The cafeteria is a gigantic hall, people of all ages passing through to get their food, and while it was a bit early for dinner, that did not stop me from ordering the XXL menu, while Shade took the normal one.
„How come this stuff is free? I always thought this district would be the most expensive.“
I asked, my new friend answering, a glint of curiosity visible in her eyes, a mirror of my confusion that promises answers, and so many more questions.
“Well, everyone here has a job to the others, we protect the city and the palace against any serious intruders. We have guys that help the people out there and everything. For those services, every one of the houses is paid, and because the university is officially its own house, a helpful organization, and essentially has the entire Kingdom in a choke hold, they get paid a lot for existing, and their existence is the primary reason nobody attacks us, as it would need quite the force to dispose of the great nine.” My mouth opened for further questions, as she pressed a finger against her lips, telling me to shut up. “No follow-up questions, first, it’s my turn. So, Mr. ‘I control four elements, have a retinue of undead and teleport on a whim’ what in the hell's is going on with you? I’d assume you took a demons deal, but they would not choose someone who is this obviously suspicious.” Her questioning gaze almost made me squirm, the way it pierced just below the skin, watching my every muscle twitch, probably sensing whether I was telling the truth.
“I am partially the same species as the demon lord, an up-and-coming member of the undying court, a junior member of some organization that was made responsible for the last calamity, and also favored by the gods.” My explanation was simple, and the way her brows twitched, her skill hoping to detect any falsehoods, until she finally laughed.
“Okay, you are either a fucking monster, or favored by the gods. If you were the monster you described in the first part, wouldn’t you be driven to destroy the world and free your, I don’t know, brother? And if you were favored, you would be a hero under the churches care, and not a mage.” My grin almost split my face as she tried to find a third option.
“Sorry, no follow-up questions, those are the rules for this little game, right? If you want absolute truth, you’ll have to swear on Ragnar to not share anything I tell you today, I will obviously do the same, but some of those questions are pretty important. Well, my question is what noble house you are connected to.” A small grin spread on her face, barely visible under the perpetually neutral gaze.
“You are too curious. Let’s make a deal to not tell anyone the others secrets. That’s kind of necessary for what I’m going to say.”
Quickly, I put a slate of stone on the table, scribbling sygils inside, before cutting her and my finger.
It was a contract of truth and trust, one I had worked on in my recent boredom.
“Sorry for the blood, but I don’t think asking for your real name would be appropriate, I am a sygil crafter, after all, and also connected to demons, if we are that exact.” She nodded, leaning a bit back as she tried to say something, only for a bit of pain to shoot up in her head, while I knew she wanted to lie.
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“I had a clause about not lying in there, and one that generates a field of silence around us, so no one can listen in on accident while the contract members are nearby, I can close it if you want.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I’ll tell the truth, don’t worry. I am part of the Dawn house, we end houses and people the king doesn’t like, and we work with the cities criminal department to get access to information and goods no one else has available to them.” She explained, my follow-up question stopped by her. “So, why are you related to the demon king? Isn’t that creature still dead or something?” She asked, prompting a laugh from me.
“It is dismembered and powers our entire magic system, without it, sygils would be the only way to cast, I simply ate a part of one of its tentacles once, and those of another member of its species. I am also one third undead, so there is that.” She did her best to find a lie in this line of questioning, until she simply turned silent and focused on her food.
“That’s enough mad rambling for a day, even if it’s true, what do you want to do about it? Because you seem the guy that quite enjoys magic, and eating things.” my silent grin was answer enough, though I didn’t ask another question to not give her food for thought.
“Just know that my path will lead to many people dying, a new world order, and hopefully my own exit from this realm. There are much more beautiful realities out there.” She shook her head, carefully eating while I wolfed down the steak and potato equivalent, my body regenerating a bit from this food.
The remainder of this was quite silent, until we were both done.
As we brought our plates to the cleaning station, we decided to disperse, my own path taking me to my room. Tomorrow would be the first classes in Aqua and spatium, and one of those professors had it in his mind that I was somehow dangerous.
Curiously, I began watching my own soul, my entire body had almost nothing unusual except for a weird feeling in my abdomen, my core remained unchanged, my body did not consider this intrusion dangerous, and as I searched through a collection of memories, I finally found a small, somewhat possible answer.
“Love? My body is four years younger than her, my mind a millennium older. This is ridiculous, and such an obvious weakness. I told her too much, I’m just lucky she signed that contract. I’ll have to be careful, or lock myself away for the next four to ten years. I am eternal, possibly immortal, this is not going to go away.” For the next hour, I tried to cast any possible self cleansing spell, but it was impossible, my emotions towards her volatile, even overwrite did nothing.
As I approached my bed, seven shriveled corpses standing guard between me and the door, I quickly got ready to sleep, jumping into the bed and desperately hugging the blanked.
“I need to eat a psychopath to get rid of this emotion, maybe eat her so she cannot die. I could age myself, though that would require the death of many people.” I tried to quell this turmoil by meditating, only for every romance my past lives ever experienced to pass through me, most ending in tragedy, betrayal or some other form of catastrophe. In the best case, she would die before me, leaving me to feel hollow for my entire endless lifespan, an emptiness my past existences had often filled with some form of genocide, everything from exterminating the goblins I had created for an endless supply of soul power to the actual extermination of every species not in total devotion. Romance was a catalyst that would leave the world in cinders.
As I began to drift into sleep, my thoughts went to my friends, their loyalty the only type of love I needed. Romance is for those who can afford to show weakness, for those who can control themselves in an emotional turmoil. Sure, I thought I would be better, but each of my past lives would have thought the same, thinking themselves better than those who came before, and while my pride and determination were almost unending, this was my chance at eternal life. If I were to die, the gods would probably destroy my soul and make sure to craft hundreds of other souls from it. I was not another bowling ball in this worlds eternal loop, send to smash a couple of pins only to return as future ammunition.
Romance was a danger to me, and while I could not stop the way I felt about shade, I could lock this emotion away until I had the time and maturity to deal with it. Emotions are annoying, but they existed for a reason, without them, Life would be even more torturous than it already was.
Finally, I partially dissolved into the strands of reality, the connections much simpler than the emotional mess that were most people.
“I am going to be fine.” I told myself, and while forcing that thought to play on loop, I finally slept.