The Wind of My Life

- (Raphaella) Hey! Don't just come in like that, you crazy!

- (Mary) Come on~~ I'm already home. You had to get used to it by now. And it's your fault for not locking the door. Maybe a crazy guy walks in and… You know…

- (Raphaela) Don't talk like that to make me more worried than I am now...

- (Mary) Your luck is that I'm here!

- (Raphaella) Enough of that. And what did you come here for?

- (Mary) Wait for me to lock the door first so we can talk there you are.

*key turning noise

Damn, she locked the door! Now it's going to be complicated to get out of here without attracting attention. When the door started to open, I was lucky enough to bend down and come to a corner of the room where the kitchen is next door, and when I turn my gaze to Raphaella, I realize that Ellyn ended up being invisible, but she didn't leave from the Raphaella's side… Think, Jack. Think! If Mary can feel Ellyn by a mere touch before she leaves, it's going to be pretty messy for both of us.

After I heard the key turn, I started to hear Mary's footsteps coming from the hallway. Since I'm face down, I manage to get slowly under the dining table, which thanks to the fact that I or Ellyn didn't put the chairs back in place, make space enough for me to go under, but I have to go without getting her attention because unlike Ellyn, I can't be invisible.

- (Raphaella trying to mask her nervousness) So why are you here?

- (Mary) Well, the guys decided to leave soon to go later to Kennedy's later. And since I still want to spend some time away from home, I thought I'd come here and make you a company~~

- (Raphaella) Oh, I get it. But you could let me know beforehand, don't you think?

- (Mary) No no no~~ I decided to surprise you because otherwise you would pretend you were sleeping so as not to open the door for me.

- (Raphaella) And since when would I sleep prevent you from entering?

- (Mary appearing in my field of vision) Today I wasn't too keen on getting scolded by your syndic so I came to my luck. And another one, I very much doubt you would sleep at this hour with a lot of cars honking down the street.

When I noticed Mary, I was already under the table, looking only at her legs and listening to her female voice, as she guided herself to sit on the sofa next to Raphaella, but looking at her and not even noticing that I was here under the table . Looking at Ellyn, I noticed that she was slowly pulling herself back up, staring at Mary and bracing herself so she didn't fall on her back on the floor. Come on, Ellyn!

- (Mary) Hey, did you print your work?

- (Raphaella) A-Ah, yes. I've already sent a copy to my group and another copy is with me.

- (Mary) Good~~ Now we're free to hang around Madison's bars again!

- (Raphaella) How come you have so much energy and stomach for these things?

- (Mary) Simple. The secret is to always reserve a space on the agenda~~ Organize everything and have fun in the time that is allowed.

- (Raphaella) Do it with such confidence that it amazes me you still have time for university.

- (Mary) I told you that I would be able to reconcile the backlog this year. And still have time to have fun. There is no way better than that.

- (Raphaella) Aside from the fact that you looked like an Americanized zombie 3 weeks ago…

- (Mary) It's already in the past. Don't even remember that, please. The important thing is that I can now be the independent woman I always dreamed of~~

- (Raphaella) You have to stop deluding yourself with these things.

- (Mary) Look who's talking! Hi, I'm Raphaella and I'm a girl who came from upstate Wisconsin to try a new life here in Madison. Doesn't that remind you of anything?

- (Raphaella) Yeah, let's forget about the past soon.

- (Mary) So, what about… Hm?

As they spoke, I saw Ellyn get up and start walking very slowly so that there was no sound on the floor, but all of a sudden, she ended up bumping into Raphaella's computer chair, making a noise that everyone in there noticed. What's up, Ellyn? Can't be stealthy anymore???

- (Mary) What was that?

- (Raphaella) Ah, the chair has a problem with its support, so it moves a little because of the weight.

What excuse is that, Raphaella??

- (Mary) Why don't you send it to a repair or buy another one?

- (Raphaella mocking) It would be nice to go out on the street taking a chair to someone who fixes it without looking weird, don't you think?

- (Mary) Is it hard to call Bel to take you to a place that does this?

- (Raphaella) It costs! For him to take the trouble to take his van and…

- (Mary) Just say that Nathaly is here he comes running~~

- (Raphaella) I'm not so cruel as to deceive him.

I don't know how she did it, but she ended up saving really well, Raphaella! Ellyn managed to take a few more silent steps closer to Raphaella's bedroom door, while I took advantage and managed to get out from under the table and hide in the column of the kitchen wall where the counter begins. Take a deep breath...

- (Mary) Anyway... I'm going to rob your fridge. Excuse me~~

OH COME ON!

- (Raphaella nervously) EH...Oh, Mary. Did you hear about Nathaly and Belchior?

- (Mary slightly surprised) Wait… What? Are the two together? I knew it!

- (Raphaella heading towards the kitchen) Dammit, let me speak first. And yes, more or less.

- (Mary) YEAH! I think I won the bet with Elijah.

After that, Raphaella entered the kitchen, passing me and I could see that she was very tense and nervous if Mary ended up noticing me. Pretending she was getting something from the fridge and ended up dropping a bottle of juice on the floor.

- (Raphaella speaking extremely quietly) Try to go into the closet in front of the bathroom to hide until I can open the front door...

I simply nodded my head quickly. I need to find a way to warn Ellyn without Mary noticing.

- (Mary) Is everything okay there, Ella?

- (Raphaella) Oh I'm fine. I just dropped a bottle of juice here and I'm putting it back here. But say oh… Did you bet the two were together?

- (Mary) Yes~~ Elijah said that it was difficult for the two of them to be together because of Nathaly's age neurosis and that Belchyor wouldn't have the courage to talk or do something romantic for her. And now I think I'll get 50 dollars from him~~

- (Raphaella putting the juice bottle together) Dammit. If I had known you had bet, I would have bet too.

- (Mary) Oh nothing. What were you going to bet? $100 were they going to have a night of **** ***?

My holy father! I'm feeling sorry for Ellyn standing there listening to it so blatantly and she's still innocent of that kind of thing!

- (Raphaella) I didn't even go that far.

- (Mary) It seems that not. So let me just say he lost it here.

- (Raphaella picking up a biscuit packet) Hey, it's not for spreading!

- (Mary) Relax. And why am I going to spread something that everyone already knew was going to happen one time or another?

- (Raphaella) Got it.

Raphaella started to look at where Mary is supposed to be and ended up gesturing with her finger for me to wait a bit. Maybe that's when Mary turns to the side and…

- (Mary with cell phone approaching) Eh… Raphaella, are you taking a while?

- (Raphaella) I-I got it here! No need to come!

- (Mary with cell phone approaching) Calm down~~ It's not like I haven't seen the mess in your kitchen.

Damn it! She will see me and there is no way to hide here!

- (Mary on cell) AH...Speak, Eli~~ You owe me 50 bucks, dude.

- (Raphaella nervously) Hey, don't scream. I have neighbors, you know?

Damn! She is right by my side! Calm down, Jack...

- (Mary on cell reaching out to Raphaella) Ella has confirmed here that the Nalchior or Belthaly ship is formed.

- (Raphaella passing the biscuit package) Go sit down and stop moping around like a crazy cockroach.

- (Mary on cell stepping away) Come on Ella~~ Ah, it's Raphaella here who's nervous because you two got together in the arcade.

- (Raphaella slightly embarrassed) Stop saying that!

- (Mary on cell phone stopped) You know I'm kidding, right? Besides, I've been in line longer than you, so I have priority~~

*looking maliciously at Raphaella

- (Raphaella frowning and speaking quietly) Don't look at me like that. Give it away that she's not looking.

Raphaella ended up gesturing for me to go soon and ended up looking up to see Ellyn who is leaning against the wall next to Raphaella's room and closer to the kitchen. I end up making a hand signal for us to head down the hall to the bathroom and she ends up nodding positively. I give the pr…

- (Mary hanging up her cell phone and turning quickly) Ella, did you adopt a dog?

- (Raphaella very nervous) w-What do you mean?

- (Mary bending down) It's just that there's a white hair here on your bedroom door. Unless you've painted the hairs of your…

- (Raphaella) Why are you saying these things without a filter?

- (Mary) After you question about it. Hey, what's with the fur?

I was lucky enough to see Mary turn around and quickly walked back behind the kitchen counter, laying face down on the floor. And when Mary said that, I soon noticed Raphaella's disappointed face looking at me quickly, as if I had made a serious mistake.

- (Raphaella leaving the kitchen) It's just that a neighbor asked me to keep an eye on her dog for a few days since last week and I ended up letting him stay here.

- (Mary) Oh, I see. I found this strange because your house is much tidier than usual and out of nowhere there is fur on the door.

- (Raphaella approaching) Why do you think I cleaned it up? It was pretty infested with fur before you arrived.

- (Mary approaching Raphaella) Oh, I get it. But I don't know you can't do that.

- (Raphaella standing with her back to Ellyn) What? Do you think I'm messy like you?

- (Mary gesturing and walking towards the kitchen) I don't know~~ It's just that all the dirt is actually under a piece of furniture. Or someone playing for the house…

PLAFT!

- (Raphaella screaming) AIII! MY LEG!

- (Mary) WHAT? Like?

- (Raphaella) You turned your hand on my leg with force! There…

- (Mary) Dammit, is your leg that soft?

- (Raphaella) Soft? No! Because? A blow is not soft!

- (Mary) Because I swear I hit something soft…

I swear I will keep this image in my head. I went to spy to see if Mary was turned and she was, but in this turn of the hand she did, she didn't hit Raphaella but ended up hitting the Ellyn's bu... I can see Ellyn's red face almost wanting to cover her face with the hands in shame, but instead she started walking fast without even looking back. And as Mary was looking at Raphaella, I ended up turning around and pushing Ellyn faster to go to the bathroom hallway… I should have asked Raphaella for a cell phone to take a picture of this moment…

…

After a few minutes, we ended up entering the closet in front of Raphaella's bathroom and we were kneeling on the floor, but in order not to make any noise, and as a precaution, I ended up creating a seal to prevent any sound we made from echoing to the rest of the room. home and put it on the closet door. Although I wouldn't even need much because Ellyn is just looking to the side, with her arms crossed and her fingers twitching, which I can tell she's uneasy about something.

- Ellyn?

- Hm? Yea?

- Are you all right?

- Oh, I'm fine. Is that…

Before saying anything, Ellyn ended up looking around the entire closet. As it's a closet that apparently Raphaella doesn't use, it's very spacious and only gives room to some boxes with shoes or her personal things that I accidentally saw, and thanks to my cleaning, this place is very clean and airy, which is fine to hide in problematic situations like an acquaintance of Raphaella appears.

- This place reminds me of hiding in one of my father's temples when I was a kid.

- Ah understood. Was it the one near the village where you lived?

- Yes it was. It was strange that the priests had a storehouse hidden behind the altar of worship. But as it was not forbidden to play in there, I thought it would be a good thing to hide in that place and win those hide-and-seek games.

- Let me get this right… Was it there for a long time that ended up making you afraid of dark and cramped places?

- This was not the case. I stayed there for a while, but it started a storm so rampant that I ended up staying inside, hearing a lot of lightning. That made me very scared and they ended up finding me, crying with fear. As my mother was there because of the daily prayers, she insisted on staying there with me for a while until I had the courage to leave.

- How old was you?

- I think about 6 years.

- I must imagine it was a terrible experience for you. And ironic since your father controlled these storms.

- Well, it was his job to do that sort of thing, so I didn't blame him when I heard about his weather control. I just laughed for a moment at that.

- Understand. And why are you uneasy?

- Ah, you noticed. It's just that every time I remember that, I remember a song my mom sang every time I was scared. It was a chant from her homeland and it sounded like a very nice melody when she sang. I think that as it only looked good in her voice, I didn't even make a point of learning her. And I regret it a little.

- I understand. But who would say? The demigoddess Sagittarius Ellyn scared of lightning.

- So it is. There are things that we are not used to saying so freely.

- You must have a lot of faith in me to tell me these things, don't you?

- And how I have faith in you. If it had been your way, I would never have recounted half of the things I went through on Elementia when I was in my heroine era.

- Am I that chaotic? I do more for grace, not for the impending chaos in which I'm always discovered and caught in the end.

- But you also ask to get caught in the end, don't you? If you kept up your behavior properly in a few moments, I bet even Raphaella would respect you more.

- Nah. She would never treat me well, even if we had been together for years. But does she know something? I think this will change a little bit.

- Why do you think that?

- It's just that you didn't see her aura when she arrived. She looked much happier and calmer than she did a few days ago. Of course she wasn't going to say it, but I could see it very well.

- IT'S. I had never seen a friend of hers from college, so even with the situation and such, it was good to see her being more open and sincere.

- Sincere? She was desperate for Mary not to find us.

- Which is to say, at the very least, she cares for you to keep our mission just between us.

- Why is you talking like I'm an inferior being in front of a supreme being who could pluck me at any minute?

- (Ellyn chuckling slightly) I didn't say it like that. And another thing… You would be lying a lot when you say you are offended by what she says or treats you.

- Do you think I'm a maso… maso… someone who likes to be offended?

- No. What I mean is that… As far as I know you, this way of being a target for people to take out their pain has never bothered you or made you sad, and simply living your life as something ordinary. Of course a sensible person would say that you are being muggle to simply accept this humiliation. And yet, nothing has changed since you became a Gacha.

When Ellyn said that, I just laughed silly.

- Speaking like that, it sounds a lot like I'm an idiot anyway.

- Well I can't say this is good. But you know… We all need an idiot to make our day better, don't you think?

"When you think you're alone, remember I'll be here for you. And when you think people are lonely and desolate, do your best so they can stand up and smile, just like I did for you and you did for me, Jack~~"

- Yeah, maybe that's my case~~

Before saying anything, I ended up hearing footsteps coming from the hall of the room coming this way. I ended up waving my hand for us to be silent, until through the holes in the closet door, I noticed someone entering the bathroom and closing the door. Right then, the closet door opened and it was Raphaella.

- (Raphaella speaking quietly) Go, go.

We don't waste time. Ellyn and I got up quickly and headed towards the entrance door that, seeing up close, was already unlocked. Yeah, that was our cue from here.

…

*looking in all directions

- Hey Jack, relax~~ Nobody's gonna hurt you, okay?

- You know what's bothering me isn't whether they're going to touch me, right?

- Well, for that, you get used to it.

Before we left Raphaella's apartment, she told us to go to a square that was nearby and to wait for her to show up. It seemed like a bad idea to me because it would be safer if we were waiting in her building, but to prevent Mary from seeing us by chance, Raphaella ended up convincing me to go. But looking at it now, I don't know if I should have let myself be convinced. Since we started walking down the street, I've noticed that people have been looking at both me and Ellyn. It makes sense for some people to stare at Ellyn because her beauty was something that would be hard to look away from, but I can see some looks at me too, which made me a little uncomfortable and more aware of what or who was around us. It didn't take us long to reach the square, so we ended up sitting under a tree where I could see where we had come from and wait for Raphaella to meet us here.

- Will she be long?

- There's no way of knowing that. From the way that Mary was talking to her, I didn't think she was going to get out of there right away.

- Counting on luck isn't going to be optional, is it?

- If you had use it your sleep magic it, it would have been a lot faster.

- So it is. You have that weird sleeping pill spell, so why didn't you use it?

- It's just that he wouldn't have time to get close to her without looking suspicious. And also…

- What was it?

- I think it would be unpleasant to do this with someone Ella knows.

- Ah understood. Is it still because of that situation involving Sebastian's sister?

- So-so. I know it's been a while and it wouldn't make sense for me to push myself so hard after talking to him, but now I feel more guilty about doing that to her than sorry.

- Looking at it this way, you must be exaggerating. I think I would do the same if I were to keep our powers and our origins a secret, even if it was someone close to Sebastian or Raphaella.

- Seriously? Knock down a person who has nothing to do with what we're doing here just to keep it a secret?

- It's not like I don't believe this would solve the problem, but it would be nice if only the people who know were involved. What's more, Sebastian and Raphaella have deliberately agreed to help us, even though they still have their doubts about us. And as far as I know, the two of them are trying to keep our presence a secret from people, and you saw that when Raphaella made that whole scene so that we wouldn't be noticed.

- Hmph...

- I know we shouldn't do that sort of thing, but sometimes it just can't be helped. And I know it's kind of questionable, but it's like Luni said… The humans here still don't understand half of what we know and it would be better if they knew by their own methods and not by our direct interference.

- When you talk like that, it seems like you don't put faith on the people here.

- Is not it. It's just that… if we can do what we came here to do without alarming or giving any hint of our existence in any way, it will be better for everyone. That's what I think.

- And that's why you're bothered by people looking at you, aren't you?

I realized Ellyn said that with reason. My problem is not that people look at me, but what they would think when they knew what I really are. My nature has always been something that was never well regarded in my world, and that's why I keep a certain amount of care when I go to other worlds, especially one that I've never known. And Ellyn might say I should relax, but there's no way... as long as I don't feel safe enough to walk in this world without people seeing me differently, there's no way I can relax or see this world as a good place that Ellyn always emphasizes.

- It was bad to say that. I...

- No problem, Ellyn. It's just a point of view and there's no reason to agree with me.

- Jack...

Before I say anything, I look up and I can see Raphaella from afar, but to our bad luck… Her friend is also with her. When I try to raise my hand, I see Raphaella gesture for us to go ahead. You won't tell me that...