1459 Spectator
It was a sunny day.
Young Varian had woken up early at dawn and ran to the ground without eating anything.
Sia, who had woken him up, rubbed her drowsy eyes and fell back asleep for an hour. She remained on bed for an hour.
While this happened, a soul inside her, one all too familiar, moved restlessly.
"Hey! He can get injured!"
"Move already!"
"Last time, he almost got devoured by a mega cat! Sia, oh, Sia!"
In the soulscape of the perfect hybrid existed a white room. It was pristine and cute.
A younger Enigma, looking around fifteen or sixteen, just a bit older than Sia and Varian walked in the room.
Her fists were clenched and an impatient expression adorned her cute face. Unlike the outside, she was more expressive here.
Dressed in a pure black dress that set off nicely against her white skin, she paced back and forth, fidgeting and biting her lips.
"Enigma? Did she grow younger?"
The sight of the room grew closer and closer. As it did, the smell of lavender reached him.
When he felt like he "stepped" into the room, his body or rather, his soul, felt relaxed like he"s soaking in a hot spring.
"Wait, why the h.e.l.l am I here?"
For a moment, there was sense of confusion. Then like a lag had been fixed, the memories in the back of his mind came crashing.
"Oh…right!"
"Enigma! Wake up! Enigma! We"re in the formation and need to find the Fortune Spirit!"
Varian, as a soul, waved his hand in front of Enigma, who"s also a soul.
But she seemed oblivious to his presence and continued to worry.
Eventually when she couldn"t take it anymore, she closed her eyes and a gentle power emanated from her, tugging at the link that she shared with Sia.
"Hmm? What? It"s morning already?"
In real world, Sia turned around in bed and grumbled with a tinge of resentment at the sun for coming up too early. But when she realized it"s still 5:00 AM, she wanted to punch someone.
"I want to sleep, woo," She hugged the pillow and rolled around on bed. "Varian, why did you stop sleeping with me? What if we grew a bit older? You idiot."
11:56
She cursed softly and playfully even with a drowsy mind.
Varian enjoyed watching her. He missed those carefree days.
Train. Sleep. Repeat.
This day was a bit before he suffered from inferiority complex as an unawakened. No, this was when he"s still young and hopeful.
Back then, he sensed that Sia was acting a bit…clingy and tried to maintain some distance. It"s not that he hated her but as a good boy, he didn"t want to give any wrong signals for things she might"ve not intended.
"Ahhh, I"ll go check on him." Sia put on a hoodie and gym pants.
But before reaching the door, Varian"s clothes that he discarded before putting on training clothes entered her sight.
Sia"s eyes grew brighter, like more oil was poured into the lamp light.
"Wait a minute…" Varian tilted his head in confusion. He sensed something was off. "Sia, don"t do it." Enigma"s soul in the white room, a bit away from him, stomped her foot. "This is not the time! Urgh! No, no! You can sniff his clothes later!"
"She is doing what?" Varian"s jaw dropped and he too turned to the "outside".
With a supressed chuckle, Sia brought his clothes and slowly slipped back into her room. With a bang, the door was shut.
Unfortunately for them, since they were literally "inside" her, they could see everything.
"Hnggh~ Your smell~"
"Annghh~"
"Why am I feeling sooo weird? It"s all your fault!"
For the next ten minutes, both outside her soul world and inside, only the l.u.s.tful moans of a teen rang.
Varian slumped into a sofa that somehow existed in this white room.
The young Enigma was there, right beside him, her hands covering her face which somehow was blushing even in her soul state.
But there were gaps between her fingers and she was peeking through. And her gaze was not on Sia but on the shorts and shirt.
"…"
Varian looked up at the ceiling and sighed in defeat.
Was he wrong?
Was he not the predator but the prey?
"The fact that I protected my innocence from these two, I must"ve been blessed by the stars."
"Hey! Sia! Get up already! Check on his training!"
The Young Enigma regained her senses at some point and began yelling. Perhaps it had some effect.
Sia frowned for a moment, maybe Enigma"s efforts bore some fruit. She tapped her fingers before checking the clock.
5:30 AM.
"I spent 30 minutes sniffing? Eeek!"
She quickly placed the clothes back in their place and rushed out of the home.
In the park not too far, she found the young Varian, doing one hand push ups with a bunch of weight on his back.
"Phew~ Looks like he"s okay this time."
Sia sighed in relief before surveying the surroundings.
A hyper-deer, one famous for its quick temper and formidable strength, lay froathing.
Its legs were twitching even as it"s conscious and there were clear fist and shoe prints on its hide.
"Tsk, he went at it again."
Young Varian was…not very kind to the beasts he used for training. At least he didn"t kill…because he couldn"t afford to compensate.
It"s a "bit" illegal to attack animals in the park but he defended himself eloquently.
Even now, Varian could recall his defense.
"Who didn"t break a few rules when they were young and naive?"
"…Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d." Varian clicked his tongue in amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Varian…"
The young Enigma muttered with longing.
"Huh, what?"
Unaware that a "Varian" of the future was just next to her, she continued looking at the teen in the park with an intense gaze.
As the young Sia gave her Varian an energy drink and a fruit, Enigma began to mutter with a bit of envy and a lot of affection.
"He doesn"t like banana after Wednesday training. He"ll prefer an orange…"