Starting Life From Another Choice Than Zero

Chapter 14 - Ilma And Irma

Perhaps it was the blistering heat of the scorching sun, alternatively, it could also be the sudden divulging of the predicament beset against him, regardless, Subaru found a ceaseless chatter unable to leave his mind barren.

An indecipherable wave of pure chaos, one where sense and meaning fail to find form. Comprehension swept away in a roaring tide of anxiety and dread.

Where his feet trod towards, he barely even acknowledged. All focus and attention usurped by the trepidation of what lies before him tomorrow.

"This is crazy... this is crazy!" He snapped in a hoarse whisper, clutching a few strands of hair, with his head casting downwards to the cobblestone street.

Then behind him, a voice. "Crazy? It's really quite a simple task, at least compared to what the rest of us are doing, Subaru-kun."

Subaru felt the resounding slam of a free-fall of nerves deep within his stomach. Elsa trailing closely, confronted his hasten turn backward.

"What... what are you-?"

"My job, Subaru-kun," said Elsa, filling the gap of words. "A close eye, a close sight. You'll find I can be rather - tenacious... when it comes to fulfilling my task."

Subaru turned a corner, Elsa clinging by with distance marginal, fronting them, came a horde of citizens.

"Aren't you a wanted person? What if you're seen?" asked Subaru, as they pace ever closer to the crowd.

An amused giggle slithered through sealed lips. "People can look all through their lives and see absolutely nothing. Normalcy hides malevolence very well, especially if no one wants to see it."

They walked on through the dozens, bearing smiles, sounding laughter, going about their days without burden, without thought to any abnormality in sight.

"See? People don't see unless they want to." Elsa spoke, the clueless mob far behind them now.

Rushing forward, favoring silence, Subaru trudged on, attempting to retrace steps back to the fountain, where he parted with Kris, hoping beyond hope he'd be there and, catching sight of Elsa, would immediately call upon the guards for aid.

Foolish it may be to hope for nigh impossibility, Subaru could care less, fleeting improbabilities was all that could rid the parasite that stuck to him close.

"Your clothes..." Elsa reached, her tight grasp tugged at his shoulder, "dry blood is sticking to it."

Swift, boorish movement pried him loose from her clutches, and he turned to face her, "yeah, no thanks to you."

"We can't have that." Elsa eyed the narrow incision at his throat, encrusted by a thin clot, below it, a blotch of brown smudged the area where skin and fabric meet. "Change your clothes."

"Change my - with what?!" exclaimed Subaru, his arms outstretched, emphasizing the nothingness he carried.

"We'll find something..." muttered Elsa, already scouring the premises that were within vicinity.

"Don't steal anything... I don't need my face in the newspapers too," said Subaru, catching sight of the glimmer in the deep violet of her eyes.

"My... fame too bothersome a thing to tolerate, then? Notoriety might suit you actually... given your mission. Now stay put," She began heading to a building across the street, "I'll be back sooner than you think."

Subaru witnessed her steps, watched her weave gracefully across the heavy masses of denizens, shrinking in discernibility evermore before vanishing through a doorway just as it swung to a close. A minute. Two minutes. Then it was three. Every moment in every second, Subaru anticipated her emergence from the premises, only to find the wooden door shut tightly still without even a creak.