Chapter Nine: Ability

"Ah...!" Xiu cried out as she rubbed her hair vigorously.

"Xiu, your hair... it's going to be gone soon," Aiden protested helplessly.

Xiu, who had been staying in Lily’s room, grew increasingly agitated after witnessing Lily’s erasure, and her chosen outlet for this frustration was—unfortunately for Aiden—his head.

At last, Xiu wore herself out, collapsing back into the chair where she’d first sat. Aiden seized the opportunity and, from who-knows-where, produced a cushioned brush, beginning to smooth out his hair by feel.

Hearing the sound, Xiu turned her head to glance at Aiden, unable to decide whether to be annoyed or amused.

“Aren’t you worried at all?” Xiu asked softly, her eyes fixed on Aiden as he brushed his hair.

Aiden set down the brush, nodded, then shook his head.

“What do you mean?” Xiu asked, frowning slightly.

“I am worried. But... it’s no use. I... choose... to trust her,” Aiden replied, his gaze locked on the spot where Lily had vanished. Beyond Lily’s desk was the window, and, just as it had been when John disappeared, there was nothing outside but unfathomable darkness, impenetrable even to light.

Xiu couldn’t deny the sense in Aiden’s words, but she still felt restless, so she let out another cry and resumed her assault on Aiden’s hair.

——————————————

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” Lily thought, frowning as she watched the red and blue armies clash, trying to pinpoint the source of her growing unease.

The soldiers in red wielded tools resembling shovels, while those in blue carried weapons like hammers. Only the generals—riding tall horses at the rear of both armies—were armed with long swords.

Suddenly, a scene that made Lily’s skin crawl unfolded: the red and blue soldiers, who had been locked in brutal combat, all froze as if someone had pressed pause. In perfect unison, they stopped fighting and turned their heads upward to gaze at her.

An inexplicable terror swept through Lily’s mind.

Then it felt as if her mind exploded, splintering into a thousand fragments. She was looking at herself through hundreds, thousands of different eyes, from countless perspectives, all fixated on her own floating form. It was a sensation beyond words—her vision multiplied endlessly, each one staring directly at herself.

At last, her brain, overwhelmed by the intense stimulation, triggered a self-preservation response. With a soft whimper, Lily lost consciousness again. Yet, almost immediately, she felt her awareness being pulled somewhere strange, then split into millions of pieces. Though her body was unconscious, a part of her mind remained clear.

Two shards of her awareness darted toward the battlefield, settling atop the helmets—one red, one blue—of the generals who had just ridden to the fore. Slowly, her consciousness seeped inside.

Then, more fragments of her mind followed, descending upon the soldiers across the distant field.

Images she had just witnessed flashed through Lily’s mind: she recalled the two generals spurring their horses forward, drawing their swords, raising them high, then slashing them down.

Now, those two "selves" did exactly that, just as she’d seen before.

The rest of her awareness, gripping their weapons, surged forward in a fearless charge.

Strangely, it seemed they truly could not die, for Lily and all her “selves” realized their weapons felt rubbery and harmless, incapable of causing any real injury.

On a whim, one of these “selves” looked up at the Lily in the sky. Instantly, all of them stopped fighting, raising their heads in perfect synchronization to stare at her.

Once again, a sonorous bell echoed through the world, accompanied by a peculiar syllable—“Miu.”

It was an ancient word, though Lily had no chance to learn its meaning now.

——————————————————————

When Lily opened her eyes, the dim amber light filled her vision, and she found Xiu and Aiden’s worried faces incredibly close to hers.

“So close!” Lily exclaimed, pushing both their faces away with her hands. These two were practically kissing her!

“It seems... everything’s... fine now,” Aiden said, rubbing the cheek Lily had pushed before returning to his seat.

Xiu quickly grabbed Lily’s hands, turning them over and inspecting them, even trying to check under Lily’s clothes for injuries.

“Wait… Xiu, wait, I’m fine,” Lily protested as Xiu continued to fuss over her, making it nearly impossible for Lily to speak.

Only then did Xiu stop, scratching her face sheepishly before retaking her seat.

Once again, Xiu and Aiden sat side by side, backs straight, waiting expectantly for Lily to speak.

Lily didn’t speak right away. Instead, she took her time to recall everything she’d experienced, letting two or three minutes pass before she finally gathered her thoughts and lightly patted her own cheeks.

“I think I understand now why John never told us what he went through,” she began. “And I’m afraid I have to tell you both—I can’t tell you either.”

Xiu immediately grew agitated, waving her right hand around as if searching for the right words.

Aiden, by contrast, waited quietly for Lily to continue and even reached out to restrain Xiu’s flailing hand, holding it in his palm.

Noticing this, Lily glanced at the two of them thoughtfully before continuing, “I have a strong feeling that if I told you what happened to me in ‘that world,’ it would bring about something very bad... So I’m guessing John lied to us for the same reason.”

Once Aiden and Xiu seemed to understand, Lily went on, “But there is some good news I can share—I’ve gained some kind of ‘ability,’ although it seems to be completely different from John’s.”

Hearing this, Aiden released Xiu’s hand and, from who-knows-where, produced a small notebook and pen, ready to take notes as if attending a lecture.

Xiu also appeared attentive, determined not to miss a word.

If she remembered right, John had become stronger, able to run and jump faster, and barely needed to sleep at night... Xiu definitely didn’t want Lily to become like that—after all, staying up late was the enemy of beauty!

“Borrowing Ander’s words, if John’s ability is ‘power-based,’ then mine is ‘agility-based,’” Lily said with a smile, summarizing for Xiu and Aiden by using Ander’s endless supply of gaming terminology.

“Aiden, you read John’s diary this afternoon, right? I can’t see the golden, blocky script John described,” Lily said with a wink at Aiden. She continued, “But I do feel my body has become much lighter, and my fingers more nimble. I’m confident I could play the piano on the third floor now.”

“Your body feels lighter?” Xiu asked, puzzled, looking Lily up and down. She didn’t seem any different—Lily was still Lily.

After thinking for a moment, Lily’s eyes suddenly lit up. She motioned for Aiden and Xiu to give her some space.

Once the two had stepped aside, Lily took a soft breath, broke into a small run, and then, right before Aiden and Xiu’s eyes, executed a graceful, effortless one-handed front flip.

Xiu was left dumbfounded.

Aiden’s pen fell to the floor.