"... And that''s what happened."


    Silence wafted in the air as the two figures who sat opposite each other in the exquisite room stared at each other.


    One was a young boy—a teenager with pure ck hair, wellplemented by his irises that bore the same color. The woman who sat opposite him had glimmering white hair, with a ck eyepatch covering one of her eyes, while her other eye glowed with crimson luster. She seemed to be in herte twenties or early thirties, but there was something… aged about how she smiled.


    —Almost as if she was older.


    Much older.


    "I see. It appears you''ve had quite the rough life, Neron." She spoke after letting the silence fester for too long.


    Despite the words that she uttered, her tone wasn''tced with an ounce of empathy. In fact, she was smiling for the most part, and practically unbothered for the rest. It didn''t seem like the teenager''s tragic life had moved her in the slightest.


    "Yeah…" Neron responded. "Though it doesn''t seem like you care that much, Miss Lilith."


    "Pfft! Just call me Lilith." Sheughed almost immediately after he called her out on her nonchnce andckadaisical attitude towards the story of his life.


    His closest friends died when he was just a little kid, his teacher and adopted father died as a result of an incurable illness, though it was his fault that the sickness worsened to the point that the man died. His colleagues died, and he nearly lost the one person he cared for the most in the world… Serah.


    It seemed as though his life wasden with misfortune.


    Anything and everything that he touched… simply seemed to die—perish before his very eyes.


    "No more…" He whispered, his head cast down. "I don''t think I can take it anymore."


    Another round of silence enveloped the room.


    Then, he raised his head and looked squarely into the eyes of the smiling woman.


    "I''m grateful that you saved my life, but I don''t think you should have…" Neron''s face was serious, his tired eyes reflecting nothing but despair.


    "There''s no point in carrying on like—"


    "How fascinating…" Lilith interrupted him, quite rudely as well, with an amusing grin and a lighthearted tone.


    It definitely didn''t fit into the current mood, but she didn''t seem to care.


    "I thought you reminded me about Lewis, but even he wasn''t this much of a killjoy." She shrugged lightly, raising her hands.


    "H-hey—!"


    "If I''m to make a more aptparison… I''d say you remind me more about myself."


    "What?" At this point, Neron was slowly getting exasperated.


    "Yup! It''s like looking into a mirror."


    "H-how…?!" Neron mouthed, wondering what this crazydy was on about. "We are nothing alike!"


    For one, she didn''t even seem to rte to any of the things he was saying. He vibe waspletely different from his, and while he still didn''t know that much about her, it seemed like she was doing pretty well for herself.


    They were nothing alike at all.


    "You can''t see it, so I won''t bother exining…" She waved off his protests like they meant nothing to her. "But, I am curious about you, Neron."


    "Curious?"


    "Yes… curious." She smiled. "It still sort of feels like I know you somehow… somewhere. I''d like to study you for a while…"


    "What? Like an experiment?"


    "Don''t put it like that! This will be beneficial for you too. At the very least, it''ll ensure your potential doesn''t go to waste."


    "I don''t… I don''t think I care that much about my potential right now." Neron was forlorn at this point, teetering at the edge of despair.


    It wouldn''t even be a stretch to say that he was feeling suicidal.


    "Ahh,e on! You can''t get too beat up about life like this! You''re still so young. There are still tons of tragedy awaiting you in the future."


    "W-what? What are you even…?"


    Neron was in disbelief as he looked at the shameless woman in front of him.


    Wasn''t she supposed tofort him, or at least try to have a bit of tact when it came to his situation? But, it seemed like she just said whatever came to her mind.


    It reminded him of a certain red-haired girl, but at least she had some kindness in her.


    Lilith seemed to be all out of that, though.


    "Look, Neron… if youe with me… you''ll be able to learn more about yourself and figure out what you want to do about all these things."


    "...."


    "In the end, talking about it is only meant for your self reflection and my entertainment. I never had the intention offorting you, to begin with."


    "You''re mean!" Neron couldn''t hide his feelings anymore, no longer letting his feelings of gratitude stop him from saying the words that the woman before him deserved to hear.


    "Are you even human?"


    "Nope…"


    "E-eh?" He had only asked the question sarcastically, so he never expected a response like that.


    "I''m not human, but this isn''t about me." She smirked. "What do you think about my proposal?"


    Once again, Neron sighed in hesitation.


    As much as he dreaded being alone at this point in his life, and sought something to fill the void within him… he also couldn''t shake off the fear that his trauma brought upon him.


    "You know what happens to anyone who gets close to me… yet you still want me to stay with you?" He asked, his brows raised.


    Personally, Neron couldn''t care less if this woman died. She had saved his life, but he didn''t think he would miss her too much if she suddenly disappeared.


    "Pfft! There''s no way that would ever happen."


    As she said this, she ced a hand on her chest and made a confident deration that he had never heard in all his life.


    "I am actually immortal."


    "What?"


    "Yeah! I''m an immortal non-human!" She responded with a straight face.


    This was the biggest bunch of nonsense Neron had ever heard, but for some reason… he believed her. Not only was she very blunt with him, but she had no real reason to lie to him.


    Besides, it wasn''t like he would really care if she died anyway.


    He didn''t really care about much at this point.


    "Fine…" He mumbled while shrugging. "I guess learning more about my power and what makes me special would be something worthwhile."


    "Perfect!" Lilith jumped on her feet.


    "Let us begin."


    *


    *


    *


    [Wee to Part 2, Arc 3… The Vagabond Arc]


    It''s good to be back after so long, and I hope this will be an interesting journey—both for me, as the author, and you… the reader.


    Enjoy!