Re:Animated, Reliving Life in Another World From Zero

by Tall-Gothic-Guy

A Necromancer is easy to describe, but what people rarely ever know about them is that Death is their final wish above everything else. To return to dust and Rest in Peace in the Afterlife. Give a Death Mage the Curse of 'Return by Death', however, then Emurdol Viandegroc will eventually realize that dying in another world is easier said than done. (Graphic and Mature content)

15. Emotion Suppression

"We're playing caaatch?" Meili asked, holding the fist-sized ball of ivory in her brown hand.

"Something as simple as this can hone your senses in a variety of ways. In fact, it has been used by many wyrmms Underground as a form of training exercise." Emurdol informed, green eyes glowing under the light of the moon as he looked at her fondly, "And I'm adding a little rule to make it interesting."

"Which iiiiis?"

He held up a large snake fang in his bony fingers, "Catch the ball but avoid this."

The Souls knew what he was about to do, and their apprehension passed onto Meili, sending her body into high alert, adrenaline coursing through her system and she twisted her torso sideways, the flying bone projectile flying to where her left chest was supposed to be.

The moment her mind caught up to what he just did, she turned to him with a bright green glare, "You could have killed me!" She threw the ivory ball at him, aiming for the same place on his chest.

He caught it in his hand without looking away from her, "No, you will not. You are my beloved child, and I will never live with myself if I had you killed, and not because it will deviate from our Contract."

She scowled at him even further, "Then why do we have this ruuuuule?"

He threw the ball back to her, which she caught. "You and I are now together by blood. That links us both, in multiple ways."

Meili cocked a silver eyebrow, throwing the ball to him.

"You and I can share the same thoughts. What I know, you'll know too. Whatever I have discovered, you will know it too in a moment of breakthrough. Wherever you are, I will know. It can go the other way as well."

He passed the ball to her.

She caught it with both hands, turning to him with a pronounced frown, troubled by the prospect of it. "Does that mean I won't be able to be myseeelf?"

He shook his head, "I don't intend to mold you into who I am. The Link is an advantage for the both of us. If I was ever forced into silence that could hinder us when I have known crucial information, you would be able to know without the enemy realizing. If we were in combat and facing an impossible foe but you happened to find its weakness, you can send it to me through our Link without the need to talk."

She threw the ball to him, "Do the people Underground do thiiiis too?"

He nodded, "Indeed. Only those of the same blood can share a Link." He threw the ball and created a snake fang again, letting it float above his palm. "If you worry about your sense of self turning out to be like mine, then you must have better reign over your emotions."

Rolling the ball in her hands, Meili eyed the fang carefully while she listened.

"I am not referring to Emotion Suppression. I refer to when you know better than losing control of yourself." He covered his eyes with his palm, the fang spinning into a blur. "And how you will know better is by knowing who you are. That is something I cannot teach you."

Her brown hand quickly shot out to her right, forming a bony plate on her palm.

The fang flew forward like a dart right afterwards, spinning rapidly in its flight, and it crumbled into dust upon impact of her palm.

She was completely baffled.

She happened to know where the trajectory is, and there was no prior warning to when it'll take off. It was even aimed right at her, but she knew that it was going to divert sideways, away from her. All she ever thought about was the fang, the intention behind the shot and the place he was likely aiming at.

She questioned if it made her consciousness match his own consequentially, sharing the same thoughts, just like the Link he was talking about.

Looking at the plate of bone on her palm returning to the depths of witchbeast flesh, she turned to her Father and saw that his eyes are still closed.

She made a thought pass through her head: Point to the ground. And she threw the ball beside him.

His hand shot out to grab it from his left and his bony hand pointed to the ground, showing that this Link of theirs is true.

As he opened his eyes, the words that came out of him next were full of authority and command.

"Meili, do not be anyone's toy. You must not be like me. You must not be the shadow the Souls think you are. You are not Meili Portroute anymore. You are your own person. Your name is Meili Sinnuldel, and you must know who that is if you don't want to be held down forever."

The game finally began. He hampered her night vision with a curse as he hid in the shadows of the trees around them, throwing the ball to her and shooting snake fangs to nonlethal parts of her body from any direction that she was unaware of. From bruises to cuts, she sustained many injuries in the game when her mind failed to catch up to his line of thinking. It was a brutal and merciless game.

Slowly but surely, her desperation empowering her focus, she began to feel her Link to him getting vivid.

The discovered mindset needed being 'Feel, not Think', she began to easily pinpoint his every trajectory, dodging his fangs with minimal movement while seamlessly catching the ball he threw without the loss of a beat. It was like a choreographed dance; she knew the part she must do and trusted him to do his in the same pace.

When she dodged 20 fangs in a row and caught her 32nd ball, she threw it at ballistic speeds towards where she thought he'd be in the shade of the darkness and shot a snake fang of her own there as well.

Emurdol emerged from the tree line a dozen seconds later, clapping his hands in applause, sporting a bleeding forehead and a laceration on the side of his neck that's bleeding a liter even though he could have stopped it with his Blood Magic, but his face showed pride, pleased with her performance and congratulating her with his adoring gaze.

Meili stood there shaking, inflicted with more than two dozen cuts and lacerations on her person as well as more than a few bruises, showing through the holes of her clothing and parts of her skin not covered by it, especially her face. The ball once landed on her temple and she nearly fell out of dizziness. Her cheek had a deep cut too, running across the entire cheek. It was all thanks to herself subconsciously activating her own Blood Magic that prevented them all from leaking even the slightest centiliter of blood.

She cried tears of blood as she saw the look on his face, whether out of happiness or out of the pain he made her suffer through because of his 'rules', she couldn't tell which but she ran over to him all the same, throwing her arms around him and stabbing his back with the claws of her brown hand. Emurdol was nonplussed to her display of both violence and affection as he lifted her up from the ground, tightening his embrace around her.

He whispered his praises in her head as he held her tenderly and lovingly, mixing his apologies with them as he kissed her temple and closed her wounds using Reconstruction, their shared blood making it easy to do. He still didn't stop himself from bleeding nor did he react to the claws digging into his back. He took them without resistance, marks of her achievement. And eventually, the exhaustion overpowered Meili and she fell asleep from her tears. For the rest of the night, Father and Daughter reveled in the moment of Peace they garnered through mutual suffering.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

The seminar didn't quite go as planned; it went horribly. She bit more than she could chew. She invited too many Souls, and unlike Papa, she cannot handle too many voices answering every question she brought up at once. Due to that, she learned nothing.

It was a miracle that she managed to fall asleep while they were present. Some Souls are quite the relentless bunch, especially when they are needy for attention and they happen to know that you can see and hear them. They'd talk your ear off and there's nothing you can do about the whispers and violent chaos going through your head except endure it. Unless you passed out.

And apparently, Meili got lucky to suffer nightmares. All that showing off with her new gifts in front of the girls and this is all she had to show in the aftermath….

Papa would really be disappointed.

Though the headache she woke up with had subsided, the throbbing sensations in her body lingered a lot longer than she thought it would, particularly the places where the Souls grabbed her. It was two hours after sunset when she did her chore, and it's amazing that these sensations would last towards daytime till now. Her face even stings badly, as if she got slapped.

Yawning, scratching the side of her face that lied on the leaf-covered earth while stretching her legs, she leant against the bone tree she created last night, the sharp barbs protruding from the trunk curving upwards to avoid piercing her back and Meili let out a big sigh.

She started tearing up the sooner she tried opening her eyes any wider than a slit, the shine of the sunlight on the ground next to her causing a lot of discomfort so she covered her face with her forearm, "….I hate good mornings…."

There. I said it.

She and Papa spend their working days either in the cave lacking any source of light or around the evenings. She was starting to enjoy never having to rely on torches or lamps anymore too, now using both arms anytime she wishes thanks to her acquired night vision. Her views altered along with it; she used to like it whenever a sunny morning is out.

How am I gonna play with Petra and the others like this?

….wait, was that clicking sound she kept hearing beside her since waking up normal?

And there was a large figure sitting inches next to her.

"HA!" Before her mind could catch up to what she's supposed to do, contributing to days of training, her right hand lashed to the side in the speed of sound, long talons extending out of her fingertips and aiming towards into the person's head.

And they sunk clean through, almost without resistance, similar to water that she could not believe that this person even had a skull. Even with a hand carrying strength above that of regular humans, it would easier to crack a mass of bones with a fist than piercing through it with needles seamlessly.

As her mind caught up to her actions, she now processed the garb this person was wearing. A full body robe of dark red that left little for skin to be seen, even a hood is worn over the head. This person had her broken wand in their leather-gloved grasp, replacing its lost finger bones with expert manipulation, while her claws are still embedded to his head.

Strangely unperturbed by the sight, she leaned forward to see the person's face.

There was no face, instead there was a mask made out of white ivory, in the style of a cute kitty mask with its eyes closed and a noticeable grin in its feline lips, complete with lines as whiskers on its cheeks and protruding ears at the top rim. Someone in this apparel would exhume a mysterious, even suspicious aura, but the mask disarmed every malign impression possible and instead gave off an approachable demeanor.

A relation of such a character quickly came to her mind.

"Uncllllle!" She retracted the talons out of his head and back to her fingers before latching onto his arm for a hug, jolting his working hands.

"Good day, Meili." Uncle Viandegroc greeted, his speaking voice coming from his chest, not facing away from his work. "I came to check on your progress."

Pouting, she looked up to his masked face, "You're not here just to visiiiit?"

"Noooo. You should be visiting me." He pointed out, "You know that I'll be at the village, representing your Father for his heroic deeds."

"And why would you think I wanna go theeere?"

"Because I'm very aware that you want to play with the children." He held up her wand, looking at the bottom angle for symmetry before lowering it down and adjusting the fingers. "And you can do so once you do your chores."

"And I diiiiid." She stood up, holding out an arm towards the necromantic image of life in the form of a tree. "Seeee? Preeeetty, isn't it?"

"Indeed." Uncle stood up as well, turning to look at her work with an indicative look of approval. "This is very well-done." The comment made her smile. He looked at the wand in his hands, then turned to her, "I assume you've done this with your original method, given the state of the wand your Father just gave you yesterday and the scratches on your face." Guiltily, she looked down, "How long did it took you this time?"

She looked up towards her brow, looking deeply into the eyes behind the frame of ivory, smirking slightly, hoping to impress, "…Five minutes?"

"Fascinating." The feedback was very deadpan, as if he expected her to accomplish it under 10 seconds like Papa could, despite having failed multiple times to do so days prior, to better indicate that there is no chance of that happening since she's still a wyrmm. She improved immensely from her last record just hours ago. Shouldn't that be considered an achievement in of itself?

Does he even care?

He held out the wand back to her.

She frowned darkly at him before swiping it off his hand, deliberately letting the barbs on her fingers leave deep cuts on his leathery palm before she looked over the wand's condition. Even with its brand new state and modified structure to prevent breaking under stress, she's still not happy. Glaring, olive green eyes glowing maliciously, she asked snappily, "Did you make this thing strong?"

"Hopefully." Despite the deep cuts on his palm that bled black, he showed no sign of feeling any of it as he crossed his arms, the wide sleeves making him look large in contrast to what he actually looks like underneath, "And keep your emotions tame. The last thing you want after waking up is suffering."

One thing after another, whenever he's around, he's even critical to how she's supposed to feel, and he's right to do so. This was part of her training. He was meant to rile her up in any opportunity but subtly and gently, to better improve her Emotion Suppression.

Even so, this is absolutely infuriating in so many ways. It does not have to be training every time they are together.

Growling impudently, disregarding his instructions blatantly, letting her body feel the brunt of the backlash without any expressed discomfort, she said back, "The last thing I want is you expecting me to be good at everything every time you see me! I'm still growing! Not only that, you never became a full Priest yourself!"

"I simply have high hopes for you, Niece, expecting you to do better than I have." The way he maintained his flat tone of voice never helped her mood, as if he never cared about her opinion. "I'm just very vocal about it compared to your Father, who expects the very same."

"How is he?" She lost the mood for small talk completely after the unintentional reference of Papa's inability to speak, now attempting Emotion Suppression as the pain is becoming too much to bear, feeling her mood turning dull, "How is Papa?"

He turned to face the general direction of where her Link to him told her, "Since he doesn't have to teach you anything for now, he finally had the time to speak with Mama."

Papa…spoke with his Mother?

Taming the wide-eyed look on her face, she asked, "Aaaand?"

"Like always, Niece, he has forgiven her." He told with a nonplussed tone, as if this had been a recurring occurrence. Which it was, except it was never this quick. Usually, it'd take him a month or more before the ice in his heart cools. "He is still sour and bitter, as he's not allowing her to integrate him to her body but he's accepting her apologies. The kindness of one stranger healed his heart."

A rare smile of warmth crossed Meili's lips. Their final assignment together left them with a very pleasant feeling because of the Traveler's bottomless well of kindness he shown to them. Two complete strangers, standing in the middle of nowhere, with the scent of blood permeating off their forms, including the fact that their clothes were quite tattered, and the man had the heart to allow them into his dragon carriage and transport them back to the Mathers Domain without pay.

He even gave away the clothes he had in his luggage to them, all because he thinks their damaged apparels don't suit them anymore.

She rubbed her thumb across the fabric of the black long-sleeved shirt she had from him. I hope he lived happily. He deserved to be, especially when he made a great contribution to Papa's recovering mood.

She turned to Uncle, no longer feeling any animosity thanks to that memory, "Is Papa doing okaaay?"

"He is, surprisingly." He turned his kitty mask to her, "And he misses you."

She looked down, blushing and grinning, twiddling her thumbs. She looked up again, "Then why can't he just come back already?"

His gaze went downcast, "You know why, Meili."

Then her mood fell quickly, her lips pursing at the thought of being practically next to the reason why. She crossed her arms and sighed sharply through her nose, keeping her wand in her barbed grasp. The more she stays, the more often she's away from him. What was Papa thinking when he sent her here?

"You must understand. Your Father is a good man, as he is doing this for her safety, but she is still the one who made him suffer in the first place." He told, as if he had read what crossed her mind, like it was written on her face. Within all reason due to what he is, he can read it from her face. "He needs more time to grow the heart to forgive." He took a few steps forward at the location of the mansion, making no sound in his footsteps and instead looking like he was gliding across the ground with his feet unseen because of his robes. "You can, however, speed it up by finding out why the Little Bitch attacked him and report it to me as soon as possible so I can tell him. As far as I have heard, she feels genuinely guilty of her actions."

"I notiiiiced. I already had Red Maidy pass the message, to tell me whyyyy."

"And that means no violence, even if her response angers you. Even if I wasn't there during your first meetings, I can easily tell that you did not limit yourself to just words."

Her teeth morphed into incisors, biting her lip without puncturing it. She's steadily beginning to tolerate his consistently correct guesses. Her Emotion Suppression is improving. "I won't do anymoooore." She promised, with every intent she had of following that through unless she is attacked. Then again, attacking her means getting hurt themselves so she had nothing to worry about from the people in the mansion. "If I make it any worse, it'll look baaaaad….."

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?"

She held her jaw, suddenly feeling the saliva glands inside aching and secreting fluids, "Nooo."

"Then get to it." He then glided towards the direction of the village, taking the direct path through the forest instead of the gate of the mansion. "Once you're finished, see me in Earlham. Let's device a little game for the little ones there."

Grinning, she exclaimed as she watched him go, "Okaaay!"

Uncle Viandegroc, creation of Papa, a flesh golem made of nothing but witchbeast hide and muscle. When they first met, he was just a mockery of humanity, given only the basic necessities as a slave; Arms, legs and a mouth. No basic organs except a lung and voice-box for speaking. Everything else is just a gigantic mass of muscle compressed in a comparatively small body with the help of witchbeast anatomy.

Two weeks later, working with or under her, his body became a base for Meili's flesh magic to develop on. Her progress on her skills steadily made him passable as a humanoid, given that he hides his exteriors with the cloak he had. He's even capable of bone magic thanks to a core she personally made. His hands may look like they wore brown leather gloves but that is actually genuine flesh. Remove his kitty mask and there is nothing but a faceless visage. Remove the robes and there will be a living mannequin with a bone dagger merged to the chest.

He would be terrifying to look at just for his lack of bodily detail, and it will only get worse should he decide to defend himself without the use of magic. He is still a Flesh Golem, and Flesh Golems have more than one mouthful of teeth.

A product of genius by her own hand. Papa was so proud, rewarded her with lots of cuddles, kisses and his delicious mana. She's only jealous of the fact that Uncle brought up the idea of the kitty mask for the sake of the village's ease and trust before she could.

Someday, she'll make him fully human that he'll forget that he's supposed to be dead.

Slotting her wand to her belt, she walked up to the tree and gave the barbed trunk a light swipe of her index claw before putting on her glove. A first tally mark of the times she'll come here for information, a healthy dose of mana, or a simple practice.

Holding up her arm, she walked back to the direction of the mansion, keeping the rays of the sun from hitting her face. A couple minutes later where she is at the tree line, she was surprised to find Red and Blue waiting for her. "Good mooorning." She greeted them, slightly squinting as she looked at their shadowed forms due to the sun reflecting a lot of light from the grass behind them.

"Good morning, Honored Guest." Only Blue spoke, carrying the politest of tones. "Rem and Dear Sister came to tell you that breakfast is ready."

"Yaaaaay…" She let out a lackluster reply, losing the delight of proper food due to the brightness of the day. "….I'll be there in a minuuuute."

"If the Honored Guest would be so kind, who was that man in a mask with you earlier?" Neutrally, Red asked.

Papa told her that Red had the ability to see through an animal's eyes, a perfect tool for surveillance and security. That must be why she happened to find out about Uncle. "Ah, you noooticed? That was Uncle Viandegroooc. He came to look at my treeee. He said it was gooood."

"And that's all he came here for after trespassing?"

"Yeeep! And to tell me that I should eat breeeaakfast." She walked on forward past between them, keeping her eyes shielded with both arms. The grass is like a mirror facing the sun, and she cannot believe her degraded ability to withstand the brightness of a simple morning.

How am I gonna play now?

Once she was finally past the backdoor, with the twins following behind her, she wiped her eyes from the fresh tears of red that leaked out and followed after them as they led her to the dining table.

Until…

"Honored Guest…." The twins stopped walking, with only Blue turning around to face her while Red kept her gaze forward, the professional visage of a maid fading away to show uncertainty. "…you…"

"Meiliiii. Call me Meiliiii."

Blue nodded lightly, "Miss Meili…you wanted an explanation of my actions to Ser Emurdol, yes?"

Her soft tone made Meili's back straighten and clench her fist. Knowing the seriousness of this question, she only nodded, patiently awaiting a response. The reason why Papa suffered, she'll finally hear it.

Biting her lip, looking down for a moment, Blue continued, "Can it wait until the evening? Rem still has chores to do…."

Closing her eyes, feeling a bit of pressure coming down on her consciousness for a few seconds before Meili opened them again and nodded. "Okay. In my room. Alone." She pointedly looked at Red's back, "Red Maidy will not be involved. Don't worry, I won't do anything violent. I'm just gonna listen. I promise."

Blue turned to look at Red as well, awaiting her choice in the matter of leaving her sister in a room with a person that initially despised her. To Meili's surprise, she turned to her and gave a nod, "Very well. You can have Rem for the evening, but Ram will be standing outside the door."

Fair. "Okaaay." Then she suddenly took both their hands, standing in-between them and leading the two forward with a dissonantly chipper smile on her lips. "Come oooon! Let's go eeeaaat!"

The entire trip to the dining hall was immensely discomforting and awkward all the way, maybe for the maids but not her. She practically fed on the atmosphere.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Breakfast went by swimmingly, to the surprise of even herself. She expected a bit of antagonism upon seeing Rosy again but no, he treated her as if she had been an inhabitant here for a long time. Although listening to him made her skin crawl, she appreciated a civil conversation more than anything. She was tired of the grief she caused. Emily and Pucky was there too. The food was very delicious too, though the amiable chitchats made everybody took forever in the dining table sitting and chatting. Topics ranged from what she's doing in the forest with the bone tree to what she's going to do in the future, lovingly referencing Papa whenever she can. Then it went to nonsensical things, running her mouth about what she, Papa and Uncle have been doing in the forests. However, she kept her mouth from running too far. Though she may never lie again, some things are better kept secret for the safety of herself and Papa.

It would be funny to see the look on everybody's face once she blatantly says that Papa is richer than the master of the Mathers domain. While he didn't have the blatant number of coins, he had incredibly rare materials and minerals stashed in the void that would buy a whole village or even a small hill. Priests of the Serpent barely had any use for money, though they hardly refuse it if offered or if it came from the pockets of their victims, and in some time during their assignments they become richer than most nobles just for surviving from the wilderness instead of buying from the market.

Instead, she played it safe and never said a word about his wealth. She and Papa are effectively poor but perfectly self-sufficient. Besides, after what Papa had done to her body, it can last a month after a full meal.

Afterwards, when the table is cleaned and everyone went on to do their usual routines: Rosy to his desk, Emily and Puck to their studies, and the twins to their chores, she went out the gate and headed to the village, hiding her wand and dagger inside the bag strapped to the back of her belt. Though she had to borrow a silly wide-brimmed black hat beforehand just to protect herself from the sun.

Reaching Earlham, the village was as normal as ever, and she somehow found Uncle Viandegroc standing in the center surrounded by more than a dozen villagers and children, listening intently to some kind of lecture about a skeleton he had standing beside him. Instead of being frightened by it, the children's eyes are practically shining and the adults were highly attentive of his methods of emergency treatment to a broken bone.

Compared to Volcanica, education is not available to just anyone in Lugnica. Nobles and those with money only had the chance for a child to even be capable of reading. She researched ahead before her first death that while the people in Earlham village aren't illiterate and are capable of simple arithmetic, that's practically it. There's nothing else beyond that unless they had the money. Out of Uncle's own volition, aside from preaching about Papa's deeds whenever he's not being a dummy for her Flesh Magic, he teaches the children about the human anatomy and how to take care of it. Somehow, the adults decided to get involved in the classes as well.

Out of personal pride, she felt mighty for knowing the lessons ahead of them. She had been learning under Papa's lessons, after all. Too bad they're not going to have the fun part of the lecture, which is handling literal bodies barehanded and looking closely on their structure with a little magnifying apparatus.

Then out of nowhere, she was hollered over by Uncle to be on the stage with him, having her as an assistant in the lectures. She thought she could handle much now, but apparently being in the center of so much attention is actually embarrassing, especially when it's not part of an assignment. Firstly, she was introduced to the people as one of the children that got cursed before and is said to be their savior's daughter. With regret in his voice, Uncle had to say that Papa suffered damages and will take a while before he comes back from recovery. All without a hint of a lie with a much deeper context in hindsight not given away.

Sympathy and condolences were sent Meili's way when he finished, and it made her uncomfortable. She still thanked them though, for courtesy's sakes.

Without further ado, she handled practical demonstrations like breaking parts of the skeleton dummy's parts and applying splints to it while Uncle explains the structure and what are the advantages of it besides not needing the use of magic.

And then came the game Uncle talked about, preceded by having 10 extra skeletons arrive from the tree line and lie down on the ground before the crowd. With all the lessons they learned for the last few days, there shall be two children and two adults together as a group in a total of 10 groups, and they apply emergency treatment to whatever part is broken.

The fun part, Meili is the one who'll pick the broken parts. She dared to be cruel, especially when she picked the places where it is far more complex to apply treatment on to certain groups, especially the skull.

Audience and competitors laughed and enjoyed the game as if their lives depended on it, and what was more amusing was that the children know more than the adults. Meili thought she will end up playing a regular kids game once she gets here, but this is way better. She laughed a lot, clapped her hands a lot, and shouted a lot. Smiled naturally too. She was beginning to enjoy the meaning of Peace without having to mind her contract anymore. She's free from the life of an Assassin, and she is enjoying all the freedom she never had as a wyrmm.

The grand prize was an autonomous servant made out of bone, lacking the features of a typical skeleton and instead resembling a lay figure, free to be painted on for aesthetics or clothes if they want to. Apparently, Meina's and Mild's family won each for being in the same group.

After declaring that this event will happen again in another week or so, Uncle began another lecture where he emphasized that while the autonomous servant can help around the house and other forms of menial or physical labor, it absolutely cannot replace the person. Having one is not an excuse to be lazy. Humans should pull their own weight around like they are obligated to.

Meili nodded in full agreement to that. In fact, Papa told her to spare her strength for decisive blows while the skeletons perform the grunt work of the battle. Fight with her claws and knives only when she has to. Even with a stronger body than before, she's still a small girl with an even smaller pool of mana, unfit for prolonged physical combat.

After the crowd dispersed, the adults giving each other handshakes and congratulations for their participation while the children gathered around Meili, asking questions about what happened to her after the incident and how it is like to be Papa's daughter, Uncle formed the contract of the servants to the two winning families.

She merely dismissed them, saying that she doesn't want to talk about it, with Petra being the bigger girl of the group and telling them to knock it off. Meili can't handle any questions relating to the incident without mentioning that she was responsible for it. After having their apology, they then proceeded to play the normal games she's been waiting for. Multiple variations of tag or hide-and-seek, she ended up being a supreme winner due to her superior anatomy giving her an edge over them.

She had been compelled to perform her necromantic wonders to them just for fun but she vehemently denied them every time. Children having an interest in Necromancy is the last thing Papa, Uncle and as well as herself wants. No one simply becomes a Necromagus, they are picked from the crowd, the same way Meili had. Humans with too much pride and anger in their hearts could easily die on the first exercise. Sociopaths and twisted minds have a better chance than them.

And almost everyone Underground was practically born a sociopath, Papa once said.

Several hours later, Uncle called her over and told her to go back to the Mansion. Playtime is over for her it seems, and she almost didn't want to go, considering she's not even tired yet despite all the running while the others were sweating and sitting on the ground panting. There's still a couple more hours before sunset. The Dead can work her body over to the limit but the Living can't.

Still, she complied without question. She can't have too much time for herself while her Father isn't even nearby. She wants him close to her again. Waving goodbye to Petra and the rest, she joined Uncle as they walked back to the village. Before she went to take the road back to the Mansion, she was given a large, black leather book, inscribed with a language she didn't recognize. A Spell Book, he said, originally belonged to her Grandmother but later improved by her Father. All of his knowledge and magic packed inside one book. And now it belongs to her.

She hugged it close to her chest tenderly and lovingly, swearing to treasure it forever.

As the language written inside is straight from the mother tongue of the people Underground, something she doesn't know yet, she would not be able to read it conventionally, even with drawn pictures in the pages. Instead, she will employ a rather friendly Soul that he brought with him, personally instructed by her Father to help her learn it. A translator of some kind, to show her images and thoughts of the main idea of whatever topic she is focusing on, radically saving her the trouble of trying to understand complex vocabulary.

Thanking Uncle and telling him to tell Papa she said 'I love you', she gave a light peck on his kitty mask and skipped happily to the Mansion, the Friendly Soul following her alongside the ones she already had. Since she was in a happy mood, having a great time in the village and coming back with a gift from her Father, she literally jumped over the gate in a single bound and ran a full sprint across the stone paths before jumping into the open window of Papa's room once she was close enough.

Mobility is also a must for her. She can't stay in one spot for too long, otherwise she'll be cornered. Swiftness cannot be excluded as well. Her legs had to be operated on as well before she could perform a swift dash like Papa could, and she's still trying. It had been a fatal mistake for most spell casters to neglect their physical fitness, easily dominated once forced into the melee. Priestesses of the Serpent do not fall under the same risks, herself included.

And female Necromagi are far more vicious than the males. Just look at what Grandma has done to her despite being dead.

And she realized she still has her hat on. She put it on to the nearest skeleton that had been awaiting orders with its siblings. "Hihi. Oh." Her eyes went wide over a box resting on her bed with a note resting atop, "How'd this get heeeere?" She went over to pick up the note and read it. It's in I-script as well. Whoever wrote this still thinks she's a child. "Grrr."

\Fresh clothes from the village seamstress.
Should fit you.
—Uncle/

Grumbling, puffing her cheeks, she crumpled the paper and threw it over her shoulder before opening it. Taking the first one on the pile, she unfolded it and it happened to be a simple black dress with a waistband that reached down to her knees. The next one, a nice black capelet with a hood. To go with the dress, most likely. The third, black leggings and cloth shoes. The rest are simple undergarments that are not colored black. He could have at least given her something that has color, like red. White is not a color.

"I guess I'll weeeaar this to sleep." She remarked, holding up the dress. Placing it on her forearm, she grabbed ahold of her collar and brought it to her nose, smelling the grass and the earth, accumulated from her outdoor sleep next to the bone tree. "Need a baaaath."

Throwing the dress and the undergarments to a nearby skeleton's reach, throwing the book to the gentleman skeleton, she gestured for the third to grab the towel before they followed her out the door.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

After spending more than an hour in the bath, soaking in warm waters and amazing shampoo, she came out fresh with dazzling hair, even if a little wet. And the dress feels great on her skin, cottony and comfortable, fits pretty nicely on her little frame as she moved. She kept the belt bag, however. The dress had no pockets, and the waist band needs a partner.

The skeletons now taking her other clothes to the laundry and returning to her room afterwards, she's now heading to the room of the mansion resident she hasn't met yet. And that might take a while.

….if she was still Meili Portroute, of course.

But she's not anymore. She's Meili Sinnuldel, and she can easily figure out where the Forbidden Archives is located. Laying her brown hand on every door she passes by, feeling for a certain sensation to course through it once she finds the right one. Her right hand is still without touch but that doesn't mean it can't feel what's not in the Physical Realm. Silly as it sounds but she discovered that Spirits feel like rocks.

Including the Friendly Soul she had close by, ready to help with reading the book.

But first, she needs a real reading environment.

"Mm." She turned to the door she's touching, and she felt a bit of rubber on it. This is the one. The last few doors left her numb, and this one's found at the end of the hall. Hugging the book close with her other arm, she formed a fist with her right hand and knocked.

And she waited.

….

...…...

…...…...…...

One minute passed and there was no response.

"Mm?" She felt the door again: the rubber sensation is still there. Is Betty somewhere else and not inside?

Just to be sure.

She knocked the door harder, literally shaking it from the force of the blow and sending thunderous booms all over the hallway—

It suddenly opened.

"Could you not break the door down, I wonder!? Betty heard you knocking the first time, it wasn't certain whether it happened or not!"

Meili froze, her brown hand reared back for another polite knock as she took in what's inside the room.

The smell of paper was quite overwhelming on her developed senses, and now she can see the entirety of the very large library inside that defined the dimensional warping involved in keeping the location scattered from time to time like Papa said. In direct view from the door and in the center of it all, there was a little girl seated on a high chair with an absurdly large book in her hands that she could not possibly carry with her small arms.

Her dress looks very fancy but look at her golden hair with pink highlights. It's curled into magnificent drills and they would nearly reach the floor if she were standing.

Lowering her hand and putting on her best smile as she entered in, she greeted, "Hellooo! My name's Meiliii. You've seen me before, noooo?"

"If Betty's memories could recall, you might be one of the brats that were cursed by the witchbeasts two weeks ago, I suppose."

"That's riiight!" Slotting her brown hand to her glove, she ran her fingers through her white hair. "I didn't have pearly whiiiites before though. Papa bit me good when he gave me his blooood."

"Bit you?" Betty frowned, then a twinge of recognition flashed from her eyes, narrowing them as she looked at her a second time. "…ah, that must have been you who had that rather human-like bite wound on the left arm. Though…your aura changed, in fact. You're not as little as before, I suppose."

She smiled brightly, losing her usual diction, "Papa got me killed. He thought I was a suspect of the incident, and he was right. I was the one who brought Petra and the others to the forest and got them bit with the cursey puppy."

A pulse of pain echoed across her body when she remembered the few days after, when she suffered three days inside a cave under horrible conditions from Grandma. Oh, how the memory burned itself to her head despite this being her second life and having abandoned everything in the first. It took much of herself to enact Emotion Suppression and hold down the rage.

The flat expression on Betty's face froze, eyes containing butterflies looking at her calculatingly as she continued smiling under the influence of Emotion Suppression while the silence hung on for more than a minute.

The door behind her closed silently, and Betty finally broke the silence, "And this 'Papa' of yours…is that Bone Magician with four other arms, I wonder?"

"Actually, the four other arms is Grandma's so they aren't really his but yeees. Papa Emurdol is my Papaaaa."

Betty continued to stare, "He adopted you." It wasn't a question.

"Yeees!" She and Papa made each other suffer, with varying degrees of torment, and it continues to this day despite being in love with the other. Even Meili can tell how strange that sounds from another perspective. "And since he's going to stay here from now on, that means you and I are gonna be friieeends!"

"Betty does not want to be friends with you or anybody, in fact." Betty dismissively replied.

Despite the failed attempt, she's still smiling and not giving up, "Aw, come oooon. Don't be so cooold, Betty."

"And who gave you the permission to call Betty Betty, I wonder?"

"No one reaalllyyy. Beatrice sounds loooong. So I'm gonna stick to Betty from now oooon, Betty! Can I stay here and read my book, Bettyyyy?"

"Don't just ask me that after you just sat down and opened your book when Betty hasn't even said anything, in fact!"

"Thank you, Bettyyy! You're the best, Bettyyyy!"

"Betty haven't even given you permission yet, I suppose!" Betty puffed up her cheeks cutely, porcelain white face turning a beet red and she fumed, practically steaming from the ears. And just when Meili thought she was about to blow up, Betty suddenly exclaimed, "Agh! Fine!" She raised her absurdly large book up high to cover her face, hiding her cute irritated face, "You can knock but you dismiss everything Betty says, in fact. Such poor manners, I suppose!"

Now that's not true. Meili has wonderful manners. You should see her around Court Meetings, everyone in the room loves her. Oh well, she'll prove herself to Betty soon. For now, she's going to read books with her and have a little study.

Lying on her front with the book opened to the first page in front of her, her legs raised up and swinging back and forth, the Friendly Soul hovered over her shoulder and started the lesson.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

The reading session went on as expected when in a library environment, quietly and fruitfully. Beatrice skimmed from book to book, creating a neat pile on the floors around her elevated seat with a cup of tea atop the table next to her. She took momentary glances to her 'guest', whose eyes were strangely glazed over in their slight olive green glow as she seemed to be staring at the pages instead of reading through each line, her lounging form literally frozen in place since her legs laid flat on the ground instead of swinging back and forth. Not a single blink, a twitch of movement in the eyes or even a sign of breathing. If it weren't for the white girl in the black dress turning the pages at unknown intervals, the Spirit would have thought that time had frozen itself.

Meili took her first steps in reading a book through a Friendly Ghost as a medium, and it was more than she expected. She's familiar about communicating with them but reading with one was very different. Broad paragraphs were shortened into simple images. Short sentences were expanded with vivid impressions going through her head. She was absorbing knowledge in a way that was extremely efficient than just merely reading through text.

What her Father and Grandmother had learned and gathered from their lives in Pandemonium, she had unrestrained access to them. Apart from metaphysical facts of the world, the Afterlife, the natural cycle of things, the overlook of certain anatomies, and the makeup of mana, their wisdom made humanity look like complete idiots…..but at the same time, it made them look special.

Meili never felt so proud to be a human just by reading their passages.

Knowledge and Wisdom. Use both right and the importance of material things become insignificant by a large margin.

Throughout her read, she hasn't found a single instruction for any of the spells it stated.

And that is to be expected. She's about to become part of the Order of the Serpent and she have to figure it out on her own. In fact, she has a proud streak of discoveries in a matter of days thanks to her Father's uncompromising lectures and instructions. Like making a chair without blueprints, the layout is entirely up to her according to what she's learned about design practicality or the best material for it.

And she never thought that a dead body could still retain the shock of its own death, even without a head. Overload that shock with the learned knowledge that Souls could intensify emotions and it will explode, creating a powerful and messy but useful explosive in emergency situations. Her best discovery yet during her first act of violence against another human a couple days ago.

Hours passed in her study, with Beatrice's tower of finished books reaching an impressive height that they are about to tower over her in her elevated seat, and dusk finally arrived outside the door of the Archives.

The silence that have survived for so long has now shattered, by no other than a groan from Meili before her face fell on the page, a loud smack echoing in the silent Archives. "Ooooowwiiieee….."

"Your moaning is ruining the peace and quiet, in fact." Beatrice's snappy comment was quick to come out instead of being surprised by the sudden arrival of noise. "Shut it, I suppose."

"My heeaaad…." She rolled to her back, resting her head on the other page and holding it with her hands, gritting her teeth over the pounding sensation. "…it huuuurtsss….! Oooowww…..! Aaaagh….!"

Frowning, discomfort going through her nerves, Beatrice slammed the book she's reading close, a sharp clap resounding in the Archives, and addressed the matter. "What is going on with you, I wonder? Why is your head aching?"

"I don't knoooow….!" Meili tried to sit up, her left hand supporting herself upwards as she tried to get on her knees while her other kneaded her temple with a thumb. It did no good to the headache, "I…I think the book's stuff got too crammed in my heeaaaad…..! Papa gets like this when he listens to too many dead peeeoople…..! Now I know why Uncle told me not to do this for tooooo long….!"

"Then that leaves all the blame on you for failing to heed warnings, I suppose." The Spirit left her seat, tucking her book under her arm and reached a petite hand towards Meili's head, the healing energy of water magic about to—

"No!" Almost shrieking like a hissing cat, the white child in black practically slammed her back against the shelf behind her as she tried to get away from Beatrice's hand, bleeding eyes of glowing olive green glaring at it with murder despite the excruciating agony plain on her beautiful features as she continued holding her head with her gloved hand. "Don't…don't heal me, Betty…! I'll end up forgetting everything I studied if you do!"

Beatrice stared, slowly drawing her hand back and hugging the book under her other arm to her chest. "Fine, in fact." She returned to her chair and opened the book to the bookmarked page, continuing where she left off, momentarily taking glances to the girl and trying to ignore the croaking and gurgling.

Five minutes of suffering haven't lessened the pain yet, and Meili fell on her side still kneading her temples, curling into herself and tucking her head in-between her knees, adding pressure into it. She managed to stop her grunting and moaning, maintaining a steady, if sharp, pace of breathing. Without her knowing, her now-dry hair of silver began floating while multiple red lines began appearing on her bare legs and arms. Grit teeth were visible, having morphed from blunt to sharp some moment ago. Tightly-closed eyes began leaking tears of red, spilling to her pale forearm.

The Spirit's eyes began widening in grim shock over the sudden occurrence, still like stone as she watched unseen claws rake across the girl's body, appearing to the surface in a matter of seconds like a symptom. Instead of the pain intensifying, her condition's only lightening, the tension on Meili's face relaxing and her breathing stabilizing pleasantly.

She uncurled and rolled to her back, her right arm over her eyes while the other lied limp on her belly, its remaining surfaces of white skin unmarred by phantom scratches found only above the elbow while the forearm and hand remained a scalding red, fewer bits of white remaining.

Another five minutes later, her hair sagged to the floor around her head and she suddenly sat up, dizzy and disoriented. Finding her balance in a few seconds and wiping the blood off her eyes, she tugged on her collar and looked under her dress before sighing exasperatingly. "I told them on the belly, not the cheeeeest." She muttered. Then she looked at her arm, eyeing the bright surface of red as she turned it over several times, then she turned to her other arm, and then her legs, eyeing the places she was scratched. "They're gonna ask questions when they seeee these."

"Here's the first: what happened?" Beatrice suddenly asked with a certain level of distress in her voice, eyeing her scratched form with a grimace. "That was no curse nor disease nor related to your headache, in fact. What brought you those lines on your skin just by reading a book, I wonder?"

Meili smiled, the sweet quality marred by the lines on her face, "Papa said that if something hurts, make something else huuuurt. It worked when my tummy started hurting after I ate a liver and he pressed his thumbs on my palm so hard it bleeeed."

A new line streaked across her forehead.

The Spirit gave her a dry look, a touch of disgust flashing evident in her butterfly iris eyes, "Your father has problems, I suppose. If you suffer headaches from reading, then something's wrong with you. And where did those red lines come from?"

"Ghosty claaaaaws." The white child's reply came out in a droll tone, wiggling fingers ominously in Beatrice's direction. Then she stopped and held out the red hand and forearm towards her, "They don't know how to be gentle when holding a haaaand."

"The way Betty sees, they did more than just hold your hand, in fact." Butterfly irises looked over her entire body once more. Face. Neck. Shoulders. Collarbones. Likely the chest. Elbows. Forearms. Hand. Knees. Legs. Feet. Many places are marked with red. "These spirits of yours are particularly violent, I suppose."

Meili wore a wan smile for the Spirit's lack of understanding. The actual meaning of 'Ghost' never actually gets into anybody's head, including a Spirit, unless you use the term 'Hollow'. She honestly wondered why the two terms don't relate together.

She manually fixed her hair in a braid, looking at the door and asking, "If you don't mind me asking, what time is iiiit?"

"A dozen or so minutes after sunset, I suppose."

"Heeeeh. I don't think I've ever studied that long in my liiife." She walked over to her black book, bare feet standing before the pages. Finished with her braid as it obediently remained interweaved without the need of a rubber band, she tapped into her mana core and moved the energy into her hands, coating it in a shade of light green before rubbing them together, as if spinning an invisible stick found in-between rapidly.

….Until it was no longer invisible.

After a couple seconds of rubbing, a little stick made of ivory began growing out of her glowing hands from the top and the bottom. Restrained practice of her new magic is a principle her father told her to enforce on herself, as her pool of power is quite lacking for extended use without the help of Souls. She's been faithful to it, restricting her use of them to practical tasks and insignificant handling like keeping her hair neat.

But when she has the chance to use them, she makes sure she uses them. She would smile every time, enjoying every little bit of it. What she discovered when she accepted the Contract is still true to this day: Power like this is intoxicating. The sensation of superiority fills her mind each time, even if she's only making a little stick.

Trained self-restraint allowing her mind to resist the temptation, she stopped rolling the stick in her hands and rolled the top of it with her thumb and index finger, creating a little flag for a bit of flair.

"Mm hm!" Accomplishment crossing her mind as she held it like a pen, she placed it in-between the page and closed the book, the tip of the ivory bookmark protruding from the top. Picking up the tome and hugging it to her chest lovingly, she turned to Beatrice and said, "I'll be going now, Bettyyy. Thanks for letting me use your rooooom."

"Much less 'let' and more like 'intrude', I suppose." Beatrice never looked up from her book as she replied. "Fix your manners, why don't you? And don't ever come back, in fact."

An ironic look crossed Meili's face.

"Shoo, shoo."

And Beatrice actually waved her off.

Pouting, Meili turned around and walked to the door.

Then she suddenly stopped mid-step with a wide-eyed look on her face, suddenly remembering the reason why she came to this place aside from finding a private place to read. "Oooh, Betty, I almost forgoooot." She twirled on her heel, her other leg bent parallel to the ground and landing back to the floor as she faced the grouchy Spirit, "Papa says 'thank you' agaaaiiin."

"Hm?" Butterfly irises looked up from the book.

"You helped Papa with the antidote, riiiight?" Wearing her kindest smile, she sent her Father's regards, "The payment you want was his magic, so Papa said I'm gonna be the one to do juuuust that."

Meili walked over to a bookshelf and placed the black tome on the floor, leant against it.

Beatrice eyed the action with a frown, "What are you doing, I wonder?"

"Since we're gonna be learning together, I'll leave this here to make sure I come baaack."

"What!? Betty didn't say—"

"Okay, bye-bye, Bettyyyy! Let's study together next time, okaaaayyy!"

"Hey! Wait a—"

The door was closed with the white girl in black already out of the room.

Beatrice gave the portal a withering glare, her outstretched hand shaking as it lowered to the book on her lap. "If that brat is that man's daughter, then he is a poor father. Her manners are atrocious, I suppose…."

Her eyes turned to the big black book leaning against the bookshelf and her expression became grouchier than it already is.

She's beginning to question if the white girl in black is either careless or incredibly stupid. She can understand leaving a book in the hands of a trustworthy keeper but that is a Spell Book. You leave it lying around without any sort of precaution, it is bound to be taken away and its secrets leaked out. Magicians have protocols, almost equal to a contract, and one among them is not leaving their knowledge lying around for strangers to take without the right to, risking to be lost forever.

She will never live it down if that girl honestly calls herself a magician. It highly reflects how her 'father' is teaching her. An incompetent father to an incompetent mage.

"Hmph…." Releasing disappointment under her breath and clicking her tongue, she stood up from her chair and placed the book she's holding on her seat with the bookmark placed.

She walked over and picked up the girl's book from the ground, and she couldn't believe it anymore when she surged her senses over it.

There's not even a single ward, enchantment or some sort of seal placed on the tome to keep it locked or its contents hidden. Even a typical padlock would have been acceptable. Does that girl know nothing?

Shaking her head, she panned the spine forward and opened up a random page. If that child plans to study with her, then she might as well not make that happen, by reading it ahead of her. No one simply reads the same book alongside the Great Spirit, Beatrice.

She looked over one page….flipped to the next page….then the next.

And steadily, her frown loosened, becoming flat, and then completely emotionless.

She slammed the book shut, a sharp crack echoing in the Archives.

Unless, of course, the entire thing is encrypted by having it written in a language that possibly nobody in the world knows about. She's a Spirit with a Witch's knowledge surrounding her, having already read each one, and she does not recognize any of the characters.

"Of course, I suppose."

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Meili eyed the Blue Maid looking at her with wide-eyes as she stepped out of the room. The Blue Maid eyed Meili as she suddenly appeared from the bathroom she just used, carrying multiple red lines on her body and her whole left hand smudged in red.

"Miss Meili….how were you in there….?"

Smiling, she adjusted the dislodged strap on her left shoulder, drawing attention to the scratches that led to the chest. "Bettyyyy. We just read boooooks together."

Blue nodded uneasily, peering intently at the lines but most prominently, her face. "And could those red lines be….."

"Yesss. It's the Ghostiieesss." Blue likely knew which one she meant, considering that she just saw more than a few of them last night. Judging by the minuscular flinch, she knows. "Where am I noooow? Last time, I entered from the first flooooor."

"The second floor."

"Thank yoouuuu." She picked a side and walked onwards to the lamp-lit hallway, the open windows revealing the darkening sky heralding the evening. I hope Papa eats properly….wait. "Blue Maidyyyy."

Blue turned around, facing her again, "Yes?"

"I'm just asking," She suddenly sounded soft and polite, her current demeanor starting to look different than usual. She's aware of it, and she's making sure that Blue takes note of it, to show that she's being serious, "Is there going to be dinner?"

"Um, yes." Blue replied, "Rem's just about to head to the kitchen. Tonight's dish will be beef and vegetable soup. Do you have an order you would like served, Miss Meili?"

Pursing her lips, she shook her head. "No." She turned around and continued walking, crossing her arms and her hair began to float without her knowing, "….I don't wanna eat buuut…..I guess I'll eat liiiight." She muttered under her breath, her every footstep uncannily silent despite herself.

She cupped her ears, hoping for silence.

Eyes glowing dourly, a sullen sneer on her lips, she sighed deeply with a hint of a growl coming from her throat as she put her hands down after a single minute. "They won't stop."

Putting her hands behind her back, gripping both wrists and straightening her spine, she put her consciousness under the influence of Emotion Suppression. She's getting nervous, and it's positively irking her. She wants the reason why Blue attacked Papa, it should be the maid who should be nervous. Why is she having cold feet? Getting angry over these complicated emotions will not do her any good, especially if the Souls try to rupture her body again because of it.

But only if the Souls actually stop sending her their sentiments of anticipation on her mind regarding the discussion between her and Blue, she would have succeeded in keeping her nerves together.

She sighed, growling through pointy teeth. She's still susceptible to their influence. She needs more mental strength. Maybe a daylong sleep filled with nothing but nightmares would help. She mustn't be their toy forever, Papa was very firm as he said that. It'd defeat the purpose of being alive again otherwise.

She's not another Flesh Golem. She is absolutely not. Anyone who thinks otherwise will see the mean side of her.

I gotta get bigger soon. I don't wanna rely on ghosties too much….

Her passage to the dining room was solemnly silent, meeting nobody else along the way. She did revel in the fact that she made the lamps die out as she passed them by when she siphoned the mana powering them, leaving behind a darkened hallway. She felt like a horror story monster or an Angry Spirit in a haunted building.

Reaching her destination and opening the door, the lamps came on as they noticed her presence. She drained their energy too, bringing back the dark of the room before closing the door, leave just a crack open before taking her now-usual spot that would be three spaces away from the head of the table on the right. Emily takes the spot next to Rosy. Papa would be right next to her. Then Meili will be right beside him, her spot at the center of the table where she can see everyone at a perfect angle aside from the other head of the table.

Pulling her chair back and sitting down, she rested her elbows on the table and cupped her face, motionless like stone except for her hair that began floating idly.

Without the need of Emotion Suppression, she tried to vanish her disconcerted emotions. Emotions that are not hers, she attempted to overwrite them with her own. A troubling thought clouded her mind, however, and it hung on since leaving the Archives: what does she feel now? Is she neutral? Is she hungry? Is she sullen? Or is she truly nervous about the discussion between her and Blue?

She scowled underneath her hands, sneering. She hates being confused.

…...

…...…...

…...…...…...

"PFFF!" Suffering a pulse of pain for her efforts, she slammed both her fists to the table, creating a thunderous crack in the deafening silence, the sound itself echoing out the door and into the hallway.

At the same time, a small quantity of mana suddenly expelled themselves out of her form. Despite its minor size, the potency of her mana is above that of an average magician, not enough to match Papa's but it's enough to turn the lamps on again as they drained the residue out of the air.

Her fiery look suddenly lapsed to that of surprise, looking down on her hands curled into fists, still resting on the table and crumpling the white sheets from the impact.

….didn't Papa do this once?

Remembering his stories, she let out a huff of breath through her nose. She smoothed the crumples and leaned back into her chair, wanting to laugh but releasing only a weary sigh, holding her face with her gloved hand.

Almost a whole hour of meditation in her seat and she ended up frustrating herself to the point of rage, at which point the Souls didn't approve and sent thousands of needles through her veins. Looking down underneath her dress, it was only one pulse so the purple veins didn't go far beyond the center of her chest.

In the end, she discovered that she still doesn't know herself as Meili Sinnuldel.

Taking a deep breath, she drained the mana in the room back to herself and sent the room to complete darkness again.

Since being brought back to life, she had discovered repercussions in her existence as a little girl bearing her Papa's poisonous blood. She can certainly handle most of them. Even with the loss of freedom to express her anger freely, there are a variety of ways she can show it besides fuming. She's not a slave. She can actually do as she wished, providing she can perform the tasks assigned of her, which was reasonable and manageable.

The one thing she hasn't handled yet, however, is the danger of not being herself.

Papa had told her that the people of Pandemonium had justified reasons to fear Necromancy and those who practice it. It is a dangerous class of magic, and every dumb poser who perform its dark arts without knowing any better will have their minds twisted, sense of selves burned away in insanity as they dug deeper into their research, devolving into psychopathic and suicidal maniacs that kill indiscriminately and senselessly. The Order of the Serpent, true and worthy practitioners of black magic, will hunt them down the sooner they caused havoc to the Above-World with their stupidity.

Souls who do not pass on to the Afterlife are hedonistic beings, selfish audiences in a theater, watching the events play out and demanding to be entertained according to their design. Such desires would potentially affect the actors, influencing the actors' movements into performing what they want instead of following the original script.

That actor is Meili Sinnuldel, and she doesn't know what the script is. Without it, she cannot perform her part the way it needs to. If she breaks character by being angry, the audience will curse her and throw vegetables on the stage, impeding her performance further.

Knowing oneself is the only shield against the influence of Souls. Souls can easily manipulate her emotions, and they can just as easily twist her body apart the sooner they do. She must know her emotions; more importantly, know herself. Emotion Suppression is just a temporary relief from their manipulations, and no human could live without a heart. The ultimate cure is Self-Actualization. An unstated goal that all humans shared, whether Underground or Above. The achievement to true happiness.

Easier said than done. She emulated Elsa in her first life as Meili Portroute. She was an infiltrator as well, capable of putting on different personalities and mindsets, further complicating her case. In her second life as Meili Sinnuldel, she is now the loving daughter of a man from beyond the Great Waterfall named Emurdol Viandegroc. But even she doubts that it is actually her real self instead of the Souls who adore their relationship and manipulated her emotions, considering that she still harbors the desire of killing him deep within her subconsciousness.

The more she realizes the contradictions of her desires, the more she kept asking:

Who is Meili Sinnuldel?

She sighed, dragging her fingers across her face and groaned, "Ooooooooyyyyy…" Bored eyes of olive green glowed in the imperceptible darkness, the sounds of teeth grinding against each other piercing through the eerie silence.

Aside from becoming the accomplished apprentice of a Necromagus, this second life of hers is just a long, demanding search for an identity and it's getting difficult everyday, with or without Papa nearby.

For perhaps the umpteenth time, she sighed.

…...

…...…...

…...…...…...

….what if…what if Papa did it on purpose?

A certain possibility was discovered, and the glow of her widened eyes brightened.

Is this actually what Papa had planned when he made her his? Did he saw all this coming, that she would have a crises with her sense of self?

No. He knew. He definitely knew. If this is what she's going to suffer as a wyrmm, it stands to reason that he had went through the same thing as well.

He adopted her to save her from herself. That's what he initially did besides saving her from the unforgiving eyes of the Assassin Organization. If it weren't for him, she would have killed herself with her own emotions. He planned to let her go. At some point, he will.

He loves her, and he shows it whenever he can without hesitation.

He's helping her define her identity. She needs to be strong, and he's making sure that happens. And when she is, she would soon not be needing the constant assistance of Souls anymore like he is. She would be free of them and their demands. She would become herself. She would truly formalize the identity of Meili Sinnuldel to herself, a mature, self-defined Mistress of the Dead that commands the beasts of evil birthed by the dreaded Witch of Envy.

She sighed again, clicking her tongue. A sharp slap echoed in the dark room, courtesy of the white hand that came flying to her face.

I'm such a stupid girl….why didn't I realize that sooner?

It's one of these days that Meili will freely admit that she's still a child who doesn't know any better, yet. She has given everything to him but she still owes him so much.

She held her cheeks, blushing and licking her lips, her impossibly red tongue poking through.

I guess I'll give him a kiss when he comes back….maybe on the lips.

As soon as the next person who came from the door arrived, who happened to be Emily, Meili freaked her out by wearing the face of a screaming banshee as soon as the lamps came on; white hair fanned out raggedly, eyes widely open and a gaping mouth full of teeth.

The half-elf was nearly reduced to tears, and she had discovered that Meili Sinnuldel knows when she's gone too far. The Souls were laughing, but her insides dropped multiple fathoms deep. They may have sway over her emotions but her body is her own, and the body demands she say 'Sorry'.

~~~~~ « ҉ » ~~~~~

Dinner was spent with herself doing her best to comfort the rattled Emily, even saying that she'll eat the half-elf's greens in her place for a whole week. She used to hate vegetables herself but the girl who used to is Meili Portroute. Her last name's not Portroute, it's Sinnuldel. Apparently, the greens tasted okay.

Emily was quite easy to please, and dinner went on without trouble, and Rosy was having the time of his life as he watched the proceedings, chuckling and making jokes in his spine-tingling drawl. She didn't stay long like she did with breakfast where she chatted for as long as she liked. As soon as her plate was empty, she excused herself and went to her room.

She sat on her bed, hugging her knees close to herself at the head of it, looking out to the now-open window where the moonlit yard is seen. In accordance to her liking, there's little light made in the room except for the time magic stone hung up by the wall and the shine of the Dragon's eye.

Motionless, hair afloat, she put herself under the influence of Emotion Suppression. The Souls are getting even more anxious, and it's getting annoying when she herself won't stand being nervous when Blue comes in. It made the wait long, however.

But still, she waited, looking at the same patch of ground outside the window, imagining the ways it could be occupied with activity. Her best choices in mind were witchbeasts staring at the mansion with bloodthirsty eyes, about to storm inside and murder the occupants in their sleep; a skeleton army of her making, all armed with unlikely implements of war and murder scattered around the mansion; or just herself and Papa playing the game of catch.

Feeling for her Link, she found him still inside the cave.

What's he doing now? He forgave his mama, what's he doing in his spare time?

She sighed, stretching out her legs and leaning back against the wall. Stretching her hands up, yawning, she adjusted the strap of her dress on her shoulder and crossed her arms. "I don't feel sleeeepy." It must have been the food. Maybe she'll spend her waking time in the bone tree, putting the knowledge she gathered in the Archives for some experimentation.

Hopefully, I don't need a dead body.

A nudge on her consciousness coming from the left warned her of a presence arriving from the hall.

Emotion Suppression.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the two entities from behind the walls. She felt them stop behind the door. After a few seconds of them having a short exchange of words under whispers….

…the door opened.

Emotion Suppression.

She opened her eyes and turned to the portal, seeing Blue with her hand on the knob and a resigned look on her face.

Emotion Suppression.

Seeing Red's back from the opening, she told the little sister in an impersonal voice, "Close the door."

Nodding lightly, eyes facing the ground the whole time, she gently closed the door, the lightest thud emanating from the closure.

Leaning away from the wall, Meili moved over to the edge of the large bed, gestured for the skeletons to close the window, and patted a spot next to her, "Sit here."

Blue obeyed wordlessly, finding her way just fine despite the minimal amount of light in the room, almost silent in her footsteps before sitting down primly, the bed shifting to accommodate her weight. Meili could see the guilt in her light blue eyes, as apparent as a bloodstain.

And she remained there, eyeing the Blue Maid from the side, motionless as a statue with a piercing glow in her olive green eyes, saying nothing. The little sister sat demurely, her hands together atop her lap and saying nothing as well, waiting for a prompt to speak.

The silence hung on for more than two minutes. When Meili was satisfied, she finally gave it, "Speak." Blue lightly flinched before turning to her, guilt-ridden eyes of light blue struggling to meet hers. "Why? Why did you do it when Papa did nothing to you?"

The maid's gulp was audible in the tense silence, and sweat was starting to show on her neck, finding the atmosphere of the room unbearable. With trembling lips, she answered her, "Ser Emurdol….carried….the scent of the witch….."

Meili listened, with patience and understanding, keeping her emotions from obstructing the hearing. Blue began with a slight exposition of her origins. From being the last of the Demon Kind alongside her sister to the time when she was taken in by the Master of the Mansion, Meili was still without the slightest inch of movement. Not a blink. Not an intake of breath. Not even a twitch of movement in the eye. Eventually, the Maid reached the part of the explanation about why she was antagonistic to Papa. The more she explained, the more apparent her tears were becoming. One sentence at a time, the guilt became more and more obvious.

The maid thought Papa was one of the people who razed her village to the ground, murdered her parents and its people, took her sister's horn, and massacred the relatives of Roswaal's family when one of the three ringleaders hunted her and her sister down to the Roswaal Domain.

All because he smelled like one of them.

Smoke, ash, burnt rubber, and rusty steel mixed together. Papa had a certain kind of scent around him, not even he knows why or where it came from. It hung around him like a clingy disease no matter what he does or where he goes. It happened to be called the Scent of the Witch, and Meili happened to be the first to find out, not him.

Because of that scent, he was eventually forced to leave of his own volition for the sake of the Mansion's stability. And that only led to more losses coming Papa's way when the Maid didn't even allow him the right to leave.

The Maid was regretful, but her attempts to rectify her mistakes only made it worse.

"Rem….hic….Rem is a bad maid…." Blue sobbed, wiping away the cascade of tears with her hands and failing miserably. "…..Rem….Rem let this all happen…."

Self-depreciation was all that ever came out of her mouth, every syllable chipped and cracked under her tears, drenching her hands and sleeves even further. Every loss and every circumstances that happened during Papa's stay in the mansion, she took all the blame to herself.

Point for point, she's not wrong. At the same time, Meili's impersonal mind had noticed other factors that led to the disaster. Papa had been antagonistic as well, practically without provocation, making him liable to the blame as well. Logic, however, dictates that the actions made by the little sister was actually what made it all reach the breaking point in the end.

Papa didn't want any trouble and only wished to last 5 days in the mansion. His attitude towards Blue on the first day when he was going to amputate his hand cannot be excused, but what the latter did during the second night, lashing her weapon at him in the hallway when he literally did nothing except suddenly keel over and vomit blood while the Scent got even worse, however, render her actions completely irrational and now unworthy of any sympathy. Wouldn't the sensible thing to do as a Maid, of all things, be that you run over and see what's wrong with him?

She may have little reason to trust him during the witchbeast incident, but even she should understand that he could have easily killed her there that night in the witchbeast forest despite multiple opportunities, where she was so far away from the Mansion or any sort of help. But he didn't. Instead, he warned her of her Cursed condition, blatantly telling her to retreat back to the village so he can cure her and the children of their curse the sooner he brings Meili, the Seventh Child, to safety. It was a clear and obvious sign that he was not an enemy.

She didn't listen, and she failed to catch on. She went after him because she still doesn't trust him this one last time. That led to her being attacked by his skeletons, then the witchbeasts, and then forced Papa to save her from being overwhelmed. He lost his throat and voice in the process.

And including the fact that he had to save her again due to uncontrollable circumstances because Grandma went rogue and poisoned her in her sleep, leading to a violent spat that nearly destroyed the Mathers Domain but somehow got mysteriously rectified, Blue took the blame on its occurrence as well even though no one could have faulted her for any of it. Not even Uncle had seen it coming.

But Meili doubts that she'll see things in her point of view. This maid seems so adamant in thinking that everything is her fault.

Sniffling, wiping her nose and face with a handkerchief before blowing on it, Blue turned to face her with swollen red eyes and asked, her voice cracking pathetically that it was almost unheard. The silence of the room and Meili's improved hearing allowed her to hear it anyway, "Does this satisfy you, Miss Meili….? Has this lowly, worthless Demon answered all your questions….?"

….

…...…...

…...…...…...

That's a question Meili's asking too.

With the influence of Emotion Suppression hardening her heart, she's completely apathetic to the explanation she received. Despite having the answer to all her questions, she still hasn't moved the slightest twitch. She's not sure how to react, uncertain of what Meili Sinnuldel would do, the daughter of the man who suffered under Blue's hands. Should she cry for the maid and embrace her? Should she shout and curse the maid? Or would she just sit there and stare, judging her?

The Souls are contesting with themselves. Some pitied her. Some despised her even more. If she allows them to control her heart, an unpredictable response would likely come through. And she's not eager to find out what it is.

Her emotionless gaze wandered to the sheets, pursing her lips and taking a deep breath through her nose. With or without a heart, she finally has her answer. Her thoughts on the matter does not have any relevance to it anyway. Now, Papa just needs to hear about this and finalize his decision on whether to come back or leave for good afterwards.

Deciding to play the part of Papa's baby girl, she shifted closer to the maid and wrapped her little arms around her neck. She stroked her head and patted her back, the gentlest of touches she gave. Her face never twitched the slightest all the way, dull olive green eyes staring into space and a flat line on her lips.

Her heartless self cannot be sure but certain factors dictate that this sort of behavior has the most likelihood of what Meili Sinnuldel would do.

Parting from her robotic attempt to console, Meili took the handkerchief in the maid's hands and wiped away the residues of tears and snot off her face. Afterwards, she gave it back and led her to the door, holding her hand tenderly all the way with her left one.

Opening the door, Red was stood in the way facing her, as if having expected the exchange to be finished long ago. Wordlessly, Meili took her left hand with her gloved right and put it into contact with Blue's before saying, "To bed."

Nodding, Red gently pulled her little sister out of the room and onwards to their quarters, holding a lamp with the other hand before pulling Blue closer in a side-hug.

As soon as Meili closed the door, she already had the skeletons open the window again before she jumped out of it. Still under the influence of Emotion Suppression, she didn't care when her knee-long skirt flew up to her collarbone in her drop, the waistband and belt bag preventing the dress from flying off her body entirely, before roughly landing on all fours on the earth before springing off to a dash towards the gate.

Surgically-improved legs blurring in her barefooted sprint and stiffening readily, silver tresses and her dress flying behind her from the wind resistance, she smoothly ejected off the ground, over the gate and back to the earth without the loss of a beat or speed. Meili Portroute would not have been able to do that without the help of a beast.

Dirt kicked up behind her, and under the Dragon's Eye, she left a trail of dust on the road that slowly disappeared in a couple of seconds. In a pace like this, she would be faster than a full-grown man. Her soles landed on rocks, rough soil, and the traction would have skidded the skin off them for the amount of strength she's exerting just for a single step.

Thankfully, she had already suffered the agony of the feet and had it rectified long ago. The moment she snapped the straps of her villager shoes and rendered them useless, she was barefoot for the entirety of her time with Papa. More than she could handle, she was told not to yelp nor to show the pain on her face when she stepped on something sharp or even lacerated her left sole.

With her father's blood, infection in the wounds is no longer a concern for her. An advantage like that made a long walking trip with him a living hell. He didn't teach her Reconstruction beforehand, he didn't give her a healing elixir for them nor did he modify her legs till they finally stopped after an 18 hour trek. She was glad he let her sleep the entire operation away, otherwise she would never stop venting out the screams she's been holding in.

Now, it will take more than skids and pointy rocks to damage the hardened skin of her soles. Meili Sinnuldel would prefer shoes, however, that is most certain. This heartless side of herself disregarded them completely, rationalizing that since she's only sending a message, she wouldn't need them for now.

Running for a whole 10 minutes without slowing down, not the slightest bit exhausted or sweating, she finally reached Earlham Village and slid to a stop on her heels, tiny hills of dirt gathered up under her soles. Unsurprisingly, she found Uncle seated on the foundation of the water well, motionless as a statue. A self-employed night watchmen guarding the humble village since more than a few days ago. His kitty mask turned to face her as she approached, "Hello. What are you doing here?"

She quickly laid a hand on his robed shoulder, and the Souls spoke on her behalf. Emotion Suppression allowed her to remember that Uncle is not a living being. He is a Flesh Golem; a Soul given a body of flesh, a dead man walking in essence, therefore he can communicate with other Souls quite easily compared to a living Priestess of the Serpent.

There was a minuscular flinch on his body a second after being touched, acknowledging the information in an instant. Not having nor needing a brain, the requirement to process the information is radically skipped. The gist of it is clear to him already.

"Ah….well, this is very interesting." He stroked the chin of his mask before noticing her bare white feet. He knelt down and held one ankle, angling it so he can see her sole, dirty but free of any injury. "Why are you not wearing shoes?"

"I wasn't going to stay long." She answered simply.

She turned to look at her face, even though he doesn't need to. "You locked down your emotions." It wasn't a question. He already figured out why she would do so before she said anything.

"They would make me do something I shouldn't. Can you make them stop?" It wouldn't be enough to stop their influence but the lesser their numbers around her, the more likely her emotions can be dominant. She can keep the Friendly Soul, however.

"Your Father would not allow it." He let go of her ankle and stood straight. "I suggest you meditate to the bone tree and commune with them. It will help you neutralize their influence."

Meili looked down, suddenly releasing the locks of her Emotion Suppression. The influx of emotions were quite overwhelming, the urge to cry and the want to lash out mixing together in a dangerous chaos. Whether these emotions are her or not, all of it originated from the aftermath of Blue's explanation. It's killing her. She wants to hug someone. She wants to kill someone. She wants to kiss someone. She wants to torture someone. The desires don't correlate well, and the backlashing pulse across her body made her croak, clutching her heart.

Blood-soaked eyes of olive green turned to Uncle, a soft mumble coming out of her mouth, "Can I see Papa….?"

His leather index finger poked her forehead, and his other hand waved off the Souls around her, legitimately shutting them up and neutralizing her rampant emotions. The pulse is gone. She let out a relieved sigh, wiping the blood on her eyes. Souls apparently follow a certain hierarchy. Whoever is the most tied to the flesh has the strongest sway over the others. Even the lightest bit of attachment to fleshly desires is considered dominating, and Uncle's attachment to his duty is considered commanding.

"That's a temporary relief." He informed, "And no, you may not."

She scowled and pouted, looking down on her bare feet. Why didn't she bring her shoes with her? Stupid Emotion Suppression.

"Do not get me wrong." He suddenly assured, "He misses you and would want nothing more than to see you again. And since we can now tell him why the Little Bitch attacked him, I'm very certain he's coming back to you sooner than you think."

She looked up to him, "Really?"

"I know my Brother well, Niece. He won't be satisfied unless he hears the truth directly from her mouth." He held her shoulders and twisted her around before nudging her forward, telling her to go back to the mansion and either sleep or go meditate. "Now go. I will report to him immediately. He must be informed of this."

"Okaaay." She was in a happy mood now, though she didn't smile. Is it the Souls again? Is it the prospect of seeing Papa again? Or is this the satisfaction of a job well done? Well, that doesn't matter. She can confirm that Meil Sinnuldel would be fine with whatever. She hurried back to him and gave him a peck on the cheek of his kitty mask, "Good niiiight, Uncle."

"You too, Niece."

Not needing to hurry, she walked back to the mansion, cutting through dark unilluminated forests and ignoring the road, briefly wondering if Meili Portroute would dare walk into scary dark places without witchbeasts guarding her compared to Meili Sinnuldel who lost the fear of the dark unknown.

Later that midnight, standing next to the bone tree and spectated by a wide audience of Souls, a whole afternoon spent reading actually paid off, newly discovered spells now added to her arsenal with many more to come and make Papa proud.