14. The Dark&Light couple
Louise’s present was undoubtedly a surprise, but I think the biggest surprise was that Ray accepted to give it a try.
“I’ll make it move,” he said.
“Y-You serious?” I faltered, astounded. “Right now?”
“It’s… not like I want to do it, but it’s necessary,” he mumbled. He added: “It will probably take me a long time. I’ll be upstairs. Please, Louise, don’t be too noisy.”
“I won’t!” she said with a solemn face. “Here’s Rainbows. Take care of her.”
She had even given it a name already?
Ray took the cat and disappeared upstairs into his room. Was he really going to revive the animal? At first, I was utterly confused: didn’t he say he didn’t like necromancy? Had his dad been able to pass his weird passion on him? No way. Then why?
I think I began to understand when I brought Ray his dinner and saw him consulting a grimoire with an intent look. Could it be that he was determined to learn how necromancy worked, not to revive corpses but to grasp a better understanding of our necro-bond?
Downstairs, Louise was drawing. Zeeta had just left after making me promise I would tell him if the cat had awakened—the thing is, after hearing Louise babbling on and on about the future games she would play with Rainbows, I think that both of us wanted to see it move.
I heard a cell buzzing. It was Ray’s. His dad was calling him. I was about to take it upstairs when mine buzzed too. Rolling my eyes, I sat on the floor by Louise’s side and took the call.
“Hi, hi, my Lord, what’s up?”
« IS HE REVIVING THE CAT?! » the Lord asked hurriedly. I had to move my cell at least five inches away from my ear.
“He is.”
I heard him chortle then laugh openly.
« My, my, he is! Sand, Sora, Arkill, you hear? He did it! My son did it! »
He sounded like a dad witnessing his child’s first steps. Oh, well…
“The cat’s not moving yet, though.”
« Oh, it’s not like my son can’t do it, » the Lord assured. « Ray’s very capable. He only needed a little push. Once he has started, he won’t back out. »
So the Lord had sent Louise to give him that “little push”. I glanced at the greenish-blue-haired girl focused on her drawing and confirmed: it wasn’t like Louise was aware of anything.
« That’s wonderful, wonderful, » the Lord was saying. « Oh, by the way, Louise is still there, right? »
“She is. She is drawing suns and smiling faces. Oh, and a tree.”
“It’s a hand!” Louise complained, then she drew closer excitedly. “Is it Papa? Papa’s talking on the phone?”
« Dear Louise! » the Lord greeted her affectionately. « Come back home, okay? Armen, can you accompany her? Don’t worry about Ray. He’ll be fine. My bats will immediately tell me if something happens, anyway. When you get there, I have something to tell you. »
Something he wanted to tell me? Was it… about my killer?
The Lord had hung up. Putting her drawings together, Louise handed them to me.
“It’s a present!”
She really liked to gift things, huh. The drawing on the top showed a distorted face with a big smile and a red thing on its head. Could it be…?
“Is that me?”
“Yes! Can you draw me too?”
Was she happy because I was able to recognize myself in that scribble or because I was taking the bunch of sheets off her hands, accepting the gift? I couldn’t help but smile. Louise was weird, but she definitely had her cute side.
“I draw you, and then I bring you home, okay?”
“Okay!”
That took me back to my childhood, when I was but a kid scribbling with my big sis. When I was done, she looked at my drawing then giggled.
“You’re bad at drawing, Alumen!” Hey, wasn’t she being a bit biased there?
“Sorry for that,” I smiled amusedly. “Your hair’s actually even more… spiky, like that, right? And your nose’s smaller—”
“You’re making me ugly!”
“I’m not, I’m not, you’re pretty, look, don’t you think you’re pretty?”
“… Can I have it?”
What? I gave it to her, thinking she was going to rip it, but she didn’t: she looked at it then stood up looking very pleased.
“Alumen, I will never forget what you have done! Now let’s go home!”
Was she gonna save it? I’d rather not ask. Also… what was with that “I will never forget what you have done”? Was that a threat or a thanks? What kind of expressions was the Lord teaching his familiars?
I forgot all of this when Louise gripped my wrists and forced me to my feet without any effort. “Alumen, Alumen”, she was repeating joyfully. I couldn’t believe my eyes. What the hell? Louise had lifted me like I was a feather. Did I imagine it or… was she stronger than me?
After telling her to put her coat on, I went to check on Ray, but on seeing him deeply concentrated, I just wrote a message, then left the house with Louise.
She headed straight to the subway station. So, that probably meant the Lord’s home wasn’t in the Harvard District. Even at this late hour, the wagons were crammed. Was it because of some event? Then, a conversation between a group of teenagers told me there had been a big exposition in the Nyomin District: apparently, the Nyomin Heroes of Farskyer City had made their appearance there. The Nyomin was just one of the numerous wings of the World Government, but in Farskyer City, it was the biggest force. They employed quite a few Heroes to ensure the city’s safety in addition to the governor’s police force. I had seen Heroes in action several times since I had come to Farskyer: when I was fourteen, a guy who could create bubbles without oxygen had put out a crazy fire not far from my place; one year ago, I had seen a group of Heroes trying to secure a boy who had just experimented a quirk and had gone on a rampage, throwing acid needles all over the place. I had been awe-struck by their composure facing the danger. I had never really interested myself in the “Hero culture” though, but I knew that some Heroes were quite famous and that they had wide circles of fans and supporters.
Louise was yawning with her mouth wide open for a while now. No, she wasn’t yawning: she was eating lifeforce. A guy gave her a weird look. She did look stupid, gaping like that. Holding onto a pole, I leaned and whispered in her ear:
“Can’t you breathe normally, Louise?”
She answered without even closing her mouth:
“Ah? Breathe? What’s that?”
Did she not know the word? Then, the train arrived at the next stop, and unaware of the braking, Louise stumbled backwards, hitting my chin. It just itched a bit, but I still checked that my jaw was in its right place. Geez…
“Alumen! My drawing!”
The sheet had flown off Louise’s hands. She looked at me with a face so sad that I immediately started searching for the drawing among all the people.
“There!” Louise pointed at. “It’s getting off!”
She meant the sheet was one half on the wagon, one half on the platform. And it was still moving under the passengers getting off the train. It was too late.
‘Alumen, I will never forget what you have done!’
Louise’s happy words resonated in my mind. I clenched my fists. No, it wasn’t too late yet.
I crouched then fixed my eyes on the sheet and activated my power. I tried to remember the Lord’s teachings. Control the target, control its speed, control its stability… The drawing rose, then somehow flew toward me rather fast, avoiding the people’s legs. Flap. It landed on my face. It worked! I didn’t really know how but… I did it! I grabbed the drawing, stood up, and smiled at Louise’s amazed face, handing it to her.
“If you don’t want to lose it, put it into your pocket. It’s just a drawing though—”
“Alumen!” She embraced me. I think I heard my bones cracking. “Thank you! You’re gorgeous!”
I was… what? Under the teasing looks of some passengers—who probably didn’t follow what happened—I unnecessarily cleared my throat.
“Louise, you’re wrong, gorgeous is not the word.”
“You’re my hero! Alumen, the hero! Heeheehee…”
Where did all that nonsense come from? I wondered.
We got off the train at the next station and had to take the tram heading to Tiergarten District. Wasn’t Zeeta staying at a luxurious house around here?
When we finally arrived, it had begun to snow. In the silent night, I followed Louise through the district’s broad, empty streets fringed by big mansions and large gardens. Tiergarten was actually on a hill bordering Harvard and wasn’t far from Ray’s place, but the trains had made us take a detour.
“Louise, did you come to Ray’s house alone this morning?” I asked.
“Yup! I went on foot because the Lord said I couldn’t get in the subway with the cat. But I like the subway. It smells good, doesn’t it? Way better than meat.”
So the Lord let her wandering around even though she was so young. As Louise was walking backwards, waiting for an answer, I smiled.
“Yeah. It smells quite good.”
I had actually eaten well too. I wondered why, on the first days of my revival, I couldn’t even sense lifeforce. Ray said it was a sort of evolution necessary to all life reapers. Now, breathing in lifeforce was like second nature to me.
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Wait, did Louise just say… “way better than meat”? My eyes followed her dancing pace, intrigued. The way she had said it, it sounded as if she had been eating meat up until not long ago. Could that mean she was one of those ghouls Arkill told me about? Those that had evolved into life reapers? Well, as long as she didn’t eat human meat like in the horror movies…
“It’s here, it’s here!” Louise whispered as if the silence surrounding us was muffling her voice.
She typed a password on a device, and the gate opened. Snow was already blanketing the ground.
“Come, Alumen, quick!”
Louise took my hand and pulled me until we entered. She definitely was strong: I bet she would be able to lift me without breaking a sweat. But how? Was it her awakened power? Louise closed the gate behind us, as quickly as possible. I looked at her worriedly.
“Is there a problem, Louise?”
“Whew… You don’t know? If we don’t close the door, the ghosts will come out.”
“G-Ghosts?” I stuttered. Then, I thought that was probably something the Lord or someone close to her had made up so she would remember to shut the gate. Even so, I couldn’t help but ask: “Have you seen one?”
Louise had begun to climb a path, going up a slope filled with bare-branched trees. She gave me a startled look.
“You never have? You never came here, right! This wood has a lot of ghosts.”
My eyes scanned our surroundings nervously. In that darkness, I could barely see the ground. If something were to pop up…
I suddenly heard a high-pitched voice that sounded like coming from beyond the grave, but it was actually coming from…
“Bara-bara-bara-bara… Bara-bara-bara-bara…”
I frowned at Louise, trembling.
“You scared me!”
A sudden creaking made me jolt. Turning around, I saw a shape moving between the trees. A ghost? A ghost. It was a ghost?! I took Louise’s hand and cried out:
“Run!”
We ran. Louise was laughing. She soon left me behind when a wooden two-story mansion appeared before us. Opening the door, she yelled out:
“Uncle Adrian! Alumen is afraid of your ghosts! Uncle Adrian!”
“Uncle’s in the basement,” a voice said, inside the house. It was the Lord’s. “When his ghosts are outside, it means he’s eating, Louise. Did you forget? Armen, come in, come in. Don’t be scared, you’re among necromancers and undead here.”
That was supposed to be comforting, I guess. I composed myself and entered. The inside was cozier than expected. A large carpet with warm colors covered the living room. In pajamas, the Lord was adding some firewood into a wood-burning stove. Sitting on a long desk, Arkill and a black-haired man were busy writing some repetitive sequence of words. I shut the door. As I took off my shoes and stepped forward, Louise was excitingly showing my drawing to the Lord and telling him about my feat in the subway. I greeted Arkill with a gesture.
“Working at this hour?”
“Updating records. The Lord had some work to catch up on.”
So he was making his familiars do it instead, huh? I turned my attention to his companion… As my eyes met his, they opened wide.
“You are…! Sora?”
He was one of the three Winged Bulls! So… did that mean Sora had been an undead all along? He raised an eyebrow, then just said in a muffled tone:
“That’s surprising.”
“Eh? You know each other?” the Lord asked, sitting down on his armchair.
“That kid was one of the Cheetahs,” Sora answered sparingly.
“The Cheetahs? What’s that?” Louise asked.
“A gang under the Tiger Clan’s influence,” I explained. Seeing Louise tilt her head, I clarified: “A group of friends. It got disbanded in summer.”
“Oh?” The Lord’s eyes sparkled. He picked up a bottle of cyder and poured himself a drink. “How’s my son?”
So, in the end, he totally didn’t care about my past…
“He’s fine.” How many times had I answered that very same question this last week? “He’s working on that cat you sent him.”
The Lord Necromancer laughed.
“Cheers!”
He was the only one drinking. I looked around. There were no skulls, no bones, no skeletons. The kitchen, next to the living room, looked pretty normal. There were no grisly items, nor walking zombies… I was a bit disappointed. Just a bit. On the shelves, there were some encyclopedias, history books, mangas, albums, and classic novels. There were also photos of Ray. Actually, there were too many of them, and of all sorts: a baby Ray grinning with his first tooth, bathing, gripping a woman’s finger… Ray as a toddler was also pretty funny. As a pre-teen too, he looked more formal and stubborn. In one of the pictures, he was holding a trophy. I read: «2012 — chess regional championship». Wow. Ray had never told me he had participated in a chess competition. I understood now why he was so good at it.
When I met the Lord’s proud eyes, I coughed.
“So you wanted to talk to me about something?”
“Oh, yes, yes. Sit down and listen.”
The Lord didn’t make it a real order, but I sat down on the sofa anyway and looked at him intently. He spoke.
“There are two things I wanted to tell you. One is troublesome and is related to your studies, the other one’s the address of your killer, Laith Tessen.”
I didn’t know whether I should be excited by the news or scared. Actually, I was neither excited nor scared. Pleased, in a way, that the Lord had taken my request seriously; but I also was bothered by an urgent question: what did I have to do to my killer now that I knew where to find him?
“What’s that about my studies?” I asked, putting aside those thoughts for later.
The Lord was fiddling with his glass.
“The thing is, the other day Ray received a letter from the Nyomin College saying that he had applied to the Experimental Program for the Heroes of Tomorrow, the EPHT, or something like that, and he had been accepted. He is first ranked in his school, right? I’m proud of him, but having good grades is not necessarily a good thing.”
I blinked, confused. Ray was being to be admitted in an experimental group of students created by the Nyomin?
“He… really applied?” I said.
“Apparently. If I had to guess, Lizzie made him promise he would do it.”
“Lizzie?”
“Her mom. She’s a Hero from the Nyomin. The Lightning Veil. You heard of her?”
I shook my head. I had spent my early childhood in a lighthouse, cut off from the world. I wasn’t familiarized with the Nyomin Heroes’ names. I only knew the most famous ones and the ones that appeared in the video games.
More importantly… the Lord Necromancer had got married to a Nyomin Hero? Did Lizzie know what kind of family his husband was from? Or did she get divorced precisely because she found out? Did she even know?
“The fact that Ray enters the Nyomin is not a problem in itself,” the Lord went on. “The link between Art Styxer and the Lord Necromancer is still well hidden. But Ray studying in that special group will mean that you will be in a very delicate situation. You may not know this, but a necro-bond is like a plant: it withers if not watered. The longer an undead is away from his master, the weaker the necro-bond will get. The more experimented are both the necromancer and the undead, the more it will last, but… Ray is still learning. If the necro-bond gets cut, you die, and for good: your soul won’t stand another resurrection.”
I shuddered. The Lord added:
“So, about that program, Ray will probably back off now that he has you, but that means he won’t keep his promise with his mom, which is troublesome: Lizzie will get upset, if not even suspicious. Therefore, it would be bad if Ray decided not to go. The program will last for two months, starting from mid-January, and will take place in a Nyomin training ground. The students can’t bring other people along, so that means that you will have to prove yourself and enter that program. In January, there will be an examination for young people that want to be part of that program and couldn’t get accepted in their first attempt or didn’t apply in time. That will be your chance.”
I was dumbfounded. The Lord wanted me to enter a group of talented students in the Nyomin? Only the cracking firewood was breaking the silence of the room. I lowered my eyes… then looked up at the Lord and decided to be honest:
“I don’t want Ray to back off because of me, and if I could be studying with him during those two months, that would be really nice, but… I can’t. I’m not talented. My grades are bad.”
“How bad?”
“Well… In the mock exams, my better grade was thirty-seven out of 100. Out of the two hundred forty second-year students, I’m ranked 222nd.”
I heard a snort and turned at the two desk workers. Sora’s face was as gloomy as usual. Arkill raised a hand.
“Sorry, you just sounded proud of it for a moment…”
There was no way I could be proud of having bad grades, right? Well… I guess that, as time passed, I had just got used to it. The Lord then said:
“That’s worse than I expected. But you still have hope.”
At first, his words just sounded hollow… but then I saw his confident expression, and I understood something: the Lord Necromancer was determined to make me go with Ray to this training ground. That… made me feel bad for having given up that easily. However, I smiled doubtfully at him.
“Do you have some kind of necro-potion to make someone smart, my Lord?”
“What are you saying? You don’t need to be smart. The Nyomin people are most likely searching for new talents through new experimental means: that’s why I’m sure they won’t base their assessment only on school grades. Do you know what that means? You will enter thanks to your telekinesis power!”
I gaped at him. What? He went on:
“As soon as I saw your power yesterday, I made up my mind. Telekinesis is not that uncommon, but as an undead, you have a huge advantage: you don’t need to blink. As long as you have deathforce, you can move an object without interruption. That’s some amazing potential.”
“Heh… You’re right,” I conceded, somewhat flattered. “So?”
He pointed out:
“But, if you show that to the Nyomin people, they will get suspicious as to why you don’t need to blink. So make sure you remember to act normal.”
I looked at him with curiosity.
“Okay. But, in that case, what will make me stand out during the examination?”
“Your talent, of course!”
There was a silence. Then I turned to Louise, standing there as if she was trying to understand the conversation, and I gave her a warm smile, saying:
“Your Papa is amazing, Louise. He says I have talent.”
“You…!” the Lord snorted. He stood up and loomed over me. “Talent is not something you have or you don’t have: it’s something you build.” As he took my chin between his fingers, his eyes gleamed. “Work hard and become a telekinetic master.”
Lightning flashed through my mind. He had just… given me an order. Seriously? That crazy Lord Necromancer in pajamas wanted me to become a teek master in one month? His green eyes were piercing me like daggers. I flinched, then the Lord stepped away.
“I bet a finger that you’ll pass that examination, so don’t fail me.”
What kind of sacrifice was that? I passed a nervous hand on my red knit cap as I stood up.
“I’ll do my best. But… since Arkill and Sora are more experienced than I am, are you going to send them too to stalk your son?”
“Who’s stalking my son?!” the Lord barked under his breath. I recoiled and he shrugged. “Of course, I’d be more at ease if I sent Arkill or Sora. Plus, they can stand two months away from me. The only problem is, Lizzie…” A soft smile appeared on his lips then faded as he went on: “Lizzie is one of the organizers, and she may have seen Arkill. Sending him with Ray would just be problematic. As for Sora, he’s only ten years old…” My astounded eyes turned at the pale, reserved guy that was still working at the desk. Ten years old?! “Besides, Armen, you’re my son’s best friend: I think Ray will only accept to bring an undead along if it’s you. Everything will be fine as long as you work hard and persuade him to take part in that program… You two may even learn some useful stuff over there.”
“Yeah…” I hesitated. I really didn’t want Ray to give up on such an opportunity just for my sake, so… there was no other way. Still… “What if they find out I am an undead?”
The Lord Necromancer had poured himself another drink. He chuckled.
“Who in his right mind would send an undead to a training made for the Nyomin Union’s future generation?” He had just admitted he wasn’t in his right mind… He raised a forefinger. “Besides, I will teach you some tricks. After one month, you’ll be able to absorb greater amounts of lifeforce. Hopefully, you will also learn how to make your heart beat for some seconds, even some minutes, or heat your skin, or feel physical contact with your hands for a moment…” He smirked. “You won’t get caught.”
He was so confident and his words were so inspiring that I was strongly tempted to believe him. It was likely that the Lord Necromancer knew of a way to nurture the bond between Ray and me, but… I didn’t ask him about it, for various reasons: I wanted to be by Ray’s side, I wanted to see if I could get in the Nyomin with my powers, I wanted the Lord to teach me how to make my heart beat… I was looking forward to all of this.
I grinned happily.
“I’ll make sure Ray will go to that experimental program. Oh, but can you remove that command you gave just now? Ray wouldn’t like that. I’ll do it myself.”
The Lord Necromancer looked at me thoughtfully, then gave a satisfied nod.
“You’re a friend of my son indeed. I’ve removed the command.”
Did he? I felt nothing. I guess I could only believe him. The Lord savored his cyder then let out:
“Number 41, 5B, Brokenlight Street, Old Docks.”
I jerked up a bit. That was my killer’s address. The street was in the south part of my district. I faltered… then smiled.
“Thanks.” I walked to the door, saying: “Then, I’ll be in my way.”
“He’s skilled. Do you think you can handle him?”
I paused, then put on my shoes as I replied:
“Sorry, but that’s none of your concern. Good evening, my Lord, good evening, Arkill, and Sora. That was quite a surprise. It was nice to meet you today, Louise.” I patted her head.
“I want to play with you tomorrow!” Louise said, embracing my arm. “Can I go to Ray’s home tomorrow?”
“Heh… You can come any time,” I assured, opening the door. “Well, then…”
I hesitated, then the Lord said calmly raising his glass:
“Good evening, Armen. Take good care of that human trash.”
My face darkened when I whispered:
“I will.”
* * *
Armen had just left when the Lord Necromancer, still sitting in his armchair, said nonchalantly:
“Apparently, that Laith has an empathic power and can detect lies to some extent. I’ve been told he went crazy because of this ability. That’s something a philosopher would like to understand… What is so painful? The lies, the truth, or the fact of not being able to delude oneself?”
The firewood cracked in the stove, then:
“Arkill. Follow our newbie discreetly and make sure he comes back in one piece, will you?”
The red-haired looked at his Lord in pajamas and stood up without a word.
“Oh… And now that you’re at it, take care of the guy who’s been following him this whole time.”
Arkill imperceptibly raised an eyebrow. Someone was following Armen?
He went out, crossed the small wood, shut the mansion’s gate behind him, then headed to the tram station. As he walked, he perceived the presence of a man sneaking behind Armen’s distant silhouette. Arkill tensed up. Could it be a spy? An enemy from the Nyomin? A tail from the VP?
Then his eyes caught a better glimpse of the man’s gait, and he frowned.
What was that guy doing here?