Ask the Sinners

Re_Birthday

  The Re_Birthday was working exactly as Behemo had said it would. At least, I think it was working. To be fair, I didn't really know if it was correct.

  Riliane was dancing with me right now, so I don't think anything else mattered. We were waiting for the Fourth Period to be made, and we just began dancing because we were bored.

  "Alexiel," she scolded, "you just stepped on my foot." There was a light in her eyes I hadn't seen before. Not even when something went her way.

  "Oh, sorry." I must have been really distracted. "Hey, Ril, what if this doesn't work? I mean, I trust Behemo, but there's still a chance it wouldn't work, you know? I guess I just want to be careful. Neither one of us knows what this is like."

  She hummed as I twirled her around. "We'll see, Allen. But for now, I wouldn't mind dancing with you. With you actually present."

  I took the hint and continued our waltz. But my mind was unable to leave the topic alone. In my mind, I was trying to plead with myself that this could work. It had been done before according to Behemo. Then again, Levia told me that he had played some tricks on his coworkers before.

  In the gentle moonlight, Riliane looked like an angel. She was looking at me with an expression I had a hard time recognizing. Maybe it was excitement. Maybe it was hope. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

  This Re_Birthday had to work. It just had to. I wanted to be in the next world as soon as possible. Earlier this evening, I had talked to Nemesis, who had been dancing with her father. She had said that she and Nyoze would pass on, too.

  So had Clarith and Michaela. Riliane had told me about those two.

  There were two people missing. Two people I would have liked to talk to again. Hansel and Gretel.

  Hansel was someone who had helped me, and I had learned that Gretel had been Ney....my other older sister.

  But they were nowhere to be found. None of the guests had seen them anywhere. I figured that they had gone someplace else for a while.

  "I talked to Kyle that night," Riliane said casually. "I apologized for everything I had done to him."

  "And he forgave you?" I asked. It was hard to imagine that he would do such a thing. Then again, he wasn't someone who held grudges for a long time.

  She looked away. "He understood. And then he told me that he had also been possessed. Twice," she added on hurriedly. "By Pride....and also by Lust before then. That was why he loved Michaela."

  "Oh," was all I could say. I had no other words for this.

  My sister shrugged. "We agreed that it wasn't on our own will, so it doesn't matter. Anyways, how's that friend of yours? I think you said her name was Nemesis."

  I batted her nose. "You remember her. You knew her."

  Riliane glared at me playfully. "I do try to forget about that." Another hum escaped her lips, and she giggled lightly. "I don't want to think about that time. So, tell me. Did you two get along?"

  That forced me to think, something I didn't want to be doing right now. Nemesis had been.....

  "Stubborn," I finally said, finishing my train of thought out loud. "She was so stubborn, not really selfish, but I think she could be at times. When I first met her, she wasn't in the best condition."

"What do you mean?" Riliane tilted her head, shadows being cast down her face and her neck. She looked so eerie like that. 

  I shrugged. "Her soul and body had separated, and she was unable to do anything. I managed to get Levia to fix her. Thank god. She really wasn't doing well."

  Then we moved apart, and Riliane spun around. Her dress caught on the roses surrounding our dance floor. With a little curtsy, Riliane took my hand again, leading me this time. She was always doing that when we were younger.

   "I heard that she's going with us. Maybe we can hang out in Fourth Period." Her eyes reflected the moonlight, and I was reminded of when Ma took over her body.

   "Yeah, maybe," I agreed.

   After I said that, I saw the portal to take us from one Period to the next. Gesturing to it, I followed that by pulling Rili into a hug. She hummed again.

  Within a few minutes, we had snuck away from the party. We shared one final glance before stepping forward. A bright light enveloped us, and with that, the end of the servant and the princess arrived.