With a slight skip in his step, Max looked around Darius’s homey kitchen. Time and care had been put into the heart of the home with homemade wooden cupboards and even more plants. Despite his appearance, Darius really had a green thumb. Dumping the sack with the mayor’s stolen money and leftover cash from Bessie on the kitchen table, Max felt a bit alleviated with his decision making.
Cy’s prompt would be hard to avoid while directly helping with his condition. But there was lots of arguable wriggle room. When Darius had told him to ‘keep his pennies,’ Max had interpreted it as a jab at his past. But now knowing the full situation from Edric’s report, he saw it as a genuine request. Elder Aris decided he wasn’t going to increase his contribution to Cy’s treatments. They needed another sponsor. Max had some spare cash. Judging from Elder Charaka’s history, he was extremely unlikely to cure Cy. But his treatments provided more time for the prompt to change or for Max to think of a better solution.
Reading Cy’s history had been shocking for him at the time, but after digesting the information for a bit and looking through some of the other files, Max calmed down. Niv was lucky to already be dead. On the other hand, he was unlucky to be one of them. Just before Max abandoned the files on the balcony, he wrote a little note for Edric to read: てえ捕→Niv. Once added to the list, it was only a matter of time before one of them would find him in their next lives.
Looking through the pantry, there were stacks of preserved food. The giant sacks of flour suggested they weren’t going hungry anytime soon. Max took some dried fruit out of a glass jar before turning to see Cy looking a little pale by the doorway. “Morning.”
It took a sleepy Cy a moment to realise he talked, before he gave an exaggerated yawn. “Morning… I thought Dad told you to stay out of the kitchen?” Cy stood in front of the kitchen table before noticing the sack in front of him. “Are we going somewhere?”
“He said the cupboards were fine,” Max reminded him. “And why are you assuming ‘we’ are leaving? I only just received permission to stay.”
“Then what’s in- What the fuck?” Cy suddenly snapped out of his sleepy state as he looked at the carved bone resting on the pile of cash in the sack. “What is it with you and magic bones?”
“I used it on Bessie’s farm.” A nifty charm that pointed out ‘Nnitas,’ who weren’t Max. It was the same bone that pointed out Navy’s presence. A little thank you gift to Darius for helping with the application process. Edric might’ve diminished his contribution, but Max was aware of how much he risked by vouching for him. He also felt bad that the desperate father was going to get disappointed that for now Max couldn’t help Cy much. “I figured it would probably get confiscated once they figured out my restrictions, so I’m offering it up freely.”
“What does it do?” Cy closed the sack before using magic to ignite the tortoise stove, which was probably invented by Edric in this world. Max watched the flames. His magic really was stronger here compared to the farm. It must’ve been draining applying his daily spells in Bessie’s dingy living room. Cyrus began to make them tea on the stovetop.
“The bone will point out anyone who’ll make trouble.” Max moved closer to see what type they had. Barely… ugh. “Darius will probably be able to put it to good-”
“BACK THE FUCK AWAY FROM THE STOVE.” Darius made them jump, as he barked at Max while pointing an accusatory finger. Max held up his hands clutching dried fruit to reassure him that he wasn’t doing anything. “Part of the conditions to stay here was to not cook.”
“I’m making us tea.” Cy’s voice was crabby. “You want a cup?”
“That would be lovely, Cyrus.” Darius’s tone and demeanour was suddenly snapped back into playing a proud father, as he casually tossed Max’s offering to the corner of the kitchen. He probably already read Cy and Max’s souls, so it wasn’t a surprise for him. It was a bit sad. Darius could never have a surprise birthday party without considerable effort. “Sit down, boss. We need to go over the conditions.”
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“Sure.” Max couldn’t quite place it, but there was something strange about the atmosphere this morning. Cy seemed to be a bit under the weather, and Darius was a little on edge. Perhaps Darius was being cautious in case Cy had another heart attack?
“We talked after your interview and came up with a bunch of rules. First, you will be allowed to work as Cyrus’s research assistant.” Cy turned to frown at his dad. “This is the only time you are permitted to use magic, and you will need Cyrus’s expressed permission. Any other time is forbidden unless an Elder says otherwise. And Elder Edric and Elder Nova will be paying each of you boys 100 gaeles a month.”
“That’s a lot-”
“And if it’s still not enough money, you can work an additional part-time job, boss. But you’ll need written permission from an Elder, so I’ll write you one this afternoon.” Was this Darius telling him his donation wasn’t enough money? Or will it be for the next treatment? “Second, we will be placing some precautionary spells and curses on you.”
“Curses?”
“This afternoon, Cyrus will take you to Elder Ji-min’s house to sign some documents and receive them. Elder Obi wanted to make it clear that one of the curses will be the desecration of Ellie’s grave if you break our communities’ rules.”
Max struggled to suppress his anger at the suggestion. They couldn’t desecrate her grave. It was in another world. But the idea still made his blood boil.
“Seems harsh,” Cy cut in, as he began dishing out homemade breads for breakfast.
“Do you accept the second condition?”
“I accept it,” Max said with a bitter voice.
“Third, you need to have a face-to-face check-in every twelve hours with Elder Aris. Starting this afternoon at eleven.”
“Are you sure he won’t hide when it’s time?” And get him thrown out for breaking the rules.
“Just make it obvious you’re looking for him. Talk to one of his disciples, like Lux. You know, the kid you humiliated in front of the community?”
“You don’t think Lux would lie about Max asking?” Cy didn’t look happy about this condition.
“I agree,” Max added. The case file he read on Lux had been irritating at best and disgusting at worst. A true scumbag. “Isn’t there someone else?”
“Haiddeck is probably your best bet,” Cy finished setting the table. He barely glanced at Max. “Eat.”
“The cursing kid?” Max wasn’t used to the direct and cold order from Cy, but he didn’t turn down the selection in front of him.
“For now, his mentor is Elder Obi. Elder Aris wants him to switch mentors and join his squad.” So, Haiddeck was an aggressive type user? “His fate is set to switch soon. The only reason why he hasn’t transferred so far is because he wants to study with his sister.”
“You know all that from his fate?” Max asked.
Darius could only see facts but couldn’t know an internal intensions or decisions. But was Cy different? Edric had been diligent about noting the capabilities and methods used by the different magic users within the community. When it came to Darius’s gift of soul-seeing there were several weaknesses. One, Darius could see, but it didn’t mean he always understood. Edric had used languages as an example. Two, Darius didn’t know the internal thoughts of the soul’s owner. Three, the HUD and messages from the system were not visible to him. Four, he could only see from the perspective of the soul’s owner. Five, quantity. It was difficult to know where to look sometimes. Six, crowds were annoying for him. Seven, Darius had a hard time stomaching gore. The list went on with smaller weaknesses and considerations.
The only file lacking in the category about magic use was Cy’s fate magic. Somehow Cy managed to keep most of his ability out of Edric’s prying eyes. There were colours, numbers, letters, and shapes; but how the appeared and what they mean was still a mystery to them.
Cy looked confused. “His fate? No, he told me why when I visited him the day before yesterday. What did you think I was going to do while you were in jail? Go begging to the Elders? Cry?”
Now, it was Max’s turn to be confused. Cy’s behaviour had been strange all morning. “No?”
“Cyrus took the time to pass your little riddle on to his friend.” Darius ran defence. “He was worried about you being kicked out before you could ask.”
“Or executed without an answer.” Cy’s negative demeanour didn’t change. His dad gave him a judgy look.
“Sorry to have worried you.” Max felt tense, as he tore off another piece of bread. “Thanks for doing that.”
Something appeared to click for Darius. “I think Cyrus is feeling a bit guilty for encouraging you to go all out in your magic assessment.” Cy’s face contorted. Max wasn’t sure if Darius’s assumption was right. “But getting arrested helped Max’s case. It made his answers a little more credible.”
Based on how much corruption Max experienced so far, he was sceptical about how much of a difference it actually made.