Agent of the Realm?

by Andur

  I shift uncomfortably at her side. My father's request surprised me too. I thought my parents wanted to have a word with Seria regarding her relationship with me. The little debacle from yesterday night is today's biggest news. Especially the photos of us standing next to each other, naked. I really should have worked out a little more. I've developed a little belly since I started working as a teacher. Due to my relaxed job I never particularly cared about my body. Does Seria care about it? Gods, what am I thinking in a situation like this!

  Clarity clicks her fingers in front of my eyes and glares at me.

  I know what she is thinking. Speaking isn't necessary. She is totally against the fact that I am falling for a woman I barely know. But what can I do? I shrug, showing her that I am not concerned at all. I don't often manage to get from pure physical attraction to something that can be called a half-assed relationship. So far it's just sexual, but I can build on that. Walking away from the possibility of getting something good with Seria isn't my style. And the thing I could have with Seria is promising to be really good.

  The only issue that needs answering are her secrets.

  When I brought her to the DF headquarters at the palace I already asked myself what's going on. But now that we are here, in the observation room of the prisoner's cell, things are starting to fall into place. My father wants to test her.

  “And why are you asking me to interrogate that thing? I am not a member of the DF. And you have no reason to trust me.” Seria circles her finger, pointing at the creature on the other side of the mirrored glass.

  The thing which was caught by the DF is vaguely human. One of the spirits who attacked us, but it isn't the rotting type. This one looks perfectly fine to me. I wonder if there is an important difference between the rotting ones and the ones who look fine.

  My father shrugs. “Our interrogators already got everything they could from the creature. Now I am simply throwing the dice with you. You already showed us that you are well educated in mind magic and interrogation techniques. None of our people managed to break your defences. I am offering you an opportunity to show us what you are capable of. Show us your loyalty.”

  The confusion on Seria's face spreads even further. For a moment it looks like she is going to refuse, but then her gaze homes in on the creature.

  She runs her fingers through her hair, studying the spirit like an object. “What am I allowed to do?” she asks.

  Charles shrugs. “Everything you can do. Everything you want to do. We need all the information we can get.”

  That raises my alarm bells. Father never even suggested taking an inhumane action in my entire life. Something grave must be going on. And why would he give Seria free reign in this?

  Seria tilts her head. “Why are you saying this. I thought this fellow is some kind of ambassador who was sent here? Isn't it rude to punish the messenger?”

  Charles purses his lips, thinking. “Hardly. It was caught by the DF, it didn't willingly seek us out. Only after our people tried to study it, it started to talk. It spun a wild tale about how the spirit realm is going to take over all other dimensions and our only hope is to give them what they want, which are hunting grounds. Then it threatened that their attacks would only intensify if we don't surrender an agent from Dedessia to them. Apparently their intelligence is saying that someone from Dedessia crossed over to our dimension. Beyond that, we didn't get much of value from the spirit. If you want my interpretation, then that thing is just a common soldier who tries to play for time by spinning a wild tale.”

  Seria purses her lips in obvious curiosity. “So whatever I do, I can't do any real harm?”

  Clarity smiles at Seria. “Do your worst.”

  Seria shrugs and looks at me. After a moment of indecision, she heads for the door towards the cell with the prisoner. Once she is inside, I squint my eyes at my parents. “You are doing this to test her.”

  Clarity nods. “And you have to see what she is capable of. No simple person enchants her home like she does. You are making a grave mistake if you think that you can simply fall in love with her. You don't even know her. She is a rogue who recovered her memories on her own. Who knows what kind of baggage she is carrying around under that cute, little face.”

  I sigh. “If so, then I am no different. I've no illusions. It takes time to truly learn to know someone. But I understand what you are doing. You suspect her of being that agent from Dedessia. You want to give her a chance to let us in on some knowledge, if she thinks that we should have it. You are giving her an opportunity to slip us information without really uncovering her identity.”

  Charles tilts his head. “We don't know if Dedessia is an ally or an enemy. What we do know is that if we uncover the supposed agent, then he or she will become a target.”

  I blink. “So you think that Dedessia could tell us something important regarding the spirits. That's why the spirits don't want us to have contact with Dedessia.”

  Clarity makes a dismissive gesture. “It doesn't matter. The simple fact that the spirits want to stop contact between our realms is enough to justify seeking that contact. Unfortunately we are completely in the dark regarding that agent or Dedessia.”

  I scratch my head and finally some pieces of the puzzle connect. “No, I think we already had contact with that agent. It's the strange spirit with four wings. The only instance when it was aggressive against us, was when we attacked it at the mana storm. Afterwards it even fought against the spirits who invaded Tandeen.”

  Charles turns towards the window and studies Seria. “Interesting. The winged spirit never showed up again. Which either means that it is hiding and not even trying to return through the mana storm, which wouldn't make much sense, or that it can assume a human shape, which means that Dedessians can control their spirit form. That theory is supported by the fact that the winged spirit showed up in the middle of the city.”

  I turn my attention towards Seria and remember her eyes. But her aura is completely different from the spirit. Can she change her aura?

  Seria is standing in front of the spirit, smiling. The spirit is clad in ragged clothes and eyeing her with the black orbs it has as eyes. Magical chains are holding it in place against the wall, allowing almost no movement. It is surrounded by several protection circles which keep it in check should the chains fail. Seria didn't say a single word. She is just looking at the spirit, studying.

  Finally the spirit bares its sharp teeth at Seria and snaps with its jaw, as if it is trying to bite her. “Come a little closer. I am hungry.”

  Seria tilts her head, unimpressed. “Silence! I am thinking.”

  “What's there to think? I've told you people what you have to do. Release me!” The spirit fights against the chains, but it's too weak.

  Seria steps forward, still smiling. “I am just trying to figure out how your body works. There is no real reason for discussion.” She trails a finger along the spirit's chest. The action is uncomfortably familiar to how she played with my imagination yesterday. Does she do that to everyone whose attention she wants?

  The spirit snarls and snaps again, but suddenly Seria's hand is at its jaw and holds the spirit against the wall. “I'll take a sample.” She reaches up and uses a pinch grip to break one tooth out of the spirit's mouth. The creature howls and writhes, but Seria's hold is like a vice.

  Then she steps back, studying the sharp tooth. The spirit stops and spits at Seria, but a thin bubble of blue energy blocks the attack. “You will pay for this! Wait until I am free. I'll decorate the walls with your intestines! You will learn to fear monsters!”

  Seria looks up, still smiling. “You have no idea of monsters. I know monsters who go bump in the night. You aren't one of them. And you've already broken the three most important rules about being a monster. First, monsters don't speak. Second, monsters are not allowed to be seen until it's too late. Haven't you ever watched a horror movie?”

  The spirit roars in a blind rage, but after a moment it rec
overs its composure. “You have forgotten to mention the third rule, little girl.”

  Seria drops the tooth, seemingly having lost interest. “Oh, that. You see. A horror movie doesn't do a good job when the monster feels pain. So it's pretty certain that you aren't a monster.”

  She rips off the spirit's tattered shirt and places a finger on the spirit's belly, pushing it inside, slowly. The howling and writhing starts again until she pulls her finger out. There is a little blood on her hand and on the spirit's belly. Strangely enough there is no wound to be seen.

  Seria nods approvingly. “You feel pain, that's good. And my healing works on you. That's also good.”

  “Why?” The spirit whines.

  “It means that you won't die on me while I weaken your mind a little. So how about telling me the story about Dedessia and this so called spirit realm?”

  Charles purses his lips. “I like her.”

  23. ~Discoveries.~

  “Many people say that life isn't fair. They are stupid. Life is fair... to everyone.”

  The Journey to the Afterlife

  Kingdom Newerth, Capital City

  Seria

  I stare at the pumping heart inside the cavity of the spirit's opened chest. Badabum, badadum... somehow I like the rhythm. The muscle is deformed, but functional, though that's not what interests me. The nerve tissue which is running through the spirit's body is oversized and the body's spirit connections are all wrong.

  After the thing told me everything it knew, I opened the creature up as much as possible. It felt like a thorough investigation of its mind and body is necessary to understand its nature.

  When I broke into the spirit's mind, I didn't learn much. Dedessia already poured a lot of resources into research regarding spirits. The insane, animalistic ones harbour souls which are pieced together from various other souls which got caught up in a mana storm.

  Though this one is different.

  A patchwork of souls almost always ends up as an insane creature. But not so with this one. This spirit is almost sane. I say almost because it still has some serious psychopathic tendencies.

  Something twisted this guy's mind until he believed himself at the top of the food chain. Reaching out, I push the nerve which controls the heart and sent a small jolt of mana into it. After pushing and nudging a little with the spirit connection, I deem it as repaired.

  The spirit's head lolls to the side and his tongue rolls out of his mouth. Smiling, he purrs like a cat and is obviously pleased with what I am doing. “Morrrreee...”

  Sick bastard. Apparently repairing its twisted mind is somewhat enjoyable to it.

  Maybe it was a mistake to try to repair the broken pieces of his soul. It would have been interesting to learn if a spirit can be returned to temporary sanity. Even if it is just for their current lifespan. Souls aren't made to be mixed and fused together like potato mash. The multiverse itself has something against it. Each soul has its own quantum wave frequency. Mixing frequencies always ends in white noise according to my father. He postulated that souls are just an expression of a metaphysical entity interacting with the multiverse, hence shaping it through observation.

  My brain totally zoned out when he tried to explain the math behind his theory and what a soul really is. I am good at stuff like this, but when Dad goes all out on me, even I understand just mumble jumble!

  But one thing is for sure. This spirit wasn't born from a mana storm. Statistics should allow for one almost sane spirit every once in a while, but these things are popping up one after the other. It all depends on how the different souls' frequencies interact with each other. They must have some way to influence the creation of a new spirit.

  According to the spirit in front of me, the spirit realm bleeds with magical energy. A place of pure energy with no physical form. The spirits only gain a body when they try to enter another realm. It would surely be interesting to pay them a visit. There must be a whole different set of physical laws at work over there. My father will flip when he hears about this.

  Sadly the spirit couldn't explain why they are even interested in realms like this one. But I felt it when I was inside its mind. A primeval need to exist, even if it is an existence of pain and hunger. The spirit actually feared to be returned back to the spirit realm, to a stagnant plane of non-existence.

  Hm. But that didn't explain its memories. The spirit materialized in a different realm than this one and was transported here during the Tandeen incident.

  It only means that the spirits have already taken over at least one other realm. Or, which sounds more likely to me, another realm is using them as footsoldiers to prepare other realms for invasion. The spirit didn't really get to see his birthplace before it was sent here.

  So we could basically drive them back to their realm of pure energy if we crush their footholds in all the material realms? A funny thought.

  I guess my parents already unknowingly tipped off the spirits when they used the mana storms as fuel for the creation of their new pathways. Maybe the pathways can be reconfigured to leech off the spirit realm's energy? I need to return and report back as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

  At least I learned why the spirits know that I am here. They saw me fighting their foot soldiers when I saved Adea's mother. Since nobody of this realm can stay in his or her spirit form without going insane, they deduced that I have to be from somewhere else. I already feared that saving Adea's Mom will have repercussions.

  Though I don't know why they know of Dedessia, or why they are so sure that I am from there. Is Dedessia the only realm with people who can control their spirit form?

  I sigh, though their knowledge of Dedessia can also be explained. Moonray and his groupies. It would be hilarious to learn that they fled from us, just to get stranded in the spirit realm, or at a place which was already taken over by the spirits. The stories I heard about my ancestor don't paint him in a good light.

  The erratic rhythm of the spirit's heartbeat draws my attention.

  ...badabum, badabum... ba... da... then nothing.

  Pursing my lips, I poke the damn thing and pour another stream of healing energy directly into the heart. My efforts aren't rewarded. I contemplate the option of catching the spirit's misshapen soul, but what good would it do me? It's not like I can use it for anything. Dad would be pleased about the present, but I think he places much more value on chocolate.

  “I think it bled out,” Charles's voice startles me and I turn around. My feet create splashing noises as I do so, and I look down.

  “Oh, damn. I thought I avoided all the major blood vessels.” I curse. And there goes another set of good shoes.

  “Isn't it natural for something to bleed out when it is prodded and poked for hours? Not to mention that you turned him inside out like some sick sculpture.” Clarity's dejected voice causes me to return my attention to the royal family.

  Marcus and Clarity entered the room together with Charles. Sadly, Marcus and the king don't show any emotional reaction to what I did. Somehow I hoped to shock Marcus by taking them up on their offer to do my worst. It would be so much easier if he simply lost interest in me because of my... special talents.

  Strangely, something deep inside me is glad that he isn't going all emotional because of what I did. Is it because I dissected a spirit? Would he react differently if I did the same to a serial killer of this world? But if he can accept this, then maybe he is even able to deal with my eccentric parents?

  My attention turns to Clarity. She is pale. Paler than usual. “I hope you won't pass out on me?”

  She grumbles. “It's just the smell!”

  Marcus sniffs the air and shrugs. “That's nothing. It would have been much worse if she had opened the stomach or the intestines. Did you have to drape them around his neck?”

  I furrow my forehead and inspect the corpse. “They would have fallen on the ground otherwise.”

  “That's all well and nice. What I want to know is what you lea
rned from all this.” Charles gestures with his entire arm at the scene.

  I clear my throat and let them in on what I learned. It's not like there is much information which has to be held back. Telling them about Moonray or Dedessia wouldn't make any sense at this point. Though I drop the hint that Dedessia may be an enemy of the spirits.

  The spirits are after me and I don't want anyone to know that I am the winged spirit.

  But I decide to let them know that the winged spirit is indeed the agent from Dedessia. It may be helpful if they don't go full killing mode on me the next time I am forced to go all out.

  The situation is definitely turning worse rapidly and even with everything that I have learned, it feels like my mission is doomed sooner or later. I've to tell Adea about the new pathways or at least get her out of the line of fire. Though I am not sure if I can completely trust her new personality. Normally I wouldn't care, but the pathways are really sensitive information.

  24. ~Stealing flowers.~

  “It’s always the gardener!”

  The Journey to the Afterlife

  Kingdom Newerth, Capital City

  Seria

  This is becoming overly complicated and I am not into complicated stuff. At least not when it involves the lives of those who are close to me.

  Complicated point number one. I created a complete mess in that interrogation cell and they simply let me go. As if what I did was completely normal under the circumstances. The only one who seemed at least a little fazed was Clarity.

  Complicated point number two. Are they suspecting something? Was it some kind of sick test to make sure how far I would go? But how did they even connect me with the spirits? Pure deductions and suspicions? I am fairly sure that there is no solid evidence. Maybe Charles's gift is more capable than Marcus allowed me to see?

  I turn around the last corner and head directly towards my shop. It's late evening, so the shop is still open and Adea is usually hanging out there. After a long time of fighting my conflicting feelings I decided that I can't trust Adea with the knowledge about the pathways. My guts are telling me that I can trust her, but my brain says no. Despite her regained memories, Adea is still a different person. As Jazira, she always looked out for me… apart from that one incident when she abducted me, and my parents went out of control to get me back.