The Sight Beyond The Haze

Chapter 44: The Person in the Closet... Again

I went to the dining hall instead of going back to Cocytus' room when I was informed by one of the maids that Cocytus has already went to have his dinner.

I composed myself before I went in, just standing in front of the double doors of the dining hall. That little interaction with Zachriel has shook me a little that I still felt flustered and my heart was still racing just a little bit. The weight on my shoulders that have been dragging me down, the anger that I have been feeling, slowly faded away.

And I guess that was a start.

When I entered the dining hall, my brows were both raised and I sped fire Cocytus with the questions I have been meaning to ask since earlier. I kept my mouth shut yet again, but right now I could not do that any longer when it was just us two.

"Was Anasthasia the one I caught you stuffing on your closet that one time I went in your room?" I asked immediately while making my way towards a seat from across him.

He was already eating, the bastard. He did not even wait for me before digging in when I was just sending off our guest! How insolent this guy is, I thought as I shot him with daggers using my eyes. Still, Cocytus calmly knifed through his steak and ate according to etiquette that I almost felt humiliated by just speaking.

But then, I should have known that Cocytus was not a man of etiquette and propriety.

"Why do you care?" Cocytus asked in return, turning to me with a rather bored expression plastered on his face.

I just continued on watching and staring at him, demanding an appropriate answer from him.

"No," Cocytus finally answered, heaving a sigh from his lungs and putting down his eating utensils. "Anasthasia isn't the person you saw in the closet of my room. Now, why don't you just stuff your mouth with food and shut up?"

I was not offended by that, Cocytus knew that, and just asked more rather than pick up the glare that Cocytus shot me with, indicating that he wanted to talk nothing of the matter that I was pushing the conversation into.

"Then who is it?" I pushed and looked pointedly at him. "Besides that, how long has Anasthasia was in your room?"

"Just a few weeks," Cocytus answered the latter question and that did not escaped my notice no matter how smoothly he evaded the question. "As far as I can remember, I outright told you to go to my room and that there was something—"

"Someone," I corrected him and he just helplessly sighed yet again, wiping his mouth with a white napkin.

"Someone," he also corrected himself and repeated after me, "that there was someone," he gave emphasis on the last word with a very pointed glance to me, "in my room that might help you. And I'm just not doing any of this because I want to help you."

I glared at him and almost struck him with the knife I was holding. I carefully picked on my food while I was listening to Cocytus.

"My family, that is to say, my biological family has been pestering me nonstop about the temporal illusory fragments all over the academy," he continued with a very annoyed look. He scrunched up his nose and stabbed his steak ruthlessly, appearing as though he has lost his appetite. "They can't request a permission to scourge the whole Middle Ground from Dalcanoraz, you know that. The power struggle within the country is too great that the royal family won't have any interest on solving a small case as disappearing mortal students."

I know that, and what Cocytus has said was only too true.

The royal family and the Thriteen Noble Families would not bother to take a look of a lowly Middle Ground such as the Academia Amitiel, much less that after a hundred of years, the academy wasn't even considered as a Middle Ground any longer. The Amitiel's power could only reach as far as the mortal issues and not with the magical community.

Like me, they were as powerless as a stone, enduring the circumstances that the power struggle within the country put all of us under.

"We couldn't even send messages without being intercepted and only Deo's Fire Butterflies are the ones that enable us to communicate outside the Blessing," Cocytus said even further.

He might not have wanted to show it, but there was a little crease of line because of worry on his forehead that I noticed. It was clear to me how important it was for Cocytus to keep the academy to his family though there was a great possibility that he would not inherit the academy as he was already Leigh's successor and heir.

"I wonder if that is also the reason why Lady Erina Alaric has not yet done any moves in regards of everything that has happened to me," I said.

I stared at Cocytus to see if he has something to say and to just hear his opinion about this issue, but, as unusual as it was, he was evading my gaze and that was kind of perplexing to see. My forehead knotted at the middle automatically with that kind of action from him.

"What is it?" I asked calmly and he flinched.

Now something was up.

"What?" I urged. "Or I will tear down your room," I threatened him though those were empty words from me to just hear what had him evading me.

"Nothing," he said gruffly then proceeded on eating his food. He cannot fool me though, I know that he has already lost his appetite and there was just no way that he would eat something as razed as the state of his food as of now.

"I will tell Leigh that you told me a confidential information and Eris would see that you did," I said, "so there is no point on being furtive and hiding things from me. What is it?" I repeated with a more forceful tone.

Cocytus sighed and drank from the glass of water beside his plate. He looked at me with resignation on his eyes. The food has gone cold and I also lost any interest on it as I pushed it away in front of me.

"Deo's main reason of being absent here," Cocytus started as soon as he finished drinking and composing himself. "The reason he isn't here is because of you."

I was not shocked about that. Of course I have known that it was because of me that Deo was not here. It was obvious, but Leigh has never pointed it out so I never blatantly acknowledged it either. Eris and Leigh would look at each other when ever I ask where Deo was and what must he doing while being away.

I know it was because of me, but I was not certain how it was related to me.

"Enlighten me," and so I said that.

Cocytus leaned back to his chair and smiled maliciously, like he was teasing me. Somehow, that caused my cheeks to flushed and I did not say anything in fear of being flustered. That malicious and teasing look on this bastard's face must have meant something that I did not know of.

I straightened my back and pretended to look down on him though we were the same in height.

"He's in Dalcanoraz, you know?" Cocytus has finally said casually.

That made my whole body to stop. Like an i***t, I sat there as though I was a statue or a something as silly as a rock.

What was he doing in Dalcanoraz? That was the question I immediately asked myself, but I must have been fooling myself because deep down, when Cocytus said that Deo was inside the country of magic, I know what he must doing over there.

Could it be...?

But I could not bring myself to say it outright and so blatantly so I let Cocytus finish instead of intervening him.

"He is clearing a path to you, Leigh said that to me," Cocytus said. "And you must know the meaning when I said that the great Deity of Light, Lord Deo, is currently within the Dalcanoraz and clearing a path to a lowly mortal like you."

I glared at him with his last words.

"You are a lowly mortal like myself," I said with acid.

"I am," Cocytus said, not even as offended as I was. "So what do you think?" he suddenly asked. With a screeching sound on the floor, Cocytus pushed back his chair and stood up from where he was sitting.

I also stood up, my apetite was lost. I have already eaten some with the snacks that the maid gave us earlier.

"He is engaging himself in politics," I said with vehemence. I heaved a deep breath and frowned. "Why would he do that? He has never liked meddling with Dalcanorian politics."

He called politics dirty and filthy. For someone like him who was powerful beyond anyone's imagination, I can understand how politics was not something Deo would bother himself with. He never even taught me any of the intricacies of the Dalcanorian politics, always saying that my hands would be tainted and being hot-headed.

"Exactly," Cocytus agreed to me then nodded. He looked expectantly at me, like i should be saying something.

"What?" I demanded at him but he just shook his head.

I did not push him any longer in fear of what he would say or knowing what was in his mind. Instead of pushing him, I was the one who spoke to banish any of the awkwardness that I knew would be coming straight to our conversation.

"Deo must want me to go back to Dalcanoraz," I concluded. "Why would he make path to me? What exactly does that suppose to mean?"

I heard Cocytus sighed again as we were about to turn a corner. That was the corner that we were suppose to part since our rooms were in the different parts of the house.

"It means that a Deity is talking with the Thirteen Noble Families to ensure that they wouldn't treat you anything like they treat the Elliot Noble Family of the Elsinore," Cocytus explained to me. "He is strengthening your foundation in the country so when you arrive there, you wouldn't encounter any problems. Even Leigh never did anything like that for me... and I'm the closest as he could get to a son, mind you."

"Nobody cares, Cocytus," I said and almost rolled my eyes.

"I'm just saying," he said weakly and widened his eyes at me. "You don't have to be so extra about it."

I turned my head at him and stared with a deadpan look on my face saying that he was the one who being so extra about being adopted by a Deity. Before we both parted though, Eris came to us. She was running and huffing deep breaths. Sweat covered her face and her eyes were wide with an expression that was quite smilar to shock.

"You told her?!" she said.

I was surpised to hear a slight hint of anger on her tone, but it wasn't rude and only sounded as though she was scolding him. Meanwhile, Cocytus has a bewildered expression on his face.

"What?" he asked innocently and blinked his eyes. We were both astonished so Eris only found us staring blankly at her. "What are you doing here?"

Eris huffed loudly, almost snorting her head out and pointed at Cocytus which had Cocytus pointing at himself using his index finger. My eyes widened, this seemed like a confrontation but like it wasn't. Now I became rather curious what this was all about that Eris was panicking and Cocytus was clueless.

"You told her about Deo?" Eris confronted with Cocytus. "What else did you told her about, 'Yto?" she then demanded.

Her whole face was flushed and she would not look at me straight in the eyes.

"Told her about what?" Cocytus demanded. "About Deo?" Eris nodded earnestly, but it was apparent that she was still flustered all over some matter that she refused to tell us about. "Why not?" Cocytus asked in return when he finally understood.

"Is there anything that Cocytus is not allow to tell me?" I asked Eris.

She flinched and straightened her back, further taking her eyes off me.

"Besides, why rush all the way here?" I asked even further. Eris' face was now a mixture of different shades, blue to violet and then violet to red. "You can just see with your Sight, can't you?"

"T-the Sight..." As soon as she spoke, Eris' voice faded away. She shook her head slightly, sensing how outrageous she must have been acting in front of Cocytus and me. "The Sight isn't just for viewing the past, present, and future. My clairvoyance also extends to seeing many possibilities so I don't want 'Yto telling you a bunch of nonsense that would muddle your perspective and head."

In all honesty, I was too tired to even care though that got my attention for a moment about that possibility that Cocytus would have told me a weird thing so I immediately just agreed and dismissed us all.

"The night has become too deep," I said politely. "Why don't we all retire to our personal rooms?"

The two agreed. As we were parting ways, the look that was passed between Cocytus and Eris did not escape my eyes.