Elais opened the creaky doors to his stone castle fortress. Yura followed him closely, extremely wary of her new surroundings as the doors slammed shut behind them. Although from first glance it appeared unwelcoming and ghastly in its dull appearance, the inner furnishings and lighting were rather warm and inviting, with Yura particularly intrigued by the warmth of the lanterns. 

They entered the main living room, adorned with a large golden chandelier. Elais lit it up with a small wave of his hand, to reveal the spacious setting furnished with vintage scarlet sofas and mostly hazel-themed fixtures. He had noted her frail physique and instructed her to sit and wait for him at the dining table. She listened obediently and observed the surrounding furnishings as she waited, particularly the walnut grandfather clock that sat opposite to her. Its ticking had gradually become more unnerving in the eerie silence, with the distant chopping noises bringing her some unease. She wasn’t sure if she should have used the opportunity to run away, but remembered that he had saved her from her lifetime of loneliness. She eased back into the seat, and heard distant footsteps approaching the room.

Elais returned with two bowls of beef stew that had been braised in aged red wine, with seasoned vegetables included in the mix and set them gently on the table. Its savoury aroma was incredibly appetizing. Yura looked up at him curiously, as she expected “-Blood? I can assure you that I’m bored of its taste,” Elais interrupted. “Also a stereotype that I don’t appreciate.”

It didn’t take her long to realise what he was, especially with how he decorated his home and his general demeanour. He easily could have killed her to be used as blood cattle if he’d wanted to, but his reassurance had eased the thought from her mind. She dug into her food rather rapidly upon the first bite, finding that it was incredibly delectable and succulent. The beef pieces melted in her mouth, and the stew itself was incredibly flavourful. 

“Slow down before you hurt yourself,” Elais scolded lightly, reaching for his knife.

Sharp concrete-like debris ripped through Elais’ body. Yura panicked, but slowly calmed herself down when she realised that Elais had been cutting up her food for her into smaller pieces. 

“Goodness, no table manners either,” he said to himself. He noted that her powers seemed to provoke a protective stance, likely triggered by an emotional response. He found it odd that for the third instance he couldn’t sense the ambush of magic, nor could he really sense her using any magic at all. Hence, it was unlikely she was controlling it at that moment, not fully at least. 

Elais sat opposite to her at the table and demonstrated a slower eating pace with his cutlery, Yura mimicking his actions and eating pace.   

Elais escorted her to the bathtub, preparing the warm water for her. He didn’t exactly have any clothes to suit a young girl, so he handed over an old shirt to her to dress in temporarily. “Towels are here, and I’m sure even you can handle the rest.” He left to provide her privacy.

Yura undressed herself and sank into the warmth of the tub, cleansing all the dirt from her body. For once in her life, she felt as if she could progress from the suffering that her magic had brought. She recalled Elais’ words - that they were alike in the sense that they both should be feared by others. Elais did not exhibit any fearful behaviour as of yet, rather he had only treated her with kindness. She hoped it stayed that way, if anything. The water had been tainted pitch black once she was done, and she dressed herself to prepare to meet with him again. 

She felt lost in the maze of corridors, searching desperately for Elais. He was a rather tall man, so it shouldn’t have been so difficult to find him, or so she thought at first. She found herself in front of a magnificent white grand piano in the corner of a room. The more she looked at it, the more it glistened and invited her to inspect it, the foreign object piquing much interest. She pressed on a key out of curiosity, which produced a pleasant mellow sound. There was a sheet of dust on the velvet seat in front of it, despite the piano itself being rather spotless. Yura continued to press down on some more keys, the melodious tunes she produced echoing through the hallway. 

“Yura,” Elais called out to her. He emerged from the darkness, not looking particularly amused with the music. She immediately ran over to him, following him into the living room. 

He sat down on a wine plush sofa adorned with golden decor as she stood beside him.

“Are you able to use your magic on me?” he asked, rather deadpan.

Yura hesitantly lifted an arm, only to lower it again. “I might hurt you, or someone else. I don’t want that again..” She wore a dejected expression on her face, averting her gaze from him. 

Again. Elais remembered that it hadn’t been long since she’d seen him being pulverised by her magic. Three times in fact.

“Blood.. I hate seeing it, I don’t want to see it anymore,” Yura whispered, tears forming in her eyes. 

Elais started making gestures in front of her as if he were drawing in the air, to her confusion. A magical circle with various runes and patterns had materialised in front of him, then disappeared. “This ward prevents any blood from spilling from my skin. You won’t need to worry about seeing it anymore, and you are very wary that I can’t be harmed by your magic,” he reassured her. 

She took time to process his words, and nodded. “I’ll try my best..” Yura opened her palm towards him, concentrating all her focused energy at him. 

Seconds passed as Elais zoned out, hearing nothing but the ticking of the grandfather clock behind him. Death did not greet him at the last second, much to his disappointment.

“Sorry mister. I.. don’t know how to activate it. I don’t actually know how it works..” Yura said bashfully, avoiding his stare. She trembled at the thought of punishment for her inability to follow his orders. 

“Elais. That is my name,” he responded. “‘Mister’ just reminds me that I’m old.” 

He stood up from the seat and made his way to his library that was a short walk from the living room. Yura followed him instinctively.

“I’ll have a quick look in here. If I can’t find anything, I’ll try asking around,”Elais said as he quickly scanned the books in his library. 

The library provided an incredibly homey atmosphere with the warm hues of the structure and its many fixtures, and the yellow glow of the lanterns illuminating the space. It was much more spacious than the local libraries and bookstores combined, with thousands of shelves towering over Yura. The ceiling above featured a skylight, currently showcasing the sparkling stars painting the night sky, with the glow of the moonlight peeking through the glass, illuminating some of the structures below. The library appeared to also have a lower basement accessible by a flight of stairs, leading to an additional layer of enjoyment. 

Yura looked up at the abundance of books he had inside his personal library. It seemed like he was able to fit another universe in the comfort of his home. “Can I read some too?” she asked.

“What sort of books do you read?” Elais replied, not stopping in his scanning of books. He was slowly approaching the spells section that he had originally been seeking, occasionally picking out a book to check its contents before returning it to its original spot. 

“Are there any with pictures in them?” Yura asked. She noticed that some of the spellbooks he’d been flicking through had some images in them, which made her intrigued. 

Elais paused briefly to have a quick think, trying to recall if he owned anything. He checked a dusty corner of the shelf in front of him. “I only have a little. I’ll find more when I’m out next.” He handed her a fairytale book called ‘Mr Red Foxy’, with a cute hand drawn fox with an apron on its cover. Yura was elated and proceeded to make herself comfortable at a nearby table outside of the library.

Elais had found his spell books highlighting different dark magic and spells, but nothing seemed to relate to Yura’s magic at all. For the entire time he had been alive, he had never heard of her magic before - destructive magic with lethal output, yet undetectable to even the most experienced sorcerer. The fact that none of this magic was in her full control, it was a concern if it were to grow exponentially. In fact, he could barely register any magical presence in her body at all, which was incredibly suspicious as all magic-users had a certain amount of magic reserve to draw magic from. With the strength of her powers, it would have required a large amount of reserve which was clearly lacking. None of his spell books offered any correlation to any of these particular traits either. Elais sighed. There was no way his immortality was just a mere magical matter either, as he certainly would’ve undone it a long time ago. He had considered looking into his personal archive for clues, but didn’t think that the connection to its intel was that deep. There was nothing in the world that could be.

“Yura, I’m going out. Don’t destroy anything by the time I get back,” he told her, preparing to leave once more. He found Yura sitting outside the library completely absorbed in the Mr Red Foxy book, in which she only looked up to bid him farewell.