#colette 02

He spent the entirety of the morning and afternoon inside of the lodge, and now he finally felt he was able to take a stroll outside without being burned to a crisp. ...Except in his haste for fresh air he forgot that the desert was actually freezing at night. He quickly decided was getting on the first coach back to that coffin of an elevator in the morning. The wind howled through the Stepping Stone Resort, and Blood stared suspiciously at the empty bazaar at the heart of the grounds.

He didn’t have much of a goal in mind while wandering, but he eventually found himself at the entrance of the Resort. The closer he got to the dunes outside, the more frequently he could swear that the wind sounded like a person whispering into his ear. He hit his palm against his ear and shook his head, turning around to find no one there. Multicolored strings of lights flickered under abandoned tents. A strong wind blew sand towards his face and he turned to the side to keep it out of his eyes. That’s when he saw that someone else seemed to be a restless sleeper that night.

A familiar blonde stood looking dazed, one hand clutched to her heart as she wordlessly stared into the dunes. With hesitation, her feet began inching forward. As much as Blood wanted to head back into the lodge and say it wasn’t his responsibility...nobody else seemed to be looking after her. Without thinking, Blood picked up his pace and grabbed onto her wrist.

“Miss Colette, what are you doing venturing off on your own this late at night?”

“Hiyori... “ Sou called out to a name he always said was his own. A man much taller than ‘Sou’ turned his head around to give him his attention. He had green hair and piercing green eyes. Another noticeable trait of him was, that he was wearing the same scarf that Sou owned.

“Can’t we just go back home? I- I don’t want this...”

“Hmm? What’s that, Shin? I thought you said you want to become stronger?” Shouldn’t you be able to show your bully who’s boss yourself then? How much longer do you want me to do the dirty work for you?”  The creepy man mocked him, but he was laughing! He followed to pick that supposed ‘bully’ up on his uniform collar. Why, he never asked for any of this to happen! 

“T-that’s true, b-but I don’t care for what he said about me. I don’t want to hurt anyone, I just want to go back and learn more about computers, so please let go of him! Let’s leave... okay?” It was useless, and he knew that. Sou Hiyori would never stop tormenting people, to make them uncomfortable, to make him scared. As much of a bad feeling he had about his one and only friend, he didn’t want to face this ugly truth yet. The fact that he noticed how much enjoyment this guy had, whenever he showed Hiyori how uncomfortable he made him with his actions.

Then again, wasn’t this a high school memory...? This is something that happened in the past! Only once he realized that, he wanted to turn around to run away from this scene, just to wake up from this nightmare! But unfortunately while blindly starting to run away like this- he ended up bumping into someone.

“Ah! I-I’m so sorry! but you shouldn’t be here, behind me there is... huh, Colette?!”

Again! He was trapped in an awful memory with someone from his new home once again. Why were all those memories almost like cherry picked? Just the absolute worst ones to be seen by outsiders?! Anyways, first things first:

Clutched very carefully in his hands was a pendant Lloyd was all too familiar with; its warm, red glow catching his eye just as he set foot on the school grounds. It wasn’t a surprise to see his friend just mere feet away from where it had fallen, catching up with her rather quickly after he called out her name.

“Good thing I showed up when I did! Here,” he took Colette’s hand, placing the jewel in her palm and closing it as he smiled at her.

“That’s your keepsake from your parents, right? You definitely wouldn’t want to lose that..! If the setting on your necklace is loose, maybe I could take a look at it for you so it doesn’t fall out again!”

“Why, Lady Colette. You, too, are interested in meeting this dragon?”

The tour wasn’t specifically about the Forest King himself, but... the idea of getting to meet the creature was far more interesting than any gold or artifacts he might be hoarding. The promised free dinner and a look at various rare objects was merely an added bonus.

Grimm didn’t expect to see Colette here standing outside of the dragon’s keep, but what do you know—that’s also a bonus!

After finally breaking free from the club that she was working in, Raine was able to make it back to the train station. They hadn’t been stationary enough to be affected by the strange snow in the city, but it was only about time. The professor was hesitant to take her chances, but it was the only reasonable way to travel right now, before the station too was shut down. As she looked at the arrival board, already beginning to show some minor delays, the phone in her pocket began to vibrate.

Raine unlocked the screen and saw a text from her student, Colette. Her words seemed unusually serious for the upbeat, positive girl, and she showed concern over the crystalizing city. The professor immediately opened her contacts and gave the girl a call. She grew worried and started tapping her foot on the tiles after a few rings. She was wary of the situation, but the last time something swept across this place, it was temporary. That thought gave her some relief, but she couldn’t help but be on her guard. 

The thought hit her quickly. This undoubtedly would have brought the girl flashbacks of when she was affected by Chronic Angelus Crystallus Innofficium, a rare disease where one’s skin would turn to crystal. She must be scared. I can’t leave her alone.

“Isn’t this place great?! It’s so pretty here!” Lloyd was still bubbling with excitement, which seemed to only increase upon seeing Colette. He had noticed her eyeing one of the mochi tables close by and knew he had to come join her. “Hey, let’s get some mochi to share. It’ll be my treat! Pick whichever ones you want.”