The Extra of The Lunerra



While I was lost in my own thoughts, Sue re-entered the room where I was lying. Then she smiled slightly.

"It'll be ready in half an hour."

The slight smile on her face changed a little when she came to me and put her hand on my forehead again.

"How are you feeling now? Do you have a fever? Are you weak? Are there any aches?"

"Calm down, I'm fine."

For example... what if he comes out of nowhere and attacks Sue with my body? Can I really stop him from doing that?

"You seem to have a fever again..."

Sue worries about someone like me, and if I kill her...

"I've had a wet diaper on my forehead for who knows how many hours, it's normal that it's hot now."

What should I do?

"Whatever..."

I pulled Sue's hand away from my forehead, stood up, and smiled.

"I'm fine, I'm fit as a fiddle. Go back to your room now, I can eat dinner myself."

"But-"

"It's almost nine o'clock. It's late and like I said, I'm fine."

I widened my smile and raised my hand to create a very light current of wind, which I gently blew across her face, causing her hair to ruffle slightly.

"My mana has been restored. I think my color is back too, so I'm fine, and I know when to turn off the stove."

Sue insisted, but I continued in the same vein.

In this way, I somehow managed to convince her, even if it was a bit of a struggle.

"Careful..."

"Okay, okay."

Sue looked genuinely worried as she made her way to her dorm room, but I didn't want to keep her with me.

When she finally left my room, I breathed a sigh of relief as she disappeared down the hallways of the dorm building.

I closed the door and threw myself back on my bed, thinking long and hard again, this time really alone.

Instead of being scared when I see that thing, my wiera side, I should try not to listen and ignore him. He always catches me off guard, but what if he comes when I'm prepared and I ignore him? I think if I resist him in some way, if I think about my every move instead of trembling in silence, I can somehow stop him from controlling me.

After all, if he can control me however he wants, why would he have a conversation with me like 'we can have fun together'? Why would he only show up every now and then and try to manipulate me and confuse me when he can take over my body and wreak havoc all he wants?

He's not as scary as I think he is, he's trying to appear that way to me so that he can break me. That way it's easier for him to get to me when my mind is shaken.

Yes... it must be so, all I have to do is not be afraid of him; I have to resist him.

Maybe it's selfish, but I... I don't want to get away from anyone, so I have to find a way to stop him, whatever it takes.

*******

"I'm here to visit my mom."

The receptionist looked at me and smiled slightly.

"Sure, can I have your name please?"

"Alexander Callidas."

The employee looked briefly at the screen in front of him.

"You have already announced your arrival. Your mother is still resting in the same room, in fact, she should be taking her medication right now. You can go straight upstairs."

"Thank you."

I took quick steps up the stairs, turned right after a few flights, and when I arrived in front of room number one hundred and forty-two, I knocked gently on the door and entered.

The room was a normal hospital room. A large bed, a holographic television, medicines...

"Mom, it's me."

Just as the employee in the lobby had said, a nurse was giving my mother her medication.

Instantly, my eyebrows furrowed. The nurse taking care of my mother was special to her, I knew who she was. She was a smiling woman in her thirties with brown hair.

The person in front of me... it wasn't her.

"What happened to the previous nurse?"

The nurse in front of me was a blonde woman in her mid-twenties.

"She took a leave of absence because she was sick, so I replaced her this week."

My brows furrowed even more at her monotone tone.

"It's just a change of staff, Alex, what's with the face? Respect people!"

My mother's words echoed in the room.

I returned my frown, completely ignoring the nurse and placing a smile on my face.

"Did you take your medication?"

"She did."

The nurse answered before my mother. She had an exasperated look on her face, as if she wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible, and she did. After putting the bag with the medicines in a drawer on the side, she quickly left the room.

"Why do they make people like that hospital staff?"

"Alex! I just told you to be respectful!"

"I respect people who deserve respect, Mom, and that nurse is sulking in front of a patient."

My mom kept pouting, but she didn't say anything. She knew I was right.

"Anyway, let's forget about the nurse. How are you?"

She put a smile on her face, lifted her skinny arm, and squeezed it like a weightlifter. Her dark green hair, graying in places, fell over her shoulders and her brown eyes came alive for a moment.

"Heh, I'm not so different from before. In other words, I'm fit as a fiddle! You have nothing to worry about, I just want you to focus on school."

She was always like this. No matter how old and how sick she got, she was always smiling, always joking, and always thinking of me no matter what.

"You came to visit last time, not long ago... did something happen?"

"Nothing important. There was an incident at the academy and they canceled classes. So I wanted to come to you when I had some free time."

"I see..."

She became thoughtful again, and then she smiled.

"Tell me then, son! How is the academy? Did you make friends, you didn't talk to anyone before... I want you to at least socialize at the academy."

"Yes... Yes, I have made friends and the academy is very good."

The conversation that started like this went on and on, jumping from one topic to another, for about half an hour. As usual, I studied her during this half hour and tried to understand her condition.

There seemed to be nothing wrong with her, her illness must have stabilized recently.

I knew, though, that it wouldn't last long, that the disease she had, if left untreated, would surely kill her. That's why I kept trying and trying, trying to find that stupid plant everywhere.

The Red-tailed Lheal was the most important ingredient for the cure for this disease, but it was as hard to find as it was important.

It was this plant that made the cure so expensive.

"I'm fine Alex, technology has improved a lot. I may be stuck in this bed, but this disease won't kill me easily."

She smiled again, she had never stopped smiling even though she was emaciated.

I... I want her to keep smiling.

Nothing else, just this...

"I will cure you, no matter how impossible the doctors say it is, I will cure you."

All I want is to go back to the old, happy days.

I want to see her walking, smiling, and growing old on the couch at home, not in this hospital bed watching her get worse and worse.

"You will get out of this bed and live in our house, we won't even have to deal with other people. It'll just be the two of us."

"Alex!"

"You'll say the same things again, but this time I'm not desperate."

This time, I have a clue.

That boy... Aiden. He seemed to be trying to trick me just like the others, but he said things that made a lot more sense than the others. He even tried to make a mana contract with me.

I don't know how he did it, but he even knows my skill, and yet instead of threatening me, he came up with a fair deal.

"I found a way to find that plant, just wait and see. In a week we will go home together."

I didn't say anything else, I turned around and walked toward the door.

I heard my mother calling my name behind me, but I didn't stop.

"I'm sorry, just... wait a little longer, Mom."

The next time I meet her, I will have that plant in my hand, she won't be able to tell me to give up. On the contrary, she will thank me.

When I left the room, I opened my watch and looked at the number I had saved before coming here.

I made up my mind.