Magic Life in the Empire

When morning came, Cyril woke up in a terrible state; his head was threatening to crack open, and it felt like something wanted to come out.

I need to get up before it's too late...

Reaching the bathroom in a hurry, he lowered his head before a sink, closed his eyes, and barfed.

Cyril felt much better after that, but a certain pain was still present.

Is it usually so painful? He didn't hear anything about that.

He opened his eyes, and what greeted him was blood.

Lying at the center of the sink painted red was a mass of flesh, about the size of a fist.

What the hell? The sight left him in shock.

Sure, he felt a bit bad, but he didn't think it was to this extent.

"Oh no... Are you fine, Cyril!? I am so sorry... I think it might be my fault!" Rhamn was in a rarely seen state of panic; her usual confident demeanor was replaced by worry and guilt.

What do you mean? Before Cyril had the time to hear her answer, the pile of flesh in the sink suddenly moved.

Something flew out and started circling around them in a manner that Cyril wanted to call Joyful...?

He wasn't startled by this event, nor was he scared. Cyril got a peculiar instinctual feeling that whatever thing is happening, it won't bring him harm.

Taking a closer look at the unidentified flying object, he found out that it looks just like a butterfly with red wings

He outstretched his hand, and the butterfly happily landed on his point finger after making another circle.

"I heard Rose talk about butterflies yesterday, and I thought it would be cool to have one as a pet, and we were drunk, and I had this weird feeling I could do that, and before we fell asleep, I tried it... I didn't mean to make you suffer; I am sorry." Her speech was fast and almost incoherent.

Don't be too hard on yourself; you didn't know. Besides, it's not a big deal. Cyril thought this apologetic look didn't suit her.

The butterfly flapped her wings a few times, as if trying to cheer someone up.

How weird... I can understand what it is feeling, and it can understand us? Is it aware of you? Not wanting to linger on the blaming topic, he switched to the butterfly.

"I think so, yeah. There is a certain connection between us; I might be even able to communicate with it... Watch" No longer as upset, she started doing something with interest.

In a moment the butterfly flew up again and made a loop in the air before landing on Cyril's shoulder.

"I asked her to do that; she can really listen to me!" Now she was excited.

"We simply must keep her! This is incredible." Rhamn stood in front of Cyril and looked at the butterfly on his shoulder in wonder.

There is no other choice, really. Cyril himself was quickly warming up to this insect.

"That's great! I already have a name for her. Welcome to our little family, Morpho!" At this moment she had the most beautiful smile on her face.

After snapping out of it, Cyril turned to look at the bathroom.

The sink was understandable, but after Morpho raced around the room for a while, the whole bathroom was now covered in small droplets of blood; she wasn't exactly clean when she emerged.

Better start cleaning. He sighed in resignation.

Cyril removed the blood in the bathroom and burned the things left in the sink with magic, while the others played in the living room "We would help, if we could, you know that"

Next he sat on the bed in thought; Rhamn soon joined him at the side.

Morpho landed in front of the window and looked at the outside world.

I am not even sure there exists magic to let you do what I have experienced right now. Cyril still wanted to find out what was happening to him, even though this desire was no longer as strong as in the beginning.

Can you... create something living again?

"Yes, and I think I can create more than just butterflies; of course, I won't do that." He tried not to think about how these creatures were made.

"But I couldn't before—it must be the effect of Dragon's Blood."

It's clear that there is something fundamentally different about me. "We could visit some healer again; maybe they will find something now?"

Better not; who knows what they will do if they discover something unusual? Cyril's perception about the whole ordeal was swiftly changing.

He no longer viewed the things happening to him in a completely negative light.

One already knows something anyways; we just need to find out what. His thoughts carried him towards, Alvin, the owner of the clinic near the slums.

"Want to pay Red Snake a visit? Plenty of time has passed," Rhamn guessed while staring at Morpho.

Yes, I have some time until Monday.

Having built plans for the weekend, he had breakfast at home in peace while listening to Rhamn talk.

...

They took Morpho with them and went to find the thug's house.

On the way, few people paid attention to the unusual red butterfly; even if it was someone knowledgeable in the insect field, they wouldn't give it too much thought.

It wasn't uncommon in the Empire ruled by mages to have animals of unusual color or form.

Cyril took the familiar road through the shopping district, and while in it, Rhamn suddenly had an idea.

"We should buy a cozy bed for Morpho. I bet we can find a terrarium or something similar here." He thought it wasn't a bad idea, so they took their time to visit some of the shops here.

Eventually they found one selling terrariums of various sizes.

Under the surprised eyes of the employee, they let Morpho choose the most comfortable one herself.

After much deliberation, she chose a simple terrarium with an open roof.

The shop offered to help transport the thing; they even had the option of sending it directly to his dorm, to which Cyril agreed.

Once outside, Morpho flew in front of Cyril and danced in the air; she was quite happy with the purchase, and he could feel her gratitude.

With this business done, they continued on their way, but their pace was quite slow; they didn't hurry and explored the area anew.

It looked like Cyril was out on the calm walk to have fun more than anything.