Aurelian invited Richard Hoffman in, noticing his unease as he guided him further down the empty lobby. Despite being invited by an injured host, which already placed merchants like Hoffman in a precarious situation, the Water Guardian suspected Hoffman to be wary of something else. Still, they sat down at the usual table, and while the tea on the table had grown rather cold, the half-elf helped himself to the honey and Ruve herb infusion. He filled his cup and took a sip; the slightly sweetened bitterness of the drink reminded him of coffee. However, this beverage had more in common with pain relievers and sleep aids than the beloved beverage of Senacians and Sanderians. Aurelian could not have much of it even if it was soothing his pain, else he fell asleep in front of his guest.
"Did something serious happen, Lord?" the merchant asked. "We can always postpone our meeting if you're indisposed."
"I'm perfectly disposed, don't you worry," he replied with a small chuckle. "In fact, I kind of miss the days where I could be hurt like this. I feel more alive than ever before! How about you? You look pale."
The man sighed as he shrugged. He served himself a cup of the room-temperature drink and briefly grimaced. He did not pick up the drink immediately but rather clasped his hands together over his thighs before taking the cup.
"There are a lot of things weighing heavily on my mind, Lord," he calmly answered before taking a sip of the drink, albeit reluctantly. "The missing El is one of them, but your presence here is also worrying me and many others. Most have figured that something must be really amiss for someone such as yourself to stay this long in town, let alone get hurt in this way."
'This long, he says. Does he take me for a fool?' Aurelian thought as he calmly nodded.
He took a second sip, smaller than the first, and replied: "Did the stress blurr your memories, Ricky? I'm as good a mage as my rank allows me to be, but I'm no miracle-maker. A month and a half's hardly enough to ease all the worries you brought up to the clergy."
"Pardon my ignorance," the merchant said, barely a tinge of annoyance in his voice, "But I must admit I did not expect that Wally's actions would bring the attention of a Water Guardian. Unless, of course, there's something else that's bothering the Church."
The Water Guardian debated whether or not Hoffman was feigning ignorance. It was possible, but when merchants grew nervous, there was some serious trouble brewing under the surface. Aurelian could not tell what exactly it was. The man could be planning a city-wide riot for all he knew and wanted to keep it down low. It was an understandable worry, but Senace would never intervene in favour or against some insignificant tyrant. Still, there was something of great interest here.
"Well, you see, one of your adventurers is my current objective. He poses a threat I need to neutralise," he nonchalantly said. "And I'm facing a rather vexing issue that prevents me from neutralising him."
He let his words linger until the silence forced Hoffman to look him right in the eye.
"There's a valuable companion of mine that I can't contact anymore," he continued. "You might know him as Yiu Hie. Care to tell me what you know about him? Any place I might catch him one of these days?"
The truth was that Aurelian knew that Yoon, known to the Court as Yiu Hie, was dead. He had found his comrade's corpse, or rather what remained of him, near the 21st Fluonian Steel Cross. Yoon's death left him puzzled more than anything. Ciel could not be the culprit considering the state of decomposition, not to mention how much weaker he was compared to the second Earth Guardian. The matter had to be kept on the outmost secrecy until he had enough leads. Such was the command of both the Earth and Water Priestesses.
There were a few ways someone of Yoon's calibre could be overwhelmed, and considering Ariel worked for Hoffman, it was possible she had revealed one of those ways. Besides, there was no such thing as a merchant on Richard's level that hid their good deeds away from people like him. Best case scenario, Hoffman knew as little as he did. Worst case scenario…
It was only for a moment, but Aurelian caught a conflicted expression on his face. Hoffman was afraid of answering that question honestly.
"I've-" he began, only to quickly press his lips together and pass his hand over the nape of his neck. After taking a deep breath, the merchant found the strength to speak again. His confidence was returning, strangely so.
"I find that strange, Lord," Hoffman calmly said. "that some foreigner from Northern Fluone is a valuable companion of yours. Unless you're trying to imply you aren't the only Guardian in Elder. Are you perhaps too weak to handle one rogue priest on your own? From what I've been told, Ainchase Ishmael is the only member of the El Search Party who you may be referring to. The people of Elder are owed the truth, especially when the El shard is still missing."
Ah, so that was his game. To try and get him to reveal everything, Hoffman counted on wounding his pride and acting all noble about it. Well, that certainly was an interesting move.
The half-elf chuckled, admiring both how mistaken but shrewd the approach was. For an ignorant kid who thought he was better because he outsmarted his peers a few times, Hoffman was doing pretty well.
"Oh," Aurelian scoffed, "What hurt me is something none of you could ever survive, but rest assured, it wasn't Ain."
The merchant seemed a bit surprised by that slip of the tongue, but that was all the better. The Water Guardian believed that the soul of that Celestial was fundamentally flawed. Aurelian was not surprised to hear Ciel use the same nickname to refer to the soldier of Ishmael that the half-elf had met almost a millenia ago. The more Hoffman assumed he knew the adventurers, the more leverage Aurelian would have to extract information out of him. It was not exactly hard to guess the merchant was using the so-called El Search Party to achieve whatever scheme he was hiding.
"I'm sure you've heard of all the curses in the Shadow Forest," the Water Guardian continued, "I was actually helping your adventurers a bit. They're pitifully weak, if you asked me."
He let his words weigh on the merchant's mind before shrugging the tension off.
"But, hey, it's the best ya got," he said with a yawn before getting back to business. "So, Rickie, about your question. Think of what Yiu Hie did. Do you think he really didn't need a push for that? I'm asking you where my precious asset is. I'm sure you know."
From the way the merchant froze, Aurelian knew his bluff had worked. As a Guardian, he had perhaps made a miscalculation in his wording before. But he would not leave any opening for Hoffman to question the entire truth.
"I saw him briefly," the merchant finally admitted. "A day after he decided to switch sides. But I really can't tell you where he is now. I don't know. Nobody has seen him since."
Although the half-elf wished to press him further as to why Yiu Hie had done that or, more importantly, when that had happened, he could not risk blowing his cover. Hoffman already believed that he knew everything, so this was as honest an answer as he could hope to get. He could ask Camilla later, should he need to.
Though the Water Guardian did not believe no one else had seen Yoon shortly before his death, he decided to shrug his shoulders and seemingly brush off his concerns, "Ah, well that truly is unfortunate. Should you ever come to know of his whereabouts, you ought to inform me. Because, y'know what, Ricky? There's nothing you can hide for too long from me."
Though it was brief, Aurelian saw that his casually confident words had certainly an effect on Hoffman.
"So, let's be honest and friendly going forward, okay?" the Water Guardian said before sipping on his tea. "I don't really care about whatever Wally's doing or what you're planning, so don't make me care about it. It's really not in your best interest."
The merchant furrowed his brow and leaned back in his chair, perhaps trying to look down on him, "I wasn't aware that the Church would neglect to watch over a stolen El shard."
The half-elf smirked, putting his cup down on the table. Its ding on the plate marked the start of his cold reply.
"Have you ever wondered why the Ruben Shard is the only piece of El protected by a bunch of mediocre knights?" He began. "Why doesn't it have a priestess or a temple to begin with? It's rather perplexing, don't you think?"
"So, that's why Velder didn't reply," the merchant grumbled as his gaze sank down. "Too small and too little a population to care."
Aurelian shook his head, wagging his finger at the man to accentuate his rebuttal.
"Don't misunderstand us, Ricky. The size of it and the people around it matter little," he calmly answered before pointing his finger upwards. "What matters is the original intent."
Hoffman tilted his head slightly, eyebrows furrowed. Though his gaze relaxed after a while, the blue-eyed man straightened himself and crossed his arms.
"Then, what are you doing here?" He asked, exasperated. "In what capacity are old fairy tales more important to the Church than a plague that's ravaging through fertile lands that even you benefit from? Do you want Senace to run out of wheat?"
Aurelian chuckled, somewhat amazed at how limited Hoffman's knowledge of Senace was. Maybe he had given this human child too much credit.
"Your attempts at guilt-tripping me are adorable, Ricky," he haughtily answered. "I'm sure that you've heard and seen things about Ainchase Ishmael that would make you at least start to believe in old fairy tales."
The elf shrugged before continuing, "Just so you know, I'm taking care of a problem far more apocalyptic than the Plague taking over Ruben's farmland. And I assure you that the more time you take finding Yiu Hie, the less the El will matter in the great scheme of things."
After he let out a short sigh, Hoffman put his arms on the armrests and got up.
"I'll let you know if I have news about Yiu Hie," the merchant said, turning his back at him. "The Court will gather shortly, so I have to take my leave."
Aurelian yawned as he watched the non-believer leave the hotel. As the main entrance slammed shut, the half-elf sighed and slumped down his chair until he could comfortably look up. He closed his eyes for a moment, wishing to rest at long last, but one thought made him jolt back awake.
He had to make sure Ciel was still knocked out. Luriel could have wandered off on a break, and the last thing he needed was a panicked demon seeing her.
The Water Guardian rushed through the hall and muttered the runic incantation that revealed a trap door at the end of the main hall. He opened it in a rush and jumped inside, landing perfectly on his feet before he made his way through the labyrinth. Ciel had better stay down for at least a few more hours. The last thing Aurelian wanted to deal with was preventing labyrinth abominations from killing the future ninth Fire Guardian.
Aurelian became tense when he saw that the door leading to the demon's temporary quarters was ajar. If he had woken up in that state, there was no telling what he could do, even if there was theoretically no way he could escape from this basement. Yoon owned this place, but even with him gone, the labyrinth was still up and running. It would never let Ciel leave in his state. The half-elf crisped his hand into a fist, summoning an ice aura as he stealthily approached the room at the end of the corridor. He stretched his neck a little to have a better angle on where Ciel was supposed to be resting and saw Luriel looking at the unconscious demon. Immediately, Aurelian opened his hand, and the ice vanished as soon as it had come. It was clear enough to him she had somewhat tended to the demon's few remaining injuries. The scissors, bandages and flasks of distilled alcohol on the nightstand were enough evidence of that.
'I suppose that much is okay,' he thought to himself as he saw the woman fidgeting in place, as if she was anxious to see if Ciel would wake up. Aurelian was about to leave again until he saw the young woman do the unthinkable.
She took off her glasses, put them on the nightstand and began gathering the El energy around her.
He did not have it in him to scare her and chastise her for such a mistake, so he merely stopped sneaking around in the shadows and pushed the door as naturally as if he had just gotten there.
Even with such a calm entrance, Luriel still jumped when she saw him. For someone with the eyes of a Celestial, she still preserved a lot of her own sense of self. That much was a miracle. A gaze like hers should have become cold and fearless. All those who viewed the world with the Eyes of the Heavens were too powerful to ever hold emotions. Save for two people: Luriel and that traitorous Celestial.
"S-Sir Aurelian!" The blonde exclaimed, scrambling to get up and curtsying to him. "I, uhm, well, I didn't expect you here." Her gaze moved from one corner of the room to the other, carefully taking in all she saw. She bent slightly to the side as if to glance at the corridor he had come from and kept her focus there for a moment.
"Huh," she sounded almost annoyed, but even that was too strong an emotion for those eyes.
"You've been here for…longer," she coldly said. Her tone was more reminiscent of the previous Earth Priestess than the shy woman he knew. "You've been observing. You spied. You fear how she uses my power. And so you intervene. Against her will. Against your better judgement. Against the oath you took."
Though one might take these words as an accusation, Aurelian knew better than to take the dispassionate observation of a Celestial as a reason to feel guilty. If he did, then he would be giving Ozirion reasons to pass judgement on him. Aurelian sighed and crossed his arms. It seemed Luriel was long gone now. That alone was terrible news for this defenceless demon. Had Ignia not had an interest in him, Aurelian would not care about what Ozirion might do the moment he fully awakens. It would take a lot to convince him to not plunge his spear through Ciel's heart, assuming said weapon could still be summoned all the way from that cave when all that remained of Ozirion were his eyes.
To Aurelian's surprise, however, Luriel shook her head violently and took back the reins. The woman covered her face with both of her hands and turned away from him.
"I'm sorry," she yelped. "Nobody should see me like this. I forgot the first rule. Never gaze upon allies. I forgot; I'm sorry."
She trembled as she continued to apologise, repeating that same rule over and over, promising to never forget it. No matter how many years passed, she still was that scared, little blind girl…
Aurelian walked over to her, and, due to his child-like height, had to stand on his toes to softly put his hand over her wrist. She did not have to hide herself like a monster. Luriel had never been one to begin with. Though he had no way to know just how much of her power she could suppress by hiding away, he hoped some of his thoughts could reach her.
She let him guide one hand away from her face, then the next. Her white and blue gaze glimmered with tears she did not shed. Luriel still looked like herself, fully in-control of the blessing she was forced to inherit.
"You don't need to hide your sorcery from me," he told her. "You've never had to, remember?"
The blonde softly nodded, sitting back on the chair she had placed to treat Ciel's injuries. Her gaze was still sunk on the floor, and the two of them remained quiet for a moment. Aurelian let go of her hands before she did anything else, and he glanced at the nightstand. He quickly saw where her glasses were and grabbed them for her.
"Let's go," he told her, offering the relic she used to fully supress her power back. "Ciel's tougher than he looks, and you look exhausted. You did plenty for today, Luriel."
Luriel looked briefly at him, and her lips parted ever so slightly, as if she wished to speak. Ultimately, she merely shook her head silently and closed her eyes as tightly as she could, lowering her head once more.
"I can't leave," she whispered. "I can't leave him. I just can't."
Well, that was certainly out of left field. True, Aurelian had perhaps teased both Ciel and Luriel about their little so-called date, but he knew it was impossible anything had come of it. Not only because Luriel and Ciel had vehemently denied it, but because their characters were simply too incompatible. The Fluonian was perhaps a handsome man, but Luriel was somewhat infamous for her obliviousness towards any romantic advances or feelings, let alone physical attraction. She was the best daughter a father could ask for. Nobody could break her heart if it was forever out of reach.
It could not be love, and certainly not anything below that. They had, at best, talked for an hour. Luriel was always on her guard with everyone, so why? Why did she care about this stranger to the point she would consider using Celestial sorcery to treat him?
"Oh?" He questioned, tilting his head to the right. "Why's that?"
The young woman curbed her back even more, seemingly shrinking in her chair.
"I, uh, want him to regain his humanity," she began, clutching her skirt where it covered her thighs. "We talked a little. He knows I make those potions. And he thanked me. For the potions."
Her voice had decreased in volume until it was only a barely audible whisper by the time she said 'potions'. Though he had expected the encounter itself would boost her confidence a little, he had to ascertain just how much of an effect Ciel's gratefulness had had on this poor girl.
"And that's it? You think you owe him your time, health, and power because he thanked you for supplying potions that are, need I remind you, far less risky for you to make?"
"Well, I empathise with him," Luriel shot back. "Demonisation seems even more painful than what I had to deal with. I don't think he and I are too different. And, uhm, well, I sort of want to be useful to someone other than to, well, you know, my superiors."
The half-elf closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. Luriel's real job as an interrogator had probably done more harm than good. Her sorcery was perfect for it, of course, but sometimes he wondered if Ozirion only survived because Luriel would rather leave him the reins when she had to make heretics confess to their crimes. It made sense that she had been looking for ways to not be the person who breaks others. He even encouraged her to do so, albeit not too directly. In the end, Ciel was the person who gave her the explicit support she longed for. If only it was anyone else…
"I understand," the Water Guardian softly said. "But tell me one thing, Luriel. Are you sure, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you can keep Ozirion under control?"
"Well, I'm, uhm, sure there's the chance I struggle a little bit, depending how long I take, but-"
"Have you thought about what would happen if he doesn't regain his humanity, as you put it, by the time you're done?"
"What? I, uh, I don't really think," the short-haired woman stammered, "That's really not, well, how could that be possible? Celestial sorcery counters demonic magic perfectly, right?"
"Yes, it does," he countered, his tone far harsher than he intended. "And it can do its job far too well. Look at him, Luriel. I'm sure you can see why he's a half-demon. You're not playing with his soul and the remnants of another. Ciel couldn't be more different from you."
Though her eyebrows furrowed, Luriel did as he asked and remained quiet for a moment. The silence was as good enough a time as any to lay things down as they were and stop the girl from making a mistake she would come to regret:
"You don't know the first thing about him, Luriel," he assured her. "You assume he had no other choice, that he bitterly regrets the day he gave a piece of his humanity away. But you're completely, unequivocally, wrong. Some people embrace their monsters; they celebrate the strength they give them. And Ciel's one of them. There's nothing-"
Time seemed to slow down as she turned towards him, her eyes burning with rage. Her brow furrowed into a hardened glare. It was a second too late when Aurelian realised how powerless he was against her if she was completely controlling Ozirion's eyes.
"You will leave," she sternly said.
Her voice boomed like thunder, echoing through every wall with such might that the half-elf took a few steps back. Then, he realised that she could not have spoken that loudly. It was the effects of her sorcery. He had to stay strong. Her words did not hold enough force to make him bend to her will. At least, not yet. He had to make her understand she should not risk healing somebody who would never thank her for it. Demons had an ingrained fear against Celestials, and half-demons were surely no different. She had to let him expl-
"You will leave. Now."
Aurelian found himself at the door frame before he could process what had happened. The Water Guardian glanced at her one last time and said in a softer, kinder tone, "You know, Luriel, I just don't want you making such a big mistake. Any demon, partially human or not, would fear your eyes."
Luriel had spent almost a full night and a full day slowly weaving away all the excess demonic energy that had transformed Ciel's body. Sometimes, he would groan and mutter things in his slumber that she could not understand, but he seemed to calm down when she put her hand over his head and combed back his hair. If demons were supposed to fear her so much, would he even have such a reaction? Aurelian was the one who was wrong. Though his warning had worried her at first, she calmed herself enough to trust her decision. Nobody would ever want to be turned into some chimaera or have parts of themselves intrinsically tied to some ancient being. That kind of bond was terrifying.
She looked more closely at the Steel Cross's hair. It had returned to a blue hue, though its tone was a bit metallic. His horns had already disappeared, and that had been her biggest achievement. For once in her life, Luriel felt proud of her powers. Not only had she kept control over her power, but she also went so long without accidentally affecting other things…
Maybe she could ditch her glasses for good.
Then again, she had not quite figured out how to make her eyes look normal without them. Everyone would stare at her, would they not? She dejectedly sighed as she continued her task. The riptide of demonic energy that had been consuming Ciel was still strong but far less threatening to his life compared to how it was before. A few more hours was all that it would take, Luriel told herself. A few more hours and he would open his eyes as if nothing too bad had happened.
The blonde focused so much on her task for the next couple of minutes that she did not notice his eyes open as he gasped. She merely put a hand over his bandaged eye again, but he almost immediately turned around, eyes wide with fear. Luriel was startled, and she stumbled, hitting the back of her head against the wall as she fell off her chair.
The pain spread through her head and to her right leg, where she had unfortunately landed as the delicate threads of El Energy she was pulling and tying were stretched out and eventually vanished.
"Ouch!" The blonde yelped as she slowly got back on her feet, "I didn't expect you to move so fast…"
Now that her work could not continue, the woman reached for her glasses. She had eventually put them back in her skirt's left pocket, and she was glad she had not accidentally crushed them during her fall. Luriel put the artefact that sealed away her power over the bridge of her nose, a faint, gentle smile on her lips. She had done it. She had proven Aurelian wrong.
"I'm glad you're awake this fast," she enthusiastically began, "Sir Aurelian, uhm…"
She briefly thought back on the fear in Ciel's eyes when he had woken up. Luriel looked down, clasping her hands together. "Well, he wasn't exactly, uhm, optimistic."
The blonde expected him to grumble something about how weird or unreasonable Aurelian was, as he had done during their first meeting. Yet, the moment she met the half-demon's blue gaze, she noticed that terror still dwelled within them. It was as if he had never left his nightmare.
"Where am I?" He hissed. "What did you do to me?!"
All the warm confidence that had been building up inside her was immediately deflated, all the more so when Ciel subconsciously passed a hand over his covered eye. His fingers trembled, and though he did not say a word, she could almost see the grave accusation that floated in his mind. Luriel's heart grew heavy, and her lips trembled as she tried her best to stop herself from crying in front of him. Why was Aurelian always right when it came to the worst possible outcomes?
"I'm sorry," she weakly said. "Sir Aurelian warned me you wouldn't like my help but…"
She paused for a moment, but when she spoke again, her voice was barely any louder, "I thought he was wrong about you."
Ciel raised an eyebrow at her, and tears began to blur her vision. She carefully wiped those, but Luriel knew she could no longer contain them. They came right back as she sniffled.
"You were unrecognisable," she said in-between her sniffles. "I just wanted to help."
The bed creaked under the Steel Cross's weight as he sat down. He took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes. Though, through her tears, Luriel could not tell if he was annoyed or apologetic.
"I'm sorry, Luriel," he calmly said. "I just…"
He passed one of his bandaged hands through his hair, and on her end, the blonde wiped her budding tears once again.
"I'm still kinda groggy from the fall," he finally settled on that half-truth. Though Luriel had only been partially aware of his innermost thoughts as she healed him, she could tell he had gone through quite a rollercoaster of emotions before waking up.
Maybe it was not so much that he feared her but rather what he had seen in that dream. That, at least, was a tad more encouraging.
"Where are we?" He asked, finally turning towards her with a much calmer expression than when he woke up.
"We," she answered with a trembling voice. "We're in the hotel you and Aurelian met in yesterday morning."
His eyebrows briefly furrowed as he looked down, deep in thought for a moment. Truth be told, she had not expected he would wake up so soon, but Luriel would rather not risk saying something in this state. She might t end up rambling about how she never wanted to hurt him or how she did not even want to have these cursed eyes. The door creaked open, revealing Aurelian, who was only walking straight thanks to his cane and holding his dislocated ankle with mana threads.
The half-elf let his gaze linger for a moment on her, and though it was too subtle for anyone else to notice unless they knew what to look for, Luriel saw the way he subtly changed the grip on his staff. He was angry enough to attack someone with it.
"Good evening," he began as he waltzed into the room. He sat on the edge of Ciel's bed and looked at him. "You really had to make poor Luriel cry, huh? You rude little man."
Luriel tensed a little, knowing that, even while injured, Aurelian was still perfectly capable of beating Ciel to a pulp. She had to at least prevent the first strike. The Steel Cross was not even expecting it, considering the way he smiled at Aurelian's words.
"I, uhm," she began, a tad louder than her usual voice. "I'm alright. Ciel apologised."
The Water Guardian looked over his shoulder giving her a look that she knew to mean 'I'll let it go for now' before returning to his fake easygoingness and courtesy.
"As he should," he whimsically said. "You, on the other hand, deserve more rest. You've done more than enough for two wounded men."
Though she knew it to be a lie, Luriel told herself it was perhaps his way to order her to rest. Truth be told, she had been feeling a bit feverish at times while treating Ciel, and she hoped she would not crash too hard after using Ozirion's power for as long as she had. The blonde acknowledged the order and left the room, glancing back at Ciel, who briefly met her gaze one last time.
Ciel knocked at the door that led to Luriel's alchemy workshop, according to Aurelian. It was not too far from his room, though he wondered why it was even more isolated than the rest of the rooms. Had it perhaps something to do with her eyes? Ciel feared them, but at this rate, he was looking too much like a monster to reasonably come back to the El Search Party without raising some eyebrows. Even if he had no horns, his hair still had white locks, and a black, bony tail was growing at the end of his back. Maybe he could curb his fear by closing his eyes or something like that.
Ciel heard a muffled 'It's open', and he softly opened the door. As soon as he walked a few steps inside, a pleasant floral smell hit his nostrils. It was the scent of lava blooms, the only flower that bloomed even in the darkest alleys of Lanox, refusing to die unless it was plucked from where it stood. The stem of the flower was very sturdy, and its roots perhaps also went deep enough to make it nigh impossible to pluck the bloom with bare hands. In other places, it would have been considered a very troublesome weed, but in the land of the Fire El, any greenery was few and far between.
"Unyielding courage," he found himself muttering the meaning of the flower as he scanned the room. Pots lined up the top of the walls. The emblematic flowers from almost every important region of Elrios grew inside every pot. From the Senacian vine lily, blooms of Ruve Herb, the Red Sentinel of Velder, to the Oasis Lotus of Garpai Rock, and most importantly, the flower he had first identified. The library was filled with some heavy, leather-bound books and dozens of different artefacts Ciel had already seen in other workshops. All the glassware, flasks of alchemy powder and aqua crystals, not to mention the iron pots, mortals and modified Elemental Orbs lined up in perfect order, categorised with small tags of different colours. The elemental orbs were flattened compared to their regular forms, and their contents only had to be shaken to trigger the elemental reaction within them.
At the end of the room, where windows would usually be, Luriel had set up a long work table where she had already lined up a mechanism with a fraction of her glassware. A dirty mortar rested on the only empty corner left. She lit her working area with El crystals that were embedded into the wall. The blonde was still completely absorbed by her craft, stirring some mixture as it slowly began to boil. From where he was, he could not tell what exactly it was.
"I'm still not done with the Rosso elixirs, Sir Aurelian," she said as she reached up for a mortar to her left and added some paste and leaves she had. "Give me three hours and-"
"I'm not Aurelian," Ciel interrupted her. "If you're on a deadline, I can wait until you're done."
She visibly flinched at the sound of his voice, her glassware rattled loudly, and the mercenary wondered if anything had broken. He certainly hoped not. Alchemists dealt with substances that could seriously harm them. Ciel had personally seen how Lanox's alchemist had burnt his face off in an incident that might have not been entirely accidental. Luriel was completely frozen, and that was not reassuring.
"Is everything alright?" He tentatively asked, walking a bit further in should he need to provide first aid.
It did not take more for the young woman to spring back to life, as she quickly searched her pockets and put on her glasses before turning towards him.
"Yes, yes," she hurriedly said as she needlessly adjusted her glasses, as if to make sure they were perfectly covering her eyes. "I-I'm really not, well, uh, I'm not working with anything dangerous."
She combed her hair behind her ears before clasping her hands together over her thighs, fidgeting in place, "D-Did Sir Aurelian tell you to uhm, get the uhh," her eyes darted around the room, "Oh! He told you to get the Giant Hand elixirs, right?"
The blonde pointed to the bookshelf to his right. "They're right over there, on the second shelf."
Though she was really timid, her message could not be any more obvious to him. The Steel Cross scratched the back of his head, being careful considering his newly grown claws, and wordlessly made his way towards where Luriel had pointed to. The elixirs were carefully packaged in a large wooden crate. Each flask was sealed by a rather fitting glass cap shaped like a raised fist. Ciel noticed that the purple potions he took to reverse the effects of Lu's power on his body were in a smaller crate that held six small flasks that were merely sealed by a cork. He could feel Luriel's eyes on him, and considering what he had truly come to do, he might as well take the second best thing.
"Do you mind if I take a few of these?" he asked her, touching the cork of one of the purple potions.
"Oh! So that's, uhm, No, I-I don't mind. N-Not at all," she answered. "But, uhm, Sir Aurelian is very particular about the potions so uhh, maybe you could, well, drink one here and then take the Giant Elixirs to him?"
Ciel furrowed his brow, turning his head towards her, "Do you want me gone or not?"
"No," she answered, shaking her head. "N-No, uh, I don't."
Luriel briefly looked down, her hands fidgeting even more than usual, "I just, uhm, thought you'd never want to see me again. I assumed Sir Aurelian, uh, well, that he just wanted, uhm, you to look for the elixirs. Can I help you with something? Anything at all?"
The enthusiasm in her voice as she asked him was a tad strange. It was rare for anyone to be this motivated to help someone, let alone a Steel Cross. Considering the kind of social awkwardness she exuded, Ciel discarded the possibility that she hid bad intentions. He felt his tail curl and uncurl, hitting the floor with a dry 'tchak'. The sound made her eyes wander to where his new tail was. She put one hand to her mouth as Ciel finally got up.
"Now you know why I'm here," the Steel Cross said as he dusted off his pants. "Aurelian told me that if it wasn't for you, I'd be a full-fledged demon by now. I don't know if you'd be willing to, but if you could continue-"
"Of course I'd love to!" She exclaimed, almost immediately taking off the barrier that hid off those monstrous blue and white eyes. While he tensed up at the sight, Ciel did not quite feel the same level of dread as he had last evening. Those eyes were human ones; they only happened to masquerade as those of monsters. Celestials were cold and unfeeling, the complete opposite of what Luriel was displaying.
Luriel quickly pulled up a chair from the gap between her work table and the left bookshelf and gestured him to sit down. Ciel hesitantly obliged, trying to not reel from the sight of Luriel's gaze. She was human. He tried, perhaps in vain, to repeat to himself that this woman was no monster, but it was impossible to be truly calm as Luriel began her task. She formed threads that looked to be made of mana between him and the tips of her fingers. It felt like she was knitting a blanket and slowly wrapping him in it. She was like a spider capturing its-
No, he had no right to have those thoughts. Not when he was accumulating an even bigger debt towards her. Luriel was what was keeping him from becoming a monster. He ought to recognise that above everything else.
"Thank you," he softly said. "I don't know how I could repay you."
"Oh, uh, don't worry about it. I know it must be hard for you because, well, I guess your demon instincts are kicking in?" She briefly paused, and Ciel felt a tad less trapped under the threads she weaved. This was not the end of him. Luriel was human, just like him. There was no need to panic.
"Uhm, I'm sorry," Luriel continued. "I don't mean to pry inside your head, but I can see your fear. Just like I can see your hair, or uh, your tail. I can't help it. That's just how I see people without my glasses. So, I mean, you being brave enough to let me help you despite all this fear, well, I can't ask you to repay me."
Ciel took a deep breath, "I appreciate it, but this fear…I'm still not too sure if it's mine or not."
And even if it was, he could not let it be the reason he failed to repay his debt towards someone else.
"I get that," the young woman said, her warm touch was comforting, soothing, just like the perfume of lava blooms. "You know, I was born blind. I longed to see the world my sister told me about, but you know, nowadays, I would rather have stayed blind. I know how it is, when memories and, uh, emotions of things you didn't live through are so vivid you don't even know what to make of it. What it says about the other being and…"
"What it says about you," the two completed in unison.
Ciel briefly smirked. He would not have expected anyone to be on the same boat. It was reassuring, though considering Luriel's character, he could imagine just how soul-crushing the same hardships were for her.
"I sure hope your memories weren't too bad," Ciel said. "Whoever the Celestial was, I hope he just spent his days sleeping high above or wherever Ishmael lives."
Luriel sighed, "I would've liked that, too. Sadly, Ozirion was the most zealous one out of the first Celestials. He served Ishmael even when he was human. A lot of what he did, uhm…he didn't think anything went far enough, and I…"
Her voice was growing shakier, and though part of him wanted to take that moment of weakness on her part to flee, he just looked up and faced the same gaze that had petrified him with fear barely a day ago. Tears were dwelling in her eyes again. She was technically looking back at him, but her soul was lost in the guilt of things she did not even do. He knew that kind of look far too well.
"Luriel," he called her.
It took another mention of her name for the young blonde to snap back to her senses.
"You weren't responsible for any of that," he solemnly said. It was both a message for her and himself. Though he had tried to put that memory away, Ciel was still haunted by what he had experienced through Lu's perspective.
"I know," she muttered, a sad smile made tears stream down her cheeks. Softly, she grabbed his head from the sides and placed it back so he looked in front of him.
"There's still a lot I need to do to fully accept it, though," she said before silence settled between them. Ciel was, on his end, felt enough at ease to doze off as Luriel continued her task.
He was woken up by her again, or rather by the rattle of her glassware. Ciel glanced back and saw her cleaning up her equipment. Almost everything that covered the work table was gone. The only two things that remained were three crates of potions, one of which was the one he had requested for himself.
This time, the short-haired woman heard him and glanced at him. "You look just like the day I first saw you."
The Steel-Cross chuckled as he got up, "Wording."
"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked, startled, although she continued her cleanup. "I-I just meant to say you looked like, well, like your usual?"
"I believe you," he reassured her before walking towards where the crates were stacked. He easily lifted them all with one hand.
"So. We can take all these to Aurelian now, and I'll get going on my end." Ciel suggested, "The El Search Party is probably getting worried about me. It's been…"
The blue-haired man paused, not entirely sure how long he had slept. He did not feel sore, but when he had been unconscious for a day, it was best to make sure.
"How long have I been out?" he asked her.
"Not too long," she reassured him, hanging the last glass tubes she was washing to dry. "I, uh, think that, in total, it's been barely four days since you left them."
Ciel took a deep breath, "Yep, they're probably looking all over the place for me. Can't let them get distracted any longer. I need to go back right away."
"Uhm, if you don't mind," Luriel began as she turned towards him, "I can accompany you out. Aurelian's out and without someone authorised to come in the suburbs, well, you know, the gate…"
His blue gaze widened. Ciel had almost completely forgotten about the gate he had crossed with Aurelian as he entered the castle's suburbs. The Steel Cross agreed, and after they left the potions in a small storage room, the two climbed a flight of stairs from the basement into the lobby. Their walk out of the rich suburbs of Elder was quiet, but not unpleasantly so. Once Ciel safely made it to the other side, he bowed his head slightly to Luriel.
"Thank you for everything," he said as he turned his back to her. "You're a blessing from the El."
The Steel Cross had taken with him all the new weaponry Sasha had brought for him and hurriedly retraced his way back to Hoffman's guild. The sun was starting to rise, and though the stench of the town almost made him vomit, his stomach was empty. The merchant guild he was heading to had reopened its pub for the general public, but even then, it was as deserted as before. The only people who were enjoying a warm breakfast were the El Search Party. Ciel had not expected much to have happened, but the moment he stepped inside, he noticed that the group turned their eyes to him, their expressions unreadable. Shock, perhaps, but there was no hint of relief in their faces.
Rena was the one who broke the silence, but her words did nothing to ease his worries.
"Welcome back," the green-haired elf said. "Come and sit down for a while. We need you to explain some things."
What things? He was knocked out for days, as far as he knew. They had no reason to act as if he had done something as monstrous as Ain had done. He did not even remember-
Do not confuse my desires and memories for your own, or your soul will simply become yet another fragment of my memories.
Lu's warning came back to him like a slap on the face. He had been completely absorbed within her memories for days, had he not? Just what in the world did he do while his soul wandered in the past? He could have lost control of his body, and that possibility opened the door for something far grimmer. The Steel Cross dragged himself towards the table where his companions sat, dreading the conversation ahead of him.
I hope the chronological order of the chapters makes sense. I just needed to place some extra pieces in the plot before moving forward with the ElGang continuing their scheduled fights. I don't want this fic to drag for beyond chapter 40. I'm making shorter chapters, I don't think I can fulfill my promise of finishing in less than 35. Too many loose ends. I'll have the next chapter up by the end of september, hopefully.
Until next time.
~Kalafinn