Mini story #3 - Innocence can kill

A/N: Yet another mini story! A continuation to the previous mini story.
*****

                        Jacklynn Morriet woke up in her own bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She looked at the clock. 6AM. Curses, she thought, an hour before it rings. She contemplated plopping back into sleep for an extra hour, but decided it would make her even sleepier than she was now. She climbed out of bed and stood on her stone cold floor.

                        A pang of icy coldness shot up through her. She quickly crossed her arms, trying to encage remaining warmth inside her. Then she realized, Oh, I wore my hoodie to sleep last night.

                        Nevertheless, she hurriedly got ready for school as the town woke up in the light of dawn.

                        “Another day of hiding…” she murmured after locking her apartment doors. She hesitated for a second, as if thinking about something. Then she put the light blue-coloured hood over her head and faded into the environment, leaving absolutely no traces of her existence.

                        Jacklynn strolled along the concrete walkway which eventually would lead to her destination, Seasons Academy(High School), after some turns and roads. She spotted some classmates walking towards her direction, and as usual, her classmate whizzed past by without even making eye contact. Of course. She was invisible.

                        Even though Jacklynn herself already knew that, she still kept reassuring herself, “I’m invisible…no one can see me...or find me…” She tucked both hands into both pockets on either side of her hoodie because they were sweating profusely. Not because of the morning heat, she decided firmly. You shall be found soon, a voice had said in her nightmare two nights ago, The Lord will not be pleased with you. She shuddered. Again, it was not because her hoodie wasn’t doing its job well or anything. Images of a baby being thrown into churning, dark and violent waters flashed through her mind repeatedly. Her fingers tightened inside the pockets.

                        That day, lessons proceeded smoothly, as usual. Being invisible, she was allowed to doze off or sneak away from the class, but she was self-disciplined. She would never do something like that. Every delinquent would want to offer their everything for her invisibility. She had the intention of doing the trade, if not for the fact that some immortal dude wanted to kill her. Besides, almost 100% of the students have forgotten her very existence, so even if she was safe from murder, she would find zero people requesting to talk to her. Great, huh?

                        Then came after school. After slipping some coins onto the cashier counter and grabbing a chicken sandwich, she quickly ate it all. Well, invisibility wasn’t always bad, especially if you can cut the queues and no one will ever complain. Soon after, she headed for the art studio, located in the Arts block.

                        Heading into the art studio was her routine every single day after school. She had a gift for visual arts and started learning painting and sculpting and etc. in Seasons Academy’s six-year course. Falling in love with it was inevitable. The smell of paint was especially familiar to her. It seemed to be ushering her in every time.

                        This feels more like home, she thought sadly. If only…

                        She turned to her unfinished painting on the canvas sitting on an easel. It was a scenery of a clear blue sky, which seemed to match her hoodie’s colour. The sky was dotted with splotches of clouds. The whole thing seemed serene and peaceful to her, but something was definitely bugging her. Something missing.

                        In fact, the whole thing looked too serene and peaceful. It could use some conflict. Without thinking, she reached out for some dark colours of acrylic paint, like navy blue and burnt sienna, together with her palette and brush. Of course, there has to be white on her palette.

                        She closed her eyes softly, imagining a preview of what she would be going to paint. An animal? Nope. Something abstract? Maybe. After rummaging through her thoughts, she decided to go for a human. I think someone with the same age as me. Playing the piano, or violin, or any musical instrument.

                        Blue hair to match with the peaceful sky. Orangey-brown-coloured instrument to contrast and conflict with the same peaceful sky. I’ll make it an irony… A usually peaceful person playing an instrument of destruction. Fun, isn’t it? Hahaha! 

                        She finally opened her eyes. With a knowing and perhaps creepy smile, her brush’s tip touched the paint-uneven surface of the canvas.

To be continued?

*****

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Mini story #2 -- Invisible and ghost-like

A/N: Hey guys! Another mini story :)
*****

                        What’s worse than finding a worm in your apple?

                        Having to find a practically invisible person.

                        I’m Derek Levy, 15-years-old, first-year at Seasons Academy, High School. Ever since young, I was perhaps gifted enough to see spirits in the supernatural world. Sounds kind of cool, yeah? 

                        …Nope. Not cool when you get involved in their affairs. And finding that invisible person was the first step to solving their centuries-long argument. Sheesh, can’t they just take a chill pill or something?

                        Anyway, about that mysterious ghost-like person I was looking for… I have a suspicion about Jacklynn Morriet, the girl who topped her year for THREE consecutive years. Man, even with my decent grades, hers made mine look like a small fry. The strange thing is, even though her name is announced every year at the prize-giving ceremony in December, no one actually remembers her. Well, sure, the very mention of it could ring a bell in their heads, but the name would slip out sneakily after a few seconds, and BOOM, who’s Jacklynn Morriet?

                        I asked my extremely helpful councilor friend, Shirley Werner, to check the class list for Jacklynn Morriet. (Don’t be fooled by that name. Shirley’s a guy.) Apparently, Jacklynn’s in Class 1A4. Well, since it’s after school now, I figured I could find her in her classroom, or at least hopefully a clue about her location. I headed for the classroom block.

                        Just before I could take more than five steps, a familiar coffee-coloured head stepped out of a room right ahead of me, blocking my path I wanted to take. He was just smiling and waving to someone, most probably a girl. A smaller than usual guitar bag was slung over him. My eyes flicked to both sides. No staircases, just windows and walls. “Great,” I muttered, rolling my eyes as a sting of hate rushed through my spinal cord, straightening my back in alert.

                        That guy. The one always with a smile and an ukulele. 

                        Our eyes met.

                        I hate him.

                        His earlier calm, dull green eyes suddenly lit to a strikingly bright green emerald, my obsidian black eyes paling in comparison.

                        “Hmmph…” His smile no longer was friendly. Now it was just a smug, I’m-looking-down-on-you smile. He brought his finger to his chin, studying me slowly with an evil glint in his eyes like how he was planning to torture his enemies. 

                        In case you didn’t know, that guy is Kyle Hiroman. A normal person, yeah? Wrong! He’s the spirit of the light, Zoran. Being a spirit, of course he’s immortal! His job is supposed to control the amount light reaching the Earth so it would be just right, but currently he’s on punishment—I mean, “vacation”(yeah, right)—for a few hundred years or so in the mortal world. He decided to take on a human form, and a handsome one at that, after which he arrived at our school posing as a “transfer student”. In actual fact, he had fell in love with Linnaea, one of the spirits of the trees surrounding our campus, and he simply wanted to get closer to her. I’m telling you, that ploy isn’t working, because I’m close friends with Linnaea and from what I’ve heard, she didn’t like some random male spirit composing badly-written romance songs or haikus and singing it in front of her tree. 

                        I was peeved by Kyle’s attitude. I’m always peeved by him, no matter what he did. Folding my arms, I grumbled, “What do you want?”

                        “Oh, nothing, really…” he snickered, turning sideways. “Just want to see you frayed in the scorching heat from sunlight. I would’ve done that the very second I met you, except that half my power is confiscated by my darned Lord.”

                        The earth rumbled, throwing my weight off a little. I managed to regain my composure. I wonder what was that, though?

                        “Thanks.” I quickly walked past him, afraid of being fried into Derek French Fries. I certainly felt a tinge of fear, definitely not because of Kyle, but because of the earth’s rumble. This was the first time I heard him mention his boss. Though, I quickly brushed off that worry. 

                        A horrible start in my after-school leisure time. My day couldn’t get any worse, right?

                        I was dead wrong. After going to classroom 1A4, I realized that getting even a single clue on Jacklynn’s location was like attempting to win the jackpot. It’s almost nearly impossible. Either her classmates had totally forgotten her existence, or they simply didn’t know much about her. I clenched my fists in anger and exasperation before storming out of that place. She’s the only person to make me this angry after Kyle.

                        Then I took a deep breath and told myself to calm down. I will find her location. Just you wait…

                        My eyes, for no reason, darted to the paintings-filled “bridge” which connected both sides of this classroom block. I felt a tugging in my guts. Could this lead me to Jacklynn Morriet?

                       

To be continued? 

*****                        

Spirit of the Watercolour

I looked at my left hand. It was shaking. Drawing block paper, watercolour palette, a plastic bowl of tap water and a brush laid on the table. I knew I could never do this. But Derick, who was sitting opposite of me smiled, regarding me with his obsidian black eyes, as if telling me, You have to be brave.

With caution, my fingers curled around one of the Weapons of Mass Creation. The Realism Brush. From the outside, it looked like a normal brush, but if you see it closely, the brush was glowing with magic and imagination. It was passed down, as a family treasure from my grandfather, to my father, and now, me. Myths say that anything that you painted with this, it would come alive, but at a certain cost.

I didn’t know if it would help my right hand magically recover. But I wanted to try, no matter the cost. I dipped the brush into my watercolour palette and mixed the colours until I got a shade close to the human skin colour. Using the brush, I painted a figure of my right hand whilst observing my real right hand. 

All of a sudden, the tap water splashed by itself, even though there weren’t any forces around. It splashed gently at first, then more vigorously as seconds passed, as if someone—or something—was trying to burrow out of the water. Derick and I fixed our eyes on it, awestruck yet terrified at the same time. The air turned chilly, even though it was bright outside. Cherry blossom petals floated in. Derick touched one of them and said wide-eyed, “Something is awakening. The trees are saying.”

My eyebrows raised in disbelief at him. Just then, the water sort of morphed itself, and a woman-like figure, as tall as a pencil appeared. I examined her from head to toe…except there weren’t any toes. Her feet just fused with the water. Actually, her entire being was made of water, and I could see right through her. She had long hair swept to the right. Golden sparkles surrounded her. I froze in a mixture of awe and fear.

“W-Who are…you?” asked Derick and I in unison.

I am Fjord, spirit of the watercolour. It spoke in my mind.

“Spirit of the…watercolour?” I repeated in confusion.

“You can understand it?!” yelled Derick. 

He cannot understand the ways of our art. He is better suited for the earth. Fjord looked around at the pink petals scattered around us. Oh, it appears that my century-long friend, Linnaea, is good friends with him. 

“Lin..Linnaea?” I said.

“Jacklynn, how did you… Uh… That’s the trees’… You know, spirit,” Derick hesitated, trying to find the correct words.

“Fjord, if you’re the spirit of the watercolour, then Linnaea is, um, spirit of the trees that surround our school?”

Correct. And Jacklynn Morriet, I have awakened to meet you. I have been sleeping in this brush for a hundred years, until now, because I have found someone who is very intent in my powers. Do you want to regain your right hand’s ability?

I nodded solemnly, “Yes. Very much.”

Can you do me a favour?

I answered “yes” without hesitation.

Great. Please help me find Zoran, the spirit of light. He’s somewhere in this area. 

“Zoran? I don’t know—“

The school bell interrupted me, signaling high noon. 

The heat is too strong now. I must go. Do not worry, I will always reside in the brush, and I will always reappear in water.

“Hey, wait!”

But I was too late. Fjord had already disappeared with a splash back into the water, and I stared at it in disbelief. It took me twenty seconds to recognize the situation.

“…Jacklynn… you okay?” Derick asked in concern.

“Y-Yeah. But I have to find Zoran, the spirit of light first before Fjord will grant me my right hand’s ability back. Apparently, he or she’s in this school. Have you seen anyone named Zoran?” I asked nervously.

“No, not yet,” Derick furrowed his eyebrows. He picked up a petal. “Linnaea, are you still there? … Curses, we have lost connection. Jacklynn, I’ll go out to talk to the trees if they know of Zoran, okay? I’ll meet you back in the classroom later.” Then he ran out of the room and into the hallway. 

I stared helplessly outside at the sunlight streaming in through the windows. The cherry blossom trees stood there, pink petals floating in the breeze. Zoran… who exactly is Zoran? Although I know he’s the spirit of the light… What information am I missing on?

Hmm… spirit of the light… don’t light usually come from the Sun? The Sun… Apollo… The Greek god of the Sun…

Then it hit me. There was a person who reminded me of Apollo. It was a pretty weak evidence, but at least it was better than nothing.

Kyle Hiroman, the popular dude.

Mini story #1 - Apollo

A/N: Hey guys... a random idea popped up in my head, so I just decided to write a mini story. Oh well. 
***

Kyle Hiroman's POV -- Apollo

   Sup, people?
  Yep, that's my usual greeting. I'm Kyle Hiroman, half American and half Japanese! You can call me Kyle. I have short, messy coffee-coloured hair, in contrast to my clear, striking emerald eyes. I'm really tall -- not as tall as Mount Everest -- but within the 'Golden Height', which is the desired height for every handsome male.  When you see me, you may think I'm a part-time model or something(because all the girls loooove me!), but, sad to say, I'm not. In fact, I like to think of myself as a budding actor -- that's right, actor. My dream is to become famous and entertain people all around the world!

  Oh, but you're all talk and no action!, you say? Of course I've taken some actions! Being handsome and cool and making girls in school swoon all over me! I gotta have a good reputation first, then... then...
  ...
  Anyway!
  I'm currently enrolled in Akiyama Academy(High School) as a freshman. Let me tell you, this school is awesome! Special! Distinctive! It focuses on the appreciation and making of arts. Entertainment is part of the arts. I so am glad to be here with my father, who is an important CEO of some marketing company.

  ...Ah! Near the art room...
  There's Shizu-chan! Shizuha Rinichi. She's easily spotted with her long, blonde hair reflecting off the sunlight, together with her chocolate-coloured eyes that seemed so deep and dark, you'd feel as if something was lurking inside them.
  "Shizu-chan!" I called out to her, waving and grinning from ear to ear. She regarded me, then slightly smiled and waved slowly before rushing with nervous footsteps into the art room. (Or art studio, as according to some teachers who preferred fancy words.)
  Remember what I said earlier about having ALL the girls loving me?
  Shizu-chan is an exception.
  Make that 99.9% of the girls.
  Why do I say so? Well, honestly, I don't know. She seems to have certain hatred against men, or just thinks we're "undisciplined", "too playful" or "don't do well in school". Having her presence really makes me do a reality check.
  Then again, Shizu-chan could have someone in mind that she likes...
  Well, whatever.
  I was really bored right now, waiting for the Drama Club's activities to start, so I playfully decided to follow her into the air-conditioned art room. She stared in surprise at my entrance, then quickly turned her attention back to her canvas. It was supported on an easel. I walked behind her, observing her painting. With her left hand, she gingerly dabbed the tip of her paintbrush onto dark brown paint on her huge, transparent palette.
  Then, like an affectionate mother caressing her baby child, Shizu-chan, using only her index finger and thumb, very, very gently painted some strokes, as if the canvas was a delicate flower.
  Remember when I mentioned her "left hand"?
  No, she's not left handed. In fact, she's right-handed.
  Then...why?
  This is a really sensitive topic to her. There, I put the warning. Okay, I'll explain it now. About two years ago, Shizu-chan accidentally knocked down some glazed pottery works(for the seniors' exams) and broke them into pieces. I don't know if she was so foolish as to actually pick the sharp pieces up, but she did. Stupid, I know. (Don't tell her I said that.) Judging by her personality, I guess she was just super frazzled that someone would come into the room and find that she was the culprit. (She always hated being blamed for anything, even though it was her fault. Funny.) She got so panicky that she hastily picked the pieces up without safety precaution and accidentally cut a tendron or two in her right hand.
  Now, I don't know the chances of that, but she must've been really unlucky. She lost some of her right hand's abilities and was stuck in the depths of despair for a while, but another guy named Yamazaki Yuuichi, same class as her, managed to pull her out from that abyss. I have always wondered if they had feelings for each other. Then again, Shizu-chan dislikes guys...(Although she has no trouble talking to either me, Kamika or Yamazaki.)
  Thankfully, she just has to go through rehabilitation or something, though it could take a long time. But she's trying to use her left hand to continue making art now. I'm glad she's all cheered up.
  Oh, but Yamazaki could use a disclaimer or two! I provided everyone the tickets to that art exhibition, and I'm pretty sure that fun and exciting trip was the main turning point for Yamazaki and Shizu-chan.

  Okay, so here's another story that's hilarious but deadly at the same time, because my face almost got flattened by a huge shield, a sword, some armour, any props you could find in our Drama Club's room.
  Toragi Kagari, the eccentric and tsundere violinist who's always playing at that basketball court... Wait, that doesn't even make sense! Read that sentence out loud to a normal person. He or she will tell you with a puzzled look, "What?"
  Anyway, we gotta get back to the story. Let's just say Gari-chan enjoys playing her violin at basketball courts. I don't even know why. Maybe the music room makes her claustrophobic? (Then again, it's big enough to fit a few grand pianos.) We're in the same grade, by the way. ...Shoot, I swear we're really getting to the main point!
  Gari-chan LOVES cheeseburgers, like how all-- I mean, 99.9% of the girls love me. (Okay, she's another exception. Make that 99.8% now.) One time, while eating three cheeseburgers(not all at same time), she said that if she could eat five cheeseburgers per HOUR, but I've never actually seen her done that, so I always suspected her. Besides, other than some people in the world who can actually stuff TONS of food in their super indistensible bag of stomach, I don't think no one could ever humanely eat five cheeseburgers in one meal. Me? That's just... ugh... overkill! (And I would gain lots of weight, which will be a great DISASTER!!)
  But that's one good opportunity to play a prank on her. (I try to play a  "friendly" prank on them every time I make a new friend.) And it was my mistake, I should've realised that earlier.
  One very fine day, I challenged Gari-chan to a small eating competition in the Drama Club's room. (When I say "small" here, I meant the scale of the competition. Not the amount of food. Or cheeseburgers.) Of course, my close friends knew that with my personality, if I suggested something out of character, clearly, I had a motive lying under. Blinded with the amount of cheeseburgers shown in front of her, she agreed without much hesitation. I wonder if girls have simple minds? If so, why is Shizu-chan always the top student in her grade...
  My prank was: hiding small pieces of deadly ginger, which was Gari-chan's MOST HATED ingredient, in the cheeseburgers.
  Here's how it went:
  "Mmphffr..?!" Gari-chan's stuffed mouth mumbled something inaudible after munching a couple of cheeseburgers. Her eyebrows arched so high, I almost choked, not because of the extra ingredient inside the food, but because of laughter. I slowed down my chewing a bit.
  Then she covered her mouth with her hand and her face turned green with disgust. Oh, great, she's about to vomit! I quickly grabbed a nearby trash bin and shoved it in front of her. There, she puked, along with vomiting sounds so disturbing that I had to look away, pinching my nose. However, a slight smirk still plastered onto my face.
  "Are you done?" I teased after a while, perhaps feeling a little sympathy.
  "You... cough you IDIOT!! YOU TRICKED ME!!! THERE WERE THOSE STUPID LOATHESOME DAMNED GINGER INSIDE AND cough I ATE THEM! I HATE YOU!!! cough cough"
  I heard a chair drag quickly along the floor and, carefully, without looking, put the vomit goodness-filled trash bin away. When I looked up, a sword was flying in my direction and I screamed "Whoa!" before dodging as quick as light with my reflexes. I realised that the sword was just a harmless stage prop. "Gari-chan chill! It was--" Another prop shield zipped right past me a mere millimetre away and shattered the glass window behind me. I looked at her violet, stormy eyes, creating a whirlpool of rage and hatred towards me and gingers. My voice faltered, "...just a prank..."
  "JUST A PRANK, YOU SAY? WELL, YOU'RE GONNA REGRET IT!" She bellowed so loud, I swore I could've seen her long, braided hair fly up behind her. Instinctively, I backed away, but my feet tripped itself and I fell backwards on my hands. A wall was just behind me. What a nice moment to turn up, wall! Then Gari-chan landed her feet on the table with some cheeseburgers squashed underneath her shoes. And in her hand, was a sharp spear(another prop) with its wrong end facing me. I gulped with my eyes wide in terror. I titled my head up. Her eyes. So dark and cruel. (And thus, with my acting skills...)
  "Toragi Kagari-san! Please spare me!" I got on my knees hastily and clasped my hands together in a begging motion.
  "APOLOGISE! NOW! FOR RUINING THE HOLY SPIRIT OF CHEESEBURGERS!!" demanded her.
  "Oh..oh yes I will..." I paused, trembling because of my inner laughter. I must be professional during acting. I musn't laugh. "I sincerely apologise to Toragi Kagari-san for ruining the holy spirit of cheeseburgers due to my insolence."
  "Good," her voice was calm now, but dangerously calm.
  When I finally thought everything was over, something blunt stabbed my forehead. Yeah, it was blunt, but it still gave me a considerably sharp pain!
  "Owwww!" I groaned, my body dropping to the floor, staring in disbelief at the spear beside me.
  "That'll teach you," she turned around and walked away, her glistening black hair following behind, "And don't, EVER, call me 'Gari-chan!' "
 
  Till this day, she still hates my guts, but we're still friends. Hmm...
  Oh, so you thought I just magically put Shizu-chan out of the picture? Nuh-uh! All this time, I was telling her the Gingers in Cheeseburgers story.
  And she just sighed and told me sternly, "You're like Apollo. The greek god."
  "I take that as a compliment!" I winked.
  "..." She looked at me blankly. But her eyes told me otherwise.
  "Hm? Maybe you're saying... 'I like you'?"
  "What the hell? No. I hate guys. I'm just saying, Apollo is the type of person who doesn't actually focuses on his job and just goes on dates with many females, maybe at the same time. Then again, Zeus is a huge dick too..."
 
  And her words completely shattered me that day, like the poor window which Gari-chan had shattered before.
  Oh, dear window, I feel you now.

***

Bonus -- A mini picture of Kyle!