NOVEL NEXT Sabbatical – Chapter 193: Choosing a Direction
Gregory let out a shaking breath as he closed the door to his room behind him. The words of Aperio still echoed through his mind; clung to it like honey did to bread. Mere words shouldn't have such staying power, but neither should a random woman be capable of freezing him in place with nothing more than a glare.
At first he had not believed her when she had said that killing him would require no effort on her part, but the longer he had remained in her presence, the more his instincts had screamed at him to run; to flee. To save his life.
"If all Faes are like that, I don't want to meet any more," he mumbled to himself as he stumbled to the fridge in the corner of the deceptively large room.
When Aperio had brought out her wings, she had also seemingly loosened her grip on her magic. Gregory had almost been drowned in the mana that gushed forth from the woman like an overactive spring. Such a river of magic made little sense when he considered the fact that mana on Earth had only been getting more scarce as the population rose.
Just like all other energies in the universe, there was only so much to go around and they were seemingly nearing the limit of what Earth itself could handle. Of course, some factions — especially the mages — had tried to come up with ways to fix that, a few even going as far as to claim other worlds existed behind some Veil of invisible magic that they could tap to solve the mana problem.
There probably were other worlds. Gregory was fairly certain of this, but he just as strongly doubted that getting to said worlds would be easy, or even at all possible with the mana they had to hand. No matter what faction you belonged to, there were countless advanced magics that had been lost to time, and even more were being lost simply due to the cost of casting them. He himself knew of a dozen that could only be theoretically still be performed through a mass sacrifice of Human life. Needless to say, though, the desire of all factions to keep hidden kept a tight lid on such hypothetical actions.
"The meeting this year will be fun," Gregory said before he let out a long sigh and grabbed a bottle labeled 'A+.' "Perhaps," he mused as he pulled out the cork, "I should try and convince them not to attend? It might be for the best."
Of course, it was highly unlikely he could be persuasive enough for that, but he knew that the chaos that would ensue simply from Aperio and Caethya existing in the same space as some of the Elders alone would be sufficient enough cause to try to plead his case. And, having either of the Fae do anything would just cause people to riot, especially once word got out that the two newcomers did not even consider Vampires — one of Earth's strongest races — to be worthy of the word 'immortal.'
Gregory held the bottle to his nose and inhaled deeply, the pleasant aroma of the blood offering a mote of calm he had sorely needed. Usually he abstained from the drinking of blood, but in this case he not only needed the comfort it offered but the strength it would give him.
He still had to figure out why they had decided to appear now, of all times. It was obviously not, as Aperio had tried to imply, a mere coincidence. That a group of people stronger than everyone he had ever known would simply pop up just as they were about to have the biggest Council meeting in decades? They have to had known…
As both Aperio and Caethya were most definitely not Human and seemed to have little interest in hiding themselves, that only left Adam as the one who could have been their informant. While he had only seen the man briefly, he fit the image of a mage. Scrawny and unassuming, though in his case a bean pole would be a more apt comparison. Certainly not someone you would assume was strong.
Physical appearance had little to do with actual strength, Gregory knew that, but it was not entirely wrong to judge people by it. Most Werewolves were more brawn than brains, and it showed. If this Aperio character happened to share their love for a fight? The Council might be in need of more than a few new members.
He took a swig of the blood, closing his eyes as he savoured the taste. Whatever Hannibal had done to it was wondrous. For a Human that claimed to dislike all things magic, he sure knew how to cater to his supernatural clientele.
"Guess it's time to write a message for Elder Wu," Gregory mumbled. "If she appears at the meeting without him knowing of the possibility first, chaos is guaranteed."
The old Vampire was the oldest and strongest of them on the west coast, and also had the duty of heading the Council meeting. Nobody would ever suspect old Mayor Wu of hosting a meeting of monsters in the town hall, nor would they assume that he would immediately start a fight with a seven foot amazon simply because she barged into said meeting.
"Why is it always my life that so chaotic?" he asked himself as he opened the laptop that sat neatly on the desk. "I just want a century without chaos for once…"
///
Aperio hummed happily as she walked in circles in front of the fireplace with Caethya in her arms. As negligible as the weight of her love was, holding her did make the All-Mother happy. Why that was, she could not say, but neither did she care.
"You might want to hide your wings before the owner comes back or a guest walks in," Caethya said, leaning to the side slightly to grab one of the fruits that sat in a bowl on one of the desks Aperio passed on her endless journey around the room.
"I'll see them coming," she replied, slightly flaring the feathered limbs in question. "Plus, Gregory did say that the owner is quite aware of the supernatural, so why would I need to hide them from him?"
"I guess?" Caethya replied as she regarded the fruit she had picked up. "Looks like an apple. I wouldn't have thought that different worlds shared fruits."
"Humans are on more than one world, so why would there not be some fruits that are the same?"
Caethya took a bite of the apple and frowned. "Tastes sour," she said after swallowing. "Almost like the ones you can get from Ischtaken. I wonder if they farm them in the desert here as well?"
Aperio moved one of her wings forward, sliding it under Caethya's back so her love could rest on it while the All-Mother commanded one of the fruits to appear in her hand. She took a bite of it, but just like any other food she had tried since her return, it left her unfulfilled. It tasted good, no question there, but her body showed no signs of being happy that it had been fed. Makes sense, in a way. I do not need food, after all.
"Food aside," Caethya continued, shifting slightly in Aperio's arms, "do you really intend on visiting whatever meeting Gregory referred to?"
"I do," Aperio replied with a nod. "It seems like a good opportunity to get acquainted with magic on Earth. Plus, seeing Adam's reaction to it will be hilarious. Imagine what he will do once we tell him one of the customers here is a Vampire."
"Not believe us, I'd think." She motioned for the All-Mother to slow down, hopping out of her arms once she had come to a stop. "You have to consider that he has had this belief for his entire life, and having us merely tell him without showing proof of Gregory's difference won't get us very far."
Aperio shrugged and folded the wing she had used to support Caethya behind her back again. She looked at her love for a moment, slightly saddened by the turn of events, but simply shrugged as she took another bite of the apple before disintegrating the rest. What Adam believed mattered not to her, and neither did it matter that the beings attending the upcoming meeting would be doing their best to either win her over or remove her.
"I will do what I came here to do," the All-Mother replied, her gaze fixed on the wall that separated her from the rest of the city. "And that is to judge whether or not mortals are warring idiots that would rather see their fellows bound in servitude than have them forge their own path. If things are as I suspect them to be, I might have to take some more… drastic measures to get my creation back on track." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and let her aura assert itself just a little more to show everyone who was able to perceive it that she was displeased. "I have no desire to be the maker of world upon world that is filled with slaving despots."
"I'd say that the main reason for your stay here is a vacation," Caethya said as she placed her hands on her hips and tried to make herself as tall as possible. "You need a clear mind, and for that you need to relax. And I will make sure that you do."
Aperio sighed and let herself slump a little. Her love was right in that she needed to relax, but she did not know how she should do that. Or if I even can. Unlike her past self, her current self had trouble ignoring what went on in her creation, especially if it dealt with anything she had experienced in her mortal life.
Of course, she knew that there was no way to prevent all the evil that existed without actually puppeteering all the beings that existed in the worlds she had made. That was a fact she had accepted, but that did not mean she would tolerate mortals making it their sole purpose in their fleeting life to make that of their fellows miserable.
"I had thought I could understand mortals better now, but their actions still do not make sense to me." She gestured towards the ceiling where she could sense Gregory pacing in his room. "Our Vampire friend is losing his mind because he cannot comprehend me, and Adam looks like he is about to pass out every time I wish to speak to someone. I know that I am different, that my voice — my very being — evokes some sort of reaction in mortals, but is it really that bad?"
"Not for me," Caethya replied. She stepped closer and took Aperio's hand into her own, pulling them away from the All-Mother's chest. "Before I got my Class I could feel this little nudge in my Soul that told me you weare special, beyond what I could understand. But if I had not looked for it, it would not matter.
"The mortals will know that you are different, yes," she continued, taking another step towards Aperio, "but you already know all of that. The problem is that you are a different form of life than anyone else. No matter how much any of us try, that fact will remain."
"I won't turn into some weird cloud again," Aperio said, narrowing her eyes. "I am quite attached to my body and what it allows me to do."
"Your body lets you do things you could not do as the all-mighty space cloud?"
"Perhaps not do per se," she replied as she ran her thumbs over Caethya's hands, "but it certainly adds to the experience. And I very much dislike when everything is only a thought away." Probably even less than that, considering things are only a thought away now…
"In any case," Aperio continued, a touch of her magic causing a small note to appear in Adam's room. "I wish to explore the city a little more. Are you going to join me?"
"Of course," Caethya said before gesturing towards the All-Mother's back. "Have to hide your wings, though."
Aperio frowned but willed her feathered limbs to disappear nonetheless, a second thought causing the note she had created to fill itself with the excessively cursive script she had come to call her own in order to inform Adam that she and Caethya would be going again, and that he should offer a prayer if he needs anything.
For a brief moment, Aperio considered picking up her love again but decided against it, leading her towards the door with a few large strides instead.
The All-Mother began to hum a tune she had heard being played in many places in the city as she ducked through the door.
Caethya followed, giggling slightly as she linked her arm with Aperio. "Time to explore Earth without our guide?"
"Yes," the All-Mother replied. "More mortals with mana are coming here, and I intend to meet at least a few of them. I should have looked a little more thoroughly when we first arrived; there seem to be quite a few Humans that can use magic." As meagre as it was.
"I guess we are going to meet Gregory's competition, then," Caethya said. "Where do we go?"
Aperio gestured towards one of the buildings that loomed over most others in the city. "In there, spread across the various stores. Perhaps we should purchase some clothes to better blend in?"
"That could be fun," Caethya replied. "Are we going to accidentally bump into the more magically-inclined Humans while doing that?"
"Perhaps," Aperio replied with a smile. "Perhaps."
