6 Chapter 6: Refreshing Fred! (2/2)

”Nobody's here,” I thought, taking a glance left and right.

Then, I sighed as I stared directly into his eyes, filled with malice. Was he even the same guy as this morning? How can someone have such misleading appearance and character...?! So unfair!

I reached my tiny little hands and touched his sword. Then, producing a sheepish smile, I spit on it.

”...”

Fred slightly gasps with disgust and his face turns bright orange. Silently, without a word, he pulls out his sword and gently puts it away from my grasp.

Now that's a laugh. The poor kid.

Crawling directly at him, like a missile, I intentionally loose my grip and fall on my tummy. Then I sulk and whine for a few seconds, until he picks me up and says, ”Enough, now talk.”

”... failure. Wasn't expecting that.” I exclaim to myself, purely devastated.

I sighed once more, rethinking my horrible luck for the day, tried to calm myself and concentrate on one point. My mana.

I knew with all my heart that if Fred had to believe me in any other way, it'd had to be my mana. My specialty. My power.

He needed to trust me. I wanted him to realize that I had no rotten intentions.

I poured my heart out. I couldn't speak to him properly anyway... but, I had the best power, my manipulation of mana!

”Concentrate,” I repeatedly told myself, ”swirl and spin and focus...”

Fred, who had me in his arms for a while now, intently glanred at my direction and then towards the surroundings. He seemed to be quite freaked out. Anybody would be. I mean, I'm barely a few months old... and I'm manipulating mana! That's freaking damn rubbish!!

He gasped and sweated. Finally, he let me go, but instead of falling, I floated back inside the cradle.

An awkward silence had ransacked the living room. For a while, everything seemed lost. Everything had fallen into death itself.

Then, I tried to use telepathy with Fred, just like Helen had previously taught me, ”[Hello, friend(?), my name is Gloria. Forgive me if I had scared you just then...]” I introduced myself.

”You can talk? You can... wait, what? Telepathy?!” Fred barely spoke in bafflement as his eyes shifted from me to the floor and vise versa.

”[Yes, I can. Helen taught me how.]” I replied to him as politely as possible. I'd not want him to know that I accidentally discovered it from a book and then tried it on Helen who had approved of it... that's not gonna go right.

”Th-then,” Fred learned towards me, half in fright and half astonished, ”your, your levitation ju-just now... you're already a...?” he stammered and used an awkward hand sign.

”[Indeed, I'm a mage, just like you. I barely awakened 5 months ago, so I'm hardly as excellent as you, or Helen. I'm just in Intermediate Class, 2nd Stage. Nothing big.]” I answered him, casually.

”Are you FUCKING kidding me??!” Fred yelled and the moment he realized his volume, he simmered down, ”You. A Baby. A freakin' baby!”

”[Umm... yes, that's me. A baby.]”

”How can you be a-a... a mage? Much less in the Bottleneck! And in just 5 months!?”

”[Why, is there a problem?]” I asked him, ”[Helen seemed least fazed when I last informed her. She just said to 'work harder'.]”

”That little monster!” Fred exclaimed with a clenched fist. Clearly he was angry.

He turned towards me, all of a sudden and asked, ”What about your mana hue?”

I hesitated, but gave a reply, ”[It-it's currently in transformation from Dark Grey to Gray color.]”

Then, Fred toppled down from his position and fell on the ground.

”H-how?”

I just nodded my head. I didn't know either.

It's impossible to go to the Gray mana colour unless the bottleneck/intermediate class, has been broken through, granting me to Lead Class. However, my case, obviously differed.

”Hear me clear,” Fred told me in a stern and forceful voice, ”do not tell anyone about this. Even in the future. Only Helen and I. Are we clear?”

I nodded back at him instinctively.

He had a huge sigh of relief and smiled back to me. ”Aren't you just the cutest lil' monster then? Hahaha...” He chucked.

So he wasn't a bad guy after all! I'm glad.

In the end, we both merrily smiled at each other. I might have found the secret partner I'd been searching for... and perhaps a friend, too.

__________

___

In the dead of the night, whilst studying, I got caught by Fred.

”Okay, maybe you're really bright, talented and adorable...” he paused, ”But that does not explain the fact that you can read books meant for adults! See? You're clearly reading what's beyond my age... even.”

We both had a staring contest, until I gave up. So, he demanded to hear, ”How and why?”

”[You won't believe me.]”

”Try me,” Fred winked with an obnoxiously confident voice. The very voice that had been bugging me ever since he arrived at home a few days ago...

”[I'm an alien.]” I simply answered him.

Okay, so that was tacky, but it's technically not a lie.

”You really expect me to believe that?” Fred's eyebrows twitched as he questioned back, ”You think I'd fall for the same trick Helen did?”

”[Not necessarily.]” I nodded in disagreement, ”[Helen never asked me.]”

”Do not play with me on words.” Fred warned me. He tries so hard... Unfortunately, his clumsy and slightly hidden embarrassed face deemed otherwise.

”[It is not a lie. I'm not from here. Well, I was born here, true. Umm... How should I say this...?]” I mumbled and grumbled, being unable to explain, when Fred realized something and stared keenly on my face.

He chuckled and to my stirred up confusion, replied, ”So you reincarnated, I take it?”

For a moment I was dumbfounded with utter distress and relief, that I wasn't able to fix my emotions. ”What did this guy say?” I couldn't emphasize his idea.

”Don't worry,” he tried to reassure me, ”we're the same. You're secret's safe with me.”

Lightning hit me when these words brazenly walked out of the guy's mouth...!

”[You're not ridiculing me, are you?]” I asked, slightly suspicious.

”Of course not!” Fred pouted with a bit of fury, ”you might not believe me, but I reincarnated too, about 20 years ago or so...”

”It was a stormy day,” Fred went on, before I got the chance to say anything, ”that fateful day, when I died and left my ex-home planet, 'Earth'. I didn't have many things back in the previous world, so when I came here, I let go of the past... everything and everyone... except my brother.”

”[I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure you must have had a loving family back home.]” I replied back to him, as a single teardrop went rolling down my cheeks, ”[I thought I was the only solitary person back on Earth.]” I sniffed.

”...”

”You're from the same planet?” Fred jumped at the sound of that. His long pause from beforehand, made me wonder twice, to a certain extent whether this man was completely foolish or just super cunning.

”[Oh, I guess?]” I replied him with a shrug, completely unfazed by his agitation.

”So, umm... do you know how many continents there are? How many moons and suns it has? What is the color of the planet? Who is the most wanted and youngest criminal of all time?” Fred let out several questions in one go.

”[I can't fathom how my answers might help you, but if you'd want to know, then let me answer. First, there are seven continents on Earth; Second, The Earth has only One Sun and One Moon; Third, The color of the planet is green that covers the land, blue that covers the ocean and white that covers both the ice regions and the heavily clouded atmosphere...]” I breathed exhaustingly.

”And?” Fred curiously asked.

”[Yes, yes, yes. I'm getting to that.]” I replied, barely able to keep my powers in check.

Finally, regaining my lost composure, I replied, ”[The most wanted and youngest criminal currently, as far as I've heard while I was alive, is Welber Wadding. He is notorious and currently he is 17 years old.]”

”Bzzz!” Fred muffled the sound, ”incorrect on the last one.”

I looked at him impatiently with a mean eye.

”I meant 20 years ago. How would I know what's happening there now? More importantly, I asked for 'all times' and not the 'current one,' remember??” Fred replied at me and questioned back.

Though I did wonder what was up with this fella, but I just sighed and corrected my answer, ”[20 years ago, there were two worse of the worst villains in history, G and J. They were the youngest and best of their time, as criminals, as well as partners. Not many know who they were even now... only that they were vicious and that they were about 15 years of age when their name scattered across the Globe.]”

While I said these words, Fred's eyes sparkled in delight, leaving me slightly uneasy at his exhilarated mood.

”Well, dare you know, who you mentioned just now?” he asked me, full of valor and pride.

”[The answer to your questions...?]” I shrugged my shoulders in doubt.

”Don't freak out, but I'm one of them. Those 'notorious' fellows, I mean.” Fred smiled with laziness, as well as a drool, as he uttered those words.

”Wait, so you're J?!” I unintentionally blurted out, bewildered.