::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Chapter 08- Peeping and Eavesdropping

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I rubbed my arms as I walked through the Arch-Passage and back into the basement of the Eferize mansion. If I closed my eyes, I could remember what the warmth of Revelin's tongue sliding along mine felt like, along with the press of our lips. The memory was still fresh, but the moment was brief. In spite of myself, I wanted to make more memories of the like. Grasping onto that tiny bit of warmth, I turned to face my mentor. 

"I have two older brothers. They each married their opposites. One favored romance and family but married an adventurous wife. The other favored adventure and excitement but married an older woman who was already bored of such things."

My mentor didn't make a move to interrupt me. He simply sat on top of a table and regarded me with folded arms and a nod. "Though I was exposed to the adventurous wife since childhood, we never formed a very close bond. It was the older woman that seemed to take any interest in me," I explained. "I was a naive, young thing. Always jumping at the slightest touch from anyone. But I made the effort to allow her, my oldest sister-in-law, to touch me. All in the attempt of forming a close bond with her." 

With a sigh, I rubbed my left upper arm with my right hand and stared at the ground. "My sister-in-law took advantage of my intentions, and she started to molest me whenever no one was attentive. One night, when I slept over at my brother's house, she decided that she wanted even more from me..."

I felt Revelin's eyes on my face. "I just wanted it over and done with. I wished so hard that she would stop her advances after taking what she wanted, but she seemed to have a single-minded focus." I continued. 

"One day, she started beating up her own six-year-old son into the ground, and I ran over to shield him, but the blows kept coming. I was filled with fury. It was as if everything that had ever frustrated me about her accumulated into an absolute rage." I held up my hands and looked at them as my fingers curled, tensed in the memory of such ire. "If I had ever doubted being a Vim carrier before that day, it was blatantly apparent when I hurled all of my Vim into her with such force that she smashed through the first layer of the wall down the hallway. I had broken her ribs, but she lived."

"The Elders took one look at my nephew and me and deemed it self-defense. That's when I was invited into the Academy." I finished, my entire body trembling from the vivid memories. "I was twelve years old. And I was so appalled by what I'd done that I could have killed anyone in a fit of rage that I subconsciously sealed the majority of the Vim inside of me." 

I raised a frowning face toward my mentor. "A part of me still fears her, and my body dislikes being handled, especially without warning. So long as I'm the one in control and doing the touching, I'm fine. But I still tend to be a bit jumpy and tense when others touch me without my consent."

Revelin unfolded his arms and motioned for me to come over. I approached him slowly, still trying to shake off the shadows of memories and emotions of the past. He extended his right hand, his multi-hued blue eyes staring steadily at me. He was giving me a choice. Did I trust him enough to reach for that hand, or didn't I? After a moment of hesitation, I clasped my own right hand within his. His grip was warm and sturdy, strong enough that I wouldn't be able to let go unless he released the hold first.

A smirk was already forming on his face before he even began to speak. "I, Revelin Eferize, hereby vow to fully train and watch over one Cyrus Kairos as he progresses and grows into his own abilities. Until the moment that he is recognized as a full-fledged Wanderer, he shall be officially referred to as my assistant." He leaned just a little closer, and my face subconsciously leaned back about the same distance. My eyes narrowed in suspicion as he pointed to his lips. "Time to seal the contract."

"A kiss? Really?" I questioned dryly. "After everything I just told you?" 

He simply nodded as he tried, unsuccessfully, to hide his widening grin. "You did say that so long as you were the one doing the touching, you felt in control, did you not? It's your choice." 

I let out a long sigh, reaching over with my left hand and threading my fingers tightly through dark locks to hold his head in place. A part of me was pleased to note that I had stopped trembling the moment I had taken hold of his hand. With that truth in mind, I closed the distance between us and firmly pressed my lips against his. Swirls of Vim surrounded our enclosed hands, and I felt a tingle running along our parted lips when I pulled away.

The smile he gave me was so pleased that I had to suppress the strange new kind of shiver that rolled down my body. 

"I'm looking forward to working with you," He admitted.

::::

I emerged from the bathroom across my room barefoot and in nothing but a robe. I was rather grateful for the heaters that kept the mansion warm on cold nights. After we came back from the training platform, I hadn't physically seen my mentor taking anyone to his quarters. And yet, I still heard the familiar sounds of his usual nightly activities drifting down the hall. By that point, I did not want to know who he was pounding into his mattress. I threw all caution to the wind, knowing fully well that I was behaving like a voyeuristic pervert, and took advantage of the sound of his husky voice.

After smoothing out the covers on the bed, I decided to be a little more daring. I undid the ties of my robe and laid myself down, allowing the robe to slide open on either side of me. The warm air rolled over my nude form, and I squirmed sinuously onto the covers. Once again, the sound of my mentor's voice became my sole focus. I frowned slightly when I heard heated instructions being growled down the hall.

"Sit up…" 

Without even realizing it, I pulled myself into a sitting position. Just what were the men doing in there? I squeezed a dollop of lube onto my hand and began to rub myself. 

"That's it," A growl. "Hold still."

I shifted and huffed in jealousy. My mentor really enjoyed that particular lover. Well, who needed him? I could find my own pleasure.

"Now spread your legs a little wider...damn!"

I settled onto my knees, slid my hands up my thighs, and began to stroke myself, my hand swiveling under and over my hardening shaft.

"Yes," A hiss. "Ride me nice and rough. Don't hold back!"

For some strange reason, my imagination began to run wild. I started to envision literally having Revelin beneath me to the point that I was half-humping the sheets as I pumped myself. "Shit!" I gasped as I was overcome with heat.

Unfortunately, neither of us was meant to find release that night because the loud sound of paper being crumpled and torn startled me into a skidding halt. I righted myself, my back straight, as I glanced all around me to seek the source of the noise.

"Cyrus! Move it!"

I nearly jumped right off my bed, but when I saw Revelin frantically motioning for me at the doorway, I quickly tied my robe back into place and padded out into the hall. As soon as my feet crossed the threshold, Revelin grabbed my elbow and took off down the hall towards the stairs. It was amazing how, in chaotic situations, my mind seemed to think faster than usual. 

"Wait, how did you hear the noise in my room? I thought you were in a soundproof barrier!"

"Now's not the time for questions!" He barked over his shoulder as we made our way to the basement.

I peeked over my own shoulder and realized that we were being chased by what appeared to be shadows of all sizes with multi-colored visors. "What the hell are those!?"

"I thought I said no questions!" Revelin shrieked as he activated a setting on the Arch-Passage that I hadn't gone to before.

I yelped when the "shadows" reached the stairs leading down to the basement. "Why are they after us?"

Revelin simply tugged my elbow and pulled me through the Arch.

::::

"Is now a good time for asking questions?" I implored in a sharp tone of voice. The two of us were on the edge of an oasis in the middle of a desert. Worse yet, the oasis had no return Arch-Passage on it, from what I could see. When Revelin reluctantly nodded, I began my barrage of questions. 

"Where are we?" I asked as I used the water in the oasis to try to wash my hands clean of the lube I had used merely moments before.

"I had been dared to create a passage to this oasis back in my Academy days. It was actually a running joke. I never thought I would actually have use of it one day," He explained. "We're in a dimension that's not particularly fond of me."

"Is that why there isn't a return Arch-Passage on this side?"

"This passage isn't a preset. I simply used the Arch to aim us in the direction of this dimension."

I decided to distract myself from panicking about being virtually stranded with no way back. "What were those things that were chasing us?" I continued, drying my hands on my robe and standing back up.

"Minions, actually. As to who they belong to, I could only guess…" Revelin mused. "I have it narrowed down to one of three possibilities."

"Why were they chasing us?"

"Their master probably sent them to capture me. They probably thought that your room wasn't being monitored-" He stopped and tutted loudly when he realized that he had outed himself. "Listen, I can explain…"

"You were monitoring my room!?" I accused jaw agape. "What part of a privacy form don't you understand?" I folded my arms across my chest and glared flaming daggers at him.

"The privacy form specifically stated 'no physical defiling or entering of the room,' it stated nothing about monitoring from a distance."

My eyes widened as the last few puzzle pieces fit into place. "There wasn't anyone in your room tonight. Were you goading me!?"

"Damned if you have any idea how sexy you are when you're not wearing those ridiculous pajamas!" He growled.

Blood rushed to my face so fast that I probably resembled a ripe tomato. "So, you're the victim now? I wasn't the one peeping!"

"But, you certainly were eavesdropping."

"Are you two quite done?" 

The two of us froze in mid-argument as we turned our gazes to the sound of a giggling voice. It belonged to a tanned boy with waist-length, blue dreadlocks and golden-yellow eyes. His ears were slightly pointed, and he seemed to have a strange, almost ethereal glow beneath his skin.

"Who are-" I began before Revelin rushed forward to hug the young man.

"Makith!"

"Lin!"

"You haven't aged a day!" Revelin noted.

"And you haven't aged enough," Makith replied with a snicker. "At least, from what I've seen." He settled those golden eyes on me and pointed. "Introduce me to your…friend."

"I thought you said that we were in a dimension that wasn't very fond of you," I commented out loud.

"If you want me to be more accurate, then I'll say that Makith is in the roughly ten percent of this dimension that is fond of me." He returned his gaze to the golden-eyed boy. "This is my Assistant, Cyrus."

The boy's movements were lithe and light-footed. I was curious to find out just what his genetic background was. He extended his hand for me to shake. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if shaking hands was a similar custom of greeting for him or if Revelin had taught him as much in the past. As I shook his hand, I realized that he was just a little shorter than me. We could almost look one another in the eye. "I really don't mean to offend, but what are you, exactly?"

"He's an oasis nymph," Revelin spoke up to reply. "Where we're standing right now is the equivalent of a tree house to him. His kind lives in a protected paradise somewhere in the desert."

"My kind used to live in a protected paradise," Makith corrected. "But, they fled to the tropics after a terrible siege." His expression soured as he glanced up at my mentor. "Lin, a lot has changed since you were last cast out..."

I wanted to ask what he meant by my mentor being cast out, but the tone of his voice sounded rather rushed and unstable. He was even beginning to make me anxious.

"Is there a safe place we can talk?" Revelin asked.

Makith nodded. "I can send us to one of the islands. It should be safer there."

I watched warily as Makith stepped into the small pool of water that I had just washed my hands in. As soon as he was waist-deep into it, the water began to swirl around him. I didn't like the look of it one bit. 

I voiced my concerns, "I'm not sure this is the best form of transportation to take."

My mentor said nothing. His smirk silently spoke many words that I had heard time and time again. He reached out a hand towards me. And, though it almost killed me to accept any kind of help, I placed my hand in his. We were trapped in an unfamiliar dimension with a blue-haired 'nymph' leading the way to an unfamiliar island. All I could do was suck in my pride and allow the warmth of Revelin's hand to help keep me stable as I stepped into the swirling water.