Part 1 - Chapter 5
“Wow, this lecture was really fascinating,” Ray professed while they were sitting in the cafeteria. “I learned incredibly much,” he added as he took another bite of his pasta. While he was deeply in thoughts, Camellia took out her phone and made a list of things she had noticed in Ray
2. Intelligent, keen on learning and well-mannered
3. Sometimes childish
4. Loves to eat
5. Acquainted with Lisa
Initially, Camellia made some irrational decisions,
like following Ray to an empty alley, and was not able to handle the knowledge
that Ray had passed onto her because the entire story seemed like a lie.
However, now she was back at her calm and analytical state. One thing was for
sure: she was ambitious to achieve multiple goals in her life and she was not
giving up on them. She had to live, but she had no plan on how to achieve that.
For that reason, she knew that she would have to befriend herself with Ray, who
might give her some Information.
“Yet, I did not quite comprehend how we are supposed to
do our assignment exactly. The lecturer used some unfamiliar words, which I did
not understand. What does ‘Google’ and ‘PDF’ mean?” he questioned
confused. A small smile crept up on Camellia’s face. “I’ll show you once we do
the assignment,” she replied.
“Would you like to have anything else to eat?” she
asked while she put her phone back into her pocket. “What do you want from me?”
Ray interrogated. He placed his fork on his plate and looked at Camellia critically.
“What do you mean, I just wanted to offer you some food,” she replied with a
shrug and continued eating her pasta. “You have been friendly to me since we
entered the lecture hall and now you even bought me food. I know for a fact
that people are only kind when they expect something in return.”
In that moment, Lisa entered the cafeteria with a huge
smile on her face. Once she spotted Camellia, she made her way towards her, but
was confused why she was talking to a guy whose face she was not able to see
because his back was facing her. “Cami, how are you?” she asked as she arrived
at her table. Right then, Ray turned around and both stared at each other in
silence. “Lisa.”
In her three-days acquaintance with Ray, that was the
most caring look he had given to anyone in front of Camellia. “Ray, what are
you doing here?” she questioned, but instead of receiving an answer, Ray pulled
her in for a hug. Both were surprised but after a few seconds, Lisa hugged him
back with a smile on her face. “Okay, this is weird,” Camellia thought to
herself. Once Ray pulled away from Lisa, both sat down on the table and started
talking.
“I’ve been enrolled here as a student, I guess we will
see each other often,” Ray explained. “That’s great. I see, you have already befriended
yourself with Camellia.” Ray’s appearance in her university was unpredicted and
startling, but maybe that was Lisa’s chance to find out more about him. After
she met Ray in the park to play chess a few days ago, she was regretting not
having asked Ray anything about him. As years were passing by, she was becoming
more and more curious about Ray’s nature. Therefore, she had decided to ask him
the most vital question when she would see him the next time: Why hasn’t he
aged since the past eight years? She was afraid that he might disappear once
she starts prying into the supernatural life of Ray, but the curiosity had
gotten the best of her. “How about we all hang out tomorrow after our
lectures,” Lisa suggested. “Let’s invite Noah too,” Camellia added and Lisa
gave her an approving nod.
Throughout the entire lunchtime, Ray was solely
interested in talking with Lisa. Atypical for him, he was actually asking many
questions about her private life, like her interests and hobbies. In return, to
keep up the conversation, he obviously also had to disclose some information
about himself. During that time, Camellia paid close attention to him.
“Enough about me, what do you like to do in your free
time?” Lisa inquired. “Nothing much, I have a part time job, where I assist my
boss in doing small trivial tasks, like a secretary. Other than that, I like to
read medical journals here and there,” he replied. Instantly, Camellia felt as
if something didn’t match here. “Wait a second, how do you read journals?” He
barely knew what Google was, how was he up-to-date with the latest
medical advancements? “I have a friend; he sometimes gives me this large screen
where I can read journals. It’s quite fascinating what that screen can do.”
Just then, Camellia realized that her next lecture
would begin soon. “Let’s go, our break is almost over,” she said. All of them
stood up, and all went to their next lecture. For Camellia, the rest of the day
was rather unspectacular as Ray mysteriously disappeared in the afternoon. She
was restless, as another ‘deadly incident’ hadn’t occurred yet, but without Ray
around her, she had nothing else to do then her usual after-university routine.
Ray on the other hand, had matters to discuss with Luis. Therefore, after his
lectures, he went to the empty washroom, where he snapped his fingers and
teleported himself to the headquarters of the heavenly realm.
There, he walked towards the lounge room, where he
expected to see Luis. “What are you doing here, Ray?” Luis questioned without
gazing up from his phone. “What a heartwarming welcome,” Ray remarked
sarcastically as he sat down on the sofa next to Luis. “Why are you gazing at
pictures of unknown people?” Ray questioned confused after he glimpsed his
phone. “It’s called social media; I also have a profile. How come you still
don’t know about that?” he replied and Ray shrugged. “I am not very interested
in these things.”
“Anyway, I need your help,” the semi-demon stated as
he waited Luis to shift his attention from his phone to him. When Luis finally
gazed at him, he continued. “First of all, I want to express my gratitude to
you and your colleague who swiftly enrolled me in Camellia’s university. I
don’t know who your connection is, but that angel is quite useful. Second of
all, I need a few other devices, a phone and something called a laptop.”
Luis let out a chuckle. “I thought you are not
interested in these new technological devices,” he questioned. “I am not, but I
need them to survive as a college student,” Ray explained as he gazed at the
ground. “Fine, give me a day,” Luis agreed. Without wasting any further time,
he stood up, snapped his fingers and disappeared. Luis was slightly confused
regarding Ray’s behavior. Somehow it seemed as if he was not preparing to take
Camellia’s soul to the bridge of reincarnation, but was getting ready to live a
life as a human. After he decided to observe him for some further time, he
decided to continue with his work and left the lounge as well.
Ray was still in the heavenly realm, but in the main
office in front of Albert. “Pleasant seeing you,” Albert greeted. Ray instantly
smiled as he saw his favorite person of the heavenly realm. “Nice to see you too, Albert. I’ve come here
because I know that you have access to the library. I really need to go there,”
he explained. Albert fixed his glasses and took the key to the library from his
pocket. “You know that not everyone is allowed to enter the library, unless you
have a solid reason. I can take you there, if you tell me what you need from
there.”
“Fine. I need to research on immortals. My latest
mission requires me to bring the soul of an immortal to the bridge of
reincarnation, but I cannot comprehend where I should start,” he explained.
Albert nodded, as he carefully thought of a solution with which he could help
Ray. Without any further word, Albert started walking towards the library and
Ray quietly followed him. Once they arrived there, Albert opened the door with
his keys which led both of them into a giant hall, decorated with ancient
books. Those books carried the history of the world, yet not even most angels
had ever set foot in this divine room.
“Wait here, I know exactly which book you need,” he
instructed and went out of sight. Ray put his hands in his pockets, as he
strolled around and gazed at every book that came across him. Suddenly, one
particular book caught his attention. The cover was black and it looked fairly antique,
as if it would fall apart if someone would open it. Carefully, he picked up the
book and arbitrarily opened a page. He instantly froze when he saw the sketch
of a female demon on the left side of the page. It was a relatively young
demon, with a lean figure and cat-like yet devilish eyes. Her smile emitted
nothing but negative and malevolent vibes. Above the sketch he could read the
following title ‘The Missing Demon Alia’.
“What are you doing?” Albert sternly asked as he saw
Ray sniffling around. Immediately Ray closed the book and placed it back.
“Nothing,” he replied. “You know that you are not allowed to look at any of
those books,” he explained and Ray nodded. He ruffled his hair and walked back
to the entrance of the hall with Albert, who was holding a book with a sapphire-blue
cover in his hands. “I know that I wasn’t supposed to look at it, but I can’t
unsee what I have already seen.”
Albert stayed quiet at Ray’s statement. “Who is Alia?”
he questioned. “That is none of your concern,” he retorted. As Ray knew that
any further talk would be useless, he quietly followed Albert back to the main
office, where he handed him the book that might be useful to Ray. “Bring it back
as soon as you can,” Albert stated and returned to his work.
For the rest of the day, Ray spent his time in his
room to read the book Albert had given to him. The first half of the book was
filled with facts Ray was already aware of, but the second half delved into the
issue of the creation and elimination of immortals. In summary the following
Information was new to Ray: immortals are created when humans make a pact with
divine beings or demons. Usually, the content of such a pact is that the divine
creature or demon will protect the human for a specific number of years. As
such pacts go against the law of the heavenly realm, immortals have to be
eliminated as soon as they are identified. This, in turn, can only be
accomplished if the term of the contract is over, or when the protector dies.
Ray sighed in frustration after he read that. “Now I
have to find her guardian first,” he thought to himself. He wasn’t particularly
fond of the mission being this extensive, but he knew he had no other choice.
“At least I will get my wish granted by the heavenly realm once this is over.”
Now that Ray was enlightened, he finally understood why this peculiar task was
handed over to him. Not only had he had to kill Camellia, but another divine
being had to be sacrificed for this as well.
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