The cicadas that had screeched normally in the gardens went silent, as if the night itself held its breath. The moonless night poured silver over the marble halls, cutting shadows into terrible, sharp angles.
Hoshimi rested upon the balcony of his room, the cold night air brushing against his skin. Kira was a small, subdued murmur of snores beside him on the bed, but sleep eluded Hoshimi.
His violet eyes, now softly burning in the blackness, cast about the immaculately manicured courtyard below. A single form was walking, a ghostly white figure against the dark greenery. Elias. His white hair drank in the moonlight, radiating an ethereal glow.
Then he sat down on the fountain, as the water trickled down behind him, he swung his legs as he softly hummed to himself, his eyes staring at the stone sculpture right in front of him.
"Hmm".
[I wonder what he's doing now? A child like him shouldn't be staying awake after twenty two]
The bottom of his heels started to glow faintly, as he climbed onto the edge of the balcony and jumped down, right in front of Elias, landing with a silent sound.
"What are you doing at this hour? Children like you should be asleep at this time, don't you think so"?
Elias didn't even flinch. He slowly turned, his typical angelic smile already in place. His wide, naive blue eyes fought against Hoshimi's. "Ah, Sir Shirogane.I think it might be insomnia, I haven't been able to sleep well for the past couple days, I think some melatonin might help."
"Don't you know it's detrimental for your health? You'll stay short, you know"? Hoshimi smiled. "You should ask for help from a doctor if this continues, you know"?
"Insomnia is a truly human condition, you know"? Elias stared up at the specks of white scattered across the night sky.
"Man is the animal that cannot sleep".
Elias stared into his eyes as his pupils glowed with a blue hue.
"A phrase attributed to the writer, Emil Cioran in his work 'The Height of Despair'".
Hoshimi raised an eyebrow. "I guess that explains the reason for the manner in which you speak, you always seem to speak in….. whatever is the way you speak". He sat down beside him as the water rippled behind him.
"Humans are part of the kingdom, animalia, yet we are the only ones that yearn for sleep but cannot, their desire but their inability to sleep. That is a unique and profound aspect of the human condition, a condition that no other animal faces". He leaned against her kneem his eyes narrowed as he stared softly at him. "It has been quite a day hasn't it"?
"Indeed," Hoshimi said, moving closer, his hands loosely placed in pockets. "Quite a day for waywards thoughts isn't it? Your father died yet you have the same expression as always".
"Father was never a part of my life, when I wanted to see him, Tian always said that he was busy and engrossed with work". He rested his chin against the palm of his hand. "I don't even need to see him to know what he was like, I could tell that he was a man of convoluted foresight, just by the way he issued commands to Tian".
"The patriarch's message during the dinner", Hoshimi paused. "The patriarch's message, 'Espy, descry and distinguish from one action to another.' A mandate to watch, to notice. Almost as if he knew who to watch, and what they could do." His head tilted to one side. "He knew that he was going to die, like he was some sort of prophet".
Elias chuckled, a low pleasant sound that had no place in the chilly open garden. "My father was a paranoid man. He suspected everyone. His children, his servants, even the walls. To provide him with such precise information would be to give him an omniscience he simply didn't possess." Then his smile disappeared off his face. "My sister has been going through a lot this week, ever since your little group arrived here. So what happened again"?
"I forgot that you weren't there", Hoshimi scratched his nape, as he spoke in a calm tone. "There was another message that the patriarch gave to Audrey. You three are experiments, orphan witches that were used as catalysts to force a reincarnation to bring his daughter back… and Audrey was the success".
"Oh"... Elias was frozen for a millisecond, his eyes shaking ever so slightly. "She must be going through a lot now, I feel sorry for her".
"Don't you feel anything for yourself"?
"My sister is the most important thing in the world to me".
Hoshimi's eyes widened.
[He must really care about his sister, yet he didn't do anything to solve the abuse that Adrian was inflicting on her…..Maybe he did. Maybe this was the only way that he could stop Adrian without actually killing him. Killing Adrian directly would make him and Audrey the two main suspects of the police, killing the patriarch gives the eldest child–Audrey–will receive 60 percent of his fortunes. Killing two birds with one stone]
He rolled his eyes.
[Should I really keep trying to prove that he was the mastermind?.... No, if he really wants to help Audrey then he should make some sacrifices]
"So what's up with that stone sculpture"?
"Oh that? It's mother's grave". Elias' eyes softened as he stared at the warm texture of the stone.
The statue was of an angel reaching its hands towards the sky, its pupils blank and empty.
"We buried her under this statue, without a coffin. She must've decomposed already". He sighed. "Angels are believed to be messengers of the Primordials, the statues are meant to represent protectors and guides for those in the afterlife".
"A grave huh? I guess this is where we will all end up one day, no matter how strong or weak we were, one thing is true about us all. That we will all end up in the ground". Hoshimi looked over to him, he asked. "What is your opinion about the final act of humanity"?
"It's one of the only truly ubiquitous human conditions. It's like a ticking time bomb hanging over our head. Death has no truth over the living". He stood up and walked towards the statue, tracing his fingers across the surface. "It's our final moments, I don't know how to really put it. Even for such a common thing, none of us can really describe it other than just the end".
[He's really pessimistic, even more than me. I should argue with him, to keep him on his toes. I should keep my cranium open]
Hoshimi saw Elias's long fingers trace over the worn stone of the angel's wing. "And yet, Elias," he began, his voice dropping to a whisper, "sometimes an 'end' can be carefully planned out. A careful, calculated end for one reason, to clear the way for a fresh beginning for another. Wouldn't you think so?"
"Maybe you're right". Elias picked up a flower from right next to the angel, its white petals slowly falling off as he spun it from its stem. "And that new beginning will soon find its own end". Elias's hand paused on the stem. His heavenly smile never faltered, but his blue eyes, as distant as the stars themselves, hardened by the unnoticeable fraction. "One could say that life itself is a string of joined endings and beginnings, Sir Shirogane. Every choice we make, every deed we do, has its effect. Frequently, those effects are. less than ideal for some, but to others, they are a positive." He moved his head, his eyes meeting Hoshimi's, keen and piercing. "The strong define the fate of the weak. Isn't that the very theme of Hex Academy, and indeed, of this world?
"You're twisted, you know"?
"And you're nothing but a loyal dog, following their orders. You're a pig on a leash with a carrot held out in front of you, endlessly chasing something that you'll never reach. You use others but you really do never realize that you yourself are being used as well".
Hoshimi held his gaze, a faint, almost imperceptible twitch in his jaw.
"Hey. Did you orchestrate Adrian's death"?
Elias's face froze with his smile still on his face.
[I didn't think he'd ask so directly, this was unexpected]
"Of course I didn't, killing someone would make me the same as our dear brother, I would never stoop to his level".
"During the dinner, I saw you took advantage of the chaos and planted a tracker on Tian's shoulder, but how did you do that without leaving a single strand of DNA or fingerprint"? He tilted his head, as his eyes pulsed a deep purple in the dark of the night.
"Me? I would never do such a thing, it must've been an illusion or some sort of hallucination that Adrian made. It could've been his mutant magic awakening".
[He's deflecting it to Adrian]
"Do you really think that Adrian had the skill to murder the patriarch with a kitchen knife"?
"He's very skilled in swordsmanship, you know? Me on the other hand, I have never held a sword or knife in my entire life". Elias shrugged his shoulders.
"The experiments underground, they were released to capture Audrey and distract everyone else from the patriarch's murder. What the experiments wanted was to bring Audrey back into the estate, I doubt that he really cared that much about Audrey to bring her back". Hoshimi got closer to his face. "If he really did create this elaborate plan then why would Adrian fail at the last moment? Why would he be not prepared for getting caught and make a backup plan? Why would he kill it himself when he clearly has the money to send an assassin instead"?
"Who knows"? Elias smiled. "I guess he just got careless".
"And then, Janet the maid catching Adrian in the act with your command to be there".You set Adrian up, knowing his temper and his disdain for witches would make him the most likely suspect for the murder of the patriarch, especially if he found the body".
"Elias". Hoshimi stood up, staring down at his petite frame. "This is more than enough to point you out as the mastermind behind this. You will lose this little game, Elias. This is your end".
Elias clicked his tongue as he began to chew on the fingernail of his thumb, his brows began to furrow and his smile completely disappeared."Come on, sir Shirogane, we will take our positions. The Mirlo family needs a new head after all, a person who to needs understand the way of power, and how to wield it. And Audrey. Audrey will finally be safe. Under my protection. And with your. ongoing discretion, of course."
He walked up to the statue of the angel, placing a music box at its feet as an oblation. The cicadas obligingly resumed their screaming, an evening symphony.
Remember, Sir Shirogane," Elias boomed, his words soaring over the din, "sometimes, what one can do best for a broken girl, is simply remove the things that keep breaking her, no matter how ugly it gets.".
[I don't want to make Audrey more sad, should I really do this? I don't want to see her in pain anymore and seeing her younger brother in cuffs is going to break her]
Hoshimi watched him step into the darkness of the mansion, the windows lighting its walls with a glow that fell upon his white hair like a cold, ghostly light. He touched his own black hair, the coldness of the night air little comfort for the churning in his stomach.
[This isn't just a game between him and me anymore, this must've been some stupid game that Reina set up to test my morality and my duty. She told me to watch Audrey, knowing that I'd get close to her. You're a total bitch, Reina, you predicted everything that I'd do. It feels like you're orchestrating every second of my life]