Darkness swirled around the very essence of his existence, even though existence itself seemed meaningless.
"—ove y—"
Hands lacking any form of warmth or cold caressed his heart, even though he lacked a body to even have a heart in the first place.
"—e you, "
The action that the hands were performing was aggravating and repulsed him intensely, but, even in that feeling of wanting to run away from it, a stronger feeling overrode it. A sense of familiarity, even though that familiarity shouldn't exist.
"Lo—u,"
It was illogical, irrational, unfounded, unsound, groundless, erroneous, unreasoned, mistaken, untrue, imprecise, inaccurate, off beam—but not false.
"—ve me,"
But who is that? What are you trying to say? Why do i feel like that towards you? Why do I want to embrace you? Why do I want to kiss you? Why do I want to hold you? Why do I want to watch the stars with you? Why do I want to share in your suffering? Why do I want to apologize to you? Why do i want you to hate me? Why do I want you to beat me? Why do I want you to forget me? Yet—
"I love you"
Why do I want you to, love me?
The darkness swirled with even more vigour as it sent waves of corruption towards him, drowning him in the heavy pressure of sins. Maybe, he should just remain here with her—
Before that thought could be completed, thick and slippery tentacles that resembled the cosmos of a distant sky pierced through the clouds of darkness and wrapped around his waist as it dragged him down with a heavy pull.
***
"Gah!"
Bam!
"Man, this is the 2nd time I've had to drag your ass back from that place."
Merli—no, Arv who was slammed into the marble like hard surface, was rubbing his buttocks to leviate some of the pain he was feeling.
But when he heard the familiar voice, he forced himself to sit upright with his legs crossed and raised his head up to look at the tall cloaked figure who was bending down to look at him.
At such an angle, it should've been easy for Merlin to look at the face of the strange and mysterious individual, but even still, his facial structure was undescribable.
"Hmmm~, still kickin i see." The figure said in a merry voice as his hand stroked his non-existent beard.
"Kaito..." said Arv.
"Yeah, that's me." After confirming that Arv was still capable of speech, Kaito turned around and his tentacles slithered against the pitch black surface as it carried hum to the place where the 'Wheel of Fate' was standing.
"Her garden's a really taxing place for a mortal like you so I had to check just in case."
With a swift motion, he turned and put both his hands in the top of the multicolored wheel as he leaned on it a little.
"Well, before you receive your reward, is there something you wanna ask?" He asked with his ever-changing grin.
"Ask...." Arv pondered while also stroking his non-existent beard in for a while, copying Kaito's actions.
"Ah!" Then something clicked.
"The fact that I'm here...is it...because I'm...dead or—?"
"No worries~, you just completed the mission that's all. You didn't die. Although, it was quite a sight when...well, you know what you tried to do." The playfulness in his voice slowly faded, now replaced by a stern and cold voice.
"Gh—!"
"It's not that I'm saying that you should die getting chomped on by a bunch of rabid animals, but you didn't even follow with you were about to do. You couldn't even follow what your mind told you to do. And don't give me the crap that you didn't want to lose the interactions of this loop. If you had the courage, you would've killed yourself in the blink of an eye....but in the end, you are nothing but a coward. And that's what gained you Priscilla's hate." Kaito finished speaking his thoughts to the boy infront of him, uncaring of even looking at his reaction.
Arv could only stare at the eldritch figure in front of him. This was the second time he's been dissed so hard in this world, AND BOTH OF 'EM HAPPENED IN A SINGLE DAY TOO! Heh, if this keeps up he'll just end up with a world record at this point.
"And you're still aren't sorry about it." This time Kaito didn't even try to hide his sneer.
Arv could only let out a snicker at that comment.
"Gosh you're insufferable! If it weren't for the contract I would've—speaking of the devil."
Kaito could not finish his 'review' on Merlin's behaviour. He was interrupted by a figure that made a loud "Chyun!" sound and stood defensively in front of the Arv who hadn't noticed it yet. No, it wasn't an it, it was a 'her'.
The dark blob of shadowy slime vibrated intensely as if she was sneering at the ghostly figure of Kaito.
She would not let Merlin get insulted like that no matter how bad his descisions were!
"Oh look, who it is." Arv's lips curved up into a weak smile as he reached out both of his hands to cup the shadow into his palms, bringing it closer to it's chest.
Feeling his warmth, she calmed down and purred while practically melting in his embrace like an affectionate and needy cat.
"..." Kaito simply stared at their interaction with exasperation. The cutest and comfy scene did affect him a little.
"So," Arv began this time while tickling the shadow gently with his finger as it let out low squeaks.
"I don't really think you want me to stay here any longer, so can you just spin it already?"
"Mind your tone infront of me." Kaito huffed but nevertheless spun the wheel like he's supposed to.
The empty looking multicolored wheel spun with quite a lot of speed, making rapid clicking sounds as the arrow hits the small protrusions on the wheel's circumference.
"I wonder~I wondah~What.will.it.be~? Light? Elemental? Teleki? Shapeshifting? Clone? Aaahhhh the possibilities!!!!!" Kaito circled around the wheel like an octopus, seemingly more excited than Arv himself.
Arv silently stared at the spinning wheel, there wasn't much to be done anyways, he was in a rather sulky mood to be able to spare the energy for a reaction.
Soon, the wheel started to slow down until it stopped.
"AnnnnnnnNnnnnnnnddDddddddd!!!! And this time it'sssSSs!!!! TELEKINESIS! SO COOL!" Kaito's tentacles vibrated with intense excitement as he posed unnecessarily like an 8th grader.
Arv wasn't sure if he should burst out laughing or shit his pants upon seeing looking at a being straight out of a H.P. Lovecraft book acting like delusional boy.
"Can you stop that please?" Said Arv.
"Huh?! Have a problem or what?"
"Of course I do!"
"THEN SHOVE IT UP YO' AS—!!!"
"Skreeee!!!"
"This little slime...Urgh! Just go now, you've got your powers already. And also don't overextert yourself right now with all those powers ya have, you're gonna break your gate. Although basics of it are engraved in your brain, ya'll have to train yourself for becoming stronger."
"Oh, I see. Wait, what a ga—A! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaargghhh..."
Once again, before Arv could get his doubts clarified, he fell into the void.
DAMMNN YOU KAIITOOOOO!!!! But wait, isn't Telekinesis kinda good for aura farming? HELL YEAH! PICOLO I'M COMING FOR THAT CAKE!
Time to be Merlin again.
With that final thought, he drifted away into a deep deep sleep. His first sleep in the last 56 hours.
***
"Mm..a..ah." Merlin's eyes slowly fluttered open to the sight of an unknown ceiling.
His entire body felt very heavy and kinda numb. He was exhausted due to a lack of mana in his body.
"Gh!" Forget about getting up, even moving around slightly hurts.
The room was quiet, too quiet. It made him super nostalgic. But it wasn't the good kind of nostalgia. It felt awkward, uncomfortable and overly familiar.
He turned his head slightly to his right, just enough for his eyes to be able to observe anything about the room other than the ceiling.
He was lying on a super comfortable bed, and the room was very spacious too, one fit for mansions.
But as soon as his eyes caught sight of the windows, his instinctively shut his eyes tightly. The light of the room was like a flashbang to his still half-asleep eyes.
Seeing that he had no choice but to get up and look for himself, a sharp pain shot through his body and he fell right back on the bed.
"I'd advise you to stay rested. Your condition hasn't stabilised yet." A flat yet gentle voice called out to him from his left side.
"Hah...hah...wh-o?"
Merlin forcibly turned his head to his left, his instincts screaming for him to look at the source of the unfamiliar voice.
But what awaited him was a sight he could've never prepared for.
An...angel...
"Hah...Again with that foolish thought."
The voice belonged to a girl with hair, styled in a beautiful ponytail, so red that even blood would appear light beside it.
Her eyes were of such a beautiful shade of blue that it felt as if he were staring into a depthless ocean.
Her face and figure so perfect that it appeared to have been sculpted by the hands of the Gods themselves.
If he was asked to find out a flaw in her, it would he the lacking in a certain compartmen—
She sat beside his bed on a chair with grace while peeling an Appa.
"You are staring quite a bit. Dear guest seems to be something unholy in his own little mind." She said without stopping or even looking at him.
She was wearing her usual knight uniform, one that resembled her late grandmother's greatly.
"You...were...last night?" Merlin's voice came out as weak, quivering gasps.
"To answer your question, yes I was there last night. In fact, I was the one who saved your life so showing a bit of gratitude would be good for you." The appa peels dropped on the plate that was on her lap. She held the perfectly peeled and sliced fruit and reached out to the desk near her and beside the head of the bed and put the Appa slices on the plate that had 2 more of those sliced fruits along with the knife she was holding.
"Emilia-sama did say you have quite a lot of strange magics. Are you a magician?" She asked, her facial expressions not shifting even slightly.
"I...guess?"
"I shall take that as an affirmative. If you are a magician, then absorb mana from the air get your slothful self on feet."
"...i can't."
"You can't what?"
"Mana thing..."
"...What an inept magician–"
"–What a rude woman."
They both stared off at each other before she let out an "Ah" of realization.
"It must be because of that. I'll step away a little."
"What?"
She got up from the chair, putting the plate of peels on the desk right beside the plates with the peeled slices and then walked to stand in the far corner of the room.
"Now try. Imagine the gate within yourself and allow the mana to flow in, like water."
Merlin couldn't understand her motive for getting away but still followed her instructions.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on himself. Both Kaito and the girl had associated this 'gate' thing to mana, more precisely, the flow of mana. So it must like an opening, the ass maybe—? No no no no shut up! That's too gross to be a feature in a fantasy world.
If it isn't a physical opening, then it must be spiritual right?
"Correct." She said.
"Quit readin my thoughts dammit!"
Back to focus.
"Good luck." She said again.
Urgh this girl.
Anyways.
He focused his mind once again, attempting to clear his mind of thoughts and focus solely on finding this 'gate'.
The meditation habit really came in handy this time. Thanks Mom.
After a bit of effort, Merlin was successful in finding the entrance where mana gently entered the body. Now, all he had to do was—
"Done!"
With a loud shout of victory he stood upright on the bed, his hand pointing to the heavens. Damm boi, I hit that Leon pose quite well~.
Clap clap clap.
His moment of victory was interrupted by the sound of hands clapping. The girl who was standing quietly in the corner.
"Why are you clapping?" Merlin asked with mild irritation.
"For your success." She replied, refusing to stop clapping.
Clap clap clap.
"...what are you? My mom congratulating me on getting first place in the school race?"
"Although I am unfamiliar with some of the terms, I suppose a child would be a fitting description for a grown person like you who doesn't even knows what a gate is."
The system screen lit up—
[Diss record: 3]
STOP MAKING RECORDS OF SUCH THINGS!!!!
Clap clap clap.
"AND CAN YOU STOP WITH THE CLAPPING ALREADY?!"
"Understood."
Merlin let out a long sigh while ruffling his long hair in irritation. Then only did he notice. He wasn't wearing his usual clothes, instead it was robes, one would wear before sleeping.
He wrapped his arms around him and quickly scooted away her until his back touched the wall behind the bed's head.
"And y-y-y-you were calling ME a pervert?! You hypocrite!!" Merlin let out a shrieking noise, fearing he might've lost the only thing he's preserved for 20+ years!
The readhead furrowed her eyebrows in confusion but understood the meaning to his reaction quickly. "Worry not dear guest, I wasn't the one who charged your clothes. Even if I did, I doubt there would be anything worrisome."
Merlin could've swore a vein popped up on his forehead because of the sheer anger he was feeling. "Oh yeah?! Says the board!"
And now it was her turn to have a vein pop up on her forehead. Her hand twitched but she suppressed the wanting to reach for the blade on her side.
The tension in the room was so thick that even a scissor would be able to cut it.
After a long session of staring into each other's soul, Merlin plopped down on the bed.
"Leave it. Meaningless shit."
"Oh? I did not expect to hear something about meaning from you. Impressive."
"Can you not for a second?!"
This time she remained silent, but not without a sense of victory for dealing the final blow.
"Now that you're FINALLY quite!...Where the fuck am I?"
"What a crude language—"
"I swear to dear Lor—"
"—You are in the manor of the Astrea family."
Merlin fell silent on hearing the info.
Astrea? That name seems heavy. A noble family.
The girl who was listening to his thought made the first ever expression Merlin had seen on her face. AND IT WAS PITY?!
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT I'M NEW HERE! And also, forget about violation. My rights to privacy feels molested!"
She narrowed her eyes in slight suspicion. Seeing that there was nothing more to talk about, she finally stepped forward from the corner of the room and walked towards the door.
Seeing that she was about to leave, Merlin realized one important thing he hasn't yet said.
"Um..."
She stopped and looked at the boy who had called out to her, an action that surprised her greatly but she would never show it.
"I haven't asked the most important thing yet."
Oh.
Her expression dimmed down a little, just a little, no, maybe her expression did not change at all. It's not like she had expected anything to be disappointed about. He called out to stop her, so she had thought that maybe a casual talk.....What is she even thinking? She must've finally lost it.
Just some information and I can go away. She repeated the same line in her head, assuring herself that this would be over soon.
"Please get on with it quickly." Her same monotone voice remained as it was.
"The name's Merlin, a wandering magician. What's yours?" He asked in a casual manner. Casual—a word that she had become unfamiliar with over time. But now.
"My, name?" Her flat voice finally had a bit of an overtone to it. She blinked several times, caught completely off guard by his words.
"Uhhh, yeah?"
She stood in front of the door with her mouth agape, unable to believe what he had just asked her.
Someone had asked her name? Someone called out to her for something as simple as a name? She was stopped for a conversation????
Merlin felt his confusion growing with each second. He could clearly see that she was utterly shaken by his question. Did he fuck up? Is it that rude for a commoner to ask a noble's name? No, they argued alot just now for just this to be that offensive. Or maybe, there's a culture gap he was unaware of.
Her lips quivered, she tried to say something many times but the heaviness in her throat killed away any form of sound she tried to squeeze out.
In the end, she grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it open with such force that made Merlin fear whether she'd just pulled out the door totally.
She didn't even looked towards him, her hair blocked out the view to her face, almost like she didn't want him to see her face at that moment.
"I-i-it's Adelheid! Adelheid Astrea! Be sure to remember that! You get it?!" Gone was her monotone and emotionless voice. It was replaced by a voice much suited to girl like her, a loud and high pitched voice. She ran away from the room, slamming the door behind her with so much force that Merlin heard a hinge or two break off.
...
Silence filled the room, before it was broken by the sound of someone running towards the room.
Soon a peach haired girl ran into the room and looked around in wary, before her eyes fell on the Merlin who still couldn't process the series of events that just took place before his face.
"..."
"..."
"Dear guest?" The little girl asked in a low voice.
"...Huh, ah, oh..."
"What...happened here?"
Merlin let out a low chuckle before replying—
"Don't ask me like I myself understood."
***
The girl who had named herself Adelheid, paced through the corridor with very fast steps.
Her right hand was tightly holding her jaw, covering her mouth.
She couldn't allow herself to be seen like this, but running through the hallway would make extra work for Carol and Grimm, she did not wanted to inconvenience anyone. So she walked, but even that walk was enough to classified as running.
Although she was walking very fast, she did not pay attention to her surrounding at all. Her overwrought mind had left her unable to think straight.
As she was about to pass by a hallway to her side, she did not notice the notice the old butler who was right about the corner of that hallway.
Although she didn't notice him, the butler stopped in his path when he noticed her. He pulled out his notebook to greet her but Adelheid was too lost in her mind to notice, so she walked past him.
Grimm could've called out to her but he refrained from doing so. He was stunned, so stunned that his notebook fell from his hand and his usually shut eyes opened wide when he saw something that he had never thought he'd see ever in his lifetime again. A sight that made tears form in his old and weary eyes.
Adelheid was now out of sight. But Grimm couldn't get the moment out of his mind. It was engraved into his mind like a picture.
Adelheid had failed to hide away her reaction completely. From the loosed ends of Adelheid's fingers, Grimm saw it.
A smile. A silly looking smile, like an overly excited little girl.
This was the Adelheid's very first smile in the last 14 years of her life.
***
Arc 1-Finished