*~The Beta Belt~*
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You keep swearing, Venura.”
Mathias grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest. “I know there’s nothing
wrong with it, but we might have to put a quota per week.” This made the
short-haired girl stare back, her eyes wide with confusion and maybe a little
bit of irritation.
“Mathias, you know I
don’t swear as much anymore.”
“I had no idea it was
April First,” the ginger mumbled. Speaking louder, he went on, “What’s wrong
with me, anyway? I don’t feel weird at all.”
He usually appeared
to her in the afternoons, and it stayed that way. They formed a schedule
together – Mathias would work at Technika then come to her during the
afternoons, then go back during the evenings. This would give Arzen time to do
what she needed – school and whatnot – eventually finishing up by the time he
would arrive.
But he…he had been
there since she woke up.
“Did you and Eri get
into a fight?”
“Eri’s perfectly
fine.”
What
a lie,
she thought, but persisted.
“You’re not going
according to schedule,” she hesitated, “…did something happen there?”
“Nothing happened, I
promise. Calm down, Venura.” He cracked a smile.
Arzen couldn’t return
it. He just felt so…
So un Mathias-like.
She regarded him with
another look of her own and sighed. Maybe he felt sick or something.
“I don’t understand
why you’re so worked up about Erimentha,” Mathias suddenly said, “She’s
alright. A little stressed with Elythos, but she’s doing okay.”
Erimentha?
Elythos?
“What are you talking
about?”
Mathias opened his
mouth and then closed it promptly, as if trying to figure out what to say. “Erimentha
Astrapi? Elythos? Goddamn, Venura.” A worried smile swept his lips, “Are you
sure you’re okay?”
“No,” she shook her
head, “How can I be okay when you’re acting like this?” she demanded. “You’re
mentioning names I don’t know and you’re not acting like who you actually are, and
it frustrates me. I thought you were better than that.”
He stopped.
“You’re acting like a
stranger, Mathias, and it’s bothering me.” She finally admitted. “For the whole
day, it’s like someone else is watching me and not Mathias. I thought we told
each other that there wouldn’t be any bullshit?”
Mathias struggled to
speak.
She watched him
quietly and took her eyes away from him, leaning against her bedroom wall. She
hated lashing out – at anyone, definitely – especially at him.
“…Venura?”
“And you don’t call
me Venura.”
Mathias sighed
quietly.
“I – I’m sorry,” he
managed. “I thought I was cheering you up but…” he gave a half-hearted shrug
and stood up, “Guess it was too much, hm?”
*~The Alpha Belt~*
Arianne Venura was
hella confused.
“Are you afraid of joking
around now?” she asked him. Miles gave her a stare.
“I joke around?”
“Twenty-four seven.
You do it all the time and now you’re sulking into the wall. Like you want to
be a wallflower. Which you’re not,” she told him dryly. “What’s eating you up?”
“Shouldn’t I be
asking you that–”
“Not a chance,” she
interrupted smoothly. “You always do that to me. I…just let me pay back the
favor,” Arianne told him sheepishly, turning away as red dusted her cheeks. “…do
you want to go out or something?”
“Out?”
“Christ,” she
muttered. “Do you want to take a break?”
Miles’ jade eyes
seemed confused. “I don’t take breaks. You know that.”
“Yeah right. You’re
practically begging for one each time you’re here,” she teased, and Miles had
the decency to turn a little red.
“Ar–”
“I should get you
something to eat.” She stood up from the chair by her study table and
stretched, “You want cake?”
“I’m not eating,” he
defended. “I’m not hungry.”
“Of course you aren’t.
Stay here, dumbass.”
Arianne left the
room, leaving a dumbfounded (and also bewildered) Miles behind.
“Vens doesn’t act
like this,” he muttered, walking around. “She’s quieter…and I swear to God she
doesn’t wear her hair like that anymore,” he added quietly. He approached her
desk and frowned, checking the pictures neatly arranged. Arianne came back eventually,
and he quickly asked if he could use the bathroom, darting off when she said
that he could.
“I swear, he’s such a
fucking weirdo.” she muttered, setting down the plate of cake.
Crash.
Inside
the bathroom, Miles backed away from the mirror, his eyes widening.
Shit. Shit. Shit. This is wrong.
This is –
“Miles?
What are you doing in there?”
Who the fuck is
Miles?
“Shit,”
he cursed loudly. “Ar–”
Miles
stopped himself.
That isn’t Arzen.
“Venura?” he tried.
“Miles, I swear to
God–”
“Just come in here
and don’t freak out,” he snapped. A stunned silence met them, and he heard the
door open and a pair of feet step in.
He held his breath.
Meeting Miles and Arianne
was a mirror stained back, scarlet string in tatters.
*~The Beta Belt~*
“We have to go
inside,” Mathias argued. Arzen merely stared at her own mirror, unsure of what
she should even do. “Venura, we have to go inside right now.”
“But why–”
“There’s something
wrong,” the man answered, “And we have to see if we’re the only ones affected.”
Arzen said nothing, carefully inspecting the edges.
She expected
shattered glass.
What she got instead
was an orange string, falling apart by the threads. She tugged at it and it
gave a feeble glow, and Mathias met her eye.
“We should go,” she
said quietly.
He nodded.
She went in first,
and he followed.
*~The Worm Hole~*
“As long as we follow
this string back,” Miles stated as the twosome walked in the middle of nowhere,
“We should get back to where we started. Trust me on this, okay?” behind him,
Arianne nodded stiffly.
“I don’t understand
what’s going on,” she muttered.
“I don’t either, but
we’ll get to the bottom of it.” Arianne merely stayed silent as they continued
walking, Miles following the string as it led them somewhere. “The string’s
thinning as we go further,” he observed quietly.
“We should keep
moving,” Arianne spoke. “God. Before
anything else happens.” Smiling a little, Miles nodded and they walked.
“Are you sure we’re
going the right way?”
“The string’s still
here,” he held up the red object, “And it’s almost gone.”
“What good is that-”
“The good of that,” a
voice came, and the two looked up instantly. “Is that it’s where two points
will converge.”
Miles’ green eyes met
Mathias’ frosty blue ones.
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