Ferris wiped the bits of food left near his mouth with the provided tissue.
After eating Magpie's excellent cooking, he found himself lacking an appetite when it comes to fast food.
After cleaning his mess, he looked at Marie who was on the other side of the table, she was looking at her phone and looked rather hopeful.
"She'll be here soon!" she exclaimed and stood up. "I'm heading to the bathroom, could you wait for her near the van?"
Before Ferris could ask a question, Marie already darted off into the distance.
You didn't tell me what she looks like... Ferris sighed, stood up and walked back to the van.
He stood near the front and looked around the busy street, and as expected, there was no way for him to quickly identify his mysterious partner.
Surely Marie told her that we're driving with a white van? Ferris thought, regardless he closely observed the hundreds of passersby.
With his experience as a knight, he was well versed in identifying hidden threats like serpent worshippers, likewise, that skill would still somewhat apply to any target he picked.
Ignoring all males halved his potential targets, ignoring all elderly and young children, he took off a quarter of what he needed to see.
Hmm, no, there's still too many targets to keep track of.
In the end, he could only look for a woman, perhaps around his age or older, a strong presence fit for an average level hero, either looking lost or looking for something.
After a while, Ferris noticed a figure that ticked off one of his requirements.
There was a woman nearby, wearing a jean jacket, a hoodie and khaki pants, there was also a large guitar bag behind her which prevented Ferris from seeing most of her back.
Despite being far away, she had a noticeably large presence that pushed out everyone else around her.
But, she didn't seem lost, or was looking for something, instead she was facing two strangers who seemed to be making moves on her.
Ferris smirked,
With his essence detection, he knew that those strangers didn't stand a chance and so, he was about to continue looking for other potential figures.
Pa!
Hearing the noise, he turned to the source and noticed that it came from the woman with a strong presence.
He quickly figured out that the two strangers were being assaulted by the guitar within the bag.
I wonder what they could've said to tick her off. Ferris could only watch in the distance in curiosity.
Frankly, he became more interested in the commotion instead of looking for his partner and besides, Marie was about to return in under a minute or so.
The woman continued hitting the two strangers, as a side effect, the impacts created dreadful tunes from under the thick guitar bag.
Ok, that's a bit too much. Ferris sweated, he noticed that none of the watching bystanders had the courage of stopping her.
As a knight, and a hero, Ferris could only sigh and walk towards the one sided slaughter and stop a double homicide from occurring.
Weaving through the crowd, he targeted the neck of the guitar and was about to grab it forcefully, but during that,
smack!
Ferris suddenly felt that the ground started shifting in gravity, or rather.
She just hit me, I can't believe that I didn't see it coming!
Fortunately, he mustered a bit of his essence to reduce the damage, but he was left with a ringing ear and blurring vision.
Staggering backwards, he noticed her silhouette with orange hair, and green eyes.
Ferris wanted to black out right there but he couldn't.
This essence...
When the guitar impacted him, he felt something familiar that coated it.
It was a blunt sword essence, so it was no wonder that the guitar didn't break upon impact!
Before he fell, the woman was swift enough to catch him by the back with her hands.
"Oh it's you friend, sorry I hit ya there!" Evening smiled as if she didn't just give Ferris a deadly concussion. "Don't wanna get reported to the police, you're my accomplice now!"
It was at that moment, Evening grabbed his wrist, and used her agility to head towards the white van.
She then saw the yellow haired young woman, Marie, who looked lost and confused as to why she was alone.
But when Marie saw Evening, she quickly recognized the orange haired lady who had a distinct set of emerald eyes and light freckles.
Marie also recognized Ferris who looked to be passing out as he was being dragged like a ragdoll.
"Marie, is that you? Let's go, quickly!" Evening forcibly opened the door and threw herself and Ferris before even hearing Marie's reply.
Panicked, Marie also entered the van and drove it back to the streets. "Why are we in a hurry Evening?" she almost shouted, the delicate features on her face had already disappeared by that point.
. . .
Evening smiled for a few seconds, "It's nothing."
The van slowed down and Marie let out a sigh of relief.
"Have you two met before?"
Evening listened and almost laughed at Marie's question. "We go way back."
Ferris, finally regained proper control of his body and mind and heard everything. Though, he couldn't bring himself to join their blooming conversation.
No wonder I was almost knocked out by a damn guitar. he grumbled inwardly, "the first thing you do after you spared my life back then..." he said with a hoarse voice and eyed Evening with a stern look but she wasn't affected.
"Blame my instincts, what kind of person shows off his presence just from grabbing someone's musical instruments?" she cheerfully explained.
Ferris grabbed his face, taking his time to digest everything that happened in the past minute. No, no, I'm not going to start our reunion like this, no.
He didn't want to continue, nor did he want to wonder why that his partner was Evening out of all people. "I'm gonna take a nap, wake me later."
Ferris gave her the silent treatment and leaned his body on the other side of the seat, facing the window.
This was also to give Evening a chance to cool down herself. Knowing her impulsiveness and unpredictability, this was for the best of the two.
While leaning on the window, he only planned on closing his eyes and nothing more, perhaps after 10 minutes, he would "wake up."
Evening watched her friend ignore her. "Hey, I know you're not sleeping."
poke.
Evening pressed her finger on Ferris' back.
poke.
This woman, maybe Eos found out a way to return back to the afterlife. Ferris lampooned, as he imagined the sea of souls he first saw when he was with Eos for the last time.
Alright, maybe ignoring her is a bit rude. Ferris lamented.
He prepared himself to sit straight up, however, his muscles didn't listen to him.
The ringing noise he heard after being hit by the guitar suddenly returned, twice as strong as before.
There was also a throb within his temples and chest.
It was as if his body lost all of its strength in an instant, just like after crossing the finish line in a day long marathon.
He also felt his heart burning in an attempt to knock him back into consciousness, but it quickly burned out and cooled down.
...Shit, why do I feel... so fatigued.
Eos...
Evening quickly grabbed Ferris' body and laid his head to rest on top of her lap.
She also hid her concerned feeling with a soft smile, as she placed her hand on top of his chest and closed her eyes in silence.
Marie saw the scene through the rearview mirror in front, "what happened?"
"He's just tired," Evening replied, still paying close attention to Ferris' essence.
"You did throw him pretty hard a while ago." Marie whispered under her breath.
***
Ferris found himself in a tight room where he couldn't fully extend his legs, but when he touched the surface, he couldn't tell what material it was, he couldn't even feel it, yet it was there!
He then felt a small presence in front of him.
A tiny golden light appeared over an unfamiliar hand, but as it grew a bit brighter, the soft light revealed a small child with cyan hair.
"Judas?" Ferris remembered the memories Kerio showed to him a long time ago.
"Hey Ferris." Judas greeted, he had an unsure look to himself knowing the form he currently had.
I guess we resonated, Ferris thought, but he had a difficult time remembering what happened.
Since they were resonated with each other, Judas knew what Ferris was thinking and feeling. "I have no clue what's happening to your body, so don't even ask."
"You said I was the only one who could harbor your soul." Ferris sneered a little.
Judas shrugged.
"It's not like I know what I'm doing, it just felt like the right decision. And lately, I haven't been feeling like myself."
Ferris felt the chaotic mental state Judas was in, Is it because he's a shard?
In that instant thought that connected to the dreamer, Judas learned something from Ferris and Ferris learned something from Judas.
"I... feel like I know 'them'." Judas whispered, and tried finding a memory that didn't exist to him. "But I can't remember, why did 'they' choose you?"
Judas questioned, as Ferris could feel Judas' fearful emotions swirling through both of their minds.
"'Them?'"
