Work Text:
“LIARS! YOU ARE ALL LIARS!!!”
An echoing cry filled the electrically vibrating air.
“KALIM!! CALM DOWN!”
“DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! FROM NOW ON I WILL NOT OBEY ANYONE! I WON’T BE LOOKED AT AS A HELPLESS IDIOT ANYMORE!”
The echoing roar was no longer coming from the small white-haired boy's mouth, but from the monster towering behind him. Black ink poured over the boy, almost drowning him in the flowing filth. But Kalim just laughed and laughed, which would not have been unusual for him, but this laughter carried no joy. It was crazy, hysterical, frightening. The strong smell of ink became suffocating. The air was heavy and humid. They all froze as Kalim's overblot monster took full shape. It was huge and shapeless and poured out an amountless poisonous black pitch.
“KALIM!” Someone shouted, but the boy didn't hear anything. His ears were ringing, big black spots danced before his eyes. He felt like he was drowning. And he just kept laughing and laughing. It was almost a compulsion to laugh. Yes, because he always hid his pain behind a smile, a laugh. But now everything broke out, spilled out and now, this hysterical laughter poured out an unimaginable amount of pain. It was unstoppable. He felt like all the power of the universe was at his disposal. He could destroy everything, he could bring the whole world to its knees with this power. No one could set limits for him anymore.
“OASIS MAKER!!!” Roared the blot monster and at his call, dense black clouds covered the sky of Scarabia Desert. Lightning flashed, deafening thunder shook the world and rain poured down as if pouring from a bucket. A fierce wind accompanied the rain. The water droplets raced almost horizontally and with great force they hit everything that stood in their way, be it trees or people themselves. Ice-cold giant drops soaked them all in minutes. And nothing protected them. The shields raised with magic were destroyed in seconds by the attack of the powerful wind and raindrops. They had nothing to defend themselves with. No matter how hard they fought, the icy wind carried them further and further away from Kalim, who was enveloped in black ink.
“NO! KALIM, COME BACK! THIS IS NOT YOU! WAKE UP!” Lilia shouted, but against the wind it only sounded like a whisper.
“LIARS! ALL OF YOU! EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! ALL YOU DO IS LIE!” the monster thundered in Kalim's echoing voice. “YOU ALL BELIEVE I AM POWERLESS! NOW I'LL SHOW YOU WHO THE POWERLESS IS! HAH!” Sharp flashes and thunder accompanied the roar. Kalim's magic sparked in the air. It was truly unstoppable.
“ENOUGH! STOP KALIM!” Jamil shouted. The wind tore his long braids, his clothes were completely soaked by the heavy rain, but he did not stop, he just kept trudging forward to get closer to the monster.
“KALIM! PLEASE, TURN BACK TO YOURSELF!” Cater shouted too.
“KALIM!”
“KALIM!”
“KALIM!”
The cries of his name echoed from all sides. A thousand voices were calling out to the white-haired boy. But the voices were not filled with worry and fear for him, they were mocking, cynical, as if they were still laughing at him.
“ENOUGH! EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!” A strong wind spell conjured a whirlwind in front of him.
Yes...It had always been like this. Everyone laughed at him. It was no different even now. And yet now he held all the power of the universe in his hands. No one had ever taken him seriously. Whatever he said had no value. They took it as a joke. His opinion was never taken into account. They either waved him off or thought he was stupid and often was laughed at. It had always been like this. In the Asim's palace, every word he said was an order, every request he made was fulfilled. In fact, he didn't even have to ask, everything was laid at his feet. But there, in that house, no one was his friend. They were all subjects of the future heir. Jamil, Jamil's family, even his own family. He thought that if he could finally break free from that vicious circle, he would finally find real friends. People who didn't want to get close to him for his money or his power. Kalim was naive to believe that everything would change within the walls of Night Raven College. He wished, he wanted them to become friends and therefore he tried with all his might to remain true and honest. He smiled and laughed, he addressed everyone with kindness and generosity. And what did he get in return?! Contempt. Disgust. Pity!! No one needed this naive, yet sincere ray of sunshine, who was the real Kalim. No one took his emotions seriously! He was judged too sensitive. On other occasions, however, they told him that he did not understand other people's feelings and that was why he was so insensitive, so oblivious! Hypocrites! All of them! Every! Single! One! Lying hypocrites! And yet, Kalim did notice every little tremor, every little moment. He was just trying to help. But it seemed that no one needed his help anymore. These were small reasons that seemed insignificant to others. Dropped words, contemptuous glances, small failures, lies, mocking laughter. Small, insignificant things, right? But over time, all these tiny black grains of sand flooded Kalim's golden heart. It built up and finally broke... He was ridiculous. As always.
Kalim blinked away the ink that was flowing like tears from his eyes. Through the curtain of heavy rain he saw them. They were all there. Soaked, wind-swept, with pitiful expressions on their faces. Kalim wanted to laugh. They all looked ridiculous, all of them, he had thought, were his friends. Haha!
Lilia, the veteran war hero, looked at the blot monster with tear-filled, fearful eyes.
Cater, along with his many copies, was desperately fighting the storm.
Vil looked pitiful with his makeup smeared by the rain and his luxurious clothes soaked. There was no charm in him anymore.
Ruggie shielded his eyes from the icy drops with his hands, his ears flattened to his head in fear.
Silver and Riddle were still trying to set up magic shields, to no avail.
And Jamil... Oh Jamil, you're not so smug now, are you? Do you still think you're better? Stronger? Smarter? More talented? You didn't show what you were capable of because some incompetent adults said that was your job, right? You two-faced snake! And yet Kalim believed that despite all that, you could be best friends. Kalim always believed in you. You snake, you made him believe that it was all true, that he could always count on you. And yet behind his back you wished for his death. Ha! Ridiculous! And the blot monster just laughed and laughed. Unstoppable.
The wind was getting stronger. The rain was getting heavier and colder. Lightning struck their immediate vicinity every second and each was accompanied by a huge clap of thunder. This was not the first overblot they had experienced, some of them had even experienced it firsthand, but none of them had been as terrifying as this one. Cater's knees were shaking not only from the cold. Riddle was not holding his magic pen with his white fingertips only because of the strong wind. What could we do? They all thought desperately. They could not get closer and none of them could fight the storm. The air was filled with electricity and a suffocating blot. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. Kalim was panting. His magic was keeping that storm going. But with this storm he wanted to erase everything from the face of the earth. No one believed him. And yet he could have done it. He got everything he wanted.
“KALIM!” A lion's roar ripped through the air vibrating with magic. It was more powerful than the rushing wind and the pouring rain. A familiar figure emerged from behind the curtain of rain. Leona...Kalim's smart, strong, brave, precious Leona.
“LEONA?! NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! YOU SHOULD NOT SEE THIS! GET AWAY! GET AWAY! GET AWAY!!” The blot monster thundered. Leona, however, did not stop. He resisted the icy rain and the fighting wind. Two steps forward, one back. Two steps forward, one back. The storm wanted to hold him back with all its might. He was not allowed to reach Kalim. But he was moving forward slowly but surely.
Cater caught up with him, trying to stop him. “Stop! Be careful Leona, it's dangerous!”
Leona, however, shook off one of the Cater-clone's hand that was holding him back.
“Let go! I have to reach him! Don't stop me, help me get there!” Leona shouted angrily and didn't stop for a moment. To break through the storm and bring Kalim to his senses, that was his only goal.
“NO LEONA! STOP!” The blot monster roared and sent an even stronger storm at him. Lightning struck nearby, the thunder drowned out all other sounds. But the lightning never attacked Leona. It would have been much easier to knock out the lion with a powerful blow, but Kalim, even in the overblot form, could not hurt Leona. Jamil noticed this and tried to help Leona with a spell. Leona also moved forward with his magic pen raised forward, protecting himself from the horizontally falling rain.
“NO! STOP! GET AWAY!!” The whirlwind summoned by Kalim snatched Leona's pen from his hand. Leona froze helplessly for a moment.
Jamil reacted immediately.”Leona-senpai! Catch it!!” And threw his own magic pen with a powerful throw. “Use this!”
“Jamil, what are you doing? Are you crazy?!” Ruggie shouted.
“Leona needs to get to Kalim! He's the only one who might be able to stop him! Help him!”
With the help of the others, Leona was approaching the blot monster faster and faster. No, not the monster. Kalim. Yes. His precious Kalim. His wet hair clung to his face and neck. Water was pouring from his clothes and he shivered from the cold, but he finally reached Kalim.
“Hey there, sunshine.” Leona cupped Kalim's cheeks in his hands with his most sincere smile. His emerald eyes were full of concern. Kalim was lost in them.
“Wake up, please, Kalim…” Leona whispered. Kalim's heart pounded, the blot monster squirmed.
“Leona …” The voice still echoed, but finally it was Kalim's own voice.
“I'm here, sunshine...I won't hurt you.” Leona's voice was gentle, just like his touch.
“Liar…”
“I'm not lying, Kalim.” And that was the truth. Leona never lied, at least not to Kalim. Leona had always been brutally honest. But that was what Kalim loved so much about him. Leona was not two-faced, he told him straight out if he didn't like something. He didn't look down on Kalim's helplessness, he didn't laugh at his obliviousness. He accepted and loved him just the way he was.
“Leona…” Kalim murmured again. The wind slowed down, the rain finally fell vertically. The lightning disappeared and the thunder died down.
“I'm here, sunshine.” Leona repeated and leaned forward. The strong smell of ink stung his sensitive nose, but he held Kalim in his embrace. Kalim almost collapsed into the embrace. And then Leona kissed him. It was just a mere contact of honest, tender, loving lips. But to Kalim, that meant everything.
The rain continued to fall, but this rain was familiar. This was the real Oasis Maker. This gentle, kind rain that gave life even in the hottest drought. After all, this was the real Kalim. The blot monster disintegrated in a matter of seconds and Kalim collapsed exhausted. Leona caught him and held him tightly in his arms.
“What happened?” Ruggie blinked in surprise.
“I think we've seen with our own eyes another way to tear someone out of the overblot.”
“How?”
“With a true love's kiss.” Jamil whispered.
Leona heard the little conversation and smiled to himself. He raised his eyes to the sky and saw the sky clearing and the sun's rays shining through the last raindrops painting a rainbow across the sky.