A month has passed since Lian and Ogda discovered that they weren’t eligible for the oh-so-coveted Fect pact. Humans and firbolgs intertwine with such rituals for the benefit of both sides… officially. They found out the hard way that they are more necessary for humans than their partners. Lian, especially, felt this acutely, having spent her last two weeks on painkillers since her eyes pierced invisible veils and made her head explode with pain.
In the other two weeks, she was mostly bedridden. The little free time left she had was spent with Arim to find some way to help out around the city as payment. The two mostly wandered around, sightseeing the one-off oddity, but he also kept her at a strangely noticeable distance. Too polite, too nice and too secretive (or reticent) about personal things. No matter what she said, he firmly believed that part of the incident was his own fault.
…
After witnessing the ocean during the failed pact, Lian fainted and was rushed to a local clinic;
-” Ahhh, stupid humans, using their power all willy-nilly”, yammered an upset snake doctor while rummaging through a cabinet. He seemed slightly miffed in general, but the moment he heard what happened, his pupils dilated wildly from anger. “ This is why I keep telling your Union and the Board to make a dam pamphlet or something for newcomers. Call it: the human body can’t deal with the stress of the powers, don’t use them without doing the Fect pact!”
A passage ignored by time was written once by a human researcher about this world: Ironically, this alien world loves humans. It showers us with gifts and companions, but it is also unintentionally overbearing and unattentive, leaving us to deal with the side effects of the boons.
Arim, unflinching and straight as a statue, listened quietly to the griefs of the doctor; then dragged a chair next to Lian’s bedside.
-” I’m so sorry…”, he apologized, avoiding looking directly at her, just staring at the floor,“ I never expected your power to activate on its own…”. He then whispered something so softly that the dazed Lian could hardly comprehend him, except for when he self-injured with insults “...moron…idiot”.
-” Arim!...That’s horrible”, she coughed up after realizing what he was doing. “ I understand accidents, I get them, ok? And that’s all that it was. The pact was supposed to help us, right? Like it did for Maci?”
He lifted his chin and felt his hand hair rise when his eyes met her stern, but gentle gaze. She was in pain, he could see it from how her fingers were twitching. He was impressed by her for a brief moment, but she wasn’t done. “But, I also think that the doctor is kinda right.”
-” Oh..yeah”, he bumbled out, taken back by that. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Lian faced the window to check the sky. It was blue now. “ None of you, Krass, Goidel, you…never mentioned about this. Why?”
The boy got up, turned his back to her and put his hands on his waists. “We…so humans can’t use their powers just by entering this realm. First, you make a pact that transfers the extra energy to the firbolg. That extra thing is what's straining our bodies. And, before you can even find out what you’re capable of, there is a last step.”
-” What? Is this some secret Union stuff?”
Dejected, he lets out a “kinda”, before telling her he can only reveal so much. “ So, I think you heard from Krass about a Sacred Beast and God, right? Well, it’s connected to that, and the Union is somewhat intertwined with it. Let’s just say that they demanded secrecy from the Union in exchange for something we want…so I hope you understand we can’t say any more than that.”
…
The story and Arim’s clue about the last step brought the girl today to Caer’s central library, along with Brigid, Maci and Tommen, the first as a guide, the second out of boredom and the third as one who shared Lian’s type of worries. The young artist appeared a bit miffed for having to go through the books again but still decided to help the girl out.
-” Arim told me you went through some of the writings already, so I thought it would go faster if you could help parse through the books. Besides, you seemed a bit down over the past month as well, so…”, mentioned Lian.
-” You thought this could help as a head cleanser?”, he remarked, a bit reserved. “ Ugh, it’s just…Giol has been working so hard on the pact, and it’s…”, he stopped, anxiously massaging the back of his neck, “I just want to give him a win, you know?”
-” I get it…However, today he seemed energic when sparring with Ogda against Arim and Zinc when I checked on them. Or at least they blew off some steam.” Lian then got quiet, thinking about the water monster, and how reluctant he got after the failed ritual. He’d stopped speaking unless asked, and even then it would be mostly rigid. Just straight to the point. “ Maybe I can also help him out with a win? ”
Comments (0)
See all