14. Halcyon

“What is it now?” Sandria asked, annoyed at not being able to see the screens.

“This Halcyon thing… It’s a weapon. A…” Ardan’s voice trailed off. “Hang on, let me see if I can take it out and show you.”

He bit his lip, wracking his head for a word that meant ‘take out’. Something like… withdraw.

“Withdraw halcyon.” As he spoke, a flash of yellow filled the room and the two ducked down, blinded by the light. It faded as fast as it had appeared, followed by a loud, metallic ‘thunk’ on the carpeted floor.

“What was that?” Sandria asked, rubbing her eyes and blinking ferociously. Not in a million years did they think that they’d have the opportunity to see an item like the one in front of them.

It was at least a metre long, stretching between the desk and bed. Each end was pointed, but didn’t look tapered enough for stabbing. Wrapped around the centre of it was a strangely fresh-looking bandage, presumably the area where it was supposed to be held. It was split into a few sections, some red and some black, and looked like it could break apart.

Ardan cautiously reached his hand out, ready to dart back if something more dangerous than blinding lights resulted in him touching it. A tap— and no explosion— later, he found himself examining the staff. It’s milky, blood red, marble-like texture made it hypnotizing to look at, and the swirling patterns seemed to move. It was important. He could tell.

“Ardan. Ardan.” Sandria waved her hand in front of his face, snapping her fingers to get his attention.

“W-what?” He scrambled backwards, knocking his head into one of the desk’s drawers in the process. “Oww…”

Glancing back at the staff, Sandria moved to block it’s view from Ardan. “What is this? Was it already in your inventory?”

Ardan subconsciously rubbed the back of his head and groaned. “Yeah, I think so. I don’t know what it is.” A strange feeling filled his body, urging him to go to the weapon’s side. On instinct, he clambered to his knees and crawled toward the staff, only to be blocked by Sandria.

There was nothing except him, and the staff. I must touch it. The command filled his head and his body moved toward it instinctively. Some strange force compelled him to move, and he lost control of the steering wheel.

“What’re you doing?” She asked, still partially obstructing Halcyon. “Stop.”

A cold finger touched Ardan’s forehead, snapping him out of his trance. He looked forward, focusing on the face that was now millimetres away from his own. Sandria. What just happened? He stared deep into her eyes, which showed no fear. There was only calmness.

And safety.

Something snapped within him.

The rush of emotions he’d been holding back for years came rushing out, and he found himself crying. Not just tearing up, but sobbing like the world was ending. He cried about the loneliness of not having anyone there for him, the hope he’d lost, the confusion of a strange system no one else seemed to understand, and the helplessness at being unable to control his life, which had been turned upside down in the span of a few days.

He was fifteen. Barely older than a child.

“There, there. It’s alright. It’s alright.” Sandria consoled him, his head nestled in her chest and arms. She patted his head softly, and hugged him tightly. “Everything’s going to be ok. I’m here for you.”

The outburst of tears slowed down a few minutes later, during which Sandria cradled him, whispering comforting words. Ardan moved away slowly, wiping away the last of the tears. What a joke, he thought to himself. And I’m supposed to be the big brother.

“Thanks, Sandria. I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

She gave him a supportive smile and wrapped him in another hug. “It’s alright,” was all she said.

The two stayed in that position for a long time, eyes closed, thankful for each other's presence.

“Thank you,” Ardan whispered, breaking off the hug. “You’re a lot older and more mature than people your age, you know?” He joked.

Now that Ardan was back to normal, they had other issues to attend to. One of them was a particularly beautiful looking staff lying in the centre of his room.

“What happened to you?” Sandria asked, concerned.

Ardan shook his head, trying to clear the strange feeling from his body. “It kind of hypnotized me in a way. I don’t really know. I’ll read it’s information sheet out to you.”

As he was doing so, he couldn’t help but begin to feel slightly awkward. He’d never expressed his emotions like that before - not even to Summer, or Ann. But Sandria… there was something about her that just made Ardan feel so comfortable.

“Uh, Ardan? Are you zoning out again?” Sandria asked playfully.

“No, I’m not. I was actually in the midst of an important philosophical discussion with myself.” He replied. He glanced at her, then turned away, blushing. Get your act together, Ardan. “Anyways, the hypnosis is gone now, I think. I don’t feel attracted to ‘Halcyon’ anymore.”

She nodded. “That’s good. Do you have any idea how you got it anyways? Also, the requirements for it are ridiculous.”

“I don’t know, it was already in my inventory. I’m going to test whether or not I’ll get hypnotized.” Steeling himself, Ardan took a deep breath and stared the weapon down, ready to fight back the hypnosis. But he must have somehow grown immune, or the effect wore off, because he didn’t feel the pull. It was just a normal staff now.

“I think it’s fine now. I’m going to try touching it.” Ardan declared.

He touched it softly, caressing it’s cool, smooth surface. It was a strange thing, and it gave off other-wordly vibes. On a closer look, Ardan spotted three small holes in the shape of a triangle near the centre. Just smaller than a finger each, together they looked oddly like a power socket. Circling the holes was a strange pulsing blue circle.

Gently, he wrapped his hand around the bandaged part and hefted it up. It wasn’t light, but nor was it heavy. At first glance, he would’ve assumed that it was a priceless object, maybe an artifact. Definitely not something he’d be able to swing around carelessly.

“And just what in the bloody heavens do you think you’re doing?” said a posh sounding voice coming from the staff in Ardan’s hands.

Ardan shrieked, flinging the staff across the room. It crashed into a wall before softly landing on his bed.

“Ouch. That would’ve hurt if I could get hurt.”

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“Sandria, am I going crazy, or is the staff talking?” Ardan asked, backing away from the staff that now rested atop of his quilt covers.

“You’re not crazy.” She whispered back, also in shock.

“Alright you two. First of all, I’m not just a ‘staff’. My name is Halcyon, and it is rather disrespectful not to call me by my name."

“How is it talking? How is it talking?” Ardan repeated, starting to freak out.

“Where is my partner? Last time I saw her, she-” Halcyon’s voice stopped abruptly for a moment. “Ah. Which one of you is Ardan? I’m assuming the one that is having a mental breakdown.”

“How does it know my name? What is going on?” At this point, he was on the verge of shouting.

“Please calm down. As I said before, my name is Halcyon, and I am a celestial blood staff. More specifically, an animated celestial blood staff. My instructions were to be your guide for League of Progression.” It said calmly.

Ardan stopped. What the staff, no, Halcyon, had said actually made sense. Well, not exactly sense, but it was something that he understood. “Who gave you those instructions? And how are you talking? And what is an animated celestial blood staff?”

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down there. One question at a time.” If it had a head, no doubt it would be shaking it by now. “Naturally, I can't tell you who gave me those instructions, because the person specifically told me to keep it classified. I can talk because I am animated, though, I can’t really explain what a celestial blood staff is…”

Wow. That was surprisingly useless, Ardan thought, rolling his eyes. “Can you tell me one thing that you just told me that I didn’t already know?”

“Well…” Halcyon seemed to ponder about it for a second. “That the person who gave me the instructions was classified? You didn’t know about that before, right?”

“Yes, but you didn’t tell me who it was!” He said, exasperated.

“Now you know how it feels when I talk to you.” Sandria spoke up for the first time in a while.

“Sandria? You’re on his side? Wait. Is he even a he? I mean, it. I mean, he. Argh! You. Halcyon. Are you a he or an it?” Ardan burst out.

“Excuse me! Are you assuming my gender? What if I refer to myself as a ‘she’?”

“Oh. Do you?” He said, relieved to finally have an answer.

“Well, no. But-” Halcyon began.

“Oh for fu—”

“Ardan! Calm down! I’ve got some questions for Halcyon, so why don’t you go and get a drink outside.” Sandria interrupted Ardan, trying to ease the tensions that had somehow come between the two after less than a few minutes of talking to each other.

“How am I getting annoyed by a damn weapon of all things…” Ardan muttered under his breath on his way out of the room.

“Excuse me! I heard that! I’ll have you know that I am not—”

Once again, Halcyon was cut off. But this time, it was by Sandria. “Can you move on your own, Halcyon?”

It’s attention immediately snapped away from the complaint, to answering Sandria’s question. “Well, no. I can resist being equipped, though.”

Sandria gave a sigh of relief as she witnessed the door closing out of the corner of her eye.

“So, like Ardan said, what does animating do? I’m assuming it’s some kind of magic from the system that allows you to come alive. Something like necromancy, perhaps?” Sandria sat herself on the bed next to the staff, the far distance feeling awkward for a long conversation.

Halcyon let out an approving grunt. “Interesting. You seem to catch on much faster than that imbecile outside. You’re correct, by the way. It’s something like necromancy. But in this situation, you don’t bring back a person in their own body. It’s simply taking a random soul and stuffing it into an object. Apparently, it’s incredibly difficult to choose who you’re going to resurrect. Also, once an object is animated, they can talk - some can use special abilities, but once they run out of juice, they deactivate.”

Nodding her head, Sandria made notes in a designated notepad that she kept League of Progression’s information in. “So what exactly is this so-called ‘juice’?”

“Any form of energy. This includes electricity, but the most common form is mana. Right now, I have about… half an hour left? Then I need to charge.”

Meanwhile, Ardan had crept back into the room. He approached the window seat and sipped his water meekly, listening to the conversation. He regretted getting angry at Halcyon, and wanted to give him another chance. “Do you charge yourself with those holes near your bandage?”

“That’s right. Maybe you’re not as dumb as I thought you were.”

Ardan clenched his fists, but forced himself to relax. There was no point in starting an argument.

“These ‘holes’ are actually runes, designed to intake mana or electricity.”

“And what if you run out of charge?” He asked.

“Well, I simply can’t talk.” Halcyon stopped abruptly. “Oh god. Now don’t look at me like that. I’m supposed to be your guide. I have value!”

He, or it, was referring to the mischievous smile that had appeared on Ardan’s face. Ardan made a mental note before dropping the grin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyways. “What did you do to me just now? And how can you even see or talk? You don’t have eyes.”

Somehow, it made a tsking noise with its non-existent mouth. “Boy, I said one question at a time.”

“I don’t think you’re in the place to make demands here.” Ardan replied slyly. Now that he had something against Halcyon, he was feeling confident.

Halcyon fell silent.

“Do you want your questions answered? Or not. Because I’m happy to do either. In fact, I’ve got many more things to tell you. Many more important things.”

Ardan bit his lip. The staff had made a very good point.

“Fine. I’ll charge you whenever you need to be charged. In return, you tell me what you know. Deal?” He proposed.

“Deal. Now, to answer your questions. You were somewhat hypnotized not by me, but by my body. As you can see on my item window, I’m an A plus plus item. The allure of such a high class weapon is iminent, since your level is so low. I can see, talk and hear due to a rare skill called ‘animate’.”

“I’m glad to see that you two are getting along so well.” Sandria said cheerfully. Throughout this time, she had been observing the two, wondering whether she should interfere. Thankfully, it appeared that she didn’t need to.

“Can I pick you up?” Ardan suddenly asked. “I don’t meet the requirements for equipping you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hold you, right?”

Halcyon let out a loud ‘harrumph’. “Fine. I guess you can. I would suggest you not carelessly swing me around. Not because I can break, but because you may break the things around you.”

Nodding slowly, he sat beside Sandria on the bed, sliding his hands underneath the staff. Instead of touching the handle first, he wrapped his hands around the cool material.

“What are you made out of?” Sandria asked.

“A material called alloid. It’s a mixture of two liquid metals and the hardest substance in the universe, kardiminium.” It said smugly. “It is impossible to break me.”

“Kardiminium. I’ve never heard of it before.” She said skeptically.

“That’s no wonder. You Domhainians are always so ignorant.”

Ardan stopped stroking the staff. “Hang on. Did you just refer to us as ‘Domhainians’?”

“Yes, is that not what you are?”

This time, Sandria spoke up. She saw where Ardan was going with this. “You used to be a person before becoming a staff, right?”

Halcyon replied slowly. “Yes…”

“Let me just straight up ask you. Who were you? Where did you come from? No one refers to each other as Domhainians. There are only elves, humans, dwarves, trolls and goblins.”

“I know. But where I used to come from… I also cannot tell you that. All I can say is that I’m not from around here.”

An awkward pause settled between the three.

“Anyways, can you charge me now? I know I said I’d run out of juice in half an hour, but I get tired. I don’t like feeling tired. All you’ve got to do is stick an adapter into me… Oh wait. Let me rephrase that...”

+ - + - + - +

Halcyon now lay under Ardan’s bed, after much complaining, being charged by a borrowed computer charger cable. Thankfully, he had gone to sleep - if his silent state could be counted as sleeping - and was no longer a nuisance, allowing Ardan and Sandria to discover as much as they could about the inventory by themselves.

Over the course of a few hours, the pair experimented with equipping various items, and had made several discoveries. The first was that Ardan could only equip one ‘tool’ at a time and he had to be able to lift it in one hand. If not, he would get an error message, stating the reason why. The second was that, though clothes counted as armour, they didn’t work like tools. He wasn’t able to call them into his grasp.

Before Ardan knew it, Pat returned home and dinnertime had come. The day was ending. Now, he lay in his soft bed, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn’t sleep. The butterflies had settled in his stomach, making him shift around restlessly. What will happen tomorrow? He was excited to try out other forms of elemental magic, but the thought of being around strangers made him queasy. Today’s strange turn of events had left him feeling out of place and even more confused than before.

All he could do was wait.