‘Stop it! Stop licking my face!’ Arcane frowned in her sleep, her deep sound sleep was disturbed by someone that was unstoppably licking her face. Even after she asked nicely the someone wasn’t getting a hint that she was not interested in getting licked all over her face.

“I said stop licking my face!” Arcane opened her eyes, there was fire boiling in her red eyes and it looked like she was going to rip apart the person who was disturbing her, WHat she didn’t know was that there was a blinding light that welcomed her.

“Gaah!! My eyes!! They are turning into ashes!!” Arcane sat up and rubbed her eyes violently. 

“WHat nut head installed a roof window right above my head?” Arcane looked around in anger, Her blinded eyes made it hard for her to comprehend her surroundings, But she did feel that she had been lying on a rock-solid bed. Her muscles were stiff and were hurting.

 

Meow’

 

“Huh?” Arcane’s eye twitched and she looked at her hand that was being licked this time. “What on earth is this?’ Arcane pulled away from her hand and glared at the palm-size black cat. 

Arcane gritted her teeth and picked up the tiny cat with her two fingers as if it was something very disgusting. She raised it to her eye level and stared at its cherry-red eyes.

“So it was you who was licking me like a lollipop,” Arcane grumbled. The cat t her intently. “Stop looking at me!” Arcane huffed, she wanted to look away from the creature but something about the cat looked very off. Its hair was black and its eyes were red, Just like Arcane’s.

 

“You Ugly!” Arcane mumbled and placed her back on the rock table before slowly hopping off the table. “Now where am I this time?” She slowly strolled around the room that looked more like a greenhouse. The only source of light was the Roof Window above the rock table. Long vines hung down and creepy-looking flowers were blooming all over the place. 

“Tsk...This person has no sense of decorating a place.” Arcane clicked her tongue and moved around slowly. Behind the small plants, there were small glass bottles filled with fluids. Some were sparkling while others were surrounded by dark dust. Arcane suddenly felt a sense of Deja vu.

“Don’t tell me! This place is?” Her eyes widened and she looked around the room, “SYMON’s HOME!!! Why am I here again? If he finds me here, i will die for sure this time!” She bit her nails and looked around for a way to escape the room.

‘What to do? What to do?’ she pondered for a while until she saw the cat that was now hanging on the vine, it slowly climbed up towards the room window.

“HAh!!” Arcane’s eyes sparkled. “I am a genius!” 

 

‘Seriously WOman?!’ (The CAt’s response to Arcane’s words)

Arcane quickly stood on the rock table and grabbed the cat with her two fingers just like before and threw her on the table with a smirk. “Hoho!” She placed her hand on her face and chuckled in a mean tone, “After all cats do land on their feet.” 

 

‘Meow…

The cat blinked innocently at Arcane. As if begging to be taken along with her.at first Arcane didn’t want a cat to accompany her but when those Cherry round eyes begged her, her heart melted.

“Sigh! Okay, I will take you outside but then we part our ways, I can’t keep you safe!...” Arcane spoke, She blinked a few times in disappointment and then spoke again, “I can’t even keep myself safe.” 

 

Her hands were clasped around the vine when she was muttering under her breath, WHat pulled her out of her sorrowful thoughts were the sounds of footsteps coming from not very far away. “Shoot! I will get caught!” Arcane’s hands started to sweat. “Hurry up, hold on to my dress,” Arcane said to the cat, and it seemed to understand her quite well. Arcane pulled on the sturdy VIne and quickly climbed up the window, and onto the roof. Arcane slipped away just in time before she could get caught. Her heart raced and she laid low on the roof trying not to make even the slightest of noise. She heard the light steps of someone under her. The steps grew aggressive and after a long time of movement Arcane heard the door close and the person had walked out in a hurry. 

“Fu...That was a near escape! Now let us run away from here.” Arcane held the cat close to her chest and tiptoed around the roof to find a convenient place to  jump off from. Luckily the far end of the roof had a tree close to it,

 

She quickly entered the leafy tree and climbed the branches to camouflage into the leaves. Arcane sat silently on a sturdy branch silently and waited for any kind of motion but nothing happened and everything seemed peaceful. The cat in her hands peeked out at Arcane and licked her thumb.

“Tsk! Why do you keep on licking me? Am I that sweet?” said Arcane to the cat and it purred gently. 

“(Chuckle) You are so ugly!” Arcane muttered, “Now what? Where should I go?” Arcane pouted, She stroked the cat gently, the soft fur made her want to bite the small cute creature. She stared at it blankly while the cat glanced back at her, “Why do I feel like I am forgetting something?” Arcane creased her eyebrows and looked into the cat’s eyes curiously.

Something that faded from Arcane's memory slowly came back to her.

 

‘This is the waiting port, Where the dead characters stay until they are reborn into another character’s body

 

When the face of the previous Arcane came into Joy’s mind she jumped in fright, The cat in her hand pounced on her grasp, while she slipped out of the branch of the tree.

 

“No! Way! I came back from the dead?” Arcane didn’t realize that she had fallen on the branch as her head was filled with other thoughts. But when she did realize it it was too late. Arcane tried to hold onto something but the thin branches were too weak to hold her weight and they snapped one by one, and before she could make any sound, 

 

Plop’ 

Someone caught her in mid-air. 

“Wow!! Nice catch!” Arcane said in a relieved voice as she almost had a heart attack.

 

She slowly looked up at the person who had caught her. “GAsp!” 

 

Arcane’s muscles stiffened and she held her breath, the violet eyes looking down at her with a sharp gaze, almost trying to slice her into shreds. But before he could say a word there was a rustling sound in the trees opposite to them, Symon’s grip around Arcane’s shoulder increased and he lowered his head slightly while trying to keep an eye on the intruder. 

 

Arcane stopped breathing, Symon was too close to her, her great was beating violently while she blocked him with her arms. 

“L...Let go!” She shuddered as she spoke. Symon glanced back at her tomato red face, his eyebrows twitched lightly, Arcane gulped in air and tried to speak again in a much louder voice.

“I said LET GO OFF…”

 Before she could make more noise Symon landed his lips on Arcane’s making her out turn into a mumble, Arcane’s muscles stiffened, even more, Her face heated up. This was the first time she was this close to a guy. 

 

MEow!!

Just when Arcane needed a hero, the cat jumped into Arcane's lap from up the tree and scratched Symon’s face. The sharp claws broke them apart, His eye opened and he looked at Arcane with horror, his grasp around her got loose and he let go of her. Arcane landed on the grass with a thud. 

 

Symon held his cheek that was bleeding because of the scratch. Arcane rubbed her lip with a disgusted look on her face. Her heart was burning up with a sense of revenge and luckily her fingertips were touching a rock.

“You creep!! How dare you!!!” Without giving it a second thought Arcane picked up the rock and threw it at Symon with all the force she had. Symon, who was standing like a statue, didn't move from his place and the rock hit him in the head. There was a sudden silence all around, Only when Arcane expected a reaction she noticed something odd. His silver hair slowly turned red before a drop of blood dripped down his forehead. His mountain-like body swayed like a dandelion. Arcane’s instinct told her to move away from the spot that she was sitting on and she did, and before she could blink Symon collapsed on the grass with his face landing on the ground.

 

“Gaah!!” Arcane hopped up with her fingers in between her teeth. “What was that? Did I hit him that hard?” She mumbled. Arcane kicked his body to see if he was alive, His body rolled over She saw his chest moving up and down slowly indicating that he was still breathing but his face was in a very bad condition. It was painted with three types of blood, one from his cheek, another from his forehead, and last but not least, His nose that had landed on the grass, His face looked like a squashed tomato. Arcane gulped in heavily and her eye twitched. 

 

“That is a lot of damage...He will surely kill me once he gets up! I can’t let this happen!! I need to run!” Arcane picked up the cat and ran into the dense forest.