The door creaked shut behind us, muffling the world outside and ushering in a whole new ordeal.
Fang stepped forward first, brushing the soles of his shoes against the inside mat like it was second nature to him. His posture, always stiff and alert, seemed just a hair more relaxed now. His soft, azure blue hair caught the light as he moved, shifting like a breeze across calm water.
He inhaled slowly, as if trying to savor the air of a tranquil home... and instantly regretted it. With a glance my way, he offered his thoughts in a deadpan tone.
"Does it always smell this bad in your place?"
"No..." I defended weakly, waving a hand through the air. "Your missions to my abode just have a terrible knack for coinciding with my... less glamorous days."
Pinching his nose, Fang was trying his hardest not to take in the putrid burning scent that filled the air of my once beautiful smelling home. Having been so immersed in my conversation with Fang and Charlotte, I'd almost forgotten that I'd just escaped from the pits of hell myself.
The last time Fang was here, it smelled pretty bad too; that time the scent was due to Cacophony using her flames to close one of my wounds...
My hand drifted reflexively toward my lower back, fingertips brushing over the faint, ridged scar that stubbornly remained.
I didn't allow myself to be swept off my feet by those memories. Instead, I turned my attention elsewhere.
Behind Fang came Charlotte. Her expression was refined and relaxed, but the flush in her cheeks hadn't entirely faded. That itself was linger proof of just how much her earlier apology meant to her.
Charlotte's vibrant purple hair flowed behind her like a royal cape, the star-shaped ornament in her bangs shimmering with each step she took. Her exterior truly gave the impression of a bastion of shining justice.
As the three of us walked deeper into my house, we must've made for quite the striking trio.
In a matter of seconds, we'd made it into my living room.
My house was a fairly modest place.
The living room, for instance, was a clear reflection of that modesty. It small a small and cozy place, but it could never be called pristine. A sagging, dark gray couch was one of the most striking features of the room. Pushed against the wall, its cushions were slightly misshapen from constant use. Across from it was an outdated flat-screen TV that sat atop a cheap black stand. The TV itself seemed to be framed by scattered DVDs on the stand, mismatched remotes on the floor, and a poorly hidden tangle of cords that looked like they'd been left for dead. Off to the side was a small shelf that had been screwed into the wall. Naturally, given my disposition, it was filled with manga and light novels.
The room was light on decorations. Only a few small posters and trinkets lay on the wall, the only one truly worth mentioning was the rectangular clock that hung high, watching over the entire living quarters.
Both Charlotte and Fang looked to be less than impressed with my living space. While both had been here before, it was unlikely that they were in the headspace to take in the environment in full.
Charlotte tread cautiously across the room, picking her way through the mess like it might lunge at her. She sat down on one end of the couch with both her legs crossed and arms neatly folded. She eventually stooped down and picked up a stray manga that had fallen from the overloaded shelf, flipping it open with visible hesitation.
From where I stood, I couldn't see the page she landed on. But judging by the way she snapped the book shut — and the look of unfiltered disgust she shot my way afterward — I could make a few educated guesses.
'At least the pinkness in her cheeks is gone'
Before I could so much as open my mouth to defend my honor against Charlotte's scorn, a sudden sound caught my attention.
It was sound that was familiar yet distinct. Something that I'd heard before but never had the time to fully register in my mind.
When my eyes had moved toward the source of the sound, I realized what it was.
A scorching fireball was flying toward the living room.
I barely had time to register its existence, let alone react. My body froze, instincts screaming, but muscles refusing to move.
But Fang didn't hesitate.
In a single, fluid motion, he stepped in front of me, one hand snapping upward. From his lips, he uttered a chant in a voice so faint that it could hardly be considered a whisper.
A pulse of wind burst from his palm and caught the fireball mid-flight. The flames sputtered and twisted under the sudden pressure, then curved away and exploded harmlessly against the far wall with a dull thud, leaving a faint scorch mark on the already battered paint.
From the kitchen doorway, a figure sauntered out, utterly unbothered by the chaos she'd just unleashed.
Cacophony.
Her fiery scarlet hair, always looking wild and untamed, framed her face like a crown of tangled sunlight.
As she marched over to us, she shook her head in a proud nod.
As she opened her mouth, her tone was casual. It was like she was commenting on the weather. "Good, good. I'd been worried that all this inaction had caused my only mage servant's skills to dull. I'm glad that my assumption was incorrect."
Fang wasn't so amused. His entire body had become tense, and he gritted his teeth harshly.
"Don't be ridiculous, if I hadn't gotten there in time, that would've scorched Veri."
"Huh?" Cacophony spoke in a huff and tilted her head upward. "Don't think so lightly of the prowess of someone who has lived as long as I. A little flame control is simple. I would've disengaged the flames before they even licked at his skin."
Fang looked as though he wanted to fire back a rebuttal, but couldn't muster up any words. In a way, his silence was a recognition of the empress's skills.
It made sense. Every mage in the world knew of the power of the great vampire empress. They'd been told all sorts of tales since they were children.
Still, to think that the fireball hadn't been aimed at me all along but at Fang. The empress really did have a twisted love for watching us scramble.
I clapped my hands together, forcing an overly bright grin onto my face to break the tension."Speaking of tests," I said, injecting myself right into the aftermath, "this actually reminds me. Fang, it is time for you to complete your sworn duty as one of the members of the Round Table. Just as Merlin the great mage once did, it is time for you to open the path to the king's destiny! It's time for you to teach me magic!"
Fang clicked his tongue.
Charlotte blinked.
Even Cacophony, who normally carried herself with the lazy pride of an apex predator, visibly recoiled, her brow furrowing in shock.
"Veri", she said, "I don't seem to be understanding something. Why would you ever need to learn magic from him when you've got the most powerful mage in all of history right here?"
Normally, I'd be unprepared to answer such a prideful question from the Empress. Thankfully, using my powers of precognition, I'd divined that Cacophony would undoubtedly ask me that exact question. Given all of this time to think, there was no way that I wouldn't come up with an answer!
"Because, dear Cacophony," I said in a grave, measured tone, "one must learn the art of war from a soldier, not a sovereign. A king must understand the struggles of the simple foot soldier before he commands the armies of the night!"
Cacophony's furrowed brow eased and was replaced by an expression of deep thought. She placed a hand over her mouth and entered a state of contemplation.
When she moved her hand and revealed her lips, she opened her mouth once to say something before closing it again. Then all at once, her thoughts overflowed.
"Yeah, no, that's not going to be a good enough excuse to fool me."
She marched over to me with a powerful stride and grabbed both of my cheeks with one hand. She applied some force to her fingers and squished my face, causing my lips to pucker.
"Veri... After I offered you my services, you go to Fang for lessons? Do I need to remind you how handily I defeated him? Clearly, I'm the more powerful between us."
Trapped within her grasp, I began to squirm in resistance. There wasn't much that I could actually do. While she did ask me a question, it's not like I could answer with her holding my face so tightly.
My desperate eyes glanced to the side in search of help.
Fang shifted uncomfortably nearby. While he did seem to have something to say, it didn't seem to directly involve Cacophony's abuse of my facial muscles and so he opted not to say anything yet. There might have also been a hint of second-hand embarrassment mixed into his demeanor.
Cacophony's grip tightened, and I could see a mischievous spark light up in her ruby eyes. Knowing that look, Cacophony was about to escalate the situation to the next level.
"Can't you guys calm it down? What's even the big issue?"
A clear, firm voice resounded within the room.
Charlotte, who had been watching everything play out from the comfort of the sofa, finally voiced her opinion.
One of her eyebrows was raised, and she had an inquisitive air about her.
"I'm not sure if I'm understanding what the big deal is. Wouldn't Veri learning magic be a good thing for everyone here?"
Charlotte rose from the sagging couch with a kind of deliberate grace, adjusting the hem of her skirt with one hand as she approached us. "Given that he doesn't plan to stop being one of your servants, should he not have a way to defend himself against future threats?"
Charlotte stopped only a foot away from the Empress. She matched Cacophony's piercing ruby eyes with a commanding shot of her own. "Or is your nonhuman pride just that powerful that you can't admit that someone weaker than you might be a better teacher than you could ever be? Huh, monster?"
Charlotte spoke in a far ruder manner than she usually did. In that moment, I was reminded that Charlotte had a powerful distaste for the Empress. While I wasn't entirely certain of where it originated from, I did have a couple of guesses.
The first and most apparent cause was Cacophony's inhuman nature. At the end of the day, Charlotte was just a normal person who was dragged into the supernatural world. Who could blame her for hating the supernatural? Cacophony was powerful enough to jump from skyscrapers and be completely fine after all; she was, by all means, an unthinkable monster.
And there was another cause too, lurking just as powerfully in the background: the threat that Cacophony's presence posed to those around her. Mainly, the threat that it would bring to her sister, Jean.
Charlotte's unfamiliarity with Cacophony likely also played into her reaction. Unlike me, she didn't have the experience to understand that Cacophony was simply messing around.
I stared at Charlotte with wide eyes, my cheeks still partially squished in Cacophony's grip.
Cacophony herself tilted her head slightly, scrutinizing Charlotte with an unreadable expression.
Then, Cacophony let go of my face.
"Fine, fine. I was just getting to the good part, but I guess I'll refrain for now."
She gave Charlotte a light smile as she addressed her rude statement.
"I agree, things would be a lot better if Veri did learn magic. Even if it isn't by my hand."
Charlotte seemed to be surprised by the respectfulness of Cacophony's response. It seems that she'd expected her to get defensive and fight back.
Fang let out a breath, dragging a hand through his soft blue hair before finally stepping toward the couch.
"Now that you guys have wrapped that all up... I think we should also take into account the opinion that Veri shouldn't learn magic."
As I rubbed my cheeks, I spoke in protest. "What? There's no good reason not to teach it to me."
Fang shook his head. "I disagree. There are certain advantages to having you stay a nonmage. An example would be that encounter with Meiying and Farra at Dragon Mojo. Your presence as a nonmage changed the flow of that situation drastically."
"And how did that end up? You were forced into interrogation by Meiying, and both Kana and Tiana were interrogated by Farra. Then I have to mention my meeting with the angel. If Cacophony hadn't been there, I might've been in serious trouble. On top of all that, don't you remember how I got beat up by that demon child!"
Not able to muster up a reply, Fang gritted his teeth. It didn't take a genius to realize that he wasn't voicing the real reason that he didn't want me to learn magic.
Still, I did my best to ease whatever worries he seemed to have. "Listen up, since you obviously don't understand who it is you're dealing with! I know it won't be all rainbows and smiles from here on, trust me, I get that. We've got enemies, and it's not like I can just sit back and do nothing all the time."
Fang stared at me for a long, hard moment, the gears clearly grinding in his head. Whatever it was that was causing him to be reluctant was still there, but if he wasn't willing to voice it, then all he could do was say half-baked arguments. Those wouldn't be enough to stop my drive.
Finally, with a heavy sigh that seemed to drag all the resistance out of him, he dropped onto the couch. He leaned forward, his arms crossed tight over his chest like he was trying to build a wall around himself.
"Fine," he muttered, voice barely louder than a growl. "I'll teach you the basics. But don't expect me to hold your hand."