26. Let’s set my friends on fire!

I scanned my surroundings.

“The hell?”

Zeeta’s laugh reached me through the phone.

« I’m not at Marvel Hotel, you moron. But man, I didn’t know you would enjoy those kinds of events. »

“Honestly I don’t. The medusa said she would apologize, so we came. Where are you?”

« Not telling. »

“At the Shell Hotel, in front?”

« Huh… By the way, could you do me a favor? »

I stopped looking intently at the windows of the Shell Hotel.

“What is it?”

« Can you see the lit gallery about three floors above you? And the room in the dark? »

I looked up at the Marvel Hotel’s facade, puzzled.

“Er… Yeah, I can see it. So?”

« Can you pull the curtain open? A few inches would do. »

“… Is it something related to your job?”

« Kinda, yeah. Can you do it? »

“I don’t know, it’s quite far, but let me try.”

Was Zeeta spying on the Sunclaw on the Beholder’s orders? Most likely.

I fixed the curtain behind the window of the sole room in the dark and activated my power. I had already tried to move things from about thirty meters away, and the window was a bit closer than that. If I focused well enough…

I grabbed the curtain with my telekinesis and slowly pulled it open by a few inches. I grinned.

“Zeeta, I did it!”

« You’re a pro, Armen, thanks a lot! »

“Zeeta? You said Zeeta?” a voice suddenly snorted, surprised. I had barely the time to see Erma pop up in front of me before she grabbed my cell from my hands and insisted: “THE Zeeta?! Seriously? Zeeta Guita’! … What? Hey, I’m no brat! Don’t you miss me? … Yeah, so much you couldn’t sleep? I don’t believe you. By the way, I heard you’re in the DA now, haha, are you paid well? … Hah? You’re kidding! You’re just making it up, so annoying… Hey, don’t hang up!”

Erma clicked her tongue as she glared at my phone, then gave it back to me, groaning:

“He hung up on me, that birdbrain-dummy-fool!”

Aaah… Zeeta is most certainly hearing you, you know? She smiled.

“But I’m glad to hear his voice. By the way, is the Cheetah Duo still active?”

“It revived just recently,” I said, shoving my cellphone in my pocket. I looked at her, inquisitive. “So? What’s the surprise?”

“Ho, that, my Christmas present… Don’t open it before Christmas, you hear!”

I accepted the little box she handed to me. She had wrapped the gift with care… so much care there was tape everywhere.

“Hell. Thanks, Erma. But… is that okay? I only knew I had been invited, like, about two hours ago, so I don’t have anything for you.”

“It’s okay, don’t sweat it. Besides, you do have something for me.” She poked my chest. “You.”

My ears froze for an instant. Me? W-Was she asking me out? Dang… She was barely one year younger than me, so I guess it was possible. I just didn’t know how to answer her confession. But the main problem was that Erma didn’t know she had just confessed to an undead…!

“Friends are better than any other gift.”

Her words, then, made me snap back to reality. Linah had not confessed. She was just trying to revive our friendship bond. What was I thinking, really?! I composed myself, smiling at her.

“Sure. Then you can have me.”

Even in the dim light that reached us from the party, I could see Linah’s cheeks turn a bit rosy.

“You make it sound like I own you, Straw Head.”

“Since I owe you, you can own me,” I bowed.

“… Don’t give up your day job.”

“Eeh?! Was it that lame?”

“Awful.”

“But, Erma, didn’t you want me to gift myself to you?”

“I meant our friendship, Straw Head, our friendship!” Her clenched fist danced under my eyes with exasperation.

“Ahaha… Don’t punch me. I’ll give you friendship with all my heart.”

“Don’t use all your heart, or Zeeta will be sad.”

“True, then with half of my heart. Ah, but there’s Ray too. And my big sis, and my parents. Then a fifth, no, a… Ah, I’ve lost count. A piece of my heart?”

“I’m depressed. Don’t slice your heart like it’s a piece of cake.”

“You told me to share!”

“Besides, my grandma used to tell me, ‘your heart is yours. Don’t give it to anyone. There’s only one key to your heart. Offer it only to the one that will make you happy for the rest of your life’.”

She was imitating an old woman’s voice, and the result was kinda funny. I smiled, captivated.

“You should make some copies.”

Linah blinked, confused.

“What?”

“For the door. If you lose the key, you won’t be able to enter. So you should make some copies. I always do that.”

“…” She burst out laughing. “Moron! You don’t get the meaning at all!”

I got the meaning all too well. That is, Linah wasn’t seeing me the same way I was seeing her. Or so it seemed. But it didn’t matter, because I was dead, anyway, so it would only get us in trouble if she were to fall for me. But that also meant I was free to act as my heart told me—not that I was a guy capable of doing otherwise. I grinned.

“Well, I’m curious. To what kind of person would you give that key?”

“Mm. I don’t really know. Someone I can relax with, have fun, and trust…” She shrugged. “Anyway, I’m not even sixteen, yet. I’ll probably do as you say and give some copies of my key before giving the real one.”

I was a bit surprised by her interpretation of my words, which didn’t really hold any meaning, but I didn’t correct her.

“Now that you mention it, your birthday is in February, isn’t it? To think our muse is going to become older so soon…”

“Are you saying I’m old?! Besides, we all become older as time passes.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You do.”

No, I don’t, I thought again. My back against the balustrade, I leaned my elbows on the rail and smiled at her.

“They say idiots never catch a cold nor grow old.”

“You just made that up, didn’t you? It’s so untrue in your case. You caught, like, four colds last winter?”

“Ah… Maybe I’m a genius, then?”

“Hwara-hwara!” She nudged my elbow, leaning beside me. For a moment, we both listened to the racket of the party, then she said cheerfully: “I think this one will be the best Christmas party I ever had since I came to this city!”

Those words just made me feel the same way.

“Say,” she added. “I was wondering, Straw Head. If you liked someone, how would you propose?”

I jerked up.

“Out of the blue…” I sighed.

“You would propose out of the blue?”

No, that was not what I meant. I rubbed my neck, trying to give her an honest answer.

“Yeah. I guess I would just blurt it out at some point. I’m not an expert on the matter but… I know I’m not good at holding in things like that.”

“I take it you don’t have a girlfriend?”

“I never did.” And never will. I’m dead, you know.

“… Actually,” Linah said, “I think I would like it if someone proposed to me by kissing my hand like a gentleman and saying: will you be my spouse, señorita?”

Why the Buenos Aires’ accent?! I looked at her, snorted with laughter, then faced her, took her hand, and grazed the back of it with my lips saying:

“Will you be my friend, senchorlita?”

Linah burst out laughing. For two reasons, probably: for my bad accent, but also because she had just left her hand detached in mine.

“I just so wanted to do that once, Straw Head! You fell for it so well! Hwara-hwara-hwara!”

I gave her an evil grin.

“What’s the matter? I was proposing to your hand. I don’t want the rest.”

“What?!!”

“Well, perhaps the arm? And the pigtails, of course. Can I have your pigtails?”

“You…!”

Her hand ran away from mine and flew back to its owner, then came at me. I saw her fist stop an inch away from my chest.

“…? You’re not gonna hit me?”

“Are you a masochist?”

“Haha, I’m not, I guess. But what happened? You are gentler comparing to when you were a gangster—” She pinched my nose. It was supposed to hurt a bit, I guess? I said: “Ouch.”

“You don’t sound convincing. Just as I thought. You became gentler too, Straw Head. In summer, you would have given me one of your annoyed smiles right now.”

“Something like that?”

“… No, now you’re just smiling because you’re having fun. You are a masochist, after all.”

“I’m not!”

“Hwara-hwara-hwara!” she laughed as she let go of my nose.

Had I been alive, I knew I would have been blushing right now. I shook my head.

“By the way, Erma, I was thinking about something disturbing.”

“Oh? About your grades?”

“Don’t depress me! No, I was thinking about your body.”

Erma flushed. I hurriedly added:

“I mean, how does your body stay alive when you detach it? A hand was already amazing, but what I saw the other day—”

“You birdbrain-dummy-fool!”

She pulled my red knit cap with both hands, covering my eyes.

“Er… Whatcha doing, Lil Witch?”

She took a deep breath.

“Actually… I don’t know how it works.”

Wondering how much time she was going to hold onto my knit cap, I raised my eyebrows under it.

“You don’t know how your body works?”

“… Yeah. I just don’t die when I detach myself. I can detach my limbs, and even my head. It’s as if I was in one piece, except I’m not. Some kind of spacial warp, perhaps? I’ve heard it’s really hard to investigate how those kinds of powers really work. It depends on the proportion of Crystal particles, their color, their disposition… Anyway, I was this way when I was born. My mom almost had a heart attack when she saw me in pieces, crying like a healthy newborn and all.”

I had a hard time imagining the scene of her birth, but her mom sure must have been in shock.

“Ah well, but she got over it. My mom is not a witch, but she has the nerves of one. As a kid, I kept losing parts of my body all the time, and she just ended up joking about it.”

“…!” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like an amazing childhood! Which parts of your body did you use to lose?”

“Mostly my hands. I used to lose them all the time. They would begin walking around… I didn’t know yet how to call them to my main body, so every time I would see a beautiful butterfly, or anything that can catch the attention of a young kid, my hands would just try to go after it. Don’t laugh, it was a serious problem back when I was five years old or so, you know? My mom scolded me each time it happened. My grandma was more like, ‘well, as long as you don’t lose your heart, everything’s all right, Linah’.”

I thought of pulling up my knit cap but then it occurred to me that maybe Linah would stop telling me about her childhood if I were to look at her. Actually, I could see her a bit through the threads of my knit cap, but that, I didn’t tell her. I just smiled and said:

“Your grandma looks like a really nice person.”

“Mm. My mom is too. I still can’t believe she put up with it for so many years. A kid like me was such a pain in the ass! That’s also why I’ve always been taught body strengthening methods since I can remember. Losing body parts can be very dangerous.”

“You don’t say.”

“But I guess the worst thing ever was when I went to Farskyer City for my first time when I was five years old. I forgot my right hand in a bullet train.”

“For real?!”

“Yeah. Since I’m left-handed, I didn’t notice.” That was the reason?! “My dad had to, like, call the managers to stop the train and retrieve it. We made everyone stop for my sake. It was so embarrassing. Also, the passengers freaked out, seeing my hand moving all alone… And my mom was worried sick that the distance could cause my power to deactivate. When we found my hand, she was so mad she yelled at me, ‘PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!’. I rarely saw my dad laugh so hard. Hwara-hwara!”

I chortled.

“Your childhood is just hilarious.”

“Better than yours, huh?”

“Hey, what do you mean, mine wasn’t bad either!”

“You were just trapped in a lighthouse, looking at dolphins and fishes and playing the violin, am I right?”

“… Well, it’s true that I never lost my hand in a bullet train, I’m a normal guy after all.”

“Are you calling me abnormal?”

“Yeah. It’s abnormal to hold onto someone else’s knit cap for so long. First time I experience that.”

“…! O-Oh, sorry. I completely forgot my hands were holding onto it.”

Pulling up my knit cap, I looked at her embarrassed expression in disbelief.

“You can’t forget something your hands are doing.”

“Aha… I can, though? The bullet train’s experience is proof of that.”

“… As expected of the Lil Witch. Perhaps I can too if I hold on to your pigtails.”

I took them with my hands, as gently as I could, we looked at each other… then Linah coughed.

“I don’t know if you’re a kid or a fool, Straw Head.”

“… Ahaha… Sorry,” I said, letting go of her pigtails and turning around. As I thought, I totally couldn’t forget about my hands grabbing her hair, even though I couldn’t even sense them through my dead skin. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something, Erma. Is it okay if I…”

I fell silent. I was about to ask her if I could call her Linah from now on but… wouldn’t it be weird to call her so?

“Hwara-hwara! What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? You’re all flustered. Come on! Let’s get something to drink. But don’t keep me on tenterhooks. Is it okay if you what?”

I leaned on the balustrade, shaking my head.

“Not telling.”

“Come on!”

“Not telling, Lil Witch—”

“Damn you! Zeeta and you are the same, always teasing me! Anyway, let’s go inside! I’m actually freezing out here!”

I smiled as I gave a nod. I was definitely glad I had been able to see Erma again. I had to thank that vengeful Jonnie for that.

Bzz. Bzz.

‘Zeeta, 21:25: Didn’t follow the whole thing, but it seems that Erma is still as energetic as usual.’

‘Armen, 21:26: You jeeeeeerk, whera are u!!!’

‘Zeeta, 21:26: Stop stealing the Straw Head’s phone.’

‘Armen, 21:26: Show your face or I’ll kill u!!’

‘Armen, 21:26: (the real one) Sorry 😅’

‘Armen, 21:27: The lil witch is scary. I have’

‘Zeeta, 21:27: Armen? Armen, don’t die on me in the middle of a sentence!’

‘Zeeta, 21:31: Armen?’

‘Armen, 23:45: Sorry 🎧 🎧 🎧 Erma had me play a party of of poker with her and more peoplee. Niw I’m going home with Ray. Ate too much I’m a bit drunk. Can’t think straight. 😶 ⛄ 🎔 🎔’

‘Zeeta, 23:48: Rest assured, no one can tell the difference 😂 Thanks for earlier, I got great information. Rest well~’

Despite the streetlights, Ray was lighting our way with his super flashlight. The silence was only broken by our footsteps on the snow. I swayed as I put my phone in my pocket. Arkill was walking behind us. It seemed that the Lord was still worried about his son’s safety.

“I…”

Ray’s wavering voice made me try to focus my eyes on him. I was definitely drunk, my heart was beating now and then, and trickles of lifeforce were regularly coming out from my mouth in hiccups. So eating too much could have that sort of effect, so funny…

“I talked with my dad,” Ray finally said quietly. “Apparently, Ruslan Sunclaw was planning on making Sally the next heir of his family, but he changed his mind after talking with Dad and decided to send her away to London.”

“Oooh? As expected from the Lord, I knew he couldn’t… he couldn’t, hic, he couldn’t let it pass with just a half-assed apologize-e. That medusa got what she deserv-hic-YAAAH!”

My feet had slipped on a patch of ice, and I fell down, laughing.

“It dawzent-e hurt-e at awl, hahaha!”

“That’s… 100% Taipei accent, Armen.”

I smiled as Arkill and Ray tried to help me to my feet.

“Dad says it ain’t-e bad to have an accent. Thank-e you, Ray. Thank-e you, Arkill. It ain’t-e bad to have friends too, heeheehic! Sowy, I’m happy as a clam right now. I don’t know why clams are happy though, hahaha!”

“He’s rambling,” Arkill said.

Ray cleared his throat.

“Seems so… Ah, you dropped that, Armen. It’s yours, right?”

“Eh? Ah, the lil box, yus, it’cha present from Erma.”

“Erma? Ah, you mean, Linah.”

“Yus. She said it’cha Quereismas present… hic… only for me. So give it back, Ray, I’ll give you yours tomorrow, ’kay? Ray… I’m happy you revived me, heeheehic… Zeeta’s lifeforce is damn good, but yours is the best-e. Oho! Can you hear? My heart is beating… You hear? Yet I’m dead, hahaha! But it feels great. Argh… I’m hungry! Do you know the song? ‘Let me free’, by Magneto… hic, Magnetocore. ‘I’m craving for life, let me bite your heart, let me freeee…’ No?” I raised my arms roaring in a throat-shredding growl: “WOOORLD: LET ME FREE! DEATH IS CARVED IN STONE, BUT MY HEART CRIES, I’M FIRED UP! OH, CHAOS, LET ME SCREAM, I’LL RIP THE SKY! I’LL RIP THE SKY AND BREAK MY LIMITS! HEY, FRIENDS, LET ME SET YOU ON FIIIRE!” I clutched at Ray and Arkill to prevent another fall. “Hic.”

“… Holy Crystals, Armen,” Ray gasped astounded. “That was brutal.”

“Isn’t that, like, electronicore, heavy metal or something like that?” Arkill grumbled. “He sure is loud. But, young master, is he really eating your inner lifeforce?”

“Er… Yeah. Is that bad? He can’t be evolving, right?”

“Isn’t that too soon? He’s eaten too much, that’s all. Look at his eyes. His core can’t keep pace.”

“… True, they’re getting black. But isn’t that even more dangerous? If he becomes a Fury—”

“He won’t. If he had to become one, he would have already in the party. Besides, you’re by his side. If he keeps eating, you can order him to stop or put him to sleep. You are his master, after all. Don’t worry too much.”

“… You’re right.”

“I’M GONNA SET THE WORLD ON FIRE!”

Ray snorted.

“I should have told him to drink alcohol to lower the effects, after all. Anyway, let’s take him home!”

Somewhere in the corner of a nearby street, someone laughed. Ray clicked his tongue, grabbed his phone, and typed:

‘Ray, 23:58: You. Stop stalking Armen.’

‘Zeeta, 23:58: Don’t wanna 😁’

‘23:58: Armen is the best even when he’s drunk. Want me to help?’

‘Ray, 23:59: No need.’

‘Zeeta, 23:59: so cold’

‘APPHappyBot, 00:00: CHRISTMAS EVE IS COMING UP! Let’s join our Talkycord!’

‘Zeeta, 00:00: Shut up, bot.’

‘00:26: How is he?’

‘00:35: How is he?’

‘00:39: How is he? 😭’

‘Ray, 00:45: You’re annoying.’

‘00:45: I put him to ‘sleep’ because he kept saying he was hungry.’

‘Zeeta, 00:46: Is that normal for him to be hungry after all he ate?’

‘Ray, 00:46: You don’t need to know anything about that.’

‘Zeeta, 00:46: Now I wanna punch u.’

‘Ray, 00:47: Just try me 😎’

Ray’s eyes were riveted on Armen, lying on the sofa. Was he really evolving? But why so soon? Could it be because he had kept his inner soul? But Dad said it had taken about one year for Cysleen to start stabilizing her deathforce and growing into a full-fledged undead, even with a necromancer’s guidance. However, Cysleen was his only life-reaper to have been revived the same way as Armen. They were lacking information.

Ray glanced at the piles of books in front of him. If Armen went into a Fury state, what should he do? He had read a lot of books, but theory and practice were two worlds apart!

He shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. Armen’s reactions didn’t mean anything: if he was craving for lifeforce and had progressively lost his lucidity, that could have been just because he was drunk, and the fact that he had been seeking his caster’s lifeforce could have been just because Ray had been the only living being by his side…

Ray yawned. He was exhausted. He hadn’t completely recovered the energy he had used on that night, parties always wore him out, and Armen draining his lifeforce hadn’t helped. He looked at his phone. After a long silence, he typed:

‘Ray, 01:03: Zeeta. Do you know about the EPHT, the Experimental Program for the Heroes of Tomorrow?’