I'm a curious person.
If you ask me if I am curious, I will tell you I am, in every way it can mean. Now, people say curiosity can be bad. That I know for sure, but never have I suffered from it as of now.
They also say curiosity killed the cat. That's a joke I often get. I stopped caring about it quickly. Now, I'm surrounded by others who don't mind. They are very curious, each of them, in many ways, each of their mind working in their own, complicate ways. Even when I have nothing to work on, I can still observe them, to be surprised at every second by their choice. But at least, despite the endless surprise that an individual can provide by observing his action, there are some constant, some fixed rules they obey.
Never will Eric speak about his past.
Never will Hanna stop to overanalyze thing.
And never will my thirst for more knowledge ever quenched.
It can be a little scary for me to meet other people, so I tend to immediately learn the most I can about them. How else can I be in their presence? It is impossible for me to work properly with people I can't understand.
If I succeed at understanding at least a fraction of how they work, then it's no more dangerous for me to be here. I can't speak properly to people I don't understand.
But for once, I couldn't understand a thing about Seth. This jackal was nothing but normal. Beyond the strangest individual I could ever meet.
The first time I met him, his energy seemed off. He exuded an aura that smelled like sewer. Nothing about him seemed right.
An amnesiac jackal, who went trough events that gave him natural affinity for necromancy, a field of supernatural where so little is known.
What sort of events made him like that?
He was out of the ordinary. From the little I could say now, I'd say he is devoured in and out by mental instability he doesn't the source of. And that is without speaking about the countless horrific supernatural experience he had since he joined my department.
I did my best to understand him. At first, I tried as usual, gathering data, but I failed, as nothing relevantly normal could be observed. So, I took upon myself to act a bit more like other normal people. Going out, doing activities together. It's truly hard for me to pretend to not be me, as I can only be me, and not others. And so, I failed once again to aquire tangible data.
And don't get me started on his show where he got all white. That is the definition of the word alien, it's purest and most ancient form. Something that does not belong here.
I was disappointed. Oftentimes, when I inform Hanna about things she doesn't know, she pats my head and thank me. I liked that.
Truly I can't seem to understand him. At least for now, for I have now a few big elements of his thinking process.
Severe repression of emotions, unconscious avoidance of all elements of his past, random outburst of suicidal behavior and last but not least: a terrible hatred or fear of contact and fire.
I could see how tense he was when I climbed on his shoulder when we got to an ice rink. I could see how little he seemed to care for his safety when he jumped in the fire of the building, just for his mind to shut down a few seconds after that.
And it was just like that.
Our two groups where crossing data, but halfway through Hanna theorizing, Seth started to have seizure, as if his mind was being overflowed. He immediately collapsed on the floor. At the best of our capacity, we tried to help.
I made sure to stop his fall with a cotton bed. Eric tried to inspect his mouth to see if he was not biting his tongue.
Hanna immobilized his paws, seeking to prevent him from damaging himself with his bare claw, who were already quite in a bad shape.
Eric slowly lifted him, carrying him like a baby. He was breathing extremely fast, and his pulse was a little weaker than average, even for him.
Seth was barely conscious, only moving by reflex whenever something touched him, flinching, but lacking the explosive reflex that came just after that. Instead, he clasped his paw together, and never separated them, holding them tightly, as if he was holding paws with someone else. It could be that he dreamed of holding paws with someone as his eyes moved extremely fast under his eyelid. He was muttering incomprehensible words, and he seemed panicked, and sad.
At least, it's what the inflexion on his face and muzzle told me.
When we were halfway to the way home in Eric car, he started crying in his sleep.
I observed him well, under all angle. It was not a result of magic, but a side effect, and what was happening right now was purely psychological.
How unlucky we were. As powerful we seemed, no one had experience with mind magic.
Hanna could destroy .
I could build
Eric could erase.
But none of us can penetrate a yuuman mind. How pitiful.
With nothing to do but wait, I got back to my room. It's more like a lab than a room by the way. Many vials and tools to experiment, but only a simple bed, bland in color, barely touched.
I never slept alone. I don't know how to. So usually, I sleep on Hanna chair in her room.
My mind always goes blank when I'm alone and there is nothing to do. The presence of others gives me ideas.
Right now, only one thing came to my mind. A common idea for those sorts of tense ambiance.
In the left corner of my room, I have a set of instrument. A guitar, a cello, a violin and a flute and so many more...
When I said I didn't knew mind magic, I was exaggerating. I know a little, but nothing helpful for the jackal situation, at least nothing to directly address the core problem. It's frustrating, but I'll have to do with what I have.
I slowly left my room. Eric was pacing the room, growing frustrated. His attempts at canceling the magical lock on the computer data were not successful. He was talking to Hanna, about our lead for a meeting of our targets. Apparently, a [masked ball] was being organized at a famous [party room] and they needed to find a way to be invited. In the belly of the beast...
A curious idea.
Hanna was half listening Eric, busy trying her best to understand the little she could read from the computer.
The two them, despite seeking to maintain a mask of coldness and calm, couldn't help but let slip once or twice their true feelings.
Hanna was deeply perturbed, and maybe a little scared by Seth. She couldn't help but think he had a connection and so many things seemed so strange. She never doubted his word, as there was sincerity in his confusion and despair. Still, something didn't had up, and she was troubled.
Eric was the most expressive. Despite the sincere kindness he displayed, he sometime, often during excessive usage of magic, let slip a little of him. This facet of him was much more doubtful of itself. It seemed like he was bottling up something, and made his best to forget it. And he succeeded from the look of it. As long as no one spoke too much of those "things" he kept, he was unaware of it for most of the time, even if it happened right in front of him. But since Seth bumped into our lives, he changed, and never have I ever saw him this much emotionally invested.
I should be thankful to Seth for bringing so much change in our lives. I felt like suffocating in a routine for a little while.
I simply sat on the part of the sofa that Seth unconscious body didn't occupy. He still was trembling, a tear sometime falling.
I don't like tension, so I'll have to address this problem now.
I slowly started to play. My fingers slowly ran across the guitar strings. A soft, calming melody. A random lofi guitar song. Anyone can perform it, but under my command the melody come to life.
At each note, I'm adding a string to the weaving of the melody.
Barely a handful of second later after I started to play, Eric and Hanna stopped talking and turned their head toward me.
Hanna immediately smiled a little. Only her could remember my melody. I don't play often, for I never play for just the pleasure of it. It must mean something, or else, there is no magic.
The two of them just stood here, listening to me. It did not matter much , the music wasn't for them, but for once, I extended it for them.
There are much more to my magic than flowers and trees. When I was young, I wanted to give a place for the mind to heal, to be free, to wander in it's fantasy.
Music was the key for me. My grandma taught me to create illusion. But never have I ever reached her level in this craft. But trough the music my father taught me, I could weave illusion even greater than those of grandma. Her own masterpiece where just visual and auditive, which was good, I recognize it. But through music, I wove a tapestry of emotion, a three dimensional world of feelings.
But it was extremely hard, and tiring.
I remembered the two happiest day of my life. The day Eric bought me a gigantic plush toy, in the shape of a panda, without even hesitating a single second just because I asked him. Before, people would hesitate.
And the second day, was when Hanna offered me my instruments. Rowan wood, dragon gut string, Mithril metallic carving with an enchantment for resonance. Not a single false note permitted, or else the entire melody is spoiled. Just like I wanted it. I remembered when she bought all those instruments, the same day, for my birthday, and she patted my head, with a soft, and a proud smile on her face. She said:
- I hope one day you'll play.
Not once did she asked for me to play for her. She wanted me to play for me, but never did I played for that reason. Sometime, I would practice, to be sure to be ready the day I would have too.
I remembered a day she came back, furious and almost in tear, because it was one of those day where she saw too much for a normal person. I played for her that day. I played Nina Simone, her favorite.
And now, I'm playing for Seth.
Resonating with my magic, the instrument made the air around us shift. Seth stopped trembling as the illusion settled. I could see his "mind". It was more the image of himself he had, the manifestation of his self awareness. I first tried a simple forest. And so a forest filled the room. Nothing real, not even a "true" illusion by the canon used by hounds. It's not visual or acoustic, it's an image filling the room. At first, the music was simple, and so the forest was. I poured magic in the few bouquets of beautiful magical flowers I had the habit of growing in the apartment, making them glow and reinforcing their smell. I whistled, imitating the sounds of feral bird in the distance. The image self imposed, I wove more thoroughly, adding bolder notes, but also some who were sweeter, some strange and mysterious, and even other barely heard. The forest grew, and became colorful. Flowers sprouted in the distance, some who were not even from this world, before they slowly started to converge in a beautiful pattern. The grassy ground was fresh, yet dry, and one would be tempted to lie down and sleep.
Firefly and various insect of the most pretty kind came to listen, all of them in fact parts of the song.
I finally gained a reaction from the jackal, his attention turning to the evening sky. I could sense he was seeking something in the sky, something that was not the sun. I understood the intention, and I stopped playing for a second, just to start a new melody.
Two songs in the same day, really the world is upside down because you, jackal.
The evening sky, became black, and all luminous insect left. The trees moved their branch to clear the view of the sky, and a nearby river became like a mirror. I cleared my throat. Hope I won't botch the notes.
Suddenly, the sky filled itself with countless color, stars and nebula, colorful cloud of gas and asteroid belt of distant world.
I took a deep breath. Not even Hanna heard me sing. But since it's my favorite, it should work.
"fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars.
Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars
in other words, hold my hand
in other words, darling, kiss me
fill my heart with songs, and let me sing forever more
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore
in other words, please be true
in other words, I love you
I immediately got reaction from the jackal. As soon as I evoked stars, he opened his eyes a little, raising his paw, trying to grasp the star in his paws. However I couldn't help but notice his eyes were the same color when he was possessed. Once again, he shed a tear, not out of sadness, but out nostalgia.
As I hit the last note, Eric softly took Seth paw in his own. As soon as he did such, Seth snapped out of his half-awake state, opening wide his eyes.
- What?
Seeing his paw in Eric own, he immediately withdrawn his arm.
- Why am I home?
Eric, an awkward look on his face, sat in front of him. He started to talk, but I started to feel too sleepy to care. I used up too much magic. I already felt my eyes closing. I felt a paw gently [patting] my head and scratching my forefront. It was Hanna. She gently lifted me, and took me in her arms, lifting me and heading to my room, as I felt more and more tired.
- Good job lil'bro.
I then drifted to sleep.