-4 days later-
[Secondary Skill: Reward | Type: Demonic/Lexicon ]
Rarity: Ancient
Desc: Not many are brave enough to request a reward from the Demon Emperor himself. Nor do many have the sheer audacity to do so. Most consider surviving a meeting with him their reward. You’re a living miracle, in more ways than one.
Kudos to you for finally getting A########### to do something for a change, I guess.
Abilities:
Polyhistor of Daemons – A genius scholar of the Great Beings.
* Due to the User’s expertise in a multitude of areas regarding the Great Beings, this has amplified the skill to grant them the ability to understand Ancient Daemon traces and sigils.
Demonologist of the P̸̨̬̗͕͉̣̺̞̝̟͚͓͎̲̔̾̈́̃̔̎̓͛͂̊ŗ̷̨̡̱̼͇̦̱̟̘̖̗̺̼̅̀͆͌͂͂͆͗͠͠1̸͓̖̩̞̘̪̝͉͇̭̝̞̀m̸̧̧̺͎͉̺̼͈̠̺͙̣̠̋̇̑0̷̡͖̦̯̱̺̐̒̾̚̕͜͜G̸̡̙̺͎̺̪̘̪̹̫̥̥̝̼̎̆̈̾̌̄̉͋͘͝3̸̢̢̫̱͍̫̰̮͎͍̼̥̿̉͜͜N̶̢̲̹̝͇̜͔͍̈́̏̏̓̈́̊̿͛̄̑̾͒̕ͅ1̸̹͎͇̫̭͇̻̗̮̤̑͊͂͗+̸̨̃̓̎̉̆͘̚Ø̵̢̰̬̠̙͚̲̠̗̗̎̏̽r̴̩̞̘̮̫͕̊̀͜ͅ - Sorry. Can’t let you see that.
* Grants the User the ability to use memorised characters of the demonic script to cast demonic spells. User cannot verbally speak demonic spells but may use other mediums.
* User may further their capabilities as their comprehension of demonic script grows.
[ ]
In the training hall, Lucy crossed her arms, pondering over her new skill. She stretched out a hand in preparation to cast her first demonic spell and-
“So, what spell are you going to cast first? Tell me!” Scytale eagerly interrupted. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor.
“You are supposed to be hauling clipped leaves to the western entrance for disposable,” Lucy replied without looking at her bond.
“Fat chance.” Scytale gestured to her. “Have some enthusiasm outside of your dumb ‘academic’ curiosity! You might just be the very first non-demon to cast demonic spells! And I’m not talking about witches or warlocks here.”
She sighed. “Just… don’t tell the others. I deal with enough of Annaliese’s curiosity, let alone the two magic addicts under my roof.”
“Not including yourself?” he asked cheekily.
She gave him a pointed glare before shaking her head. Lucille refocused on her skill. “I’m about to begin. Don’t blink or else you’ll miss it.”
Scytale nodded and watched intently. As this was her first time casting a demonic spell, she put most of her focus into activating the skill itself so she knew what to do. Lucy summoned the characters of a weak demonic spell she knew to mind, and infused her mana into the skill. She waited expectantly.
Nothing happened.
“Uh… now, I’m pretty sure I never blinked that whole time!” Scytale said. “Is that it?! What did it even do?!”
“Curious.” Lucille looked at her left palm where the mark of her pact with the Demon Emperor was glowing ominously. “I had thought that this pact may enable me to cast the spells due to the demonic power present in here, but I assumed incorrectly. In fact, it didn’t even register as demonic power to the skill.” She took the glove tucked into her belt and pulled it on to hide the mark. “I suppose that the demonic power of the Demon Emperor is just on another level compared to normal demons. It doesn’t even count as the same energy.”
Scytale clicked his tongue. “Did the Demon Emperor scam you or something? The skill is useless now! Until you merge it with your Essential Transmutational Conduit and redirect demonic magic I guess…”
“I never intended to use the skill separately in the first place. I always only ever wanted it for my Primary Skill. But…” The malevolent black dagger she always kept on her person was taken out. Lucy held up Apophis, and the ornament snakes its way around her wrist to face her on eye-level. “What do you think? Would you like to test it?”
Want.
His ornament’s ruby eyes glowed.
“If you agree, then…” Lucille pointed him at the opposing wall of the training hall. “This feels like a ridiculous skill name to say out loud, but Reward!”
A beam of roiling red energy blast out from the curved dagger and shattered against the wall. Lucy stumbled back from the reflected shock of the impact and quickly cut the mana off from Apophis. “That’s enough!”
Apophis’s demonic power quietened, but not before a furious ball of black-tipped blood red flames expanded from the wall, blanketing the surrounding stone in flame-shaped burn marks. Lucy could feel that her skin had become clammy from the sudden lack of mana, as if she had overexerted herself without eating anything for a few hours. She put away the dagger and turned away from the wall.
“I don’t want to think of how I’ll explain the demonic power in the burn marks when Vincent inevitably comes to investigate,” she remarked. She sat down next to Scytale and pulled out her Status… and that of Apophis.
[Status: ]
Name: Lucille Goldcroft (Lvl. 8̴̩̋9̶͔̟̠̈̒̀)
Age: 18y
Race: Human
HP: 52800/52800 {+229/1m}
MP: 1/18850 {+2200/1m}
Stats:
Free Stat Points: 409
[Bonuses: +704 CON, +129 STR, +122 INT, +65 WIS]
STR: &̸̧̨̖̦̩̖̥̪̅͑7̵̛͍̂̅̽̐̽́̄͠2̸̧̱̲͓̭̎̎̀̀̔̔ (352)(+704) SPRT: 7000
CON: _̷͕̫̦̟̖͓̳͈͊̌̋̏͋̍̀͋̃2̸̣̼͗͒̕&̵̢̛͚̘̖͎̣̰̗͊̀̓̎̈́̊́̉̏̅7̴̡̢̻͇͎̼̦̈́ (516)(+129) MENT:65
AGI: *̴̦̺̫̳̼̳́̍̈́̆̃̈́̀̔̈́͋̚͝2̶̢̼̬͖̰̭͕̬̥́̄̊̓̓̃̚)̸̛̩̩̃͂̑̀̀̒̓͗̈9̶̪͎̬̤̦̹̟̒͛͊͋͊́́̋͌̏̓͑̕̚ (277) CHAR: 5̶̡̛̼͇̪̩͈̝͉͍̮̠̏͜^̷̨̢̣̰̖̟̮̘͇̀̎̎̎͐̀̀̆͗̇̋͝͠7̶̨̼͍́̈́̽̈́̄̎͆̈́͊̂̽̒̊͝ͅ
DEX: 1̶̛̹͕̬͇̰͖͍́͋̿̋̇̉̄́̉̏͒͛̒̉̈́́́̀́̈́̄̚͘͝ͅ5̷̨̟͕̫̙̖̼̣̯͙̯͇͖̻̦̣̙̼͔̟̩̝̻̘̇͗͆̽͒̀́̿̈́͜!̵̛͍̥̯̙̲̀̒̾̀̌̋̐͑̕͘̚͝͠͠͠3̶̧̢̣͉͙͚̣̝̪̮͍͇̣̮̪̮͈̭̖̳̈́̏͂̉̓͋̌̆̆ (202) CHP: -̴̨͓͔̗̥̤̞̗̠̜͇̦͈̖́̀̂́͐̈́̇́̑̀̎́̉͌̈́̓̉̕͘͠
INT: 3̶̹͇̏̈́̄̄̒͛@̵̳͚̣̀̌̓͋͌̏͒̚2̴̧̬̜̦̤̞͔͊͒̃̌̅̕ͅ9̶̛̣̗̬̱̜̿̀̀̐ (255)(+122) HRP: -̴̨͓͔̗̥̤̞̗́̀̂́͐̈́̇́̑̀̎́̉͌̈́̓̉̕͘͠
WIS: N̵̛̙͖̄̉̓̋́̋̅̌̄̔̓͊͋̀͐̿̌̂̐̋͘̚3̴̡̡̡̛͎̠̹̖̰̥̳̘͇̯̾̄̇͊̾̍͛͗͊͑̈́̀̀̚̚͘͠͠$̷̨͚̰̖̜̥̝͈̲̥̆̀̀̐͊̑̎̎̈́̀̅͗̕͘̕͜ͅͅ8̸͕̗̯̫͕͕̪̠̓̾ (155)(+65)
[Origin Skill: Simulacrum Realm | Type: System/Spiritual/Realm
Desc: [Collapsed]
Subskills: [Collapsed]
Awakening: 100%. ]
Skills:
Primary Skills:
[Alter-Ego]
[Essence Transmutation Conduit]
Secondary Skills:
[Mark of the Primordial Demon ]
[Energy Anomaly Automated Indication ]
[Elemental Integrity Verification]
[Environmental Analysis Var. 3]
[Chaotic Usurpation Perspective]
[Codex of Reminiscence]
[Memory Transubstantiate]
[Prodigious Archmage’s First Steps]
[Gemstone Processor – Spell Imbuement]
[Soul Cipher Orchestrator of Affray – Histrionic Dramatourgos]
[Reward]
Tertiary Skills:
[Energy Field Detection]
[]
As her Status got invariably more complex, with the Aspect Enhancements on top, the System reverted her Status to its original every time she applied a new stack to her Aspects. It was likely some confluence between the Influence of the Casket of Boons and the System interacting, but it was more effort than it was worth reimplementing her modifications. Lucy was considering leaving the changes the next time it happened… but not yet.
Just over 450 stats of her Status came from the food she had consumed, but in total her Status was still under less than half of the maximum for a Rank-1, which was 4920 including Aspect multipliers. That was not the case for the other Ranks. Because Rank-1 consisted of levels 11-199, it was close to two hundred levels worth of stats in one Rank.
It made it very clear to her though that while she wanted her CON to be high, it was far ahead of the others. That wasn’t intentional. It was because the stats she had obtained from the Dusky Undercroft Dungeon of Synadis were all CON-adjacent due to the minerals and metals the monsters used in their bodies. And while she had worked hard on her Codex of Reminiscence to gain more INT and WIS…
The amount of mana it took to cast the small demonic spell was horrendous. And one look at Apophis’s Status showed it didn’t even take just her own mana.
[Status: ]
Name: The Serpent’s Fang: Apophis (Lvl. 68)
Race: Demonic Weapon
Rarity: Forbidden - Epic (Evolvable)
MP: 1/2140
Stats:
ATK: 2340
MATK: 780
SATK: 780
CHP: 1
Skills:
* Burning Blood-Feud
* Twin Souls: Chaos
[ ]
Compared to her own mana, it wasn’t much, but considering a living weapon sustained its life on the energies of its soul and mana, it was a massive drain on Apophis. The light of the blade’s demonic aura glowed dimly.
She put him down and sighed. “I will definitely not be able to cast demonic spells whenever I want. While an invaluable skill… it’s not practical. Not unless you’re an Archmage.”
Lucille studied the burn marks in the distance. “Although… I never intended for it to be that big. I wanted to cast a spell roughly the strength of an intermediate fireball. The power I intended was amplified by ten times.”
She looked down at Apophis. “It seems your skill name of ‘Burning Blood-Feud’ meant more than I originally supposed. You seem to have an aptitude for flame-related demonic abilities.”
Scytale whistled and picked the curved dagger up. “Does this mean we know what kind of ability you’re going to get when you next evolve?”
“Quite possibly we do. But in hindsight, maybe we should’ve expected this.” She pointed at the black sun insignia engraved on the diamond-shaped ruby on Apophis’s pommel. “A ‘sun’ is one of the first things that come to mind when heat and light are mentioned. Going by their contrasting qualities too…” Lucy hummed as she looked at Ouroboros. “I’d say Ouroboros has qualities of water. The moon and water are frequently linked.”
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“Guess you’ll need to talk to Count Chavaret about how to evolve them,” Scytale said, resting his chin on his hand. “When was it that you would be going to the Chavaret place? January?”
“Yes, then.” She stood up and stretched. “We only have two months left in the year, however, so it’s not that far away.”
“You have the end of year Banquet thing to prepare for though.” Her bond put his hands behind his head and laid on his back. “That’ll keep you busy.”
“Hm? Oh, no.” Lucille shook her head. “I don’t plan to go to the Banquet this year. With the involvement of the Heavenly Realm and my strong suspicions that all of this has something to do with Sect Leader Leng Xiuying mean it won’t be for the best to go there this time. I don’t want the truth of my relationship with the Counties being leaked just yet. Ideally, it’d only start leaking a little before the Millennium Chapter.”
“Well, currently you have the Prodigious Archmage’s First Steps, which allows you to mimic monster and bloodline magic,” Scytale counted. “And now you have this dumb sounding ‘Reward’ skill for demonic spells. That means you have death mana and spirit magic to learn now, right?”
Scytale pointed at her. “Do we get to spend November hunting for the perfect spirit magic on Glenheim? It might be nice to finish of the year that way. Get some levelling in too. Isn’t there a Legendary Dungeon on that plane?”
“A Legendary Dungeon might be too much, but…” Lucy started walking towards the exit. “I’ll think about it. As long as nothing goes wrong this month.”
The humanoid snake stood up and walked up to her. “There’s another reason why I’m mentioning Glenheim though, Lucy,” he added in a low voice. “The Spring Queen releases some of the Dew of Lake Daiana within the next six months. I thought you might like to buy it for… you know, him.”
Lucy paused when she heard the name of the substance that passively purified monster essence around the individual and was used to make potent protective amulets. It was a substance given to the Eternal Empire by Glenheim as their yearly tribute. Very rarely was the dew given out to anyone who wasn’t a royal. Even the Duchies needed to buy it from the Eterial royal family.
She turned to stare at him. “I’m impressed you remembered that information from the past, Scytale.”
He scratched his neck. “I… well, uh, didn’t. It was something I heard being discussed at the debut a few months back. I just thought you might like to know about it… this time.”
Lucille pondered it. “As he grows stronger, the amulet would lose its effectiveness, which makes it less beneficial as his symptoms grow stronger with his power. It would be better if it could be combined with another purifying substance…”
“Purifying substances? The most famous one I know of is in the Sanctum of Purity, but I assume you would’ve considered that.” Vincent, who had just found them, glanced between them. “Did either of you hear a strange sound, like a fireball exploding? I was coming over here to investigate.” He noticed that the door of the training hall was only a few metres away and narrowed his eyes. “Was it you two?”
They looked at each other and shook their heads in sync. “Nope,” the replied.
“…really?” Vincent still looked suspicious, but shrugged. “I suppose if both of you aren’t admitting to it, then you must be telling the truth. It may have just been Marellen again.”
“Yeah, definitely Marellen,” Scytale said, snickering.
Lucy rolled her eyes and walked off with the two behind her.
“Anyway, I was searching for you both because Annaliese wishes to say her goodbyes,” Vincent informed them, passing the binder he had in one hand to a nearby servant.
“I know. We’re heading there now,” Lucy said. They took a lift and walked until they found themselves in one of the side entrances, where Raegan, Annaliese and Sir Albrecht were. Marellen’s party and the unwilling Sedric had been hauled along, as well as Hargrave. The ex-mercenary was stubbornly pretending not to hear the Prophetess’s pleas to show her his wings again.
“You took your sweet time,” Raegan snarked.
“You say that as if you’re unhappy, but I know you just don’t want to admit you’d rather be here than at the estate, so you’re perfectly fine with staying here a few more minutes,” Lucy stated flatly. The boy shut his mouth and looked away.
“Lucy!” Annaliese pouted. “Tell Jasten he’s being mean! He’s not letting us stay here longer!”
“My job would be on the line if I did that, Prophetess Verdon,” Sir Albrecht replied wearily.
The girl jabbed a finger at him. “It’s Annaliese!”
“Miss Verdon, are you still having this argument with your guarding Paladin?” Vincent commented with bemusement.
She scowled at the aide. “Yes, because I’m in the right! Speaking of which… Vincent! Stop calling me Miss Verdon!”
Vincent looked away. “I couldn’t possibly-”
“Do you want me to start revealing everything you’ve told me about Lucy to her?” Annaliese asked smugly.
Lucy stared at her, then at her aide. “Excuse me? What’s this about me?”
“…I feel honoured to be close enough to call you by your first name, Annaliese,” Vincent replied, looking defeated.
Annaliese nodded, proud of herself. She ran up to Lucille. “It’s time to say goodbye again.” She spread her arms.
Lucy eyed her with distaste. “No.”
“Awww. Aren’t we friends?”
“The matter of our relationship has nothing to do with my dislike of physical affection. As such, goodbye Annaliese and please be off-” Lucille’s expression twitched when the girl hugged her regardless and she extracted herself from the girl’s grip. “Get off!”
When Annaliese finally let go she gave them a cheery wave and left as swiftly as she had arrived. Lucy gazed dully after them until they were out of the view, then she whirled around to give her aide a bright smile. “What’s this about telling Annaliese about me, Vincent?”
Vincent gazed at her with a bitter smile, as if seeing his work life about to get much worse.
…
“So you really never told her to give me hugs or anything remotely similar?” Lucy asked suspiciously. They were in her living room.
Vincent quickly shook his head. “No, never. It seems to be something she decided upon herself. The fact you never seem to outwardly flinch or be repulsed by the show of affection probably doesn’t help that fact though.”
She pinched her nose bridge. Vincent went silent for a moment until he held his chin and tilted his head. “Pardon me for asking if this is too personal, but are you averse to touch? I never took you for a hugger, but surely you could avoid it if it bothered you that much.”
‘I’m not… exactly averse to it.” Lucy looked at her hands. “I don’t gain the same emotional response from it as others do.” She gained a wry smile. “It probably doesn’t help that the last time I was hugged by someone would’ve been 162 years ago. It wasn’t… an entirely enjoyable experience.”
“Not enjoyable?” Vincent asked, quirking an eyebrow.
“Yes, well, when a grown man is sobbing while clinging to you it’s not fun,” Lucy replied flatly. “Not when you know you’re the reason for him acting like that, anyway.”
Vincent gained a strange expression. “Who in the realms?”
“Who?” She glanced at him. “My former Vice Admiral.” She turned away to shrug off her suit jacket and take off the two sheaths on her belt. “He’s a demi-Atlantean. That is why I was discussing purifying substances with Scytale earlier. By the way, I hadn’t actually considered the Sanctum of Purity in Atlantea yet, so take credit for the suggestion,” she pointed out. “While I try, I can’t possibly consider something from every angle.”
But Vincent didn’t look like he had heard the last part. He was busy counting something. “You were… 88. Didn’t you say you quit the Navy at 40? What happened?” He paused as he saw her expressionless face. “You don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine.” She shook her head and sat down on the couch. “It’s ancient history, and history that won’t ever come to pass again anyway. All things considered, it had ended on a surprisingly positive note.” Lucille looked up at the roof. “You’re aware that my unique magic is to create illusory monsters, correct? As a demi-Atlantean, he has adverse effects to any and all monsters. Events forced us to stick beside each other, but we started out from the wrong foot to begin with.”
Lucy twirled a finger with an air of casual indifference. “You may not know this, but I was very famous on my home world. I’d like to say that at least 70% of the population had heard of me. There were other people from my world in the Navy, and I didn’t want any of them to learn I was in any way connected to their world. So, I put up a mask.”
She crossed her arms. “If I had perfected my mask a bit better, than maybe the relationship between me and my Vice Capt- my Vice Admiral might’ve remained strictly professional. As it was, I couldn’t hide the fact I felt responsible for him, and his sensitivity to the emotions of others meant he could see I was hiding a lot more turmoil and fear behind my cold mask.” Lucy sighed. “Then it all came crashing down as the rest of my crew, including the people from my home world, began to place more trust in me. I was their leader, but I had to remain distant from all the people I had learnt to care about for fear they’d discover more about me than I wanted them to know.”
She looked away and rested her chin on her hand. “Skip a few years after a disaster in my fifteenth year of the Navy, one that involved a great loss of lives, and when I quit my job as Admiral my Vice Admiral had to quit along with me, as was the custom. Instead of keeping in contact with him and the remaining crew, I retreated far from the Distorted Depths and joined the Athenaeum Academy as a professor. Unfortunately, when… someone… from my past came to find me again, I decided to fake my death.”
Vincent remained completely silent. Scytale had snuck into the room at one point, but when he heard them he quietly by passed them and entered the kitchen.
Lucy clasped her hands together. “News got back to my former Vice Admiral before I could address the issue. In the wake of everything that had transpired, he blamed himself and thought that it was his job to keep us all together.” She gained a lopsided smirk. “I decided to give him something worth living for. All he needed was someone else to blame instead of himself. I’m quite a good actor, and had learnt how to hide my emotions from those around me… and even myself. He never suspected I was lying. In some ways it hurt… but I didn’t deserve to think about that.”
She held up a hand, looking at her fingers. “For twenty-five years he tried to find me. When I was 83, it finally clicked for him what was happening, with a bit of prodding from our mutual friend. I didn’t visit him at that time though. I wanted… to make sure he had found something else to live for.”
Lucille chuckled self-derisively. “I’ll always regret never being able to attend his wedding, but when I was 88 and finally mustered up the courage to see him again. I visited him, we made up, and then I left.” She spread her hands. “We never met each other again after that. We went our separate ways, and I was satisfied with seeing that he had a family.”
The room stayed silent. Lucy smirked and leaned back. “So, how was it? Was it an anticlimactic ending? Most happy endings are often like that.”
“…is it happy if you never saw each other again?” Vincent asked with a frown.
“Why not?” She shrugged. “I had always held regrets about not being able to protect my crew the way I wanted. You see me as someone always being productive and constructive, but the truth is that I’m far better at destroying and annihilating things than creating them. Everywhere I went I left a… void behind of what was once there. By leaving I was at least able to protect one of the people closest to me.”
“That feels too harsh,” Vincent argued.
“Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy destroying things.” Lucille’s smirk grew wider. “It wasn’t for no reason that many people called me a psychopath before I arrived in the Tower. And I made that ‘void’ into something more useful. Permanently sealing away and destroying things that even a ‘Hero’ could never do good with.”
“You’ve lived… an eventful life,” Vincent slowly replied.
“Ha. But that wasn’t even half of my lifetime.” Lucy stood up and walked over to the window. “Vincent, if you can, please find out when the next auction of crystals from the Sanctum of Purity are. For an Atlantean, they’re the best way to limit the effects of monsters on them.”
“The royal family of Atlantea only accepts crystalline tokens at the auction, and the Founder’s vault doesn’t have any as they’re all consumed to improve the Faction,” he carefully refuted.
She waved him off. “I’ll pay for it personally. I have close to a thousand crystal tokens in spare pocket money, and I’m prepared to use it all.”
Vincent stood up, nodded with a bow, and left the room. Lucille leaned her arms on the windowsill.
At the end of the day, if her identity as the Goldcroft heir had been revealed, it wouldn’t have been a catastrophe. Her fear stemmed from other reasons. Reasons that she never wanted her two remaining family members to hear about.
……..
“Maeva. I’ve been thinking this for the last two years out of the twenty I’ve been hunting her, but…” The sea-green-haired man buried his head into his arms, a bottle clenched in one fist. “I don’t see the point anymore.”
The woman touched his arm. “Does this mean you’re considering… the same things as before she visited?”
He raised his eyes to look at her. “Where did you hear… no, I was probably too obvious.” He chuckled derisively and lowered his head back down. “I… don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. I’ve met with all the rest of us who are still alive and well, and every single one of them have told me that I’m being ridiculous. That there’s no way that Adrianna Riftmire could have purposely caused all this strife when she nearly permanently died trying to shield us from the fragment. It makes sense, but…”
He lifted his head and pulled at his hair. “Why would she tell me it was her doing then?! Did she really want to cut off all contact with me?!? From all of us?! For some reason, that almost feels like… it would hurt more than if she had betrayed us…”
Maeva’s hand gripped his arm tightly for one moment, almost enough to bruise him. She quickly relaxed and pulled her hand away. She was trembling slightly. “Caspian, have you ever considered… that… this was all her plan?”
“A plan… to make me feel like the worst man alive? Someone who has tried multiple times to kill his former friend and Captain?” he replied with a bitter laugh.
“Realms beyond, Caspian, listen to me!” Maeva gripped his shoulders. “Captain is one of the smartest and most powerful people any of us have ever met. But she has her weaknesses. I can’t… I can’t see you keep going around in circles like this any longer. Captain would never want any of us to die, so how desperate do you think she was to see you like that?!”
Caspian stared at her with bloodshot eyes. They began to water and he rubbed them furiously. “I am… I’m really the worst person alive.” He let out a short, laugh and clumsily stood up, pulling on his coat. “I-I need to go, Maeva. I need to find her.”
He ran out the door, leaving it wide open and letting the howling wide and rain in. The blue-haired woman stood up to close it, then she turned around to gaze at the hooded figure who had just walked downstairs with reproach. “Are you going to blame me for what I just did?”
She, the hooded figure leaning against the wall, let out a long sigh. “If you hadn’t done it, then… I was going to do it. This has dragged out for too long.”
“You said that the last few times you’ve been here,” Maeva muttered. She walked up to the table and slumped in a seat. “Will you let him find you?”
“…not …yet.” She looked at the door her former Vice Admiral had left through. “He still hasn’t found something else to live for. Until that happens…”
“And how long will that take?” Maeva asked.
She remained silent. Maeva huffed and looked away. “As long as it takes, huh.”
“I’ll keep updating you with letters.”
“I’ve already told you to stop sending me letters,” Maeva retorted. “You know I hate you, Captain.”
“Yet you reply to my letters all the same.”
Maeva took a swig of a bottle and buried her head in her arms. “Dammit.”
…
It was quaint and pleasant. The house bordered a calm forest, and rolling green hills stretched out in front of it. Smoke was escaping the stout chimney on top of the red brick roof.
She had chosen to come wearing dark blue pants and a navy long-sleeved top. She hadn’t touched her uniform again after she quit, but she wanted to wear something… similar… so he could recognise her. Not that anyone could misremember someone with hair quite as outlandish as hers.
She stiffened up when the door of the house a few hundred metres away opened up, and a man with familiar sea green hair walked out. He scanned the view with a hand over his eyes and seemed to smile as he breathed in the fresh air. Then his eyes fell on her.
There was a tense moment when their eyes locked. After a moment of hesitation, she slowly began to keep walking. The man seemed likewise hesitant as he remained standing at the doorway. Then he walked forward too.
Not a word was said between them until they were a metre away from each other.
“…hello, Captain,” Caspian said.
“I’m not Captain of anybody anymore, Wharifin.”
“Force of habit, I suppose.” He gave her a wry smile that slowly faded, and then he stared at her.
The silence grew awkward and she put a hand to her neck to rub it. She looked away. “I’m… sorry, Caspi-” Her words were halted when Caspian wrapped her in a hug, tears trailing down his cheeks. Completely stunned by the situation, her body locked up and she couldn’t do or say anything.
Sensing her discomfort, Caspian let out a choked laugh in between sobs. “I-It’s okay, Captain. You don’t have to do anything. Just a moment longer.”
A moment was all it was, and he pulled away, still having his hands on either side of her shoulders. “I can’t believe it. Have… have you been well?”
She glanced behind her and gave a slight shrug. “As well as I can be. I’ve recently been investigating the ancient past of the Demon Realm. It’s been an… interesting experience.”
“I’m sure.” Caspian smiled and then started as if shocked. “Ah- um, do you want to come inside? Can I get you anything? Tea, or coffee- I know how you used to say you liked it, and I’ve garnered a taste for it too over the years. I’ll introduce you to my kids and-” His stopped speaking when he was her expressionless face. “You’re not staying,” he stated.
She shook her head. “I’m leaving the Mystical Realm, Caspian. I won’t be back here for a very long time.”
He scratched his head and looked at the ground, likely not wanting to say goodbye so soon.
She put a hand on his shoulder and turned him to face his house. “Go home to your family, Caspian. My place isn’t in this realm, or the Beast Realm, or the Demon Realm, and I find myself wondering if even Earth is my home either. But this realm is your home.”
He opened his mouth to argue but one exasperated look from her as she crossed her arms shut him up. “Caspian, your wife of five years has just seen her grown husband crying over an unfamiliar woman while you came running to me, leaving her with no explanation. Go back and explain this to her.” She pointed at the slim blonde woman holding an infant as a toddler clung to her dress, standing in front of the house.
“You still don’t have any delicacy after all these years,” he replied with amusement. He glanced back and gave her a bitter smile. “Could I at least have my kids meet you?”
She hesitated. “I-” But if this was the last request from a friend she’d never see again… she could at least fulfil this. She slowly nodded. “…show me them.”
Caspian smiled and began walking back over to his house, with her following behind. “Well, the oldest is Derin, while our youngest is called Ariane…”