Uhhg~
I will die here.
Not literally, but more in a mental way.
Why are there so many people here, most of them humans..?
I don't want to be here.
I sigh.
A deal is a deal, so of course I followed Azza, after she forced me to take on the human disguise.
She brought me into a big hall with loads of people in it.
At least the area we entered was fenced of and Azza told me, that humans are not allowed behind the cord.
Well, that is something good.
But even in this part of the hall, I am way too close to everyone else.
There are 22 Goblins, Nayka and Imps in butler and maid uniforms, running around with tablets and they are most likely working as staff. I know most of their faces and can even spot Nhi among them. I don't mind them, but all the humans for some reason irritate me.
Something in my mind doesn't feel right when I see them... When they are close by.
\\Don't think about it, silly me. Who cares about them, when I just have to sit out my time here and then get some glorious books for a year?
//You are right, rational me. I'm so clever.
I just sit down on some pillows in the fenced in area and let my [gaze] wander.
Azza looks at me for a moment.
"You know, I didn't bring you here, so you can just sit around until your time is over."
I feel like something bad is happening.
She ponders. "Hmmm… within the next three days you have to get out of this safe zone and at least once talk to someone." Her face turns into a sinister smile. "And I mean talking with words that create a sound and an echo."
Eh? That wasn't the deal!
Her smile turns into a happy mask. "I altered it a bit. Be happy that it's just in this amount."
She turns around and walks towards the cord, to leave the area, but looks back at me for a moment. "Oh and talking to me, Drem or the staff doesn't count." And with that she just leaves.
I've gotten quite used to her presence and even though it's thin, I can [feel] Azza relatively easy, but with so many people around, she just vanishes in my perception. Maybe she even left completely.
With the black haired girl gone, and Drem busy talking to some people at the opposite end of the hall, I just [looked] around to not think about what I will have to do soon.
I don't wanna…
The people are not very interesting.
At least most of them.
There is a young woman, who feels like a balloon that is about to burst and within her rages Aether like I never have seen in a human before. This is on par with what Al Drem looks like, when I [stare] beneath the layers of calmness that form his body. I get irritated when [looking] at her too long.
Always a step behind her is a muscular man who wears shades even though he is indoors. That's kind of weird.
Another individual that would be worth to observe, is a strong looking woman that near instantly stared at me, after I [looked] at her. Her gaze was filled with a weird rage and she made the impression of running over any moment to snap my neck. A cold shiver hit my whole body and I regret [looking]. My field of perception will still be filling the whole room, but I won't [look] directly at her anymore.
The last one that is slightly interesting is a kid. A young boy who is by far the youngest attendant here… I assume.
His age alone made him noticeable, but there is the feeling of knowing this one. Sadly even the rational me can't figure out why. I assume, that I healed him up at some point, but usually my memory is quite good, so I should recognize him completely, right? Maybe there is a reason behind the numbers.
I sigh.
Observing the people is not very fun and they don't even do anything good. They just talk.
//Who cares about talking? You could just write everything down and then everyone could read it. That would be way better.
"Are you stupid?" Azza just came back.
Did you just read my thoughts?
She sighs. "Answer the question."
I shake my head. Of course I am not stupid. Actually even if I was in theory, no one would answer such a question with yes.
And now you answer the question!
"Of course I didn't do it."
Azza is mean…
I sigh again in my mind.
"You know,", she begins in a calmer, more free tone. "It will probably take a few hours until the starting anxiety of most guests drops and then everything would be more interesting… So what do you want to do, to waste some time?"
I would like to leave, but that probably isn't an option, so I just concentrate on the numbers in the back of my head and present them to Azza.
She takes the information, looks at me for a moment and then lifts her left arm to snip against my nose with her fingers.
Ouch!
"I was talking about anything that could be fun."
Wha-?!
What could be more fun than numbers? Is she maybe the stupid one?
As if there is anything more entertaining than numbers, when one would like to waste some time. As if there even is something else barely counting as a good method to waste time.
Oh… there was.
The thought crossed my mind only for a brief second, but it made me sad.
It feels like an eternity ago, before everything got bad, but I wasted some time with Nema before. We played some card games while waiting…
Before I could even present any Information like this, the pretty girl already left the fenced in area already.
Again I soon lost her presence.
She came back quite fast. In her hand a set of cards.
This deck of 71 cards – 35 pairs and one extra – was made for one special game. A game where one has to find pairs and not get the joker. A game I had played quite often by now.
And again I play it with a pretty, little girl that is actually taller than me, but the situation couldn't be more different.
Cheating was not allowed, but the cards still took most of my attention, so it was quite nice to just block out most of the surroundings.
Of course I would never block everything, as my field of perception is absolutely needed.
So naturally I [saw] him getting closer and observing us. The blonde boy, that somehow doesn't fit in these surroundings.
I look up.
//Shoo.
Sadly Azza followed with a gesture that was the exact opposite of my thoughts. She waves to signal him to join us.
Meh!
Of course my vote didn't count and he joined.
Because he is not allowed to cross the red cord, we play right underneath it.
The boy is really good at this game. Or extremely lucky.
No, it seems more like the intuition of a prodigy.
When he has to take a card, it often ends in him getting a pair and for some reason most cards I get from him are useless. Especially the weird card with a painted demon, that acts as a joker for the set. I can rarely get rid of it and get it too many times from the boy.
He wins again and takes the cards to shuffle and distribute them.
"Oh, having fun I almost forgot.", he murmurs in a happy tone. "I'm Rell... and you?"
Hm? Oh, I don't care.
And I won't answer.
Maybe Azza will?
"It's a secret!" She announces.
The boy just looked at her for a moment and shrugs it of. Wouldn't that make people even more curious? I mean, it does seem suspicious saying something like that, right?
Oh well.
The boy didn't act different in any form and so we played more. Another round of me getting the weird joker.
The also weird boy had finished already. Azza has to take one of my two leftover cards and naturally takes the funny bird.
I lost again.
The boy smiles and again takes the cards to shuffle them.
"I have a proposal!", Azza suddenly announces, "There are 71 cards, so we will play 71 more rounds and if you win a single one of them, not only will I tell you our names, but also reveal, why they are a secret."
But there is more.
Information is presented by the black haired girl so that I could take it. Just like the natural communication with imps. But the information is not that natural.
I am not allowed to loose a single game anymore. But cheating is allowed now.
If I still manage to loose, she will eat every piece of bread that I could ever get my hands on right in front of me. That is just way too cruel.
At least it motivates me. Well not really.
"What if I can't win a single time?" The boy asks.
There is an information of Azza leaving the choice to me.
It's obvious, he should just go away.
The black haired girl puts my thoughts into words. "Easy, if you can't win a single time, you are not worthy of playing with us and have to leave us alone for the rest of the day."
The boy nods.
With cheating allowed, I just [look] at the cards Azza and the boy have, to take the ones I need to finish a pair.
Like this it becomes impossible to loose.
The last round.
Azza finished first again and three cards are left.
I have a cute dog and the boy has the other one. He also has the joker.
My time to draw, but before I can do it, he does something unexpected.
He puts both cards face down on the floor, places a pillow above them and shuffles for a short while. Then he takes the pillow away while looking at me.
"Your choice."
Oh this poor, poor, young boy.
I just place my card face down next to the other dog-card and slide both of them over to the already paired ones.
A small sigh escapes my mouth, as I look at him.
He clicks his tongue and flips over the last card.
It seems, that he already expected the joker, but there is something more in the boys eyes. Something sad and dark.
When I [look] closer at him, he gives the information of being lost for a moment, but that gets overruled by a weird, fiery energy soon, as he stands up.
"Let's play something different tomorrow. You decide what it will be, but no matter what, I will hear your names." And with that he leaves.
What a weird kid.
"That was good, but now the funny part begins."
The funny part?
Azza nods and spreads out some information.
This festival is for humans, so that they can prepare for the future. But somehow many don't really get what that means.
Huh?
Watch them. Listen to their words and to what they feel like, when talking.
I look at her for a moment and then concentrate on the closest conversation.
A small group of people is talking about a mine where good ore can be found quite easy. A large man wants access to this mine too and offers some magically enhanced clothing for this right.
The way they talk is a bit weird, as it seems that everything already happened but still the deal is for the near future.
Maybe it's a speaking pattern of their home?
\\Don't get distracted. What did Azza say?
Oh, of course.
The topic of the conversation is not that different from many others in this place. But that is not the important part here. What matters is the [feeling].
And there is not the slightest bit of honesty in the [feeling] of the man selling the mine.
Why is he lying?
That is a good question, my dear Xyn. Azza chuckles.
And the answer?
Who cares, it's more entertaining like this.
Azza stands up again, stretches for a moment and then leaves the fenced in area too.
I try my best to not loose her and every time she appears in my field of perception, she talks to some people. Most of the time just whispering to single individuals.
And then there is always a change.
The people start lying or getting completely honest and get deceived themselves.
Sometimes they just walk away and in doing so just fail what could have been a safe deal.
But the complete opposite is also the case, as people give off a more honest [feeling] and take personal loss to help out others, while the opposing party didn't have any malicious intend either.
I just don't understand how humans work, but I know one thing for sure. Azza is scary.
As time passes. More and more people leave.
There are some adjoining areas behind the tall doors, but the moment a door is closed, I can't really [see] behind it anymore. There is just nothing but raw stone and earth.
The few people that are still around don't seem very accountable by now and I assume it is because of the colourful drinks.
Because of that Azza stops wandering around and leaves trough one of the doors too.
I wouldn't dare to leave. No part of the deal said, that I am allowed to do that…
But without being watched, I finally could concentrate on some glorious numbers and just sit out my time in this weird social hell.
...
….
The boy is back.
It should be quite early in the morning. Maybe this would actually still count as night? Who knows…
So why is he back?
Doesn't he need sleep?
He at least doesn't seem tired.
I was right in labelling him weird…
But maybe he is my chance to fulfil the deal. Someone I could perchance talk to.
He looks over for a moment and seems surprised.
Unghh~ I don't want to talk to him…
Luckily he seemingly doesn't want to talk either and just goes somewhere else. Because he aims for the strong looking woman, I won't [watch] directly over him anymore, because I don't want to have her stare again.
Instead I focus on counting prime numbers backwards while multiplying every number I passed with the one before until I hit another prime number as result again.
This is by far funnier than any talk.
"Xyn… R'lar"
I [heard] my name.
It confused me for a moment, but because it came from the strong woman's direction, I won't investigate further. Back to my numbers it is.
Go get him.
Huh?
Azza sits down next to me with a box in her hands. I didn't notice her coming back or getting close.
The situation is already weird, but without more information I have no idea what you mean.
She sighs. "Rell… the boy. Get him, so we can play again."
Why me?
"Because he is close to a weirdo that likes to look at this husk of mine a bit too much and the kid already is creeped out by you, so it's fine if you increase this a bit by calling him in his mind."
Oh, that makes sense.
Even though it's mean…
I already gather the information within the boys Aether, but I won't form it into a thought.
//Lets seize the opportunity!
\\Really? Isn't that a bit much?
//No, I can manage this, rational me.
\\But there are so many people around already, silly me… Better wait for the next night and talk to someone who is barely conscious anyway.
//That would be even harder. I should go!
The silly me managed to overrule the rational me again.
I stand up and leave the fenced in area with a single step.
Another nervous step and a third one. More and more.
My anxiety grows, as I make my way to the boy who sits on a chair and talks with a group of people.
The first challenge is a success. I stand behind him.
But what now?
He talks and completely ignores that I am here.
Unnnngh~
What should I do?
I need to calm down for a minute.
...57...58...59...okay.
Maybe another.
…
…
\\That's six attempts now, do something, silly me.
//Hnnn fine!
I lift my arm and tip on his shoulder.
Maybe it was not strong enough, but he reacts with a small twitch.
Suddenly I am being looked at, by nearly everyone at the table, while the boy turns around.
Thank you for finally noticing me, but please stop staring.
I try to ignore the others and just look at the boy.
So… that was the easy part, but now the main challenge begins.
...Why can't he just guess and come with me?
Haaah~ this is hard…
I take a mental deep breath, as my body wasn't breathing for some time now out of anxiety.
"Can I be of any help?"
Wha-?! Relax a bit, I was just getting ready! Don't be so impatient!
Now I need to start my mental breathing all over again.
Hmpf!
Okay, you stupid body, stop acting so cowardly and do it!
Its just one little, simple sentence, I can do it.
Please come with m"e".
There, so easy.
...I didn't say it, did I?
Maybe I did and he is now pondering?
I wait for a reply.
"Yes?", he asks cautiously while giving of a very confused [feeling].
\\I just said the last 'E', silly me.
//I know, but let me hope, rational me.
\\I have an idea how to speak but not really talk. This could make it easier for the nerves.
I open my mouth again and the weird voice with a lisp silently sounds again. "Please come with me."
Ha, that was easy!
A certain great teacher blessed me with many different forms of information. One of those were languages.
So I made it simple for me. The boy speaks in a language, that is common on the continent Tyman, so I just used a language that he probably doesn't know.
The confusion he sends out tells me, that I hit the mark.
But now I have another problem… Azza asked me to get him and I failed perfectly in doing this.
Oh no.
An older lady at the table looks from me to the boy for a moment. "I could be completely mistaken, but that was probably vamir, a language used in the Kingdom of Navani. If it was, the little one wants you to accompany them."
Ohh, nice one, near-granny!
The boy looks at me again and I quickly nod.
This is great!
Challenge complete.
All the euphoria is great and now I can relax again. Nice.
He now has to come, because I did so good, so I just turn around to go back to the fenced in area first.
The boy followed close.
Azza is smiling brightly but I still feel like I'm in danger again.
You cheated.
I did nothing like that and just fulfilled my end of the deal.
Using a language that he doesn't know to not really talk… I praise you for the creativity though.
Two unexpected situations in a single day. What a blessed experience.
What now?
Don't mind it, lets play.
And so we play.
The game is quite simple and relatively fun.
The game board is a circle with 200 tiles. Every tile has a little text with a trap for the player on it. There are safe ones too and simple ones like passing for one round, but also mean ones like 'do what the previous player tells you to do' and similar stuff.
Those could be really dangerous.
One player drops all figures randomly on the board and everyone has to choose one that landed on a tile. The first tiles text won't be activated.
Then the two dice in from of pentagonal trapezohedron, that reach from one to ten are used to move the own figure over the board. Such a nice, mathematically form... I like the dice.
Whoever manages to do a full lap first wins.
We play multiple rounds and a couple of hours just vanish into nothing.
If it was just the three of us, this so called party could actually be somewhat fun.
No.
If there was someone else in the boy's place, it would absolutely be fun. Maybe I could bring Fhe to play games like this with me.
No, sadly I couldn't do this, because it would limit my time with the books.
I give you an extra rule. If you win the next three games before Rell even manages half a circle, you can have one more month in the library, but for that you have to get out of it for one day every month.
Stop intruding the privacy of my thoughts! ...But deal!
Azza chuckles and opens her mouth to announce the previous games rule to the boy with a way too perfect smile. "Same as yesterday, try winning a single one of the next three games and you will learn our little secret… if not, go away."
He agrees and seems fired up.
I am very sorry to destroy that nice fighting spirit you have there, but I will make you loose hard.
The rational me takes over completely and synchronises with the calculations in the back of my head.
Whenever I have to roll, the position of my fingers, the strength of the roll, the angle of my wrist, the position of the dice… everything is calculated in perfection and I get exactly the throw I need.
Of course I can't just stop there and let the boy ruin it, when I hand over the dice for his turn. The act of handing over a pair of dice can change so much in the result, when he throws them. Especially if he already gets the dice in an unfavourable position without noticing it.
I saw and [saw] how he rolls a lot of time already, so it is easy to predict how it ends, when I hand over the dice.
Of course he loses.
Barely managing more than quarter of a lap each time before I am done.
I can't think of a reason why Azza made this proposal, but she should have been aware that this was the outcome.
Maybe she just wanted to see how it was created. Or she wanted the boy to leave to start her entertainment again.
I don't really care, because I kept my parts of the deal and now just have to wait a bit more until a very good time begins.
The time is sadly not that fast though...