Heart-Less

Chapter 24

Nic didn't understand why Ada was so reluctant to have her visit. Her house wasn't messy, in fact, it was way neater than her old one. The living room was spotless, apart from a book lying on the low table.

"Why don't you have a sofa? What am I suppose to jump on?"

"No jumping please," Ada said and rolled her eyes. But the smile in her voice completely negated any admonishment she wanted to give. "The neighbours will complain to the landlord, and let's not make me search for a new house at this moment."

"Fine. Make me a cup of tea?"

Ada raised an eyebrow. "Just after a tea ceremony?"

"Of course," Nic said, sitting down on one of the cushions. "Do you know how little I drank back there? The robes were way too tight. And is this the table that can be heated up?"

Ada walked over and flipped a switch. "There, it'll warm up too. I'll go make some tea."

She walked into the kitchen and Nic snuggled under the blanket that was attached to the table. She could feel it slowly heating up and sighed in contentment. Why couldn't they have this in Kaiguo as well?

Nic looked around the room, her eyes finally settling on the book lying on the table, just in front of her. Now that she was close to it, she could see that it was leather-bound. How unusual. She opened it, but it didn't make sense. It was all in symbols and letters that she couldn't read.

"Nic, what are you doing?" Ada's voice rang across the living room. Nic was too distracted by the fact that the voice didn't show shocked that she almost didn't notice the book flying from under her hands into Ada's.

"Ada, what are you doing?" Nic threw Ada's questions back at her. "Actually, how are you doing that? Why did that book fly, that is not part of Sakoku magic. You spent a whole semester complaining about it to me, I know what it's like." Nic knew that she should let Ada speak, but she couldn't stop herself from talking.

"Nic, you need to listen to me," Ada said in a soothing tone. "There's nothing out of the ordinary here. It's just Sakoku magic. You see the window? I opened it so that when the gust of wind flew in, it would fly into my hands. It's nothing, really."

Nic glanced at the window. It was slightly open, but she could have sworn that everything was shut when she came in. It wasn't like Ada to leave a window open. But why would Ada lie to her about this? About calling a book to her.

Calling something to her.

"This is Magi magic," Nic said, every word weighing a ton. "Why can you do Magi magic?"

"It's not, promise." Ada looked so sincere, Nic wanted to believe her. "Please, Nic, it's just a form of Sakoku magic. You have to keep this a secret."

"At least tell me more."

Ada shook her head, tears almost coming out. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you. You'd just tell your audience, and I'm not allowed to do that."

"I won't. I promise. Just help me understand," Nic pleaded with her. She needed to understand this. She needed to understand her best friend again. This was not her best friend standing in front of her. "You can trust me, I swear."

Ada's face blanked out for a moment. Then it changed into one of deep sadness. "No, Nic, I can't trust you," Ada said, her voice choking. "You and I both know that you will not hesitate to do anything to keep you viral, and this would keep you viral for forever. I can't tell you."

Instinctively, Nic felt herself take a step forward. She wanted to hug Ada and tell her everything was okay, that she would stop questioning. But before she could do anything, Ada's blank face flashed in her mind.