'Yep, I'm the one she's looking for' Carter came to the conclusion in his thoughts. He couldn't help but be astonished, one minute he was bummed over the fact that finding the staff of dreams was as much as an arduous task and the next minute, he was standing in front of a real life witch in a men's school who apparently came in search for him.
Carter couldn't control his glee and let out a wide grin.
'Hehe'
Sera stared at him with wide eyes. "There's no mistaking it, it has to be you"
"Indeed!" Carter said overly excitedly. The next moment, he let out a few coughs upon feeling embarrassed over his exaggerated response.
"Well...um..what I mean is, you're right" he spoke and looked up at Sera. "I am the reincarnation of Gressil Helenor"
Sera stared down at Carter with a surprised expression and a wide smile soon planted on her face. "Oh! My! Goodness!" She immediately spread her long arms and wrapped them around his shoulders thereby lifting him up into a wide hug. "I should've known the moment i saw your white hair from behind that vase"
"Woah" Carter was taken by surprise and began wriggling his body due to the awkward position. "Put me down"
"Well of course, hehe" Sera chuckled in delight and placed him down on the floor carefully. She looked down to study his expression and only smiled brighter seeing his confused face.
"We meet again! Well...not like we've actually met before. Well, our past lives were really close friends and companions and well...I just..."
"Hey" Carter placed both arms on the shoulders of the giddy Sera. "Calm down" he said.
"Oh, I guess I got a bit too excited" Sera let out an awkward chuckle.
Carter stared at her for a while. 'Wait, did she just say we were really close in our past lives? Then does that mean...'
"You're the reincarnation of the moon level witch, Gaby Yelen" he gasped
"Wait! You know her?! Aren't citizens of the southern country forbidden from knowing about witches?!" Sera asked with widened eyes and Carter flinched, he began staring at her with a blank expression.
"Oh...well...um.."
"Wait, no need to explain" Sera cut him short. She then looked down with a faint but genuine smile.
"From how you reacted to me being a witch, I could tell you don't hate witches, almost like...it's the other way around" she stared at him this time. "It seems you've been performing some research on us" she snickered.
Carter looked away in embarrassment. 'Well, that's one way to expose me'
"Yes, I have" he simply replied
This made Sera even more happy, she involuntary moved over to pinched his cheeks. "Well, aren't you a cute little witch lover" she teased.
Carter being taken aback snapped at her. "Hey, stop that" he pushed her hands away. "At least tell me why you're here in search for me" he said bluntly which was a huge contrast to his inner feelings once again. 'Is this real?, please tell me it's real!, Oh heavens!'.
Sera chuckled. "Well, I guess I don't have to explain who I am anymore. Our past relationship is one of the reasons why I was sent on this mission"
"I have come to take you with me" her voice deepened as she said these words, it was obvious she wasn't joking around anymore.
"Take me...with you?" Carter asked in surprise, his fingers pointing towards both of them as if to be sure of what she meant.
"Yes" Sera smiled. "Come with me, to the territory of the witches" She stretched out a palm towards him in invitation.
Carter stared up at her and down to her outstretched hand. 'Wait, is this for real?!' He yelled in his mind. 'I'm being invited to the witches territory by a real life witch, one of the beings I've admired and wanted to be like ever since I was 10 years old'
"Hey, are you listening to me?" Sera spoke jolting Carter out of his reverie.
"Oh..huh..yes, I'm listening" Carter regained his composure.
"Heh, you seem to be in disbelief" Sera smiled at the sight of his face. "Come to think of it, I don't even know your name" she added at the thought.
"Carter, Carter Hubert" Carter immediately replied.
"Well, nice to meet you Carter" Sera spoke, her smile not ceasing. She then brought her outstretched hand even closer to him this time, "Just say the word"
Carter looked down at her hand and towards her face "Before I give you an answer, I would like to ask a question"
"Huh?" Sera raised both brows. "Then ask me, anything" she replied.
"If I choose to go with you then would that mean I have to abandon my life here at the Southern country?" Carter laid out the question.
Sera flinched at his words, she hadn't considered that option as she was just following the assignment given to her. It was a heavy question indeed. "Well..."
"You see, I come from a family who are completely opposed to magic and witches, even more than most in the country and I'm not exaggerating. I almost got disowned once for reading a magic book when I was ten" Carter spoke in a serious tone. "So tell me, do I have to abandon everything here if I choose to go with you to the territory of witches?"
Sera paused to think for a moment, her expression unreadable. "Would you agree to come with me if I said yes?" She asked.
Carter stared at her for a while. He knew she couldn't bring herself to tell him yes so she made the situation lighter for her by saying it in a form of a question, he couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "Gladly" he smiled.
"Huh?" Sera was in shock.
"Hey, what's a woman doing here?!" At that moment, an unfamiliar male voice spoke from behind them and they both froze in place.
Carter and Sera turned to look towards the dorm entrance at a distance and caught sight of two male figures staring at them in shock.
"Shoot!, this is bad" Carter cursed and turned to look at Sera.
"My answer is yes, I've decided to go with you" he said abruptly.
Sera who was currently fretting at the situation turned to look at Carter upon his answer. "Are you sure?" She asked.
"Hey!, Aren't you that witch reincarnate?! What are you doing talking to a woman here at school?" One of the guys by the dorm asked.
"We should call the authorities"
Carter turned towards the guys and caught sight of one of them walking towards him and Sera while the other seemed to be dialing a number on the small phone on his hand, he was most likely making a call to the authorities of the school. His eyes darted towards Sera immediately and he noticed how she trembled anxiously.
"Sera" he called out.
"Yes?" Sera turned to him.
"How did you find your way into this school?" He raised a brow.
Sera stared at him in confusion. Why was he asking such a question in this dire situation? But she had to answer to him, perhaps it was important.
"Well, I used magic to sense..."
"Exactly, that's it" Carter cut her short. "You can use magic to get us out of here right?" He asked.
Sera paused. "I can" she said. "Although, it'll take a while..."
"Great, that should do" Carter let out a wide grin.
"You two are coming with us" a voice echoed.
"On the count of three, we run and you follow my lead" Carter said.
Sera gulped and nodded.
"One...two...."
"Yes sir, we caught sight of the lady with red hair..."
"Three!" Carter yelled and grabbed Sera's arms and they both began to run as fast as they could.
"Hey, get back here!" The guy who was trying to grab onto them yelled at the sight of them running.
"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!" Carter cursed as both he and Sera kept running towards the location of the classes.
"Hey, why are running towards the spot with even more students?!" Sera asked whilst panting.
"Heh" Carter grinned. "It's the only place we'll find a good hiding spot, now brace yourself" he chuckled.
"W-wait!" Sera exclaimed but she couldn't bring herself to stop as the student from earlier was obviously chasing after them and Carter had his hand wrapped tightly around her wrist. At that moment, they barged into a huge hall filled with students.
"Keep running!" Carter yelled and Sera could only follow his lead and she kept panting heavily, her eyes not missing the amount of bewildered stares they were getting.
"Huh?!"
"What's that?!
"A girl with red hair?"
"A girl with red hair!"
"Wait, a girl with red hair?!"
"A girl with red hair alright" Carter grinned.
FWOOSH! Yunn Denson felt a chill breeze from the sound of hurried footsteps that had just rushed passed him. He abruptly turned to look behind him and caught sight of a red haired lady running with a guy with familiar strands of white hair. "Is that..."
"Carter, are we there yet?!" Sera asked
"Almost" Carter said, his grin not leaving his face. They were almost obstructed by a bunch of men in black suits but Carter rushed past them with ease and Sera simply followed his every action.
"Here!" They arrived in front of a door which Carter opened instantly letting them inside and locked it with a bolt from the inside.
"Ha ha ha" Carter panted the moment they were secured inside the room
"Oh my goodness, that was dangerous" Sera trembled and fell back panting.
"Haha, but fun" Carter laughed
"Hey student, open the door!" A deep voice yelled from outside and banging on the door could be heard.
"Shoot, they came fast" Carter cursed.
"What is this place?" Sera looked up at the surrounding. It was 90% book shelves and 10% windows, chairs and tables.
"Oh, it's one of the many study rooms at this school" Carter chuckled. "What makes it different is that it's the one I frequent daily" he smiled. "Being hated can be a blessing at times you know" he chuckled.
"So, that's why you were sure no one else would be here" Sera nodded in understanding as she looked around once again.
"Yep, no one comes here except me and oh! some other annoying brat who just does it to get on my nerves" Carter sighed in frustration.
"Oh wow" Sera giggled at what he had said.
"Hey, this is no time to giggle lady. You can hear the intense banging from outside the door. They might find a way to open it in no time" Carter snapped at her.
"Oh" Sera flinched immediately. She abruptly stood up and reached towards her back, she slowly began to untie the material around her waist and brought out a long shining stick the moment it was untied.
"Woah, what's that?" Carter asked in curiosity.
"It's a wand, you don't know about these?" Sera asked in surprise.
"Oh, of course I do, I'm just a little taken aback by the sight of one in real life that's all" Carter scratched his neck awkwardly and Sera chuckled.
Sera closed her eyes to focus. She then stretched out her wand and began chanting a few words in form of whispers that Carter could barely hear.
Carter stared at her in admiration. 'So that's how witches cast spells' he wondered. He stood for a while intending to wait patiently as she had mentioned that it was going to take a while. His mind slowly wandered back to his life right before Sera had mysteriously appeared in search for him. He wasn't lying when he said he would gladly follow her regardless of all he had to leave behind. His family didn't matter to him in the slightest, he couldn't care less about his Dad and he knew that both and his mum and sister were in good hands. Although, if there was one person he felt bad for leaving behind, it would be.....
"I have to write a letter to him" he said and rushed to find some paper and pen before Sera would be done with casting the spell.
SOMEWHERE IN FRONT OF THE ASPELL LAW SCHOOL FOR DIGNIFIED MEN...
Richard stared down at his analog watch for the umpteenth time and the time read 11:51am. "He should be done with his first class by now" he spoke.
"I'm sorry Carter, but I can't help being worried about you". Richard then opened the door to the driver's seat and walked out of the car, he had to find Carter and watch over him even without him knowing.
Richard walked down the first floor, he was omniscient about Carter's every day schedule so he deducted that the young boy would most likely be by the garden he always frequented at that time.
Richard walked into the first floor and was surprised to see a truck load of students and some staff gathered around, the words of the students echoed round the hall. Curiously, he walked closer to get a glimpse of the commotion before he returned to finding Carter.
"Hey, what do you think they're doing in there?"
"I don't know, the authorities are here so it has to be serious"
"I mean, a woman at our school premises? That's absurd!"
"And that beautiful guy, it's the infamous witch reincarnate isn't it?"
"Witch reincarnate? More like witch himself!"
Richard paused at the words he was hearing, he turned to the guy who had spoken about the witch reincarnate.
"What did you just say?" He grabbed the guy by the collar. "What happened to Carter?" He asked, his eyes peered at him in an interrogating manner.
"Um...I don't...know what you're talking about" The guy being grabbed by Richard trembled in fear.
Richard scoffed and pushed him to the ground.
"What's going on here?" He asked the other guys present.
"Wait, you're that bodyguard. The one who follows the witch around" One of the guys seemed to have recognized Richard but his words only made the bodyguard angry as he reached out to grab the guy's collar.
"Don't you dare call Carter a witch" Richard snapped at him. "And tell me what's going on or I'll snap your neck in two" he threatened.
"W-w-wait, I'm sorry, I'll talk...please release me" the guy trembled.
Richard sighed and released his hand from his collar.
"T..the witch..I mean, the guy you called Carter...he ran off into that study room with a woman" The guy spoke.
Richard's eyes widened in shock. "A woman?!" He exclaimed.
"Yes" the guy replied.
"What is a woman doing at this school?" Richard asked and the guy simply shrugged indicating that he had no clue.
Richard froze and rushed towards the door to the study room ignoring the men who were trying to break open the door.
"Carter, it's me! Open up! Carter!" Richard yelled and began aggressively banging on the door.
"Calm down sir, we're about to get it open" a man suddenly arrived and spoke from beside him, on his hand was a key and he soon placed the key in the key hole of the door to open it.
'Carter, what trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?' Richard thought anxiously and watched as the door opened slowly.
Everyone turned to look inside curiously and Richard as well as two other men rushed inside the study room.
Richard looked around and his eyes widened in fright. "What is this?!" He spoke and turned to the other men who seemed to have no idea what was going on as well.
"They're no where to be seen!"