14/2/x301

14th day of the Harvest Moon, year x301

Mapulon 

Even though Theo pursed his lips about the entire incident, it wasn’t surprising that the entire orphanage already knew what happened three nights ago. Maybe it was because Yuan told the others about what happened, or maybe there were a few kids who were awake that night and heard their conversation. 

But that didn’t change the fact that everyone knew that he saw the Golden Eyed Ghost with his own eyes. It was real, and not even Zamira could change his mind about what he saw. 

Three days. He shivered at the thought. It had been three days since he last saw the thing in the kitchens, and yet the memory of its golden eyes still felt fresh in his mind. He wasn’t exactly sure what he saw in those eyes. Maybe it was anger, or maybe it was malice. But he was certain that those eyes belonged to the Golden Eyed Ghost. 

A loud crash of keys snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned around, only for him to frown when he saw shelves upon shelves of books rather than the piano. He was in the library, yet he could hear the younger kids not taking the piano seriously again. 

He shook his head and turned in front of him, this time groaning when he saw the chessboard. He was too caught up in his own thoughts to even remember that he and Rui were still in the middle of a game. At least he had a book to keep him company. 

“Are you still thinking about what happened that night? 

He flipped a page from his book and looked up. Rui slid his bishop down the chessboard, then picked up his large shot glass. He stared at his palm for a while before turning to him once again. 

“I already told you, “Rui continued. “I didn’t see anything after that. You were imagining things or the Golden Eyed Ghost got away.”

Theo grabbed his rook and moved it by five tiles. “That doesn’t really help. If anything, it feels like I should be scared more.”

“You have a point.” Rui took a large sip of his drink, pausing even longer when the piano played another tune that made Theo’s ears twitch. “I kinda wish you continued playing the piano.”

“No thanks, instruments aren’t really my thing.”

“Really?” He raised a brow. “You were one of the few kids that I didn’t have a hard time teaching. You and Skarlett, actually. Remember her?”

Skarlett… Theo shook his head. “Not really.”

“Shame.” Rui moved the white knight from its place and took the rook away from the board. 

With the chess piece in his hands, he spun it in his fingers and tossed it in the air. It spun around once, twice, maybe even three times before falling back down. Rui caught it with two of his fingers, spun it once again, and placed it on the table.

Theo scoffed. What an arrogant show-off. 

While Rui continued his monologue about the past, Theo stared back at the chessboard and hummed. So far, Rui had only lost a bishop and a rook. Meanwhile, he had already lost three pawns and the rook that Rui took earlier. He wasn’t sure how long they had been playing, but it was draining to see that they made little to no progress. 

“You okay there?” 

He shook his head. “Not really. I have thirteen pawns left and half a castle. I don’t think anyone would be okay in that situation.”

Rui sighed. After taking a sip from his drink, he turned to Theo once again. “Do you want the most legitimate advice I’ve been using for the past thirty-two years of my life?”

“What?”

“If you’re ever in doubt, just write the words ‘I am an idiot’ on your palm.”

Rui showed him the hand he had been staring at during their entire game. Theo couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. Rui’s Baybayin were edged rather than curvy. If it weren’t for the fact that the symbols on his palms resembled Baybayin even a little bit, he would have thought they were just a bunch of weird lines and scribbles. 

After a minute of squinting his eyes, Theo finally gave up. “Write what now?”

“‘I am an idiot’. Trust me, you’ll wake up and see the reality of things.”

Theo raised a brow before grabbing the quill on the table. The sight of his bandaged palm, however, made him frown and place the feather in his opposite hand. He slightly regretted it when his injured hand couldn’t hold the pen properly, barely even finishing the first two words before having to dip it in ink again. 

“Why am I doing this again? I don’t think quills are meant to be used on skin.”

“‘I am an idiot’ was an ancient spell used by the former god of chaos and destruction. Legend has it that, before he died, he wrote that on his hand and allowed him to see the reality of things.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at Rui’s words. Even though he was certain that the time he used to write could have been spent on thinking of his strategy, he continued writing the words in his palm. Besides, whether or not it really was from Kaos, he wanted to give it a shot. Just for fun. 

He scratched the birthmark on his chin as his eyes flicked to the board, then to his hands. 

A small idea popped in his head. It was risky, and there was a chance that Rui saw it as well, but it sounded like a good idea. 

Theo grabbed his bishop and slid it to the left, taking away Rui’s remaining bishop as well. As expected, Rui moved his queen sideways and took down the piece. Theo didn’t waste a single second as he moved down the knight and grabbed Rui’s queen. 

He chuckled and patted the queen’s head. “I told you, queens are the cheaters of chess and should be punished by law.”

Rui shook his head, though there was also a smile on his face. “What do you know, Kaos’s favor shines upon you.”

Theo shrugged as he refilled the glass and lifted it in the air. “Or maybe you’re just going easy on me so I’ll think that it works.”

“Put the shot glass down, Theodore. You’re too young for that.”

“Oh come on, why?” Theo took a sip from it before placing the glass down. “It’s just apple juice. Really, really, really bad apple juice.”

“Yeah.” Rui snatched it away and scoffed. “And it’s my shot glass.”

“Why do you have a shot glass, anyway? Didn't you say you ‘promised your brother’ or something that you’ll stop drinking?”

After moving his pawn by two tiles, Rui refilled his glass and shook his head. “I… did but there are times at night when I just want to drink.”

“Drink really bad apple juice?”

“Oh shut up.”

Theo was about to open his mouth, but a tinkling sound--two tinkling sounds made him turn around. Eiko and four year old girl, Atsumi, rang the bells in their hands. Eiko placed the bell down and sighed, though Atsumi still rang it with a smile. 

Pushing Atsumi away, Eiko crossed her arms and said, “Lunch is ready. Aunt Creepy Eyes is waiting for us there.”

“And she has a surprise!” Atsumi added as she jumped up and opened her arms. “Kuya Tris-Tris said someone’s gonna be adopted! That’s the surprise!”

Rui nodded as she stood up from his chair. “Thank you, girls. We’ll just clean up our table.”

“Sure.” Eiko placed the bell in her pockets and picked Atsumi up. “By the way, we’re not really sure what the ‘surprise’ is. She just said that you might be summoned after lunch.”

“Really now?” Rui chuckled, and a small smile formed on his face. “Thanks.”

As Eiko left the library with a cheering Atsumi in her arms, Theo glanced at the chessboard and crossed his arms. “You’re not gonna ruin this, are you? I’m just starting to win!”

“Nada.” He shook his head as he grabbed the bottle of apple juice and shot glass from the table. “I’m actually enjoying the game. Been a while since you took chess seriously.”

Theo crossed his arms as he followed Rui out of the library. “It’s not really fun if you just cheat.”

“Theo, it’s a queen and it’s a part of the game. It’s not cheating if it’s the rules.”

“It is cheating if she’s the only one who can move wherever she wants. She should be like the pawns sometimes. Extremely useless and throwable, but can be the most useful with the right moves.”

By the time they reached the dining area, almost everyone was already seated down. It seemed like today was one of those days where Mei had all the time in the world, as almost all of the girls had their hair tied in fancy flower pins and twists. Iris, unsurprisingly has an Iris in her hair. Next to her, Sao--

“Ow…”

He looked up, though nearly took a step back. Yuan stared right back at him, his eyes wide and his breath hitched. There was something about Yuan that made him feel… different. Did he look taller? Lose weight? Or maybe he was paler...

Before Theo could analyze him more, Yuan took a deep breath and placed his hands in front of him. “So- sorry about that. I didn’t see you, sorry.”

Theo raised a brow. “Who are you and what have you done to Yuan? He never says sorry, not even once!”

“Can’t I just have learned how to apologize properly?” With a shrug of his shoulders, Yuan waved his hand and left. 

Theo blinked. He didn’t even realize that he was walking back to his own table until another girl, Elena, jumped on his back and nearly tackled him down. “Gotcha!”

“Elena, please get off of Theo. You might break all of his bones.”

As Theo shook Elena out of his back, he glared at the people on his table. “Very funny, Ate Zamira.” 

Unfortunately, the only seat available was next to his sister, who was in front of Zamira. Rui was also next to her, though Theo wasn’t sure if that was supposed to make him feel better or not. If anything, it just annoyed him that the person he wanted to have a conversation with was next to the one he didn’t want to talk to as of the moment. 

With a sigh, Rui placed their plates down before sitting next to her. “Zamira, if you’re going to talk about the Golden Eyed Ghost again, can you do it another time? I don’t think now’s the best day.”

Zamira laughed as she started eating her food. “If you say so, Kuya Rui. But that probably means I get to mock Theo and Korri all I can after today.”

Theo poked his tongue out before he started eating. “Meanie. I hope the Golden Eyed Ghost visits you in your dreams.”

“We really did see it, Ate Zamira.” Korri sighed as she placed her book down. “The other kids believe us, why don’t you?”

“Whether it’s real or not, you have to admit it has a stupid name.” She took an angry bite of her food before continuing, “Seriously? Golden Eyed Ghost? If it had another name, I would have been convinced it was real.”

Thinking about that night made Theo shiver, and he felt something crawl down his spine. He shook his head before turning back to his lunch. “I dunno. Golden Eyed Ghost sounds stupid, but I think that perfectly describes that thing.”

“By the way, Kuya Rui.” Korri looked up from her food and blinked. “Who’s Tatsuhiko Hanabusa?”

Theo’s ears perked as he turned in front of him. It looked like Rui felt the same thing he did, too. His cup of water covered most of his face, but it was hard to tell his expression. But it looked like there was a small flash in his eyes at the mention of the name. Theo thought it was just him, but one look at Zamira was the only thing he needed. 

She saw it, too. 

Rui placed his cup down and looked at her. There was a flash in his eyes, and Theo swore they dulled before going back to normal. 

“Tatsuhiko Hanabusa is the book’s author, I think. I’m not really sure since I’ve never read that book before. Why do you ask?”

“I always see his name on the first page. I just wanna know what his name means.”

“You’ve been reading again?” Zamira placed a hand on her lips and suppressed a laugh, though a few chuckles did leave. “I’m surprised you’re doing well this time. What part are you on in that book?”

“The part where Water nearly drowns.”

This time, Theo didn’t bother hiding his laughter. He placed one hand on his forehead and another on his stomach. In front of him, Zamira laughed as well, lightly tapping the table with every beat. A pointed look from Aunt Felicia, however, made him clear his throat. 

“I’m sorry.” He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “But that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. What kind of book are you reading?”

“Seriously though!” Zamira’s laugh slowly died as she finished her water. “That thing makes the Golden Eyed Ghost sound like it’s a real thing!”

Rui shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Isn’t Water a name there? I’m sure it makes sense if it’s a name.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that it’s dumb.”

“I liked it.” Korri smiled as she patted the book’s cover. “It sounds like a children’s story, but I liked how it’s going so far. Even if I’m still in the beginning a bit.”

In front of him, Rui mumbled more gibberish under his breath and sighed. Just like what he did with the chess piece, he tossed his spoon in the air, making it twist a few times, before grabbing it with two fingers. The action made Theo furrow his brows once again, and the urge to ban Rui from using spoons ever again popped in his head. 

Zamira sighed before she continued eating. “Do you have to show off that you’re good with that dumb trick?”

“It’s not dumb.” Rui lightly smacked the spoon on Zamira’s head before turning back to his food. “That might save your life someday, trust me. If you feel like you want to do something with your hands, grab whatever you can find and toss it in the air. That’s how I’ve been living my life.”

“But that was really cool, though!” Korri’s eyes sparked up, almost literally, as a smile formed on her face. “How'd 'ya do that? Do you think you can teach me?”

“Well, if you ask me, it’s--”

Zamira’s eyes slightly widened. Almost instantly, she placed a finger over her lips and pointed to her right. It made Theo raise a brow, though he turned to where she was pointing at. And for a brief moment, he wished that he didn’t. 

There was someone, an old man, by the dining area’s entrance. Just like every caretaker, his entire getup was white. Though unlike the others, he felt… different. Theo couldn’t explain it, but there was something different from that man. It was almost like he radiated a strange aura, one that made him want to cower in fear yet look at him in awe. 

When the old man locked eyes with him and turned away, Theo hitched his breath. 

Father Konrard. That was Father Konrard.