Cail opened his eyes. Before he could even relax from the dream, he saw Jael standing at the foot of the bed, just staring at him.
Out of reflex, Cail tossed a pillow at him. Jael fell backward, and Cail had to jump to the other side of the bed to catch him.
The two of them slammed into the floor. Cail hissed. He looked at Jael, who was squirming in his arms, and slapped him hard on the face.
SLAP!
Jael immediately woke up. He saw Cail's angry face looking at him, and he sheepishly looked around. "Uhmm... Sorry. What are you doing here?"
Seeing that Jael was finally back to normal, Cail tossed him onto the floor. He ignored Jael's "ouch" as he leaned on the bed.
"Give me a break," he muttered helplessly. Before he could even recover from his dream, he was jumped by another problem.
Can't they just let him rest? If not for the weirdness about him, any normal person would have collapsed from how many things were happening back to back.
He looked at Jael. He looked normal at first, but when you looked at his eyes, you would notice that he seemed to be a bit slack. It was like he really couldn't process much of what was going on with reality.
Looking at the strangeness in his body, Cail concluded, "They didn't seal or touch anything." It seems like they wanted to use Jael as a pawn. What should I do?
Cail felt exhausted. He guided the dull Jael back into bed and told him to rest. Jael nodded obediently; he could also feel something was off with himself. His head felt cloudy, and his body was a bit weak.
After settling with Jael, Cail looked outside. "It seemed like not much time had passed since I fell asleep." It was still raining.
Was that a dream? A nightmare, perhaps? Or his forgotten memory?
"Whatever. I'm Cail now," he said coldly. As for how he came back alive or what's up with his mother, if the dream was real, then there should be clues.
"Having an existential crisis in the middle of this mess. That's the worst way to go," Cail thought. "What makes a person themselves?"
"My name is Cail, a fickle, narrow-minded bastard who lacks empathy. I love screwing people over and the rush of adrenaline."
People change. When you're a child, you're innocent and clueless about the world, but now that you're an adult, you're scheming and a bit cold because you have been battered by society. Does that mean you are no longer yourself because you change?
Cail had the memory and feelings that came from his experience; that's his basis for what it means to be 'myself.'
"But still, I really need to investigate that dream," he thought. It was a bit suspicious. Without getting to the bottom of it, Cail really couldn't sit still.
He looked at Jael, who was stable for now, so he'd deal with his problem later.
He fixed his clothes and walked out. He could hear the television outside.
Walking downstairs, he stopped when he saw who was still present. "Sirae?"
Yes, she was still here. She was occupying one big couch while Iven and Oris were squeezed together in a small one. They were watching a horror movie.
Cail wanted to run his mouth again, but realized that he needed to observe Sirae to see what she wanted to do.
"Her personality is very different from her actions. Of course, I could be wrong. I don't know her that well. But still..." Her actions warranted attention.
He leaned on the stairs railing. He looked at them and listened to their conversation.
"Your father owned Dotle?" Oris said, feeling very shocked.
You know, Dotle is the largest company in Nyx City; they didn't know that Sirae was a hidden tyrant.
Sirae looked shy. "I don't think there's a difference between us. No need to treat me well because of my background."
Iven felt envy. "That's still great. With a family like that, you'll never experience what it feels like to be hungry your entire life."
Listening to them talking about money and Sirae's background, Cail remembered the money that he stashed away.
"The prices of artifacts have changed. They no longer accept money. I should do something wisely with that cash now."
Oris felt something. He looked up and saw Cail staring at them. He waved and pointed at the seat beside Sirae. "Cail, come here!"
Cail walked down and sat beside Sirae. He had no clue why Oris and Iven didn't sit beside her. Could it be she smelled something? He thought mockingly.
"I hate pictures," Cail said when he noticed Sirae angling the camera at him.
Sirae smiled. "Sorry..." She seemed to have already forgiven Cail's outburst a while ago.
Cail ignored her and watched the movie.
Seeing their interaction, Iven whispered to Oris in envy, "Why does that guy always get the girl's attention?"
Oris hesitated. He stared at Cail's face for a sec before replying, "Cail actually doesn't look that bad. It's just his hair is always unkempt, as if he just woke up, and he always has that frowning, gloomy look on his face as if everyone owes him money."
Iven looked at Cail's face. His mother is a beauty, so Cail is actually good-looking. Just a bit of styling, and he could rival those popular guys at school. Looks? Check! Height? That guy is tall, but not exaggeratedly tall. Check!
As for the body, Iven remembered that time when Cail took off his shirt, and once again, he was overwhelmed with envy. What does that guy do to get such a toned physique at such a young age? (Cail: The answer is crime.)
After listing down the physical advantages, Iven thought that the only flaw this guy had was his personality.
"Even that rigid class monitor pays him special attention." Iven glared at Cail hatefully.
Oris looked at Iven. "Are you sure the class monitor doesn't hate Cail? That was not romantic attraction. She looked like she was about to eat him every time she looked at Cail."
Iven pushed Oris, but because the two of them were stuck inside the small couch, Oris just bounced back into Iven.
Iven glared at him. "Hate is still attention! Those girls don't even treat me like a guy but more like their sister."
Because of how much of a social butterfly Iven was, many girls treated him like the 'guy friend' that prospective partners have.
Oris rolled his eyes at him. Then, just as he was about to argue, his eyes widened when he saw someone crawling downstairs like a bug.