Cosmic Aeons

Bloody lies (26)

Viridian then looked at the watch on his wrist and concluded: „We have to go now, Haru.“
Haruki seemed slightly surprised. „Is it that late already?“, she asked quietly.
When I properly listened to her voice, I realized how…dead it sounded.
Almost like she had been beaten to death.
Kai already sounded dead, but Haruki was somehow worse.
And considering how tired she looked in combination…I was convinced I was standing in front of a zombie.
But zombies don't exist…Or at least not that I would know of it.
Viridian didn't answer Haruki's question and only turned around to leave.
Haruki looked at us for a moment, then she advised: „You should probably see to it that you don't bleed out.“
After that, she left.
There were a few moments of silence between us.
„So…you-“, I begun, but I was quickly cut off by Aeon, who said: „Don't talk to me.“
„…But-“, I added but he cut me off again by saying: „You said you weren't going any more questions. I expect you to stand to that.“
I averted my eyes while he left to go think, I assume.
I wasn't particularly stoked to have to ask Kai if he was the one who's the cause of Aeon's wounds.
I wouldn't expect someone like him to be particularly happy about being doubted like that but I also couldn't quite put something hurting someone because it benefits him past him.
So I had to find him which wasn't exactly an easy task in this house. How did Ruby ever manage to navigate this huge house? When I eventually found him, he was alone which was awfully convenient for me. Even if scary because I didn't know how he would react to me asking him if he had done something to Aeon.
I tried to put my concerns aside and slowly approached Kai.
Expression as empty as ever, he was looking through a stack of what was probably a bunch of incomprehensible documents of which he had too many at a desk, but he was…standing? People involved with politics are really weird… I also noted that there was no blood in his hair...probably because he had gotten rid of it beforehand. Probably probably.
I had to stop myself from flinching when he suddenly looked in my direction.
His eyes were only half open which made him look tired, though if he really was tired or not was hard to tell.
„Shouldn't you be sleeping by how or did that nap you just had keep you awake?“, he asked.
I could tell he didn't actually care why I was still awake, he was only concerned with the fact THAT I was still awake.
„I've got better things to do than sleep right now…“, I explained.
Kai looked back at the papers and stated: „Suit yourself. Just don't fall asleep in the middle of walking like Luther sometimes does.“ Luther…hearing his name threw me back to when I first met him, Tenshi and Lillian.
He was nice, but his personality was washed out kind of like Kai's, just that Kai was worse than Luther.
Still, nothing in comparison to the enthusiasm from Lillian and Tenshi. Though to be fair, they were about ten years younger than Luther.
I realized I was getting off tracked so I said: „Um…Kai, I wanted to…ask you something.“
Kai hesitated for a moment. „Shoot", he replied without looking at me.
„Did y…Do you know why Aeon is hurt?“, I stuttered nervously.
I wanted to ask if Kai had attacked Aeon, but couldn't get myself to say it.
Kai stopped looking at the papers and stared at something in front of him instead.
„He's hurt, is he?“, he said quietly. He had an unreadable yet intimidating expression on his face.
I nodded slowly.
„Yes, that was me. I tried to kill him.“ …W h a t ?
Where in the world did that come from!? „I assume that was what you wanted to hear“, he added while glancing in my direction.
„What…I wanted to… hear?“, I repeated nervously.
I felt stunned.
Not because it was Kai who had attacked him, more because, firstly, he had admitted to trying to kill him without making it slightly reasonable, and secondly, he admitted It just like that. Why? Was he lying…or faking it ?
I couldn't see Kai actually feeling the urge to kill someone if it wasn't in self defense.
He wasn't a particularly violent person... „Y-you…“, I begun, but my voice gave out. „Yes, it's my fault“, he claimed, „now shoo, I have work to do.“
It felt like I had to force myself to turn around and leave.
I would've probably kept staring at him in shock if he hadn't told me to leave.
I started wandering ground aimlessly while I let my thoughts race. So according to what Kai said, he wanted to kill Aeon. But why? Does it have something to do with Aeon‘s status? It didn't seem like Kai knew Aeon, but Aeon on the other hand seemed to have some level of familiarity towards him…though faint.
I got worried.
Would Kai actually go that far? He's not a particularly violent person, despite his rather threatening demeanor, like I said...I've only ever seen him attack people in retaliation.
Though I guess that didn‘t mean that he was a good person per se. I was so lost in thought that I almost ran into Cris, so he stopped me and said: „Cosmo, watch where you're going!“
I was dazed from being brought back into reality so suddenly.
I blinked a couple of times.
Cris, Lucien and Kyle were standing in the hallway in front of me, they were probably talking about something before I interrupted them.
Kyle smiled. „Daydreaming while walking? That's something I haven't seen before“, he said, „is everything alright? You seem a little lost in thought.“
„I'm just concerned about something“, I explained quietly.
Lucien curiously tilted his head. „About what?“, he pried.
„Kai“, I replied quietly.
Kyle suddenly seemed a lot wider awake than before. „…Kai?“, he repeated quietly.
Cris sighed. „He's been behaving kinda weird", he claimed.
I heard Lucien chuckle.
„Isn't he always like that?“, he asked in an amused tone. I don‘t think trying to kill someone…or at least claiming that you did is considered „behaving kinda weird“. Cris shook his head. „Maybe to you“, he said while gazing in Lucien‘s direction, „but you don‘t see him regularly every month.“
Lucien rolled his eyes. „You don't need to take everything so seriously“, he teased.
Cris seemed to gloss over his remark.
„He was frantically muttering comething to himself when I last saw him and he seemed kinda tense on occasion…his eyes were even more glassy than usual“, he rambled slowly before pausing, seeming lost in thought.
„Haruki said he had blood in his hair…“, I commented quietly.
Cris, Lucien and Kyle all abruptly turned their heads towards me.
Lucien seemed to get over his surprise much quicker than Cris and Kyle did.
Maybe he was a bit more carefree as a dead person.
„ln his hair?! What'd he do? Bash his head in?", he asked in a joking tone that felt a little out of place.
Kyle laughed nervously. „No, no, he wouldn't…do that…“, he claimed with a shaky voice. The longer his own sentence seemed to sit with him, the more unsure he seemed to be of his own words.
Cris already seemed to be on a new thought train, the one I was more aiming to set into motion.
„But that would mean…“, he mumbled slowly, seeming to come to multiple conclusions in his head, „it would've had to have been someone else's blood…“
Kyle shuddered.
Lucien sighed, shrugged and said: „Who cares? He's never going to admit to killing someone anyway!" I might have corrected him but I was still too far in disbelief.
But he wasn‘t exactly wrong either. He would have never admitted to something like that…unless I just didn‘t understand him properly. Cris averted his eyes and crossed his arms. „Not if I have anything to do with it“, he said in a threatening tone.
Lucien glanced in his direction, „You‘re not actually thinking about confronting that lunatic, are you?“, he asked.
Cris closed his eyes. „That's exactly what I'm going to do“, he responded.
Lucien seemed mildly concerned. „Please don't“, he said quietly, „I'd prefer to keep you alive for now…“
Cris chuckled. „I‘m pretty sure I‘ve been in more dangerous situations before, Lucien. Talking to someone is probably not one of the most dangerous situations I‘ll ever be in“, he claimed, „plus I have something else that's overdue talking about with him, so I'd have to get around to this anyway.“
Lucien sighed. „Well, if you're so hellbent on it…I guess there's no stopping you“, he concluded. Cris smiled, seeming content that he didn't have to convince Lucien. „That's right“, he responded, and after a moment of thinking about it, I added: „I don‘t think he‘s much for conversation right now…He told me to go away after just a sentence or two…“
Cris vaguely nodded. „Yup, that sounds like him“, he commented quietly.
Cris seemed to think for a moment, then he asked: „Where was Kai when you last saw him?“ „I don't remember…It's some room down the hall I think“, I responded, „he was looking through some papers.“
Shortly after I said that, Cris withdrew from our conversation and left.
Kyle shuddered again. „I have…I don't have the best feeling about this“, he stated nervously.
Lucien nodded slowly. „I don‘t think he likes it when people doubt him“, he said quietly.
That couldn't be more true, especially considering that the last time I tried to confront him about something…well, it didn‘t go so well.