Alistair yawned the next morning as he jogged through the Lumina Battledeck Academy’s lush campus. He slowed, picked up his pace, and tried again to reorient himself.
Ghost: Focus.
Alistair: Maybe if you hadn’t been out all night killing people in Solaria, I wouldn’t have to try this hard to stay awake. Did you ever think of that?
Ghost: Oh, please. We didn’t kill that many people. You whine too much about things like that.
Alistair: I whine too much about murder? I was asleep. And to be clear, you killed people, not me. And I should probably tell you not to do something like that when piloting my body, but I know you won’t listen to me anyway.
Ghost: Correct. You’re learning. Sometimes, a raven’s best mistake is the one that nearly costs the bird its life.
Alistair groaned. Ahead, he saw Professor Yuber seated in one of the courtyards, one leg crossed over the other as he stared out at bushes that had started to lose their early fall flowers. The Professor spotted Alistair and motioned him over.
“Ah, Mr. Blackstar,” Yuber said with a grin as he motioned him over. “One of two potential Invokers in the Lumina Battledeck Academy’s Fledgling class.” His voice changed in tone as it often did. “I know who he is. I know, you know, that was just my way of complimenting him.”
Ghost: Fuck it, ask him. You know you’re curious. I sure am. Ask him about the voice.
Alistair hesitated as he looked the Combat professor over. Yuber’s eyes twitched slightly, yet he kept a faint smile on his face. “How are you this morning?” Yuber asked with a harrumph. “Having a nice day so far? I see you are out jogging. It’s good to stay fit, you know. Maybe we should do some jogging. I think we are perfectly alright, thank-you-very-much. You’re getting a bit of a gut. No, we are getting a bit of a gut, and it suits us. We’ve been thin for far too long.”
“I’m good,” Alistair said once he could get a word in. “I attended Professor Vitaminas’s lecture yesterday.”
“Oh? And how was that?”
“It was interesting. He talked about Celestial Binding and stuff like that.”
“Stuff like that? The boy clearly wants to ask about me. No, he didn’t say that. What else would Lobos talk about? That man speaks too much. You should have silenced him when you had the chance. I will do no such thing. I’m sorry,” Yuber told Alistair. “My worse half can get the best of me sometimes. I’m your better half and you know it!”
“What is it, exactly?” Alistair asked. “Whatever is possessing you. I’m sorry if—”
“No, it’s quite alright. I likely should have told the whole Fledgling class at once, but I am used to his interruptions. And I’m used to yours. So I usually just run with it now. It does make dating rather hard. I hope I’m not being forthright, but I was told there are countless beauties in Lumina and that I would certainly have a chance at finding love. But then, you-know-who makes his presence known, and I’m back to square one. Please. It is your lack of couth that leads to your lack of—ah! Let’s not be vulgar in front of my students, Perseus. I forbid it!”
“So Perseus is your summon’s name?” Alistair asked.
“Yes, my summon. That’s right. Perseus is an Oni-Djinn that I binded with years ago, when I was just around your age, believe it or not. Sadly, this has come with effects that I didn’t foresee at the time. You know, or likely you don’t, but sharing a body with someone can be quite taxing. You’re the one that makes this hard. I’ve told you before that I can take care of everything. And simply be witness to your madness, Perseus? Yes. Why in the name of the Dawncrest Kingdom would I do something foolish like that? Because. Because? We’ve been over answers like this before, Perseus. They mean nothing. If you can’t say something with meaning, don’t say anything at all.”
Ghost: I believe I told you something similar.
Alistair: Whatever.
Yuber ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry, I nearly forgot you were there, Mr. Blackstar. Nothing like arguing with myself. Heh. You started it! Did I, really? Really! And last night? I had that in the bag. You ruined it. Oh, please, Perseus.” The professor sighed bitterly. “As you can likely see and understand by now, dating with this condition is rather hard.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Alistair gave him a funny look. “You’re… dating?”
Ghost: And you haven’t figured out a way to rid yourself of the summon? Couldn’t you just properly dispose of the Resonant Card? Ask him those questions. Use this time to get actual information. Don’t just stand there repeating what he says in the form of a question.
“And you haven’t figured out a way to, um, fix your issues with the summon? I don’t know, something like disposing of the Resonant Card in the Archives?” Alistair asked, not wanting to use the word rid. It sounded too harsh.
“Believe me, I have many times. Lies! You need me. I do not need you. We are not having this conversation in front of one of your students. Yet it appears we are, Perseus, and no, I do not need you. You never let me finish. We need each other. That is what I was trying to get at. You see, Mr. Blackstar,” Yuber said as he returned his focus to Alistair, “if I remove his card, it could come with dire consequences.”
“You never mentioned that about binding.”
“I didn’t? Well, that’s because normally, one doesn’t forge the same kind of pact I have with Perseus. I’ll explain. Or, I should probably explain to your entire class today before we do battle.”
Ghost: Ask about that.
“What do you mean?” Alistair asked the strange professor. “I mean, if you have time—”
“Time? I suppose I do have some of that. And I’m feeling more talkative this morning than I normally am, you know. Like I said, bad date last night. That was your fault, not mine. Perseus, if you just pop out right while the woman is reaching across the table to take my hand and you mean to say something like ‘ah, what a delicate little lady hand you have there, baby,’ but instead you say, ‘ah, what a delicate little baby hand you have there, lady,’ it tends to turn women away. But her hand was lady-like and it was delicate like a baby’s! Yes, it was, but saying that made me, it made us sound like a lunatic. When two people speak out of the same mouth, it sounds crazy. You can communicate with me in my head, but no, you insist on making your presence known.”
Alistair: I hope you are taking notes.
Ghost: About what?
“Anyway, Mr. Blackstar, as to why we share a body this way, I owe that to a battle I took part in near Marrowstone,” the professor said as he leaned back on the bench. “For years, the mountains there have made it difficult for Dawncrestian forces to keep Dracolichs from slipping over the borders. I was tasked with being part of a patrol, and nearly died in a fight, I’m ashamed to say. It was an ambush. Yes, and I had binded at that point, Perseus and I, and our binding stopped me from dying that day. So that’s why we are like this. We were bound celestially and—ahem, insert a deep mana explanation here that you likely won’t understand—and that, Alistair, is what binds us together. I’d rather not get into the nitty gritty, if you don’t mind, but you could ask Professor Vitaminas if you happen to run into him. I saved your life. Did you? I feel like you remind me of this everyday.”
Ghost: That was not the explanation I expected.
“So, you see, our binding stopped me from dying, but it came with a price. That’s what I mean by it could gravely affect me if I tried to remove his card. Believe me.” His eyes narrowed on Alistair. “I’ve thought about it. Not a day goes by—hey! Quiet, Perseus, let me finish. Not a day goes by that I am both grateful for not removing his card and sad that I can’t. Do the students talk about me?” A nervousness came across his face. “They talk about me, don’t they?”
“Well, yeah. You never explained why you speak to yourself, or who the other voice is. So the others are curious. I was curious.”
“I probably should have said something. At the Lumina Battledeck Academy Solarian branch, where I was a Battledeck-in-Residence, everyone knew of my condition. Some people even liked Perseus. Everyone liked me. Professor Kindress dated you because she liked me. That’s not true. She told me. When? Do you really want me to reveal that in front of your student?” Professor Yuber grew flustered. “Ahem, perhaps not. But yes, or no, or I’m sorry, I lost my train of thought, Mr. Blackstar, where were we?”
“You said that everyone at your previous academy knew about your transformation.”
“Ah, and I should tell all of you about it here. I’ll do that today. I’ll explain what has happened to me, and that will hopefully quell any trepidations on who I may be. You know, and I really don’t know why I’m saying this, but I feel like you understand.”
“You do?”
“It’s uncanny, really, but I feel like you understand what it’s like to have to struggle with something like this. I’m probably projecting, but thank you for listening, Mr. Blackstar. And as a reward, or better, so you can make a plan now, I’ll tell you what we, and by we I mean all of you Fledglings, are doing today.”
“What’s that?”
A grin took shape on his face. “You are going to divide up into teams of six or seven and fight me. How does that sound?”
“Do what?” Alistair asked. “You’re really going to take on six of us at once?”
“You don’t think we can handle it? I don’t think he meant it like that, Perseus,” the professor said as he waved his binded summon’s comment away. “He isn’t the smallest of his class, but he isn’t the largest. And there are a lot of even smaller girls. You should have them divide up into teams of eight. Each class. We will eviscerate them. I’ll let the Fledglings decide. Perhaps some of the students want to challenge themselves. Anyway, Mr. Blackstar, off you go, back to your jog, joggy-jog-jog, and I’ll go back to thinking of how things could have gone better last night. We will meet again on the battlefield, and soon. I hope you, and whomever you decide to partner with, are ready.”