28 Busy Morning (1/2)

Mandy was woken up by the doorbell ringing.

August sluggishly got up and instantly got to the door using fae paths. Mandy headed over too, figuring it was the delivery. When she got there, August had already signed and the delivery guys were leaving. Didn't seem like anyone was in the hallway, so Mandy used telekinesis to pick the boxes up.

When she got to the kitchen, it looked like only Albus had awoken as well, Riveria and Leum were still sleeping. August was moving around using fae paths and Mandy figured he was using the chance to wash. Mandy internally sniffled-- she couldn't go and attack him with all of these people here. Biting down her internal tears, Mandy unpacked all the stuff - various groceries and camping equipment for making food.

An odd question came her way, as she set to make some coffee.

”Do we need to wash using shampoo and things to blend in?” Albus asked.

Mandy tilted her head.

”I mean, I'm more used to just,” Albus drew a half triangle over her chest and after a lingering trace of white light passing over her, she looked refreshed - the clothes lost their crinkles and even her hair looked like it had been just washed and brushed.

Oh… that looked incredibly convenient. Could August do that? ”I think it's best to ask August,” Mandy said, since as far as she knew using those were ways to blend in too.

The doorbell rang again.

Right. Ian. Mandy started walking towards the door but hesitated in her steps. Could they let Ian in? Mandy switched her direction and peeked into the bathroom. ”Can I let Ian in?”

”Get Leum to put him under oath,” August said while getting dressed.

Mandy bit down another internal tear of regret as she turned to head to the door. When she peeked her head out she really did spot Ian.

”Morning,” Ian said. Chilli was sitting on his head and next to him was a short girl (actually the same height as Mandy) with long slick black hair and bedhead that reminded of kitten ears.

”Morning! Wait up a bit,” Mandy said.

”Sure,” Ian said and Mandy returned back in. She met Leum partway. Looked like August had finished dressing and had sent Leum to the door already.

Leum yawned and drew the same half triangle over his chest as Albus had done, then opened the door once the light settled and he looked all clean and proper.

”Morning, I'm Leum, August's familiar,” Ceruleum introduced himself with a soft smile.

”Ian Spenser,” Ian introduced himself when he got over his surprise about a new character appearing. ”That's Chilli and this is Nelly, my familiar,” he said.

Oh! So that's the witten! Realization passed Mandy's eyes.

Nelly hid behind Ian with pursed lips after meeting Leum's smile, Chilli seemed positively curious, though.

”August sent me to have you form an oath with me. I ask you not to tell anyone what you see or learn inside, in exchange you three can ask… hmm, anything you want to know, I guess,” Leum said.

Ian tilted his head, finding this request odd. ”There are no dead bodies inside are there?”

”Is that what you want to know in exchange for silence?” Ceruleum asked with a smile.

”Uhh--” Ian looked towards Mandy.

Mandy shook her head. ”Nothing of the type you'd need police for. Just something that would be bad for August personally if it gets out.”

”I don't really intend to leak anything like that,” Ian said with a confused frown, his shoulders raised a bit in a half-shrug.

”Then ask for something silly and make an oath,” Mandy said. She believed Ian wouldn't, but she also didn't think it was smart to not use a good reassurance when it could be used.

Ian shrugged. ”Okay…” It didn't look like he got it, but he looked over at Ceruleum. ”What kind of creature are you?”

”I will add silence about that to your oath, is that fine?” Ceruleum asked.

Ian nodded.

Leum reached out his hand and Ian took it. The oath concluded and Leum said. ”I'm a dragon.”

Ian's reaction was only. ”Oh, cool.” While both Nelly and Chilli got startled, their eyes round like buttons.

”Why do you not feel like one?” Nelly asked, still hiding behind Ian, she looked very cautious.

Leum reached out his hand and Nelly took it still to conclude the oath.

”If a master has a legendary tier ability, they pass it on to their familiars as a passive trait. I got presence concealment from my master,” Leum said.

Ian's eyes widened at the 'legendary' tier, but he merely made an acknowledging nod to himself about it.

Chilli looked conflicted. ”August is indeed a beautiful one, but why?”

”Why I contracted him?” Leum asked.

Chilli nodded and they shook hands to conclude the oath.

”Love,” Ceruleum said, this time easily, no hint of the embarrassment that was there yesterday in Grisham's cabinet.

Ian had an awkward expression on his face, while both Nelly and Chilli showed surprise. Nevertheless, the oaths were completed and they all went in.

”Hot damn-- he really would get in trouble,” Ian said as they passed the illusion barrier. Mandy had a feeling Ian meant it along the lines of 'trouble with the landlord', though.

”A dryad” and ”He's a dryad” came from Chilli and Nelly, who continued adding noisy bits like. ”Then it makes sense” and other mumbles Mandy couldn't exactly catch with them doing it at the same time.

Ian looked perplexed, but he didn't ask about any of that, rather, going for a ”Morning,” as soon as he spotted August and the other two.

Nelly and Chilli had quieted down by now and looking around curiously. Nelly was trying to catch the shiny discharges in the mist in a cat-like manner.

”Did you have breakfast already?” Mandy asked.

”Ah, ye-- how?” Only then Ian noticed that Mandy looked like a living being. Mandy had walked behind him, so it wasn't hard to miss the detail.

”Ask that later,” August said. ”For now, pass on what Kenneth gave you.”

Mandy went to make coffee and started preparing breakfast. She asked Albus if she was a vegan and turned out she really was, but that wasn't a problem when you were making salad anyway - replace tuna with extra avocados and chickpeas. Nelly was staring at tuna, so Mandy gave a can to her and luckily she had ordered some chili, so that part was covered too. Ian only received a coffee, since he had had breakfast already.

Meanwhile, August was reading through a small pile of documents, not stopping to do so even while eating. He was half squinting and half frowning at most of it. Leum and Riveria were reading the same pages with their heads almost leaning on August's shoulders. August didn't seem to be very happy to be squeezed between them, but the things written down appeared to be more worrisome.

Mandy and Albus took the pages right after the three had read them. ”How do you know Urea's writing?” Mandy asked, though.

”Familiars inherit language comprehension from their masters,” Albus said. ”To me, it also feels odd that I'm able to read a strange script like this without learning it.”

Right… Mandy wondered how she hadn't noticed it being odd that Albus, someone from another dimension, spoke in the same language as her like a native. Wait-- did that mean -

”Can you understand fae language too?”

Albus thought on it. ”I can kind of tell the meaning of the script August writes, but it feels odd.” She thought a bit. ”The language I'm using when talking to you now is of the same type like mainland Aheal. It actually feels like a language you could normally learn and use, but the one he writes is something I wouldn't even call as being a language at all, it's so packed and raw that it feels more like a memory or intent transmission. I can't even imagine how it might sound if spoken,” Albus said. ”But I guess it's like with walking fae paths - Leum and Veri can already do that, but I'm still feeling sick and confused.” Albus sighed as she said that, her shoulders drooping.

Albus didn't really get a chance to hear fae language as she, then he, was knocked out back when August and the kid spoke in it. Mandy found that the way Albus explained it made a lot of sense, especially since she had heard it multiple times - there was a lot of meaning packed in - to a level it was overwhelming.

Ian didn't really say anything, looking around in wonder as he slowly sipped his coffee, Mandy could tell he was listening to their conversation, but he didn't comment or ask anything.

On the documents Ian brought, there were about fifteen different reports of odd happenings. Most were in print, but there were handwritten notes on each all made with beautiful cursive strokes. Mandy had a feeling it was Kenneth's handwriting - it matched up well with his voice and speech pattern. Two reports were entirely handwritten - those said the most frightening details - a local deity had disappeared, but at the same time someone else had taken on its functions. Mandy recalled the silvery spider. And a chunk of lifeforce having been eaten from most students of a high school three blocks down from this spot.

The printed reports were about various odd behaviors, injuries and coma cases occurring all around the town - rosewater being the worst one, as victims actually died. Kenneth had added that those had stopped when guild caught the elf, who was a student in the same school with the eaten lifeforce incident, but others were still unresolved, yet all had traces of magic in them of all alignments at that. Even Solean and Terrean magic, and two were of a magic type Kenneth said he had never seen before - magic alignment having a bronze metallic tone to it.

Kenneth had also added a note that he didn't wish to approach the guild about it, since he has a hunch that some guild members might be involved in it (and pointed at three of the printed reports saying that those smell of necromancer faction, witchcraft faction, and exorcist faction) and that he'd rather first figure out what's up before deciding what to do. He also said that August doesn't need to resolve it or do stuff that would endanger him, just figure out a bit more on it up to a level that doesn't feel too dangerous.

August and the dragons waited for Mandy and Albus to finish reading the last page before any of them said anything.

August got out the map with the spectral reading from yesterday. ”This one is from yesterday, I'll make a bigger one when we are outside,” he said.

”This one is the one who consumed that god and life force,” Leum pointed at the spider-shaped thing.

Albus's eyes widened, seeing the spot Leum was pointing at. ”It's a... Hadean royalty,” Albus mumbled with a frown on her face. ”But how can that be, it's not possible for them to sustain their shape in Urea.”

August rubbed his temple. ”Hadeans have a metallic looking alignment?” August asked.

”Yes,” Albus affirmed.

”Could this be what Hadeans looked for in Ahea?” August asked with a wry smile, a tired look settling on his face.

”... it could be,” Albus said. ”But the thing is - the Hadeans who were looking wanted to have that someone or something destroyed and they offered Abyss cores for any information.”

”Abyss cores?” August asked.

”Power source for Hadean spaceships, more lightweight and longer lasting than-- military secret technology we have,” this time Albus caught herself before revealing too much.

Ian's mouth was partly opened as he listened, his eyebrows scrunched in disbelief, and his head was tilting to the side.

Mandy too felt shaken up. How could things fall in line like this? Almost as if it was fate that had brought Albus here and now so she could meet and save the Hadean royalty.

”But why--” Albus frowned. ”Could there be a usurpation happening in Hades?”

August crossed his arms. ”Or a battle for succession. Why else would they try to sell state secret technology (I guess it ought to be one) just for the chance of killing a single person in secret? Hadeans don't make their statements in secret, right?”

”No. They have always been very open and direct with Ahea before,” Albus affirmed.

Looked like August had looked up as much as he could about Hadeans as well in his search of 'who might use me', or so Mandy concluded. But what sort of mess was this even? Even Mandy felt like rubbing her temple.

”Do we catch this royalty and exchange them for abyss cores?” Riveria asked. Didn't look like she was particularly worried about anything.

”Hm, seems like an easy target,” Ceruleum added, an amused smile appearing on his lips.

Mandy's eyes gained a dead look in them. Well, on the other hand, this said royalty was eating life force chunks of students…

”You would pass a-- prince of some world over to possible terrorists to kill?” Ian finally spoke up, squinting.

August squinted as well. ”I'd rather just ignore this and pass spectral readings over to Kenneth with a note that Hadeans have metallic alignment and that-- Leum, how could you tell he was the one eating life force?”

”Around fifteen millennia ago a gate appeared connecting Hades and Urea and some of us went there to loot,” Leum said with an expression of 'good old times'.

Fifteen millennia, huh? Mandy had a feeling Leum was old judging from his stories about civilizations long past, but she didn't think he was that ancient.

Even August looked surprised. Riveria and Albus were the exceptions to the rule this time. Looked like the incident wasn't a secret.

”They seemed weak at first, but then some of them ate their own allies and became strong. We retreated and they invaded Urea for a bit and ate some humans - the shape of their presence became like that then. Oh, and they also started speaking in the same language of the humans they ate - so I suppose they ate memories along with the lifeforce,” Leum added.

That sounded gruesome… Mandy pursed her lips. When she looked around at others she could see that only she and Ian found it creepy, however. August seemed deep in thought, Albus was frowning with crossed arms, Riveria, Chilli, and Nelly seemed curiously surprised.

”Fair note, those of them who had not cannibalized, evaporated as soon as they stepped through the gate,” Leum added, after a brief pause.

Well, in that case, the royalty might not have had much choice in the matter, Mandy nodded faintly and the report had said that only a chunk of life force had disappeared, no life had been lost. She didn't know how scary Leum and his looting buddies were, but if she imagined an alien dragon going on a rampage, then that made Hadean actions sensible. And if they evaporated without consuming others lifeforce, then perhaps this royalty was doing it to survive and she couldn't blame them then. It must be terrible to be on the run in an alien world and need to eat others lifeforce to survive - she even felt sorry for them.

Albus bit her lip, looking downwards. Her hands were clutching her own arms so strongly it looked painful.

August was still thinking, but his eyes had settled on Albus just as Mandy's eyes had. ”Albus, what do you want to do?” August asked.

Albus startled hearing August's question. She opened her mouth, but couldn't form any words at first. Then she sighed and let her arms fall loose at her sides.

”If I was still Albusflores von Plaustribus,” she started, looking down ”Then I would want to approach the Hadean royalty as secretly as possible and figure things out and then, I'd try to get them to Ahea, secure them and try to sort things out in an open diplomatic negotiation. Ahea and Hades have a non-involvement peace pact, yet it is based on a promise made by Hadean royal family. Even with as little knowledge as I have of Hades and our history, I can tell that it's bad news for Ahea if this promise gets called off.”

Albus looked up. ”But as Albus, a familiar of a Ureal die--” Cough. Albus stopped herself, peeking at Ian, then continued. ”I feel that it would be safest to secure this person nevertheless and pass them over to Tiamat before anyone else gets to them. If even a tenth of what I've heard of Tiamat is true, then I'm certain that she would make a decision that would fit Urea's interests the most.”

Mandy peeked at Ian too, but it didn't look like Ian was shocked by the slip of tongue any more than he was about anything else that was spoken here. In fact, he looked like he was involved in something way above his pay grade and was aware of it.

August looked over to Leum with a questioning look.

”Sounds like a plan,” Leum said. ”Let's kidnap the royal person and dump him on my mother as quickly as possible so that, hm, preferably none of the searching parties spot us at it.”

Kidnap. Mandy squinted at the wording, but it didn't look like anyone else found the wording odd other than Ian, who at this point looked like he had given up even more than before.