Sorry about last week, I was sick. Otherwise, same as usual, 700.
-
That very same day, as I was on my way back to get my professor's opinions on the factional politics within the Clock Tower, I was attacked. A couple of blocks away from Norwich, even. Suddenly faced with half a dozen assailants, I was truly baffled for a good second.
I thought they'd be a lot more... well... a lot more cautious in their approach, especially since the Sealing Designation was yet to even go through. That made this a wholly unprovoked attack on my person, and I was allowed to react in whatever way I deemed fit.
Squabbles between magi were to be solved at the discretion of the involved parties. Basically, either one wiped the other out or got paid enough reparations for the 'offense' to back off. Generally, it involved some exchange of family secrets, spells or hidden relics.
Generally...
I grinned and leaned to the side just enough to avoid a sword aimed for my throat. Before my masked assailant could react any further, I punched him twice. Once in the throat, hard enough to crush his windpipe even through the reinforcement. Once in the elbow. The second blow snapped his arm unnaturally. His jaw hung open in a wordless scream as his blade clammered against the floor.
"Thank you for coming to me. I was getting bored with all the lectures..." I kicked his sword up and grabbed it out of the air before pointing it at his little buddies, "I hope the rest of you have something better than just physical strength."
They didn't respond to my words. Instead, two of them moved to block off either end of the alleyway we were in while the other three activated their magic circuits. Honestly, this confrontation felt a little flimsy.
These people clearly had no idea who I was.
"Mercenaries? Spellcasters. Is that what they call you?"
People who'd abandoned, or never adhered to, the path of a magus. Instead, they used magecraft as a means of plying their trade, mercenary work. The last one I'd encountered was Flueger, back at the Castle of Adra.
Now, a good bunch of them had shown up on my doorstep.
A bolt of flame impotently struck my defense. Then, a bullet from some handgun I failed to recognise, followed by a handful of knives. A truly pitiful display.
"Say, tell me who sent you, and I'll let you go. I know it's a bit much to process since one of yous tried to stick me with a sword... but-"
I was shot at again. This time, one of them had pulled out a pump-action shotgun. He racked it and lined up another shot.
"I am being unusually reasonable at this moment. Mostly cause this is just straight up sad."
"We know you like to play around." One of them spoke out, it was difficult to tell which since all of them wore trenchcoats coupled with facemasks that hid all but their eyes.
"Hell yeah, I do. But, tell me, how does knowing this help you?"
"It distracts you for a second longer."
I raised a brow.
Suddenly, the alarms set into the Bounded Field protecting my home went off. Not once, but twice. Two people had entered at the same time. With no hesitation, I jammed the sword through the guts of the one closest to me at a speed they had no hope of even perceiving, and threw his partner against the wall before tapping the dirty ground beneath us with the tip of my foot.
They fully intended to hurt me, so I held no regrets about my response
Courtesy of Heine Istari's donation to my ever-growing collection of spells, spears of stone emerged from the earth and skewered them right there and then. One managed to avoid them and immediately made a run for it.
I didn't care.
This 'attack' was the very height of stupidity. I was going to maim Inorai in public if she was behind this.
The next moment my surroundings changed and I stood in the air. The one after that, I was standing outside my home. Thankfully, there were no signs of entry. My bounded field remained intact. Instead, a single sealed envelope lay just a step outside the fence... yet, definitely there was someone else inside too. I quickly pocketed the letter before going back to my crisis.
How?
The only way that was possible without breaking through the defense was if my mother had been the one to invite the person inside or I trusted the person enough to have my defenses ignore them. Mama Smith wasn't the type to fooled, and I felt no lingering mana from some spell so... really, how was that even possible?
"Only one way to find out."
I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for any situation.
When I opened the door, there in the living room, on my couch, sat a person I definitely trusted. But, it was someone I most certainly did not expect to come to my home. She sat there so calmly, drinking MY Darjeeling tea, eating MY banana pudding, like it was her own place.
"Why, hello there, Henry. I wasn't expecting you to return so quickly. I was confident you'd get distracted by a frisbee some stranger threw for their dog." She smiled gently, tucking a stray strand of her wavy grey hair behind her ear, and her golden eyes seemed to shine for a fraction of a second, "Did you miss me?"
I slammed the door shut.
Somehow, of all the people I wanted my family to meet, Caren Hortensia had escaped even my consideration, for good reason too. Even thinking about whatever bullshit she fed my mother to be invited in was starting to give me a headache.
I braced myself as best I could and reached for the door knob again, only for the door to be opened by my mother first. She gave me a look I failed to place before stepping aside. With my head hung low, I entered my own house feeling like a criminal.
"So, did you miss me?" Caren asked politely, concern written across her features. It was bullshit. She was definitely acting.
"I missed you as much as someone who hates sand would miss a desert."
"How hurtful. After how passionate you were last time... You hurt my feelings, Hal."
"Don't call me, Hal. You witc-"
I was promptly smacked in the back of the head by my spartan mother. Silently, she pointed at the spot next to Caren. Silently, I obeyed.
At this point, maybe my home getting attacked was the better alternative to whatever... this was. I glared at Caren as I took a seat beside her. She just smiled back, mischief evident in her golden eyes.
"So Henry, when were you planning on telling me about this?"
I chose my words carefully, "...Telling you about what exactly?"
Suddenly, Caren grabbed my arm, a wretchedly bashful expression on her face. Too bashful. Her eyes were twitching. She was acting, I knew. My mother did not. Her face tightened considerably.
"Henry, she looks like a child! And, didn't you tell me your partner was that Finnish girl? She'd have been better than this." My mother massaged her temple, sighing, "What in God's name drove you to do this?"
"S...She's not my girlfriend, ma'am." I offered cautiously.
"No she isn't."
"Of course, I'm not. Hal."
Sweetly, Caren handed me a form.
"What the fuck-"
An honest to god marriage license.
For the first time in my life, I felt genuine terror, my face paled and beads of sweat formed on my forehead. It was an actual marriage license, signifying a partnership between... Hell... What the fuck had I ever done to deserve this?
"C-Caren... is this why you left back then?"
I never should have trusted her to leave me be after what she'd spouted back in America. It was a false hope to even think this actual DEMON would leave me in peace. Was this what she meant by me being her trial? How the hell was I even supposed to consider that this was what it meant?!
This was extremely unfair.
"Mhm. I wanted to surprise you."
"This is bloody forged."
"No, it isn't. See that's your signature there." She said blankly with a thin smile only I noticed. Then, she became bashful again as she turned to face my mother. "Y-You're hurting me, Hal. W-We went to the o-office together. I-I'm sorry, ma'am."
I wanted to kick her ass more than ever.
"Don't tell me this is actually official?" I asked, baffled.
Something told me it was. The Holy Church easily possessed the influence as well as the means. For them to corroborate in this was a bit far-fetched though... I scanned the document over again, desperate for any flaw that'd make it fake. The ages were all wrong but, beyond that, I noticed the name of the officiator.
Oh my God... it was Mark.
That son of a bitch-
"Henry..." My thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt by my mother's words. She stared at me with pursed lips and distant eyes. "You're at an age where... where I can't tell you to do but-... I'm disappointed that you thought you had to do this without telling me. I would've supported anything-"
Her words stung.
I gave Caren another glare. She shrugged back, unbothered. I still failed to understand why she would do this and I refused to even entertain the notion that she just 'liked' me. Yet, a drastic act like this was exactly what I expected of her too now that I thought about it.
And, to be honest, in any other situation such a batshit insane move warranted respect. Just not when it hurt my mother... hurting Mama Smith was the greatest taboo.
Now, the question was, how was I meant to get myself out of this?
Apologising meant I accepted that the marriage did indeed happen.
On the other hand, trying to prove it as false meant I'd need to either come up with a load of believable bull, or come clean about a lot more than just my relationship with this spawn of satan. I wasn't the best liar either.
"Dammit, you got me." I sighed, crushing the paper in my hand.
"Are you proud of me, Hal?"
The damndest thing was, I had to respect the craziness of it all. It even resembled something I might do given the chance.
Inorai? The Mage's Association?
Nah, this creature nestling against my arm and peering up at me like a particularly curious cat was a much larger threat. She came in and easily stuck me between a rock and a hard place.
"Do remember this though you little shit, I'm a very loyal man."
Henry.exe was about to, very justifiably, crash out.
"Henry, don't talk to your wife like that-"
MMMMM-
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Honestly a bit uncomfortable and unusual, but that's exactly how Caren is. Blindsided him so hard he literally forgot about the attempt on his life and the weird letter. So yeah, I mess with it. I hope you guys don't hate it too much. Please don't forget to comment.