Soul Chains

Chapter 19: Emotional Dissonance

A few hours later as we're getting ready to leave, I notice Shitau sitting on the couch in the living room with his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees. His blue-green eyes are downcast and he seems extremely sad. I frown and make my way over to him, deciding to sit next to him. He glances over at me in surprise before sighing and going back to his original position.

"What's up?" I attempt making conversation with him as the others shuffle around throughout the rooms.

"Nothing," Shitau sighs, "it's just...I don't think I'm cut out for this."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I'm not very useful," Shitau shrugs, "I never have been."

"I'm sure that's not true," I offer.

"Yeah," Shitau laughs dryly, "because everyone wants to bring along someone who can't contribute, has extreme anxiety, and depression."

"Hey," I nudge him in the arm and he turns to look at me, "we all have our struggles. It's how you deal with them that matters. Besides, you seem pretty cool to me."

Shitau smiles sadly as I stand up and head over to the kitchen and I notice Kaltrina watching me carefully.

"Why did you do that?" Kaltrina asks and I turn over my shoulder to see her standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

"Why did I do what?" I ask.

"You know," Kaltrina shrugs, stepping further into the kitchen, "why did you feel the need to talk to him?"

"Because," I shrug as I reach up to one of the cabinets and pull out a glass, "I thought he could use the company. Plus, I wasn't lying. I think Shitau needs to give himself more credit."

"I see..." Kaltrina trails off as I turn on the sink and fill the glass up with tap water, "well, I'm glad that you did. He really could use a friend like you."

I smile to myself as Kaltrina turns around and leaves the kitchen while I shut off the sink. I tilt the glass up to my lips and take a few drinks before placing the glass down in the sink and I sigh, thinking back to a few hours ago.

"Gabriel," Melantha startled me as I was exiting Reine's room, her hands nervously fidgeting together, "can I talk to you?"

"Sure," I shrugged, wondering what was so important.

The two of us walked to our room and Melantha shut the door behind us, leaning against it and sighing.

"You seem to be getting very close with Reine," Melantha stated.

"Huh?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "well, I'd like to think we're becoming friends. Why?"

"Nothing," Melantha shrugged and glanced off to the side, crossing her arms against her chest, "I just don't know if that's a good idea."

"What?" I made a face of confusion, "why not?"

"I just...don't know if she's good for you, that's all," Melantha sighed.

"Melantha, where's this coming from?" I frowned, "Reine is perfectly fine--"

"She just...she seems like the type of person to get close to you and leave you. She seems cold in that regard. She's able to open up to people she cares about, but she's also able to leave them behind if she has to. She's far too independent."

"What?" I exclaimed, "that's ridiculous."

"Fine," Melantha sighed, "don't take my word for it. I just...wanted to warn you. I don't want to see you get hurt, Gabriel."

I shake myself out of my thoughts and sigh once more, deciding I should probably go and find the others. As I'm in the process of turning to leave the kitchen, I find Ayette standing beside me and I jump in surprise.

"How long were you standing there?" I sigh.

"A while," Ayette shrugs, "we're ready to leave. I wanted to come tell you that most of us have gathered outside."

"Alright," I sigh, walking passed Ayette as she smiles tiredly at me.

I head to my room and grab my things before following Ayette out the house to find the others all standing in a group together.

"About time," Nathan chuckles.

"Shut up," I roll my eyes and punch Nathan in the shoulder after I walk over to him.

"Are we ready?" Aislinn asks.

"Aislinn is going to open a portal to Summer for us," Reine explains, "it's similar to the one I used to get us here."

"Be prepared for anything when we arrive in Summer," Dimitri states, "who knows what's happening there."

Reine watches Dimitri fondly as he talks and I smile, knowing that she knows he truly cares about her deep down.

"Let's go!" Melantha cheers.

"Yeah!" Ciana fist pumps the air and jumps up.

"Great, more danger," Renee sighs.

"We'll be okay as long as we're together," Renji smiles fondly at Renee and she smiles back, nodding, but her eyes say that it's him she's worried about, not herself.

"Let's go, then," Reine nods.

Aislinn summons her longsword and does the same pattern she did earlier when she sent Adrienne to the Iegashyia prison, a portal forming in the air once she's done.

"This portal will lead to the main city of the Summer Sector, which is where the festivals are held," Aislinn explains, "my portals act as gateways, but I can only make them appear in certain places."

We all head through the portal before it closes and upon arrival, my eyes widen. Suddenly, instead of it being the late evening, I find myself staring at the night sky in the middle of a busy town street. Reine grabs my arm and pulls me to the side harshly, pulling me out of the way of a bicyclist and onto the sidewalk underneath a shaded area with wooden posts holding up the roof.

"Woah," Melantha breathes out, "it's so pretty."

"Yeah..." I trail off in agreement.

Strings of paper lanterns that are adorned with unfamiliar symbols are strung between buildings and hang over the streets, glowing brightly in the nighttime. The street we're on has multiple wooden structures and booths, as well as a tan road made of cobblestone and there are several potted bamboo plants and lotus flowers by the buildings in various corners and crevices.

"Do you have any idea where Tsukumi would be?" Dimitri asks Shitau and Kaltrina.

"I'm not sure," Shitau frowns, "she usually never stays in once place for very long...but she loved the festival season."

"Let's split up," Renji suggests, "we could cover more ground that way."

"Fine," Dimitri sighs, "Renee, Renji, Ciana, Aislinn, Shitau, Kaltrina, you guys take the left side of the city. The rest of us will go right. We'll meet up here after scanning the area, got it?"

"Understood," Renji nods in agreement and the others comply as well.

"Let's do this!" Ciana shouts and takes off in a run down the street.

"Hey, wait! Get back here, you pyromaniac!" Renee shouts and takes off after Ciana, the others following suit.

"Well," Dimitri sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "are we ready?"

"Ready as we'll ever be," I laugh nervously.

"Let's go, then," Reine nods and the six of us set off for the right side of the city.