Chapter 3: The friends we made all the way

"Hey."

Cliff nudged Ronan's elbow, trying to catch his attention. He looked gloomy ever since Ms. Emily left.

"We're here at the festival! Cheer up." Cliff placed a hand on his back, comforting his best friend.

"Yeah. Sorry, I think I just felt a little guilty."

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't do my best when she was still there. I regret sleeping in her class!"

Cliff only gave him a pat on the back.

"You know what they say, Repentance comes later."

Ronan scoffed then he took a deep breath, clenching his fist.

"I shouldn't be depressed! I'm sure Ms. Emily is finding her happiness and I learned a valuable lesson! Not to sleep in class!"

"Is that all?" Cliff deadpanned then he sighed, smiling that his friend was now back to his normal self.

"Let's eat a lot of food! Let's go!"

"Oi! Don't run!"

'Tsk. Noisy.' Evan scratched the back of his head. He was walking around the festival in disguise but then he had to see those loud mouth fools.

"Oh— Evan?" He turned to the familiar voice to see May.

When she finally got to see Evan's face, a smile went across her face.

"You're here! What are you doing here?"

"Passing by." Lies. The truth was he wanted to see May. Of course there's no meaning behind it—

'Just to make sure she doesn't stir trouble.'

"Are you going home? You should stay for minute!" May sweat-dropped then she sighed, a smile forming on her lips as she took Evan's hand.

"You'll miss out a lot! Let's try those food stalls I'm sure you'll find something you'll like! I'll treat you today."

"H-Hey!" He looked at his hand that was held by May then he scratched his cheek. It wouldn't hurt to go with her, right? After all, he was just making sure that she don't mess up and get in trouble again.

Or was it just an excuse to see her? Maybe the red tint on his cheeks was the answer to that silly question.

"Look Cliff! Evan and May are here!" Ronan pointed to the two who were standing in front of a food stall.

Cliff looked at the two, feeling a pang of pain in his chest. Was it jealousy? He always had feelings for May but to him, it looked like May's attention was on Evan even though Evan always push her away.

Ronan quickly approached Evan and May and immediately, Evan's face twitched in annoyance when he saw Ronan.

What a bother.

"Hello, you two!"

Cliff approached them then he smiled at May.

"Hey! Enjoying the festival?" He asked and May nodded joyfully.

"How about the two of you? Have you tried the candy pop?!"

"Yeah! It was delicious!" Ronan dramatically replied with tears in his eyes.

"... It was so delicious I could cry."

Cliff only rolled his eyes. Here he goes again! Being dramatic but he didn't hate it though. It was better than having a sad Ronan with him.

"How about you, Evan?" Ronan turned his attention to Evan and asked with a lot of anticipation in his eyes.

May also turned to Evan and so did Cliff even though he was annoyed seeing Evan.

Evan looked at May then Ronan then back at the chocolate ice cream that was in his hands.

"... it's okay."

Ronan gasped then he dramatically placed his hand on his chest, feigning hurt.

"Man! How could you say that 'it's okay'?!" Ronan clicked his tongue then shook his head. He then placed an arm around Evan who glared at him but he didn't seem to mind it.

"You'll never be able to enjoy life when you say it just like that! My grandfather always tells me to enjoy everything with the best compliments!"

Evan pushed his arms off his shoulders. "That's your grandpa, don't lump me in with the likes of you."

"What can you expect? Ronan is just a commoner who's living his life to the fullest and we're nobles but now that I think about it— Ronan is more noble than the two of us."

The tension grew thicker between the two of them. Evan coldly glared at Cliff who also glared back.

"Come on now~" May tried to calm them down.

"Don't ever compare me to lowlifes like Ronan!" Evan continued to glare at Cliff. His voice was threatening.

"Hey! Cut it out! Evan, you should apologize to Ronan!" May's brows furrowed deeply. She didn't like what Evan said.

"Why should I apologize to a commoner? I only said the truth. This world would be a better place without these commoners."

May clenched her fist then tears began to fall from her eyes. "Do you think this world is a better place without us?"

"You bastard!" Cliff grabbed Evan's collar. He had enough! He couldn't just stand by and listen to Evan insult his friends.

May turned away from them before running away.

"May!" Ronan looked at Cliff then back at May before running after the latter.

Cliff glared at Evan then he pushed him to the ground. "You're the worst trash! This world is better off without the likes of you."

Evan only scoffed at him. Without the likes of him? Then...

"Are you also saying this world is better off without you as well? We're both noble."

"Ha! If saying such things and doing something that could hurt someone makes someone a noble then I'd rather be a lowlife."

Cliff ran to where Ronan and May disappeared into. Evan only looked at his back then he clenched his fist.

*****

"May! Where are you?" Ronan panted as he continued to search for her deep into the forest.

It was starting to get dark and he was starting to worry about May. He felt something was off in the forest as if there was someone watching him.

'Must be my imagination!'

He tried to brush the thought off and went deep into the forest. He continued calling her name, looking left and right but there was no sign of her.

"MAY! WHERE ARE YOU?"

The bushes rustled and the air was cold. There was something wrong with the atmosphere but he wasn't sure what it was.

He felt someone watching him from above the tree. He took a deep breath then when he looked up he saw a man, looking creepily down at him then before he could blink someone pushed him to the side.

"Watch out!"

It was Cliff and from where he was standing earlier was an unfamiliar man.

"This is bad news, Ronan. We have go go!" Cliff gritted his teeth as he kept his eyes on the man. He felt a strange aura from the man. He looked strong.

The hood over his cape fell revealing his identity.

"Boss said to kill anyone in the way. I guess I should just kill these two too." He mumbled then he unsheathed his sword before launching at the two.

Cliff quickly pulled Ronan, dodging the sword. Just as when he thought he succeeded, he felt a stinging pain from his leg and when he looked at his leg it was bleeding.

"Cliff!" Ronan worriedly looked at Cliff who tried to suppress the pain. Crying won't do anything now!

"We have to stop the bleeding!"

"No! We have to get out of here!" His lips were starting to turn pale and the pain was slowly turning unbearable.

Ronan turned to the man who was now out of sight. He looked up then he quickly scooped Cliff, dodging the man once again.

"Ronan!"

Blood slowly flowed from his cheek as he glared at the man.

"Don't worry. It's just a scratch!" Ronan reassured but it wasn't enough to convince Cliff.

"Can you still walk?" Ronan asked then Cliff looked at his bleeding leg. He was losing a lot of blood and his complexion turned pale.

"I don't think so, but I'll try."

Ronan placed Cliff down then he clenched his fist.

"Cliff, I'll buy you some time to escape. If you make it out, please ask for help."

"Are you an idiot?! I'm not leaving you here dumbass!" He grabbed his sleeve, trying to stop him but Ronan pulled his hand off his sleeve.

"I can do it! Trust me!" Ronan flashed him a reassuring smile. Cliff staggered up, then he scoffed at Ronan.

"Don't look down on me! I'm a noble." Cliff tried to smile it off but his pale complexion wasn't convincing.

He knew that running away won't change the fact that they'd get killed. Even if he ran away, their enemy would just finish off Ronan in one slash and would run after him.

"After we defeat this guy, I'll give you a good beating!" He added, shooting Ronan a mean glare.

He knew what kind of enemy they were facing. The crest itself sent shivers down his spine. The crest of a notorious group.

"Numero."

"Who?" Ronan asked after hearing what Cliff had said.

"They're a group of criminals under The Reapers Organization. They're brutal and merciless. Their organization caused that big war six years ago resulting my older sister Belle's death."

He gritted his teeth remembering the incident. 

He heard about them a few weeks ago, when Numero's leader broke out of prison along with the other criminals. They've been keeping a low profile after their leader was captured and hasn't commit any crimes but why did they appear now? and for all places why here? 

There were a lot of questions inside Cliff's mind but he urged himself to focus on the enemy. 

Cliff clenched his fist then his hand was engulfed in blue flames.

There was a zero chance that they'd win this fight in view of the fact that they had a big gap in terms of mana and Ronan doesn't have any mana, much less a power but since they were pushed into a corner, they have to fight.

"This is a pain." The man scratched his head before dashing towards them, He swung his sword at Cliff who immediately opened his palm then the flames exploded to the man who wasn't even affected by it.

Cliff took a step back, about to dodge the sword but failed. Before he could react, he heard something roll.

He slowly opened his eyes and his mouth gape at the sight, his breath stopped and tears began to brim in his eyes. His knees began to wobble and his fingertips were cold.

Ronan's back was facing him, his arms spread but what scared him the most was that Ronan's right arms was cut by the blade, the slant flesh left was the evidence and his right arm was now on the ground. 

Blood began to pool from underneath him and then something began to drop on the ground. Cliff's eyes moved to the ground and he saw Ronan's guts spilling on the ground.

His breath became heavy and heavy and his whole body was trembling, his knees fell on the ground. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Ronan glanced behind him and he saw the big and open flesh of his stomach. Guts spilling out with blood.

"R-Ronan." His voice quivered, tears began to roll from his cheeks.

There was a short silence and Ronan smiled in relief after seeing that his friend was just fine.

"I'm gla—"

Before he could finish, his head flew and rolled to the ground while his body fell limp in front of Cliff.

"A-Ah!!" Cliff felt sick at the sight. All he could do was cry out Ronan's name. He kept shouting and shouting until the man got annoyed.

"Shut up!" The man swung his blade then Cliff's head rolled to where Ronan's head was. His eyes were wide in shock and there were tears rolling from his lifeless eyes to his cheek.

*****

"Let's be friends!"

Evan never knew what made him close to May. Maybe it's because of how friendly she is to anyone. He never really felt the need to trust anyone, not even his own family that's why he tried to isolate himself but it surprised him how May stayed and became his friend even though he kept on pushing her away.

Just what did she see in him? Even though he was rude and mean, she still decided to be friends with him.

The only friend he had was May. Even if he doesn't trust his family, he trusted May. Even if the whole world leaves him, as long as May is with him, he'll be able to conquer it all.

But what if the time comes and she leaves first?

"May?" Evan's knees dropped when he saw the gut-wrenching sight. May was lying on the ground, a pool of blood surrounding her.

"Y-You." Evan clenched his fist as he stared at the man, eyes full of anger and despair.

"I'm going to kill you."