Chapter 9 - Plans and Parties

Arc could hardly believe what he was seeing. The fight between Veil and Zahra had been difficult for him to get a proper grasp of, and even with what he knew of Veil's plans for the fight, he had no idea how she was able to keep up with her opponent's power. But the final moments of the match were what truly took him by surprise.

"She's still breathing! Please, someone get her a healer, quick!"

With Veil's cry for help, everything burst into a storm of activity. The entire audience around Arc started chattering among themselves until the mistress of ceremonies finally spoke up.

"By Serapis… If I'm seeing this right, it looks like we have a winner, everyone! I don't think we've seen Zahra take a loss in a good long while, but here we are! After everything, Tenebri Veil somehow managed to come out on top!"

The crowd could hardly contain itself after that. What had begun as chatter had grown into a mix of cheering and shouting. While some voices congratulated Veil on her victory, others were crying out in disbelief that Zahra could lose.

But despite the protests of some, the evidence was undeniable. Zahra was unconscious and covered with burns while Veil was calling out to get her help. Arc watched on as two dreamkeepers approached the fighters in the center of the arena pit. One of them was unfamiliar to him and had a green halo over her head. The other silenced the crowd as only someone of her caste could.

"Enough, everyone!" Adelin's voice called out as she stood over the two fighters. Following what looked like her kneeling down and whispering to Veil, she rose and began addressing the crowd again. "Tenebri Veil's victory in this match is clear to see. As the Daughter of House Tenebri, I declare her Binding Offer is now fulfilled! No longer is this girl a slave; from this day forward she shall be known as Servant Tenebri Veil!"

Following that declaration, the crowd burst into activity yet again. Voices of all kinds could be heard from all around the arena, but Arc ignored them and focused on the ones around him.

"I can't believe it…"

"Spirits, it can really happen, can't it?"

"A Binding Offer, that's what she said, right? Wonder if I…"

"But with a fight like that? What if something…"

"I'll be damned… Arc, did you hear that?"

Arc turned to look at Evan, who was smiling at him. "Yeah. Veil really became a Servant… It's almost too good to be true…"

"I'll be honest, I didn't really think it could happen! But there it is, the Mistress said it for the whole damn arena to hear, and just look at how they're taking it! Heh, wonder how they'd react to an Andurunan doing something like that…"

Arc took a quick glance back at the arena pit and paled. "Y-you're not thinking of getting in a fight like that, are you?"

Evan laughed. "With my power? Hell no! If I had to fight someone like Zahra, she'd kick my ass for sure! But I bet there's some way I could pull off a Binding Offer, just gotta ask Master Sef about it or something…"

"Powers… that's another thing to think about," Asma said, getting Arc and Evan's attention. "They could be a pretty big factor in getting a Binding Offer done. Makes me wonder how someone without one would be able to manage it."

"Shouldn't really be a problem for you at least, Asma! What with that Tei-"

Asma grabbed Evan's arm and held it behind him in an armlock. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that. So unless you were wanting another demonstration of it…"

"Ah, hey Asma, he was probably just kidding! And besides that, power or no, I'm sure Master Sef would be able to help you with a Binding Offer too!"

Asma gave Arc a blank stare for a moment before sighing and releasing Evan. "Yeah, you're probably right, Arc. Just… just think about what you're saying next time, Evan. Last thing I need is people around here knowing about… that."

Evan groaned and rubbed his shoulder. "Ah, right. Sorry, Asma. Now that I think about it, I really shouldn't have brought that up…"

"Hey, guys," Dom spoke up, "not to change the subject, but you think there's any chance Kamal would agree to a Binding Offer? I didn't think working for him would be so bad at first, but-"

"But the horror stories ended up being true?"

"Y-yeah… I've been lucky enough to only see it, but that guy doesn't fuck around with that whip…"

"Well, maybe if you manage to learn your power, you can get moved to the estate like Veil did! Might even be able to give that bastard a few lumps on the way out!"

"Heh, I don't know if I'll ever be that lucky… But maybe if I…"

Dom started talking about possible ways to get a Binding Offer done, with the rest of the group weighing in as he went through them. As the discussion continued, Veil and Zahra were moved out of the arena pit to have their wounds treated and the group eventually left the arena, making their way back to the Tenebri estate with the rest of the House's members.

Arc smiled as he saw his friends' moods lifting, and he thought back to the reason behind their cheer. Just as he'd hoped, Veil had completed her Binding Offer, though she was left spent from the ordeal judging from how she looked before the arena healers took her to be treated.

Veil… You did it… I just hope you can recover quickly to really start enjoying it…

—

Veil's recovery thankfully didn't take very long, and she was back at the estate after only a couple of days. On the other hand, Zahra would have to take a few more days to fully recover, leading to Adelin holding off on Veil's victory celebration until she did. But even with the delay to the festivities, Veil still needed to be tattooed to properly reflect her new caste. This led to her, the Mistress, and Arc returning to a small room that was all too familiar to the latter of the three.

"W-why am I here, though?" Arc asked. "It's not like I need to get another… tattoo…"

Veil gave Arc a smile. "Well, you helped me become a Servant, didn't you? I want you to be here for this."

"But I only helped you train a little… What about Master Sef and Nuha? Or even Evan…?"

"The room's only so big, Arc," Adelin said with a chuckle. "And besides, those three have their own responsibilities to attend to. On top of that, you have experience with the procedure, so you can help Veil through it."

"It is different to get a caste tattoo when you're older after all. And, to be honest, I'm kind of nervous. I know it's going to hurt, but I think having someone with me who felt that before will help."

"I… I guess you have a point. But I'm not sure how much I can help you besides telling you that it's really going to hurt…"

Veil grabbed Arc's hand and smiled. "Even if that's all you can tell me, I appreciate you being here, Arc. Thank you."

"Veil… You're right. I'll help you get through this. It's just part of being a Serapean, right?"

"Well said, boy!" A somewhat familiar voice said from the doorway. Arc paled as he saw the tattoo artist walking in, carrying the terrifyingly sharp tools of her trade. She gave him a quick glance before turning to look at Veil and Adelin.

"Ah, there you are. As you can see, Tenebri Veil is ready for her new caste tattoo."

"So it seems, Mistress. Heh, she's been giving me quite a bit of work lately! First all of the slaves from the Ardeo match, and now this! I hope you're ready for it, girl!"

Veil took a moment before nodding. "Yes, ma'am. I'm ready."

The tattoo artist smiled. "Good, good! Now, Mistress, I trust you and the slave boy can help with holding her down just in case, right?"

Adelin nodded and activated her power. Arc shuddered as he saw the needles, but got ahold of himself and held Veil's right arm out for the tattoo artist just as she had for him all that time ago.

With a nod to everyone else in the room, the tattoo artist got to work. Not wanting to experience the procedure even vicariously, Arc turned his attention to Veil and focused on her reactions.

Veil winced as she felt the needle sink under the scales just above her wrist. She stifled a cry of pain as she felt it sink deeper in. Gritting her teeth to avoid crying out, she turned her eyes between Adelin, Arc, and her arm as the tattoo artist continued to mark her as a Servant.

—

Moments after Veil got her new caste tattoo, Adelin took her to some other part of the estate, leaving Arc with an order to spend the rest of the day at his leisure. As he wandered aimlessly through the estate, he saw Servants and other slaves bustling as they went about their business preparing for the upcoming celebration.

As he watched the lower caste members of House Tenebri moving things around, he saw Walkers and Hands going over plans and delegating work to their lessers. He thought back to his life in Anduruna, and smiled as he realized the activity reminded him of the preparations that went into the parties that were common in his home district of Talocan.

And knowing that kind of party, I'm sure they plan to have alcohol of some kind… Probably not fermentae, but…

"Arc! There you are!"

Arc was so caught up in thought that he barely noticed the voice calling his name until he felt a hand wrap around his wrist. A glance down at the arm and Servant caste tattoo whose respective colors were the inverse of his own quickly revealed who had grabbed him.

"Nuha?" He asked, looking at the wolf girl, "You were looking for me?"

"Yeah! We need to talk. Alone."

"O-okay, but-"

Arc could hardly even finish speaking before Nuha started pulling his arm, urging him to follow. Not wanting to upset her, he followed along quietly until the two of them arrived at her hut. Once they made their way inside, Nuha turned and looked Arc in the eyes.

"So, Veil just got her Servant tattoo, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Handled it pretty well, too. I just wish you could've been there for her too. I heard you were busy…"

"Well, I did have to help prepare for the party, so I guess that counts as me supporting her… More importantly, I've got an idea for how we can help her going forward!"

"You mean with the reading lessons? We could've just-"

Nuha pulled Arc close and whispered to him. "Not just reading. Writing too."

Arc pulled back. "W-wait, you want me to teach her how to do that? Isn't it not allowed for Servants to know?"

"It's something that you can do that neither of us can, and it would be easy enough to hide besides that. And maybe… you could even teach me how to write too?"

"I… You want that, Nuha? Isn't Serapis against it though? I'll admit I'm still kind of new to it all, but isn't going against Her Precepts one of the worst things you can do?"

"Maybe, but that's just the thing. I've been wondering why that would even be a Precept in the first place. I mean, if Unseen are able to read and write without any problems, even after becoming slaves, then why can't natural-born Serapeans?"

"Huh, when you put it that way, it is kind of screwed up. And since all the writing comes from the higher castes, it might even be a way for them to keep more power over the lower ones…"

"Exactly! But because of you, Veil and I have a chance to learn something that no other Servants have probably ever learned in Serapeum's history!"

"And if you or Veil ended up becoming Walkers later on, you'd have the advantage of knowing how ahead of time too…"

Nuha smiled. "So, does that mean you're in?"

"If Veil agrees to it, yeah. And if she doesn't, I could always just teach you."

Arc extended his hand to shake, but was taken by surprise when Nuha took it and pulled him into a hug instead.

"Thanks, Arc! You're the best for agreeing to this!"

"Oh, ah, thanks. But we're going to keep quiet about it, right? Just between the three of us."

"Of course. Just you, me, and Veil. I'll tell her about it as soon as I can after the celebration's over!"

"That's going to be happening in a couple of days, right? Once Zahra's gotten better?"

"Yeah! But for now, since you already offered to teach me…"

Arc and Nuha spent the rest of the day going over some basic writing lessons, using the sand on the ground to practice. All the while, Arc thought about how the lessons would go with Veil getting in on them, as well as what her celebration party would end up being like.

—

As expected, Zahra made a quick recovery over the next couple of days, and as the day-moon set on the day of Veil's party, the festivities began. All of House Tenebri was brought together for the night, and some members of Houses Safak and Ardeo showed up as well, along with others whose tattoos Arc couldn't recognize.

Predictably enough, Zahra had seemingly disappeared from the party, though everyone who knew her was sure she was just using her power to sneak around and find Veil. Arc was also aware that Adelin had been planning something with Veil, explaining why the two of them had yet to be seen on top of that.

But a lack of both the guest of honor and the woman of the hour didn't stop anyone from celebrating. All around him, Arc could see partygoers eating, drinking, and enjoying the overall atmosphere. Some people were even using their powers, offering an almost magical spectacle to anyone giving them attention.

Castes seemed to be a lesser concern, at least to the Tenebri partygoers, who were freely interacting with each other when they weren't occupied with staffing the party. Those from outside of the House mostly stuck to talking to dreamkeepers from their own castes, but would still gladly take food and drinks from the Tenebri slaves who went around providing them.

"I guess parties are pretty much the same no matter where they are," Arc said to himself. "I mean, aside of the power users walking around freely…"

"That," Evan said, coming up from behind Arc with a pair of clay cups in his hands, "and the drinks here are different too!"

"Oh yeah, I was thinking about that a while ago. There's no diony plants this far west, so no fermentae. What do they have instead?"

"Beer and wine for the most part, and by the way, here." Evan handed Arc one of the cups, which was full of fruity smelling wine. "It's not too bad, but man, what I'd give for a proper bottle of Scinter's Mark!"

Arc took a sip of the wine and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I could probably get drunk off of this, but it's just not the same…"

"Eh, just another price of living in Serapeum, I guess. At least we're lucky enough the Mistress didn't make us work tonight! Say, you think maybe we could convince her to…"

"Take us halfway across the Dreamworld for some quality booze?" Arc said with a laugh. "I don't think we'll get very-"

A sudden burst of applause from the crowd drew Arc's attention away from his words. Turning to see the reason, he could barely make out Adelin in front of the great statue of Serapis. As the crowd eventually went quiet, he could hear her making a speech to the party.

"Thank you, everyone! My sisters and brothers in Serapis, friends, kin, and slaves of House Tenebri alike! On this night, we are here to celebrate! Through great adversity, one of our former slaves has proven herself worthy of promotion to the Servant caste!

"Her actions and her success in the arena are truly a testament to both her devotion to Serapis and the purity of her soul, both of which were crucial to her promotion! But my words do her little justice; she is much more capable of introducing herself! So without further ado, I present to you all, Servant Tenebri Veil!"

The audience gave a quick cheer, and Adelin moved away from the base of the statue. Moments later, everyone's attention was drawn to a brilliant white light that started shining above the statue's head. The light glowed brightly from high above before descending from the height of the statue, glowing even brighter as it did.

As the light descended, its glow became so intense that Arc found it hard to look directly at it. When it finally descended to the ground, it slowly fell apart into dozens of plasma balls, revealing Veil to have been seemingly nestled within it, her power active and her frills fully extended out.

Veil looked a lot different now compared to the last time Arc had seen her. As she used her power to move the plasma balls into a slow orbit around herself, he could see that she now had the sigil of House Tenebri marked twice on her right arm in brown ink: Once on her hand and again just above her wrist.

In addition, her clothes were completely different. She was no longer wearing the simple top and tattered skirt that seemed to be her only outfit. Now, she was wearing a clean cloth top as well as a pale colored skirt that was clearly inspired by Zahra's, displaying the sigil of House Tenebri on it.

Along with everything else, Veil was also wearing a simple sleeve over her left forearm, covering where her Servant and slave tattoos would have been. The sleeve was marked with the House's sigil just like the skirt, and Arc could just barely tell that Veil was still wearing her prayer talisman wrapped around her left hand.

"Holy shit…" Evan said, almost stealing the words from Arc's mouth, "they changed up her whole damn outfit! Kinda think the sleeve's a bit much, but she looks a lot better in that getup!"

"I'll say… Serapis, this is what she was working on with the Mistress? Gotta give her credit for that entrance if nothing else!"

"Bah," a voice scoffed from behind the two. "All dressed up or not, she's still the same little bitch at the end of the day."

"W-what do you mean," Arc started, turning around to face the heckler, "Veil's not a-"

The last word froze in his throat as he saw who had been speaking. Arc had heard plenty of horror stories about the man standing before him. Tales told in hushed whispers were passed between his fellow slaves about a dreamkeeper who was as monstrously bulky as he was cruel, a great ape with pale blue fur that reflected his icy demeanor and his supposedly icier power.

Even without the power, Arc could tell that this man would be right at home in Anduruna's frigid Ruskol district, and yet he stood defiantly in the deserts of Serapeum. As the man glared in the direction of the statue, Arc could hardly bring himself to say his name.

"Y-you're… K-K…"

"Kamal, right? You're the bastard that Dom got forced to work for?"

Evan at least seemed to have no trouble speaking up. He glared daggers at the Walker, who turned his gaze down to him with a sneer.

"You mean the Andurunan slave with the horns? He's been doing decent work, up until he went to see that fight a few days ago. But now, he's started pestering me about taking a Binding Offer! Like I have the time to waste promoting idiots who are better off shutting up and working!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't beat them all the time-"

Kamal looked away from Evan and back toward the statue. "Don't start that with me, you little shit. If we start fighting here, Mistress Adelin'll have both our asses. But besides that, she's the one you should really have a problem with."

"W-what do you mean by that, sir?" Arc asked, having finally found his voice.

"Besides the fact that she's the one who actually owns you? Just take a good look at her. While her little pet Servant is entertaining the guests, she's scheming with some big shots from other Houses."

Kamal pointed over to the side of the statue. Sure enough, as Veil was talking to the partygoers and showing her power to them, Adelin was speaking with a group of Hands from various Houses. One of them in particular stood out to Arc and Evan almost immediately.

"No shit… That's Chanda, isn't it?"

"So the Mistress is still working with House Ardeo, but who are the others? I think I see a Safak sigil on one of them…"

"Ardeo, Safak, one of Mut's less shitty Hands, and more… All this time, the Mistress has been collecting contacts from Veil's arena fights. I don't know what it is yet, but she's plotting something big with them. And whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it's going to involve power users too."

"Power users? How do you know that?"

"Because she's been interrupting my work to bother me about it! Not even a few weeks back, she came to my farm asking if any other slaves or Servants got blessed by Serapis. And when I told her there weren't any, she muttered something about having to drag me into it!"

"So she needs power users for this… T-that wouldn't happen to mean us too, would it?"

"Damn right, she'll use you like the property that you slaves are. Just like she uses anyone and everyone she can. And I don't think I even have to say who else is on her list."

"So then Veil's probably gonna be…" Evan paused, then gave Kamal a look. "Hey, hang on a second. How do you even know this supposed plan is gonna be something bad?"

"Hah! How do I know? Years of experience, that's how! Even way back when she was growing up in her mother's shadow, Mistress Adelin's always been making schemes to improve House Tenebri's standing. Most of them blew up in her face, and this'll probably be no different."

Kamal grunted and turned away from Arc and Evan.

"If you ask me, you'd better watch your asses before she drags you into anything she's planning. And on that note, I've already been here too long. Seen all I need to see, and I hate these damn parties of hers anyway… Got more important work to do to actually keep House Tenebri standing…"

With that, Kamal trudged off, grumbling all the while. As Arc watched the Walker depart, Evan took a sip of his drink before speaking again.

"So that was Kamal… Damn… I feel even worse for Dom now…"

Arc took another sip of his wine. "Y-yeah, I can see why Veil said he's the worst…"

"Ugh, that's for sure… But let's just forget about that! There's a whole party going on behind us, and I'm not gonna let that bastard ruin it for us!"

"Aren't you a little worried about what he was saying?"

"Honestly Arc? I'm pretty sure he's full of shit. Yeah, no shit Mistress Adelin's been planning things with other Houses, she's the House's Daughter! Who else would be doing it?"

"Yeah, you know what? You're right! Hell, I bet he's just upset that this party's being held for Veil!"

"Heh, from everything I've heard, I bet he is!" Evan laughed, then chugged the rest of his drink. "Now I don't know about you, but I'm gonna get some more of this stuff! Fuck if it's not Scinter's Mark, I'll drink it anyway!"

Arc let out a laugh of his own. "It is a party after all, right? Let's have some fun! Just like we used to back in Talocan!"

Letting out another laugh together, Arc and Evan turned back to the party. Any misgivings Kamal tried to put in their heads were quickly drowned out with alcohol and festivities.

—

The party continued on for hours that passed almost like nothing. During that time, Evan ended up drinking himself into a stupor, while Arc had drunk himself a little woozy. A few hours into the party, he had actually managed to meet up with Veil, who was also drinking, to his surprise.

Arc was no stranger to underage drinking. It was among the many things he got up to with Evan back in Anduruna, and he'd only just recently reached the legal age to drink back there as a matter of fact. But seeing a girl who was only a couple years younger than him cheerily drinking cups of beer without looking even slightly ashamed reminded him just how far he was from home.

After a while, Zahra had also shown up and joined him and Veil in their drinking and talking. Arc was initially shocked to see how cleanly the damage Veil did to her had been reversed - even her fur looked completely untouched! But Zahra was quick to point out the advantage Serapeum had over Anduruna in that regard.

"Healing powers, they're Serapis's best gift to arena fighters!" She said after a sip of whatever alcohol she'd been holding on to. "You think Veil's power's the worst I've been hit by? There was this one fight where I got even worse years back!"

"Really?" Veil asked, her frills lifting as she looked up at her friend. "I've got to hear this!"

"Heh, I figured you'd want to! Well, it all started…"

Zahra started taking Veil and Arc through a story about some old fight that she somehow carried no injuries from. But as Veil hung onto every word she said, Arc started to feel nauseous as the details of the fight became more clear in the half-drunk haze of his mind.

"…Serapis as my witness, I looked more like a nightmare than a person by the time that guy was done with me! Bones sticking out everywhere, couldn't tell where my blood ended and the sand began!"

"U-ugh, s-sounds awful… I… Sorry, I think I need to go and…"

Arc couldn't even bring himself to finish his sentence before running off away from the party. The very moment he stopped moving and the party was a dull noise in the background, he released the contents of his stomach all over the ground beneath him. For a while after, he panted, only half sure and half hopeful he was finished vomiting.

"S-Spirits… how… was Veil able to…" he moaned in between heaving breaths.

Once the pain in his chest settled down, Arc sat down and leaned back on the wall of the building he ended up behind. As he continued to breathe heavily, his blood went cold as he heard the voice that had been the source of his discomfort yet again.

"Ah, there you are! Veil was worried about you, you know!"

Arc suppressed another wave of nausea as he looked up at Zahra. The mental image of her old arena injuries almost made him fail to notice the dark gray halo hovering over her head.

"Sorry about that whole story! Veil was enjoying it, and besides that," Zahra's expression turned serious as she sat down next to Arc. "It was the best way I could think of to get you alone. You and me, we need to talk."

"Y-you… What? What do you even need to talk to me about?"

"Veil, and the future. Serious stuff that no one else can hear."

Arc blinked. "Okay, but what does any of that even have to do with me?"

"If I'm right, way more than you could know. But now that Veil's a Servant, things are probably gonna change between you two. I did some sneaking around before the party, and I've picked up on some clues that Mistress Tenebri's gonna have you serving under Veil."

"You mean, she's going to have me be her personal slave?"

"Yeah. Easy enough to see happening. New caste, new responsibilities. Throw in a slave who's friendly with her and doesn't really have a place otherwise, and it all just fits together."

"A-and what if you're wrong? What if the Mistress has other plans besides that?"

Zahra laughed. "If I'm wrong, I'm wrong! No big deal about that! But to be fair, you're right. She is making some big plans for the future besides the ones involving you. My House and a bunch of others are involved in it. And I bet we'll be seeing a bit more of each other going forward because of it!"

"So Kamal was telling the truth… The Mistress really is planning something…"

"Heh, probably nothing as bad as he might think! But there is something going on, and when it happens, whatever your situation with Veil ends up being, I think you should stick close to her. I plan to at least. She's a great person, and she'll need good friends for whatever's coming next for her."

"Okay… I think I've been a good friend to her so far at least."

"Good! But just so you know, being a good friend also includes keeping her out of trouble. Like, say, the trouble you could get in if you were caught breaking the Precepts… Doing something like, I don't know, teaching Servants how to write…"

Arc paled as he slowly realized what Zahra meant. "Y-you… How could you have…"

"When I said Veil's power wasn't the worst I've been through, I wasn't lying. Needing a few extra days to recover though? That was a lie. A few days of rest for most people are days I can use to sneak out and do a little snooping around. Easy enough with a power like mine, after all."

Arc could hardly even respond. As he sat staring down at the sand in silence, Zahra put a hand on his shoulder, startling him for a moment.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna report any of this. I think Veil should learn how to write just as much as you do. But you and Nuha need to be more careful! Eyes are everywhere, after all, and not all of them are friends with Veil."

"Eyes? You mean…"

"Yeah. Don't tell Veil, though. When she needs to know about it, I'll let her know. Tell you what. Keep it between the two of us, and I'll keep those secret writing lessons between the two of us. Deal?"

"I… I guess I don't have much of a choice… You've got a deal."

Zahra smiled. "Great! Now, I did promise Veil I'd find you and bring you back to the party! So far, I've only done half of that, so how about we get that other half done together?"

Arc nodded, and Zahra got up and extended a hand to him. As he slowly got back onto his feet, Zahra canceled her power out, and the two of them walked back to the party. All the while, Arc could only think about how long the night had been, and just what the days to come would be like.