The darkness bubbled violently as Gabriel's voice echoed throughout the room, or maw, or tar, or whatever this place had become. Each bubble that popped spat out the name once more, a chain-reaction of echoes filling the room until the sound became nothing more than a high-pitched buzz that drowned out everything else. The entire room wriggled along with the sound, the darkness roiling like waves as it tried to rise up from the floor.
"No."
Gabriel's voice cut through the incessant buzzing, a pair of violet eyes staring down at the swelling tar, which halted abruptly as his voice bore down on it.
"You need to be smaller. Much, much smaller. You'll catch too much attention like this, so shrink."
If this… Thing, got out and was seen by others, exactly what would they think? What sort of classification would they try to brand it with? Gabriel could already picture the chaos, the countless pairs of eyes that would lock onto him and his spirit, Nergal.
Bu...But…
The spirit's voice leaked out from the tar again, the swellings quivering slightly. A few muddy tentacles rose and stretched towards him, but Gabriel didn't budge.
"No. I'm not interested in the attention, at least not yet. So shrink."
He was too young at the moment. The magic, the spirit, the knowledge, he was fine with keeping every hidden until he felt that he had a sufficiently stable platform to stand on. He probably wouldn't get killed or experimented on if Nergal was revealed, but he would get a noble title pushed on him at his coming of age ceremony, and until that time came he would be under constant supervision. He'd probably also get separated from Alice so that the imperial family could mold him into someone loyal to them and them alone.
"Go on, shrink."
He spoke to, or commanded to be more fitting, the darkness for a third time. The bubbling sludge recoiled visible at his order, the circular rows of teeth chattering for a few moments before they fell still. And then, the rows of teeth turned on each other.
The darkness swelled in places as the teeth tore into it, tentacles rising up before piercing down and digging out chunks from the tar. Teeth flew, bubbling tar flew, buzzing flies dropped. With each act, the colour that had filled the entire room retracted, slinking back as piece after piece vanished.
In the end, all that remained was a fist-sized blotch on the floor in front of him, a single row of teeth circling slowly.
"Yes, now you're looking a lot more presentable."
He bent his knees again and scooped up the blotch, which rose and wriggled until it formed a black octopus covered in white rings. It was just big enough to fit in his palm so by most accounts it would definitely be considered cute, but how many would still be able to think that by the time it managed to return to its true form? He placed a finger on top of its head, his gaze shifting to survey the damages.
"The room… Good. It's nice that you're sensible."
Luckily, the room was untouched. The pond was still milky-white now that Nergal had retreated and there was no damage on the walls or ceiling. It would be hard to explain any damages if he came out with an octopus as small as this one.
"Alright, Nergal, let's go, I've gotta introduce you to someone."
He raised his hand and placed Nergal on his shoulder, a few of his tentacles merging with the shadow cast by Gabriel's shoulder. If he wasn't making a conscious effort right now then Nergal would probably end up merging into the mark that had undoubtedly shown up somewhere on his body.
"Good boy."
He tapped the octopus' head once more before he made his way to the door and pushed it open. The priest that guided him here was still standing by the door, leaning lazily against the wall as he gazed upon the statue of the pope that had been erected there.
"You have finished? What have you contracted with?"
The priest leaned forward and straightened his robe, his brown eyes seemingly perpetually half-open. He questioned Gabriel, but it was basically nothing more than a formality, he could already see the octopus resting on his shoulder, its tentacles wriggling.
"This guys right here! He's a water spirit, but he didn't have a name for me to call him by."
Gabriel grabbed Nergal and showed him off proudly, a wide grin on his face. But the priest only observed the small spirit with a disinterested gaze, noting it down on the wooden clipboard he was carrying.
"Nameless water spirit, got it. Let me take you back then."
He didn't state it outright, perhaps he wanted to preserve some of the joy Gabriel had? But the truth was that only low-grade spirits didn't have names. And as the name suggested, low-grade spirits were of the most useless sorts amongst spirits. Seeing as a spirit would constantly drain a set amount of your mana for itself, depending on how strict your contract was, there were some cases where it was actually detrimental to have a low-grade spirit.
Well, that wasn't something Gabriel needed to worry about. He doubted that Nergal was a low-ranked spirit, and they had never signed a contract so the only times Nergal could get mana from Gabriel was if he handed it over willingly. At other times, he would have to manage with the mana he managed to gather on his own, as well as whatever he managed to store up each time Gabriel gave him some.
The outside was starting to get noisy as Gabriel and the priest left the chapel. People who clearly weren't priests were rushing about, occasionally exchanging hushed words as they passed by each other.
"Ah, the Crown Princess must have signed a contract with a good spirit."
The priest glanced at the people rushing about, maintaining his slow pace as he brought Gabriel away. But looking at some of the people that were rushing about, studying their expressions, Gabriel could guess that it wasn't just because of the Crown Princess and her spirit. Leonardo. They had either found his body or been told of the news that were surely spreading about him now.
But well, it wasn't like they could accuse Gabriel of it so he paid it no mind and kept following the priest. They quickly reached the carriage he took to get here, but someone unexpected was waiting for him there.
"You're finished! Did you get a nice one? Is it this cute one?"
Alice bounced over with a wide smile, her eyes homing in on the octopus that was still resting on Gabriel's shoulder. But while she was looking at his, he was looking at her spirit. Or in her case, spirits.
"Ah, the Duke and Marion are already heading back, they said something about Leonardo and rushed off, the Emperor and Crown Princess did the same so I think he got caught doing something bad."
Alice spoke while moving her head, checking if the octopus would follow her movements. Meanwhile, Gabriel was doing something similar with the things that now followed her. Following at her side was a black wolf with crimson eyes, a sharp gaze surveying the surroundings, focusing on Gabriel. It was very small right now, nothing more than a puppy, so perhaps it too had shrunk to match her size. But that wasn't the only one.
Resting on her shoulder was a green serpent, but unlike a normal snake this one had a red plume of feathers around its neck, a thin layer of feathers covering the rest of its body. It had amber eyes and a maw full of sharp teeth, six small nubs protruding from its back, three on each side. It too was surveying the surroundings with a sharp gaze, most of its attention focused on Gabriel.
"Hello, little one. I'm Alice, what's your name?"
Alice leaned forward slightly as she greeted the octopus, stretching out a finger. Nergal reciprocated the greeting by stretching out a tentacle, but be it because he couldn't or wouldn't he made no sound to indicate his name.
"He doesn't have a name so I'm calling him Nergal for now."
Gabriel added a little something to the story he told the priest, tapping Nergal on the head with his finger. Alice shook the tentacle that had reached towards her, muttering the name a few times as if to memorise it.
"Nergal…Nergal…Nergal… It's a nice name."
She smiled as she raised her gaze, looking at Gabriel. She thought about what Abigail had said about the children in the orphanage, as well as the state Gabriel was in when they first met. She was glad that he summoned a spirit, at least this way he wouldn't be alone even if they separated for half a day or so.
And thanks to the two that now followed her, she could stem some of the loneliness she would feel during those times. Gabriel was already looking at them, as they were looking at him, so she took the chance to introduce them with a wide grin.
"You're surprised, yeah? I called out with my wish and both of them rushed down, they even broke the ceiling. The puppy is Fenrir, but he said that I can call him Fen. This one has a really long and strange name so I'm just calling her Quetz for now."
Quetz and Fen, they weren't names that had popped up in the original show so Gabriel didn't have any proper clues as to what type of spirits they were. But if he took the names and compared them to those he occasionally heard in his past life then he could form a few vague guesses. But Alice didn't stop talking after she introduced her twin-spirits, triumphantly puffing out her chest.
"Oh! And get this, get this, the Emperor was so pleased with the two of them that he said that I would be given the Viscount title once I finished my coming of age ceremony. See that? That's one of your milestones already finished, I just have to wait and it will complete itself. Hehe, you'd best make sure to have an honest answer ready for that time."
Yes, that was as expected. Great spirits were an asset to the empire so the Imperial Family did everything they could to ensure that those who contracted strong spirits stayed with them. And the first step was always a title, something they could hold over others, something to make them stay because of their own self-satisfaction. Viscount was a bit higher than Gabriel expected, he thought they would start of by making her a Baroness, but it seemed like the emperor was quite insistent on making her stay.
"Congratulations. And don't worry, I promised that I wouldn't lie so I'll give you nothing but the truth, no matter what you ask. I'll also have to prepare a present for your coming-of-age ceremony, I'm not going to be so stingy that I'll use my answer as a gift."
Gabriel was sincere as he congratulated her. Now that she had a title on hold, as well as the Vritara name, her own position was a lot more secure. Francis and the servants wouldn't be able to go overboard because she would become a Viscount, so harming her was like harming the dignity of the Imperial Family. Granted, there was still a lot they could do, but it was a good step in the right direction, it would certainly give her a lot more opportunities to become happy.
Alice looked at the smile on Gabriel's face. He generally always wore a smile, a light curve of his lips. But this one felt softer, a bit happier, or was it just her imagination? But above that, the fact that he mentioned a gift for her ceremony made her happy.
In the Earhart empire, women came of age when they turned 18 and men when they turned 20. Alice was only seven so there were still 11 years to go, that was quite a while into the future. But since he was planning on getting her a gift, it meant that he was planning on staying with her for at least that long. Well, perhaps she should have expected it, he was her knight after all.
At the same time, it was the first time anyone ever made plans with her for such a distant date. No one had ever stayed with her before so how could they ever make plans with her? Even when she had a maid or two they would never make plans beyond a day or two because they never knew if they would still be with her at that point.
And Gabriel… He came from an orphanage, just the livelihood of the next day should be hard to ensure there. Was it the first time he was making plans for the future, the first time he had somewhere to be for so long? Looking at him and that smile, she thought of something she wanted to do, something she wanted to say.
"Come on, Gabriel. Let's go home."
She took another step forward and opened her arms, wrapping them around him. She had never been hugged, and neither had he, be it this life or his previous one. Perhaps, when people looked at him in his past life, they thought the same he thought when he first saw Alice, how pitiful. Thinking about it like that, he couldn't help but admit that he really had a shitty, and sad, life, it was only now that he could realise it.
The two stepped onto the carriage after their hug, the spirits retreating into their bodies so that they could conserve their mana. The coachman immediately started the return trip, the people that passed by them in the city whispering amongst each other.
News quickly spread after that day. The Crown Princess that summoned a spirit who worked for the god of time and space, the Vritara child that summoned dual-spirits, the crimes of Leonardo De Vritara, the death of Leonardo De Vritara. It was a hectic time for the empire, and even more so for the Vritara family. Everyone who had corroborated with Leonardo had been caught and forced to confess, that was why the news spread so fast. But the Vritara family had no idea who gathered them up, nor did they know who killed Leonardo, so they were naturally busy trying to find the truth.
Meanwhile, Gabriel and Alice continued spending their time as they had. Training, studying, training, studying, spending some leisure time together. Occasionally working on things, some above the table and some below. All in all, it was generally peaceful, at least for the two of them.
And in such a state, time flowed without notice. Days became months and months became years, the time of Alice's Coming of age ceremony creeping closer with each breath.