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CYRUS
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Cyrus paced around Jules' kitchen.
> [Pang! Elemental Control increased to Level 9.]
>
> [Pang! Elemental Control increased to Level 10.]
>
> [Pang! Elemental Control increased to Level 11.]
Great. At least I Leveled Up a few times.
> [Join the Scholars Guild — Quest Objective FAILED: Be accepted into the Guild.]
>
> [Join the Scholars Guild — QUEST FAILED]
>
>
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective FAILED: Join the Scholars Guild.]
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — QUEST FAILED]
And there's the rub. Not the time or place for it, though. Cy paced the room. Come on, Jules. We can't just sit around and—
“Who the hell are you?” Cy and Evelyn spun around. It was the first time Jules had spoken since Cy slammed his Regenerating corpse on his parents’ kitchen table. Oh, thank Salvos he’s back. Cy rushed over to his friend.
“Jules, it’s me, Cy. You’re safe now.”
Jules lifted his head to look around, but that must have been all the strength he could muster. “Jules… Who is that?"
Cy took a step back and glared at Jules. Shit. The demon's back? “You are Jules, aren’t you?”
Jules' furrowed brows relaxed. His frown transitioned to a smug smile. He studied Cy and Evelyn’s faces. Then he looked over at the fox. He coughed out a laugh. “Jules, mm? Jules…” His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he passed out again on the dining table.
“He's damned us all.” Evelyn glared at her son. Her fierce eyes wouldn’t blink, her nostrils flared. “What in the hell happened? And where is my husband?”
Cy remained silent as he observed Jules, confused at their interaction.
“I want to make it clear," Cy finally said to Evelyn, "that I am not on your side, and I don’t support how you view and treat Jules—the real Jules. But right now, we need to proceed with caution. Jules is still in there, somewhere.” Cy pointed at the steaming body. “But I’m not sure who he’ll be when he wakes up.”
“Leave him.” The hair on Cy’s arms stood up, and he tried to catch his breath to calm down. “Leave with me, Cy. Let Liam handle—”
Jules gasped before Cy could snap. Here we go again. Jules attempted to get on his side and look around. Cy rushed over and grabbed him by the jaw, which until recently had been shredded in tattered ribbons.
“Where… What happened?” Jules mumbled through clenched teeth.
“You seem more animated this time, but I have to ask you,” Cy said. He tightened his grip until Jules made eye contact again. “Who. Are. You.”
Jules furrowed his brows and swatted Cy’s hand away. “Jules.” Cy sighed with relief and collapsed into a chair. He stared at the ceiling. Looks like I’ll die another day after all. Cy stretched out his jaw to relieve the tension he’d been carrying for hours. “Mom—”
“Don’t! Don’t you fucking dare call me that, you—you devil!” Cy couldn’t be bothered to watch as Evelyn cowered away from her own son into the kitchen. Nothing will disturb this brief, brief respite…
Just give me a few minutes, please. Cy massaged his temple.
“A mirror,” Jules demanded. “Get me a mirror, Evelyn. Now!”
Please—shut up.
“Why should I? There’s not a scratch on your face. Not anymore, anyway.”
Please shut up.
“Fine. Useless as always."
Shut up.
"Don't you dare speak to me that—"
Jules struggled off the table but plopped onto the floor with a deadened grunt.
Salvos, grant me the serenity to—
“And why was I on the dining table?”
—the courage to change—
"Why? Why!?"
—and the wisdom to—
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
"Because you just went on a rampage—"
“Will everybody just shut the fuck up for one Salvos-damned minute!?” They looked at him wide-eyed, silently—respecting his request—but Cy's fuses had already blown, and there was no turning back now.
“Evelyn, if you have any hopes of being called a mother by anyone ever again, including me, and I know that’s all you’ve ever wanted in your sad life of your—your self-induced misery, then keep your zealotry to yourself and support your son for once and if you can’t do any and all of that then shut the fuck up—and Jules, I don’t even know what the fuck to say to you—you’re back, hooray! Great! And this time it actually is you again, but what the fuck did you just put me through, and now you ask for a mirror—a mirror—a fucking mirror—I swear to Salvos I almost just killed a man—three Ranks above me, by the way, if any of you three would care to ask me, but you didn't, did you—and you just asked me for a fucking. Mirror. Oh—and how could I forget? How the fuck could I forget to tell you—you’re on the dining table because you were dead—for the third, fourth, fifth, I don't know how many times, and where the fuck else can we go right now, because everyone knows you’re a Sin, and please Jules please I know that’s a lot to take in, it certainly was for me, but please just shut the fuck up, just shut the fuck up, everybody just shut the fuck up for one minute.”
Mother and son stared at Cy for a moment, then looked away.
Jules back laid down on the kitchen floor without a sound.
Evelyn slid her back down and against the wall and hugged her knees. She buried her face in them.
Cy closed his eyes.
Feels like I could fall asleep.
A few minutes passed.
Better get moving again.
Cy opened his eyes.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you both. It's been a long day. Clearly, I needed a moment to myself.” Cy patted the armrests of his chair and returned to the kitchen with a mirror. He handed it to Jules. No sooner than Jules looked at the mirror, he sighed with relief.
“I’m still me,” Jules said. “I just had a dream. I was another person in the desert. Long black hair. Looked well put together.” He gestured down to his tattered clothes. Cy took the mirror and helped him to his feet.
“You’re still you—for now, Jules. But I saw something else entirely, back at the Shrine. Definitely wasn’t well put together.”
Jules glared at Cy intensely. “Tell it to me straight. Must’ve been bad.”
“Jules… I don’t even know where to start.”
“Were Isolda or Dad there?”
“Uh, no. I didn’t see them. After Isolda left, we stayed around. Liam never rejoined us like we planned. But the Warg attacked us, and some wolves. You knocked me out of the way and they…devoured you alive.”
Evelyn gasped and looked at her son with what Cy felt was compassion and empathy. So she does have a heart.
“Uh huh. I’ve died many times before, skip the boring stuff.” The boring stuff, this motherfucker says…
“I tried to escape with you. Some soldiers saw you healing, claimed you were controlling the animals and monsters. Sweet Salvos, Jules, you fought a Leshen. That was probably what threw all those men over our heads earlier.”
“How did I do that?”
“Hmm. At first you were on fire, fighting…people…and wolves. The fox actually set you on fire. Then you were cornered, and a…” Cy paused. Jules doesn’t seem as shaken up about this as I thought he would. Is this…is this not the first time this has happened? “Look. I’m sorry for the words I’m about to use, but you need to know, and I know you want to know, so here it goes: a demon came out of you. He was on fire and smashed everything in his path. You Regenerated faster than anything I’ve ever seen. I think they killed you a second time, and you revived again, this time with black flames. Master Druid Fin Rivers brought a bunch of animals to kill you. Then a Naval Officer ran into the Shrine—seemed like he knew what he was doing, too, like a sacrifice—and the Leshen came out. The fight didn’t last much longer, and then—”
“Black flames…” Jules’ eyes glazed over.
“Jules, focus—”
“That’s a lot to take in, Cy.” Jules buried his head in his hands. “Everyone knows… Wait—” He looked up sharply. “If everyone knows, then we need to run.”
“I’m trying to tell you, Jules. You coming back from the dead wasn’t the weirdest thing that happened. Everyone is frozen.”
“What? Frozen how?”
“They can’t move. It’s been like this for nearly an hour. The only ones not affected were you and the fox. When it was clear you needed my help, I was unfrozen, and the same for Evelyn here.” Jules’ eyes narrowed.
“Dad?”
“That’s what I think, too,” Cy said.
“You put too much trust in Liam,” Evelyn said. “He’s more than either of you think he is, but there’s no way he has this power or Skill. Not to mention the Ryoku”
Jules rushed to the sink and vomited.
“Maybe. But you’re definitely right about one thing, Jules,” Cy said. “We need to run. Whoever our benefactor is, they can’t keep it up forever. I had to drag you through town, and everyone there is frozen, too.”
“So everyone knows?”
“I don’t know,” Cy said. “Everyone at the Shrine sure as hell does. But people in town may not know yet. We can use that to our advantage. We need to go—Get your books.”
“Books?” Evelyn scoffed. “Knowledge won’t save you, not even the Holy Book of Salvos could save you now.”
“I thought I told you to support your son, or don’t speak. I just gave up my life and dreams for him. I’m an accomplice—”
“And what do you think I’ve done? I gave away my life, a good life, in—” She glanced at Jules. “Back home. I gave up my family, my friends, my Class, and my Rank for him. And look what it got me. He will take everything from you, too.”
Cy could tell Jules felt more guilt than anger toward his mother. Lucky for you, I only have anger. “The book Isolda mentioned—The Inked Arts. Make sure to get that.”
Jules took one step toward his bedroom and wobbled to one knee. Annoyed, Cy hurried to the room and received it. He overheard Jules’ apology.
“Never wanted to be like this…would have been better had I never been born. I see that now. A lot more people would be alive, by the sounds of it, but—”
“You have no idea. The day you were born, that samurai and fox massacred my friends and family. It’s too late to apologize.”
“But, I was born. There’s no stopping this train, Evelyn. It’s time to take your seat, or it’s high time for you to get off. Our relationship has been terrible, but still, I thank you for getting me this far, and I am truly, truly sorry for what this has done, and will do, to your life. No one deserves that.”
Ah, here’s the damn book. Cy waltzed back into the room. He feigned ignorance of their conversation and tossed the book onto the table.
“So who is this guy?” Cy and Jules thumbed through the pages. “No author name, no photo. Just some dumb pseudonym."
“This is no time for books. Jules, you have damaged us enough. If we stay with you, this will keep happening. I think it’s best if you go your separate way and I leave with Cy.”
“Whoah, whoah,” Cy said. “I’m not leaving Jules. And what about Liam?” This is giving me creepy vibes.
Evelyn turned to Jules first. “Liam will never stop protecting you. Go with him if you want.” She turned her gaze back to Cy. “Cy, all I have ever wanted was a child, a normal child, a son. Stay with me, and—”
Cy shoved her away from him. You disgust me.
He jammed his finger into the book’s cover. “Have you ever seen this book before, Evelyn? Do you know anything, anything at all? We need to find this author.”
Her lip curled in disgust, but she walked over to look at it.
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19
BONUS CONTENT BELOW
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