CHAPTER 557

SHAMELESS

Six figures stood leaning against the cool wall of the hall, silently observing the ball that had long since begun in full. The dancing platform was permanently filled with people, and the music itself never stopped, instruments mingling either together, or bellowing out in solo pieces. On occasion, even those from the elevated platform would dip down for a quick dance or two, though it was mostly the general audience.

Eldon stood in silence, drinking with a relaxed expression, observing the ongoing ball with a faint smile on his face. He looked no different than other humans now, albeit slightly on the taller end of things, with groomed hair and beard and the festive, somewhat flamboyant clothes. Though a smile hung on his face, there was a trace of bitterness in his eyes. Shortly after he talked with Gaia – confessing who she was – she vanished. Though he could have asked Lino or even Hannah to find her, he chose not. If she ever wanted to find him, she would, of that he was certain.

Besides, in more ways than simply one, she was no longer the same Alana that grew up under his eyes. She wasn’t a child anymore, chiseled by eons of the rugged and biting winds, her own, whole person.

“… that guy really didn’t return?” Elta quizzed with a somewhat queer smile, glancing at the empty chair up above. “Tsk, you sure knew how to pick ‘em, Eldon…”

“Isn’t that his style by now?” Reli chuckled. “Do something outlandish and then just… vanish.”

“Always has been,” Eldon chuckled as well, shaking his head. “Could never quite read him completely.”

“… do you regret it?” Itor, the solitary one of the Writs who never entered the conflict until the very end asked. “Giving up all that strength?”

“… not one bit,” Eldon replied with a smile. “It wasn’t for me.”

“How long have you known?” Artur asked Itor following a brief silence.

“Known what?” the starkly red-haired and red-eyed man asked back.

“That the famed Writ of Chaos was Eldon.”

“Oh,” Itor chuckled lightly. “Not too long; perhaps a few decades prior to Lino becoming the Bearer.”

“And it never occurred to you to share it with us?” Reli asked, arching her brows.

“Would you have even believed me?” Itor shrugged. “Besides, the fact that I remembered told me that you will too, eventually. So… I just had to wait.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Elta chimed in, shrugging. “The question is… what do we do now?”

“… I’ll be staying here,” Eldon replied as everyone turned toward him. “At least for some time. What about you?”

“Same here.” Reli replied immediately.

“Ditto.” Elta joined in.

“I’ve to visit those famed brothels as well…” Artur added with a smirk.

“Elta’s staying, so I'm staying as well." Itor added.

“We still need to wait for Anda.” A rather gloomy-looking man, seeming no older than thirty, spoke out for the first time, his starkly black eyes seeming perpetually half-closed.

"Hoh, look who suddenly cares for Anda," the woman who was yet to speak joined in as well with rather loud laughter; her strikingly short, brown hair shimmered beneath the light of the chandeliers. "Weren't you two always fighting back home?"

“Oh shut it, jealous slut.” The man rolled his eyes at the woman, sighing. “There’s a whole new world of men waiting for you – go, start chasing.”

“Ah, here we go again…” Elta mumbled as she and Itor quickly withdrew, Artur following soon after, deciding to try and mingle with the crowd, leaving behind only Eldon and Reli who, a few minutes later, were also no longer able to endure the valiant attempts at masked flirtation, withdrawing.

“Still no word from Alana?” Reli asked in a somber tone as the two made their way to the nearby table full of fruits, both grabbing grapes by a handful.

“No.” Eldon replied.

“… it’s only been a few months,” Reli said, biting her lower lip. “She’ll reach out, I’m sure of it.”

“… thanks,” Eldon chuckled blithely, shaking his head. “But, whether she does or not… it’s fine.”

“… ugh, you stubborn, old oak,” Reli grunted, slapping the back of his head gently, startling him. “If you won’t start looking for her, I will.”

“… how is it possible that your temper hasn’t changed even after all this time?” Eldon sighed, rubbing the back of his head, smiling bitterly.

“How is it possible that you were able to face the world alone, yet cower in the face of your own kid?” Reli sighed as the two sat down on the small protrusion of the windowpane, their bodies cast in thick shadow, hidden from the peering eyes.

“It’s easy,” Eldon said. “I didn’t care all that much about the world.”

“You did.” Reli said. “You very much did.”

“… what about you?” he asked after a short silence. “Any plans?”

“I’ll ask Hannah to give me a job in relation to information gathering,” she said. “Something similar to what I was doing back on Adur. And, well, I’ll take it from there and see what happens.”

“… hoh, so you have it all figured out already?”

“Not all,” Reli said, her expression hidden in the dark. “One, last piece is still missing.”

“Which one?” Eldon asked.

“Your reply.”

“Reply?”

“The one from the ship.”

“… oh.” Eldon’s voice trickled out, his eyes staring at the figure next to him, barely able to pick out a few features. “Reli, I…”

“I’ll win you over just yet, Eldon,” Reli chuckled, getting up, stepping out into the shimmering, bright light. "I missed you in that life; it won't be so in this one."

“…” she smiled brilliantly beneath the light, her features seeming incandescent for a moment before she spun around, her dress fluttering in the rhythm, heading off into the crowd, leaving him to sit in the solitary dark.

He held tightly onto the glass of wine, following her figure with his eyes until she disappeared. A part of him felt entranced, not just by her forthright nature, but also by the reality that her heart was, somehow, still set on him, even after all this time. Yet, that part was vastly eclipsed by the emptiness that whispered ever-so-softly into his heart, reminding him of all that he had had and lost.

Even taking a sip of wine did little to ease his parched throat. He didn't wish to break her heart, yet he couldn't reply to it either. Love was too heavy of a thing, he had come to realize through the eons of time, through countless examples he had seen. Stories like Hannah's and Lino's are a rarity, where two people not only fit perfectly together but meet and fall in love in the precisely perfect timing. Most of the time, however, it's a jostle and bustle that never ends, the spinning wheel that seems more a mocking jester than something that unites. For every happy and satisfied heart out there, there are tens, if not hundreds, burned and scalded.

However, she was strong, he knew that; she will find her place in this new world easily and flourish just as she always has. Perhaps, sometime in the future, she’ll also have her own, little, perfect love story, untarnished by ills and pains.

He leaned further back into the dark, closing his eyes and dipping into his thoughts and memories. His heart still bled for a ghost, untouched yet by the living.

**

Long after Eggor left, Lino still remained seated by the pond, drinking in silence, occasionally humming a song. The small opening was really a piece of paradise for him, beautiful and peaceful beyond description. Ever so often, he’d hear the string of a violin or the piano’s key as they hit their stride, though more often than not it was spectacularly silent in his little corner of the world.

His eyes narrowed all of a sudden as he casually swiped to the side with his gaze, locking it onto the seemingly nothing just on the opposite end of the pond. He stared persistently, not looking away, taking a sip of ale from time to time, seemingly patiently waiting for something.

“—shit, C! He can really see us!!” a woman’s voice broke the silence as Lino’s gaze turned strangely dubious. Two figures materialized right after, right there, a man and a woman, both seemingly in their early forties. The former had a heavy, pained expression, his palm plastered against his forehead, while the woman had a gawking expression, relentlessly glancing back between the man and Lino. “Didn’t you say we were invisible?! What the shit?!”

“…” Lino remained silent as he stared at the peculiar scene, taking a sip of wine as though he was watching a play as an observer.

“Tal, please… just… just stop talking…” Caleb sighed painfully, finally lifting his head up and meeting the pair of dark eyes that never left them ever since they snuck in here. At first, he thought it was simply a coincidence, but it was clear that the man knew they were here from the get-go. What was even more outrageous, at least in Caleb’s mind, was that the man did nothing all the while. He didn’t call for reinforcements, he didn’t call them out and tell them to step out, he didn’t try and sneak attack… he just continued drinking and staring, much like right now, as though he was watching a show.

“Tsk, you stop talking,” the woman clicked her tongue, turning toward the man sitting on the opposite end of the pond. “You. Hey, how were you able to see us? Do you have cameras or something?!”

“…” Caleb was on the verge of tears for a moment, regretting not leaving her to roam about instead of bringing her with him.

“What do you mean how was I able to see you?” the man replied in a strange tone, and Caleb immediately realized one, simple truth – the man, too, was a bit… off. “See these?!” he pointed sternly at his eyes. “It’s this thing that we have that, would you look at that, lets us look at stuff and see whatever we want to see! It’s a miracle!! Eyes really are a window! Or… wait, was it a scope? Or glass? Aye, I saw you through the glass!”

“Eh?! Glass? There’s glass in front of us?!” the woman exclaimed, carefully reaching out with her hands, tapping the air. “That’s one mighty glass, if you can see us through it.”

“Hm, hm,” Lino nodded while Caleb crouched, hiding his head in his hands. “I spent eight fortnights crafting it with the Hatefully-omnipotent Fifteen-million-colored Soul Flames on top of Mount Glass-eye, nearly dying eighteen times in the process!”

“… he’s fucking with me, isn’t he?” the woman dropped silent for a moment before asking her companion.

“YOU GOT IT JUST NOW?!!” Caleb exploded, regretting coming here to begin with.

“Hi hi,” the man sitting across the pond snickered for a moment, taking a sip. “What are you doing, screaming at your girlfriend?! Humph, is he always this hateful?!”

“Yes!” the woman immediately turned the embarrassment she felt into anger focused on Caleb, running over to the man and pouring her heart out. “He’s always screaming at me, and yelling at me, and insulting me, and correcting me… all he ever does is complain!”

“Bah, what a hateful man!” Lino exclaimed while Caleb remained standing, frozen in place. “How can he be so cruel to a beautiful woman like you? If I were you, I’d spank the back of his head from time to time to teach him a lesson, you know?”

“Oh? That’s not a bad idea!” the woman fervently nodded, glancing angrily at Caleb. “He always does it to me, anyway.”

“What?! He actually hits you?!” Lino shot onto his feet and pointed a finger at Caleb who was already tired enough to bury himself alive and die. “You hateful man! I challenge you to a duel of Honor! If I win, I shall strip you naked and let this beautiful woman whip you a thousand times! If you win, I shall strip you naked and let this beautiful me whip you a million times! Do you dare accept?!” … I… I… Caleb wept, his heart bleeding. He was not prepared. Not ready. For someone even more shameless than him. And everyone else he met before. Combined. He was not ready. Not ready at all.