Chapter 3: CHAPTER 2
It's already night time when Deen dropped her paint brush and stares at her unfinished artwork. She's been at the studio when her last class was done in the afternoon and yet there's no progress in her painting. Paint drops from her hand on the floor but she made no move to wipe it and continued looking at the canvas in front of her, no matter how hard she tried to think of something, she can't bring herself to paint. The more she stays at the studio, the more she wants to pull her hair out of frustration so she decided to have a walk.
She let out a sigh before finally moving and fixed her brushes and wipe the paint that dropped on the floor. Some of them has dried already but she has no energy to scrub them so she left them to clean tomorrow, she knows that she'll regret it when the paints will stick on the floor but she'll let future Deen to worry about that in the morning.
The night breeze made Deen shiver when she step out of the building so she put her hands in her coat's pocket to keep them warm. She has no destination in mind so she just mindlessly walk in the streets and silently watch the people that walk pass her. The night is still young so some of the stores are still open and there's a lot of people that walks in the street like her and she thought if are they like her - mindlessly walking. She wonders who are rushing to go home, who are going to meet someone for a date, or maybe just out to enjoy the night. She wants to stop and stare at the people and the places around her but her feet didn't let her as if they have a mind of their own.
After a while of walking, she stopped in a place where most people seems to gather. Her hands started to itch for her camera, wanting to take a picture of her surrounding when she saw people busking and teenagers play in the claw machines stationed outside an arcade. She wants to capture each and every emotion that the people has in that place but her lack of camera made her capture the scenes through her eyes and committing it to her memory. She stayed and listened to the songs and even watched some of the street dancers, laughed at some jokes that people made and played with some kids that are out with their parents, the night seems to be so alive and yet when she walked away from the crowd, she feels empty. She feels like she's floating as she starts to walk again, the noises were muffled and she started to feel numb.
One more place to go before going back to her empty apartment.
There's only a few people in the gallery when Deen entered the first place that once exhibited her works. She usually go in galleries if she's feeling unmotivated and that's something she's been doing for days lately. Two more weeks to go before their school exhibit and yet her paintings are still not ready for the show case, her professors are asking for the final paintings but she can't bring herself to tell them that she isn't satisfied at her works and so she tells them that it will be a surprise. Her professors aren't happy about it, despite being one of their most talented student, they can't fully trust every student in their works so they need to check on them to make sure that every painting is going to be done in time for the exhibit.
She stopped infront of a self portrait and studies the way the painter painted himself for the world to see. Envy started to form inside her because that's something she can't do. She's way too afraid of the outcome a self portrait may bring to the viewers, she's scared that one of the viewers can tell how much of a mess she is. Rejection has always been one of her fears and so she tries so hard to not let people see the ugliness inside her.
"Its beautiful, isn't it?" someone said beside her that made her break out of her reverie. "The painting." the stranger continued when he noticed the confused look Deen gave him.
Deen subtly looked at the stranger's outfit when he look back at the painting. He's wearing an all black outfit with a cap and a face mask that Deen find weird considering that it's nighttime and they're inside a building. It's not that cold too but the stranger is covered from head to toe.
"You know that staring is rude, right?" the stranger spoke again that made Deen blush for being caught.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I just-" she stopped when she noticed that the stranger's smiling behind his mask.
"It's okay. I get the weird stares a lot." He pulled the mask down and offered his hand for a shake. "I'm Zirrius by the way." The name sounds familiar to Deen but she didn't paid it any mind when she accepted the handshake and introduced herself.
"So what do you think about the painting?" Zirrius asked while looking at her intently. The attention made Deen nervous so she looked back at the painting and studied it trying to ignore the eyes that's looking at her.
"It's kinda sad but beautiful." She said softly as her eyes traces the broken wings that the man in the painting has.
"Yeah? Why do you think so?"
"I think the painter is going through something, maybe wanting to be free or achieve something but his broken wings forbids him to do so. The thorns around him clearly means that they're holding him back and the more he tries to move his wings, the more they're being torn, hence the blood on the floor."
Zirrius raised an eyebrow at her explanation, "Then why did you call it beautiful if you think that it's sad?" he asked. "Why did you call it beautiful?" Deen asked back and looked at him. Zirrius smiled at her before saying "Because as you said, the painter is struggling in something but he still made a beautiful artwork out of his misery."
The night continues to be like that, the two of them moved to another painting and exchanged ideas as to why the painter painted their works like that or what does the painter wants the viewers to see in their paintings. Deen would never admit it but she felt something in that night. She hasn't noticed it but at that time, she feels fine, she can finally breathe after the suffocating feeling that she's been feeling all week.
When the two of them finished checking all of the paintings, they finally called it a night and decided to go home. They said their goodbyes outside the gallery and Deen watched Zirrius' back until he disappeared in the dark.
For some reason, Deen never made it home that night instead she found herself back in the studio and started painting again. And when she's done, the sun is already setting and she realized that a day has gone without her realizing but this day is different than the passed days because finally, her works are ready for the exhibit.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone