"Leave."
"What? What are you saying? I came here because I was concerned about you. That's why I followed you."
"I… I know. That's not why I'm asking you to leave," said Diana who was struggling to hold back her pants that were about to start as her thirst was beginning to rise higher and higher.
"Then why are you asking me to leave?" Peneri asked, looking hurt. The two of them had just been in a fight for their lives and now, her best friend was pushing her away without an explanation.
"I… I can't explain."
"Is it you can't explain or you don't want to explain?" Peneri asked, her eyes tearing up. "Am I even your friend? I know nothing about what you're going through. You wouldn't even open up a little bit for me to see what's going on underneath all of that… that wall you've placed in front of you."
"..."
There was a lot that Diana wanted to say. So much was boiled up inside of her. She wanted to bawl her eyes out, bury her head into her friend's shoulder and be comforted.
Yet, the other side of her refused to let out a squeak about the incident and everything else that's been happening to her recently.
It wasn't that she didn't trust Peneri.
She just had to protect herself.
"If you won't leave, then I'll leave," Diana said as she bent her knees and as soon as they straightened up, she shot into the air, landing on the building next to them.
Peneri and Diana shared one last gaze before Diana vanished into the distance.
"...And in the world are you even doing that?" Peneri uttered, her heart crying the world's saddest song as she leaned her back against the wall, slowly dropping until her buttocks hit the ground.
She thought about what had just occurred a few moments ago.
Bell had spoken to them with a different voice than his usual one. She thought that it was pointless hiding his identity since all three girls knew who was underneath the mask, but what she didn't know was that he knew that they knew and was pretending not to know so as not to expose them for following him.
He asked them not to mention their involvement with the incident as it would put them in danger.
Mason was going to be the only student involved when it came to telling the story to the academy.
Although the three girls had their own thoughts, their own reasonings, they all agreed to keep their mouths shut. However, Grace asked to be informed about the secret in exchange for her silence.
When Bell told them, all three of them were shaken by the truth.
Diana was shaken so badly that the composure she had, the disgust she was holding back, the fingernails she was preventing from stabbing into the flesh of the man before her — all of that nearly crumbled.
"What do I say? How do I explain that I was saved then?" asked Mason.
"Just tell them that you were saved by a bunch of people wearing masks. That's not a lie. You're just omitting some details," Bell answered.
That was the last thing Peneri heard before Bell and his group disappeared, leaving her alone with Grace, Diana, and Mason.
Mason bid them farewell as he had to head to the academy as soon as possible.
That left only the three girls.
"...Anywaysssss. What a coincidence coming across you two here," Grace said. "It was great seeing you both. I'll be heading off now."
She quickly ran away before she could be questioned.
After that, only the two best friends were left.
They walked together, then that's when the conversation occurred, and now — now Peneri was all alone. Her mind was a mess. The circuits were fried.
* * *
"Little brother, you should've brought me along if you were going to get in this much trouble," Cyro sighed as he pushed his sword deeper into the body of a Trinity Academy janitor.
This janitor was obviously not just a mere janitor; he was Mr. Alfonsi's partner and he was about twice as strong as Mr. Alfonsi, the clone that had been killed by Bell and Co.
Cyro had secretly followed his younger brother after hearing about his plans to do something after school.
Even though his grandfather assured him that his little brother knew what he was doing, as a doting older brother, he felt compelled to disobey Godfrey and follow in secret anyway.
He witnessed everything. The stalkers, the masks, the teacher rushing inside, and even sensing that everyone had been pulled into a pocket dimension.
He had his ways to force himself into the dimension, but decided not to as it was in their blood, the Agnus blood, to overcome danger. He had gauged the strength of Mr. Alfonsi as soon as he saw him and could tell that Bell would be able to win with a few deaths. He had predicted that Kevin was going to die.
Contrary to his expectations, everyone actually survived.
While they were fighting Mr. Alfonsi, he was dealing with the janitor, who had been called over to the building by Mr. Alfonsi who had left a mark in his classroom that only his partner could recognise.
This janitor was never mentioned in the novel.
His existence was never written about and even when the protagonist defeated Mr. Alfonsi, there was never any retaliation from his partner or anything of that sort.
So what happened to this man in the world from the novel?
The answer to that is—
When Cyro recognised the danger that this man was, he immediately dashed forward, his hands coated in fire.
In a few exchanges, he subdued the man and was questioning him. When the man refused to answer, he resorted to torture that he was taught in the First Order.
Once he got everything he needed, he plunged the sword into the man's heart and watched as his body turned to ashes and was blown into the sky by the wind.
"Bell, you're getting yourself involved in something big. Don't be foolish. Your family is here if you need our help," he sighed. The changes in his little brother were too much for him not to feel any concern. It was only a few months ago when the most trouble Bell would get into was his lack of proper etiquette.
Now — now, he had etiquette but was constantly standing in the mouth of sharks.
"I'll have to return to work soon. There's danger far greater than what you're dealing with, little brother. But… thankfully, Kai is returning home soon. I'm just worried he's going to burn the whole city down trying to help you," Cyro muttered to himself, scratching his head in frustration as he thought about the second son, Kai Agnus.
Observing the argument between the two best friends, he saw Diana leap away and begin heading in the direction of Bell.
He thought about following her, but understood that their relationship was extremely complicated. She was likely going to him to have an important conversation. Maybe some apologies were in order.
"I'll leave them alone then. I don't want to listen in on the crimes that my youngest brother did," he groaned.
If Bell wasn't his kin, his little brother that he adored so greatly, the little boy he had raised as a second father almost — Cyro would've already castrated Bell.
He wasn't like his mother who believed that it was a misunderstanding and thought that Bell was innocent or that something else was in play. He wasn't like his father either who knew the truth but didn't care, as he only cared about his family and no one else.
Cyro knew the truth, hated it — but his love outweighed the disgust he felt.
Many thoughts were running through his mind.
But eventually, he settled them all and said this one last thing before returning home:
"Lucy, you'd better return home as soon as possible. You're the only one I can trust to keep your older brother Kai on a leash."
Speaking of Lucy in such a fond manner, you wouldn't think for a second that she had a nickname that terrified everyone who heard it.
The Butcher Princess.
* * *
When the car came to a stop, Bell saw in the corner of his eyes a figure standing on the sidewalk, glaring through the window.
'I can only avoid this for so long. The two of us were bound to talk face-to-face someday. Guess that day is today.'
"Wait, Kevin. Take everyone home. I'll get out here."
Ernit, their driver, was currently too injured to drive, even though he had tried to insist on doing his job a few minutes ago.
"Got it," Kevin responded. He was confused, but it wasn't his job to question what his Young Master was going. Even if it was his job, he'd rather keep his mouth shut so that he could return home sooner.
'Gotta get home to my wife. I miss her so much!'
Maya looked at Bell with confused eyes, but he closed the door before she could ask anything. She decided not to pry for the moment. Even though she was nosy and wanted to dig into every last detail, she had just completed the mission her god gave her.
It was time for her to unlock a new ability.
Vroooom.
The car drove off, leaving Bell alone on the sidewalk.
He turned around where he had seen Diana earlier. She was not there.
Heading in that direction, he saw a glimpse of her in an alleyway before vanishing. He entered the alleyway. He then caught just a hint of her blue hair as she entered a building through its back door.
'Why this building?' he wondered.
Stepping inside, the door closed behind him. There was nobody in front of him. He couldn't even hear a single sound across the entire building.
This was actually the exact reason why Diana had lured him into this building specifically. And he was smart enough to understand her intentions.
Step. Step.
Walking forward, Bell was unable to catch any more of the crumbs that Diana had been leaving behind.
Looking around the hallway that he was in, he stopped. Turning around. Nothing.
He turned again.
VOOOOSH!
Her face had been the size of a thumb, but in an instant, it was right in front of him. She grabbed him with both hands by the shirt and pushed him towards a wall with such speed that Bell could barely react. But barely didn't mean he couldn't. He had still caught on in time to activate Unbound Step but chose not to.
CRASH!
The two of them flew through a wall, the wood, stone, and concrete shattering, flying everywhere.
CRASH!
Another wall had a hole in it.
CRASH!
One more.
THUD!
Finally, she pulled his body into the air and threw it towards the ground as hard as she could.
Back collapsed on the ground, spitting out blood, before Bell could catch a breath, a fist came his way. He didn't move. He didn't dodge. He just watched as it got closer and closer.
Just as it was about to hit his face, it redirected and hit the ground inside, shattering it.
Kneeling on his body, her teeth clattering, eyes filled with tears, and body shaking profusely — was Diana. Diana Watson. The victim of Bell Agnus.
Her eyes were no longer blue. They were red entirely.
They mirrored his.
Except his was a product of being an Agnus.
Hers came from being a vampire.