Fort Callibus (IN HEAVY REPAIR)

Chapter 8

I woke up in the morning dark with my arms empty. The world was still blue. Nami was gone. I sighed and looked around. I expected to see nothing. But no, I saw her kneeling by the duffle bag pulling out shirt after shirt. She sat back and looked up into the sky.

“I’m sorry, Yuki!” She yelled. “Please come back…come back.” She sniffled. My eyes widened.

“Nami.” I whispered. I ran over to her, a feeling of sadness coming over me when I saw her tear blotched face, and placed a hand on her cheek. “Listen to me, I’m sorry. Please, hear me, listen to me.” She looked around and wiped her tears away.

“I miss you.” She whispered.

“I know.” I knew she couldn’t hear me, but I said it anyway.

“What am I doing?” She asked herself. “He doesn’t even care. That’s why he left. I’m on my own now…but I have to keep training. I can do this.” She took a deep breath and got up. I watched her intently, wishing she could see me, hear me. She took off, running faster than I’ve ever seen her run before. I followed after, keeping up easily for some reason. I stared at her dazed face. What am I doing? Why am I feeling this?

I stopped. What is going on?

“Aerilyn! Where are you?” I shouted.

“Right here.” She said from behind me.

I whirled around and glared at her. “What is wrong with me? What did you do?!”

“I did nothing.” She replied softly. “It is you who chose to feel this way.”

“No, you’re messing with my head. That’s what you’re doing. You’re a witch.”

“Bold statement.” She scoffed softly. The expression made her look even better, if that was possible.

“What’s happening! Tell me!” I yelled.

She sighed and looked me straight in the eyes. “In the spirit world, you are exposed to all of your feelings, the shallow and the deep. Right now, you are feeling an attraction to Nami because even though it is something you have hidden, it is something you have felt all along.”

“That’s bullshit. She’s only a person to me. Just someone who I got stuck with. That’s all.”

“Or is it really?” Aerilyn started to fade into the blue.

“Where are you going? AERILYN!”

She only left with a smile, lost in the soft blue hue of this world. I sighed and sat down on the ground. What the hell is going on? I don’t feel anything for that twit. She’s just a person. A very special person…but still just a person. I barely even know her! Why the hell would I feel something for her after a few days? The memory of the ember of desire that rested in my chest came back to me. Shit. Stupid hormones…but is it really hormones? UGH! I rested my head in my hands, ruffling up my hair. What am I going to do? How am I going to survive?

Footsteps padded in the distance. That should be Nami. I got up and stood in the way of her path, plotting to knock her down when she ran into me. That’s sure to give her a scare. She’s the only yellow thing in this blue color. She’s easy to spot. She got closer and closer until she was only a few inches away. Then she stopped. She looked straight at my face. Can she see me? She brought up her hand.

“Nami?” I whispered. She looked around frantically as if…she heard something…

“Nami!” I yelled. She looked around again. She took a deep breath and shot her hand out.

It went right through me. Like I was a phantom. Funny thing is, I felt it. It was in my lungs. But I didn’t struggle to breathe. No, it didn’t affect me at all. Nami squeezed her eyes shut.