Aselith sat on Kirche's bed. The girl it belonged to was seated next to him, both her arms wrapped around one of his. It seemed one of his goals here was a success.
In front of the pair was Tabitha. And another Aselith. Sort of.
"Explain." Tabitha ordered.
Aselith—the one on the bed—did his best to look as pleased with himself as he could. "That is a shell." He gestured to his doppelganger next to Tabitha. "I suppose it's similar to what some insects do. Anything with an exoskeleton, really."
Tabitha turned to look at the husk. "It talked."
"It's connected to me through my magic." Aselith explained. "I can see and act through it, but it has no real power. A strong strike will break it, and it won't last more than…an hour?"
"You aren't sure?" Tabitha looked back at Aselith.
"I don't really understand time. I'm not a sorcerer." It was one of the few things mortals had over normal dresili.
"You seem quite magical." Kirche tugged at Aselith's arm.
"A dresili mage, essentially." He clarified. "I use magic, but sorcerers cast complex spells. I could do that, but I only know a few spells, and casting draws attention and I'm more vulnerable." The fact that sorcerer spells also relied on keeping track of time in their formulation played a big part.
"Well, I'm sure I can watch over you if you ever wanted to cast one of your spells for me." Kirche practically purred.
Before Aselith could say anything else, a loud cracked echoed in the room. Tabitha struck the temporary shell of his next to her, making its body crumble and disperse in the air.
"Violence." Was the last thing it said before it disappeared.
"Oh dear~." Kirche held her hand to her mouth, clearly amused. "I think I might have upset Tabitha for keeping you here."
Aselith looked at his summoner. The way her near-emotionless eyes seemed to bore into him told him Kirche was right. "Interesting."
"It's no problem." Tabitha said, despite Aselith knowing otherwise. "I wanted to tell you about him."
"Oh?" Kirche asked, leaning forward while still holding Aselith.
And so, Tabitha told Kirche what she knew. It was what they went over yesterday about dresili. What he agreed to, what Tabitha agreed to, and her understanding of him. It was amusing to find these two friends coming to similar conclusions about his being.
One thing Tabitha left out, Aselith noticed, was one particular detail about her side of the bargain. There was no mention of collecting souls for him. Close friends, perhaps, but Tabitha didn't see fit to explain that to Kirche. Not that it bothered Aselith in the slightest.
"Unbelievable." Kirche had given Aselith a little more room—meaning she no longer had her arms around his, but kept their legs touching. "You think Louise is a void mage?"
"Kirche…" Tabitha sighed. It was odd to see, knowing how Tabitha held herself normally.
"I'm sorry." Kirche shrugged. "But out of everything you said, that's the most unbelievable."
"Aselith's observation." Tabitha gestured to him with her staff.
"Louise's magic is divine." Aselith stated. "There's no mistaking that."
"Louise? The Zero?" Kirche raised an eyebrow at him.
"Ignoring her lack of spells, the girl summoned a familiar that defeated one of you nobles within seconds of grabbing hold of a weapon." Aselith said.
"Hm. I suppose so…" Kirche relented.
Aselith had some time to ponder Saito's abilities. His hypothesis so far was Saito gained immense power while wielding a weapon. The second he grabbed that sword—which was completely non-magical—he fought like a highly-trained warrior. In fact, the way his movements flowed and how he ignored his own wounds, it was almost like watching another dresili fight on the mortal plane.
"But I just can't see Louise as someone divine." Kirche pushed again.
"I'm not surprised." Aselith said.
"What do you mean?" Kirche asked.
"That you can't perceive divinity. This world is practically spiritually dead." Aselith's words got the expected confused reaction out of the two girls, or at least close to it.
"Spirits exist." Tabitha said.
"Hm. Using the common word for it won't work properly here. There are indeed spirits here. I've sensed quite a few around this academy, though they don't seem to have any desire to interact with humans."
The two girls looked at him even more confused, but that was fine. He had a different point to make.
"What I mean is the psychic energy that spirits use." Aselith said. Again, the girls didn't seem to understand. That was also perfectly reasonable. "An example, then. The prayer said before meals. You pray to Brimir, yes?"
"We give him our thanks." Kirche said.
"Who was he?" Aselith asked. "I heard he was the Founder, whatever that means, but that's about it."
"He was the only void mage. His children founded Tristain, Gallia, and Albion, with his disciple founding Romalia."
"And are there churches? All throughout the world?"
"In Halkeginia, yes."
"And he hears your prayers?"
Kirche nodded. "He does."
"He doesn't." Aselith shook his head. "You pray to no one."
"Heretical." Tabitha said with urgency. "Don't repeat that to anyone else."
"Fine, but my point remains." Aselith went on. "The spirits here seem more closed off, not requiring psychic energy to sustain themselves. Another curiosity, but for later. A being that receives so much worship would have risen to godhood, in a manner of speaking. His presence would be easily detectable for me. That's especially true since he would have accumulated power over so long a period of time."
Aselith made eye contact with both of them. "Brimir is long dead."
They sat and stood in silence for a minute, absorbing what he said. Tabitha seemed to really consider what he said, but Kirche looked less convinced.
"Then…" Tabitha was the first to speak up. "If that's true, how is Louise divine?"
"Good question. I don't know. This world's magic is so strange to me. Very little psychic energy in it." It was something that perplexed Aselith greatly since he gained any understanding of it.
It was a rare thing for little to no psychic energy to be present on a world. Louise and Saito with divine—or, rather, psychic—energy was an exception, one worthy of investigating.
"He's quite the find, Tabby." Kirche said, resting an arm on Aselith's shoulder. "Someone who's been to many worlds, who tells us other worlds exist!"
It was subtle, but Aselith saw Tabitha clutch her staff just a little bit tighter. It was funny to watch. Almost as amusing as parsing Kirche's actions. She wasn't unaffected by what he said, but she was pushing it aside, regardless of her belief in his words. Perhaps in this case at least, she was using intimacy as a distraction.
"Perhaps we should pause this conversation for now." Aselith stood from the bed. "I believe this is the time for familiars to bond with their summoners."
"Aw. I guess you're right." Kirche pouted as she stood. "Just know you're welcome here anytime, handsome~."
"I'll remember that." Aselith said.
Just as he was about to walk toward Tabitha, Kirche gripped his arm. When he looked back, she brought her arms up and pulled his head down with her hands. Their lips locked, Kirche closed her eyes and gave a light moan. It was only a moment before her tongue entered his mouth.
The exchange didn't last that long, but it was long enough for Aselith to notice Tabitha glaring at him.
Kirche opened her eyes and released Aselith, stepping back. "That was…strange."
"My tongue isn't exactly real." Aselith chuckled. "Although, should you desire it, and have an appropriate offering, I could be persuaded to modify it to your liking. Perhaps another part of my body, one to more resemble a healthy male."
Kirche gave him a sultry look, a deep blush on her face. "Maybe I'll find something to your liking, then~."
Tabitha seemed finally fed up with Aselith, bringing her staff in between him and Kirche. "Come."
Aselith shrugged and stepped in line next to Tabitha. "Goodbye for now."
"Farewell! And don't worry, Tabitha, I won't try to steal your familiar from you!" Kirche called out as the pair left the room.
Aselith kept it hidden, but he wanted to laugh. Tabitha walked just a tiny bit more stiffly. More than that, it wasn't him being stolen that had Tabitha worried. Of that, he had little doubt now.
But she didn't have to worry about that. Aselith and Tabitha had a pact, after all. One that seemed to be leading to interesting things.
Author's Notes:
This chapter didn't end quite how I wanted it to, but oh well.