CAMADA'S POINT OF VIEW.
"Can we by any chance stop and rest for a while?" Taki enquires diffidently, her voice resonatingly weighed down.
We halt in our steps and pass glances at one another.
-We have not made much progress in our movement due to Taki's justifiably slothful steps-
"Yeah let's stop here for a while-" "-Besides I'm getting hungry-" "-Yeah what they said" we concurrently word boisterously.
Taki drops to the floor in exhaustion.
Yal examines our surroundings belwidered;
"Is it just me or are there no longer trees or grass around?"
I pay attention to the environment;
-True, the land now looks barren and desolate, no tree in sight and hard ground in place of the grass, even the skies are gloomy-
This atmospheric change appeared to occur only when we decided to take a break.
"This land is really something huh?" Yal asserts as he lays flat on the floor, his hands clenched behind his head.
-But I'm giving it more thought-
Sesugh sighs heavily;
"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" he grumbles, I pat him comfortingly.
I turn to look at Taki.
She picks at her nails, her expression right now is incredibly hard to make out.
I inch towards where she is seated and plop myself next to her;
"Hey", she turns to me with a smile
-But that cheery expression isn't fooling anybody, I can clearly see how weary she is-
"You know...nobody would laugh at you if you just..." I fumble in my statement looking for the right words;
"Gave up" -I settle for.
She giggles;
"It's not about any of that...I really want to rescue Rave and I'm ready to do that even if nobody steps up";she avoids eye contact with me.
-I don't know much about relationships in life; since my life was usually purposed towards working my ass off for a livelihood; but the symptoms of her sudden investment in Rave points towards one thing;-
"Do you like Rave,Taki?" I lean in recitently.
Her face turns crimson;
"O... of course not! Why would I even...?" Taki resists with a fidgety disposition;
-She does have a thing for Rave-
"Hey guys" I'm going out to check for some food... who's with me?" Yal suddenly calls our attention.
-Silence-
"Well if nobody is coming with, then I can't go ahead to slave to get food for the rest of you lazy bums" he announces when the silence gets too stifling.
"Let's go" I stand up.
-I'm thinking better than to continue having this sensitive discussion with Taki-
Yal jerks up with a wide smile;
"I knew that our 'Strongest for now' could be reliable!" He proclaims.
I give a half shrug.
"Well then... let's just move around to see if we're lucky to find any fruits"
He grabs me by my hand familiarly.
CAMADA'S POV END.
*********
THE HOODED ONE'S POINT OF VIEW.
"You're not even going to be kind enough to offer me a meal?", Zael asks with visibly repressed anger as he makes way into my room hunched over and dejected.
I smile completely amused at his present circumstance;
-He's too curious to give up and too stubborn to admit defeat-
"Come on in, why didn't you say you were hungry before?" I peeve with feigned oblivion.
Zael grits his teeth, his fists clenched tightly.
"So what will you be having? Salad?, Soup, Tiramisu?" I ask, my wand raised.
Zael sits down heavily by my reading table with a horrible scowl on his face;
"I'm not eating any conjured up food-" "-Didn't know I gave you options" I interrupt his obstinacy with a light chuckle.
The veins in his neck bulge as he bares his teeth;
"Fine... but how do you go about Making Magic food, aren't you Spirit core or something?"
-I simply love explaining and ultimately confusing people about how my ability works-
"Do you believe that Food has a spirit?" I ask as a swirl of green mist, followed by a shower of glittering motes emerges from the energy I am transferring to the wand.
Zael watches in awe;
"Even if I don't know anything much, I do know that there's no way food has a spirit" he mutters, full attention focused on my performance.
I chuckle; "You're learning fast then... but I'll tell you what does have a spirit or rather spiritual energy...the process of cooking, the investment of knowledge and attention to making up a meal ultimates into a sort of connection between the food and it's cook-" "-Connection? You make it sound like they aren't going to end up devouring it all up after everything" Zael cuts me in, his face reflecting that he's certain I'm distorting facts.
I guffaw;
"Combining this energy with the correct raw materials makes it seem like I'm actually making the food..."
An aroma feels the air, sizzles and bubbling sounds fill the room, a pot gradually coalesces from the air, and in a matter of minutes, it becomes solid enough to drop onto the ground.
-Steam rises from the pot of soup-
Zael is still agape;
"There's no way that is real right?" he undertones in unbelief.
I gesture with my hand, over the steaming pot of soup, instead of a ladle a soft glow pulses from my palm, it envelopes a portion of soup from the pot, the soup lifts almost gracefully from the pot, a mist of steam trailing. It hangs suspended for a second before gliding into a bowl I have set, it drops into the bowl with a series of gentle 'plinks' and 'plops', the savoury aroma fills the room, I lift the bowl and offer it to Zael.
He gulps hard, subconsciously licking his lips.
"This explains exactly why you're 'god-standard' Upper Mage, you can do anything with your ability!" He compliments, all malice escaped from his voice. He rubs his hands together.
I smile;
"But I'm not yet 'god-standard' Zael" I mutter in a low tone.
"Seriously?, Why not?" he brings the bowl to his lips and sips, downing quite a quantity of the soup.
I chortle, as his face contorts almost immediately after tasting the soup.
With a guttural choke, he bites his tongue and spews the soup onto floor.
"What... what is that poison?" He howls, a bitter expression on his face.
I fold my arms;
"That's the reason I'm not 'god-standard" I mutter matter-of-factly;
"No matter how perfect it is... because of the strange composition of mixed souls staining my essence..." I stop and regard his pouty expression.
"You could have told me that before putting on a show and poisoning me with such..." He stops in his whine and gets up.
"You're practically the most evil person I've ever met" he proclaims as he strides out the room seething.
I giggle to myself as he slams the door behind him.
I've always wanted to be god-standard.
It's not an ultimately mighty achievement but I've been quite curious about the prestige attached.
-But how do you possibly master your essence when your essence in question deals with using other people's essences?-
THE HOODED ONE'S POV END.
HYDE'S POINT OF VIEW.
My face has already been slammed a couple of times before Faria comes to intervene.
"Are you mentally unsound Mic?!" she asks blocking a hit meant for me.
"How do you think we could possibly present a battered teenager to Lord Fenice, doesn't that tell of us as irresponsible bru-" "And I'm saying that he isn't even a Chosen so forget about presenting him to Lord Fenice or whatever..."
And so Faria and Mic carry on arguing.
-If there's anybody I feel bad for; it's Faria; she's putting so much investment into me, too bad she's going to be so disappointed-
But more importantly, my stomach is absolutely upset.
"Um... excuse me?-" "You're just inconsiderate about everything!-" "Inconsiderate?... I'm down to Earth"
Nobody is hearing me out.
"Uh...sorry for causing so much trouble but..."
My voice is overshadowed by Faria and Mic's heated argument.
"Sorry but...-"
"And what if Lord Fenice had your kind of attitude! and refused to rescue us!- " "-At least I'm useful Faria"
-I might actually just settle for shitting my pants-
"Hello?Is there no toilet in this hou-"
"Then get out Mic! , Nobody even really needs you! About anyone can swallow up stuff!" Faria proclaims brazenly.
"You hag! It's not like you're any more useful! Even cockroaches can develop high perception of their opponents weaknesses...-"
I listen with interest.
-Do they by any chance actually have those abilities?-
Treya stands by a corner watching them silently.
-She's obviously used to their bantering of words-
"I can beat you in a fight hands down you ugly brute!-" "-Blind those eyes of yours and even an insect can beat you up you hag!"
-If stuff go this way, I might never be able to have that last shit-
"CAN I JUST GO TO THE TOILET?!"
Everyone turns to me, shocked at my sudden outburst.
"Exactly...why haven't you guys showed the gentleman to the toilet ever since?" A gentle voice from behind me cuts into the ensuing silence.
"Lord Fenice!" Faria, Mic and Treya cry out as they instantly kneel to the floor and bow.
-LORD FENICE?-
I slowly turn.
HYDE'S POV END.