The Sight Beyond The Haze

Chapter 33: Missing Person

"Seraphin!" Cocytus called to me.

My hand loosened on my grip on one of the doorknob of the double doors. I turned my attention to the marching boy towards me, there was that furrow on his brows and panicked look on his eyes that says he was either angry or going insane.

I bet it was both.

But with that aside, Cocytus harshly slapped my hand holding one of the doorknob of the double doors. Though those knobs were quite cold earlier, they have turned rather warm with my touch.

"What is your problem, Amitiel?" I hissed at him, my jaw twitching with annoyance.

"Can you not feel it?" he whispered to me.

There was suspense on his voice that made me turned serious. At first, I thought he was only teasing just like how he always does, but apparently he was not doing anything of the sort.

I tried to feel for any remnant magic around the whole floor. My senses became keener and my lids went halfway down my eyes, obscuring my gaze by half. Finding none of the things here were touched with abnormality, nit3 even just a touch of magic.

"I do not sense any magic," I told him, but before I could finish it with a scolding, there was an object has jumped upon us. I walked backwards, almost tripping but my practice and training have both kept me on my feet.

"Listening devices," Cocytus said, catching one of the many spiders filing in and out of the double doors of the gallery I was supposed to go in. "Just because you didn't sense any presence around doesn't mean that traces of magic on certain objects was useless."

I nodded, heeding his advice.

"It is my drawback," I admitted, bowng slightly at him. "Thank you for correcting me."

Cocytus was not listening to me anymore though, he has already moved on. He ran a hand on the knobs that I held. Turning towards to me, he gave me an askance expression which I immediately answered even without verbally being asked to do so.

"I heard Deo's voice," I told him. My eyes turned into slits, there was doubt on my face as I relayed to him what happened when he was not around. "But I thought that it was rather odd, hearing his voice here." I looked around the area, but, as I did earlier, I found nothing amiss. "But then I realized that...."

I pursed my lips.

"A temporal illusory fragment," Cocytus continued for me.

"Should this be here?" I asked him.

There was a very contemplative expression in Cocytus's face before he responded to my question.

"We have no records of this," he finally said, "but there was one illusory fragment that was shipped here to be auction off. That was months ago though so it's not here any longer. This illusory fragment, I'm not sure how this came to be."

I almost rolled my eyes at that.

I did not want to tell Cocytus Amitiel, the ever bastard son of Leigh's, that I have fallen victim on that temporal illusory fragment from months ago. I was quite certain that it was actually that very same illusory fragment that I got trapped in with Sir Apollyon and Caspian.

I winced internally, falling to such a petty trick was pretty embarrassing and I was certain that if that incident was told to this bastard, Cocytus, he would only tease me nonstop.

I do not want to look stupid!

Anyway though, regarding this matter I understand that even though the Middle Ground has been demolished as such and was not deserving of being called one, I knew that those instances such as being receiver of rare relics and artefacts cannot really be helped. This place has become the port of the Mages and Warriors, even some ordinary citizens out of the country of the Dalcanorian Territories. Even now with the students around, this place has been regarded as a place as close as any Mages and Warrior children could regard as being safe.

The ancient protection spells were still around and some other relics were still here also. Most important of all, this ground was still sacred even these days protected by the Blessing. The blood pact that was created by the ancient ancestors was still intact. It keeps anyone from killing anybody within the protection barriers.

Even Deo chose this place to keep me despite knowing he would ultimately ran into someone from either of the factions of Haefen and Eirini, and even generally someone from Dalcanoraz. Then again, I guess it was not his goal just to keep me hidden away but to regain my lost and untangle my manipulate memories.

"Have you checked on that important thing you said?" I suddenly asked Cocytus, remembering that we were actually here to checked on that.

"I have," he responded, his voice was grave and held a darkness I knew was nothing good.

"May I ask what is that important matter?" I asked cautiously yet again, turning my head just so I could not see his whole face and only half of it.

"This," Cocytus said, pointing at the door thay I was about to open which was now closed firmly. "There are temporal illusory fragment all over the academy. Leigh asked me to look around, but never to enter."

I looked at the double doors, expensive looking and fresh with a varnish. Who would have known that behind this was another dimension.

"What about the Amitiel family? Did they say anything about this?"

Cocytus shook his head, anger and wrath flashed on his face.

"The Amitiel family is bound to serve the Dalcanorian people, regardless of their background. The Amitiels make peace so the international relations of the country would be smoother." Cocytus sighed a dejected and exhausted sigh. "That was a tradition nailed to us in this land a hundred or so years ago. Even if these illusory fragments are all over the academy, as long as it does not hurt any magician or warrior, then that should be okay. But you do know the negative effects of illusory fragments."

Sucking dry the life force of mortals that could lead to their death, I was more than well-aware of that fact actually.

"Do you have any idea who might be putting up these illusory fragments?"

On his hand, Cocytus crushed the listening device disguised as a spider.

"If I do then the won't have any more chance to mess around the place."

He looked at me and at the spiders. I only nodded and held my hand out. A moment later, the spiders were incinerated by the delicate flames that shot out of my hands.

We started descending the stairs of the building down to the ground floor. When we both finally finished our descent, the crowd on the hallways have thinned considerably. It was way past the dismissal time, students would either go to the quadrangle or the common area in the dormitories.

Speaking of dormitories, I have to go and check out my room. Although Cocytus has already moved out all of my things to the place I was staying at, I still wanted to ask Bianca how she was doing for the past months. I felt as if I owed her something and I would like to just see that she was doing fine.

"Go ahead," I told Cocytus, motioning him to walk and not wait for me. "I'll be going to the dormitories to check on my old roommate."

Cocytus looked back at me, turning slightly to my direction. His raised eyebrows were both already prepared as he looked at me questioningly.

"So you go on ahead," I repeated at him, waving my free hand towards the general direction to his house. Cocytus did not do anything though, just looked at me with exasperation as though he did not know whay I was talking about. "Spit it out, Amitiel," I scolded at him. "What is it?" I demanded.

It was even more annoying that people just looked at you stupidly like you were supposed to know what they wanted you to say to them. It was worse than beating around the bush when people does not even say anything, but expected you to get it.

"I'm afraid you don't have any roommates though?" he told me, sounding very uncertain with his tone. "I personally did all of the moving of your meager things back to the house. Nothing much, really, but you get the idea."

Though his words sounded rather smug, there was not even a hint of it. He was merely stating a fact and I pardoned him for that.

"Your dormitory room looked like it hasn't been slept in for months when I got all of your things out," Cocytus continued, we both started walking towards the fountain located at just before the pathwalk towards the quadrangle where I was certain most students would be hanging around on. "It was desolated. I knew that you have a roommate based on the records so I asked around your neighbors even. They haven't seen anything."

Bianca did not went to the dormitory? So our room was empty as of now? Or was it that it has been rented now by other people? I have a foreboding feeling about it all.

"But that girl, your roommate didn't even registered out of the dormitories," Cocytus said.

"The room," I said, not knowing exactly how to ask Cocytus what I wanted so I paused briefly. "Are there any other students who started to rent the room out?" I finally asked.

"Why?" Cocytus asked me, suspicious with my intentions.

I smiled at him. I saw the hair on his arms stood up, his shoulders physically shivering and trembling with fright.

"Stop smiling," he said with a pained expression. He closed his for a fraction of a second, maybe erasing the image of me smiling at him. "It's really damn creepy, stop. And it's literally the middle of the semester, no one would be sane enough to transfer here so, of course, no one would be renting your old room back. Besides, the seals and protective spells that Lord Deo put all over would be wasted on a mortal student. Any mortal students in fact."

I chuckled at his reaction, not releasing the smile I had on in my lips.

"I will go and check it out," I only told him, "so you must go on ahead without me, yes?"

Cocytus rolled his eyes at me and threw a metal object towards me which I caught with my hand that was not in the cast. I looked at it and saw keys to the house.

"I'll just monitor you from my room," Cocytus said lightly, already walking away from me to the opposiye direction to where I was supposed to head. "Don't go around and do some stupid things even if you thinks your roommate is one of the missing students," he even reminded which made me scoffed at him, but he did nothing to object my wanting to explore.

After all, we were not really close enough to care for each other's personal affairs.

With Cocytus walking away from me, I also walked to where I will head. Though it was way past the dismissal time, the pathwalks were still congested with students and members of the faculty milling around the academy. Some maybe probably due to club activities or other extra curricular activities.

I think about Bianca and her sudden disappearance while I was walking.

I did not realized it at first, but after the time that she did not go back in the Amitiel, I thought that it was just normal. Maybe her family did not want to let her go just so soon or that she had a place to go asides from iur dormitory room.

The first thing I did was to call on to Bianca's house. Bianca was actually kind of closed off when it came to her family. She would never tell me any information about her family, I do not even know whay kind of people were her mother and father. I also almost always never asked her, not wanting to force her to do an act she did not want to partake on.

What I do know was that Bianca's family was located at California, and they have vineyards and also winery over there.

Since I do not have any communication device, I instead used the telephone of the common area of the dormitories. I brought out a scratch paper of career assessment that I found stuffed on the very bottom of my backpack. Maybe she asked me to throw it in the rubbish, but I do not really have the energy to do it so I might have just shoved it down my own backpack. Good thing thay though since I do not have to scoured any place to get any information about her contacts.

I dialed in the number on the telepohone, each press creating an annoying 'toot... toot' sounds which made both of my ears perked up. I picked up the receiver and put it over my right ear, waiting for my call to be picked up by the other side of the line.

Static, then a voice of female, its roughness was caused by the reception of the call.

"Hello?" the woman said.

"Hello," I immediately greeted back. I took a deep breath then spoke to her. "Good afternoon, madam. I am Bianca's classmate. Is Bianca home?"

There was the static again before the person at the other end of the line spoke and responded to me.

"B-bianca?" she asked, bewildered with my question. "What do you know about Bianca? Please, answer me!"

I was surprised with the woman's ferocity.

"I'm actually wondering if she is there in your house? She has not been attending of our classes, so I got worried and call. I hope I am not bothering you."

The woman's next words puzzled me more. My brows furrowed with confusion.

"Miss Bianca hasn't been home for over four months now, Miss! Please, tell us if you have information about her or where she is! We've been in contact with Academia Amitiel, but they claimed that it wasn't their school where our dear Bianca was last seen. They said she might have ran away with someone else! Miss," she called to me and I answered almost immediately. "I'm only the mansion's housekeeper, would you please hold on for a second? I will call Sir and Madam."

When I heard a soft thump at the other end of the line, I knew the housekeeper must have dropped the receiver of her own phone. Before someone pick up the other end of the line, I immediately ended the call.

So it was true.

There was an oddity on how Bianca disappeared becaue it coincided to how some of the academy's students have also gone missing. It was clearly noted by Tansy, one of Bianca's friends, and I did not took it seriously that time because I was still confused over my identity and such.

After my suspicions that Bianca was indeed missing and not just off to somewhere taking a vacation or rest have become confirmed and proven true, what I did next was to go to my room. I went past the students studying on the carpet of the common area or on the comfortable and cozy sets of furnitures.

I have taken granted those things back then, thinking that there must be nothing more boring than just being there and ordinary. I did not let my mind lingered on that and just jogged my way to the stairs. I was on the fourth floor of the dormitory building.

"Seraphim?" one of my classmates exclaimed loudly and I wanted to tie a cloth over his lip to make him stop taking so loudly.

I just nodded at him, walking just past him but what he did infuriated me more. He walked along me, just by my side and I wanted wrench him away from my side.

"What happened to your arm?" he asked as though we were actual friends when I do not even know his name in the very first place. "Hey, do you wanna like hang out? We have a study group in the quadrangle and since you are already here, why not join us?"

"No, I want to be alone," I responded to him, not giving him any look.

"Come on, girl," he said in a condescending tone and manner, "you're gonna have so much fun. Come with me and we could meet my friends waiting. I'm just here to get something I forgot in my room."

I repeated my answer to him, but he just kept going on and on how I would find their company good. I gritted my teeth, I ignored him and just walked as if he was not there at all.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, bitc—" he said when he finally lost his patience on me. He even reach my arm rather harshly.

I was supposed to elbow him on his stomach, maybe give him a kick or punch, but someone was already over there to get him away from me. I froze when I saw Haziel Imbert's face, her green eyes were not silver gray.

There was a disappointment that settled over to me and I only swallowed it, downing it to the pits of my mind.

Haziel Imbert was holding the boy's arm, almost twisting it in an ugly angle that I had to pity the boy who was only asking me out, however shameless that must have sounded. I reached for her hand, but retracting it almost immediately when I realized what I did.

"Let him go," I told Haziel Imbert.

"As you wish," she responded politely to me, her hand finally let go of the boy's hand. I felt the boy glared at both of us, silently enduring the pain that Haziel inflicted to him in fear of being inflicted with more injuries.

Before any of the two of them could say anything more though, I was already walking away from the both of them.

I do not want to see your face when it was not really you.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to forget her face that looked at me with indifference. There was not even a little trace of him on her, just the face that should be foreign to me.

Today, her hair was black, changing her hair color as she always does. Her petite frame was still smaller than me by a large difference. What really bothered me was that there was not the silent grace on the way she moved. There was not the fluidity of Deo's that I have been accustomed to being accompanied by that countenance. She was just herself and that somehow made me angry.

I was not certain whether Deo was imitating her or it was actually Deo's own actions. Suddenly, I was puzzled and confused. On what ground should I step on? As usual, I was not sure. Never certain, it was making me angry.

I clenched my jaw, trying to shake off her face in my mind.

I was angry, not at Haziel who was clearly innocent at this instance, but at myself. I was angry at myself. At the time of my accident, I vaguely remembered Deo's mask falling off. The only time that I was able to see his face without that mask covering his face.

But I cannot really remember what his face looked like.

Just that dreadful pain and fear that maybe after all those, all of that, I might not ever wake up again to see his face.

I did not looked back at Haziel Imbert any longer and just entered my dormitory room without further ado.