I smiled, glad that Evellyn was willing to help me on that mission, but we weren’t done yet.
She still had some things that she wanted to tell me, so she got up, getting closer to me, taking my hand, and taking me to the rail, so we could see the whole of the school grounds.
"Do you remember what I asked you?" She didn’t look at me this time.
"Yeah, if I knew why you kissed me that night."
She didn’t take a deep breath, neither did she paused before answering. She said it with as much nonchalance as if one yawns when they’re sleepy.
Her words almost sounded automatic.
"I kissed you because you needed it, but not in a romantic way. That kiss connected my ability to your soul, and allowed you to truly awaken when you needed it the most."
Since she was being so direct and nonchalant, I thought I didn’t need to beat around the bush too.
I mean, it seemed impossible for ’someone’ to be able to awaken a person, but I still couldn’t just show my shock. Even if it were Evellyn in front of me.
"Is that what [INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS] is for?"
Her eyes went wide, but I could still notice a bit of expectation in her glance.
"So you ’did’ use your ability on me."
"I’ve been thinking, during the time I was away from the guild. You know you’re going to become the Red Oracle, but..." I didn’t know how to say what I had to say next, but I had to.
"Aren’t oracles rare and all about prophecies and things like that?"
"Go on..." She still didn’t look at me, and as she did that, I started to get pissed.
I didn’t even know why, but I felt it in my bones, she was making me angry.
"How are you able to see what my ability is, if it has nothing to do with divinity or anything related to prophecies?"
She finally turned and looked at me, but when she did, her eyes glowed in a yellowish hue that wasn’t threatening, but was so powerful that I couldn’t bring myself to keep eye contact.
"I didn’t ’see’ what your ability is, but since you arrived at the point where I tell you about me or kill you to keep this secret, it’s for the best that you understand who I am, because you’re so important to this reality, that I can’t fathom the thought of killing you this time."
Her aura didn’t feel threatening for a second there, but the way her eyes glowed and the cold calmness in her voice made me step back.
"This... Time?"
She raised a brow and took a step in my direction.
"I don’t know what kind of ability you have, but I know that it didn’t come from your awakening, otherwise my [INFINITE CONSCIOUSNESS] wouldn’t be able to grasp one of your awakenings and bring it here. So I’ll ask you this, and I’ll ask you once."
I kept silent, shocked to see that the girl I spent time with seemed gone, giving place to this... New version of her.
Or rather... If I recall it correctly, this ’real’ her.
The Evellyn I knew in my past life, from the few interviews and situations that gave her connections with the most powerful people in the world, both in the wielders’ circle and the regular society.
Cold, indifferent, ruthless, she was capable of taking anyone’s life right then and there, if she deemed it necessary for the ’greater good’.
"If you’re going to threaten me, at least do it with your heart in it." I shot at her, counting on my perception to be right this time. "Because if you wanted to kill me from the beginning, you wouldn’t help me awaken, and you also wouldn’t try and be friends with me, so drop the act and ask it already."
She sighed a pure boredom sigh and gave a few steps back.
"Do you know why our country has so few guilds while the rest of the world is basically handing their political power to the wielders?"
I raised my brow.
That was an unexpected question, but it didn’t sound like it needed an answer.
I was getting more and more confused, but the more she talked, the more I felt like something was really wrong there.
First the monitoring division making their move on my school, then that Liev telling me to protect the ones close to me, and after that...
Oh shit!
"Because we’re still trying to resist, thinking that the regulars are meaningful to society, while there are some people who think of them as mere steps to get them to rise to higher grounds."
Evellyn nodded, the yellowish glow dimming ever so slightly.
I was on the right track.
"I can show you the right direction, if you allow me." She got closer, taking my hands in a soft touch. "We’re already at the top of our world, here."
She leaned closer, and I felt her breathing on my chest.
If formed hushed words that only my perception was able to hear.
"When I count to three, you’ll use your telekinetic ability to bind what’s where I’ll point your hands to."
I began focusing on the mana around us.
"All you have to do is let go of what you believe."
She spun me gently around, like a dance partner leading me towards where I needed to be.
"And what will happen once I let go?" I let her lead the way.
"Three things. The first, is that you’ll open your eyes to what really matters."
She took a few steps to her left and I followed her.
I had my back against the guard-rail, able to see the whole rooftop from there.
"The second, is that you’ll find what you’re missing."
She wrapped her hands around me, freeing my hands, and I felt that there was something wrong with the mana a few meters in front of me.
So he was here, watching us all the time.
But why?
"The third, is that you’ll finally get a grip over the cruel reality of things."
I wrapped the mana around the emptiness ahead, and as soon as I felt the mana swirling around that block of void, I heard the scream.
And as soon as the scream echoed through the rooftop, the figure of that teacher revealed itself from the veil of [SHADOW WALK].
"You will not get away with it, girl!" He cursed at Evellyn, but I didn’t let him get all high and mighty.
I approached him and grabbed his head by the cheeks.
"You know that you’re in no conditions of making threats right now, yes?"
"Kurt Blake... I would love to know how you came back from the land of the canceled."
I smirked at his remark.
"Funny story, because ’I’ want to know how you have ’my’ unique ability."
He spat on the floor and it looked funny for a man in his position.
I couldn’t say that he didn’t have balls.
But that was going to change soon enough.
"If you don’t do what I say, you’re going to die right here. Do you really want the first sign of the New Dawn to be your blood on the very place where you’re going to reveal yourselves to the world?"
Evellyn held my shoulder.
"What are you saying? What do you mean? Are you really going to-"
"Yes, I am." I cut her in the middle of her sentence. "If I learned something while I was, like the man here said, ’in the land of the canceled’, it was that I have to be ready to do whatever it takes."
"But he’s human, too..." She hesitated, looking down.
"No, he’s not. We are, and you know why?"
She shook her head ever so slightly.
"Because we’re going to raid the Nests once we graduate, to protect mankind in its entirety. With no discrimination between regulars and wielders, because we are ’all’ human beings, and we were born different because someone had to step up and fight. Not to take over the world, but to save it. And the ones like him don’t think like that, which means that they don’t deserve to be alive."
After I spoke, I thought that Evellyn would understand and stay on my side, but she didn’t.
She stood in front of me, between me and the man from the monitoring division.
"Do you think you’re some kind of god to decide who lives and dies?"
|You know it does not have to be like this, Kurt.| I heard Arias’ voice in my head, and the soothing warmth inside of me began spreading to my whole body.
Suddenly, I began to think more clearly.
[KILL HIM]
But it wasn’t the system that issued the message this time.
I don’t know how I knew it, but I jut knew.
I gently pushed Evellyn aside, and punched the man right on his chin.
He immediately blacked out.
"I’ll take him somewhere he can talk properly."
After making sure he was completely restrained with [INVISIBLE HAND], I called Nikolai on my holowatch.
"What’s up, Kurt?" His tone was full of excitement, which meant that he probably made some good business just now.
"I’m sorry to break the excitement, but I need your help."