Antithetic's Tale

Chapter 6

“I really find your conversation with Dwight funny. He’s such a cold guy,” the girl beside me said while chuckling. I just grinned at her. We’re here at the exact place where we met last time.

“What’s your name?” I asked her. It’s been our fourth time talking to each other but I still don’t know her name.

“Thyra,” she answered. Finally, I won’t refer to her as ‘the girl from my dreams’.

“Your reaction is priceless, Athena! If you could only see how epic your face was!” Ion said while laughing non-stop. My dream was cut off because of this annoying man.

I woke up when I felt the icy cold water he threw to my face. I am really furious with what he did. Is it even hard to wake someone up without going this far?

“Get out of my room!” I threw him death glares. My whole body is trembling in cold. The water is even mixed with ice cubes.

“Hey Athena, I just want to make fun of you. It’s just a joke. Could you please wear your contact lenses?” she said with fear visible in his eyes. I hate it when people make fun of me.

 I closed my eyes tightly trying to control the anger inside me. My eyes became hotter as seconds pass by. Suddenly, I felt something filled with brightness came out of eyes.

“What the heck? You almost killed me, Athena!” Ion shouted while catching his breath. I slowly opened my eyes. What just happened?

I roamed my eyes around the room. I saw a big blazing hole on the wall. Did I do that?

“I thought I was going to die. Wear your contact lenses, Athena. Your dexterity could get me killed!” Ion added angrily. He’s still holding his chest. He can’t put the blame on me. I don’t even know that I am capable of doing that.

“Don’t let your emotions overpower you, Athena. Look at what you did!” He shouted again. I am certain that he’s really mad.

He avoided my eyes and tried to calm himself. He looked guilty because of his sudden burst of anger.

“Sorry…” I didn’t let him finish his word; I ignored him and went straight to the bathroom.

When I came back, Ion is not there anymore. Well, that’s good because I have to change my clothes now. I wore my uniform and readied myself for school. I can definitely go to school by my own. I don’t need that reckless and annoying Ion to accompany me.

I am an hour early for my first class so I decided to roam around the school. Since it is still early, there are only few human beings walking around and I guess I can tolerate them. After minutes of walking I found a small field covered in tall shrubs. This place would be a great spot when I want to make my mind at peace. This place will help me a lot in making my mind at ease.

I sat down on the grass and looked at the blue sky. I remembered what happened earlier. Something peculiar suddenly came out of my eyes. If that is one of my dexterities, then it would be so cool. However, how could I control its power?

 “You’re different from them. You are not a human, Iris.”

That’s the last thing Mreine told me and until now, those words are still bothering me a lot. The very reason why I hate human is because I am not like them. They are weak and I just don’t like the fact that they couldn’t even save themselves. They always needed someone to act as their knight in shining armor. Why can’t they just work on their strengths and use that so survive their daily battles.

Memories from my dream with that mysterious man suddenly flashed back. If human couldn’t use their strengths to fight their battles, then I would use mine to defeat that man. I should do everything to win over the man who knows me more than I know myself.

 “Why don’t you just show yourself to me?” I asked him.

“Let us say that this is one of the things that I can do. I can control someone’s dream,” he answered. That’s means he also has dexterities like me. This won’t be an easy battle, I guess.

A loud noise made my senses back to reality. I saw a man looking at me darkly.

“Who are you?” I asked. I thought I could finally have some alone time. What a disappointment.

He threw his bag on my side. I looked at him in disbelief. His gazes are like Dwight’s but the only different is this man has a much more intense darkness invading his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with his cold deep voice. I didn’t answer him since he didn’t bother answering mine in the first place.

We both stare at each other’s eyes. I can tell that this man is worse than Dwight’s coldness. This staring contest is giving me chills so I am the first to look away. I can’t take it anymore; his eyes sent cryptic energy down to my system. I don’t want the feeling he is giving me.

"Get lost," he added. I was surprised with what he said, he really is something.

“I was here first so could now leave,” I said and looked away. He doesn’t have any rights to order me around!

"Just get your ass off here,” he said.

It is as if I am looking at my own reflection. We speak the same way – same tone and same intensity. Looks like this one won’t let himself lose easily. Well, since I also don’t let defeat swallow me, no one would probably win this argument.

Defeat merely exists when one decided to surrender. In our case, no one would probably do that.

I stood up and kicked his bag away. I smirked at him and told him, “You can stay there,” while pointing at a spot a little far from where I am. I sat again and closed my eyes to breathe some fresh air. His eyes suffocated me.

I felt him walking away. He definitely went to spot I pointed him. If we would shut his mouth, I would probably continue resting here.

"Why don't you just get lost?" he asked. I didn’t answer him. I can’t continue having a conversation with this man. I just can’t handle his vibes.

"Do you have any plan answering my damn questions?" To be honest, if I am a simple human being, I would probably run away from him. His voice is just too authoritative and ruthless. I opened my eyes and saw him walking towards me again. Why can’t he just mind his own business?

"This is my place,” he said while pointing at a Z-shaped wooden sculpture. If this place is really owned by him, then maybe his name starts with Z. Wait, when did I ever get interested with someone’s name?

"You are the first person who had the guts to show your f*****g face in my territory. Everybody knows that this is mine." He may be scary but he is as talkative as Jensen. Can’t he just move on and let me rest in peace here? Why is he making a big fuss with his territory?

I was shocked when he suddenly placed his head on my shoulder. He closed his eyes and I remained frozen. What is he doing?

"I want to sleep,” he said lazily. I don’t know why I decided not to move and let him do what he wants. I still couldn’t process what is happening. I’ve never been this close to anyone. I can feel his heavy breath on my neck. I scanned his face and appreciated how perfect it is. His long eyelashes compliment his gray eyes. He looks less scary when he is sleeping.

I found myself caressing the strands of his hair. I remember how Ion does the same to me whenever I can’t sleep.

Since Ion interrupted my sleep earlier, I found myself inside my dream. Am I sleeping beside that man right now?

"Is it beautiful?" I turned to the voice and found myself with the mysterious man on my dreams again.

"Yes," I answered. If he is talking about my perception of reality, then yes, I still believe it is beautiful. It is flawed but beautiful.

"Then, why do almost all people want to escape this?"

"People always thought that reality is a big mess but actually it isn't," I responded. Just like what Thyra said, people tend to let themselves be swallowed by reality’s darkness.

"It's a plain mess Iris,” he added. The world doesn’t seem that chaotic. Maybe from a human point of view it is but for me, no.

"It is not," I replied. I do not care if that is his perception of reality. People have different perspectives and stand; which is the product of how they input the world in their brains. It’s all on their mind. If they would choose to see all the positive sides and input it to their systems, nothing would be negative. Everything is the product of our brain.

"Listen to me, Iris," he said. I thought he was going to finally face me and show me his face but he only looked sideward. Even if I want to see his face now, something tells me not to because it should not happen now.

"When the time comes, you're going to regret that you once believed the illusion of this world. In the future, you're going to see this in its negative side," he said.

"Changes are the only permanent thing in this world. So don't expect that your perception won't change," he continued. I know.

"When will I meet you?" I said, trying to change the topic. I don't want to talk about things that are not even happening in the present. If this man would be the one to kill me and the one who wrote the book, then he must know that something might happen in the future which will greatly affect my perception of reality.

"It's for you to find out," he said. Yes, of course I’ll find out.

"Just remember our conversation." I just nodded at what he said. I will never forget any of his words because I could use it against him in the future.

"Where is the book?" I am referring to the book he wrote for me.

"Obviously, it's in my hands. That book has only one copy," he said. I seemed it would be hard to find that book. I need to know who this man is before I could find the book.

I can’t wait to meet this man.

I woke up and almost forgot that there was a man resting his head on my shoulders. His eyes gradually opened so I immediately looked away. I looked at my watch only to realize that we had been sleeping for over an hour. My class with Sir Arthur is now over.

The man finally got up so I could finally stretch my muscles. He leaned against the wall and sat next to me. I glanced at him and was surprised to meet his eyes. It is now relaxed and I no longer feel unease with his gazes. He smiled and nodded at me.

"Zephyr!"