On a cloudy night where stars hid their faces, the rich smell of petrichor with a little mixture of smoke that was coming off the balcony hinted that a strong rain just passed and now everyone was staying home, warming themselves.
Luckily for Lev, he managed to salvage the laundry that he hanged this morning. After folding them and putting them inside the cabinet, he cleaned the mud from his boots, pants, and jacket. And tonight he witnessed two bizarre events: Lola's evolving shadow and the cat-like, animal-human, Glib.
Glib smiled when Lev asked that question. "I'm a sycophant, a lone one."
"And why are you here?" Lev raised an eyebrow.
"I was assigned on a mission."
"Ah. Right. Of course, a mission," Lev skeptically said. "Then if you're on a mission, then why are you here. With me. In this house."
Glib gave a sad look. His ears drooped and his eyes dilated. He asked in a sad tone, "You don't want me?"
"No, no. I'm actually happy that you're here. What I mean is that if you're on a mission, then why are you here?"
Glib's droopy state was replaced with happiness. "I'm on a top mission," He proudly said, "And Frederel gave it to me."
"Who's Frederel?" Lev was unsure of his feelings if he should be confused or happy, happy that he got to talk to someone that he felt comfortable with. He sensed the aura that Glib had was comforting and showed no threat.
"My previous Dominus," Glib answered. He climbed up the bench and sat beside Lev.
"Dominus?" Lev adjusted his position.
"Master."
"Oh. Where is he now then?"
"He's... dead," Glib softly said.
"Sorry," Lev comforted.
"It's fine. How'd you end up here?" Glib turned his head and looked up at Lev.
"It's a long story," Lev shrugged.
"And it's a long night," Glib countered.
"If I tell you mine, you should tell me yours too," Lev made a deal.
"Agreed," Glib licked its paw-like hand and stuck it out, waiting for a handshake.
"Ugh," Lev straight up was disgusted at what Glib did. "Let's just make it a verbal agreement."
"Oh, okay. That works too." Glib wiped his hand on his cloak and stared attentively at Lev.
Lev, who was staring at Glib, changed his gaze and glanced back at Glib who was still staring.
"Well? You may begin any time now," Glib adjusted his sitting position with his legs crossed, and his body looking at Lev.
"Oh. Uhm. It started 15 years ago," Lev recalled.
"Oohhh. I think this is a good one," Glib commented. "Your introduction has already caught my attention and—"
Lev's blank stare stopped Glib's talking.
"Continue," He gestured with his tiny hands.
Lev looked at the sky and was like in a daydreaming trance as he recalled everything he remembered. "I was born 15 years ago in a hospital. My mother died giving birth to me and my father... I don't know what happened to him. Maybe he abandoned my mother when she was pregnant."
Glib gave an exaggerated gasp.
Lev continued, ignoring Glib, "I was sent to the orphanage the next day. People avoided me because of my hair. They think that I was cursed or I was bearing bad luck, and that's where my entire life revolved.
"When I was 4 years old, I learned how to read and write. At that age, other kids were playing and making friends with each other. I've tried to join them once but they all avoided me. I saw their disgusted and scared faces. At that time I understood that I was unwanted by people because of a foolish belief. So I decided to pass time by reading books in the library or outdoors, under a tree. That's where I met Kaz. He approached me and asked if he could be my friend. It was the best moment in my life," Lev smiled as he relieved a pleasant memory.
He continued, "We introduced ourselves. Back then, Kaz had no name. He was left at the orphanage that same day by his parents and when the caregiver asked his name, they replied, 'He doesn't have one'."
"That's bad parenting right there," Glib seethed.
Lev was taken aback on Glib's reaction. "Yeah. I guess you could say that. Anyway, he asked me to give him one. I named him after a King, it was based on the book that I was reading that time. He was overjoyed when I gave him a name. He liked it very much. Kaz easily adjusted to his environment, and in no time, everyone liked him. I still went on with my daily routine, reading books, while Kaz sometimes accompanied me, but mostly he was busy studying."
"So, basically, you lived your orphanage life reading books," Glib summarized.
"I don't know why but I feel attacked by what you just said," Lev whispered as he rubbed his temples.
"And what's wrong with your grey hair? Back in The Kingdom, everyone have different colorful hairs: green, red, yellow, violet, and much more," Glib waved his hands.
"'The Kingdom'?" Lev asked.
"It's where I came from," Glib started. "A task was given to Frederel by the King himself. For some unknown reasons, the darkness grew in strength, corrupting some of the minds of the Order of Fate. Before the King's death, he gave Frederel a seed that could be planted here on this world, or what we called, The Reality. This seed was the only hope left for The Kingdom.
"Frederel was teleported in Reality to find the perfect spot for the seed to grow. He ran halfway across the world for 3 days straight. It—"
"Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean 'ran halfway across the world'?" Lev interrupted.
"Uhm. Physically running. Around the world." Glib said in response, unsure what part of what he said that Lev did not understand.
"How could one run halfway across the world? As far as I know, a human can't run above water," Lev pointed out.
"Sure they can!" Glib grumped. "If you run faster than the speed of sound, then it is possible! Frederel was a high ranking Defender. He was a Vindicator of Fate. It means that he had mastered the basic understanding of elements and could use complex combinations."
"Okay. Now I'm really confused."
"I'll explain it later, but right now let me continue my story," Glib was moving his arms, hands, head, and body while narrating the story. "Whoosh! Frederel combined air and lightning when he ran. I was hiding inside his robe the whole time, watching everything so I knew every event that unfolded. Dark clouds that were made up of shadows relentlessly followed us. And when Frederel reached a 'certain spot', he planted the seed. He ordered me to guard the seed, in no means I plan on failing it, and he told me to run away and hide from the shadows.
"I did what I was told. I ran as far as my 2 legs could go and hid from the shadows. A shadow storm took shape and chased Frederel, and when the storm started to calm down, I knew that Frederel was gone. On that day, I promised myself to complete the mission, even if it would cost my own life. But I hope not because I still care for my dear life, hehe," Glib jokingly said.
"Woah. That's cool. You could write a novel out of it," Lev sarcastically commented.
"Hey, I'm serious," Glib angrily spat.
"So where's this seed now?" Lev asked.
"About that..." Glib scratched the back of his head and stuck out his pink tongue. "I forgot where it was planted."
Lev facepalmed so hard that a slapping sound could be heard. "You just failed your only mission. The fate of your world depends on it and then you just lost it. No pressure, though."
"I could not just watch over that place until it fully grows, right? And if I stayed longer in one place, the shadows would locate me, endangering both me and the seed. So it's for the best that I left the place," Glib excused.
"But you should have remembered where it was planted," Lev sighed.
"I do. It's in the forest," Glib hopped down and stood in front of Lev. "But I can't pinpoint its specific location."
"Well, I guess that's better than nothing. Do you have powers or magic?" Lev excitedly asked.
"Of course, I do. How could a sycophant of a Vindicator not have abilities? It would be a total shame for me," Glib closed his eyes and the symbol that was on his forehead faintly glowed. Beside Glib, another Glib showed up, then another one, and then another, until there were 6 of him.
"You can clone yourself?" Lev was amazed.
"No, you dimwit," Glib giggled, "it's only an illusion. Try touching them."
Lev reached out and tried to pat the Glib that walked in front of him. Lev's hand passed through him and the illusion vanished. He was both surprised and amazed when the illusion slowly disappeared into nothingness.
Glib waved his hand and all his clones slowly disappeared just like the first one. He walked near Lev and reached out his small tiny finger, "Here, try holding my finger."
Lev did so. He gently touched the finger and looked at Glib. Glib wore his hood with small two holes in it for his cat-like ears and what happened next was that his tiny finger disappeared. Not just his finger but even his whole body disappeared. Lev could not feel the finger anything that he was touching a while ago.
"Glib?" Lev called, afraid that it was all just a dream.
"Ta-da," Glib materialized on Lev's lap with arms spread sideways, making Lev flinch back.
"Wow," Lev was out of words. He thought for a moment and asked, "Were you the one that threw the flower pot last night from the windowsill?"
"Mmh-hmm. You're welcome, by the way," Glib hopped down and jumped on the windowsill. He yawned and said, "I'm sleepy. Goodnight, Lev."
Lev was still left in a daze. He witnessed the cat-like humanoid lying down in a comfortable position that was sleeping soundly. Millions of questions came up in Lev's mind, leaving him restless and uneasy. He wanted to fall asleep so that he could wake up and realize that everything was just a dream. But another part of him didn't want to fall asleep for he was afraid that everything might really be a dream. He was happy that Glib was here, talking to him about a Kingdom, a seed, and magical things, even though it was all gibberish.
"Goodnight, Glib," Lev smiled as he mouthed.