The Arcadia System - Chapter 224

He left her.

In this lonely part of the coven, buried in a tower that stood alone, a lady wiped off the last of her tears.

Her thoughts resounded once more in her mind, ‘He left me.’

As she stared at the ground, her pupils dilated and her eyes lost all light.

He left her.

She had waited for decades, prepared for his destined arrival, and yet he left her.

Marya’s eyes found their way to the paintings. She looked at the perfection that was her handiwork and nervously said, “He is coming back, isn’t he? He had to come back.”

She lay on the cold floor and kept quiet.

Reve had been her focal point throughout her mental outbreaks. He had been her light. Hence, she adored him with all her heart.

This made it even more painful when he left her. She had thought they could spend a few more days together.

“I should have expected this. No one wants me. No one wants to associate with the crazy lady,” wept Marya.

“Could it be that Reve is the same as the others? But the voices….the voices assured that he was special…that he wouldn’t look at my defect,” vocally thought Marya.

It never occurred to her that perhaps Reve left not because of her craziness but, instead, because he got what he wanted.

Moreover, her desire to make him stay was truly insane as there was no reason for him to stay.

Marya shook her head, “No, Reve is not the others. He obviously had something to do. Yes, he is behind them!”

She reassured herself with words she wasn’t sure of.

All that mattered was that her perspective of the only person that kept her sane enough didn’t change.

Suddenly, she looked ahead of her towards the open door. Her acute senses picked up on something or someone heading towards her door.

Shades of color came back to her pale face as a smile blossomed on her face. She looked the most beautiful when smiling.

.

.

.

.

Standing beside the large door of the tower, Reve sighed, “Just why am I here?”

Amaya muttered a few words before disappearing, “Thank you, Reve Amethyst.”

Meanwhile, Reve ignored her and pushed the door open. As he advanced towards the upper floor, this time, the change in the situation had allowed him to notice the details put in the indistinct paintings.

The first time he was here, Reve thought it was a failed sketch.

….but now, the painting seemed intentional. He didn’t know why though but that much he was sure of.

Reve found his way upstairs where he spotted the figure of Marya laying on the cold floor. It seemed that she heard his footsteps but didn’t react to it.

She only curled her body and spoke quietly, “Why are you here?”

“I have some questions,” responded Reve.

Marya turned her head to look at him, “What kind of questions?”

Her pure red eyes reflected in his eyes and he got enthralled by it, “You have spoken to the voices before?”

“Yes.”

Reve was baffled, “You have the ability to do that.”

“It is more technical than you think. I have to ability to sometimes listen, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t talk,” explained Marya.

“So, they don’t speak to you?”

Marya released a short laugh, “They don’t speak to anyone. I reckon that why they spoke to me was because they wanted to groom me for their kaya, who they had many words for.”

“Oh….”

Wait….wasn’t he their kaya?

He had no idea what the word meant but he had acquiesced to assuming the identity some years ago when he was on the verge of death.

‘Heh…..to think that something related to that event would surface many years later.’

Understanding that this was going to take long, Reve sat on one of the chairs and continued the conversation with one particular word that Marya said.

“Grooming? For me?” wondered Reve.

Marya’s face beamed as her words became faster, “They said their kaya would need an assistant and they found me worthy of assistance.”

“Oh…”

“I assure you. I have learned many things that do not contradict your skillset. I can be of assistance.”

Reve felt a headache coming his way, “So, the voices, can you still hear them?”

“No, they stopped talking to me a long time ago, but this is what they want. They had told me everything about you, filled my mind with dreams. You became my knight in shining armor and my sole compass in troubling times. Don’t you understand? I was saved by you. After a while, I didn’t need the voices anymore. I began seeing visions of you. Moments when you smiled. Moments when you cried. Moments when you faltered and moments when you stood tall against all the odds,” confessed Marya.

Reve pondered, ‘Well, that explains a lot. Such obsession is even more deranged, even more than streaks of mental instability.’

His mind tried to grasp the entirety of what Marya revealed to him.

There were many things to focus on.

Was it the fact that the voices still watched him? Or the fact that they groomed someone for him?

Marya smiled, “Don’t you see it? We have become bound. The only visions I see that doesn’t end with death are yours.”

“Hmm…..” mouthed Reve.

That might be the case.

To think that someone would be well capable of spying at him without him noticing.

Reve smiled inwardly. ‘This lady is becoming more interesting…Damn, my chaotic side is showing!’

He said after much thought, “Alright.”

“Alright, what?”

“You win.”

“What did I win?”

Reve twitched his face, “I don’t know. What do you want?”

“I want to be by your side,” blushed Marya.

Seeing this strange action, Reve mentally made note to be careful around the mad lady.

“Regretfully, I am not in a position to allow that right now.”

“Oh, I know. Dragontail, truly an exotic potion. What more is the fact that it was crafted by the Immortal Witch herself. Oh, such an item of legendary origin. Do you know why it is called dragontail? Legend says that the tail of a dragon…..”

“Hmm…..”

Would she ever stop talking?