncategorized, writing

A Not So Quiet Beach Day

July 29, 2022 imeryli

“Come on, Prince!” Rey exclaimed as he tugged at Prince’s arm along with Neil.

No matter how much Rey and Neil pulled, Prince was as solid as a rock. He didn’t want to budge. With a day off from school, Rey and Neil wanted to go out for a beach day. It was something they needed with all the stress in their lives as of late.

“I don’t understand why you need me to come with you guys,” Prince said.

“Come on! It’ll be fun!” Neil exclaimed. “Besides, we want as much of the gang there as possible.”

“Heer, Zayn, and Akira are busy with homework. You definitely don’t have an excuse better than that,” Rey said.

“I do. I’m just not interested,” Prince said.

“You say that all the time!” Rey exclaimed. “It’ll be fun. We’ll hang at the beach while you just chill. You can relax as much as you want. Maybe even take a book.”

“Or a candy cane,” Neil said.

Prince sighed. He would rather stay in his room, but he also felt some relaxation elsewhere wouldn’t be a bad idea.

“Fine. I’ll go, but I’m just going to chill there,” Prince said. “Got it?”

“All right! We’re heading out in an hour, so be ready!” Rey exclaimed as he and Neil left the room.

***

In the late afternoon, Prince met up with Rey, Neil, Sana, and Krystal at the front of the academy. They headed downtown and boarded the bus. It didn’t take long for them to reach Swiftside Beach. As soon as the group arrived, no one was more excited than Krystal. She made her way towards the sand, saying, “Isn’t this so nice?! Zayn and the others are missing out!”

“Hell, I’m surprised Ms. Bookworm here wasn’t busy with homework,” Neil said, looking at Sana.

“Are you trying to say I don’t know how to have fun?” Sana asked.

“He isn’t trying. He’s just saying it,” Rey said.

“Well, let me prove you wrong then!” Sana exclaimed. “Who’s up for volleyball?”

“Sounds fun!” Krystal said. “Prince, join us!

Krystal and the others turned to see Prince was already settled. He laid on the towel he had set on the sand. Krystal said, “Prince, really?”

“I came here to relax,” Prince said as he got out a book from his backpack.

“Come on. Just one game,” Neil said.

“I’m good,” Prince said as he opened his book and began reading.

Rey, Neil, Sana, and Krystal walked off to set up for volleyball. Sana whispered to Rey, “Why did you invite Prince?”

“I thought he’d possibly lighten up and hang with us,” Rey said.

“You thought that by enticing him with relaxation only?” Neil asked. “And you guys make fun of my intelligence.”

“Who said that makes you any more intelligent, Neil?” Krystal said.

“You know what?! I’m gonna beat the crap out of you guys at volleyball!” Neil exclaimed.

“Dream on,” Krystal said.

As Rey, Krystal, and Neil got ready to start playing, Sana turned and looked at Prince. He didn’t seem bothered. If anything, he looked very much at peace, reading his book. She decided it was probably best to just leave him be.

Prince was deep into his book. He was reading a new novel called Lightning Strikes Silent Street by Rana Sandesh, and it was an engrossing read so far. He could feel the tension as he was getting through an intense chapter. The main character, Roohi, was wandering around in her apartment at night, unaware that someone was inside. As he got to the next page, he was startled as Sana, Krystal, Rey, and Neil were loudly commencing in their volleyball game.

“HA! We’re in the lead!” Krystal exclaimed after delivering a winning serve. She high-fived Sana while Rey and Neil looked ready to continue.

“It’s not over yet!” Neil exclaimed.

Prince shook his head as he looked back at his book. He tried to focus on the chapter. It was a lengthy read, but he was doing his best to pay attention while the others continued their game. After some time, his focus became disrupted again upon hearing Krystal shout, “Prince, watch out!”

“What?!” Prince said as he turned around. Before he could do anything, the ball smacked him in the head and he fell back, his book falling out of his hands.

Sana, Krystal, Rey, and Neil all ran up to Prince. Sana and Krystal helped him up with Sana asking, “Prince, are you okay?”

“If you want to get mad at someone, be mad at Neil! He served the ball!” Rey exclaimed.

“Really, dude?! You gotta blame me?!” Neil said.

“Well, you’re the one who threw it,” Rey said.

Prince hadn’t said a word. He was feeling a variety of things, but he was mostly agitated and angry. His head hurt, and he lost his place in his book, which was now dunked in sand. The others looked at him, and Rey and Neil looked particularly fearful of him. Maybe his agitation and anger were showing on his face.

“You know what?” Prince said. “I’m just gonna go get something to drink.”

Prince left while the others watched him leave. As he headed off, Neil said, “Damn. Is it me, or did he look mad?”

“It’s either that, or he’s annoyed. Probably both,” Krystal said.

“What should we do?” Sana asked.

“We should just leave him alone for a while,” Rey said. “Let’s get back to our game.”

“You guys go ahead. I’m gonna get a drink,” Sana said.

Krystal, Rey, and Neil got the ball and got back to their game. Sana picked up Prince’s book. She headed out towards the snack shack where Prince was at. He was drinking a large strawberry lemonade, and Sana could tell he was very irritated. She went up to him, handing him his book. Prince looked at her and took the book, saying, “Thanks.”

“How’s the book so far?” Sana asked.

“It was good until certain idiots smacked me in the head and made me lose my place.”

“Sorry. I know they can be a handful, but they didn’t mean to hit you.”

“So? They literally made me come here just to annoy the hell out of me. All I care about is relaxing. Is that so much to ask?”

“Is there something going on? You’re crabbier than usual.”

“Oh, wow, that’s so helpful.”

“Come on. Seriously, is something bothering you?”

Prince finished his strawberry lemonade. He got out of his seat and headed out while Sana watched him leave. He had a hard time explaining how he was feeling. He certainly felt that whatever he was feeling was nothing compared to the stuff that Sana and Rey had dealt with recently.

As Prince got back to where his towel and things were, he saw Krystal, Rey, and Neil were out in the water, swimming. They were having a lot of fun, splashing each other and everything. Krystal looked at Prince and said, “Hey, Prince! Do you want to join us?”

“I’m fine,” Prince said as he tried to figure out where he was in his book.

“You came to the beach, and you won’t even get in the water?” Krystal asked.

“Some people come to the beach to just chill. It’s clear you guys don’t get that,” Prince said.

“Hey, man! I know you’re upset, but you don’t have to be a jerk,” Rey said.

“Oh, right. I should be an absolute ray of sunshine after getting smacked in the head during your stupid game of volleyball,” Prince said.

“It was an accident,” Neil said. “I didn’t mean to hit you.”

“Oh, like that’s supposed to make me feel better,” Prince said.

“Okay, enough of the arguing!” Krystal exclaimed. “You can just sulk while we have some fun here!”

“To hell with the drama,” Prince said as he rolled his eyes and went back to focusing on his book.

While Prince tried to find the page he was on in his book, a gust of wind wavered over the waters. Prince was splashed by the water, himself and his book drenched. Prince could see the others look at him, clearly horrified. Though they were probably more horrified at how mad he would be. He got up, grabbing his book and towel. Sana was there and asked, “You need help?”

Prince sighed. He didn’t want to admit it, but he could use some time with a friend.

“Yeah,” Prince said.

***

Sana got her things and walked further down the beach with Prince to get a private spot for himself. She helped him dry off, using his towel to dry his hair. As she helped, she said, “I’m sorry this beach day hasn’t been going well for you.”

“It’s not your fault. Karma must hate me or something.”

“Don’t say that. Now, you did take my help. Is there anything you want to talk about?”

“I don’t even know how to explain it.”

“That’s fine. You just take your time with it.”

Prince took a deep breath. He wasn’t really used to opening up about his feelings to anyone. Sana was cool though, and he did think she was a relatively easy person to talk to. He said, “I’ve been feeling pretty tired lately.”

“You mean like tired as in annoyed? Or tired as in exhausted?”

“I don’t know. Maybe both. I don’t even know how I can talk about this with you specifically.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, you and Rey have gone through a lot with the whole Madame Naga fiasco. My struggles are nothing compared to yours. I’m not like doing horribly, but I also feel like so much has been happening, and I just want a break.”

“Prince, whatever you feel is just as valid as what me and Rey are feeling. I’ll admit, things have been pretty hard with all the new revelations, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel tired. In fact, I think the entire group has been affected one way or the other. We just have to stick by each other through all of it.”

Prince agreed with everything Sana was saying. He realized he should’ve known Sana would care. She was a very caring person after all.

“So, I guess that’s why you wanted the perfect beach day all to yourself,” Sana said.

“I just wanted to relax and not think about anything. You guys love hanging out and spending time together, but sometimes I just enjoy being alone.”

“I understand.”

“Anyway, thanks for hearing me out.”

“Of course. That’s what friends do.”

Prince looked up, seeing Krystal, Rey, and Neil walking over to him. Neil said, “Hey, man. I’m sorry about earlier.”

“We should’ve been more direct with our apology,” Rey said.

“Thanks. I appreciate it,” Prince said.

Rey nudged Krystal. She said, “And I’m sorry for mocking you for wanting to be alone.”

“Look at that. Krystal can shake away her ego,” Sana said.

“Oh, shut up, Sana!” Krystal exclaimed.

Prince was pleased with his friends’ apologies. He did think that he should apologize as well.

“I’m sorry, too,” Prince said. “I shouldn’t have been so crabby with you guys.”

“Hey, it’s all good, dude,” Rey said. “We’re all cool here!”

“Anyway, we were gonna go to Devil’s Diner for dinner. Zayn, Akira, and Heer said they can join us there,” Neil said. “You guys want to go?”

“I’m cool with that,” Sana said. “Prince, since you wanted to have some alone time here, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Prince was surprised at Sana’s gesture.

“Really?” Prince asked.

“Yeah, man. If you want some alone time here, it’s totally cool with us,” Rey said.

“Well, thank you then,” Prince said.

“All right. See you later then,” Krystal said as she headed off with Rey and Neil.

Sana went up to Prince, taking out a book from her bag and handing it to him. Prince looked at it, seeing it was a Rana Sandesh novel titled Silence Sounds Swell.

“I like Rana Sandesh books myself. It may not be the same one as what you were reading, but I figured you could read it until you get a new copy of the other one,” Sana said.

“Thank you, Sana. This is nice of you.”

“No problem. See you tomorrow then.”

“Actually, maybe I’ll join you guys later. After some time that is.”

“Okay. See you.”

After Sana left, Prince was by himself. It was a good kind of solitude. He finally had some peace all to himself.

Uncategorized

Stuck in an Old Story Part 2

June 23, 2022 imeryli

“We’re so screwed!” Neil cried as he shrieked at the sight of the dark beast coming their way.

“Shouldn’t we at least try to fight it?!” Rey asked.

“Dude, the size of that thing could crush us alone. We’re no match.”

“Krystal is right. We’re chickens.”

“Wherever Krystal is now is probably better than this!”

“Come on! Why don’t you fire an arrow or something?!”

“Wait! What’s that?!”

Rey looked up to see someone coming down from the sky. The dark beast was seemingly distracted by the sight. The closer Rey looked, the more he realized he knew exactly who he was looking at. Dropping from the sky was Sana. She drew out her trishula, unleashing a gorgeous fire from it towards the eyes of the dark beast. The dark beast began to tumble as its eyes stung from the fire. The ground shook as the beast got down to the ground. Sana landed before Rey and Neil. Rey was shocked to see her, but he was even more shocked that she changed clothes as well. She was wearing a short-sleeved red blouse with an orange saree cloth draped around her with matching red pants.

“Sana, what are you doing here?!” Rey exclaimed. “And you changed clothes?!”

“That’s the least confusing thing at this point,” Neil said.

“I was looking for you, and we stumbled upon that fairy tale book. Then, we ended up here,” Sana said.

“We? Who’s we?” Rey asked.

“Me and Zayn. I don’t know where he ended up though,” Sana said.

“Damn,” Neil said. “All of us are scattered at this point.”

“You mean Krystal isn’t with you?” Sana asked.

“No. She disappeared after stepping on some arrow thing,” Neil said.

“Okay, I know we have a lot to talk about, but we should maybe hide somewhere before the beast wakes up,” Rey said.

“Let’s go back to the cave!” Neil exclaimed.

Sana nodded and followed Rey and Neil.

***

On the other hand, Krystal got up from the bed and looked around her surroundings, getting increasingly confused. She didn’t understand how she got in the new place to begin with. Her incredibly long hair was tiresome and dragging.

“How did I even get here?” Krystal asked. She went to the nearby door and tried to open it, but it was locked tight. “Great. How the hell am I gonna get out of here?!”

Krystal looked at the window again. She walked towards it and shouted, “Hello! Anyone out there? Hello!”

Krystal could faintly hear a voice nearby. The person was saying hello, and they sounded familiar. She looked outside the window and was stunned. Way down on the ground was Zayn. He was wearing a gray kurta with purple pants and silver sandals. She said, “What are you doing here?! And why do you look so nice in that outfit?”

“What?”

“Never mind! Pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”

“Okay…what happened here?”

“Well, me, Rey, and Neil got zapped into this fairy tale book. We were in the same story, and somehow, I ended up here and now I have this ridiculously long mane.”

“I’ll need to come up there. We can communicate better when we’re in close contact.”

“You can’t. I think everything is locked. The door won’t open.”

“There’s another way. Let down your hair.”

“What?!”

“You just have to do it.”

“Why the hell would I do that?!”

“Ask less questions and throw down your hair.”

Krystal looked at her long braid and sighed. She grabbed hold of all her hair and threw it down out the window. Her braid went all the way next to where Zayn was. Zayn grabbed hold of her hair and began to climb up the tower with it.

“Oww!” Krystal exclaimed. “Watch how you grab my hair! I don’t understand how anyone would think this is practical. If the girl in this story had to go through this, imagine what else she went through!”

Before Krystal could complain some more, Zayn had arrived by the window. She didn’t know why, but she found herself to be flustered as he was nearby. She watched as Zayn quickly drew out his wand, transforming it into his clarinet. He said, “You might want to stand back.”

Krystal nodded as she took a few steps to back away. Zayn began to play his clarinet in the B-flat major scale. Twisting sand began to flow out from the clarinet onto the bars, building up further and further until it encased them like a cocoon. Zayn waited a moment before he kicked the bars down and entered the room.

“I’ve never seen you use your sand like that,” Krystal said.

“Well, it can work like that. Are you okay?”

“Not really! I don’t even know how I got here! How did you get here?”

“Sana opened the fairy tale book, and we got zapped into it.”

“Wait, is Sana not with you?”

“No. She may have ended up in the story with Rey and Neil.”

“Speaking of stories, why’d you tell me to throw down my hair?”

“So, you don’t know the story of Rajamani?”

“Rajamani?”

“It’s the story of a maiden with incredibly long hair that gets abducted by an evil witch away from her kingdom. In the story, she lets down her hair for the prince to climb up and rescue her.”

“Seriously? When did you read this story?”

“I read a lot of books when I was in…well, in my childhood.”

Krystal could sense Zayn was withholding information, but she found it was best to not question it.

“Anyway, I meant to say, I read a bunch of different stories at that time. My mom is half Iranian, so she had all these books of folktales from Asia. This story was one of the ones I read,” Zayn said.

“I see. I honestly didn’t expect you to read folktales.”

“Well, it was the best thing I could indulge in at the time. Anyway, we should focus less on small talk and get out of here. “

“You’re right. You want to try breaking the door? I would, but I’m not sure my sonic bell can do that.”

“Well, there’s another route.”

Krystal was puzzled, but she noticed Zayn looking at the window. She shrieked and said, “You want us to jump out the window?! Are you nuts?!”

“I know it’s scary, but I have a feeling you have to.”

“Wouldn’t breaking the door be easier?! I thought you at least had that much knowledge.”

“Look, we don’t have time to break the door and run around the tower to find an exit. There’s another reason I have, but it’s best to explain after we jump.”

“You mean after I die?”

“You’re not going to die. I’ll hold onto you as we jump.”

Ugh. I don’t know about this. My heart rate is going up, Krystal thought. I guess I have to trust him.

“Fine, let’s just do this already,” Krystal said as she walked towards the window. She looked down, startled by the height of the supposed jump. She gulped, unsure if she could handle it when suddenly, Zayn grabbed hold of her around her waist.

“Is this okay?” he asked. Krystal nodded, feeling flustered but secure. She wrapped her right arm around Zayn, so she could hold onto him.

“Ready?”

Krystal nodded. Zayn proceeded to jump along with Krystal. She held her screams inside as they dropped down to the ground. Zayn quickly drew out his clarinet to emit a sound energy beam that allowed them to gently bounce onto the ground. Krystal took a deep breath while Zayn looked at her and said, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks. Now explain why you needed to do this instead.”

“If I’m correct, our best way of getting of the story is by completing it. You see, in the original story, Rajamani is rescued by Prince Mahendra and they escape by jumping out of the window.”

“Oh! So, how did I end up here? I mean, I left from the other story and landed in this one.”

“Do you remember anything before you got here?”

“I remember I stepped on something. It looked like an arrow.”

“An arrow? That means you must’ve gone to the next story. The arrow was probably a way of doing that.”

“That is a possibility. So, if you think we have to complete the story to get out, what happens next?”

Before Zayn could answer, he sensed a presence coming. He looked up, seeing a woman with a dark, long-haired mane, wearing a wine-red saree, and silver cuff bracelets floating above in the sky. Seeing her made him realize something.

“Krystal,” Zayn said.

“Yeah.”

“This is the part where we run.”

“What?!”

The woman immediately shot dark energy blasts from her eyes towards Krystal. Zayn got Krystal out of the way, and he grabbed hold of her hand. The two of them ran as the woman continued to launch her attacks.

“You can’t run away, Rajamani!” the woman shouted as she launched a dark energy blast from her hands.

“I’m not Rajamani!” Krystal exclaimed.

“Don’t tell her that!” Zayn said.

Krystal got struck in her back by the beam, alarming Zayn. He quickly countered with a sound energy beam from his clarinet, striking the woman in the face. It bought them some time, so Zayn quickly got hold of Krystal and took her under the refuge of a tall plant that was leaning downwards, creating a shade effect. It was amongst several other plants and provided good cover. He signaled Krystal to keep quiet as he kept an eye out for the woman. Krystal controlled her breathing as she rested against the plant, still feeling the pain from the attack.

***

For Sana, Rey, and Neil, the three were taking cover inside the cave. Rey looked at Sana, who seemed to be strategizing something. He asked her, “Okay, you have a plan?”

“What makes you think I have a plan?”

“Because you’re thinking too hard.”

“At least one of us is thinking here.”

“Hey! It was my idea that we hide in the cave!”

“Rey, how long can we sit in this cave like ducks?” Neil asked. “We have to do something to get out here.”

“What can we do?” Rey asked. “This story makes no sense! I thought after Krystal left and Sana came, she’d be the same character. But look at her getup!”

“Rey, didn’t I tell you this story before?” Sana asked.

“Yeah, and I don’t remember,” Rey said. “All I remembered was the title and the ten-headed monster.”

Rey’s words made Sana realize something. She was trying to figure out the logistics of the story, and how it tied to a solution to getting out. Something finally clicked for her.

“I think I’m starting to understand something,” Sana said.

“Okay, share,” Neil said.

“You two mentioned a barrier when you tried to run away from the dark beast, right?” Sana asked. “The barrier is probably preventing you from leaving because the story hasn’t been completed.”

“You mean like we should be following the story?” Rey asked.

“Something like that. This whole time you’ve been trying to find an exit or something to get out of the story, but stories don’t just end like that,” Sana said. “I think to get out, we have to complete the story.”

“You mean complete it exactly how it was originally written?” Neil asked.

“Not exactly. See, these stories aren’t exactly like the ones I read. The one we’re in has a dark beast, so I can only assume someone or something casted a spell on this book to change that aspect of the story,” Sana said. “If we’re going to get out, we have to complete the story in a way that’s authentic to the way it is set up right now.”

“And how do we do that?” Neil asked.

“I know! You must remember the details of the story, right?” Rey asked.

“Based off the clothes, you two are the village boys that befriend the princess,” Sana said. “In the story, the two boys go into hiding after the princess’ supposed demise.”

“Demise?” Neil asked. “You mean Krystal could’ve gotten hurt or something?”

Sana pondered for a moment, remembering that Rey told her about Krystal stepping on an arrow before disappearing. It made her think that she must’ve exited the story, rather than disappeared.

“No, I think Krystal went to the next story. That’s what the arrow probably meant,” Sana said. “But I think the story must’ve replaced her with me once I entered.”

“How? You’re wearing a completely different outfit than what she wore,” Neil said.

“In the story, when the princess disappears, the two boys try to fend off the monster, but struggle to do so. They plead for the princess to come back, and she reappears, fully transformed,” Sana said. “She rises as the avatar of fire, Agni.”

The details of the story started to come back to Rey as Sana explained them. After thinking for a bit, he said, “So, if you hadn’t come to the story, we’d be stuck here forever?”

“Consider yourselves lucky,” Sana said, shaking her head. “Anyway, Agni takes out the monster and everyone is saved.”

“Hold on. I’m not gonna stand in the background while you get to have all the action,” Rey said.

“Yeah, me neither!” Neil exclaimed.

“You don’t have to. Remember, we’re taking on the story in our own way,” Sana said. “I have a plan that should work.”

***

On the other hand, Zayn and Krystal were still hiding under the giant plant. The plant’s shade protected them, and Krystal found comfort in how it almost felt alive, like the plant was trying to conceal them. Its soft yellow color was pleasing to her eyes. Krystal could feel the pain from the attack was going down a bit. She looked over at Zayn, who was rather quiet. She couldn’t tell if it was because he was actively looking out for the woman or if it was something else.

“Something on your mind?” Krystal asked.

Zayn turned to Krystal and said, “Huh?”

“I asked if something was on your mind.”

“Why do you ask?”

“You’ve been staring into nothingness for the past few minutes while I’m over here in pain. You haven’t even bothered to ask if I’m okay!”

“Are you complaining to me after I saved us both?”

“Complaining?! You think I’m complaining?! You think it’s cool that I sit here like a duck while you drown yourself in your loner thoughts?”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

“The only thing ridiculous here is that you haven’t said much of anything since we started hiding here. There’s nothing ridiculous about me wanting you to show care for me!”

Krystal realized how strong her words came off upon seeing Zayn’s stunned expression. She found herself flustered, unsure as to why she said what she said. She turned around for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

“Okay, sorry about that last part. I think I came off too strong,” Krystal said. She could feel her cheeks were getting red.

Zayn found himself to be a little flustered as he tried to figure out what to say. He looked at her and said, “No, you’re fine. I should apologize. I wasn’t paying attention to anything else this whole time and you’re in pain. Are you okay?”

“I’m feeling a little better.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I explained things before she showed up and attacked us.”

“Who was she by the way?”

“She’s Rajamani’s stepmother, Tanveer. She’s the evil witch that kidnapped her when she was a child, wanting to auction her for her magical hair.”

“Okay then…that’s pretty dark. So, now what?”

“Well, we have to follow the rest of the story to get out of here.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m just thinking we might have to approach this differently. Like, think about it for a moment. No matter what the story is, all these fairy tales have something in common.”

“And that is?”

“They’re all about the battle of good verses evil. Sure, there’s unique morals in all of them, but the overarching theme is there.”

Krystal’s words made Zayn see things differently. Maybe she was onto something. He didn’t know for sure, but with the way things were, he figured there was no harm in going with Krystal’s approach.

“So, you think the important thing is to take down Tanveer?” Zayn asked.

“I think if we take her down together, we have a chance of getting out of here.”

“Okay, in that case, I may have an idea of what we should do.”

“You do? But we don’t know where she probably is now?”

“I was watching for her, and she may be in the forest right now, waiting for us. It’s what she did in the original story.”

“All right. Let’s hear this plan then.”

***

It didn’t take long for Zayn to explain his plan to Krystal. When they agreed on everything, they set out to put it into action. They made it into the forest and Krystal walked off on her own while Zayn hid amongst the trees and bushes. The forest was dense and oddly quiet. The tree branches hung like the hands of a witch reaching for its prey. Krystal gulped. She tried to remain calm, trusting the plan and Zayn. As she walked further into the forest, she said, “Hey, Tanveer! I’m here now.”

Krystal waited for a response. She tried to refrain from clenching her skirt to not look scared. It didn’t take long for her to sense a presence coming near.

It was Tanveer. She hovered before Krystal, seemingly ready to take her away with her sharp purple fingernails.

“At last, you finally come back,” Tanveer said. “It’s not like you have a choice.”

Krystal smirked and said, “Think again.”

This was Zayn’s cue. He rushed out from hiding, launching a sound wave from his clarinet at Tanveer. With Tanveer distracted, he stood by Krystal as she transformed her wand into her sonic bell. She launched a sound wave from her sonic bell to further boost Zayn’s attack on Tanveer. A visibly irritated Tanveer quickly rose back from the ground, her neck twitching as she tossed a dark energy beam towards Krystal like a football. Zayn quickly pulled Krystal out of the way as the energy beam hit one of the trees.

Zayn looked at Krystal and said, “Are you okay?”

“I’m good. Dodging is a lot harder with this much hair!”

“You’re gonna have to use it as an advantage somehow? Think of anything yet?”

“No! I’ve never exactly fought with ten feet of hair before.”

“I’ll keep her busy while you get an attack ready.”

Tanveer created a spiraling dark energy beam in her hands and tossed it while Zayn countered, calling out “B-flat major!” He played his clarinet in the key and a spiral of sand emerged, countering the energy beam.

Krystal tried to think of a way to use her hair to attack. It was crucial as Zayn told her that in the original story, Rajamani destroyed Tanveer with the powers of her magical hair. Krystal had to do that in combination with her sonic bell. She realized she had to trust herself that she could make it work, but it was hard to think on her feet so quickly.

Before she knew it, Zayn was being pinned down by Tanveer’s nails. She knew she had to step in. Krystal immediately grabbed hold of her braid, whipping it like a lasso as she threw it and it wrapped around Tanveer’s arm. Krystal rang her sonic bell against her braid, and the sound wave rippled through her hair as it combined with the golden glow that shimmered through the strands. The powers of the hair and Krystal’s sound wave struck Tanveer, releasing her from Krystal’s grip as she fell to the ground in defeat.

Krystal quickly rushed to Zayn, helping him get up. She asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Zayn said. “Nice work by the way.”

“Look at you! You’re actually complimenting me!”

Before Zayn could say anything, he could feel something shaking beneath the ground. A portal began to open, taking Zayn and Krystal with it. It wasn’t too long until the two had landed back in the library. Krystal looked at her hair and clothes, seeing they had returned to normal.

“Yes! Hello, normal long hair!” Krystal exclaimed. “I can’t believe we did it!”

“That’s a relief. Imagine if we ended up in another story.”

“What about the others? Do you think we can do something?”

“If we open the book again, we’ll get sucked back in the story. We have to trust they know how to get out like we did.”

“You think they know?”

“They have Sana on their side. There’s no way they won’t know. For now, we can wait here for them.”

***

Sana looked outside the cave, trying her best to remain hidden. She could see the dark beast was still outside. She looked at Rey and Neil and said, “All right. We got one shot at this. Ready, Neil?”

“I don’t know about this,” Neil whimpered. “You’re sending me in like a headless bird.”

“Come on, man! You got this!” Rey exclaimed.

“We’ll back you up sooner than you think,” Sana said.

Neil gulped as he looked outside. He took a deep breath and said, “Okay. I’m going in.”

Neil immediately charged outside, screaming like a lunatic. Sana put her hand to her face in embarrassment while Rey began to chuckle.

“All right, dark beast! Come and get me!” Neil exclaimed as he flailed his arms.

“That idiot,” Sana said, rolling her eyes.

“He’s really taking this role seriously,” Rey giggled.

Neil waved his arms to get the beast’s attention. It didn’t take long for the dark beast to let out a loud growl as it stomped its way towards Neil. It moved its paw to grab him. That’s when Sana and Rey jumped in. Sana immediately struck the beast’s paw with embers coming from her trishula. The beast stepped back as Rey transformed into his beast form while Neil transformed his wand into his bow and arrow.

“You overacted,” Sana told Neil.

“Hey, I’m not a professional!” Neil exclaimed.

“Well, you’re a professional goof!” Rey laughed.

“All right, focus, guys. Remember the plan,” Sana said. “Neil, attack the legs. Rey and I got the rest.”

“Got it!” Neil exclaimed as he prepared his bow to fire. He charged up his energy for the perfect ice arrow and struck it at the beast’s feet. Its feet were frozen solid, providing the perfect distraction.

Sana and Rey got to work. She directed Rey, and he jumped, pouncing onto the beast’s body. He lifted his paw, using his Ember Claw attack to pierce his fiery claws into the beast’s chest. These distractions allowed Sana to keep close eye on what the beast’s next move would be.

The dark beast seemingly had enough. It was boiling with rage. Suddenly its face began to transform, shocking Rey and even Neil as he too watched. The beast grew an additional nine heads, each one with the same scary face. It didn’t take long for all ten heads to emit dark energy beams towards Sana, Rey, and Neil. Rey fell off while Neil turned to Sana and said, “Now it decides to be the ten-headed monster in the story?!”

“Don’t worry, I’m prepared for this,” Sana said. “Neil, aim for the heads on the left.”

“What?!”

“Just do it! You need to fire at least four arrows.”

Neil realized he didn’t have time to think as the heads started launching a dark energy wave towards the group. Sana quickly charged up the wave with her trishula and said, “Rey, aim for the heads on the right! Leave the two in the middle!”

Rey nodded, turning to Neil. He nodded back and they proceeded. Neil began to fire one arrow after the next at the heads on the left. Each arrow struck each head, freezing it entirely. Rey quickly launched fireball attacks at each of the heads on the right. During this, Sana continued to charge through the dark energy wave, making her way towards the top where the middle heads were at. The two middle heads were seemingly putting more power into the dark energy wave to get Sana down, but she kept pushing. She powered her trishula through the wave, allowing its dark power to envelope it as the fiery power began to charge through it. Once she got closer to the two heads, she raised the trishula to prepare for the strike. Sana jumped, holding up the dark and fiery trishula as she plunged it through the heads, piercing it further through the body as she powered through to the ground. The dark beast split in two and slowly evaporated into dark purple ash.

Rey transformed back. He looked at Neil, whose mouth dropped wide open. He couldn’t blame him as he too was astonished at what he saw. At the same time, he knew he shouldn’t be surprised. This was Sana after all.

Sana slowly got up from the ground. Rey and Neil rushed to her side with Rey asking, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Sana said.

“That was so awesome!” Neil exclaimed. “Now was the girl in the story as badass as you were just now?!”

“You’d have to read it,” Sana smirked.

Before anything else could be said, a portal opened and took Sana, Rey, and Neil with it. The three screamed as they were transported back into the library, returning to their old clothes. As they got up, Krystal said, “You guys made it!”

“Yeah, we did. Was there ever any doubt?” Rey asked.

“She certainly did for a bit,” Zayn said.

“Hey!” Krystal exclaimed. “Anyway, you won’t believe what happened!”

“Damn it! It’s almost midnight!” Rey cried.

“Seriously?! We were gone that long?!” Neil exclaimed.

“And we still have to write the paper,” Krystal said as she sulked into her chair.

“Why don’t you guys just ask for an extension?” Zayn asked. “I’m sure getting sucked into a fairy tale book is a valid excuse.”

“Please! Professor D’Sena is such a miser. He could care less,” Neil said. “What are we gonna do?!”

“Well, if we work fast tonight, we can get this done,” Krystal said.

“How exactly?” Sana asked.

“With the way we had to strategize in our stories, this sets up the perfect foundation for our paper!” Krystal exclaimed.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Rey said. “We can finish this with no problem.”

“All right! Let’s get cracking then!” Neil exclaimed as he turned on the lights.

“Please tell me you can get us out of here,” Sana said to Zayn. “I don’t want to have a sleepover at the library again.”

“Luckily I got my dad’s key,” Zayn said.

With that, Sana and Zayn headed out of the library while Rey, Krystal, and Neil stayed behind to work on their paper.

***

The following morning, Rey, Krystal, and Neil managed to finish the paper. Of course, it did take the entire night. So, when the afternoon rolled and they handed it in, they crashed after school for long naps.

The day after, the trio were in Combat Strategies I. Sana looked at the three of them as they were all snoring for a solid five minutes until she woke them up. Rey yawned and said, “Why do you have to wake us?”

“You want to get in trouble again?” Sana asked.

“It’d be worth it since we lost so much sleep after that whole paper,” Neil said.

Once the bell rang, students started gathering things. As Professor D’Sena cleaned the chalkboard, he said, “Rey, Krystal, and Neil, let me speak to you three for a moment.”

“Good luck,” Sana said as she exited the classroom with Prince, Heer, Zayn, and Akira.

Krystal gulped as she got up with Rey and Neil. The three walked up to Professor D’Sena. He turned around and said, “I finished reading your paper.”

“Oh God,” Krystal said.

“All right. Just tell us already,” Rey said.

“I was very impressed,” Professor D’Sena said.

“Wait, what?!” Neil exclaimed.

“Yes,” Professor D’Sena said. “The way you described the importance of combat strategies and applied them with the context of real examples was exhilarating. It was like you were actually in those battles.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Krystal said.

“Anyway, I’m happy to give you all an A on this paper. You three will pass this quarter,” Professor D’Sena said.

“Yes!” Neil exclaimed as he high-fived Rey and Krystal.

“And Neil,” Professor D’Sena said. “Try to skip class less next quarter.”

Rey and Krystal chuckled at Neil as they started leaving. Neil protested, “Me skipping class is nothing compared to what you guys do!”

Uncategorized

With Friends Like These

May 16, 2022 imeryli

It was a cool, breezy Sunday afternoon. Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer were hanging out at Devil’s Diner for lunch. After paying, they began to head out when Rey said, “Do you think Krystal is gonna be pissed that we got Marigold Surprises without her?”

“I saved some of mine for her in my leftover box,” Heer said.

“There you go,” Neil said. “When in doubt, we always got Heer to the rescue.”

“Oh God,” Sana said.

“What? What is it?” Rey asked.

Rey looked to see exactly what was agitating Sana. A boy in a gray hoodie and blue jeans was seemingly taking her picture with his cellphone. Before Rey could say anything to Sana, she started marching over to the boy. He knew this wasn’t going to go well.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sana asked the boy.

“What?”

“Are you taking my picture?”

“No.”

Sana grabbed the phone from the boy’s hand, looked at the screen and said, “Then what is this?”

“Oh, come on,” the boy said. “You’re pretty famous around here. You should take it as a compliment.”

“I don’t appreciate my photo being taken without my permission.”

“Oh, come on. It’s a public place. I have the freedom to do so.”

Sana was about ready to smack the boy until Rey immediately stepped in and did the smacking for her, much to her surprise. The boy let out the biggest ouch Sana had ever heard.

“She said she doesn’t want her picture taken! Respect that, boy!” Rey exclaimed.

“Yeah, you get him, Rey!” Neil exclaimed.

“Thank you, but you already knew I was going to hit him,” Sana said.

“I was doing you a favor!” Rey exclaimed. “Krystal did your nails earlier today. Do you really think she’d want you to ruin them?”

Sana sighed and grabbed the phone from the boy, deleting the pictures off it. She handed it back and began to leave with Rey saying, “I better not catch you taking anyone else’s picture again!”

The boy took off with Sana saying, “The nerve of some people.”

“Man, Rey, you really whacked that guy,” Neil said as he came up to Rey and Sana.

“You know I would’ve whacked him just as hard,” Sana said.

“Yeah, but we’re used to you whacking people,” Neil said.

“Hey, I’m fully capable of giving people a smacking!” Rey exclaimed. “Especially when my friends are being wronged!”

Sana noticed Heer was looking at something, seemingly startled. She asked, “Heer, what’s up?”

Heer turned around, looking like she had seen a ghost or something. Sana turned to see a guy standing across from them. He had dark eyes and short black hair, covered by a blue baseball cap. He wore a blue hoodie with black shorts and gray sneakers.

Neil was surprised to see Heer walking away, not saying a word. She started pushing her long hair, hiding her face.

“Heer, where are you going?” Neil asked, calling out to her. Heer didn’t answer. She just walked away. It was quite unlike her to just leave without saying anything.

“Hey, dude, did you say anything to our friend?” Rey questioned the guy.

The guy rolled his eyes and scoffed. His attitude annoyed Rey.

“Hey, man, we asked you a question,” Neil said.

“I didn’t do anything aside from just walking by,” the boy said. “If you should be questioning anyone, it would be her.”

The boy shook his head and left. Sana was very confused, and she could tell that Rey and Neil were as well. She knew there was more going on that she didn’t know about.

***

Later on, in the evening, Sana was alone in her room at the dorms. She pondered over what happened earlier in the city. What could have happened to Heer? Sana tried to talk to her when she got back, but she said she was tired and needed to rest. Sana wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or just making an excuse for space, but she wanted to respect her need to be alone.

Sana was about to get out her notebook to do some studying until she heard a knock on the door. She got up to answer it. It was Krystal standing outside in the hallway.

“Krystal, what’s up?” Sana asked.

“What’s up with Heer? She handed me the rest of her Marigold Surprise and wasn’t happy about it.”

“Really? That’s how you figured she was upset?”

“You don’t get it. Whenever Heer does something nice for someone, she gives the most wholesome smile. This time she just handed it to me and left. That’s not the Heer I know! What happened?”

“I’m not really sure. Things were fine until this boy showed up.”

“A boy?”

“Yeah, it seemed like they knew each other. She like turned away and just left without saying a word. Rey and Neil questioned the guy about it, and he just gave us an attitude and said we should ask Heer.”

“Did you get the boy’s name?”

“No, we didn’t. It was really unusual.”

“Can you give me some details about his appearance?”

“What are you planning to do? Conduct a search?”

“Hey, I have ways of getting information. Just tell me some details about his appearance. Let’s start with what he was wearing.”

“Uh, blue baseball cap, blue hoodie…”

“What shade of blue was the hoodie?”

“What?”

“What shade of blue was the hoodie? Was it a cobalt blue? Or a sky blue?”

“I don’t know! Why is this important, Krystal?!”

“Heer clearly doesn’t want to tell us who this guy is, so I have to gain as much intel and find out myself. I’m gonna go work on that now.”

“Krystal, there’s no way you can find out who someone is based off such little information.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Sana. I have my ways.”

***

The next day, Sana was getting her books from her locker. She turned to see Heer was coming up to her. Heer said, “Sana, I wanted to apologize about yesterday. I shouldn’t have left so suddenly.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Heer,” Sana said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who was that guy?”

“Um, it really doesn’t matter. Anyway, I actually have to do some stuff before class, so I’ll see you later.”

Heer left and Sana sighed. She wanted to help Heer, but it seemed like Heer didn’t want to talk about the situation. She turned to see Rey and Neil come up to her.

“Did Heer talk to you?” Neil asked.

“Yeah. She just apologized for what happened and jolted upon me bringing up the guy,” Sana said.

“She did the same thing with us,” Rey said.

“Man, I wish we could know who he is. She’s clearly affected by him,” Neil said.

“Me too. But at the same time, it’s her personal matter. We shouldn’t force her to talk to us about it,” Sana said.

“But we just want to help her,” Rey said.

“His name is Jac Ashton,” Krystal said as she walked up to the trio.

“Huh?” Sana said. “How do you know?”

“I told you I’d find out who he is,” Krystal said.

“How did you find out who he is?” Neil asked.

“Well, all I had was a lousy description from Sana, but I did some snooping on the web and I found out about some new transfers to this one high school downtown, Red Rock High. So, I contacted my friend whose father’s sister’s cousin’s daughter went to middle school with him,” Krystal said.

“Is anyone else scared of her?” Rey asked Sana and Neil.

“Shut up, Rey. The point is she said that Jac and Heer were really close friends in middle school and around the time of graduation, he just cut her out without warning,” Krystal said.

“Well, that explains why she reacted that way,” Sana said.

“Seriously? Is no one scared at how she gathered intel like that?” Rey asked.

“Forget that. What’s our plan for standing up to the guy?” Neil asked.

“Plan? Guys, we don’t need to do anything,” Sana said.

“What?! Why?!” Rey exclaimed.

“Heer didn’t even want to talk about this. Do you really think she would want us to get involved?” Sana said. “The best thing to do is to leave it be.”

Sana closed her locker and left with her books in hand. Rey couldn’t accept that Sana didn’t want to do anything. He looked at Neil, who looked like he had an idea in mind.

“Krystal, what school did you say this Jac guy goes to?” Neil asked.

“Red Rock High,” Krystal said. “Why?”

“Oh, no reason,” Neil said.

***

Later on, during after school hours, a group of kids were playing kickball outside at the playground of Red Rock High School. Among those kids was Jac. Rey and Neil came to see him playing without a care in the world. Rey looked at Neil and said, “Neil, are you sure this is a good idea?”

“This is perfectly fine. We’re gonna show Jac not to mess with Heer.”

“I know, but don’t you remember what Sana said?”

“Sana is taking the easy way out. We gotta teach this boy a lesson. He has no idea who he’s dealing with. Now, are you ready?”

“All right, let’s do this.”

Rey and Neil walked up to the group as they continued playing. Jac turned to them. Rey could see that Jac recognized them.

“What are you guys doing here?” Jac asked. “Your school doesn’t have a playground?”

“Our school happens to have a lot of cool stuff!” Rey exclaimed.

“We’re here to tell you personally that we don’t like how you treated our friend, Heer,” Neil said.

“And what do you know about that?” Jac asked.

“Well, not much, but considering how well we know Heer, we know you must have been a real jerk to her,” Neil said.

“Right. Because Heer is so innocent and nice,” Jac said. “Perfect little angel that could do no wrong.”

“Are you mocking her?!” Rey exclaimed. “Dude, we could give you quite the beatdown for that.”

“Really?” Jac scoffed.

“You bet,” Neil said as he drew out his wand while Rey got ready to transform.

“What are you two doing?!” a voice questioned.

Rey froze, knowing who it was. He turned around with Neil to see Sana with Krystal. Sana certainly looked displeased.

“Wow. Sana was right,” Krystal said. “You two would do something stupid.”

“How’d you know we were gonna be here?” Rey asked Sana.

“Krystal told me that she told you guys about Jac’s high school, and I knew you two would come to jump him,” Sana said.

“Hey, are you saying we’re predictable?!” Neil exclaimed.

“That and stupid,” Krystal said. “You’re lucky Prince is too busy hanging out with Zayn and Akira at Devil’s Delights to see this.”

“We have every right to jump someone in this scenario!” Rey exclaimed.

“Look, if you guys aren’t going to beat me up, I’m gonna get back to my game,” Jac said as he turned around to continue playing with the other guys.

Sana pulled Rey by his arm and Krystal did the same with Neil. She said, “This isn’t what Heer would’ve liked.”

“Yeah, but he deserves a beating for being such a jackass,” Neil said.

“You know what? Since you two are so hung up on this, why don’t we just talk to Heer?” Sana asked.

“I thought you said we shouldn’t ask her about it,” Rey said.

“That was before you guys started throwing tantrums over it,” Sana said. “Come on.”

***

Back at the academy, Heer was baking cupcakes in the home economics classroom. She was in the middle of frosting the vanilla cupcakes with a strawberry buttercream frosting when Sana, Rey, Krystal, and Neil entered. Before Heer could say anything, Rey said, “Ah! Cupcakes!”

“Really, Rey?” Krystal said as Rey immediately grabbed one of the frosted cupcakes.

“What? I’m hungry,” Rey said as he took a bite from the cupcake. “Damn. This is so good!”

“Thank you,” Heer said. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Well, we thought we’d talk to you about Jac,” Sana said.

“How do you know about Jac?” Heer asked.

“I did some snooping. I have quite the talent for it,” Krystal said.

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t think she’d dig into it,” Sana said. “Or that these two would go hunt him down.”

“We had good reason,” Neil said.

“You don’t have to apologize. I probably should…for not talking about it this whole time,” Heer said.

“Have you been baking to distract yourself from talking about it?” Krystal asked.

“I guess so,” Heer said.

“So, who is he?” Rey asked as he grabbed another cupcake to munch on.

Heer sighed. She took a deep breath, knowing she had to explain herself. She looked at the others and said, “Jac was a close friend since I was in middle school. I didn’t have a lot of friends, but he was one of the few people who I felt like I could talk to about anything. We had a lot of common interests. From cartoons to baking, there was a lot we could share. It felt nice to have a friend like that.”

“So, what happened?” Sana asked.

“Well, there was a point where I noticed he would say things that I didn’t like or things that hurt me. When I would confront him about them, every time, he’d have an excuse or get upset,” Heer said. “It made me think I was doing something wrong. There was one time that led to an argument…or more so me getting yelled at. After that happened, I apologized in hopes we could move on and not let it escalate. And it seemed fine. But then one day, he basically said he didn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

Sana could tell that Heer was hurt just by talking about everything. It may have been something from the past, but Sana understood that memories from our past can still hurt in the present no matter how much time has passed.

“The reason I couldn’t talk about it is because sometimes…I feel like it’s my fault somehow,” Heer said. “Sometimes, I think about all the good times we had. I just wish it didn’t end like that.”

“I understand,” Sana said. “But you should know it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah. Dude was clearly an asshole,” Krystal said. “Ugh! Some people want to act like saints that can never do any wrong. Besides, who wants to have a friend who gets upset like a five-year-old child at a toy store every time you bring up something?”

“The only loser in this situation is him,” Neil said. “He lost a great friend.”

“And we gained one the moment we met here at RTA,” Rey said. “By the way, you need to make more of these cupcakes.”

Heer chuckled along with the others. It was the first time she felt a hint of joy since she encountered Jac.

“Thank you, guys,” Heer said. “I actually feel a little better now that I’ve talked about it.”

“Well, let’s make you feel even more better,” Krystal said. “How about we go to Devil’s Diner for dinner? My treat!”

“That sounds like a plan,” Sana said. “Is that okay with you, Heer?”

“For sure,” Heer said with a smile.

***

Later that night, Sana, Rey, Krystal, Neil, and Heer went to Devil’s Diner. Once they went inside, they were escorted to a table. As they sat down, Heer was stunned to see Jac sitting at a table not too far from them. Seeing her stunned expression, Sana turned around and said, “Wow. He’s here as well.”

“I swear that guy is everywhere,” Krystal said.

“Are you comfortable, Heer?” Rey asked. “We could ask to be moved away.”

“Or we could go somewhere else for dinner,” Neil said.

“No, I’m fine,” Heer said. She could see Jac had looked at her and went back to looking at his cellphone in hand. “I don’t want to run away like last time. I’m here to have a good time with you all. That’s all that matters.”

“Aww, that’s our Heer,” Sana said.

“Still, I’d love to give that jerk a piece of my mind,” Rey said.

“Same here,” Krystal said. “Just look at his outfit. His shirt looks like it was made of duct tape.”

“You know what?” Neil said as he got up. “Why don’t we say a few words to him?”

Krystal smirked and saw Rey smirk as well. The two of them got up with Neil and Sana joined them saying, “No fists. I don’t wanna get kicked out of the restaurant.”

Heer watched as her four friends circled Jac at his table. Jac looked up at them and said, “Now what do you losers want?”

“Ha. Losers? We should be calling you that,” Rey said. “For someone with such a huge ego, you don’t seem to have decent comebacks.”

“Whatever. I’m not the one trying to create a scene here,” Jac said.

“We’re not creating a scene. We’re here to let you know that the only loser around here is you,” Neil said. “You could’ve had a great friend in Heer. And you blew it because you’re a little baby that can’t handle a bit of honesty.”

“If you ever hurt Heer again or do anything to make her uncomfortable, we’ll be coming for you,” Rey said. “My partner here is pretty good at giving a smackdown.”

“It’s true,” Sana said. “I’d smack you in the head right now, but I don’t want to get kicked out before dinner.”

“We’re gonna be sitting close by. I hope us having fun doesn’t make you cry out of regret for what you could’ve had,” Krystal said.

As the group turned around to head back to their table, Krystal turned back and said, “Also, that shirt is ugly as hell. I’d burn it if I were you. Bye!”

Krystal joined the others back at the table, laughing with the others. While they were laughing, Heer watched them. She didn’t even bother to look at Jac anymore because she no longer cared about what she had lost.

“Hey, guys,” Heer said. “I’m really glad you all are my friends.”

“Aww, same here, girl!” Krystal said as she hugged Heer.

“Now let’s order food,” Rey said. “I’m starving.”

As her friends laughed some more, Heer realized that what she had right now was exactly what was meant to be.