Past Lives: Memories

Chapter 3: The Change

"Can I say mine next time?"

"Nope" Both of them answered in accord, "You can't go back on your word!"

I can feel my heart beating out of my chest, I don't know if it's because of excitement or tension.

"W-well I am, ermm." I tried making stuff up, "I don't remember who I am"

I laughed to cover my lie but I saw Sonya's eyes glowing.

"Hey! No lying!"

Shit, she's really sharp to these things.

"I can tell if you're lying Arc" Eve pouts, "I know you like the back of my hand, even if I don't use Fal-Hel"

I closed my eye and secretly used Fal-Hel.

"F-fine. I am..." I paused momentarily and the two looks closer, "Arya's mentor"

"He's not lying" Sonya squints her eyes.

Of course, she would not know that I'm lying because I used Fal-Hel and I used my experience in lying when I was still Arya. I showed them a serious face with no extra movements.

"In order to deceive someone, you must deceive yourself too"

Eve eyed me suspiciously but I didn't flinch and looked directly at her eyes.

"Wow! We really all are connected!" Sonya excitedly claps her hands, "So you're master's master, Eve is master's knight, and I'm master's student!"

"Yeah" Eve and I said in unison

I looked at her again and she seems sad.

"Hey? Something wrong?" I poked her cheeks lightly.

"Well, truth be told. I thought you were Arya" She lets out a sigh and smiles, "But, these things are already in the past"

"That's true but I want to see master!"

"Now that we know each other, I want to address a few things here" I tried changing the topic, "First of all, Sonya that notebook of yours. Don't ever bring it to school again, other people may see it and I will say it, It's a bad thing if more people will be more involved. Second, never ever use magic unless necessary. Lastly, we keep these things to us. Only the three of us."

"As expected of master's master!" Sonya's eyes were sparkling

"And don't go off calling us that connects us to the past in public" I pointed Sonya, "People will be suspicious of us"

"Aye! Aye!" She salutes

After a while of exchanging questions, we decided to stop for the day.

Sonya left first before me.

"I'll walk you home" Eve said to me, "I have some questions"

She follows up before I can say anything.

"Sure, but I can't let you go home alone"

She looks at me and laughs.

"I will be alright, I'm a knight and I can use magic"

"That's true, but you should still be careful"

"Maybe next time, but not now"

We started to walk and decided not to argue anymore.

"Honestly, who are you?"

My jaw dropped and looked at her

"W-what are you talking about?" I tried pretending to not know what she's saying

"Arc, why are you hiding who you are?" She looks down, "Don't you trust me?"

"It's not like that!" I stopped walking and faced her, "I-It's just that..."

"What?" She raised her head.

"I feel shy?" I can feel my face turning red.

"Why would you?"

"Because!.."

She lets out a sigh, "Fine, you don't have to tell me now. But I remember earlier that you mentioned having 3 daughters..."

I maintained a poker face while screaming inside.

EVE IS SO SHARP!

"If you're hesitating because you think that I would treat you differently, that will never happen" She smiles, "Besides, Arc will always be Arc"

She gasps and points at my face, "You're blushing!"

She began to laugh.

Seeing her laugh is really satisfying. Throughout the trip, she kept teasing me but I don't really mind it as long as she's happy.

Throughout the night, I decided to tell her my secret in school, which means in 2 weeks. I'm so damn lucky to have Eve!

I kept rolling back and forth in my bed.

Two weeks have passed and we spent the few weeks hanging out, of course including Sonya. The three of us became closer.

"Good morning lovebirds!" Sonya greets us.

"Yep, fine morning" I greeted her back.

"Good morning too Sonya" Eve greets back.

"When did the three of you have become close?" Jess suddenly appears out of nowhere

"Well, we hang out a lot during the last 2 weeks" I answered.

"Ehhh? Not fair! You didn't invite me!" She pouts and looks away

"But you live in the next town?" Eve answered innocently, "I thought you hated going out?"

"I hate going out if I'm alone! Eve you meanie" Jessfakes her cry

Eve laughs and hugs her, "Next time we'll invite you!"

"P-promise?"

"Promise! Right, Arc?"

"Yup" I looked out of the window, "Is it just me or did the school just get bigger?"

I just realized that our school suddenly has a few buildings in addition and another empty field.

"Ehhh? Let me have a look" Jess also looks out of the window, "It really is!"

"Well, maybe there are some new students again?" She sighs and goes back to her seat.

The class bell rings.

"See you later Eve" I waved her goodbye and she did too.

"Class, there will be a few changes around the school" The professor suddenly enters, "Since the recent events, our school and the few schools decided to 'combine' starting tomorrow. So our class will have a few additions from other schools nearby"

"WHHAAAAAT?!" The whole class screamed in unison

"Isn't that too sudden?"

"Why would they do that?"

"It sounds stupid"

"Calm down class. The owner said it's for tighter security around the campus. I know it's sudden and I also agree, a bit stupid. But since the owner of our schools is the same, it can be easily be done and not to mention that our school gave out benefits to students too." The professor lets out a sigh.

After the announcement, the class went on as usual.

Maybe it was not a bad idea, the school is pretty spacious after all. But, I heard that the other schools are full of delinquents and I hope that it's just a rumor.

The day that the new students are coming has come. I saw a lot of unfamiliar faces on my way to school and saw Eve cornered by some students wearing our uniform.

I was about to approach them when Eve saw me. She ignored the guys and went to my side.

"Hey! We were talking to you!" One of the guys attempted to grab her arm but I caught it.

"What do you think you're doing?" I gave him a serious look

"You! Do you know who we are!?" He screams

I looked at him from bottom to top, "From what I know, some desperate guys"

The bell rings early today.

"Tch, consider yourself lucky for now. I'll kill you myself later!" They left without another word.

"This is what I'm worried about..." I let out a sigh.

"As if they can give you trouble" She laughs and hugs my arm.

I poked her cheek, "Not that, it's because Eve is beautiful and it attracts bugs"

"Well, you're here to fend them off" She smiles

"Heh, you're right"

We entered the school and went to the stadium. Many students are already here.

"Let's find our class" I held Eve's hand.

After a while, we found our class in the corner of the stadium and the crowd went silent all of a sudden.

A familiar feeling began to wash over me. It's Fal-Hel, I'm sure Eve and Sonya felt it too.

A woman in her 20's walks to the stage.

"Good morning students. I am Melissa Peridot, the owner of the three schools. I just wanted to say thank you for cooperating and for making things smoothly. The school policy will be just like before, but we will be stricter with the rules and this ensures that the delinquents wont make trouble here. I, myself, will also patrol the school every day to make sure that everything stays in order. That's all, have a good day everyone"

The students clap their hands and with that, we all went back to our classrooms. Unfortunately, the three guys from earlier will be transferred from our class. But, there are a few additions such as the two Japanese and four more students. They introduced themselves but I didn't bother remembering them, I decided to just ask them later.

During the class, the three guys started to bother me. I already expected it, since these guys are delinquents.

Lunchtime came and I wanted to get out of the room as fast as possible. So I invited Eve but those guys have to butt in again.

"Your name's Eve eah? Come to lunch with us" He tried to grab her again but I slapped it away.

It's clear that these guys want to piss me off.

I stared at them with the intent to kill.

"What's with that look huh?!"

This time, I released my bloodlust, "You wanna annoy me? Then annoy me all you want, but try to touch her and I'll kill you all"

The whole classroom went silent and I dragged Eve out of the room. We went to an empty bench and decided to sit there.

"Haaah, my bad Eve. I lost my temper there"

"Don't worry about it" She smiles and blushes, "It's the first time I saw you like that and I may look weird saying this but... I felt happy"

I rubbed her head, "I'm really lucky to have you"

"So am I"

"What a lovely pair of lovebirds" A familiar voice suddenly appears

Eve and I jumped away from the bench. It was the owner of the school.

"Splendid reaction!"

"You scared us, Mrs. Melissa"

I felt goosebumps when I heard her voice all of a sudden.

"My, my, why would you be scared? Are you doing something wrong?"

"W-we aren't!" Eve answers

I noticed something different from her, I can definitely tell that she's not normal. I'm using Fal-Hel to detect everything around me unless she deliberately hides with Fal-Hel. The only way to counter magic is also magic. But, we don't need to know.

"Can we get back to our lunchtime now?" I sighed

"Well, Eve can but you, come with me"

"Ehhh? Did I do something?"

"You DID something" She looks at me seriously.

I eyed her suspiciously.

"Eve, I'm sorry but looks like I won't be able to join you"

I connected to her mind, "This woman is definitely not normal, I'll go by myself"

"Is that so, I'll see you later in class then"

"Be careful, just call us when you need our help"

I followed the owner and left Eve behind. She led me to her room on the 5th floor.

"What a grand room"

"Of course it is after it is mine" She sits down, "Now..."

With a flick of her fingers, I heard the door behind me click.

"Why'd you lock the door?" I asked

"Of course, to lock you here. Just in case you'll try to escape" She gives me a creepy smile.

I suddenly felt an unpleasant sensation in my mind and realized what she's doing.

"That won't work Mrs. Melissa, you won't bear what's inside my head"

"Is that so Mr. Folly? Looks like you're underestimating me"

The pressure increased but I can fend it off easily.

"You want in? Then fine, come in"

I removed the walls around my mind lets her in.

'Now that you're here, you can't leave anymore'

The defenses in my mind began to activate and she managed to pull out her mind.

"Oh? I'm surprised you can still leave. Looks like I'm getting rusty." I walked slowly towards her

"W-wait! Who the hell are you!?" I can see her shaking and trembling, "Why are you so powerful!?"

"Why should I tell you who am I? You attacked me and I consider you a threat" I pointed my finger.

"W-wait! L-let me talk!" She covers her face

"Scared? Why would I let you talk?"

Is this woman serious? She just tried to attack me and now she's begging

"I-I have a good reason!"

"Then I will let you talk for a price"

There is always a way to make a liar tell the truth.

"W-what is that?" She covers her body

I suddenly became annoyed, "Maybe I should just kill you"

"W-wait, I'll accept!"

"Good"

I bit my finger and blood appears. I approached her and drew a symbol on her forehead. It was magic used to 'claim', it can be a place, a person, or a thing.

"DO.NOT.LIE.TO.ME" I said slowly.

The symbol glowed then faded.

"Now tell me everything"