Aqua sits in his dimly lit room, his face buried deep inside the book. He has made a lot of progress since he read the story about the twins. But there is still no trace of any ritual to bring a human back from the dead. Furthermore, he hasn't eaten in days, his stomach is cramping so badly that he can't even focus on reading.
Reluctantly, he gets up from his chair, his knees burning from the sudden weight put on them. He slowly makes his way out of his room, stepping into the dark hallway. Apparently, it's the dead of night, which benefits Aqua greatly.
He walks down to the kitchen and opens the fridge. The bright metallic light of it almost burns his bloodshot pupils, making him slam it shut again. He waits a moment, then he opens it again, more carefully this time.
Inside it, there is nothing he can just snack away on. It's either food he would need to prepare first, which would be loud and time-consuming. Or too little to fill his needs. He thinks for a moment, then decides that going to a 24h cafe would be his best bet.
He quietly slips on his shoes and puts on his warm jacket before heading out the door.
…
15 minutes later, he arrives at the nearest 24h cafe. He doesn't even know why this place exists since there isn't a single other customer in sight as he enters. The place is really warm compared to the outside, so he sits down right at the counter. Just a moment after he sits down, a waiter appears out of the backroom and greets him.
"Hello, sir, can I take your order?"
Aqua only looks up briefly as he responds.
"Just bring me anything that will keep me full for a while."
"We actually don't serve 'anything that will keep me full for a while'" at this establishment."
The waiter replies while smiling, his smile instantly faltering as Aqua looks up again. His corpse-like expression would probably knock the wind out of most people.
"Then just bring me like 3 bowls of ramen, that should be sufficient."
Aqua's tone is as monotone as before.
The waiter hurries back to the kitchen, unsure of whether Aqua wants to intimidate him or if that is just his normal expression. A few minutes later, he comes back out with 3 steaming hot bowls. He places the right in front of Aqua, yet he doesn't walk away, but continues to stand there as Aqua starts to dig in.
The waiter watches Aqua, whose face is filled with agony. The food feels alien to his empty stomach.
"A rough night, huh?"
Aqua halts, slowly placing down the chopsticks.
"I just have not eaten anything in a while, that is all there is to it…"
The waiter looks Aqua up and down; his clothes are all high-end brands.
"Why's that… If you don't mind me asking?"
"Have not found the time to."
Aqua is breathing heavily from the spicy food.
"That sucks."
The waiter hands him a can of soda from behind the counter.
"Here, it's on the house.
Aqua hesitates for a moment, then takes it.
"Thanks… Look, why are you talking to me like that? You work a night shift because you don't really like customers. Am I right?
The waiter looks up at the ceiling, staying quiet for a moment.
"I don't really know, I sense something inside of you. And something inside of me tells me to talk to you because of it… Sounds probably foolish, am I right?"
Aqua looks down at his food, using his chopsticks to fidget with the noodles.
"I don't think it does, to be completely honest…"
Aqua finishes the last bowl of ramen and gulps down the soda.
"Do you have a restroom I can use to wash my hands?"
Aqua stands up from the counter and looks around the cafe.
"Sure, just back there, the second door on the left."
The waiter points over to the other end of the cafe.
Aqua steps into the bathroom, the light of the room is cold and unwelcoming. A quiet static sound fills the entire room. Aqua strolls over to a sink and begins to splash his hands with cold water, a moment later doing the same with his face. Then he looks up, tumbling backwards from what he sees.
Right before him, a mirror, in it is his own reflection, yet he doesn't look like he once did. His teeth are yellow-ish, his eyes look like he just smoked 10 joints, and his hair is greasy. But the worst part isn't any of that; it's how thin he had gotten. He looks like he lost at the very least 35 pounds over the past few days, which he knows is not physically possible for him.
He almost punches the mirror right then and there, but stops his fist last second as he thinks back to the waiter who was so nice to him.
"Useless! You look horrible, Aqua. You seriously want to give such a pitiful body to Ai? You should be ashamed of yourself."
Aqua steps away from the mirror.
"But it will need to be sufficient. It just has to be."
Aqua leaves the restroom again and is about to head out of the store when the waiter calls out to him.
"Sir. You still have to pay for the food."
Aqua turns around again, heading back to the counter.
"I don't have any money on me right now…"
Both remain silent for a moment, then Aqua slips out of his expensive jacket, handing it over to the baffled worker.
"Here, just take this instead. It should be more than sufficient, and soon I won't need it anymore anyway."
Aqua is gone before the waiter can say anything. Back on the cold streets, this time he actually feels the chill of it, though. Aqua walks for a few minutes on the deserted sidewalk, then he suddenly hears steps right behind him, which makes him snap around.
Behind him is Tera, also stopping as Aqua does.
"I'm sorry for scaring you… I just didn't know how to approach you without scaring you."
Aqua turns back around and keeps walking.
"Don't worry about it. What is it you want?"
"That waiter… He wasn't just saying anything when he said he's feeling something inside you… I think he was feeling me. Thus, I believe that he is also like me, a human with ties to the supernatural."
Tera also begins to walk again, following Aqua.
"Tera… Why do I look like that?"
Aqua completely ignores Tera's theory.
"I don't know that, you've probably just not eaten enough lately."
Yeah, as if… 35 pounds in just a week.
I get the feeling he is hiding something right now.
But what could it be?
Why is all of this taking such a toll on my body?
"Tera… Stop lying to me."
Aqua's voice is as monotone as if he were talking about the weather.
"Excuse me? I am not a liar. The sheer audacity it takes to call me one is beyond disrespectful. Aquamarine, did nobody ever tell you not to bite the hand that feeds you? I could just stop helping you, I don't gain anything from it anyways-"
Tera takes a short break.
"Apart from ruining Tsukuyomi's plan, that is."
Why is he so emotional all of a sudden?
Something isn't right here, but what is it?
He only added the fact that this is for him about ruining Tsukuyomi's plan afterwards…
Could it be that ruining Tsukuyomi's plan isn't his true intent?
And if not, what is it then?
"Mind sharing your thoughts?"
Aqua snaps out of his trance-like state as he hears Tera's voice.
"It's nothing…"
Aqua continues to walk in silence. Eventually, he notices that Tera is gone again, but he doesn't mind it. On the contrary even, Tera really annoyed Aqua with his prideful attitude.
Tera stands in the shadows, silently watching from a distance as Aqua continues to walk.
He is flying too close to the sun.
I will have to pull some strings to change his thoughts.
I wouldn't want for his wings to melt away now.
Not after waiting for such a long time.
Not after putting so much work into this.
"Tsukuyomi… This time it will be me who is triumphant, it will not be like it was 500 years ago…"