The Sight Beyond The Haze

Chapter 31: A Talk With the Seer

"Another," I told Cocytus while wielding a simple standard single blade sword. I swished it on my side with only a hand, making a whistling sound in the process.

"No," Cocytus firmly turned me down.

I frowned at him, finding it ludicrous to be turned down by him. He was heaving sighs and it made me irritated as though he was bothered by teaching me with sword basics. There was not even a single drop of sweat on his person, his face was still rather fresh and punchable.

"Show that to me again," I demanded at him, pointing the tip of the sword I was holding to his chest. "Again," I repeated with emphasis, looking pointedly at Cocytus.

"Seriously," he muttered under his breath, unsheating his already sheated scimitar out of its metal scabbard. He pointed it at me, a menacing glare at me. "Get ready," he warned and went ahead to attack me.

I deflected it with my own sword, the flexible scimitar sliding across the blade of my standard sword. It was not a good sword, but Cocytus told me, rather sternly might I add, that I should make do with what the tools I have.

"Sloppy," someone told me while Cocytus was still continuously attacking me with the wicked weapon on his hand.

I was momentarily distracted so I looked back at Leigh, lounging on the training room of Cocytus' little house within the Amitiel. It was then that Cocytus used the opportunity to attack me, his sword movement wanting to pierce my shoulder blade. The blade never made its target though. Instead of blade meeting the other blade, it was my power that made the scimitar flew out of its wielder's hand.

The blade pierced through the wall just inches away from Phlegethon Tharraleos whom I was just calling casually now that he told me to. It was suppsoed to be Uncle Leigh, but it was even more awkward to call someone that looked around my age and, heavens forbid, looked even younger than me as my Uncle.

It was not even supposed to be Uncle, but it was closest to what he was to my mother. In reality and actuality, he was my legitimate great-uncle or grandfather of some sorts.

But I just refer to him as Leigh like he had told me.

It was easier that way, I guess. It did not have to involve any of the past that I could not really remember that well enough to talk about those.

"Not fair," Cocytus remarked, walking to where Leigh was sitting leisurely to retrieve his weapon.

"What do you mean?" I asked Leigh coldly, my eyes glaring at him and ignoring Cocytus' remark.

"You don't maximize everything that your teacher taught you," Leigh explained. "If the flow of energy only comes natural to you, then use it as your advantage rather than as a last resort."

As Cocytus was about to hold the hilt of his scimitar, I unearthed the sword on how its tip's blade was buried slightly on the wall horizontally. A sharp whistle and it was already pointing at Leigh's neck, drawing a straight line of blood where it lied on his skin.

No one flinched, not even I who was relatively new to everything even though I came from this world and just came back to it.

"What is sloppy on my swordsmanship?" I then repeated.

There was still tension whenever Deo was called or mentioned. Maybe mostly on my part, I have to admit that. In my defense, I could not help it. It has been quite a while since Deo was last sighted. No one would tell me where he was or what he was doing. Just that he was doing his duties as a Light Deity that he has been neglecting for over half a year now. To be specific when I first started attending Academia Amitiel, Leigh pointed out.

"Your grip is sloppy," Leigh finally said, but on his lips was a little smirk. Seemingly a ghost, that smirk disappeared as quickly as it appeared on his lovely visage. "Deo has never been the one for violence, as you know with his identity. So it's simply normal that he would not teach you anything about swords."

My eyes involuntarily turned into slits when I heard the subtle hints of insult within his words.

"Deo has been nothing but a very excellent teacher," I rebutted, my power guided my blade deeper into his skin. With that, Cocytus moved and, in an instant, I have another blade pointing on my own throat.

"Let go," Cocytus said, a warning could be heard in his tone.

"Yto." Leigh shook his head on the younger boy, his fingers casually just plucked the scimitar away from his throat. The blade did not grazed his immaculate skin as I lost over the weapon. "No need to be so cautious and rude to her." He turned to my my eyes, his blazing red eyes were as beautiful as ever. "You, my dear child, however, is quite rude to your ancestor."

"Eat s**t, ancestor," I said with indifference, but Cocytus still redirected the blade away from my throat.

"Ungrateful git," Leigh muttered. His hand that was still holding the blade of Cocytus' scimitar abrutly catapulted in on the air, only catching it with his other hand on the scimitar's hilt. He stood from where he sat and walked over to where we were. As casually as one normal person would hand over things to another, Leigh held the scimitar to Cocytus.

"Show off," Cocytus remarked, his hand was already on his weapon's hilt.

It has already been a couple of months since the incident. So far, the people that I could see, maybe even allowed to see, were Leigh, Eris (she told me to cal her casually wih the same reason as Leigh, except we're actually of the same age), and lastly, Cocytus Amitiel.

I would not be humble and say that they have been hospitable to me. They have been too accommodating that I felt as though I was on a house arrest rather than recuperating. Their words, except of those of Cocytus, were all sugar-coated and sickeningly basic as though I know nothing. It was only recently that Leigh has finally started talking to me openly. He would often refer to our weird family connection.

To know that I was related to a Deity like him who seemed to be so remote in the books that I have read but was actually quite the opposite was still unbelievable.

But then again, I have been practically hanging out with another Deity all my time that I spent on this school. I guess that was not really shocking at all, it was just I cannot grasp my mind around the idea of being family with Leigh.

Even when we were not blood related.

"You two should probably get some rest," Leigh said, waving us off with one annoyingly elegant hand.

Along with the boy beside me, we both nodded at Leigh's order.

"I probably should," Cocytus agreed verbally, "the Amitiel family has been rather busy with all those missing students."

"Missing students?" I asked. "What about?"

It was not Cocytus who answered me though, but Leigh himself.

"For the past months, students of the Academia Amitiel have gone missing. There wasn't a particular pattern on how the culprit did the kidnappings or even some defining detail about the backgrounds of thei victims, but the most certain thing in this case was that the students were being targeted by one person or group of people, I dare say."

I nodded, thinking further about it but not really knowing what I should contribute about it. Before we walk out of the training room though, Leigh patted Cocytus' shoulder affectionately. My eyes narrowed with that.

Sometimes, even when I had my eyes wide open, I could feel that I was just a step behind everyone else. It was better than being behind of them for five steps like before, but it was still unsettling.

Cocytus went ahead of me, bouncing on his feet and sheating his scimitar on its elegantly carved metal scabbard. His footsteps were light, were it not for Deo's lessons to me, I would probably not even feel his presence.

He has been well-trained, I thought while my mind was contemplating.

"Whatever is in your mind, my lady?" Leigh inquired. Without being aware, he was already behind me, quite far from where he was originally.

"Just thinking," I said aimlessly.

Leigh waited for the continuation of my reply. I would really not bother with it, but he has been incredibly nice to me. At least nicer than that bastard that goes by the name of Cocytus Amitiel.

"What is he to you?" I asked, but my eyes were on the sword on my hand.

"Are you afraid of how Deo thinks of you?" Leigh suddenly asked which hit a sore spot on my chest. I tried not to show it on my face. Indifference and neutrality have both been my middle names since coming in this place, but when it came to him, to Deo, there was something that constantly tug at my heartstrings.

"Does he think of me the way you think of Cocytus?" I asked again, anxious of oncoming answer that was approaching closer as the seconds passed that Leigh take his sweet time.

"You're the one always with him, but why must you ask me?" he asked me. He came closer and also patted my shoulder as he did with Cocytus. "You should go and rest. You are not fully healed, after all. Lest I would be scolded by him again. At this age, I hate being scolded."

But I did not moved one bit.

"I do not want to think he was just caring for me," I told him useless as it was. "Where is he, really?"

I heard the man behind me chuckled, bemused wih my determination.

"You know," he started. Leigh started walking towards where he sat earlier while he watched both Cocytus and I battling it out as our daily practice. "Cocytus' parents are still alive, but I have become more of a father to him than his own father will ever be. I have never explicitly told him, of course, he's a man now. Grown up, you know? If I were to guess Deo's true feeling towards you, I'd rather advise you to ask him directly than guessing like what you are doing right now."

I heard Leigh sighed.

"There are things better left unsaid, Seraphin," Leigh told me while he sat on his seat, resuming his stance earlier. "He hasn't been everything that is good to you, I think you are well-aware of that fact."

"He taught me," I rebutted again, "and hid me from those who wanted to kill me. He held me by his arms when my past finally came to haunt me down. He might not have been everything that is good to me, yes, but will I really be that selfish to ask for a little affection from him now that I know everything?"

Was it too much?

As a Deity, would the years that passed affect how he would view me? Only as a little girl?

"You should rest," Leigh only told me again, repeating the words uttered earlier.

I nodded yet again and, this time, I really did went out of the gymn room like how Cocytus did earlier.

One of my arms was still on a cast, but I could walk just fine. The white cast that embraced my arm wholly was heavy and bothersome. The only thing that I liked about the cast was that it was an effective shield against Cocytus whenever we both train. His blade would always swerve as to not affect my already lame arm.

Ha called it cheating, and I called it tactics.

Even if it has been a couple of months already, I was not late with my lessons and homeworks. Leigh pulled a lot of strings to have my lessons sent to this place and Cocytus has been kind enough to tutor me though I could sometimes, maybe even often, hear his grumblings against teaching me. Saying it was a waste of his precious time, he always does anyways and it made me giddy to tease him so everything worked out just fine.

It was not that I have been too pampered already, or maybe I was actually, but I knew that this would not do. Eris and Leigh have both been kind enough to instigated that I should hide here, but there were real problems outside of Cocytus' house that i should face soon rather than later.

I would always consult Eris about when to come back to school, like the real school with classrooms and classmates, and she would evade the question. Similar to me though, Eris cannot always evade things such as this.

With her clairvoyance, Eris searched the possible outcomes and futures.

"The future has always been a source of doubt," she said, her voice a little anxious. "Even if I told you such things would happen, they would likely not since mortal mind cannot help but to interfere. It's for ever changing, but what is fated will always find a roundabout route to its path, righting the things that happened that shouldn't have in the first place."

I did not addressed any meaning when she spoke that our loud or what she really meant by that. She could not tell me anything then for the fear that I would interfere and make things happened that were not really suppsoed to be happening.

Future, what an odd concept. It was still rather odd concept for me that I cannot feel nor touch, but was always coming for me.

After being shooed away by that ancient person Leigh, I opted to go for Eris. Like what she often does, she was meditating on the drawing room of the house. Her eyes were both closed and she was sitting peacefully. I was actually decided to just walk away when I thought she was really deep into her own thoughts, but she smiled.

I felt the hairs on my arm stood up and I shivered from the slight fright that I felt when she just smiled for no apparent reason. She finally spoke to me after a second of me just getting rooted on my spot.

"I saw you coming," Eris suddenly said. She motioned me to sit down. I did and reached for a macaron, my stomach was vibrating from hunger.

"Of course you did," I sarcastically said and raised an eyebrow. "Any news?" I then asked, demanded really.

Who cares though if I did sound a tad bit rude, Leigh and Eris were both encouraging it. He said it was better to have my own personality instead of just having the default personality that Zachriel gave to me when he modified my memories.

"Hmm," she said. "Could you lend me some power?" she asked me politely, smiling as she did.

Spending some time with the Deity of Immortality and the Seer of the Five Deities taught me a lot of things about their nature. Out of all the five Deities, I learned through Eris herself, that the Seer was the only one of the five of them to have been a mortal. Unlike the other members, Eris was the only one who does not have the extreme power and the ability to live longer.

As a result, the power of the Seer of the Five Deities of Magic was passed down to generations. Their clairvoyance enable the current Seer to see the person right for the job and the memories of each Seer be passed down to their successors.

I reached my hand from across the table, towards her. Her hand was rather cold as though something particular was seeping on her energy. I pursed my lips at what I noticed, lending her more of my magical energy as I did so. I closed my eyes, concentrating hard on her fingers on mine.

"You know I can see her face... their faces on your mind so sharply," Eris said, and also correcting herself. "He will come back for you, maybe when you're ready."

Or maybe he will only come back to say good-bye, I thought with a gloom.

I did not dwell on that topic though and it was apparent that Eris got the message from the evident gloom on my face. She did not say anything more about the topic, and I did not inquire anything else. I knew she was right, Deo would come back when I'm finally ready.

And I would be waiting.

"Hmm," Eris hummed again, our intertwined hands were a little glowing with the transference of the magical energy.

Knowing that Eris' own was not enough, I only obliged to do what she wanted. When I was not around, which was often I would admit, it was actually Leigh who would help Eris with her lack of talent with manipulating magical energy and power.

"What?" I demanded again.

"The future... is a little murky," she whispered, her eyes were now closed and there were beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. "There was this man who have the most beautiful voice, and he's... his movements are the ones that I couldn't really see."

"But you can see everything that is happening on this world," I pointed out to her though I knew that she was well-aware of that one little fact.

Eris sighed with my statement, so cold and not preserving any inhibitions.

I just pretended that I did not see that.

"The clairvoyance of the Seer may be absolute in this world," Eris agreed, nodding her head. "But there are a lot of roundabout ways so that my absolute clairvoyance can be avoided. Like being in the regions of the Lady of the Death Doors. She has absolute control over what happens on her territory, even if I tried to pry and reach her with my gift, the Lady of the Death Doors would only repel me."

I pursed my lips on that, not saying anything further. If the man with the beautiful voice cannot be seen by the clairvoyance, then he must have been doing something to avoid. Besides that, he must have known that every characters in this school were being monitored by someone like Eris who have this kind of ability.

It meant that someone else, other than those from the Eirini have infiltrated the Middle Ground. My location has been compromised, it would only take them a couple of weeks before they try again.

With that hanging over my head, I did not go in any further. If Eris cannot tell me any further about that man with beautiful voice, then what was the use of forcing her to see what she cannot? I can only deal with that man when the time comes.

"Leigh and I have been talking about that man," Eris told me, her bright blue eyes were darkened. "We both think that he will definitely give you some trouble. You must protect yourself while Leigh is finding a good way for you to come out of this place. Admittedly, Leigh said that he hasn't seen a person who could deflect the ability of the clairvoyance since a long time ago, but rest assured that we are both doing what we can in this situation. Of course, it will take a considerable amount of time—"

I nodded, understanding what she meant what she was saying.

"I understand," I assured her. Eris finally let go of my hand that has turned cold because of hers, I rubbed it gently. "What about those with from Dalcanoraz? From Alcaraz?" I asked Eris, swerving the topic off the peculiarity on her ability.

"They couldn't really do anything, could they?" Eris asked me, she reached for the porcelain cup placed on the surface of the table in front of her. Timidly, she sipped on the delicate cup with her pinkie slightly raised. "They couldn't send word to the Eirini headquarters in Dalcanoraz in fear of being intercepted. I've seen them try to do that, and I've seen them fail also. Good thing that Haziel—"

The petite girl and her face appeared on my mind and I glared at Eris even when I knew that she did not really mean to invoke such an image on my mind.

"I'm sorry," Eris aplogized, an awkward smile on the edges of her lips.

"I was too inconsiderate," I contradicted, bowing my head at her, "please, do continue."

Eris sipped on her tea yet again, her blue darkened eyes were both directed towards me. Yet again, I pretended not to notice.

"Their leader," she finally said after letting a second pass, "is wise enough not to let them push through wih that. But the Middle Ground's protection could only do so much. The Haefen and your uncle, Araqiel Elliot, is running out of his patience. Sooner or later, he would send someone formidable to take you and gain the upper hand over the doyal family. It would be disastrous having a madman take control over the country with abundant of resources and very submissive people."

Again, I understood that.