I was standing in front of that gigantic art gallery on a Saturday afternoon. That place was apparently used not only as a gallery sometimes, but rather as a venue where several wealthy companies hosted parties or similar events, but even so, I couldn't imagine that place filled with artworks or even crowded with people purely because of its size, there was even a garden and an old chapel connected to that place… It seemed like a construction straight out of the mind of a madman, or someone who really liked surrealism…
"Hey Rose! We're here!" Hanna waved at me from the middle of the line, accompanied by Alex and Ariel.
There was no sign of Hazel…
Was she not there… Because of me?
Because I said something that made her sad?
I couldn't hide my discomfort, but I tried to smile. After all, if I didn't smile, I'd have to answer questions I didn't want to.
"You have a lot of cute clothes, Rose! I'm glad you know how to dress for elegant events like this." Alex said. I had really put more effort into my appearance than I usually did, but it was more in the hope that I could get a little attention from Miss Hazel than anything else…
"I don't understand why you care so much about it. We're just going to walk around a gigantic gallery, look at some paintings, and then have a snack. An anime shirt is more practical than anything else these folks are wearing." Ariel said, she was actually wearing an oversized anime t-shirt and short shorts... But that was her style.
"Regardless of the dress code, I'm just glad you're all here with me." Hanna said, wearing a somewhat chic women's suit, still trying to hide her discomfort with a smile. "By the way, have you heard from Hazel, Rose? I haven't seen her until now."
"No… I don't have her number to send a message either…"
"Well, if she wants, she can meet us later, or just look at the artworks without being with us. She said she was only interested in seeing the local art anyway." Alex said, taking Hanna's hand.
She wasn't wrong, the event was free, but… I wanted to be able to walk around that place with her…
I wanted to know what she would say about the paintings… What she liked… What she found interesting…
In the end, it really seemed like I didn't know anything about Hazel Eyre…
"Don't think you're getting rid of me that easily," Again, that cold voice spoke behind me. It was Hazel once again, who had appeared by my side. Could she really blend in so well with crowds?!
"Oh, great, I was starting to get worried about you, Hazel." Hanna tried to act as the host of that outing, after all, she was the one who invited us, but I could tell she was acting like that more because she wanted to be polite than anything else. Not that she disliked Hazel in any special way, Hanna was just the kind of person who expected to trust others in order to really be more open.
"Well, now that everyone's here, shall we go in? The sooner we go, the sooner it ends." Ariel said, bored.
"I want to see if anyone here will have ideas as interesting as Hanna's, I doubt it!" Alex seemed excited, contrasting with Ariel.
"Then let's go." Hazel said, turning to me, and giving me her hand.
"Can I really…?"
"We're visiting the gallery together, right? I don't want you to get lost, there are a lot of people." Almost as if ignoring what had happened in the infirmary the day before, she grabbed my hand faster than I could, and pulled me into that gigantic building.
As much as I couldn't imagine, the number of people in that place was really huge, we could still walk, but it wasn't exactly comfortable…
Many adults and even elderly people with white hair were admiring the artworks, but it seemed like we were the only teenagers.
"They managed to fill such a huge place… It seems like there are more people interested in art around here than I thought, huh, Hanna?"
"That's what it seems… Really… There are many good artists around here..."
"Since it's so crowded, don't you guys want to split up? If we go see everything, we'll spend about two days just walking around, it's a drag." Ariel didn't seem to realize how much Hanna was sweating while looking at that crowded place.
"I agree! Hanna, let's go see that interactive exhibition, it seems interesting!"
"Oh, sure. Ariel, let's go together too, I know you prefer interacting with things rather than just looking."
"I'll go with…"
"You can go over there, Rose. You want to stay with Hazel, don't you?" The girl with black hair spoke. Really, even though I had never discussed this topic with her, Hanna knew me well…
Miss Hazel didn't complain, but rather pulled me to the opposite side, where there were several paintings of flowers, we kept pushing through that sea of people and paintings...
She didn't stop, but she didn't look at me either, just kept pulling me along, as if there was a specific destination...
"Miss Hazel, is there any painting you want to see in particular? We're not stopping to look at anything..."
"I just want to stop somewhere that's interesting."
After being pulled for a few more minutes, we arrived at a place with fewer people, still inside that gigantic gallery. For some reason, it seemed that most people hadn't reached that area of the exhibition yet.
It was a really beautiful place... Full of golden adornments, small and elegant tables, and... Replicas of classic paintings. The teacher had explained once about reinterpretations, but I had never seen one that wasn't like a parody of some pop culture icon, but this room... It seemed like the artists who had their paintings exhibited there really imitated ancient techniques from past eras of art. I didn't understand much, but they brought a different feeling than the other paintings I had seen in passing while being pulled by Hazel.
And on a rectangular canvas, it was painted, almost occupying an entire wall...
A painting reproducing "The Death of Ophelia"
A woman, in a beautiful dress, dead in a lake full of flowers...
The Ophelia who was rejected by love
The Ophelia who died being used
The Ophelia who was in my surname.
"Are you familiar with the play 'Hamlet'?" We were side by side observing the painting when Hazel spoke.
"I... don't know much, I'm not that familiar with Shakespeare."
"Really? Usually people try to find out the origin of their name and surname, it seems like you're not like that."
"I only know the painting, but I find it kind of morbid so I'm not sure if I like it much..."
"Ophelia was an obedient and fragile woman, who was used and deceived and killed. She believed in love but didn't pursue it, and let herself be deceived by those who wanted to manipulate her. And the result is what you're seeing. A death beautiful enough to be immortalized in a painting."
"Miss Hazel, I don't understand what-"
"Do you want to be like Ophelia, Rose?"
"What? All this stuff you're saying doesn't-"
"Do you want to be fragile and let the universe guide you, or do you want to discover the truth?!"
Hazel pushed me against the wall, grabbing my wrists tightly. Her face, normally expressionless, seemed angry... I couldn't understand... But... I could feel her sweet blackberry perfume... and the feeling of the fine fabric of the beautiful clothes she had chosen...
"Listen carefully." She spoke, with her lips very close to my ear. "If you really have something you desire, you should pay attention to your surroundings. If you claim to be so devoted, look at the truth that's right in front of you and stop getting distracted by anything else!"
Those words confused me. I was doing everything right, wasn't I? Everyone was happy, the girls were united again, I was purifying every heart I encountered, so how?! What did she mean by those things?!
"Miss Hazel, I really don't know what you're trying to say... Are you still upset?" She released her hands from my body and started walking as if nothing had happened.
"Hazel, wait!" I shouted, trying to reach her, but it seemed that the more she walked, the more she blended in with the crowd. I ran desperately but it seemed impossible to reach her, soon it seemed that that sea of people was taking me to a completely different area than I expected...
The more I walked, the more I got lost
Even though there were people around, it felt like I was alone
Hazel was acting too strange
She seemed to want to talk to me, but I couldn't understand anything she said
I was scared...
I walked until my feet started to hurt, and when I was about to give up, I found a door different from the others, it seemed old, made of wood.
When I opened it, it was like a completely different place from the white and elegant building I was in. That area was also beautiful, but its floor was made of wood and that whole place had a peculiar smell of old articles... Even though there were still works from the exhibition in that place. Apparently, that was the chapel connected to that building, full of colorful stained glass windows with beautiful designs and paintings in elegant frames that enhanced the beauty of the place.
And standing, staring at an oval portrait, was Hanna.
I approached her, who didn't seem to be with Alex or Ariel, not even concerned about the whereabouts of the other two, her eyes were fixed on that portrait, of a young girl of great beauty.
“Hanna, are you okay? Where are the other girls..?” For a moment, she stopped staring at that painting and looked at me. I had never seen such a scared and hopeless expression before.
“Oh, it's you, Rose... Have you seen..? Everyone here... It's amazing... Isn't it?”
“The paintings are beautiful, indeed. But... Why are you like this?”
“Don't you get it yet, Rose?! Everyone here is amazing, a kid like me can't even compare! If I keep going like this, they'll just laugh at my works in a place like this!”
“What are you saying, Hanna?! Your drawings are amazing too! You've been working hard these past few weeks preparing illustrations for the contest!”
“I may have tried... But no matter how hard I try, they'll always be better than me! I've always been the 'girl who draws' but when I look at reality, I can't even be amazing like that! There's so much to learn... Anatomy, geometric figures, coloring, perspective... All these people who had their paintings exhibited here are masters in all of this, compared to them I'm just trash!”
“Hanna, please calm down! It's not like that, when we get to the contest you -”
“I... I'm going to give up drawing.”
And with those words, that cold sensation spread even more, suddenly, only the two of us were in that chapel, full of art and stained glass, but something was wrong with Hanna... She wasn't the Hanna I knew.
An oval painting with Alexandra depicted as an ancient lady appeared on her back, the scrolls of the frame began to merge with the body of the friend who had been by my side for so long... Her face looked devastated, as if her skin were tired and old, and various painting brushes grew on her fingers, like a merging between monster and human.
“Rose, transform! Hanna is...”
“With a crystallized heart, I got it!” Anima had come out of the necklace and I quickly transformed, although the cold sensation persisted, the clothes of Heartbreaker Magenta were short and tight, which didn't help much.
Whenever I fought to purify the red hearts, it felt like I was burning, so why was it so cold now?!
“Anima, what's the situation?!”
“This girl, Hanna Bovary... This crystallization is strange...”
“What do you mean by strange?!”
That creature that Hanna had turned into began to cry, a painful cry, and soon her tears turned into various colored inks, launched in my direction.
I tried to dodge but narrowly avoided a splash of blue ink on my arm.
And that
Was surreal
It burned
That ink burned
I could hardly hold my weapon
It felt like it was burning my skin so much
“Hanna, what's happening?! Talk to me, please!”
“Nothing I do is useful... Nothing I can build is good enough... If it's going to be like this, what's the point of continuing?!”
“The answer isn't for you to give up! Look at everything you've accomplished! There are people rooting for you here!”
“Magenta, she's unreachable now, you need to make her heart shine!”
I knew that, but...
Even though I knew what was hurting her, could I do anything about it?
Hanna was... My first friend in that school... My first friend who saw me as a girl... I didn't want to hurt her...
“I CAN'T DO ANYTHING! MY DRAWINGS ARE WORTHLESS! IF I'M JUST GOING TO BE USELESS LIKE THIS, I SHOULD JUST GIVE UP!”
The more she cried, the more her body was colored with those various inks until it formed a rancid mixture on her skin, it spread all over her body and concentrated on the brushes embedded in Hanna's fingertips, which she threw at me. Even though I was transformed, it was painful that she couldn't see me there, or know who I was. I couldn't even tell if she was conscious, the crystallized monsters I had fought against were much less conscious, but this one... She formed sentences, seemed conscious, but it was as if nothing she said could pull her out of that sea of sadness.
Once again, I was hit by a jet of ink that burned my skin. It didn't burn from heat, but from being so cold it burned, in addition to being slimy, it was like a mass made to kill, which only got worse as the inks mixed together.
“Kekeke, it seems like your Destroyer isn't doing well, is she, Amelia Anima?” A voice... Unknown, as if it belonged to a child, echoed through the hall. What the heck is happening now...
“What?! You... Why are you here?!” The little rabbit seemed furious, looking at the ceiling in an attempt to locate the unknown voice.
“Kehehehe, is this how you greet an old friend? It's time we finally settle our score, and find out once and for all who the true ruler of Omoiland is!” Suddenly, in front of one of the cathedral's stained glass windows, the owner of that child-like voice appeared, a small mascot with bat wings like Anima, but instead of a white rabbit, that fairy resembled a black cat, with a purple star mark on its belly.
“You..! Who gave you permission to be here?!”
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