The Myth of the White Snake

第二章

Adrien trailed behind Nino with his hands in his jean pockets as he watched his friend take multiple pictures of the shining lake that sparkled underneath the sunlight.

"This bridge is usually crowding with tourists," Nino said, "No idea why nobody's here, but we might as well take advantage of how empty it is right now"

"Maybe my father would have enjoyed coming here at a time like this," Adrien mumbled, "After all, he's hardly even around his own son"

Adrien walked over to the stone railing and sat down on top of it. Nino lowered his phone after snapping one last picture of the lake and looked at Adrien.

"I'm sorry man, your father seems like a boring ass dude," Nino said.

Adrien laughed lightly at Nino's statement. He wasn't even offended, he actually agreed. His father might as well be the most antisocial person in the world, not to mention his weird obsession with trying to kill this weird snake demon that's probably just a myth.

"It doesn't really matter," Adrien said, "I'll probably move out in a couple months anyways depending on how long my father wants to stay here"

Adrien tilted his head upwards and squinted at the blinding, light blue sky above him. The white clouds rolled by while the gentle breeze ruffled through his golden locks and clothes.

"You shouldn't sit on the railing like that," Nino advised.

"What, do you think I'm gonna fall?" Adrien laughed, "Dude, relax. You're acting more protective than my father"

Nino rolled his eyes, "Well, I'm not looking forward to swimming if you do fall"

"I'll be fine," Adrien said, "Besides—"

Adrien was cut-off when he felt something hairy tickle the top of his hand. Adrien blinked and slowly turned his head to look at the source of this sudden disturbance. On the railing beside him sat an inhumanely large spider that looked like something right out of a nightmare, staring straight at him with those black, beady eyes and fangs.

With his eyes enlarged in panic, Adrien jumped and screamed at the top of his lungs. Before he could do anything else, his body toppled backwards on top of the railing, where nothing was there to stop him from falling over. His panic fest only increased as he descended through the air and landed in the icy cold water with a large splash. Nino quickly scrambled to the railing and looked over, his heart pounding heavily in his chest.

"Bro!"

This was bad. This was really bad. Nino pushed himself off the railing and ran off along the bridge.

In the distance, Alya and Marinette had watched all the action unfold. Marinette's mouth dropped open upon witnessing the fall, while Alya only burst out laughing. However, her laughing fit was stopped when Marinette turned full human and rose to her feet. Her majestic, white hanfu flowed behind her. Before Alya could say anything, her best friend was already running to the edge of the lake.

Marinette jumped into the lake, where all outside sounds were instantly drowned out as water entered her ears. With her sense of hearing blurred, Marinette saw Adrien's body sinking deeper and deeper towards the bottom of the lake. Marinette swiftly swam towards the handsome blond and caught his limp body in her arms. She made her way back to the shore and dragged his soaking body up onto the land.

A gargling sound came from Adrien's lips, followed by coughing as water pooled out of his mouth. Marinette let out a sigh of relief as his eyelids rose up, revealing a pair of emerald green eyes that struck her the moment she laid eyes on them. Marinette smiled at the boy, and his lips parted at the sight of her.

However, their moment was cut short when Nino's voice rang from the distance, calling out for Adrien. Marinette jumped to her feet and quickly dashed out of view without saying a single word to Adrien. Confused, Adrien sat up and scanned the area around him. Nino came into view, ran over to his soaking best friend, and knelt down by his side.

"Hey man, you alright?"

Adrien gave him a nod. Then, cold air whipped past the two of them, causing Adrien to shiver underneath his wet clothing. Nino rose to his feet and held a hand out to Adrien.

"Let's head back to the hotel and dry off"

Adrien reached a trembling hand and placed it into Nino's. Nino helped him off the ground, and Adrien kept his eyes glued in the direction of the nearby trees where that strange girl disappeared off to. He retracted his hand from Nino and wrapped his arms around his own body in attempt to stay warm.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Nino commented.

"That girl," Adrien muttered through chattering teeth, "There was some girl in a white dress by my side before you showed up. She saved my life and disappeared"

Nino lifted an eyebrow at his friend, "Have you gone crazy or something? I know it's almost the day of the Qingming Festival, but I don't think that's how it works bud. Let's just go back to the hotel so you can dry off"

Adrien turned back to Nino. Without complaining, he allowed Nino to lead him on the way back to the hotel.

Meanwhile, Marinette had been standing behind a large tree trunk, watching the two young adult boys. She smiled softly as she watched them walk away.

"So his name is Adrien, huh?"

"Girl, what has gotten into you?" Alya's voice said from behind her, "Jumping into the water to save that human boy? You could have gotten caught!"

Marinette turned around to face Alya, who stood there with her arms crossed over her chest. Marinette giggled lightly and leaned her back against the tree trunk.

"At least I can't drown to death," Marinette said, "Besides, there's something about that boy... I can't put my finger on it. It feels like I've seen him somewhere before, too"

Both of Alya's eyebrows shot up so high, Marinette swore they could have popped right out of her head.

"He's a human, Marinette!" Alya exclaimed, "You know that romance between humans and demons can't work out! Not to mention it's extremely dangerous for both parties!"

"He wouldn't know if I was a demon, though, would he?" Marinette asked, "As long as I stay in my human form, nobody could suspect anything. Except maybe a monk, but he doesn't look like he has any association with the monks. I heard him speaking a different language, so he's obviously a foreigner"

Alya let out a sigh of frustration and facepalmed herself. It was no use trying to talk Marinette out of this extremely dangerous choice she was about to make.

Little did Marinette know about the serious consequences that are to come.