Chapter 360: 360 - An Unexpected Relative
"Little time? What do you mean?" she asked him, "Didn"t you stop working for the old man years ago?" she questioned him, her brows furrowing.
As she did so, Noah browsed the menu for the restaurant, chosing his food. "I mean, I stopped when I became a blessed... But tht doesn"t mean I had an easy life all this time, you know?" he absentmindedly told her, raising his hand and calling up the waiter.
"Hey! Ain"t that you, Noah," the waiter came in with a smile. "You got pretty d.a.m.n famous," he called Noah out. "Or should I start calling you, His Highness Elder Stern of the Khan?"
"f.u.c.k off, Will. If you call me like that I"ll start asking for delivery every time instead of coming here," Noah glared at him, but still holding back his laughter.
"It was a joke, a joke! But Noah, what can I help yo—I am so sorry!" the waiter exclaimed, his eyes wide, as he bowed at Al, "I hand"t realized you were not alone, excuse me so much for my rudeness,"
Noah was startled. The hostress not realizing her was one thing, but Will was an amazing waiter, extremelly steadfast and hardworking. Not noticing someone was not something that fit his profile at all.
"It"s all fine, it happens a lot," Al was first to calm the man down, but Noah was also still dumbstruck.
"Yeah, it"s fine, don"t worry too much. Bring us a beer tower, a bucket of wings and a large portion of fries, as usual," Noah said, making Al tilt her head.
"Yes, I"ll be right back." The waiter rushed away, embarra.s.sed, espite being good friends with Noah.
"I thouh you were going back with me driving," she asked, eyeing Noah with slight confusion.
"I was, but..." he started speaking, only to grow silent.
"Don"t forget she exists." The old lady"s sentence from earlier echoed again and again inside his mind. And his gears started turning, as he realized something was definitely off about this whole issue.
"Al, I need to talk to you seriously," Noah said, putting his hands on the table.
"To me? What about? You being the masked blessed?" she asked, nervous.
"No, that"s not... Wait, who told you that?!" Noah sprung on his feet, towering over half the table. "Ahem," he cleared his throat sitting back down. "Please, I don"t know how you got that, or who told you about it, but never, ever talk about it in public again. You get it, right?" he asked, cold sweat rolling down his back as he tried to read Al"s blank expression.
"Oh... Sorry, I didn"t mean to bring it up like that but I got nervous..." She fiddled with her fingers as she waited her herself to find words. "So, what did you want to talk about?" she asked, understanding there must be yet another thing Noah was worried about.
"I think... I"m not so sure about it, I"d need Lilith"s help to make sure of it but... I have a gut feeling that you might be a Blessed," he said and sat with the utmost seriousness. Al, on the other hand, fell into laughter.
"Me? A Blessed?!" she laughed histercally, holding her stomach. "You sure know how to joke around," she said, staring at Noah in half disbelief.
"I am serious, though," he said, making her hold her laughter down for a second. Before bursting once more.
"Me, a Blessed, what a f.u.c.king joke," her laughter died down, as she stared at the ceiling of the restaurant. "You know, I used to hope that would be the case, ten, fifteen years ago. I"m almost 25 already, my lifeis collapsing around me..." She took a deep breath, before looking down at Noah. "What in th f.u.c.king h.e.l.l do you want from me?" she asked, her usual carelessness nowhere to be seen.
To Noah, this her was not that normal, that was how she behaved when she felt looked down upon. A behavior he had experienced many times as they worked together over the years.
"I"m not joking around, I am serious. There"s something beyond my comprehension happening around you, and that"s the only explanation I could come up with," he sid, looking down at his hands.
"Around me?" she asked, thinking about his words.
"Did you not notice it? People don"t realize you are there even if you stand rght in front of their yes," he stated, making Al bite her lip in utter frustration.
"Yeah! I am invisible! People ignore me, and overlook me, and pretend I don"t even exist! So what?" she raised her voice, clenching her fists. "I already know all of that! I have lived my entire life like this, so why ar you reminding me of it?" Tears started to form in her eyes, making Noah panick as he realized he had commited a blunder.
"Wait! That"s not—" he raised his hand, but it only made her angrier.
"For the first time I thought you were going to treat me like a woman, not just someone around you... But you are just like all of them, reminding me thet I am nothing compared to you!" she exclaimed, making some of the tables turn towards them.
"That"s not it! Listen to me!" Noah raised his voice, standing up like she did and putting his hands over hers, making her flinch. "Sit the f.u.c.k back down and listen to what I have to say for f.u.c.k"s sake!" he reprimanded her for the first time in years, a strange sense of nostangia and deja vu washing them over.
"Sorry..." Al leaked from her bit lips as she sat back down, crying.
"It"s okay, but listen. It"s not what you think," Noah clarified it, sitting back down, but not letting go of her hand. "When you turned 16, did they subject you to the Standard Blessed Testing?" he asked, startling her, and making her look at him.
"Of course, it"s mandatory. Of course I had to go there," she said, shaking her head slightly in confusion at his stupid question.
"That"s not what I"m asking. Did they put you though the Blessed Evaluation machine? The one that verifies whether you have a blessing?" he asked once again, making her look at him with an aura that made sure she had absolutely no idea of what he was talking about. "Just as I thought," he muttered, picking up his phone. "I"ll call someone I think you should meet," he told her, going on with his call, and telling the person the place and directions.
"Just who is he talking to, and what does it have to do with me?" she wondered, as the drinks and food started arriving to a busy Noah.
"But what does it have to do with me?!" she asked, as he put his phone away.
"You will know as soon as that person arrives. You are very similar. I take you did the testing before they mandated everyone go through the machines, and since you had no blessing they just told you to go home, am I wrong?" he asked after denying her question.
"Yeah, that"s it. But what does that have to do with anything!? I can"t use powers, I"m not stronger than a normal person , there"s nothing about me that could make me a Blessed!" she stated, taking her first gla.s.s of beer and downing it in a single motion.
"There is, something far more impressive than you imagine. However, you just don"t know that yet," Noah said as it finally clicked on him what had happened on the car as he waited for her to grab her things. "There"s a whole lot more about being a blessed than being strong. For years, I was as strong as a normal human being. I had no skills, no power, no strength, nothing. I was an F Rank Blessed that most people pittied as I dove with them into the fortresses," he spoke with anger and frustration, but also a hint of happiness that threw her off.
"You did...?" she murmured, eyes wide, as she heard him speak.
"I was the weakest Blessed anyone had ever seen. Maggie was still terminally ill, I was still far from paying my mother"s debt, and I had to go to Fortresses every single chance I had, while still doing all the odd jobs I could so I ha a way to buy food," Noah said, making Al more and more immersed into his story.
"You know, even though I knew I had a bright future as a blessed, I could tell n.o.body about it, nor use any power. The G.o.d who gave me my blessing forced me to go through all of that, only to see if I was worthy of having his power," Noah"s eyes shone, as he looked straight into her eyes. "Sometimes, our Blessings may feel and look like the worst of curses because we have not yet had the chance to polish them and let them shine," he said, before drinking his beer. "I called a driver to take us home when I finish, but you must always remember this. I have a power that can detect anyone around me or close to me, or even staring at me from afar. But earlier today, you scared me and hit the car window without me noticing you at all. I had only ever had one other person manage to do that to me, and it scared the s.h.i.t out of me," he said, making Al go pale.
"Isn"t that right, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" he asked n.o.body, putting his gla.s.s of beer down.
"Tsc, Why do you have to be such a b.a.s.t.a.r.d?" A female voice rang after a tongue click right next to her, making Al look to the side wide-eyed, and acknowledge the arrival of a guest, yet, she knew the person very well.
"Sis...ter?"