Cross Worlds (Hiatus)

Chapter 60: "Demons of the Past"

"So, where exactly have you been for the past couple of hours?" Emica's voice sounds from around the corner as Riku Fantasy returns to "his" world.

Riku Fantasy stares at the end of the alleyway, glaring ever so slightly. "Did you follow me or something, Emica? I thought all the members of Artemis had a right to their own privacy?" Thankfully, he's already healed his wounds from the fight with what magic he had left.

Emica turns around, revealing herself at the entryway of the alleyway beside the Artemis building. "Yes, you do, but if one of our members starts doing some suspicious activities, like going into an alleyway and completely vanishing for over two hours, on several different occasions no less, am I simply supposed to ignore that?" Emica scratches the back of her head. "What's the deal anyway? I thought you had elemental manipulation. Is teleportation a part of that somehow?" She tilts her head. "I suppose I can see some ways you could travel super fast with use of all those elements..."

"Fair point." Riku crosses his arms. He doesn't say it out loud, but he quickly grows somewhat nervous. "What am I supposed to say..? I've already told Kenji and Eli about my true identity. If I tell Emica too, that's three people I'm potentially putting in danger..."

He quickly narrows his eyes however, meeting Emica's gaze. "What are you gonna do if I don't wish to tell you? You don't plan on locking me up or anything, right? Cuz I will fight against that."

Emica chuckles and shakes her head. "No, of course not. After all you've done for us, for me, I could never do something like that to you." She sighs heavily and gives Riku a playful pouty face. "I guess I'd just be a little bit upset that you didn't tell me is all~" She coos.

Riku rolls his eyes in response and walks over to her, not looking at her as he fully walks past her. He stops right behind her as he speaks his next words, "Listen, I know the two of us may not have the greatest relationship or whatever, but I need you to trust me when I tell you this: I can't tell you about this. Not now and maybe not ever. This isn't for my sake, it's for yours, Emica."

Emica doesn't look back at him, crossing her own arms now. "Do you believe that I can't handle myself?"

"I'm well aware you can handle yourself, trust me. This isn't like those other times. This is something even an army of us might not be able to handle. So please, don't ask me again, okay?" Riku doesn't wait for her answer before walking inside.

Emica turns and watches as he walks away, frowning. "Just what aren't you telling me, Fumiya..? Is it really just because you don't trust me...or..?"

Riku sits in his room, simply waiting for Riku Reality to return his messages. The messages themselves were quite simple, "I know you need time to recover mentally and physically from everything you just went through. However, there are things we need to talk about.", "When you feel ready, get ready to go to The Cross and let me know when you go.", "Don't feel like you need to push yourself, but it is rather urgent. Me going back to my home world in your body didn't come without a cost. Riki will tell you when you get there.", and finally, "Message me as soon as you can so I know you're alright too. Okay? I'll be waiting."

Riku stares at the message logs on his watch in silence, sighing as he lets his arm drape over his eyes. "...Fuck." Both the battle and Artemis' words ring through his mind like an annoying alarm you can't turn off. "I know I had no choice, but I can't believe myself. How could I say those things to Reality..?!" He jumps out of bed and throws his pillow at the wall. "Fucking damnit! Shit!"

He pants for a moment, trying to calm his racing heart, but he can't calm down. He runs a hand through his hair, staring at the palm of his hand. He can still see that magic circle there, the one that appears when he transforms. "The last thing I should be doing right now is overexerting myself, but I can't relax at all... I need to go do something."