"Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present."
― Albert Camus, Notebooks 1935-1942
"Husband was here and he didn't come to visit me..."
Huan slumped, depressed and defeated, feet dangled into the garden's pond. Her Husband had arrived only yesterday and he'd already left.
"I'm sure he was just very busy, Father said he was supposed to come visit today, remember?"
'I know..." Huan sighed at her brother's words. "But he's vanished, that stupid Cain probably stole him again!'
"Well, don't worry," Jun patted her head. "He probably won't be gone as long, this time.'
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"So, are you going to give me the sword this time?"
Brull complained to Arthur as the knight lead him back to Avalon. The cat-kin asked this question each time they made the journey, each time Arthur ignored him.
"We'll be there soon, say hello to Vivian for me!"
Arthur vanished into the fog. The vision that replaced him was the pride of Brull's life. The beginnings of a castle, built with his own two hands. It was far from complete, with walls less than a meter high, but it was a start.
"Whatever, you old louse..."
"Be kind to him, he's a man without a home."
Vivian's voice carried on the breeze. She spent most of her time in the lake, only coming up to teach him once a week. Her knowledge of magic was far beyond Brull, who fought like a warrior, not a mage.
"He's keeping my stuff from me!"
"The sword belongs to you both," Vivian laughed. "When he falls, if you get stronger than him, it will come to you on its own."
"That old monster will never fall..."
"Then surpass him!" Vivian flicked his sensitive nose with a gust of wind. "If your cultivation rises past his, Arthur won't have to die for you to take what's yours."
"Easy for you to say, you're a lake," Brull tossed a stone into her waters. "You just sit there and absorb the cosmic force."
"I suppose it is harder for your kind, your bodies are so frail," Vivian mused. "Even Arthur converts the energy from the universe into a different form before he can cultivate with it..."
"Sorry for not being a natural feature of the land."
Brull's voice was dry as he hefted another stone into place. The walls took shape, day by day. Soon he would move on to the castle itself.
"Don't worry about it, most of us are dumber than dogs."
The earth spirit's words forced a laugh from his mouth. It was true, most places never developed a consciousness. That took several twists of fate, alongside the right environment.
"Well, that's true. Now how about another load of stone, this pile's almost gone!"
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A spear of blue light brushed past Arthur's bushy mustache. He twisted, one hand behind his back, each move a dodge with the finest margin.
"Good!"
His bellow shook the air, a hint of pride in his voice. A gauntleted fist snapped out and caught the spear, Lyra's attack silenced by the knight's single move.
"Your teamwork has gotten much better!"
"Of course it has!"
"Thank you, Master!"
Lyra and Fenrir chirped their replies, satisfied despite the exhaustion in their bones. This battle had brought them closer to their target than ever before. A step more, and their spear would have touched home.
"Soon enough, you'll be able to last a few rounds with that one-eyed god's avatar," Arthur smiled. "When you've overtaken me, I'll have a surprise for you both!"
"Oh?"
"Is it food?"
"Hahahaha!" Arthur tossed Lyra a cooked leg of monster meat. "No, it's not food, but I promise, you'll both love it!"
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Syy lay back, eyes closed against the sunset. She'd traveled with Kalina for a year to meet with Ven, and now he'd vanished again.
He IS a strange one.
The man's body was bizarre, alien, even to her ancient eyes. It had no likeness, anywhere else in creation. A perversion of concepts that defied the natural laws.
It reminds me of the Titan, but it's not the same...
The Titan had been rejected by reality itself. All things were repelled by its nature. This Ven had no such issue. His biology was insidious, a leech that drained the world as it hid from it.
That handshake...
Syy shuddered, a crawl that inched its way under her skin. He'd sucked a small bit of energy from her and it had never returned. Something impossible. She was like all other concepts, inviolable and eternal. The creature had stolen a part of her, a fragment that she could not reproduce.
Her sight had shortened, not by much, but the difference was there. The future was just... that much less clear, as if her glasses needed a new prescription. She could still squint and compensate, but the leaves on the trees blurred at the edges.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Syy spoke to the empty air. "Because I didn't agree to die a true death for you..."
A life spent trapped in a melange of souls was still a life. If this Ven consumed her, nothing would remain. Only silence answered her, as always. Heart heavy, she rose and started back toward the guild.
All she could do was follow the group with irregular fates. Vendak would return, that much she could still see. The when of it made no sense, as if it was an eternity, yet no time at all.
"Stupid, fateless monster," Syy muttered as she entered the city. "What does he want with you?"
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"Ahchoo!"
Ven sneezed, a fine mist that coated Cain's face.
"Gazoontite..."
Eyes black, Cain's fist descended like a mountain. The force flattened Ven, pressed tight to the ground, a gong in his skull.
"Who sneezes in someone's face, right as they open their mouth to speak!"
Cain stomped his foot. Ven's ribs compressed. Another kick landed to catapult him through the air, nothing but sand to break his fall.
"You've kept me locked up for how many years now," Ven complained as he spat out a mouthful of grit. "That's the first time I've sneezed."
Dust fell as he swept his robes, mask still askew. He'd stopped counting the time after the first decade, but it had to be over fifty years now. Wasted as he tried to replicate the massive rune.
"So what," Cain appeared beside him, menace in his gaze. "That's not an excuse!"
"I'm just saying... you're pretty unlucky!"