TRACK 16
The world I love, the trains I hop
To be part of the wave, can't stop
Come and tell me when it's time to
Wait a minute, I'm passing out, win or lose
Just like you
(Can't Stop- Red Hot Chili Peppers)
********
The Vampires were a bit too many for Jim's taste.
Even though the guards were keeping them at a distance, persuading some to turn on their heels and thus lessen the crowd, there were many of them still. And there were even apparent children in the crowd who were eight years old or younger -who in reality were probably much, much older than that. Maybe even older than Jim himself... and it was more than possible that they saw him as a child, no less- that they were leaning out to get a better look at them, always wearing makeup and always dressed far too elegantly.
It was strange. It was disturbing, though Jim could not understand why he perceived it in such a way. Maybe it was always because he didn't see the Vampires in a good light, but, no, as a motivation it didn't convince him at all. It was almost an excuse in the face of perceiving his stomach fold in crossing -even just casually- large, seemingly innocent and tender, but all too intelligent eyes of infants. And yes, children could be intelligent even if they were small, but in this case... it was different.
It was as if they had knowledge and wisdom, control over themselves, over their movements, that they should not have possessed if they were normal children.
'But they are not. They are not normal at all. They don't have to play, eat, sleep, or go to elementary school.'
Jim, more to avoid de-concentrating -or focusing too much on one part of the 'stage'- shook his head slightly, returning first to the gazes, then to their hands, to the position of their bodies, to the expressions to which he gave glances before moving immediately to avoid staring, then to Toby and finally to listening.
Listening to the inside of the building where Douxie, Archie, and Steve had disappeared into.
It was not that far from him. He had tried to stay in the direction of the threshold, even suffering the cold and vaguely annoyed looks from the Guard who had blocked them before. But even trying to increase his proximity to the inside of the building, absolutely nothing could be heard.
"I don't know if I'm telling you something you're already aware of, but... magical creatures tend, for the most part, to live among themselves in large groups for a reason," Douxie said. "It's not just because it's easier to survive. No, I can assure you it's not just because of that. The Loners hide better than the Covens. They don't have to protect anyone but themselves and are not bound to stay in one place or with their group. Running away alone is easier than running away in thirty or more, right?"
Jim had barely nodded, his eyebrow arched in slight confusion at the speech. He hadn't been able to figure out where the Wizard was going with this and what exactly his role in the whole situation was attached to it.
"The main reason is that magic tends to connect with other magic. Whether it's through simple relationships, forced proximity, contracts, tattoos, etcetera etcetera," he had waved his hands a little. "And sometimes it can expand an individual's abilities, even if the said individual does not realize it. Or has problems distinguishing it with the normal sensations and emotions. It becomes more apparent in times of high tension, however."
"Unity is strength?" Jim had asked, not even being that surprised.
"Unity is strength." Repeated Douxie with a nod. Then he had pointed to the two Trolls and Claire. "Ever felt strange or exhausted during a situation, only to get up again as if you weren't that much tired anymore for a few moments, just because of the presence of one of them?..."
Jim had opened and closed his mouth, letting him continue.
"...Or of feeling every part of you scream 'danger' in case one of them had been in it... and for no apparent specific reason, counting that maybe you hadn't even noticed it beforehand? In big fights, it doesn't work that way, because everyone would be in danger at the same time and it would be chaotic, not helping anyone, but... Still, it would serve to coordinate each of you as much as possible."
Jim had opened his eyes wide, looking at the raven-haired boy with shock, struggling to formulate a decent sentence. He had more than one small flashback appearing in his memory. It had happened. It really had. He had always passed over it, though.
He had seen each event more as a psychological boost than anything else. Only the one of 'danger' during breakfast before the explosion and the fight with Nemain had seriously caught his attention. This because it had been something to which he had been unable to give plausible reasons.
"Is it because of that?" He had asked, almost gasping.
Hisirdoux had nodded once more, his expression serious."Yeah," a big deep breath. "Trolls usually call it 'Individual Magnetism' if I'm not wrong." he shot a look at Blinky, almost for confirmation.
The Troll nodded a little "Hard to feel it most of the times, especially since it gets under the current of intents and emotions, but yes. Individual Magnetism, it is."
"Well," Douxie paused, "Funny for some to say, or rude enough for others to change its name... it's generally called 'Herd Instinct.' That's because it works mostly on other people's ability to understand and feel what happens around them, cataloging it as good, neutral, or bad. But expanding it, especially towards the 'Pack' of other magical creatures."
He had been silent for a couple of seconds, letting him assimilate the information before resuming the conversation.
"It only works within a certain distance. Not with whole miles of separation or else I wouldn't even need the Rune of Connection for the two of you," he had wrinkled his nose a bit."Emotionally it can also be found in humans, although there it is only empathy, solidarity or a strong connection for self."
"But I had feelings like that even without being a Half-Troll..." Jim murmured, slowly. He had been human when he had felt something deeply uneasy churning inside his chest before Vendel's death-but he had mistaken that feeling for something else, as... Well. He had been on a trial. And then he had been thrown down the Deep.
"For the Amulet," Douxie had tightened his shoulders and paused again, staring at an unspecified point. "Merlin's Magic is in there. Some of Morgana's is also in there," he had frowned for a second but then had shaken his head. "The Magic of the Stone Core of which it is composed is in there, too and the Armor itself is pure magic, because of the enchantments engraved on the metal itself. To the point that, well, you could say it is essentially alive." He had looked him straight in the eye. "When you read the incantation, its Magic became yours, as your feelings, desires, and thoughts became part of it. An exchange to fulfill a role, whether wanted or not, but still an exchange."
Jim had remained silent, calculating more and more what he had said. Then he muttered a soft-spoken "Okay" before inhaling and exhaling. "So I should be able to sense if you're in danger if we were to be split up..."
"I don't know," had immediately replied Douxie, leading him to arch both eyebrows, to which the Wizard had hastened to elaborate. "Knowing it exists is already an important element in the beginning, so letting you know the existence of such an ability was necessary. But I doubt that in our case it already works. Maybe not, in fact, it's almost certain to be a no, because not enough time has passed, but..."
"But it does," he had replied, his brow furrowed, interrupting him and tearing a puzzled expression, this before he had blinked and tilted his head, looking at him as if he was delirious or something.
"Pardon?"
"It works," Jim had said with conviction, leading him to open and close his mouth, showing clear confusion.
It had been Jim's turn to explain, recapitulating the morning's events, with Claire also adding herself to the whole conversation and giving him her version of what happened, saying she had felt it herself, not on one occasion, but twice.
When she had finished speaking, Hisirdoux had stared at Claire and Jim with a lost expression, casting a glance at Archie who had shown just as much shock.
"Is that so weird?" Jim had asked, unable to ignore the bewilderment in both of them.
"Counting that it's been less than three days? A little," replied Archie, almost appearing uncomfortable for a couple of seconds. "With some of the members of various Covens we've met, the average has always been a week, almost two to get even a hint of Herds Instincts if they didn't reject us first. And there have always been quite a few tense situations..." a pause. "In my and Douxie's relationship, it has been less, but we are a completely separate thing and it works differently, so to give examples with us would be kind of stupid." he had paused again, sniffing and waving his tail. "It should be nothing short of impossible to take such a small amount of time."
They had been silent for several seconds.
"Maybe it's because of the Castle? It's full of magic," tried Douxie, staring at the dragon.
"That... Could actually be it... But that means that every magic being felt it."
"Blinky, did you sense the, uh, Instinct this morning?" Jim had therefore asked, turning to face him.
Blinky had shaken his head "I'm afraid not," he had said, appearing nervous. Then he had turned his attention to Aaarrrgh. He too had denied it, showing puzzlement.
It had only served to confuse them all even more.
"Maybe it has something to do with Mr. Magic Man?" Steve had questioned.
"What would Merlin have to do with this?" Claire had shot back, sounding partly unnerved.
"I don't know, but he seems like the type who is involved in everything and more!"
"In this case, no. He is not..." Douxie sighed. "Our Herd Instinct is still disconnected. We haven't been close enough to turn it back on," he had hunched his shoulders a little and shaken his head. "Whatever. We'll think about it later. Or do researches. Maybe something will come up. Anyway... It looks like we won't need another rune or magical object of some kind. That's better."
Jim had to listen to his instincts. Even just a hinted feeling of alarm -Hoping, of course, not to confuse mere concern due to the creatures themselves with actual danger. It was a far too new notion to him to feel natural. Naming it had been like giving it importance. And having to concentrate on making sure it worked was even more so- it would have led him to jump at it. To share the alarm with Claire
He sent a simple 'Everything okay here' to her, drawing a small circle on the back of his hand. To which the feeling of her fingers responded with two circles, slow and delicate, responding in an equally simple 'got it,' which almost brought a smile to his face. Almost, because the guard was still squaring him down. Jim went so far as to tighten his lips as much as he could.
"Don't do, number nine: Avoid looking suspicious. Always a matter of avoiding 'too much'. Too stiff, too soft, too calm, too nervous... things like that."
Smiling out of the blue for no apparent reason would have appeared suspicious. It was more than obvious as a thing.
The silence was fueled by tension. A tension so heavy that it could have been cut with a knife. The way most of the Vampires stood, stiff, composed, and rather cold looking, was not helping one bit.
Jim went back to look at Toby, who was trying not to show agitation, although that total silence seemed to be getting on his nerves a bit. He tried to give him all the support he could, without being able to pat him on the back or talk to him.
Tobes returned his gaze to something fleeting. He appeared almost immediately straighter and more secure in his position, uplifted and grateful expressively. That was before he went to look again at one side and Jim at the other, the opposite side, hoping that the negotiations would end soon and well, though usually, they were two factors that clashed quite a bit.
They kept calm until one of the children suddenly was able to slip away from the body barriers that the Guards had created, dividing them, and ran in front of them.
********
'Jesus Christ, how much does she intend to keep on eating?'Zoe couldn't help but think, staring at Badb while she quickly swallowed an entire bowl of Chirashizushi, before moving to a plate with several pieces of Nigiri, Uramaki, and Maki.
She had already eaten six bowls of Ramen, two for each main type, two plates full of Sashimi, and many, many Oshizushi. And the Dragon Clouds. And the Soybean Noodles. Oh, and all the freaking Takos and Tamagos Sushi.
'Thank you, universe, that this is an All You Can Eat. To be this tiny, she eats like an army of starving men.'
Zoe wasn't someone who ate little portions. No, she usually ate quite a lot, and sometimes when Alice was full, she tended to steal her leftovers -Or she did it to get her riled up because she was hella cute even when she was annoyed with her after being teased- but for fuck's sake, this Witch was a fucking food vacuum!
She felt nauseated only at the idea of still eating after all that!
'Well, she said that she made a long journey...' Ashildr ended up thinking after Badb finished the whole plate, raising her right hand to call the waiter, while the left hand grabbed the menu all over again, making both the Technomancer and the man -a simple human named Howard, who she was pitying quite a lot, especially since he looked ragged and hungry- sweat buckets of perspiration. 'But this still seems fucking exaggerated. Almost worse than Naruto Uzumaki.'
Badb ordered again, asking for Tobiko and Kani Sarada sushi. Zoe, more exasperated than she would have liked, requested a coffee instead, hoping with every part of her that she wouldn't end up asking for several desserts after everything. Or they were going to stay there for quite a while, even too much for her slowly receding patience... all the while, instead, her idea of throwing herself on the mattress and sleeping until 7:00 p.m was quickly fading.
Zoe sighed slightly and sent a few texts left and right, thanking Howard when he came with the small, sadly too short, cup of coffee.
********
Steve was somewhat tempted to say something. Anything, really, but at first he would have liked to protest about the fact that, what the heck, the freaking Creepers seemed way too fixated on stairs.
First, there was Camelot, with its who-knows-how-many rooms, its three-billion hallways, and the absurd amounts of steps that popped up every time you laid your eyes anywhere, not even as if they were mushrooms.
Now there was the secret refuge of the more than creepy -but he wasn't afraid, no, no, absolutely not, pffft, him? Afraid? As if... okay, maybe a little bit- Vampires, all of whom were so white that it looked like someone had taken an eraser and started deleting every trace of color they had reached.
There had been stairs before. And in moving through that building a second time, trying to reach who knows what other room, there were more. The long, almost seemingly interminable spiral staircase composed of white stone and pieces of stained glass ascended in the direction of the ceiling with a steepness that should have been illegal -Who the heck was the crazy, totally insane buttsnack who had made them that way?
So, yes. Steve would have wanted to say something. Like he would have liked to say something about the manner -for him quite annoying and blustery at times- of the Leader guy, whom he mentally nicknamed Mr. Eraser because he could no longer remember his name already. Not that he saw any particular importance in remembering it, counting that one of the no-nos was talking to him if he wasn't asked to do so, precisely.
As much as he wanted to do it, as much as he wanted to mutter some sour comment, he was reminding himself between inappropriate thoughts not to. He had given himself a subspecies of mental order: Watch the bro's Dragon-Cat... Or the bro himself.
The former worked more than expected, for certain looks Archie gave him were devastating -almost goosebumpy- but the latter was no less so.
Doux had given him responsibilities, and he didn't want to betray his expectations. He really didn't. Steve wanted to be helpful.
So yes, as much as he wanted to say something, anything, he kept biting his tongue out of instinct. Not physically, although when Mr.Eraser had stood up and had been in front of him, he had almost done it for real.
When they reached the end of the staircase, he still let a sigh of relief escape, trying not to gasp and gasp again like the wolf in the Sword In The Rock movie. But failing, for it seemed almost as if the air in his lungs was gone.
The stairs led to a trapdoor, which formed a part of the ceiling and which as soon as it was pulled down, showed six more steps -Again. Yes. Absolutely obsessed with them, it was crazy! What the heck. Damn, he almost couldn't feel his legs anymore and his feet were burning- and that made reaching a huge room, similar to an attic, but larger than any attic he had ever had the opportunity to see -not that he had seen many, to tell the truth. Only the old man's, after he had separated from his mother, but before he had decided to ultimately leave. It had been when there had been fights over his custody and he had been unable to resist staying in their environment, ending up sitting on the small bed in the corner and trying to occupy his time with video games. Trying not to hear them screaming from below.
That 'attic,' as opposed to the old man's, was occupied by an almost illegal amount of furniture -itself filled with books, old parchments, jewelry, and strange objects that Steve would have wanted to touch- from several bust statues, from paintings with photographs and portraits of very ugly guys, but with seemingly wonderful if always snow-white hair -who knows what shampoo they used!... Did vampires use shampoo? He had no idea. It seemed the answer was yes, to his mind, but he couldn't be sure. Still, from that side he envied them a little- and from a very old spyglass, left beside the window and a bulky globe.
Mr. Eraser paused in his advance in front of one of the paintings. Doux, meanwhile, was scrutinizing all the volumes with blatant interest, as if about to throw himself among them with open arms.
Steve, on the other hand, would surely have been bored at the first dozen or so pages of the first manual pulled out. Reading was not an activity for him. School books were already torture, let alone anything else consisting of an avalanche of tiny words that were almost delirious and lost in futility. If he did not have to, he would have steered clear of them without the slightest sense of guilt.
Summing up very briefly, Steve very much preferred movies. Although certain ones had still been able to put him to sleep in their turn in less than twenty minutes.
"Haoyu Wang was a less important Leader in the Vampire community, compared to the Phantom of Vienna," the guy's voice jumped up, going to gently rest his hand on the picture frame, almost caressing it. "... Are you aware of why he was called Cold Fury, Hisirdoux?"
His tone of voice was still absurdly annoying. Was it ever possible that the important people he had met always had something chafing in the way they spoke? Was this a necessary factor, like a rule in the power contract?... Or was it perhaps just Steve who perceived them to be annoying, because they seemed to him to be getting off on it? Perhaps it was the second option, but he didn't care. They looked and sounded stupid.
"You must excuse me, Tai-Yang, but no," Douxie replied, ever cautious. As if answering otherwise would lead him to set off a nerve in Mr. Eraser's head. "I was not informed of that."
"Hmm." The Vampire went back to squaring the raven-haired boy and approached him again. He did nothing else. "I would have been surprised otherwise."
'Then why the heck did you ask, buttsnack? To slap his not-knowing in the face? For mere amusement? Are you mean for fun?'
"Haoyu was an amazing leader. Prone to goodness and loyal to all the rules of the Codex, even the most..." he paused, "uncomfortable ones. Anyone who broke a rule would suffer his wrath. But it was never an explosive rage. He never bled out or beheaded anyone in a fit of rage. He always chose more appropriate punishments, never getting emotionally unbalanced."
"I suppose he was well-liked," the bro assumed a slightly wrinkled expression. Steve did not understand the reason, but okay. Fine. He was in the 007 mode again. He was like a very pretty and smart model. And that seemed almost unfair. But, still, it was so freaking cool.
"Yes. He was. And his apparent apathy was an example to our whole Nest."
'And that's why they're all so frighteningly creepy, cold, and rigged? Yikes.'
Steve forced himself to look at Archie again. The Cat-Dragon was following the interaction with full interest, his tail flicking intermittently.
"Our amplified emotions have never been a problem for him. He has never seen them in such a way. And he pushed all of us to seek the best possible inner balance."
'Like a psychologist or something like that?.'
"...If I may, assuming it's not too much, could I ask what happened to him?" The bro asked, calm and collected.
Mr. Eraser was silent for a few moments. "What do you think?" He asked, going to stare at him with his... his scary, very, very scary red eyes. Chilling.
It was Douxie's turn to be silent but for a longer amount of time than the Vampire. "Murdered, perhaps?" Another small pause."By one of the Coven?"
''Huh? What? Where on earth did you get this information from?''
Steve gasped, staring at his friend, unable to hold back his shock. And receiving an equally shocked expression from him and the Dragon. From the Vampire himself, even.
Several seconds of total silence passed. It was with the three pairs of eyes resting on him and that distinct communal silence that he realized he had spoken out loud.
'Ouch.'
"Uh... Excuse me. Carry on as if I'm not here, really," he tried not to gesticulate, breaking into a cold sweat and keeping his hands down, firmly still to avoid doing something super stupid like accidentally touching someone's shoulder. "Sorry, again."
Mr. Eraser peered at him for a long time, keeping quiet. As luck would have it, he then turned back to look at the Wizard, ignoring him again.
Archie's gaze instead remained on him, clearly saying something, though not clear to him what it was. A somewhat irritated expression. Silent, but irritated.
Steve mentally cursed, swallowing hard, feeling tense and still sweating coldly, so much so that he could feel chills all over his body.
'Okay. Yes, Steve, bite your tongue, Steve. Mr. Eraser must not get upset. We don't want any trouble, no Sir. And we promised to be reliable.'
"Desolated. We all tend to be rather chaotic usually," said Douxie, letting slip a slightly strained smile. "Our lifestyles are quite different on this side."
"...I still remember my life as a human. I know how it can be." Mr. Eraser arched an eyebrow, but strangely smiled back, more relaxed. "I see a great effort to adapt to ours in you both," he cast Steve yet another glance, albeit a very quick one.
"We are in your house. Showing respect is the least we can do," the bro continued to look less confident than before, but the response he received seemed to take away at least some of the agitation. "Desolated again."
"It's all right. Your bodyguard didn't bother me. Just surprised me a little." He chuckled, then walked away from the painting at a slow pace in complete silence, approaching the bookcase and stroking the spine of a very old volume with a bright red cover.
"In any case, about your thesis... murdered, he was. But not by someone from the Witches Lair." He paused, returning to stare at Doux without a word. "... It was me who did it."
Steve gaped, feeling his heart drop.
'Wait, what?'
********
"You're a strange creature." The child observed, his eyes -similar to liquid silver, even almost white- fixed on Jim with total attention, while a wide, open smile stretched across his face, showing almost shark-like teeth, except for the four typical canines, two on either side. "Not a Troll, not a human, not a Changeling," a pause, in which he continued to square him. "What are you?"
"Sir. Zhu, it would be better if..." the same huge Guard intervened again, more than determined to make the 'little' Vampire -an elder, counting the color of his eyes- get away from him.
"Don't bother me, Atsushi. It's annoying. I just want to talk," he asserted coldly, casting a reproachful glance at which the other barely stiffened, only to appear as before in the blink of an eye, merely keeping an eye on them, nodding his head.
And then the elder returned to Jim, demanding an answer to his question. He had to give it to him.
"Half-Troll and half-human," he replied.
The discomfort in Jim took on increasing a little more each second when he noticed that Sir. Zhu did not seem to appreciate what he had said, always showing all his teeth, but no longer in a smile -as terrifying as it had been... As it was at that moment, it was even worse.
"Those are the Changelings. You're not one of them," he insisted, in the same tone as before.
"Magic made me this way," he found himself saying. "I'm half of both creatures, without being a shifter." Jim tried to speak as calmly and confidently as possible. His tone of voice came out perhaps a little too dry, but the Vampire did not seem to mind. On the contrary.
"So you're a new unknown creature instead?" He went back to staring at him, starting to circle him repeatedly, his arms swinging back and forth with every step. "Did the Son of the Dragons create you?"
Jim caught a glimpse of Toby nervously bringing an arm to the cape, but unable to move from the 'total defense' position, in which he kept an eye out that no one was trying to close them in any way, trapping them.
"I guess so for the new creature thing," said Jim, not sure if he would appreciate where the talk was going. "But no, it wasn't..." It wasn't Douxie, he forced himself not to say. "... It wasn't the Son of the Dragons." The Nickname sounded weird out of his mouth.
"Too bad..." said Zhu, continuing to rotate around him."It would have been interesting to talk to him about it, from Pure Scientist to Magic Scientist. Doesn't happen often to meet one who has such an ability in creating something utterly different and new out of scraps. Do you happen to know where your creator is, then?Are they with you?"
"...No. I don't." He lied. Not even blinking. He felt kind of uneasy around this Vampire, more than with the others. And counting how he already felt, it was saying a lot.
He did not want him nearer than possible.
Silence fell for several seconds, in which the Vampire became pensive, but continued to move around him.
"Can I taste your blood, then?" He asked after that pause, making Jim feel his heartbeat jump and speed up out of all proportion.
"If you are an out-of-the-ordinary mixture, a magical experiment, your flavor must be quite intriguing. I've tasted countless amounts of species in my years, you are something new. I want to try you."
"Uhm... No." He forced himself not to flinch while answering. He tried to not show the slight fear and anxiety as a feeling began to push inside of him. It was the deep desire to leave. He could feel his heart rumbling in his chest and the term 'magical experiment' making him feel mild irritation. "I'm sorry, but no."
He wasn't sorry at all. Not even a little. He was far from being it. Just denying the request, though, would probably have brought the "child" closer to annoyance. And the image of his head detached from his neck was not pretty at all.
The apology did not seem to improve the situation anyway, so much so that he seemed to increase the speed of the Vampire's pace, while his face showed an offended grimace.
'... Not good,' he thought, ending up holding his breath involuntarily. 'Really not good.'
"I ask you again, experiment," Zhu said, bending his head and running his tongue over his teeth. A gesture to which Jim brought his hand to touch the beginning of his other one.
"Can I?" The Vampire asked, his nearly white eyes seeming to glisten. He seemed more than ready to attack.
Toby came close to pulling out one of the stakes, his expression serious and angry. Jim, on the other hand, came very, very close to finally signaling the alarm to Claire, feeling his heart lose all rhythm as a chill continued to run down his spine.
But the huge Guard -Atsushi, Jim remembered it- turned to stand in the way, placing himself in front of him like a human shield.
"Sir, please stop bothering our guests. If you continue to insist, I will have to call Cold Fury to intervene to punish you in the most appropriate manner for the caused offense."
The older Vampire stopped moving around Jim and took two steps back, merely facing the other. He hissed like a cat at the last comment, the liquid silver glowing with anger.
"I told you to not annoy me, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did, Sir. But I expected you to have a talk with them, not to endanger one of them. You don't want the wrath of the Leader and of the Wizard to fall upon all of us, don't you?"
Zhu hissed again, showing all his teeth again. Atsushi did the same, even though Jim couldn't see him.
"I wasn't endangering him." Zhu snapped immediately, still snarling like an animal.
"You were, Sir," Atsushi replied. "No type of harm will be caused to any guest. No blood drinking unless they offer," a pause."I would say, if I'm not wrong, that he denied your request. You have no right to insist, nor to try attacking him."
"They are invaders. They weren't asked to come in."
"No, they weren't," the Guard admitted coldly. "But they asked to be let in and the Chief accepted. They didn't break any law."
They remained silent for a while after that.
Zhu seemed to want to protest. Quite a lot, too. But he did not retort in any way. He merely narrowed his gaze and continued to stare at the other, trying to make him desist, but failing.
He ended up giving up.
He muttered an irritated "So be it..." huffing, before walking away. He also mumbled something else, but it was not clear what because of the low volume and the distance that thankfully continued to increase.
Jim managed to throw out the oxygen he had unintentionally held back earlier, then, when Atsushi shifted again his back to the door, keeping an eye on him, he ended up making an instant little bow.
"Thank you," he said, taking repeated small breaths afterward.
Atsushi did not respond at first, merely squaring him with the same expression he had reserved for him before.
"It's the rules of the Codex. No need to thank me," he simply said, looking apathetically at him and sounding kinda rude. Jim chose to overlook it.
Although he was somewhat sour -maybe the same feeling of distrust Jim had for his species was reciprocated, but on the Wizards' side, counting the tone he used to call out Douxie... or maybe he was just kind of like that- that Vampire had just helped them. If they weren't fighting already or being forced to beat a retreat, it was only because of him.
Jim went back to focusing on the Instinct, continuing to keep an eye on the rest of the Nest as well.
He continued to perceive nothing out of the ordinary.
********
"Pardon?" Douxie blinked a few times, unable to hold back his shock.
"I killed Haoyu Wang," Tai-Yang repeated, with a slight smile tracing his face. A smile that was not sadistic, but rather sad. "But you came very close, honestly. It was because of the Witches' Lair that I had to kill him myself," a pause. "One of his Wizards had... a quite singular talent." His jaw twitched.
"When..." Douxie could not help but frown, sensing a twinge of empathy for him. To kill someone you cared about, by your hand... It was something that marked you inside. Already doing it indirectly was something terrible; he could only imagine how the Vampire had felt. "When did it happen?"
"Less than a month ago," he asserted, his gaze fading into the void as if he was remembering it at that very moment. "They had happened to be in the city and were trying to recruit ferals that Haoyu wanted to join the Nest," he clenched his teeth to the point where he looked like he would have broken them. "They made it more than clear that anyone who tries to steal their prey from them will not end well."
Douxie remained silent, not knowing how to respond. A simple 'I'm sorry to hear that' seemed stupid to say. He saw Tai-Yang pick up the Vampire Codex.
"My... My condolences," he whispered anyway, even though that, too, seemed stupid to say for whatever reasons. Maybe because no condolences would help out to fade the pain away.
"Thanks," the new Cold Fury said. "... If I had not eliminated him permanently, he would have only suffered more. The God of Death, Shipwrecks, and Darkness found it rather amusing to put him through the pains of hell."
Hisirdoux felt his stomach twist with tension.
'Dark magic, possible direct use, or otherwise, of one of the four Primordial Elements and... a natural talent for assassination via slow torture? Whoever this is, he is more than an enemy. More than a nemesis. And I doubt it will be easy to defeat.' He thought, ending by casting a glance at Steve and then Archie. 'I don't want any of them to go against him.'
"One of the rules of the Codex says that anyone outside the Nest who injures or kills a member of it will suffer the same fate." Tai-Yang went to open the volume, scrolling through the pages. "It would therefore be logical to join forces with you to take them down, accepting your offer of an alliance..."
Douxie sensed his heart accelerate dramatically. The hope bubbling up inside him struggled with a background of anxiety that he could not banish.
Although the sentence seemed to direct the speech to the positive side of the situation, he could almost feel a 'but' forming, burning inside his ears.
"... But I won't do it," concluded the Leader, closing the Codex.