Number 7

Marcus immediately understood the sensation of being thrown into another person's memories, however this time was different.

Unlike when Seven showed him the memories, Marcus was not present within the body of the person - but rather, he existed as a mere spectator.

'Hm? Seven, are you showing me this?'

[No. This is the work of that girl - and her ability.]

'Do you know it? Her ability?'

[I do now. I suppose I have some explaining to do as to why I know such a thing... but for now, I'll inform you.]

With a serious tone, Marcus could tell that Seven was through playing around.

Despite their differences, Seven was now cooperating with him.

This alone was evidence that Seven had changed, or perhaps that Marcus had changed enough to invoke such a change within Seven.

[Relate. She has two different abilities. The first is that she is able to relate with the emotions and feelings of others. In other words... she can comprehend your mindset, and understand your desires.]

This revelation made sense to Marcus.

While she had seemed fearful and confused at his initial appearance, the girl had been filled with confidence as the fight went on.

Even as Marcus had killed so many people, even if she had been distraught from such a thing, there was a strange change in her at some point throughout the battle.

'Perhaps that was when she first related to me.'

However as he had this thought, Marcus turned his attention to the scenery around him.

'But that has nothing to do with what I'm experiencing now, does it?'

[Nope. This is the second use of this ability. Not only can she gain an understanding of others by relating to them, but she can force others to relate to her. A powerful tool... one which can be used to easily make as many PAWNS as there are people who sympathize with her.]

'So those men... when she ordered them to attack...'

[That's right, Marcus.]

With a sinister tone, Seven chuckled to himself.

[They were injected with the desire to protect her.]

----

A young girl with short cut blonde hair made her way to school.

This girl was just entering middle school, happily making her way to a new world of opportunities.

'I can't wait to make friends!'

With hope filling her eyes, she entered the classroom on that day filled with expectation.

This particular girl had recently moved to a new place for family reasons, however this was just in time for her to enter middle school and begin a new life.

Many people would be new to the school, and so meeting another group of friends wouldn't be tough. If she were someone who had transferred in the middle of the year, or into a place where the friend groups had been established, then this would have been another matter altogether.

'Um... lets see... ah... it's that classroom over there.'

Making her way into the classroom on that first day, the girl was greeted by a number of chatting students.

Groups of girls and groups of guys had already seemed to form, though there were some loners who were merely sitting at their desks not paying attention.

'Should I try and join in on one of the groups? Or should I approach someone who is alone?'

The girl was immediately presented with such a predicament, however her hesitation didn't last long.

'I guess I'll approach someone alone! After all, I'm sure they're lonely and want a friend to talk to. And it would be difficult to talk to people who already have friends.'

Energetically, the girl approached a particular girl with dark hair who appeared to be slouched over on her desk, half asleep.

"Hello! I'm Celia! What's your name?"

With this energetic introduction, a few glances came the way of Celia, however they quickly were brushed off as most students returned to their conversation.

The girl in question slowly opened her eyes, glancing up at Celia without any emotion, not saying a word

"Er... did you hear me? I'm Celia. What's your name?"

Tilting her head, the blonde haired girl flashed a strange smile once more, confused as to why she would have been ignored in such a manner.

"Heather."

Thus the girl replied in a monotone manner, closing her eyes as she returned to sleep.

"Hi, Heather! Let's be friends! Why are you so tired? It's the first day. Shouldn't you be wide awake?"

At this question, the girl opened one eye, glaring up at Celia with evident irritation.

"You talk really loud."

This was the only response Celia got.

"Haha, my mom tells me the same thing. I guess I'll try to be a little more quiet. So? Why are you so tired?"

"Because I wasn't able to sleep last night."

"Ehh? Why not? Did you stay up too late playing games?"

"Have you ever heard of insomnia? No... nevermind."

"In... some... narnia? What is that?"

"Nevermind. Anyways, why are you so energetic?"

Sitting up now, the girl seemed to force herself awake, accepting that the girl next to her wasn't going to simply leave her alone.

"Why? I mean, that's just the way I am!"

"Then this is just the way I am. Sit down. The teacher will probably be here soon."

With this order from the girl, Celia found herself sitting, though whether she could control her twitching legs was another thing.

The excitement of making new friends was too much for her to contain.

"Hehe... wanna be best friends?"

"Are you sure you wanna go and be best friends with someone you just met? Seems to me like you don't really give any value to the term."

"Um... what?"

"Nevermind. Sure. Let's be best friends."

Accepting the plea with a sigh, the girl returned her head to her desk, burying it into her hair as she once more attempted to sleep.

----

"Lunch! Lunch! I'm so hungry! Come on, Heather! We've gotta get a good spot before everyone takes them all!"

The energy which the girl displayed was almost nauseating.

"I get it. Will you calm down for a bit?"

Heather managed to sluggishly drag herself out of her seat, pulled forward by the hand of Celia - whose energy was far too great for her to handle.

The teacher had introduced himself, and class had begun as normal. Following some basic introductions and an ice breaker game, all of the students had learned a bit about one another.

After this, the lecture had begun. There was nothing particularly of note, as the teacher had merely gone from one subject to the next given each period, until lunch had finally arrived.

"Did you bring a lunch? Or did you bring money for lunch?"

"I'm not hungry."

"EHH?? You're not hungry!? What's with that? How can you not have lunch!?"

To Celia, the idea that someone could skip out on lunch was unthinkable, and she showed this in her expression of blatant shock.

"I... don't usually get very hungry. I didn't bother bringing lunch today."

Glancing away, Heather avoided the eyes of the girl.

"Well that's a problem! Come with me."

Grabbing the hand of the girl, Heather was pulled forward without warning.

"Eh? Where are we going?"

"To eat!"

"But I just told you that I have nothing to eat."

"In that case, I have enough for two!"

With a cheerful smile, Celia almost seemed to shine brightly at that moment to the girl.

"You... you clearly don't."

Looking at the lunchbox in the hand of the girl, which was obviously small and not enough for two people, Heather made this callous comment.

"It may not look like it. But I'll show you something special. Come on."

However, with these words, the girl refused to budge.

Pulled along, the two went up a stairway as they found themselves looking down on a grand courtyard.

Sitting down on a bench nearby, the girl opened her lunchbox. The contents inside were simple. A small sandwich. An apple. A bag of chips. The portions were obviously small.

"I know how to make this single portion into two portions. It's a little bit of a magic trick. Close your eyes."

Looking down at the food, Heather thinned her eyes in suspicion.

'Magic trick? What kind of stupid person would believe such a thing?'

"I said close your eyes! I can't reveal the trick to anyone! Come on."

With a sigh, Heather played along with the little game of the girl, closing her eyes.

She heard some rustling sounds, likely the opening of the bag of chips, then a crunching sound. After a bit, Celia spoke up.

"Ok! You can open them now!"

And as soon as Heather opened her eyes, spread out in front of her was two portions.

The sandwich, the apple, the chips, everything had been split exactly in half.

"Tada! See! It's magic."

"You're stupid."

With these words, Heather laughed, slightly.

Sitting down next to the girl, she took one of the portions as she began to eat.

"But... thank you."

"You know... I want to see the whole world."

Standing up, Celia walked over to the balcony nearby, hanging over it as she gazed out to the courtyard below.

"I've heard from my dad that there's a big war going on between us and the SSJ and the Forgestarian Empire. My dad says there are a lot of bad people in those nations who are trying to destroy everything."

With a solemn expression, the usually cheerful girl continued to smile - however that smile was no longer filled with the same excitement as before.

"He said that there are so many people out there fighting... fighting so that we can live in peace like this. So don't you think that it's our responsibility to enjoy our lives?"

Turning around with a smile, the girl displayed an expression filled with so much emotion that Heather couldn't possibly have described it with mere words.

"If so many people are out there dying so that we can enjoy our lives... then wouldn't hating our lives mean that those deaths are meaningless?"

As the girl said this, Heather almost dropped her food, completely in awe as she found herself at a loss of words.

"I guess... you're right."

"I want to explore the entire world one day."

And suddenly, the excitement returned to the voice of the girl.

"Joraten... Forgestaria... Koravik... Vorathia... I want to go to all these places! I want to see every city! The war will be over one day for sure! My dad told me that. He said that one day it will end, and when it does there will be peace all over the world! And when that day comes, I'm going to go everywhere!"

"How do you know it will end?"

However the joyful words of the young girl were interrupted by the skeptical words of Heather.

Yet even at this question, the blonde girl smiled with confidence as she responded.

"Because my dad said that everything has to come to an end - which means that the war will end for sure."

At this, Celia sat down once more as she continued her meal.

"So... when the war ends... will you come explore the world with me?"

And with this question, Heather felt an emotion stir up within her cold heart.

She looked up to the girl, whose hopefulness shined so brightly that she was unable to contain it.

However, such hope was not something she could accept.

"If everything has to come to an end... then how can you be certain that the world won't come to an end before the war does?"

"That won't happen!"

And with a smile, the girl responded with more energy than before.

"That definitely won't happen! Because if that does happen, then there's no point in thinking about it anyways! Because we'll be dead!"

"I see."

She was truly stupid, but at the same time, she was smart.

"Fine. If we live long enough to explore the world, then I'll travel the world with you."

----

"Hey! Let's walk home together! Where do you live?"

"You expect me to tell you where I live so easily?"

"If we're best friends, then it shouldn't be a problem, right? Let's go!"

The energy that Celia held was almost infectious, like a disease that attacked Heather without relenting.

No matter how hard her immune system fought against it, it would continue to mutate and attack her in different forms.

"Alright. Let's go."

Motioning for the girl to follow her, the two set out.

However as they exited the school grounds, a voice called out to them.

"Hey. Where do you think you're going?"

As soon as this voice spoke out, Heather seemed to freeze in shock, slowly turning around without a word.

"You think you can just run away like this after we took all the time to plan out this afternoon together?"

"Hm? Did you have afternoon plans, Heather!? Ah! I'm so sorry. If you were going to hang out with these three, then I wouldn't have ripped you away-"

"You're wrong, Celia."

While Celia had spoken out at first in misunderstanding, Heather cut her off with a low tone, her self confidence having vanished.

"I have no plans with these people."

"Ehh... so you're just going to forget our plans just like that? You really are irritating."

The one in the middle who spoke out with such arrogance was a young girl with her hair styled as if she had been to an expensive salon - something which would not be typical of a 12 year old.

"Come with us, Heather. Ah... and you."

Stepping forward, the girl approached Celia as she stood just a foot in front of her.

"I'll give you a piece of advice. Don't act all friendly with this one."

"Why not?"

Even with the bold girl right in front of her, Celia continued to speak in a clueless manner, completely unable to comprehend why the girl had spoken such words.

"Haa.... airheads like you really piss me off. You don't even understand when you're in trouble. You act like everything is a joke, like there's nothing in the world that can cause you any harm, completely unaware of anything. That girl is my property. And I say that she can't have any friends."

"Huh? Your property? Slaves aren't allowed in this country. Or at least... that's what my dad told me. Are you a slave?"

Turning to Heather, Celia didn't have the slightest idea as to what was going on.

"Oh... my... goodness... you really are stupid."

The bully couldn't handle Celia's inability to comprehend the scenario, and let out a desperate sigh.

"She isn't like.... an actual slave. She's my personal plaything. If I tell her to do something, she does it. If I do something like this..."

Pulling out a water bottle, the girl unscrewed it before emptying the contents onto the head of Heather.

"Then she has no right to stop me."

"Hey! That's so mean! Go get her a towel or something!"

The eye of the bully twitched at the pleading of Celia, whose naivety knew no bounds.

"Pfft..."

"Get her a towel...."

The other two girls seemed to snicker from behind, laughing at the entire scene.

"You know what..."

Reaching into her bag, the girl in the center scrambled to pull something out.

"I wasn't planning on using this one, because I was going to let her off easily today. But I've decided against that."

"Do you have a towel in there?"

Suddenly, Celia was closer than ever, glancing into the bag of the girl with no sense of personal space.

"No! Well, yes I do. But that isn't what I'm getting."

Suddenly, the girl whipped out a carton of milk, quickly opening it as she dumped it on the head of Celia.

"Hahaha!!"

"She really did that!"

The other two lackeys couldn't help but burst out laughing as the rotten chunks slid down the face of Celia, whose eyes widened at the sudden treatment.

"Go get a towel for yourself if you're so concerned. From this point on, both of you are my playthings."

With these words, the bully motioned for the other two girls to follow her.

"I've had enough for today. Just understand that from this point on... both of you are in my sights."

----

"Are you alright?"

Heather couldn't help but to ask this to Celia, who seemed to still be in shock.

"I guess we should get you washed up. But really... did you not have any idea what she was trying to do there?"

"Heh...."

While Heather spoke with concern in her voice, Celia let out a sudden giggle.

"Hehehe... look at how dumb I look. Ah... this smells horrible. Ah! But we've gotta get you a towel to dry off!"

Springing into action once more, the girl didn't seem to be discouraged in the least - instead focusing on Heather, whose hazing was far less.

"Don't worry about getting me a towel. Worry about yourself. You need a shower or something."

"Ah... I guess you're right! Come on! Let's head back to school. It should still be open for the students who stay after for clubs or sports."

"Aren't you mad?"

As Celia grabbed Heather's hand to drag her along once more, Heather stopped the girl in her tracks as she asked this question.

"Why are you laughing and rushing about, so concerned for others yet completely cheerful even when something like this happens to yourself?"

Suddenly, grabbing the collar of Celia's shirt, Heather spoke with anger in her voice.

"Don't you want to get revenge?"

"Revenge... I mean... I was pretty irritated when she poured water on you. But if she did this to me, it's alright. After all, I'm sure that there's a reason why she's so mean. I could probably relate to her if I knew what she was going through."

Letting go of Celia, Heather let out a disappointed sigh.

"What's with that?"

"Everyone has a reason for something. There is nobody in this world who is wicked just to be wicked. If they're mean to you, it's because someone else was mean to them first. Or at least... that was what my dad told me."

"You bring up your dad a lot. You must really admire him."

"Well of course! He's a firefighter! He spends every day of his life saving people... and I want to be just like him when I grow up."

"I guess I won't call that stupid..."

Her anger dissipating, Heather motioned for Celia to follow her - this time taking the hand of her friend as she took the lead.

"Come on. Let's get you washed up."

"Alright!"

With this, the two girls headed into the school.

At some point, they made it to the locker rooms, which were still open for the people who were practicing sports.

"Ugh... I don't really want to take a shower in the locker room though...", Celia muttered.

"Then wait inside. I'll be right back."

With these words, Heather ran off.

Celia merely looked to the girl, who seemed to have an idea in her head as she pursued it.

'I wonder what she's going to do?'

----

Celia waited inside the locker room, her head covered in the rotten milk chunks.

The smell was horrid, and she considered just sucking it up and using the locker room shower, but instead she sat and waited for Heather to return.

After all, she was curious.

'What is she doing?'

"Celia! Did you take a shower already? Or did you actually wait for me?"

Suddenly the door burst open, at which Celia poked her head out to see her friend standing there, her backpack bulging with items.

"What did you do?", she asked.

"Close your eyes and bend your head over. I'm going to show you a little magic trick."

As Celia's own words were repeated to her, she smiled grandly as she closed her eyes and did as the girl had ordered.

"Ok!"

She stood there, waiting.

Some rustling was heard as items were likely removed from the bag. Then a cracking sound of plastic. Suddenly...

"AGH! That's cold!"

Water was poured all over her head.

"Hahaha! Hey, no opening your eyes until the trick is complete!"

"No fair! Haha!"

The white liquid was washed off the girl, who was now doused in water instead. Another bottle was opened, and the cleaning continued.

"There you go. Trick over. I've made all of those milky chunks disappear."

While the girl now dripped with water, the smell was at least somewhat reduced - though she would still need to shower when she got home.

"Well in that case... I've got a trick to show you!"

Suddenly, Celia burst forward as she ravaged the bag of the girl, pulling out two more water bottles from the bag that was now filled with them.

Just how many had she gotten?

"Take this!"

Dumping an entire bottle now on Heather, the girl squirmed away as she tried to avoid the fluid, however Celia gave chase as she ensured that her friend was equally doused.

"Stop it! I'll get all wet!"

"You already are!"

"No, it dried off! But ah... now it's too late."

"Hehehe..."

The two, now both drenched, then heard the sounds of the doors opening and the chatter of other students.

"Ah... the sports students... let's get out of here!"

And with these words, the two grabbed their stuff as they rushed out the back door.

----