Aura could not tear her eyes away from the 4 letters scratched into the wall.
The expression on her face was blank, however her eye's welled with emotion. Slowly, she reached out and placed her hand on the word.
VOID.
Despite being roughly scratched into the walls with fingernails, the work was meticulously. Whoever had spent every single second drawing with care. Nova's hands traced the seams slowly. Drawing the V. And then the O. Moving unto the I and finally the D.
When she was finally able to wrench her gaze from words on the wall, it landed on the stick and wrapper. Bubble gum pink was the flavor.
The well of emotion in her eyes only intensified.
Hikaru did not interrupt Aura's moment. She let her think. She didn't say anything because she had no idea what was going on within the girl's mind. Any words that Hikaru tried to give would only be empty, worthless.
Not in the face of whatever she was thinking about in her head. And so, Hikaru remained silent.
Finally, after a long moment, Aura reached into her pocket and pulled something out.
Using her hand to shield it from the rain, she took a look at the pair of lollipops she held in her hand.
One was the same bubble gum pink flavor that belonged to the empty stick and wrapper on the floor.
And the other, was a green apple flavor.
Aura stared at them for a brief moment.
Finally, she spoke.
"Phi's favorite flavor of lollipop is bubble gum. She loves them. When she first told me that, I said, 'that's pretty bland isn't it?' After that she asked me what my favorite flavor was, and I told her, 'Green apple.'"
Hikaru didn't speak, move, nor breathe. She did not want to distract Aura from the words she was speaking right now.
"And she had said to me, "that's even more generic' We even had a huge argument about it. We still do."
After Aura had finished the short anecdote, she closed her eyes. Her grip tightened on the two unopened lollipops in her hand.
"She's still alive." Her voice was full of relief, and her body deflated from the tension that kept it ramrod stiff. "I just know it. She's still alive."
Aura turned back to the words written on the wall. "I need you to fill the void."
As much as she wanted to ask what that meant, Hikaru still did not speak. Fortunately for her, Aura answered the question.
"A line from a song. Phi's favorite." Aura's eyes opened, however they still looked faraway. Right now, she was living a memory. "The first time we meant, this song had been playing, and I had muttered some of the lyrics. That's the song that brought us together, and it was also the song that kept us together."
"Figuring out the meaning behind those lines was simple. However, what that song meant to us was something we would always talk about. We would sit out in the sun, or inside while it was raining, and just talk about it. Phi said that she especially related to the lines at the end of the chorus, 'I need you to feel the void.'"
Aura leaned against the wall, right next to the word that was the title of their shared favorite song.
VOID.
"She said she related to it so much because that was what she always felt. A void. Her parents never cared for her. She had no relatives who cared." Aura's voice began to tighten as she spoke of Phi's past. It hurt her. Because it hurt Phi. "She would always try to play it off as if it didn't affect her, but I knew. I knew how much it hurt her...."
It took Aura a few more seconds before she could continue speaking. "She had no friends, and the ones she did make only ended up hurting her, cutting her off." Her voice shifted briefly to anger. "She said from the moment she was very little; she didn't have anyone that liked her, let alone actually loved her. There was always a void in her heart. A void in her life."
"She would do anything to fill that void. The reason she loves lollipops so much is because it's something that temporarily fill that void, that isn't detrimental. Not like, other things...."
Hikaru didn't need Aura to finish that sentence for her to know what other things she could have meant.
Substance abuse. Drinking. Anything that provided a little thrill, even if it was short.
Hikaru filled in the gaps; her own heart began to ache for the girl.
"That's why she loved that song so much. Because it spoke to her personally. When I heard the reasons, I thought to myself, 'Can I even claim to like the song anymore?'"
A few moments of silence. Aura looked up, at the dark gloomy sky, allowing the rain to pelt her in the face.
"She also said she loved it so much because it helped her fill that void a little bit more. She said that with every listen it brought her closer to what love might feel like. She said that she felt that way about our interactions too. That it was the first time she felt she could understand what it felt like to feel love."
Aura finally looked at Hikaru, and this time, there was a smile on her face. Her eyes weren't downcast, and there wasn't any tension in her body. She held out the two lollipops in her hand before speaking directly towards Hikaru.
"She's alive. So, we're going to find her, and I'm slap some sense into her for making me worry."
Hikaru couldn't help but smile back and Aura. "What a coincidence."
"It just so happens that there's someone I need to slap some sense into."
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"Void. What does that mean?" Shindo asked Phi, as they began their journey to the tower where the headmaster was being kept. Through some sort of magic, someone had moved it to the very top of the Magic Academy.
They were nearly there, jumping from sections of the magic academies' buildings to walkways, never stopping in one place.
They kept the gas on 100, rushing to confront the powerful enemy who had placed themselves at the highest peak they could manage.
"It's the name of the song. The one that Aura had muttered under her breath to initiate that conversation. The one that was playing at the party. It's the song that kept me together for a majority of my life, and it was the song that brought me closer to the only other person to ever really get to know me."
Phi replied, looking off into the distance. She hadn't elaborated further on her last statement about Aura deserving better, nor did she elaborate on the scar that ran the entire length of her body.
And Shindo didn't plan to ask either. Obviously, she didn't want to talk much about it, so he wouldn't push her. However, it didn't stop him from wondering what had given her that scar?
What did it symbolize for her? And what was the true meaning behind her last statement of Aura deserving better?
"Your awfully silent for someone with a lot on their mind." Phi commented.
Shindo shrugged his shoulders. "Even if there are a lot of questions on my mind, it doesn't mean that it's okay to ask them."
Phi smiled slightly. "How honorable of you, Prince."
Being called the prince still gave him a mix of feelings, however Shindo could be happy to say that it didn't make him feel like a monster. Like someone who was distanced from his peers.
"Since you insist on being so chivalrous, how about we trade questions and answers? I ask, you answer, and you ask, I answer?"
Shindo was 90% that one honorable act did not equate to chivalrous conduct, but he didn't say anything.
"Sure." He replied. It was only fair after all. She was answering all of his questions and telling him about her, so he should at least try to do the same.
"Where did you get your spear from?"
Shindo froze a bit. Only one question in and old wounds were already being prodded. He quickly snapped back to attention though, trying to not let Phi pick up on something wrong.
"A friend of mine used to use a spear. So, I decided to pick up on using one."
Phi smirked a bit. "Not what I asked~"
Smacking a hand against his forehead, Shindo realized that she was right. She hadn't asked why he chose the spear, but instead, where he got this spear from.
He had psyched himself into answering her question completely wrong.
Phi shook her head at his reaction. "2 for the price of 1. You're up to bat again."
She turned around and pretended to throw him a pitch.
Begrudgingly Shindo answered the question again. He even added the motion of swinging a bat. "It wasn't exactly me who chose this spear, more than it was the spear who chose me. According to my family, it was a cursed weapon, that killed its user within a year of them picking it up. My dad was ecstatic to get the weapon off of his hands and give it to me."
"And how long had you had this weapon for?" Phi asked, pressing on.
"5." Shindo responded curtly, looking at the long red spear in his hand.
"Months?"
"Years."
Phi's eyes widened a bit at that statement. So, he really is as freakishly strong as people said. She thought inwardly.
"That was three questions. So, by the law of equivalent exchange I get three questions back."
Phi was 90% sure that wasn't how that worked, but she let it slide. "Fire away."
"You said that song was what brough you together. But is that the extent of it?"
Phi tossed a glance back at him but saw nothing. "The song nailed my life right on the head. A void. I always lived in a void, wanting-no, needing someone to help me fill it. I ended up doing a lot of things I regret in order to make sure that it was filled."
She was silent for a few moments, and her facial expression had gone dark.
"I wish I could say that the me that did those things 100% regretted them, the me that would inject things into her veins for just a momentary high knew what she was doing was wrong, but I can't. I couldn't then, and I can't now. I can't lie to myself. Back then, it worked. It was temporary, but it filled the void I was yearning to fill."
Shindo remained in silence. He couldn't think of anything to say that would raise Phi's mood, and he realized, nothing that he said would have.
She probably didn't want any empty words either.
"That song means a lot to me, because I can relate to it on a personal level. It was also Aura's favorite song. She liked it for much less personal reasons; however, I still admire her reason for liking it. She told me she loved it because she thought it was a vibe."
Her facial expression lifted up a bit as she began to talk about Aura.
"Somethings so simple. She liked it because she thought it sounded nice. She could listen to it and sing the lyrics freely. I was always a bit envious of that, because I couldn't listen to the song without seeing my past. Being reminded of what I once was. Being reminded that someone like me probably didn't deserve to be at Aura's side."
"However, I couldn't stop."
Shindo realized he still had two questions left. He wasn't an expert on how to maneuver conversations like this, so he did the only thing he thought was right.
Allow Phi to talk about her problems, without interruption.
"Why?" Shindo asked.
"Because she only person that I ever felt like truly loved me. She was the one person that when I spent time with, I could feel that void being filled just a little bit more. She was the first person that helped me truly understand what love was. Something foreign to me."
"What do you mean, foreign?" Shindo blurted that last question before he could stop himself.
Phi stopped, standing on the walkway above Shindo.
She looked down at him with a sad expression in her face.
She pointed to the area where her scar was. And even though she didn't pull up her shirt, Shindo could see it. Clear as day.
"Because it was taken from me. Just like it was taken from Raiden."
"All that was left was a void. An unfillable void."