Chapter 8

Kairus

Do you know why people curse Malvados?

They aren't actually angry about what they did a hundred years ago.

But they are scared of them.

Scared of how their power requires human sacrifices to use.

Some drinks other's blood to fill their thirst in power

Some uses other's flesh to feed on their monsters inside them

Some uses a specific parts of the body to perform their rituals 

And others can breached the concept of afterlife to grant their desires

As an effect, the sanity eats them up and loses their minds.

But it wasn't their fault, wasn't it?

They're still humans who deserve to live.

They never asked to be born like this.

"Kairus, we're here."

Kairus gasped hearing the soft voice, waking up in the cushion seat. He found his arms leaning on the window of the train and their journey had come to a halt. Their classmates formed a disorderly line in the narrow aisle, eager to deboard.

Akaesha's blonde hair blew by the wind outside. Her face was above his, with her green eyes worried. "Are you having a nightmare again?"

Kairus averted his eyes behind his white hairs that messily fell on his forehead, clicking his tongue in pretended irritation by her closeness. "It's nothing."

Akaesha moved away as he stood up and walked towards the door. She observed him until he exited, then followed suit. Stepping onto the platform, the wind tousled her blonde hair, framed by a brown beret. The breeze playfully danced on her skirt, creating a gentle flutter, as the train emitted smokes with choo-choo sounds and started moving. She stayed for a moment, watching the train depart, its gentle sounds of clickety-clacks fading away as the train disappeared from view.

"Akaesha. What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Lilia, wearing the same uniform, told her.

Facing Lilia, she noticed their group was already walking far. She smiled, her green eyes blinked like an emerald stone. "Don't mind me, Lilia. I already told our teacher that I will wait for Zandro here. He might not know how to get into our tour place."

Lilia gasped and moved closer, pointing to the white-haired lad whose hands were in his pockets, and his violet eyes were closed in irritation while walking with the crowd. "But who will tame him, then? Shouldn't he be here waiting with you as well?"

"Oh." Akaesha turned to Kairus who's walking alone. There were times he was isolating himself from her when he needed to think alone. 

Lirio suddenly came and draped an arm to their shoulders. "I'll go with Kairus. The buddies should be man to man and not always hanging with a chick. He might forget he's a man if that goes on forever."

Her worried face turned to a gentle smile. He's right. Kairus needed more friends than her. "You're so sweet, Lirio. And, oh, Kairus is actually a nice friend so you don't need to be worried, Lilia."

"Kairus might be a nice friend, but not nice to strangers like us!"

"I heard my name!" Kairus warned, making her flinch.

"T-Teacher! Can I stay with–" she decided at the last minute but Lirio was already dragging her away to the group.

"Nah. Let's go and hang with our new best friend, Kairus. Don't worry, I'll make his frozen heart melt. I can fix him."

~

The students were divided into five wagons, journeying roads up in the mountains, shaded by the trees blocking the sunshine like mosaic jittery music boxes. The cool wind hummed through the sanctuary-like surroundings, causing leaves to dance in the air, falling and spiraling like nature's confetti.

"Hey, Kairus. I have a story for you," said Lirio while sitting inside, half of their class were there.

Kairus had been tapping rapidly with his finger to his seat. He's not used to sitting for a long time and doing nothing. "Shut up!"

"There was a man who's always angry so he was so boring to hang out with. His name starts with the letter K."

Kairus groaned in irritation, trying to fight the urge to cut his tongue to stop him from talking.

"But then a handsome friend came into his life, showing him the colorful side of the earth."

"If you won't stop talking, I'll kill you!" he warned.

"You kept saying I'll kill you, kill him, kill her, kill that, kill those. But will you really do it if I push you to the limits? Have you even actually killed someone?"

He was caught for a moment, averting his eyes to emit irritation. "What a nonsense question."

"Just answer it. Silence means yes."

"I don't, okay!" 

Lirio sighed in disappointment. "What a waste. I was hoping to learn different perspectives of what it feels like to kill."

What does it feel like to kill? Those words are trying to tickle his chest but he's trying his best to resist, turning those lingering feelings into hatred. He made a promise with Akaesha to not cause any trouble before they leave their house. No. He made a promise the moment he met Akaesha.

But the boredom was killing him. His body was still finding the sensations of his old life. Let him have a good fight at least to calm him down. He heard that Zandro was working part-time with a Civil Guard. It might not be going to kill the lad if he asked for a battle from him.

Lirio draped his arms to his shoulders. "How about you ask me the same question?" he said, smiling, face close to him.

Kairus looked at him nonchalantly, uninterested with Lirio's nonsense mumbling. "Have you killed someone?"

Lirio said a word but the chariot's wheel collided with a large rock, jolting everyone on the board with a loud thud. The chariot stopped as they heard the conversations outside.

"We prohibited any visitors today inside the Dutchel's property."

"Here. We have consent for school activity," an authoritative voice of a woman.

"I thought this was postponed?"

Lirio peeked outside. Their teacher was now talking to an officer while a group of Civil Guards were blocking the way.

"Why would it have to be postponed? We didn't receive any announcements."

"It was due to the missing person incident yesterday so we're implementing extra security today. 

"We've come a long way here from Gazian City. It will be a waste if we have to go back now. Will you cover our costs, then?"

The Civil Guard yanked out a radio from his waist, almost pressed it on his lips. But before he could say a word, a girl's voice responded. "Let them in."

"Affirmative." The Civil Guard then looked back at the teacher. "You may pass but we still have to inspect everything?"

"Sure. Sure."

"Everyone. Please step out for a moment.

Lirio commented, "Wow. Ms. Bernabe is surely a scary woman. No wonder she's still single in her 30s."

The teacher coincidentally glanced at Lirio's direction. He quickly pushed himself away from the window in panic and hid to Kairus, gripped tightly in his arms.

"Did she hear me? No! No! No! I'm done for good–I mean for bad!"

Kairus was itching to throw Lirio outside due to his overreaction and clinginess. Their classmates were already deboarding from the wagon.

"What are you doing, you two? They say let's step out!" Lilia told them.

Just as they instructed, all the students land a foot on the dirt for a moment. They're already out from the woods to the open field and almost there: They could see the barbed wires, that even this far, they could mesmerize the giant warehouse-like building in front of them, filled with aircrafts inside. The dawn was just an hour ago, the sunlight gently warming their skins and the wind howling against their ears. Some of them spread their arms, embracing the cold thick breeze.

"The missing student will be hard to find since we don't have any personnel with a specialty of sensing."

"I heard they are burrowing a squad from other municipalities to help find the missing person."

"They're making such a big deal with a single person missing. The last time I heard news like that, he came back home with a pregnant girlfriend. Is the current one missing a VIP one?"

"No. It's just a commoner."

"Something's off. Maybe they just didn't tell us the truth to avoid spreading it."

"A top secret, huh?"

"Hey, focus on your duty."

"Yes, Sir!"

When the Civil Guards were done, they rode again a bit onto the front of the factory. The guards inspected their pockets and belongings. Their bags have to surrender on the counter for complete inspection.

"There's also a missing person the day before the terrorism incident in Gazian. Remember the bicycle shop in front of our school?" Lirio asked Kairus from behind. "What do you think are the odds that it will happen here too?"

On the next line, the lady guard gave them thick protective vests and helmets to wear.

"What if inside here were bombs? Is this vest supposed to be thick and heavy like this?"

"Don't joke like that."

Lirio tried to unlock the vest, like a kid with an ignorant face. "But I can't take it out. I think I wore it the wrong way. The brand tag was in front of me." He had clad it reversed, making him feel strangled.

To Kairus' annoyance, he bit his finger to bleed and his blood formed a blade, slashing the vest without warning.

"Now you can take it out!"

"Wah! I didn't mean you to destroy my precious vest! What would I use now, then?"

Kairus slashed his too and reached it to Lirio. "Then use mine."

"But it was slashed too!"

"What do you want me to do, then?"

"What?" Lilia butted in and shrieked, "You're breaking a company's property!"

"He said he couldn't take it off so what do you expect me to do?" he shouted back.

He roamed his eyes around to change his mood. The crowd was on the Dutchel Flyer display at the center, waiting for the tour guide to come. On their faces they painted their amusements.

He clicked his tongue. "Those are just pieces of crap. What's so fun about it?"

"Don't you want to fly?" his red-haired classmate appeared from his back. "Every kid dreams of flying."

"What a nonsense dream."

"Hmm... Now I wonder, what was your dream when you were a kid, grumpy?"

"What did you call me?"

"You seemed to hate every existence. Now I wonder what you wanted except yelling to kill everyone that made you lose your cool."

Kairus thought for a second. Until he lost his cool again and yelled, "How would I know?"

Lirio looked at the crowd that started moving and seemed about to explore the stations filled with workers wearing safety gear, crafting different parts of the flyers through equipment.

"Oh. Let's catch up with them." Lirio sauntered casually. He followed.

What did Kairus dream about when he was a kid? He barely remembered.

Suddenly, a group of Civil Guards surrounded the Dutchel factory. 

"Everyone! Don't move!"

The students began to get frightened.

"What is happening?"

"Why are there Civil Guards here?"

The authorities spreaded their formation to secure all the places and people. Until an officer's eyes widened seeing the students. He rushed to the teachers.

"We've coordinated all the schools to postpone your activities! You shouldn't be here! Evacuate immediately!" the Civil Guard with a star on his shoulder shouted to them, then side commented, "Tsk! Someone hacked our communication line!. I hope it wasn't too late."

Ms. Barnabe faced the officer. "It's just about the kidnapping incident. It won't be affected by our little educational tour. Besides, we already wasted time and money just to get here. If you just gave us an announcement then we won't be here!"

Suddenly, the doors slammed down and sealed with a loud thud of metal. The students mumbled in panic, teachers trying to calm them. The Civil Guards glanced around in alertness.

The Civil guard whispered angrily. "It's not just about the kidnapping incident!"

Then a static sound hurt their ears for a short period of time then a voice of the woman came out from the radio. "Now that all the guests are here, let's start the game, shall we?"

"It's about the bombing terrorism!"

-inkofdeath