She says after moving her fingers across the entire house we are in.

Ethan: "What was?"

Sona: "This kind of s.p.a.cious and more-than-comfortable house being given to you to live in. It's kind of a waste of money."

Ethan smiles sardonically in response.

Ethan: "And, well, this kind of s.p.a.cious and more-than-comfortable house allowed me to study everything I did and is the reason why we are all here and not in much worse emotional, psychological and physical predicaments and also this is the place that we are using as our base."

He seems quite pa.s.sionate about arguing that this house was not wasted on him. And well, I personally want to side against him, like I always do, but I think he is right, like he is most of the times.

Kais: "You know, Sona, he kinda has a point."

Sona looks at me with a disappointed gaze. I don't really know why but it does make me feel a bit bad about my response.

Sona: "The reason why this is a waste of money is because all it would take is one flick from a guy like Walter Schmidt to destroy it. And I think you have a lot of Walter Schmidts as your enemies."

Well, that's also a good point. If the house was cheap, it getting destroyed wouldn't mean much. But the owner of this house, with pretty much all of his actions, has been basically asking people to punch him in the face and he's living in such a great house. That's, like, asking for the place to be demolished.

Three bedrooms, one library, a living room, a garden, a yard, a pool, a store room, and some other miscellaneous types of rooms are present in this house. To be honest, I do kinda feel jealous of the fact that this jacka.s.s has been living in such a big house while I have been living in, what – a one-bedroom flat?

Sona: "You look like you are pretty much ready to destroy it yourself."

She says so with somewhat of a grin on her face.

Kais: "Not completely out of the question."

And so I answer with somewhat of a grin too. And of course, since the whole point of all this is to annoy the winner of our 'annoyance of the life award', we turn to look at his face.

If my understanding of him is correct, then he'd try to change the topic to get out of this. And we won't let that happ-

Ethan: "Congratulations! You two are perfectly in sync. I'd say you two should marry already."

-en.

Kais: "…"

Sona: "…"

Ethan: "Why the red faces?"

*******************************

Deciding that taking turns to keep watch over Abgere was the best option and that more than just one person should keep watch over him (just to be safe) has lead to now, when the three of them of are talking about demolis.h.i.+ng the house and marrying each other and whatnot while Sneha and Gabriel keep watch over their quite seriously injured but stable patient.

Gabriel: "Sneha, I wanted to ask you something."

He says, not with the intention of just starting a conversation but because he really does want to ask something.

Gabriel: "Why did you decide to leave Vermillion and join up with that weirdo?"

The rather tall woman sitting diagonally-left from Gabriel and diagonally-right from Abgere sighs and answers,

Sneha: "The answer lies in the same reason that I joined Vermillion in the first place."

Gabriel finds himself surprised but continues nonetheless.

Gabriel: "I never got to find out what that reason was."

Sneha: "I wanted to find the person responsible for killing all of my teachers and fellow students at the temple I was brought up in."

Gabriel, like every other high-ranking official in Vermillion, knew that she was brought up in a temple and that her fellows at the temple were killed in the carnage of 12 years ago. That, and they also knew who was responsible for it.

Gabriel: "Didn't you already know that Barry was the one who did?"

Sneha: "Not before joining Vermillion."

She says and takes a glance at Abgere to make sure he is stable and then continues,

Sneha: "After I joined Vermillion, I found that out. But, for whatever reason, it just never seemed real to me. I just wasn't convinced that a psychic who had been known as such a kind person for so long would suddenly go on a rampage and do something like THAT."

Gabriel: "…"

Sneha: "I probably also didn't want to believe that a psychic going nuts was all there was to that disaster. I didn't want to accept that it was just bad luck that they all died. I wanted there to be an enemy I could blame this all on."

As he is someone whose hate towards Bronzer for the murder of his fiancée and in-laws has reached a high point, Gabriel can understand that emotion.

However, to him, there always has been Bronzer to blame it on.

He has never felt the need to find someone he can blame. So, he can't completely relate. That is why, he asks his next question, something he wouldn't even bother asking if he could relate to her.

Gabriel: "Did you want revenge for what happened?"

Sneha: "Nope. Not at all."

She says and gets up as if to say she has no intention of talking about that any further. And as if just on cue,

Abgere: "ah … hah"

Abgere starts regaining consciousness.

Sneha: "Well, we better tell those three."

Gabriel: "Right."

*******************************

Within a minute, all six people in the house gather in one room.

Abgere: "Wh-wh-"

Ethan: "If you say 'who am I?' I am going to rip your head off."

Well, all of us saving him only for him to forget his memories would be pretty aggravating.

Abgere: "Uh, where … the f.u.c.k … am I?"

Ethan: "Well now, that's better."

The man hanging onto the bed that Abgere has been placed on, smiles, and continues,

Ethan: "You are at my house. And if you don't know who I am, I am Ethan Kales."

Abgere: "Wh-what … did you say your name was?"

Ethan: "Why? If you have ever heard this name before, I doubt you could have already forgotten who it belongs to. After all, it's the name of the person who put a bullet in Ro Garland's gut."

Sometimes I think this guy wants someone to break his arms and legs. Other times I don't because I realize that he is more of a s.a.d.i.s.t than a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t.

Abgere: "…"

Despite the silence, I feel an overwhelming urge to push Ethan out of the room.

The glare Abgere is giving Ethan at this point is quite scary, even though I have no harm coming my way.

Abgere: "And you all?"

He glances at us as he asks,

Abgere: "You are his allies? Accomplices?"

Okay, I take that back. His glare is at all of us and if any harm comes, Ethan would be the first but then this guy's hostility will lead him to us too.

Gabriel: "Look, let's just calm down and-"

Abgere: "I think I know you. Aren't you Gabriel Was.h.i.+ngton, a h.e.l.lfire?"

Gabriel: "Oh boy!"

Abgere: "You piece of s.h.i.+t needs to die!"

Abgere tries to grab Gabriel by the collar, which obviously does not happen because Gabriel moves away and Abgere can't move very well with all his wounds.

Sneha: "Okay, Gabriel, calm down!"

Abgere: "You are in Vermillion too, aren't you?"

Sneha: "I was, not anymore. And more importantly,"

Abgere: "There is nothing more important than killing you piece of s.h.i.+ts!"

Even Sneha back away a little, feeling his hostility cutting through her heart. And so,

Slap!

Abgere: "Tsk! What the-"

Slap!

Abgere: "…"

Sona: "You are getting on my nerves, you half-a.s.sed edge-lord."

Yeah, the best person to deal with this kind of situations – deals with it.

Ethan: "Nice catch."

Ethan says to me without turning my way, causing me to turn his way in annoyance.

Sona: "And by the way,"

She says with a mocking smile as she brings up her other hand (the one she didn't slap with) which is holding a peculiar item,

Sona: "You are not wearing your mask anymore."

Abgere: "Huh!?"

And for whatever reason, Abgere seems more surprised and troubled by that than he was when Ethan told him his name and flaunted about killing Ro.

*******************************