Seven stood rooted in the ground, sweat dripping down his face as he watched Elias's still body. His fatigue has long vanished with the midnight wind, and in a few seconds more, his sweat will dry up, too.
Too engrossed in his own disorganized thoughts, he didn't notice the faint footsteps that approached.
"No, no, no, no..." A soft voice rang through the thin fog as someone hastened steps reached him.
Ignoring him completely, the person circled and rushed towards Elias, their long black hair flowing in the wind.
"Oh no no, what did you do? Why did you do it?"
He heard her voice break, sobbing sounds followed but he was yet to understand...
He didn't want to...
"Just wait a little while longer..." A faint tremor could be heard in his voice.
Cordis turned, her ears and nose red with pain and sobs.
"Just a little more...any second from now."
Cordis stood up from beside Elias' body and slowly walked up to him...
In whispers, Seven continued muttering:
"I don't know why he won't rise? Tell him to get up, it's almost morning"
Cordis searched his eyes, biting down on her lips to fight her sorrow. But his lost pale eyes wouldn't dare meet hers. It ran around the surrounding...everywhere except her face.
"No, no, no this won't do... should I get some water..."
"Heh! He lies there like a log of wood, after handing me my behind..."
Slap!
Seven's face snapped to the side on impact.
'It's not a dream, or is it?!'
The first thought came to his mind, his body numb to the slap.
He couldn't feel pain, so it was probably a dream... nothing to worry about, right?
One concern, though, if it was, in fact, a dream, why wasn't he awake yet? Wouldn't that slap have jolted him up from the terrible terrible nightmare?
"What did you do Seven?!" Cordis asked...
'Saved Elias?'
Staring at her with dead eyes, he smiled and shook his head violently...
"What is wrong with you?" He held her shoulders.
"That slap, you felt the slap too, didn't you? The same way you felt the stomach ache, and the pain of your bones being twisted in the exorcism...don't lie to me, it's the truth. He was responsible for everything, he admitted to it all..."
"I saved you, I saved him. I saved everyone from that filthy ghost!"
She parted her lips but couldn't find the right words. Shutting her eyes tightly, Cordis let out painful sobs...
'You shouldn't have done this, Seven. Oh my God! This can't be happening!' She ran her hands through her hair, breathless, before she finally slumped on the floor, crying uncontrollably.
"W-why? What's the matter? I exorcised him, everything is fixed now..."
"He isn't breathing Seven! Elias is dead!" Cordis shouted, finding it hard to believe the words from her mouth too.
They slammed into Seven forcefully, disorienting him as he choked on air.
Retreating a few steps, his knees quivered, struggling to bear his weight. He averted his gaze towards Elias, his mind recounting everything he had done that night and what he could have done differently.
Shaking his head slowly, he parted his lips but no words would come out.
He was afraid to go closer but his feet dragged him forward. He was afraid this nightmare would never end but there was nothing mistakable about Elias's lifeless eyes.
They had lost the very spark of life in them and he just couldn't...
He reached down, blinking rapidly as he swallowed hard.
"Elias..." He called out, tilting his head as he reached out to grab his face. With the cold he felt when he touched him and the lifeless response when he moved him, a tear dropped; Reality, hitting him like a wrecking ball.
"Please no, no, no..." He said, shutting his eyes as his tears flowed ceaselessly, reminding him with each drop that he was the one to blame.
No one but him killed Elias.
"Noooo!!!!" He screamed, burying his face in Elias's chest.
---
In the cemetery...
Black was an everyday color for him, but on this day, it held a meaning he had forced himself to come to terms with. He would have never thought a day like this would come; he'd wish to shred his dark-colored clothes, scraping them off his skin if necessary.
Walking forward as he made sure to avoid looking around to behold other mourners including Elias's parents, he bent down and dropped a rose.
He was never the verbal one, and it would most definitely not start today.
As a cold chill ran down his spine, he sniffed, tucked his hands in his pockets, and walked away.
Soon there was no one around, just him in the midst of other graves. He was numb.
Nothing!
Till something moved at the edge of his sight. Turning he saw him—Elias. He knew...he was sure it was all in his head, but he didn't ask to be sane today.
The figure he realized as Elias gave him a small smile and turned to leave. He sprinted away and with his consciousness blaring at him on how dangerous his actions could be, he shut it off and followed.
His pace was dynamic; it was sometimes slow and, at other times, fast. All he knew was that he, Seven was drawing closer.
He let his hands out, ready to grab Elias by the shoulder, but just then, someone grabbed him from behind, yanking him away.
"No...he's leaving! Let me go!"
He stretched out and with all his might, he struggled to be set free so he could reach Elias, who kept moving, not turning back.
"Get yourself together, will you?!" Zephyr reprimanded, holding him so tight, he could barely move.
"He's walking away!"
"There's no one there!" He said, finding it harder to keep him in check.
"Elias!!! Wait, I have to explain. Don't go!!!!"
Slap!
Zephyr, slapped him across his face, sending him to the ground.
"What in the world is wrong with you?!" Zephyr scolded, his brows knitting like a parent about to seriously reprimand his child.
Squatting as he grabbed Seven's face so he could look at him, he said slowly making sure Seven got every word...
"Not now! You'll have to get it together because we are not dealing with this now. We are going back before anyone notices your absence. Try to fight, even one bit and I'll send you to keep Elias company, understood?
Not waiting for a reply, he grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and dragged him away.
"Elias..." Seven muttered, his eyes blurring out as the faint shimmer of the figure from before appeared again in his line of sight.
---
In the group's lair, back in school...
It wasn't hard to guess what the atmosphere was around the team; after all, they all had known Elias before him and had shared longer and stronger relationships than him. He was just his roommate...for a painfully short amount of time.
Seven sat quietly, distracted and equally ignoring the stares from the other team members which was expected.
Frankly speaking, he did murder their friend, so it would only be weird if they welcomed him with open arms and tried sympathizing with him.
'It's alright...it's over' he thought, his eyes drowsy.
Good thing. Now everything was over he was going to quit. He would save them the trouble of kicking him out themselves.
"Stay behind Seven..." Their master, the vice principal requested just after dismissing them.
"You know this wasn't your fault, right?" he started, and Seven remained silent, staring blankly at him.
"Here, come, let me show you something..." Taking a cut at a corner, the path opened to a relatively huge space that resembled a chemistry lab.
Not like any chemical lab he's seen before
...
Slouching on a stool, he glanced around. Seeing different chemicals in tear tubes and a rather fascinating one at the farther end of the table. It was red in color like blood, boiling in a beaker on a Bunsen burner.
Grabbing a test tube and pouring a small of a clear liquid inside, Master asked...
"I'm not your chemistry teacher, but you must have come across a combustion reaction, haven't you?"
Seven nodded, watching as he dropped a strip of magnesium into a crucible.
"What's the essence of Combustion?"
"Wh—?" Seven's eyes narrowed in confusion before a contemplative look took over.
"Some elements burn brighter than others. Buy they always leave something new." seven answered, his eyes not leaving the man.
Igniting it, a blinding white light flashed, and both looked silently as the substance burned away, leaving a powdery ash.
Stirring the ash, he explained:
"This is magnesium oxide. It wasn't here before. Than brightness? It wasn't waste, just transformed what was..."
"Elias changed form! Into something...better, different..."
"He's gone..."
"Yes, but he left something in his wake. Memories, proof that he once burned for a reason."
Walking towards him, he reached out. Patting his shoulder, he lowered his head to Seven's eye level.
Seven could swear he didn't see any blacks or brown or anything...just white. Like his?
Smiling like he found his expression funny, he said...
"Don't blame yourself. Your intentions are what matters most, and I'm sure, we are all certain that while you took the great risk to exorcise Elias yourself, your motive was to save everyone..."
He fixated his eyes on the man whose own eyes were always covered by sun shades as his mind filtered the underlying message between the words he said.
Clearly, he was asking him not to feel too bad for making a silly decision and also irresponsibly acting it out because he simply cared...
It's okay, though; he has long admitted it.
He was going to leave so it didn't matter...
"Thank you, sir, but this would have to be goodbye. I'm sorry and I promise I won't mention a word about this to anyone..."
With that, Seven was out of the group, never hating himself as much as he did at that moment.