The Heaven Star academy was truly a small city on its own.
The streets were currently crowded as students, teachers, and visitors walked around. A joyous atmosphere filled the air. It was truly a wonder.
Ella could only marvel at all that. This was the first time she went out, exploring the campus, seeing what it had to offer, and she was shocked by all she was seen. One does not need to go outside; everything can be obtained in the school.
There was a special street in the commercial district where you could see merchants shouting to attract people to their stalls. You can enjoy your life as if you were outside, however, on the premise that you possessed enough credits because other forms of currency (gold, silver…) were not accepted.
The two continued touring the school, and Ella continued to marvel at all she was seeing. Shops selling specialties from other empires.
Before coming here, her parents had told them how wonderful this school was, saying they missed the life here; the twin thought their parents were exaggerating.
She had imagined a lot of things but imagination and reality were always different. In her mind, the school would be a boring place, unlike what her parents told them, but after seeing all this, Ella could only change her opinion. No wonder some students never want to live, falling deliberately to spend more time here.
”Emea, what are you thinking so hard about?” Orpheus asked Ella lost in thoughts.
Ella yelped when she finally heard herself being called by Orpheus. Laughing stiffly, she shook her head and berated herself in her mind to stay focused on this date and learn, if possible, something new. She must not only enjoy herself; she must find some answers as well.
”Nothing, I was just marveling at how wonderful our school is.”
”I see. You’re right; this is a great school. Something I didn’t expect humans could create.” Orpheus responded, he was shocked the first time he saw the whole school.
Ella frowned when she heard the last part of his sentence; she stopped and asked him.
”You talk as if you are not human.”
Orpheus was not surprised by this because he said that expecting this kind of response.
”You can say so. You must have noticed something when you used your eyes on me, right? How can’t humans have that.” Orpheus talked as if he was talking about something trivial.
Ella jumped back in a fright; she didn’t expect her little game of sneaking a peek at him to have been discovered; however, after thinking through this man was too unusual. She quickly regained her calm and acted as though she hadn’t heard anything.
”I have noticed something.” She said, waiting for Orpheus to ask her what it was.
”What have you noticed?” He played along.
”Why do you keep using my second name. Not too many, except for my parents and girl, nobody uses that name. It’s almost as if you kn-”
”Almost as if I knew you, right?” He cut her off mid-sentence and said. Ella nodded, and Orpheus chuckled.
”Well, it can be like that, or simply it may also be because I like that name. Do you have a problem with me using that name?”
”Not all. You can continue calling me like that. It’s my name anyway.” Ella shook her head.
‘Let’s stay focused on the final objective.’ Ella told herself. She knew that this date would eventually lead to many things. And like she told him she was not against him using her second name, her question was because she was just curious and wished to acquire information through that question but failed.
‘Ah! There is still a lot of time left.’ She thought with a complicated expression.
Meanwhile, Orpheus didn’t miss the myriad of expressions that flashed on Ella’s face. But it didn’t matter. He was willing to take his time for her. She was more than worth it. He knew she wanted some answers; how could he not? He would give them but slowly, one at a time. He had already prepared what to say today.
”Let’s visit that store.” He said, pointing at a jewelry store. Ella nodded and followed him in. After choosing a necklace and pendant, they left the store and continued their exploration.
Like that, until lunchtime, the two of them enjoyed themselves while walking around. Even Ella was feeling a little stuffed from everything they ate.
Though, for the two of them, this wasn’t a problem. They are both origin masters, known to consume more food than normal people to sustain the energy they spend and make their bodies grow stronger and healthy.
Deciding to rest, Orpheus found a bench under a tree in a park for them. They weren’t exhausted, to be honest. But sitting a little was always nice. Ella sat beside him and observed their surroundings; she could see many students (new and seniors) sitting around; some were in couples, probably on dates, while some were just sitting here to study as they were reading books.
“Today was really fun. I haven’t had so much fun in a while. Thank you for inviting me out.” Ella said after shifting her eyes from others back to Orpheus.
“I’m also having a lot of fun with you by my side.”
A warm atmosphere seemed to surround the two as he spoke like that.
Finally, after some time, Ella opened her mouth again.
”You know why I have accepted this day, right?” She asked him, and Orpheus nodded saying.
”It’s because you wished for some answers.”
”Exactly, so I will ask you a question, and I hope you will honestly answer this question. You are different from how you usually act, or it might be because it’s me, maybe you wished to get something from me, but I hope you will answer my question without playing.”
”Sure, ask your question.” Orpheus nodded.
”How long have you known us?” She asked. Her question was tricky; she didn’t ask if he knew them because she was to ask that; the next question she would ask was where he knew them? It would become two questions instead of one she had said she would ask; therefore, she came up with that question, and Orpheus understood what she was trying to do.
Taking a deep breath and with a look of nostalgia, he said. ”I know you very well. I have known you for a very long time.”
Ella was shocked; from his answer, he knew her, not them. This made things more complicated as in her seventeen years of life, she had never seen him except for the first time in that forest and the second time at the train station, and lastly in the academy. Yet, she kept having the feeling that he was someone she knew; they knew it couldn’t be weirder. She needed some answers, answers capable of clearing away their confusion and, if possible, helping them to understand those recurring dreams they keep having.
”What-”
Right, when she was about to ask Orpheus to elaborate, she stopped because his face was sad; no more than that, it was hard for her to put how the current Orpheus looked, but one thing was sure his mood was not a pleasant one, his face was paler than usual.
For some unknown reason, Ella felt her heart hurt seeing him like that. She wanted to say something, but not knowing why he was making that kind of face, and because they were not that close yet, she refrained. She stayed silent while her knuckles turned white from how tight her fists were clenched.
Finally, Orpheus seemed to have calmed down, he smiled, but his smile seemed a bit forced.
”Do you want to hear a story?” He asked her.
Ella nodded; somehow, she had the feeling that she could get many answers from this story.
Orpheus smiled before he began to tell the story.
A long time ago, there was a woman with an exceptional background; her background was so exceptional that calling her Goddess would sound right. This woman of exceptional background visited a store and encountered a man; at first, they didn’t get along, but it soon changed. They even fall in love, a love so strong that they were ready to die for each other; they vowed never to leave each other. She was not concerned about the man’s modest background, and he was not concerned about her exceptional background; like this. They continued to live their lives happily as their love grew.
Unfortunately, as life is never smooth sailing, soon troubles came knocking. People of exceptional backgrounds, like the girl, disagreed with her spending her life with a peasant, they did everything they could to separate them, but they failed. Determined to separate them, they plotted and killed the man. When the woman heard the sad news, she almost went insane; she did everything she could do to escape but only after stealing something precious. She used this thing to perform a forbidden spell, bringing her lover from the dead.
Ella had goosebumps when she heard this, her head began hurting, but she still ordered him to continue.
Orpheus nodded and continued.
”She succeeded, but what she brought back wasn’t completely her lover; he had become stronger and bloodthirsty, she became his first victim, losing her life.”
Ella began to cry hearing such a sad ending; her head kept hurting, and unknown images began to fill her mind, but she pushed them back.
”And then? I’m sure it is not the end of the story.”
”Indeed, there is still a little bit left.” Orpheus nodded and told her the end of the story.
”The man came to his sense, but it was almost too late; in panic, he used his newfound power to cast a powerful spell capable of bringing back his lover after multiple reincarnations. Until the day they would meet again, he set on revenge. End of the story.”
”What do you think of this story?” He asked her at the end of his story, but right now, she was not in a position to answer; those headaches had become stronger to the point she must head back.
”Excuse.. me, but I’m heading back. See you later.” Ella said before running away; Lily watching from afar was no better; she also left because of those headaches.
Once alone, Orpheus let out a long sigh. ”For how long do I need to wait? Two thousand years aren’t enough already?”
Nobody answered his question. He stood up and left; his gaze was more resolute than ever.