by Tj Dixon
“Everyone on the Council of Elders is a powerful mage.” The dwarven girl says with a frown.
“Perhaps they annoyed another member of the council.” Lucy says with a shrug.
“I can’t imagine council members harming each other.” I say shaking my head.
“Why not?” Lucy asks me a little sceptically.
“They’re like a little family. Besides even if they were willing to harm each other, they’d get found out by the others. Dwarves know when you lie and as members of the council they spend a lot of time together. They would certainly talk to each other about anyone who went missing.” I explain. Lucy frowns and nods.
“That makes sense. Not the family rubbish, but the part about getting caught.” Lucy says. “Anyway, we may as well return home now. Peter, take us back.”
“You’re not going to tell anyone about us?” Grimji asks clearly concerned.
“I don’t care about a couple of lovers running away from home, so I’m not telling anyone and neither is Peter.” Lucy says with a shrug.
“In the name of love and all the cute girls in Nirvali, I swear that I will never tell a soul.” I swear. He chuckles at my words but he seems relieved.
“Good luck.” Peter says.
“Yes, good luck.” I tell them more than a little enviously. I wish I had someone I could run away with. Preferably Lucy.
“May the luck stone bless you.” Grimji says with a deep bow and an elaborate flourish.
“May the luck stone bless you.” I say as I bow back just as deeply and flourish just as elaborately. Then Peter picks us up with flight magic and I lose the comfy feeling of stone beneath my feet. Peter flies us back to the tunnel we entered from much quicker than on the way to find Grimji. It isn’t long before we are back at Peter’s home.
Of course I’m not going to get my reward, because I can’t tell dad where Grimji is, so there is no need to rush back home. I think I’ll spend the rest of the holy day with my cute little Lucy. Then I remember I am meant to be making something to help control the other girl’s power.
(Peter)
I lay awake trying to get some sleep. Those words haunt me though, ‘Two souls... What’s more I have no idea what either of them are. Not human, certainly. What are you?’ Indeed, what am I?
“Is it what he said, about you?” Lucy asks and only as she does so do I realise she is awake and only a few inches to the left of my head.
“Yes.” I whisper. Lucy always seems able to read me far too easily. A whole day has passed and she still guessed correctly.
“Whatever else you may be, you are still Peter, the boy I met in the Labyrinth of the Lost Lambs. Never forget that. After the Death Bird attacked you and you were possessed I dived into your soul. You were sharing your body with a god. That god is definitely dead, I killed him. He will not return.
“When I soul dived though, there were three souls within you. With one of the three dead it is true that you now have two souls within you, but they are merged together as one. They are both you, or more precisely you are both. Neither soul alone is you. If either soul were to die or become dominant you would cease to be Peter. To avoid that you must never take too much power within you. You can still take a lot of power, but there are limits.”
“Is it true that my souls aren’t human?” I ask.
“Yes.”
“Then am I not human?”
“Your body is human.” Lucy says cautiously.
“Then why is my soul not human? Can a human be born with a soul that isn’t human?”
“No. Your body was born with a human soul. It died though, and you took its place.” Lucy explains and I gasp.
“I killed it?”
“No, the god who possessed you killed the boy’s soul. You then overpowered the god, but doing so reduced your power considerably.”
“How do you know that?” I ask cautiously.
“When you kill a soul it taints your own soul. Your soul was not tainted.” Lucy says sounding sad. I consider her words for a few moments.
“Did killing the god taint your soul?” I ask.
“Yes, but it was a decision I made and not one I regret.” Lucy says firmly and from her aura I can tell she really means it. I cannot change what has already happened so I can only accept her words.
“What does it mean to have your soul tainted?” I ask cautiously.
“A small stain like the one I suffered has very little impact.” Lucy says but whilst her words are not untrue she seems to be hiding something.
“Does it have more of an impact on you because of the curse?” I ask.
“No.”
“Then what are you not telling me?” I ask bluntly.
“I should know better than to try to hide anything from you. My immortality was broken when I soul dived.” Lucy tells me with a sigh. It takes a moment to realise what she has said.
“Is there any way to restore it?” I ask urgently.
“Just form your company and earn immortality for the whole company. That’s always a good way to do it. That’s how most people become immortal.”
“Was that how you became immortal?”
“No. I became immortal when mother adopted me.”
“So can she not restore the immortality?”
“Only the queen can do that and my mother does not enjoy the same favour with the current queen that she did with the previous queen.” Lucy says and then she kisses my cheek. “You have work tomorrow so stop worrying and sleep well. Remember you have the love of a beautiful woman, who would do almost anything for you… or with you.”
I blush at her words before answering with a quiet. “Goodnight Lucy. Sleep well.”
I can’t respond properly to her words. She has often joked around about being a pet or a girlfriend, but I don’t think she has ever used the word love before. I don’t entirely understand what it means but I think perhaps I am beginning to understand. Her aura seemed very serious too. I am certain she wasn’t joking and she really would do almost anything. My mind is no longer dwelling on Grunti’s words, but now I am kept awake for a very different reason.
(Grunti)
“So you still won’t tell me where Grimji is?” Dad asks for the hundredth time. Or at least it feels like the hundredth time.
“If you really want to know why he’s missing, just ask his dad!” I blurt out, before realising I may have said too much. I suppose it doesn’t really matter though, as long as I don’t reveal where he is.
“What does his dad know?”
“It doesn’t matter, just stop pestering me about it. I’m not telling you where Grimji is no matter what.” I say firmly.
“What if I offered to hire a girl to cook for you?” Dad asks and I gulp, but then shake my head. “It seems you do know something though. Is Grimji at least safe?”
“Yes.” I admit. “That’s all I’m saying though. If you really want to know why he’s missing you’re going to have to ask his dad. I’m not telling anything else, even if you hire every girl in Nirvali.” Dad chokes at that.
“Fine, I’ll stop asking.” Dad chuckles. “Now we should get going or we’ll never finish today’s work.”
“I just need to stop by somewhere on the way.” I tell him.
“Where?” Dad asks nervously.
“I just need to drop a gift off to a friend.”
“Who is she?” Dad asks suspiciously.
“She’s a human. I think she was called Elucia.”
“A human… You shouldn’t get mixed up with outsiders. What are you giving her anyway?”
“It’s a necklace of control. It will help control her powers.” I tell him.
“Any side effects? Risks? Like blowing up the world?”
“No, no, it’s quite safe.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“It does have a feature that allows me to keep track of her. I don’t plan on telling her though. I suppose you’re going to tell me that’s bad.”
&n
bsp; “No, actually that might be useful if the outsiders ever cause trouble. Poor control of magic could also be a problem so it sounds like you’ve made something useful this time. Go give it to her and then meet me at the forge. Don’t take too long though.” Dad says surprising me.
“Thanks!” I say and race off through the streets. It is early still so they are empty. As I reach the prison I almost run straight into Peter. I just about stop myself in time.
“Grunti?” Peter asks seeming surprised to see me.
“Peter… I’m just here to deliver Elucia’s new necklace.” I tell him. “You’re early today. Most workers don’t start for a few hours yet.”
“Grundle likes to start early and finish late.” Peter says with a yawn. “I’ll be late if I hang around.”
“Well you’re male anyway, so bye.”
“Umm, yes, bye.” Peter says looking at me strangely. Then he walks away at a brisk pace.
I was already almost there so I am soon at their home. I check the door for enchantments and not seeing anything dangerous I quietly open the door. Everyone other than Lucy is still asleep. Lucy sitting on a small shelf opposite the door glares at me suspiciously. I then show her the necklace. She looks at it cautiously before nodding with a smile. She points to the floor beside the door so I quietly place it there. I blow her a kiss, which she frowns at. Then I close the door behind me and head to work.
(Elucia)
I stare at the necklace Grunti left me. It really is beautiful. It is formed of round green stones alternated with round blue stones, but what captures my attention most is the large ruby in the centre with emeralds moulded into four green wings. The ruby’s wings are two on each side, and they have been coated with gold and silver forming elaborate patterns. The ruby itself glows. Even without an enchantment a necklace like this back in Contractia would cost more than I could even dream of affording. I place the necklace round my neck and smile.
“Elucia, do you feel any different?” Dairon asks.
“Yes, I think I should be able to control my power with this. Let’s head to the practise area and test it. I may be a bit slow walking in these clothes though. They’re really heavy.”
“Don’t worry. We’re not in a rush, so take as long as you need to walk there.” Dairon says.
“Are you coming too?” I ask Lucy. Kai and Peter have of course already left for work. It is Kai’s first bounty hunt today, but she sounded confident so she should be fine.
“No. Enjoy yourselves.” Lucy says.
“See you Lucy.” I say. Enjoy yourselves… As if. Perhaps with those clothes from before I would have said it too. It is scary that they had such an impact on me, without my even realising.
“Let’s go.” Dairon says without even answering Lucy. He must be just as annoyed by her words as I am. Lucy is a good person that I actually quite like, but she can at times be really difficult to get on with.
We head out onto the street, which is of course empty. We never leave until the morning rush has finished and we rarely encounter anyone until we reach the training area. Even the training area is never busy. It is basically a large building split into lots of rooms that anyone can freely use. We can always find an empty room to train in. Each room is protected by magic so you can just attack the wall as much as you want. I try not to overdo it with my attacks though, just in case the protection is too weak to withstand my stronger attacks.
“Elucia.” Dairon says stopping.
“Yes?” I ask nervously turning to face him. He sounds a bit annoyed. Have I somehow upset him?
“We’re there.” Dairon says and only now do I realise we have reached our destination.
“Sorry!” I exclaim realising I was in a world of my own.
“That’s a different reaction. I think I prefer it though.” Dairon says with a smile.
“I’m sorry. I was really mean to you before!”
“Don’t worry. It was just those clothes.” Dairon says sounding relaxed now.
Chapter 5 (Multiple)
(Hinata)
It really hasn’t been that long since I returned to my home. It feels empty. There are still villagers living here who have nowhere else to go, but mother, Asura and Asuna are all gone. Only Asuna is even still alive, but she has made it quite clear she is no longer my sister. With Peter left behind and possibly dead the chances of her returning to her place as my sister seem slim. So I am not truly alone, but all the people who matter most are no longer here. Except Lena of course, but I freed her before I left with Peter. She’s living here still but I rarely see her.
This is the same room that I have used for most of my life, but it seems unfamiliar and cold now. The bed is as soft as ever though, and after sleeping on the ground with Peter for so long that at least feels nice. It is warm here too. I am simply staring at the plain white wall in front of me when there is a knock on my door.
“Come in.” I say listlessly. A young man enters and bows deeply.
“Lady Hinata, you have visitors.”
“Who?” I ask tiredly even though I haven’t done anything today. It is already about midday too.
“They introduced themselves as Sor and Emi.” He says and I frown.
“Where are they?” I ask.
“Here.” A familiar sounding voice says. It is Sor’s.
“What did you want?” I ask curious now.
“What are you wasting the day away in here for? There is work to do and it isn’t going to do itself.” Sor says sounding a little angry.
“The land has recovered, so there is nothing I need to do.” I tell her with a sigh.
“Get out of your bed princess, or I’ll port you and your bed outside.” Sor says with a quiet simmering anger.
“What’s wrong with my spending my time here?! I worked so hard for so long and I’ve lost everything already! I don’t even have vengeance to keep me going now!” I scream at her whilst fighting back tears. Sor looks at me coldly before responding.
“You’re still alive idiot, so you haven’t lost everything. You have more now than most people will ever have. You have your people and your land. You have a home that whilst run down is many times larger than most people would even dream of. Sure you’ve lost your family, but if you think that makes you unique then you’re an even bigger idiot than I realised. Now get up!”
I look at her in shock. I really am crying now. I glare at her through my tears and shout, “Get out!”
All of a sudden it is no longer warm. Instead I am sitting in my bed outside in the cold weather. At least it isn’t raining right now, but even so it is a massive shock to my system. I sit here shivering unable to move. Then the bed disappears and I fall to the ground, landing bum first with my legs and arms up in the air even as my back hits the ground.
“Very elegant…” Sor laughs. I just sit there crying uncontrollably. Then I hear her cold piercing words. “Get up.”
I look up and feel real fear. I quickly stand as if my life depends on it. In the back of my mind I wonder whether it actually does. I look at Sor fearfully.
