Dante found himself dragged away from the Gallery by Phantasia’s long strides, even though he was quite happy to escape himself.

“Those people!” she said once they’d left the Hawk territory, “I keep trying to open them up but all they can think about is themselves! It’s not doing them or anybody else any good!”

“Maybe you oughta just leave ‘em alone like everybody else does,” said Dante, “They’re Hawks. It’s what they’re like.”

“And look at you!” she said, jabbing a finger at his chest, “You look exhausted! You don’t get enough exercise!”

“And?”

“We’re going to the forest! You can learn something from Hermia!”

It was funny how his feelings could change so much over the course of an hour. Not long ago he’d been contemplating how Phantasia would be the key to his sanity, but now she was just getting on his nerves. Why couldn’t she just leave him – and everybody else – in peace? What gave her the right to saunter around telling people how they should live their lives? Dante didn’t want fitness lessons from some overenthusiastic athlete who sniped anyone who didn’t enjoy sports like she did – he just wanted proof he was mentally ill!

Either because he was fed up with Phantasia’s behaviour, or because he wanted to do things on his terms, he swivelled around and began walking in the opposite direction. She’d reach the forest without him or turn around and follow. Whatever she did, her self-righteous games were over.

***

Was it something she’d said? Dante’s aura had never been the most readable of things, but the sudden shift after they left the Gallery was glaring. For a moment she’d noticed it cracking open a little as he sat next to Shelley, like he were scared to open up yet desperately wanted to, but as soon as they’d left and she’d suggested a trip to the forest his barriers were back up and warding her off like never before! When he turned and stomped off in the opposite direction, she decided to leave him be. Maybe if she weren’t around he’d open up a little? Not that she wouldn’t be around – she just had to make sure he didn’t think she was!

Following him was easy. Dante’s aura was like a heavy weight that tugged and pulled at the streams of mana around him, like a weak magnet swimming up a river of metal. At present it was only a minor disturbance but Phantasia worried that, if Dante continued to seclude himself, it might one day turn him into a beacon for more malevolent entities to prey on. It had been no coincidence that the leansídhe had latched itself onto depressed individuals such as Kaori and Shelley, after all.

And then the corruption stopped. Dante’s was no longer a dense shell in the river. He was still as closed off as ever, but somehow he’d begun to relax and his aura showed signs she’d begun to associate with people who were laughing.

Dante was having fun?

Phantasia slipped through the alleyways towards him, throwing herself around with ethereal athletics whenever she was sure no one could see her. She couldn’t miss this! There were two auras with him – open and blooming like flowers, unafraid of the world around him. Youthful, vigorous, like the wind… Lysander and Angelo!

Of all the people she’d expected to see Dante with, those two were the last: Dante, the boy who retreated within himself and saw the world in shades of darkness, and the two boys who had no concept of the term ‘serious’. Yet there was no mistaking it – there they were in the middle of the street, Lysander and Angelo dressed in outlandish clothes and carrying shopping bags stuffed with more, and Dante laughing along with them. Phantasia kept herself hidden as she listened in on their conversation.

“We already tried dressing Angelo up as a girl,” said Lysander, “A most excellent idea, though.”

“I found the high heels a most challenging test of dexterity,” added Angelo, “The fake chest not so much.”

“But did it work?” asked Dante.

“Lance was confused for a bit,” said Lysander, “But he’s so desperate he’d shag a dog if you put it in a dress and called it Susan,”

“My dog did not approve of a lady’s dress,” said Angelo.

Chapter 35
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