Chapter 108- Truths And Lies

After ending her tense conversation with Brianna, Fiona headed back into the school building, where she found Elio waiting for her with an urgent look on his face. She approached him secretly.

"What happened?" He asked when he saw her.

"Don’t worry, nothing happened. She just told me something, and then I left. Now, let’s go eat lunch." Fiona said as she pulled Elio as the two started walking, heading into a different part of the school, one that is equally empty and secluded.

The roof.

It was usually prohibited to access that place, but this was Fiona they were talking about, the school couldn’t do much about that except to nod their heads in respect.

Opening the door, the two found an empty rooftop that had a nice view of the city. There were a few seats here and there, but ever since it became prohibited to access the roof except for particular occasions, they became abandoned.

The two sat down as Elio looked up, admiring the scene with a calm look on his face. After what happened earlier, this atmosphere was perfect to clear his mind.

"You’re too kind, Elio."

After a long while, Fiona spoke as she looked to the side. "Some people aren’t worth your kindness. You shouldn’t believe everything being said to you just because it sounds sincere. Liars are very good at lying."

"..." Elio pursed his lips as he nodded his head. "I know, you’re right."

"It’s for your sake that I want you to be a bit colder. You will spare yourself a lot of pain." Fiona said. "People are capable of lying and deceiving and never batting an eye. Those who honor their words are few and far between."

"It’s just... I’ve always had the ability to tell liars from people who are telling the truth. It’s something I’ve always had within me, and it never failed me. I can always tell the truth from lies."

"Hm. Is that so?" Fiona asked with a curious look on her face. She had heard Elio mention this before, but she never truly understood why he was that confident in his gut feeling. Lies are something that any person could fall for, even though she fell for lies before in her life, and that is why she takes every word said to her with a grain of salt.

However, looking at Elio, he seemed completely aware of the possibility of him being tricked, yet he still fully trusts his gut feeling. Something seemed rather odd about that. The boy was a very cautious and smart person by nature, and this being the thing he had confidence in the most made Fiona even more curious.

Suddenly, an idea popped into her head as she looked at Elio.

"Ok, how about this? Let’s play a game."

"A game?" Elio looked to the side. "What kind of game?"

"I will tell you three things. Two are the truth, and one is a lie. I want you to guess which one is the truth and which one is the lie."

"Hmmm, that sounds fun, sure, I’m in," Elio said as he nodded his head, seemingly not worried at all.

"Sure... Ok. Ehem, first statement is that I don’t like bread crust. The second statement is that my favorite weapon is the bow, and the third statement is that I’m afraid of the ocean. Which one is the truth and which one is the lie?" She asked.

Elio listened carefully to each statement as he stared deep into Fiona’s eyes. Then, he turned away and thought for a moment.

"..." He smiled. "I didn’t know you had a fear of the ocean, Fiona. Haha." Chucking, he looked at her again. "The lie is that your favorite weapon is the bow."

"..."

Fiona was taken aback by how quickly he figured it out. She made sure to choose something that is very hard to believe. After all, who would guess that Fiona was afraid of the ocean? It was something she didn’t tell anyone before.

"Yeah, I’ve had that fear ever since I was a kid. But that’s not relevant now. You passed the first test. I will make the second one harder." She said.

"Mhm, go ahead."

"Ok, so, the first statement is that I’ve drunk alcohol before. The second statement is that I’ve never lost a game of chess in my life, and the third statement is that... I killed people before." She said as she squinted her eyes for a second. "So, which one is it this time?"

"Hmmm..." Elio was a bit surprised by her choices this time, and then he felt even more surprised when he realized which one was the lie. "You’ve lost a game of chess before?"

"..." Fiona was completely speechless.

"Drinking alcohol is quite odd... Well, I kind of expected that you had killed humans before, so that one isn’t too surprising. Who beat you in chess?" He asked, not caring to even hear if his guess was the right or wrong one.

’He...’ Fiona didn’t know what to say. Elio wasn’t lying when he said he could easily tell truths from lies. The fact that he had such an ability was already ridiculous, and yet the confidence he had in himself in guessing it all was quite surprising.

"Yeah... Well, the only person who beat me in chess was... my mother." She said. "She was the only one who was always one step ahead of me. I could never beat her, no matter how much I tried." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"..." Elio noticed the sad tone hidden within Fiona’s voice. He was already aware that Fiona’s mother had passed away a long time ago, so he nodded faintly.

"I sometimes wish I would be able to play one last game against her just to see if I can finally beat her. She would be very proud." She said. "But, well, it is what it is."

"I’m sure she’s already proud of how far you’ve come. Maybe you are capable enough to beat her now."

"Maybe..." Fiona nodded. "And well, for the alcohol thing, I mistakenly thought it was orange juice and drank from it a few years ago. I ended up really drunk, and I had to go back home early."

"Hahaha, how did you not notice it? Didn’t you smell the alcohol in the drink?"

"I was too occupied to notice. It tasted weird."

Seeing Elio chuckling, Fiona could only smile faintly. "Well, I may or may not have been a bit aware that it is an alcoholic drink and decided to drink from it still out of curiosity."

"Nooo, that’s bad, Fiona."

"Well, you only live once. I was too curious as a kid sometimes." Fiona shrugged.

’To think Fiona would do things like this...’ Elio smiled. ’I guess she was just a kid like every other kid who is too curious for their own good.’

Slowly, as Elio got to know Fiona more and more, he realized how much of a sweet and nice a person she was. People look at her as this untouchable figure and flawless person, but deep down, she was just a normal girl who cherished the people she cared about.

Elio found that really heart-warming, knowing the true person she was.

"And, you did succeed my test. I guess your ability to read people is exceptional. Still, it is good to be careful and always make sure to doubt things even if they appear to be obvious to you. You never know, Elio."

"Yeah, I understand. I will make sure to take your advice."

The two then started eating and chatting as usual. The mood had lightened quite a bit, and Fiona found herself completely relaxed. Elio was the only person who she felt this way around.

Not even Alex or Alfred made her feel this way. It was like she could truly be herself with him without worrying about the way he would look at her. Elio didn’t seem to care at all how she behaves; he treated her all the same.

He didn’t give her that look of reverence as if she was superior to him and instead saw her as a friend and as a companion, someone he trusts with his life. Fiona underestimated the magical effect that kind of attitude would have on her.

She felt like she could open her heart to him without ever feeling like Elio would change just because of it. For someone like her, who rarely smiles or laughs, she found herself doing that more and more with every passing day.

Fiona didn’t realize it, but Elio had changed her in many ways during the time they got to know each other. He had shown her many things and taught her many lessons, even though the time they knew each other was merely days, yet these were the best days Fiona had lived in a very long time.

Just thinking about how this could be the future for years and years, she couldn’t hide her delight.

To imagine Elio being beside her for that long... It was definitely a pleasant thing.