"Surely."
As this word leaves my mouth, we are apart.
She is on the other end of the stage while I am on the other end.
We both step a little forward, but there is still a lot of space between us.
Which part is this?
I don't remember this step.
Elicia steps forward while a smile lingers her face.
She has been smiling since we stepped on the stage, and what surprises me the most is that it is a real smile all along.
She's like an angel fallen from heaven-
No. She's not fallen-heaven sent her to the Earth because she is too good for heaven itself.
Her blue eyes lie over me. She ignores the commotion created by the people surrounding us. I don't know what they are whispering but I am pretty sure it's something positive-not that I care.
The melody continues to be awesome. She takes a step forward while her hands brush her waist. She lifts her right leg forward and after touching the ground slightly by it, she jumps. Her right leg is now behind her left. She once again lifts her right leg and touches the ground in front of her with the tip of her boots.
How is she so good at this?
Her steps are so fast that I found it difficult to analyse them instead of enjoying watching her do it.
She kicks in her front by her left leg before her right leg does the same in the back. Her kicks are not just graceful but strong too.
She brings her right leg in front of her and when she touches the ground with the tips of her boots, she spins with her right hand in the air and left on her waist. Her knee length hair floats gently in the air, making her look even more like a goddess.
"Isn't it fun" she exclaims loudly enough for me to hear it. Her smile is so bright that it makes my heart pound even faster and harder.
I would be suffering from a heart attack soon if it continues like this.
"It's more fun to see you do this!" I exclaim loudly, as she hears my reply she laughs slightly.
"Of course it is!" She pauses to bow in front of me, gesturing to me that it is my turn to do it now, "It's your turn, Arnold! All the best; make sure to impress your coach!"
Oh god, am I supposed to do this?
I am dead.
She made it look so easy but it's surely not.
I cannot say no to her. So, I should do as much as I can.
Just do what she did!
"Alright!" I screamed.
Let's go!!
Wait-what was the first step?
Forget it. Let's do what I remember.
I smile as I pin my eyes on Elicia. I lift my right leg and kick strongly in the front and then I do the same in the back. I rotate- now I am showing my back in the direction Elicia is in. I lift my Left leg,
Kick in the front,
Kick in the back.
I do a hammer kick in the front by my right leg before spinning.
It's surely not what Elicia did but it's fun.
My legs are going to ache badly in the morning. I shouldn't have done this so fast.
I shift my right leg and left leg as I jump while my hands are in the air and,
Kick in the front,
Kick in the back.
Jump, rotate.
Kick in the front,
Kick in the back.
Hammer kick!
Jump and rotate.
Shift legs while jumping from right leg to the left leg and then spin and-
Bow!
I have done it!!!!!
It was actually really hard but it was fun.
I smirked to myself who thought I would not be able to do it. I shift my eyes to Elicia-
"You've done it, great Arnold!" She is surprised, "I am impressed!"
"Of course you have"
Elicia then slowly comes towards me while stepping loudly and slowly with her hands at her back. As she reaches me, she hooks my arms into mine and then, we spin fast-extremely fast.
"Slow down!" I say while breathing heavily as I continue to spin with her.
"Why? Isn't it fun?!" She exclaims.
"I am going to pass out, if it continues like this" I say while it becomes hard to see her face.
She sighs, "Okay, but make sure to do other steps nicely!"
"If I am able to do so- then surely."
With that, she let go my hand and then, once again we did familiar steps.
We round each other with our hands pressed against our backs.
Well, she's right, it's fun.
She reaches for my hand that I give her, with that, we bow to each other showing respect and the dance is over.
I breath heavily while being proud of myself-
Claps of people swallow the moment. Elicia and I face towards the crowd, people cheer us.
Was it actually that good?
Elicia and I face each other. We both scan each other's face before we burst into laughter.
Kallian walks towards us while clapping.
30min later
"Let's start when Elicia counts to three" Kallian says, he looks towards me, "Is that fine to you?" He asks.
Aunt Ama would kill us if she gets to know where we are.
I think while sitting in a bar.
I would never have been here if it wasn't for the fact that Kallian and I decided to have a drinking competition.
We are both adults after all.
While Elicia is just thirteen. It's sad that Elicia is two years younger than me, it would've been excellent if we were the same age.
"Yes" I replied to Kallian while looking towards him. Kallian passes Elicia a nod.
I pass a glance to my surroundings. We are sitting on chairs surrounding a rectangle wooden table. This shop is surprisingly really well managed; it must've been costly to both build and manage it.
The shop is surrounded by walls in the north, west and east while the south direction is covered by glass instead; It is connected to the street by the gate in the south direction. The walls are coloured white and money plants are surrounding the whole building as a decoration. We are sitting beside the glass wall.
"Ready?" Elicia asks to confirm; we both give her a nod. "1…2…3 Go!" She exclaims.
I pick the glass in front of me that is filled with wine. Though it is the weakest wine here, it scares the shit out of me. It will be my first time ever drinking it.
Without wasting another second, I drink it.
I don't stop until the glass is empty and the only thing I can now think about is its taste.
It's terrible. I cannot believe people actually drink it.
My head feels dizzy.
I look towards Kallian-he's refilling his glass.
How can he tolerate it?
"It's delicious!" Elicia-no, Kallian exclaims. How in the world can anyone find this delicious?
"Ew…what're you even talking about?" I somehow manage to say. The earth seems to rotate slowly with time. I shake my head. "It's terrible!"
Kallian looks confused as he says, "No way you found it terrible!" A pause, "By the way you keep shaking your head, don't tell me you're drunk already?"
"I am."
He sighs, "You know, this one is hardly as strong as one-fifth of a normal wine" He pauses, "I have a terrible wine tolerance so I cannot tolerate a normal one but you have an even terrible tolerance for it." He looks towards the wine, "Well, I win! It's quite delicious so I will continue to drink." He finishes.
"Ah…should we go home, Arnold?" Elicia asks while her eyes seem worried.
"What if your mother finds out that I drank?"
Elicia floods with realization, "You're right…we would have to stay here until you're sobber."
I look towards Kallian, he's drinking his third or maybe even fourth glass.
I stare at the wall for a while before I am interrupted by Kallian's voice.
"Arnold…try some. It's great!" I look towards him,
Oh God, he's drunk badly.
I can tell it just by seeing his face.
"Try some!" He exclaims, as his cheeks turn even more red.
As these words escape his mouth, he's pressing his glass filled with wine against my lips.
I open my mouth to say something as I see Elicia does the same-
The wine flows in my mouth.
Not just a few drops, but the whole glass.
"Arnold!!!" Her hands reach my shoulders to help me maintain balance. She looks towards Kallian, "Why did you force Arnold to drink?"
"Ah, I thought he'll like it and it was too much for me to finish alone; I am sorry." He speaks. "It would have been wasted."
I cannot think properly. My mind is dizzy. Too dizzy.
"You could've used it for burning wood, instead of making me drink it!" I argue.
Kallian realizes, "Yeah…how can I have not thought about it?" He looks towards me, "You're a genius, Arnold!"
Elicia rolls her eyes at the both of us, "How can you be so dumb? It is clearly written over here that it doesn't consist of anethol!" She smirks as she rolls her hands in front of her chest, "Huh! I am surrounded by idiots."
Kallian smirks, "At least, we are handsome." He huffs.
"Oh, absolutely." Elicia says teasingly.
"Don't lie, my darling queen. You know it yourself" I say while my eyes are placed on Elicia.
"Maybe." A smile escapes her mouth as she looks in another direction-
"You should try some too, Elicia!" Kallian says before pressing the whole bottle of wine which is almost over on her lips. She opens her mouth to protest but the wine flows on her mouth. She drinks the wine.
Elicia drinks the whole bottle.
"Was it good?" Kallian asks happily.
"Who are you?!" Elicia asks while pointing towards Kallian.
"I am your older brother" Kallian exclaims proudly while tilting his face as a stupid big smile still lingers on his face.
Elicia makes an irritated face as she speaks, "No way!?" She pauses, she shakes her face as she says, "You're too ugly to be my brother."
I laugh my lungs out after seeing how drunk Elicia is after just a few sips.
Kallian seems sad because of what Elicia said, "You're so mean" Kallian pouts, which I found rather irritating.
"But I don't have anything to be mean for," Elicia says to Kallian. She looks so cute as she continues, her cheeks are fully red and her voice-much sweeter, but it doesn't change the fact that she is speaking harsh statements.
"I think you have misunderstood" Kallian finishes while squinting his eyes.
He's so readable when drunk.
"How?" She asks while she squints her eyes as those trails over our surroundings.
Kallian huffs as he stands and walks towards the counter. He says something to the person on the counter.
It's surprising that he is sober enough to do at least this properly.
The person passes something rectangle shaped to Kallian, Kallian turns and comes towards us.
Elicia and I both trace his movements as he walks.
He smiles as he looks towards us.
He sits on his chair.
"Elicia," he says.
"Ay, Ay captain!" She replies while she is totally not in her senses. She salutes to Kallian.
Kallian shrugs, "You should call me the future duke rather than a captain."
Elicia makes a disgusted expression, "Do you think I am the type to fulfill someone's demands?" She pauses to smirk, "Very dumb of you to think that."
"Indeed." He smiles, "Look at this thing, little lady."
He says while showing a mirror to Elicia.
"Are you sure, you don't have anything to be mean for? But you already have her" He pauses, "She's yours." His cheeks are red and he looks like an idiot but he sure has a well-functioning brain.
Elicia's mouth falls open, as she takes the mirror from Kallian's hands.
"Y-You must be lying" She stutters while speaking in shock.
"Nah, she's really yours" He passes a quick smile to her.
Elicia is not able to take her eyes off the mirror. She must be drunk so bad that she does not realize that it is herself.
"Mine?" Elicia pauses, "…M-Mine…?" She repeats as her voice stutters, "M-Mine…?" Her voice cracks-
Tears run down Elicia's eyes; my eyes open wide at the sight. Her sob is loud. She shakes as she cries. Although she's crying, it doesn't feel like how she will cry when she's sad. It's rather like sympathizing with one-the one she can only do while being drunk.
She must have hid it deep inside her for a long time.
"But she is too good to be mine" She sobs more loudly, "She's so beautiful" She sniffles. "She's so hot to be mine!!!!!"
I knew it.
"Relax, Elicia." I speak.
"But how can someone be this beautiful and…be mine?"
"Someone can."
She finally seems to stop before she sobs even louder, "You're so good, Arnold" She sneezes, "You're too good to be my friend!"
"Don't cry Elicia, or I will cry too!" I exclaim.
"You're too good, Arnold."
"No, Elicia, you're much better than I am!"
She stops crying upon hearing my sentence, "I am?" She cleans the tears off her cheeks.
"Yes!"
"Good job, Arnold!" Kallian whispers to me.
30min later.
We walk down the streets while Elicia tugs at my arms. It was hard for her to balance herself so I offered her my support.
The feel of her is warm, soft and beautiful. Her head rests on my shoulder while her weight lies on my left arm.
The street is bustling with life-the one it wasn't back that day.
Our home is close.
Kallian walks beside me.
I guess nothing bad would happen if she visits her home.
Kallian's voice cuts between the silence, "Oh, shit. How can I forget I have a bottle of milk." He sighs, "It helps to become sobber. I often keep it for emergencies.
He looks towards Elicia before he opens his mouth, "I guess, she should drink it. She's very drunk."
"Do you really think just a few sips of milk will make her sober when she's drunk so bad?" I ask.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." He says while shaking his head, "You really do underestimate me." He pauses to smirk, "It has potions of high quality to make people sobber."
"Is it safe?" I ask.
"Of course, it is." He assures while I don't find it really hard to believe him.
"Prove it." I speak.
He looks towards the sky while smiling, "I like you, Arnold; let's be friends."
Does he ask people randomly to be his friend?
"Fine." I say, "But prove it first."
"Okay-okay. I will show you by drinking it first" He slips a small bottle from his pockets.
Just how large his pockets are?
He opens the bottle's cap and spills the milk into his mouth from a distance.
"Fine now?"
"Yes."
I shake Elicia to make her gain some more consciousness.
She opens her eyes slowly. "Elicia" I speak softly, it is a little more than a whisper, but loud enough for her to hear.
"Hmm" she hums.
I take the bottle near her mouth, "Drink some." I offer her some milk.
She squints her eyes, "What is it?"
"It's milk, it will help you become sober, drink some" I speak softly while she continues to hang on my arm.
To be honest, I like it.
"Sure." She replies while rubbing her eyes.
She grabs the bottle from my hand and drinks all the milk in one breath.
"She sure does trust you," Kallian says while looking towards her, "If it had been me who gave her the milk, I doubt she would have thought it was poison." He pauses to smile softly, "Make sure you don't break her trust."
"I would." I replied to him.
Elicia passes the bottle for me before rubbing her eyes. "It works more than I thought." She speaks.
Good thing, otherwise Aunt Ama would have killed us.
I give Elicia a quick smile.
I throw the bottle back to Kallian.
It's soon enough that we continue to strike towards our home.
Our home comes to my vision-
"Isn't it the wrong way?" Kallian asks.
"Wrong way to where?" I ask him.
"To her house." He replies which is a bit suspicious.
I give him a look of suspicion before saying, "And why do you think it's the wrong way?"
He doesn't waste a second to reply, "Because the last time we met, I saw her off, and I perfectly remember it was not in this street."
I turn my head towards Elicia which seems to now be in full consciousness.
I glare into her eyes while she glares into mine.
Oh god, her eyes are heavenly.
"What?" A pause to smirk, "Do you want a staring contest now?"
I sigh, "No. I just wanted to ask you as to why this man remembers escorting you to your house that was on another street." I speak while pointing towards Kallian.
Elicia seemed confused at first but then, it seemed like she realized something. She chokes. Which is a little suspicious.
I waited for her to speak before I realized that we had almost reached our home.
The sound of people cursing each other and laughing have vanished. It's so silent in here that one can even hear their heartbeats.
And that's when I smell it. That's when I realized something that I wish I hadn't. That's when I realized that changed everything.
Blood.
That's what I smell.