For the first time in the long history of Vidalia, people saw the sunny blue sky turn black in less than a second, as if a dark void had opened up over the third prince's palace out of nowhere.
Reis didn't notice, though, and did not even bother to watch as the rumbling of those clouds filled the quietness of his home. Recording the yearly unprecedented phenomenon wasn't his job anyway.
|...|
|You should not say something like that. You have no idea who you are talking about. There can be unimaginable consequences!|
"What worse consequences can there possibly be for me at this point? Lightning strikes? Send a few brooms for better measurement, too!"
"How ungrateful, humans really do not know how to appreciate divine gifts."
Reis felt like pulling his hair out. Or the guardian's hair out if he had any. Whichever worked.
"I fulfilled the greatest wish of your measly human life, this is how you show gratitude?"
It wasn't that Reis was really brave. He wasn't some fearless creature who wouldn't flinch under such overwhelming coldness, and the voice that sounded like it could kill with just the vocal characteristics alone.
He was just genuinely too dumbfounded to give attention to the scary part. Because this was just unfair. Unfair how this higher being didn't seem to understand what the problem was.
"Oh, great guardian, this puny human has a small question before he faces the consequences. Have you ever heard of the word context?"
Context. It was a pretty common term. Because if the circumstances were not considered, even the presence of cotton candy can be deadly. And even missiles could be termed safe. That was how much the word mattered.
"I, Reis, would probably have worshiped you every morning if I had received the gift when I asked for it." That was the raw truth. If someone granted him this skill when he struggled to find anything in his matchbox of a dorm room, he would have built an altar for them with his allowance and thanked them. "But for what cause would it be of any use to the third prince of a wealthy kingdom, which assigned five servants to clean one room?"
To be honest, there were many things he could possibly do. He could start a one-man cleaning service. He could take tasks to clean war zones and become a wealthy businessman. There was no need for an investment, so profit would be endless. There was no lack of options regarding the usage of the gift.
Just one tiny issue. "Who will hire royalty to clean their house? How am I to survive in a warzone?"
He was out of material means to execute the plans. "O great guardian, what offense have I made before I even stepped into this world for you subject me to such persecution? Why—"
"Cease your act. It's annoying."
Well, at least he knows when I'm being dramatic.
Reis was trying to gain sympathy from someone who probably never heard of sympathy. There was a possibility of getting pity by acting like he had lost everything.
"You are inherently good at scheming." That he was. 'Ann' was the kingdom's greatest schemer, minus the talent for successful execution.
"Just don't try it on me." Reis shivered. That was definitely a warning. "Unless you can succeed."
The voice was suddenly too clear. It was clear even before, but now it was different, no longer like it was said through a headphone. More like—
Reis couldn't complete his shocked 180-degree turn, held midway in a deathgrip.
"Ah‐"
"Shh, don't make a sound."
The air was pushed out of his lungs as something close to a six-inch-wide metal wire wrapped around his chest, locking his arms. If it wasn't for the actual structure of a hand that covered his eyes, he really would have thought it was a wire.
I can't breathe!
"I'm not covering your nose, why won't you be able to breathe?"
The grip was so tight, he couldn't even flail properly, flapping his hands and feet like a fish was his limit. What was he supposed to do with the nose if the rest of his breathing system was shut down?
|You're holding too tight. His bones might break.|
"Tsk. Why are humans so weak? Or is it just you? Were you not fed well?"
Despite the rudeness, the grip did loosen, just enough so he could breathe again.
"You can't just–"
"Did I not tell you to keep quiet?"
Then what's the point of asking questions?
"I hear you just fine. Stay still."
Reis wasn't in a position to do anything other than stay still to begin with. The arms of a stranger were wrapped around him, left to right, holding from his left shoulder, going across his chest down to his waist to hold down his right hand. His back was pressed right onto a cold wall that definitely wasn't a wall with only the thin fabric of his nightshirt preventing direct contact. The same can't be said about his eyes and wrist, which felt like they were getting ice therapy.
How could living beings be this cold? Did he not know the concept of personal space?
In a sense, Reis should have been more glad that no one saw this. Cause while to him it felt like his ribs were breaking, to the observer, it couldn't be more different.
But wait, if he was here, didn't that mean he had successfully summoned the guardian by annoying him?
"Don't get ahead of yourself. This is only my phantom presence."
What's a phantom presence? He didn't know, nor did he care in reality. What he cared about was whether his problem could be solved or not. Selfish? Yep, 200%.
He had a foolproof business idea for opening a cleaning service once he had a way to escape the palace for good.
"I'm only here to fix the gift. For anything else, you still need to do more."
Breaking his hopes was something like a sport around here.
Do more. More than risking his life by cursing out a higher being? Reis honestly didn't know what more audacious thing he could possibly do, nor did he get the chance to think.
"Eeek!" He wasn't proud of the screeching sound that escaped his throat when the hands moved the slightest.
Did the great guardian not know how to hold more…decently? In a way that his weak, fragile body wouldn't be pressed against the so-called phantom body in every sense of it?
"You don't seem like someone who is shy and loses their mind over mere touch."
It wasn't about being shy. But why should he be held like this for no apparent reason? And where did that comment even come from?
"Contact makes energy exchange easier. So stay still instead of complaining about unnecessary things."
It wasn't difficult to stay still, and at the same time, it was. He couldn't see, and this hand was doing something weird that sent shivers down his spine every once in a while. And he could definitely feel the tilts of the cold body, the shoulder, the head, as if observing him.
"You have a lot going on in that small head of yours."
"That's fine. If you really want help, find a way to summon me."
Then it was quiet. The coldness that had been coiling him like a snake disappeared, leaving just a lingering presence. As if nothing was there to begin with.
|Skill attributes are being updated. You will be informed when the upgrade is complete.|
Reis turned instinctively, observing the room to make sure it hadn't turned into a refrigerator. It hadn't, luckily. Even his reflection in the mirror was the same. Slightly more disheveled, but no big changes.
He let out a long sigh as his fingers reached the skin that had gone numb from the cold. But everything else was fine.
I should just forget about the summoning. This is too bothersome. If a presence was so cold, wouldn't the person be worse? Ann didn't want to freeze to death.
|Please keep your words. You cannot progress without the guardian's help.|
|You need to prepare yourself for the summoning.|
'How-'
"Your Highness, there's a message from the council. May I enter?"
The council? The judgmental one?
There was no chance to ask why, because the door opened the next second. With no reason and no warning, the calm of his home was taken from him once again. Well, it hadn't been there for quite a while now, not since the clouds had formed. But that was a separate issue for much later.
The current one was the people standing at his door with multiple documents in hand, including a very suspicious embroidered one. "The King has issued an order for you, Your Royal Highness."
Why was there suddenly an extra prefix in his title?
A large pile of documents was placed on his desk. "Tasks have been evenly distributed. But since you have not participated in any administrative tasks since coming of age, you must cover for them."
"Additionally, the council has selected tasks for you to complete."
Reis was born after the era of tapes and records. But he had the fortune of getting to hear a broken record thanks to Odessey. A long one.
|New task unlocked.|