The great mansion's stillness had been going for days, almost a week. The two living beings were extremely reticent. They didn't open their mouth to speak to each other, not even a good morning or hi's and hello's. Mocha was using the house as he owned it, using the items and laying everywhere as he pleased. Meanwhile, Felicia let him be and go out whenever and wherever she wanted. Goes out late at night and returns in the morning just to have a nap.
Not that she didn't want to, but she was too afraid to talk first, day by day she hoped that Mocha would eventually say something. She would take a fast glance and peek to see how's Mocha doing. After what happened, the feeling of uselessness and irresponsibility crept up on her. The creator felt shame mixed with low self-esteem.
Sleepless nights haunted her, reminiscing about Danial and the fight had kept her up with the blame. The thought of seeing him again but never getting to be as close as she used to, its depressing sentiment was just unbearable for the once cold-hearted creator. Despite compressing her emotions and being cold after centuries.
She would look up to the ceiling with a heavy heart, looking in pity. In her regal dark room only brightened with the maroon night sky outside she stared endlessly, thinking about what alternatives she could have done and how she wished to turn back the time. Laying flat on her back in the comfort of her soft mattress was a little less to no help.
"If I wasn't so reckless..."
Eventually, in the morning, the sunlight peeked through the window. Causing her to squint her eyes. That has awoken her from her surprisingly restful slumber. Remembered how she was so exhausted to the point that she forgot to close the curtains had made the creator scoff.
She sat on the side of the bed, retrieving her senses from the sleep. She darted her eyes to the fancy clock on her wooden nightstand.
"11:AM... it's been a while since I overslept." She thought, raking her hand through her hair, brushing out the messy bangs that had been uncomfortable around her face. She stretched herself, tilting her neck to the side until it let out a pleasant crack sound.
A scrumptious smell passed through her nose within seconds, driving her to the morning hunger. Her concentration has focused on its source. Snapped her attention from her little stretching session.
"Someone cooked here."
Felicia headed downstairs, passed the living room, and headed to the kitchen. Expecting what she had expected. Her eyes traced the breakfast that had been placed on the dinettes. She rubbed the back of her head while dragging her eyes to Mocha, who was already looking at her.
Mocha was focused on cooking the eggs, then he noticed her presence which left him in awe. She was wearing a fitting black T-shirt and matching track pants. Her muscles were flexed when she held her arms to rub her head. The messy hair and tired look added up and just that, has tempted Mocha.
Felicia realized that Mocha had been staring for quite too long. She waved her hand to make sure, if he was just daydreaming all of a sudden or just rebooting his sensory faculty. The way he froze in place had made Felicia stunned and worried, regarding the eggs being cooked.
Mocha realized he had been staring too long, he immediately turned his gaze to the pan. "Uh... I made breakfast... you want some?" He asked, trying to hide his flushed face.
"Hm." Felicia hummed while nodding, ignoring his attitude when she knew exactly why he reacted like that. A small smirk appeared while she tried to hide it as she walked into the kitchen.
As the traveler finished cooking the scrambled eggs, he put them into a small glass bowl. "Let me bring them to the dining room-"
"No need, here's fine."
Felicia insisted that they eat at the small table, there were two chairs that were perfect for them. It was just breakfast after all, plus it was late to call it breakfast anyway. Mocha kept quiet for a while, which made Felicia wonder.
"Why? Do you want to eat it in the dining room?" Felicia asked, walking closer and raising an eyebrow.
"Heh, no I... here's fine..." Mocha blissfully chuckled.
His sudden reaction had made Felicia confused but managed to put a smile on her face. "What? Why are you laughing?" She asked. She slid her hands into the pocket of her pants.
"Nothing... I thought you wanted to eat at the huge dinner table rather than this small one.." Mocha teased sarcastically, gesturing his eye to the side.
"Why is this table not big enough for us? It's just for the kitchen you know.." Felicia cooed in her cat's ear. Her mouth being so close to her fluffy ears had made him ticklish. He laughed and flinched.
"Hey! Haha! That tickles!"
Felicia sat down on the chair, while Mocha poured some coffee for her and tea for him. Felicia looked at the two separate dishes he made, both of them looked quite appetizing.
"So.. Pancake or Scrambled eggs and Toast?" He asked.
"Both, but Scrambled Egg and Toast first." Felicia answered with a grin. Mocha gave her a sly smile.
"Don't judge me, I eat a lot." Felicia said in a warning tone, smirking. She sipped on her coffee, feeling a nice relief after chugging its warmth. The coffee had run through her body and gave her a wave of energy, immediately reviving.
"Fair enough." Mocha flirted back. He placed two toasted bread and a spoonful of eggs on her plate, serving her.
"Enjoy."
Felicia took a bite of the food, munching at the crunch of the toast and soft eggs. "This is nice, didn't know you could cook..." She frivolously praised.
"It's a simple meal." Mocha said, driving away the pink blush from his face and the triumph he felt from the compliment. He took the syrup for his pancake and drizzled it over.
"While you're out, I've been spending my time in the library, and stumbled over some recipes," Mocha asked. He had been killing his boredom in the library, reading lots of books bought by Felicia, which seemed legitimate. There was a bookshelf with several books on it, Felicia's name was written on it. He assumed that she wrote them by herself and the shelf was specifically for her works, as it was the only shelf that had a glass door in the library. His curiosity made him want to look at its content but he knew he must have her permission to do so.
It was nothing important but it was just morally wrong for the polite werecat to not ask for permission.
"Oh, I see.."Felicia said, Not remembering if they existed in the first place. Felicia had not visited her library in a while and usually left it in a mess. Assumed that he had his way off entertaining himself brought Felicia relief.
"I am allowed to do such things in this house, right?" He asked suddenly, needing an approval.
"Yeah, as long as you don't burn or destroy anything."
"You're not mad at me?" The brown cat asked.
"I should be the one asking you that..." Felicia said, frowning.
"My fault, I was trying to find something fun.... to enjoy with you. Sure inviting someone just to stay around the house could be boring, couldn't it?" Felicia blurted out, a wave of shame splashed on her.
Mocha couldn't help but smile. They both continued to enjoy their lovely late breakfast comforted by each other's presence. Mocha sat and began to cut the 3 layered soft pancakes as they smoothly sliced apart.
Felicia glanced her eyes to the window, stopped chewing her food and she froze for a moment. It wasn't long enough before Mocha noticed and intended to ask why, but then Felicia flicked her finger aiming towards the window. The action of her hand had made the window open widely, Mocha rotated his head towards the window, catching a flying figure approaching.
"Don't stare... he's in a bad mood." Felicia said, continuing to eat her breakfast. Before Mocha could react to her warning, the eagle who belonged to Felicia barged through the window with a shriek. Mocha flinched and ducked his head down as the eagle flew through and headed upstairs. A breaking sound occurred, it tolled like a decorative vase fell to the ground.
Felicia let out a sigh. "I guess birds have mood swings too." She chuckled.
After Zephyr was out of sight, Mocha positioned himself nicely on the chair, still shocked. He discerned that he was quite uncomfortable having an eagle as a pet, despite all the animals out there that were tame and cute, this creator in front of him chose an eagle.
"Sorry, I could have warned you but he was coming too fast... usually the window will be always opened in the morning..."
Mocha kept silent. He remembered that he closed the window last night and didn't open it back. "Yikes, didn't know that..."
"You don't like eagles huh?" Felicia asked, taking another slice of toast.
"I guess not... Is he your creation too?"
"I'm sorry what?" Felicia asked back with widened eyes.
"The eagle, uh Zephyr? Did you create him?"
"No." The creator craned backward. "I found him wounded decades ago, his wings broke and he was drowning in a river so my instinct said that I'd better go save him. And I did, and he thanked me, by being my pet of course, giving me company..."
"Oh, I see... I thought that he's one of your creations."
"No, I can't create living things." Felicia said.
"Wait what?"
"What?"
Both were quiet for a moment. The sound of rustling leaves filled the gap of silence.
"I am just a creator, not a god. You should have that in your mind now..." Felicia declared. Her eyes narrowed, and her face displayed discomfort at the thought of people claiming her as a god.
"Don't assume that I am a god, I can only create non-living things and I don't rule anything." She said sternly.
"No no, I thought that you could." He began to stutter with worry, afraid that he might have offended her.
But then a thought came to mind. "Wait... what about this world? Isn't it alive?" Questions started to lure into his mind, ready to give Felicia another interview session. The conception about her not being able to create a living thing doesn't go well on what he sees, or in this case, living in.
"Do you feel it is alive?" Felicia asked.
"I don't know really..." Mocha shrugged, unable to figure it out.
"This world is just a structure of a realm protected by a barrier." Felicia began to unfold.
"What about the forest? The tress? The grass and the roses?"
"Can you plant a single rose straight to the ground? Would that rose to be able to survive?"
"I don't think so?"
"Exactly, the forest was basically a structure, with real material of course like the woods and leaves all, but they're most likely dead, It can't grow or be withered by itself."
"The day and night cycle?" Mocha asked.
"It is part of keeping my sanity, you can call them illusions if you want." Felicia said.
Mocha began to feel that this world was just a lie blended with hallucinations. Regardless he did not feel displeased at all. Yet he felt amazed by her capability combined with her imagination to build such things.
Felicia let Mocha process the information that had been told to him, she now had finished her toast and eggs and continued to grab the pancake. Mocha was still obfuscating and pushing himself to grasp the sense, leaving the half pancake on his plate, untouched.
It was quite challenging for a mortal could understand such complex behavior of one's immortal ability. All immortals have different powers, different usage and methods, different effects, and different capabilities. When one meets an immortal, it takes years to understand what they were and what they could do.
"It felt real, the heat, the wind, and the cold though- The- The temperatures??"
"Well, people can create wind and heat by themselves, right? Certainly, it is based on my moods as well." Felicia smiled, educating the mortal. "It is my world, my home... you can say it's full of lies but... it's a unique and beautiful one isn't it..." She said.
Mocha was taken aback, a warmth of admiration pounded in his heart.
"You must have such power to create a realm," Mocha exclaimed joyously, fully marveling at her. His fists clenched in eagerness. He was so lucky to meet such a powerful being, moreover having a contract and living with them.
"It required a great deal of physical and mental fortitude, as well as using my... other sources of power, I secured a controlled environment for my own, a world for myself."
'Other... source of power?'
The mention of power triggered his memory, his face went pale. Mocha remembered that Sarah had told her that she had a dark, hideous power within her. He remembered every detail about it, about how she became out of control, about how she was unstoppable, about how she turned into a reckless form of half monster, and about how she lost herself in the tar of corruption. It had made him shiver.
"Felicia?" Mocha asked, his heart began to pound heavy. His hands were interlaced and he gripped them tight under the table. He was never sure about the outcome when this question had been asked. It might be turned out hideous.
"Yes?" Felicia answered, she did not look at Mocha, her eyes were on the delicious pancake and her hands were busy cutting it.
"Are you... still corrupted?" Mocha muttered.
Felicia halted her movement. She let go of the silverware that she held, a noise was made, reverberating through the room as it clattered to the plate. She lifted her head, her eyes looking directly at Mocha. Her face was plain yet scary, seemed heartless yet menacing.
"What did Sarah have told you?"