The Magician of Miracles

[Jevan Perspective]

We managed to slip through unnoticed thanks to my mask, until Corvin led us to a cheap inn he claimed to know the owner of so we could relax. And here I am now, lying in a small room by myself, while the others decided to share another room for some reason. The masked woman had disappeared the moment we arrived. The only one with me in the room was Timaeus, sprawled on the bed, fast asleep. Luckily, I remembered to bring him from the shop.

I took off the mask and set it on the table. Instantly the pain in my bones exploded, like I'd been shattered into tiny pieces. But my wounds quickly began to heal and close up again. Within minutes my body regained its full strength to be honest, it didn't feel completely like it had before, but all the injuries were gone. Yet there was a new problem waiting for me. The spirits around me had multiplied. Two new ones had joined the party: the short man's and the giant's. The short one floated in the circle of spirits, its color darker red than the rest, looking like it wanted to tear me apart but something was holding it back.

Raghu appeared out of nowhere, waving his hands angrily.

"Can you stop killing people? If you keep going like this, I won't be able to hold them back from attacking you."

I glanced at him sideways as I adjusted my position on the edge of the bed.

"So you're the one keeping the short guy from shredding me right now?"

I looked at the short man's spirit again and noticed the red aura around him growing darker as he tried to force his way out of the circle surrounding me. The giant's massive arms held him back at the last second.

Raghu smirked, hands on his hips.

"You're pretty skilled at insulting the dead."

I muttered:

"I wish my clothes would go back to the way they were before all those last fights."

Blood and tears vanished from my clothes. A faint headache replaced them, but it was nothing like the one I'd felt fighting the short man and the giant. I threw myself back onto the bed, half lidded eyes fixed on Raghu.

"I wonder why you people can't communicate with me or even show yourselves when I'm wearing the mask."

Raghu crouched on the edge of the bed, rubbing his chin.

"I don't really know the reason."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. All I can say is that when you wear that mask, you're surrounded by a dark energy similar to the one surrounding the doctor."

"The researcher?"

"Why do you call Dr. Valentine Crow a researcher?"

"And why do you call him a doctor?"

He laced his fingers together.

"Because that's what he was. I didn't see him do it myself, but I heard he used to treat people in the lower district for free once upon a time."

"When exactly was that?"

He shrugged.

"I don't know. Many years ago."

"And where'd you hear this?"

"Rumors."

"Trusting rumors isn't the best idea, you know?"

"And why do you call him a researcher?"

"Because he used to work in the Imperial Forces as a researcher."

"I suppose that explains some things."

"Explains a lot?"

"Yeah. I sometimes saw him talking with shady people."

"Shady how?"

"I'm not exactly sure how to describe them, but clearly not gangsters or even residents of the lower district. I also noticed they had an eagle emblem on their clothes."

I muttered in annoyance:

"Seems you were awfully close to the researcher to know all this."

He smiled sadly.

"Not really. He just happened to show up a lot near the man who hired me."

"You sold him a lot of goods, didn't you? Why don't you look guilty about what you did?"

"I do feel guilty. But what's the point of guilt when I'm already dead? You think I can do anything? And look at you you're alive, committing atrocities, and you don't look guilty at all."

"Atrocities? Like what?"

He gestured at the circle of spirits behind him.

"Everyone you've killed had families or friends waiting for them… well, except Steve."

I waved my hand dismissively.

"They tried to kill me first. I'm not going to feel bad about that. If anyone should feel guilty, it's them, not me."

The red aura around the short man's spirit deepened until it looked like a ripe tomato. I lay back on the pillow again, staring at the ceiling for a while. I tried to drift off, but sleep stayed out of reach. I was completely exhausted; my body might have healed on the outside, but the fatigue was still glued to me. I wanted sleep, rest, and time to meet the younger Jevan as soon as possible. I hadn't had time to ask Vensen about what happened to the Street Sons gang, but there was no time for that now. I had to get back to the past quickly; maybe then I could intervene. I was on the verge of surrendering to sleep when Raghu said:

"Hey, you. You can't sleep now."

I tried to ignore him, rolling over to the other side of the bed, but he kept talking as he floated around me.

"Wake up. You can't sleep now."

My eyes snapped open, and any trace of drowsiness disappeared. I sat up on the edge of the bed, inhaling sharply before asking harshly:

"What do you want?"

Raghu stood in front of me, arms crossed, head tilted with a small smile.

"Did you forget the deal?"

I stretched lazily.

"Which deal exactly?"

He pointed to the circle formed by the spirits behind me.

"Don't play dumb. You have to grant one wish a day for one of the spirits."

I put my hand over my face and sighed deeply.

"Oh, for God's sake… can't you all wait until tomorrow?"

Raghu waved toward the spirits again.

"I'd like that, but I don't think you'll convince them."

I stood up, stretching my back.

"Fine. What does this spirit want now?"

I listened to the wish Raghu conveyed to me, then decided to leave. This time I strapped the mask to my belt through its eyeholes. I was sure I couldn't keep wearing it much longer without it messing with my mind. I adjusted my sword, then glanced at the window and decided to slip out that way. I wanted to get out quickly and come back quickly without drawing attention… or maybe I just thought I'd look cool doing it.

I opened the window; the cold wind slapped my face. I placed a foot on the ledge to jump but then the masked girl appeared outside the window. Startled, I lost my footing and fell onto the floor.

"What the...?!"