Down System

Chapter 28

Ferno was finally returning?

My mind stuttered hearing that news from the old woman. No word came out of my mouth. I was just staring at her, dumbfounded.

It was just days since Ferno was found dead in the academy; however, through those times, no one dared to seek justice for his death. After the incident, his name was just forgotten; everyone became muted and didn't fight for him. And until now, his case was still unknown yet already closed.

I felt pity for Ferno; he didn't deserve to encounter such things. I knew it was real that he wasn't my friend, but my sympathy was still in him. Knowing that the world was trying to be against him, my heart shattered into pieces.

And now, he would be coming back to take revenge on the people who treated him badly. He had a purpose, but I wouldn't let him fulfill his desire.

"When will he come?" I asked Namika, clenching my fist.

"As soon as possible," she answered. "And as soon as possible, too, we have to work on it. Do not wait for the time that everything will be ruined. Prepare yourself now, and I will be doing something to escape you from here."

"B-but, Mommy and Daddy will be looking for me if I left without their permission," I said. "Why don't you just tell me that you'll be wandering me to your house?"

"And they will get mad at me, too. If they knew I'm stopping you from visiting your sick friend, they will fire me."

"They will fire you as well if they found out you pull me out of this house without their knowledge."

"Cut it," the old woman said. "Just follow me. We still have many things to accomplish."

Namika left the house, but before I followed, I steered my sight first all over the house, making sure that my parents were not watching. She waited for me in the backyard of my room with her big bubble. She helped me ride there, and then again, we flew in the sky like freed birds.

It only took us five minutes to arrive at her house. She immediately took me inside her room and presented me with different kinds and colors of potions.

What was the use of those magics?

I was still in the middle of thinking, when Namika came in front of me, holding a little bottle of a red liquid. To my surprise, she bathed it to her that made her disappeared in a haste.

Calling out for Namika's name, I looked in every corner, trying to find her; however, she didn't show up. Where the hell did she go?

My eyes grew bigger when my eyes caught the old woman standing on the bed, smirking at me. Little did I know that she was there! But, as far as I know, she went missing for minutes. Did she just disappear and appeared?

"This potion is called Invis," Namika said, still holding the bottle. "This has the power to make a person invisible and become visible again.

"When you bath it to yourself, you will disappear in just a second. And when you drink the remaining liquid, you'll appear eventually from a person's sight."

My eyes grew wider in amazement. I was trying to find out how did she make that powerful potion. It was just that fantastic!

I ran towards the old woman and shook off her body, saying, "Teach me, Namika! Teach me!"

"Okay, I will, but will you calm down first?" she asked.

As ordered, I kept my mouth shut, and gave her a joking smile before everything went serious.

Namika asked me first to sit on the bed, and she would be explaining things. When done, she started filling up the bottle again with Invis; little did I know that she would pour it out to me.

In just seconds, my body became different, which made my jaw drop. I was just like a ghost— white, but not solid. This was how I found myself, but surely with other's points of view, I was transparent.

"Namika, can you see me?" I asked, making sure that the potion was effective to me.

"No," she answered. "Now, take this bottle and drink the potion for you to become visible again."

"Wait, I have a question."

"What?"

"When I hold that bottle, will it become invisible, too?"

"Uh-huh, as long as it's in your arms."

"Alright, then, good! Hand me the bottle now, and I will drink it."

When the old woman gave me the bottle, I took it and whirled around. I did not have the plan to take it, but to enjoy first myself for being invisible.

I expressed a loud whoop of joy as running all over. I went to Namika then, playing her hair; she tried stopping me, but I didn't listen to her. This was just a once in a blue moon experience, and I didn't want to lose it!

"Aleera, please stop!" the old woman told me once more. "You're using the potion in a wrong way!"

Again, I did not give attention to what she said. When I felt tired of roaming around, that was the only time that I decided to take the potion for me to become visible again.

Namika gave me a scathing look as soon as she saw me standing above the sink. She slapped her forehead, asking me why was I there.

I went down and walked towards her. "This one is incredible, I'm telling you!" I told her, giving back the bottle.

"I know, but you must take control of using this," the old woman said. "My bad, I didn't tell you the proper usage of this before applying to you."

"Okay, now, you can tell me," I said, grinning at her.

Namika stood and went to the window, which made me follow her. "When you take the potion, things don't stop there," she mouthed. "Someone can still recognize you even though you're under the spell."

"How?" I pucker my brow.

"Even when you're invisible to the eyes of people, they can still smell you. Aside from that, they can hear your breathing when they are close to you. They can hear your footsteps and even the simplest noise you create."

"Don't you have any potion from them?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered. "Not all things should be controlled by a spell. Everything has its limit. If I exceeded, I might be the one to be cursed."

"Is that so?"

Namika nodded. "But anyway, I'll continue explaining to you about Invis. I will just tell you the other things when we have time. It's not our priority. Just listen to everything that I will say."

I fixed myself and lent my ears to the old woman. I was looking thoroughly at her demonstrations. And when done, I also had taken part in performing the right usage of the potion.

It was almost a day of learning the application of Invis. When we were done, Namika escorted me to going home using the big bubble. We entered the house through the window for us to not get caught.

In just minutes, happy voices rang in my ears. The moment my door opened up, the old woman pulled me going through the underground. But before we could go there, I had a glimpse of the people who entered— Mommy, Daddy, and... me?

I looked at Namika in astonishment. "Did I just see myself?" I asked her. "W-who is that girl?"

I knew I wasn't mistaken. The girl I saw with my parent was an impostor of me.

That girl who had the same face as I walked like me. Her smile was no different from mine. Her hair, nose, lip, skin color, hair length, and everything were all my original possession.

"She's Aleera," Namika answered.

"A-aleera? But, that's me! I'm the real Aleera, and she is just an impostor! She was trying to copy everything that I am. Please, help me get rid of her!"

"No," she said, affirmed.

"But, why?"

"Yes, she's a copy of you, but I made her. She's a robot, young girl. Just wait for your parents to come out, and we will get back to your room."

I gaped at her, not uttering any word. How did she make that robot?

After some time, the chuckling that was coming from my room had finally disappeared. That was the time that I and Namika got out of the underground.

My eyes were still widened while looking at the other copy of me.

The robot acted and talked just like a real human. She even said hi to me, which crept me! When she planned to stand from my bed and walk towards me, I ran away in haste.

"Stop there!" I told the robot. "You look scary!"

"I am you," the robot said. "And that means, you're directly saying to yourself that you are creepy."

My eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Didn't you hear me right?"

I steered my gaze at Namika. "Is this really a robot?" I asked, clenching my fist. "She's getting into my nerves! Can you just get rid of her now? As in, now."

"Okay, as you said," Namika mouthed. She flicked her fingers in the air, and the annoying robot disappeared. "Are you happy now?"

I released a deep sigh and walked towards my bed. "I don't want to see that robot again."

"Well, whether you like it or not, you will still see her. I just want you to know that most of the time, she will act like you. Meaning, you need to sacrifice everything for your mission."

"Y-you mean... e-everything?"

"Uh-huh. Everything. Your studies. Your friends. Your family. Because from now on, you will be training yourself. You will only see them when it's your rest day."

"Do we really have to train every day?"

Namika walked towards me and held my hands. "Young girl, I know it's hard, but you have to do it for the future. Sacrifice now, claim the prize tomorrow."

I couldn't stop myself from frowning, but she was right. If I wanted to secure the future, I should sacrifice today.

On the next day, after class, I asked my parents to visit Ferelith, since she didn't yet attend class. I was so worried about her, and for the last time, I just wanted to see her face.

The moment I saw my best friend lying on her bed, I ran in haste to her and hugged her, saying, "I missed you a lot!"

Ferelith chuckled. "You just came here yesterday, missed me that fast?"

If only she knew it wasn't me.

"I'm always missing you," I told her. "By the way, how are you feeling now?"

"I'm doing good. I want to go to school again, but the doctor told me I should stay in the house for weeks for me to get fully recovered."

After checking on Ferelith, Mommy and Daddy left the room and headed to the living room, where my best friend's mother was preparing food.

When it was only the two of us, my tears finally shed down my eyes.

"Oops, you're crying again," Ferelith said. "Are you okay? Did someone bully you in school? Did Keevan teased you again?"

I shook my head as I giggled. "It's not that. I just missed you so much! Besides, Keevan wasn't in the room."

"Why?" she puckered her brows. "Did he skip class? Is he also sick or what?"

"He didn't come back, in the first place. It's really just a rumor, Ferelith. Keevan isn't returning."

Disappoint ruled over her face. "I thought he really did return."

"Uhm, by the way, what do you do?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

"Reading books is my hobby now," Ferelith answered. "Thanks to the authors, I can forget my problems just for some time."

The stench of fear was still in her. Even though she smiled at me, the sadness could still be seen in her eyes. Her face looked so pale, and she was getting thinner.

Overthinking could affect a person a lot, indeed.

Ferelith might not tell me, but I knew her thoughts were controlling every aspect of her life. Nevertheless, it was good that she was learning to fight despite the difficulties.

I took out in my pocket a small box and presented it to her. "Will you accept this for me, please?" I asked her.

Wrinkles creased her brow. "What's that? A gift for me?"

I nodded. "C'mon, open it."

She beamed as she opened the box. As soon as she saw what was inside, a glimmer of delight played in her eyes. "This necklace is so beautiful and it looks expensive!" she said.

"Would you like me to wear it to you?" I smiled.

"Yes, sure!"

My heart melted while putting on the jewelry to her. It moved me, knowing that she knew how to appreciate small things.

When finally done, Ferelith moved her gaze to me and thanked me.

"Remember me whenever you see that necklace, okay?" I mouthed.

"Then, I will always wear this, so that I can always think of you."

I hugged her once more and spoke my gratitude to her before I left her place.

It was getting dark outside when we went home. The stars in the night sky were shining brightly that I couldn't take away my eyes from them. After dinner, I had decided to went up the rooftop to gaze at them.

As days were getting longer, my existence in the past was also becoming harder. This time, there was no one I could talk to about how I felt, and so I just looked up above.

"I suffered in my first life," I told the stars, "and now, I'm still suffering. But this time is different because it isn't only because of me, but because of the entire Hades. It isn't easy, but I'm claiming one day everything would be worth it."

I wiped my tears and stood, reaching to the stars. My drama was over; it was already time for courage.

The real battle would begin now.