Chapter 114 Sweet and bitter – Arianna

  Arianna was meditating in the garden, enjoying the last rays of sunshine for the day. She was using her pattern to circulate her remaining mana inside her body and to absorb mana from her surroundings. It was slow going, simply because she had so much less mana volume than she had grown used to. The swirls and whirlpools in her pattern were strong but slow, and far fewer than before she ranked up. But it was getting better the longer she meditated. And the way her mana felt now was so much stronger. She couldn’t wait to experiment with it some more — but for that, she needed more of it.

  Today they’d founded the guild, then she’d gone to Joseph’s and they’d had a look at his plants. Even with only the earth and their water being enriched by their mana, the plants were growing extremely fast and healthy. Next week, they’d be able to harvest them. Arianna felt that she’d now be able to combine her mana with Joseph’s to create plant-mana, but both of them had too little mana to try it right now. So she’d come back and started meditating.

  Cassis had welcomed her home, but stayed silent. Throughout her meditation he’d come outside to watch her, then trained next to her, then vanished back into the house. Now he was coming out again, carrying something in his hands. Her eyes were still closed, but she could feel him — the unique makeup of his mana signature moving nearby. Without speaking, probably not wanting to disturb her concentration, he crouched down next to her and set whatever he was holding beside her. Then he went back into the house.

  Arianna wanted to meditate a bit longer, but curiosity got the better of her. She opened her eyes and looked down. Next to her was a thermal mug. She opened it, and the smell of freshly brewed coffee drifted toward her.

  With a faint smile, Arianna got up, drinking the coffee he’d prepared for her. She kind of knew what he was doing, and though she’d already forgiven him, she’d let him grovel a bit longer. It felt satisfying after he had lied to her for so long. And just because she’d forgiven him didn’t mean she hadn’t been hurt. So he’d have to suffer for a bit before she told him, just so he wouldn’t do it again.

  She went inside, still holding the coffee mug, nodded toward Cassis, who was sitting on the couch, and went upstairs into her office. She was going to study some medical texts again. Not long after, she heard Cassis come upstairs too. He rummaged around in their bedroom for a while, then went into his own office.

  Soon she was lost in diagrams, anatomy, and thoughts about what mana might be able to do during the healing process. A knock on the door pulled her out of her musings.

  “Come in,” she called.

  Cassis came in, bringing her an apple he’d cut for her. He smiled, set the plate down, and left again. He was being incredibly sweet to her right now. While eating the apple, she couldn’t stop smiling.

  Later, she finally went to bed, only to stop short in front of it.

  Why the heck was there only bedding for one person? Where were Cassis’ pillow and bedsheet?

  Quickly, she went to his office and pulled the door open. Cassis was sitting at his desk, working on his laptop. The bedding was on the single bed that served as a sofa in his office.

  Was he planning to sleep here?

  That wouldn’t do. She was angry, but she also missed him.

  With a glare, she stomped toward the offending items, snatched up his pillow and bedsheet before he could get a word out, and marched back toward their bedroom.

  “Arianna!” he called after her.

  She didn’t even turn around, just threw the bedding onto their bed. He had followed her and was now standing behind her. Angrily, she spun around.

  “What the heck?”

  He looked unsure, surprised by her anger. “I… uh… I thought I should sleep in the office tonight.”

  She gritted her teeth. “You thought wrong.” She tried to swallow down the bubbling anger, then decided she didn’t want to.

  “You are not sleeping in your office. This is our bedroom, and you’re going to sleep here. Do you understand?”

  She practically spat the words into his face.

  But then… why was he grinning at her like that?

  He looked so much younger when he smiled like that. Still grinning, he simply said, “Okay,” then quickly went to bed.

  Grumbling to herself about infuriating men, she got ready as well. Slipping under the covers, she soon fell asleep, irritated, but also comforted by his presence.

  The next morning, she woke up alone, as always. Cassis had the annoying habit of getting up at sunrise. She yawned, then glanced at her blinking phone.

  Good morning, beautiful. I already made breakfast. Come down when you’re awake.

  She smiled. She didn’t like waking up alone, but messages like this made it feel a lot better. She hadn’t told Cassis. It wasn’t really his fault. It was a habit he’d cultivated over years in the apocalypse: sleep when it’s dark, wake when it’s light. Humans were at a disadvantage in the dark, even with their evolved bodies. Animals and monsters were evolving too, after all.

  She went downstairs, and when he saw her, he handed her another steaming mug of coffee. Quietly, they ate breakfast.

  After breakfast, they got to work on their guild. Danielle had spent all of yesterday meeting with the other neighbours, so today they continued organising. They spent the day assigning everyone to different sub-departments or creating new ones where needed. The territory issue was still being negotiated by Samuel.

  Arianna could understand why many people were reluctant to hand over their property to a guild, especially since most of them were older and had no real idea what a guild actually was. Samuel was doing a great job, but their combat buffs would take a while longer.

  In the afternoon, Faith texted her. She was back in Valendale and wanted to meet up in the evening. She said she wanted to treat Arianna to dinner.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Just us girls, she’d written.

  Arianna felt a little weird about it. She and Faith often talked on the phone and sometimes met up, but Faith had never explicitly said not to bring Cassis before. He simply hadn’t wanted to be a third wheel most of the time, though sometimes he joined them. He was a paranoid guy, after all.

  And Faith’s father, Keith, still made her uneasy. He didn’t seem like a good person.

  Even so, Arianna replied okay. Maybe she could learn a bit more about the man, and about Bryce.

  Just before it was time to go, Arianna told Cassis, “I’m meeting Faith for dinner.”

  Cassis looked at her like he wanted to say something, but instead he said, “Take the car.”

  Arianna shook her head. “No, it’s in the city. It’ll be faster if I take the subway.”

  Cassis hesitated, but after a moment he said, “Then let me drive you to the station. And call when you need me to pick you up again.”

  Arianna smiled. “Alright.”

  On the drive, Cassis looked like he wanted to say something. He even opened his mouth a few times, but no sound came out. Just before they reached the station, Arianna had had enough.

  “Spit it out.”

  She might have sounded a little angry. When would he finally learn to just communicate with her?

  Cassis looked chagrined, then said, “I don’t like it. Can you not go?”

  She stared at him, incredulous, then sighed. Well… she had told him to say it.

  “Why?” she asked instead.

  “I have a bad feeling,” he said. “Faith seems alright, but the people around her aren’t. There’s Bryce, and even if he seems decent enough right now, I still don’t trust him. And then her father… he’s not right. He’s dangerous.”

  Arianna nodded. “I think so too.”

  Cassis blinked at her in surprise. “Then why are you going? Are you crazy?”

  Arianna raised an eyebrow. He quickly gave her an apologetic grin.

  “Bryce aside, I also have a bad feeling about Keith,” she said. “But I like Faith. And maybe I can find out a bit more about him, and their family. It felt strange when we met them, and I’ve never heard Faith mention a younger sister.”

  He was quiet for a moment.

  “So you’re going to gather information?”

  “Exactly.”

  He shook his head, then surprised her by saying, “Alright. But please be careful. If anything feels off, or if Bryce or Keith show up, you have to leave.”

  Arianna nodded. “That’s fine. I was planning to do that anyway.”

  She smiled, then decided, to hell with it. He was being cooperative, trusting her, communicating clearly. She leaned across the car and kissed him square on the mouth. It was a short kiss, over almost before it began, but her lips tingled.

  “See you later. Love you.”

  Suppressing a laugh at his dumbfounded expression, she quickly opened the car door and stepped out. Faintly, before the door shut, she heard:

  “I love you, too.”

  “Is everything alright between you and Cassis?” Faith looked genuinely worried as she asked the question during their meal.

  Arianna nodded. “Just a small argument. He was being stupid. But it’s going to be okay. And he’s being so sweet right now.”

  She went on to tell Faith about all the little things Cassis had been doing, the consideration, the effort, the trying.

  Faith smiled softly. “That is sweet.” She sounded a little sad when she added, “Good for you.”

  Was she… jealous? Cassis really was a great boyfriend, even if he had his flaws. And Arianna knew she probably wasn’t the perfect girlfriend either. Maybe envious was the better word. Faith had never shown any signs of liking Cassis as anything more than a friend.

  Faith noticed Arianna studying her. “Oh — no, I mean, it’s great for you, really. I just wish I had someone who cared about me like that.” She sighed wistfully.

  Arianna nodded. She understood. Being cared for like that… it warmed her heart every day.

  She decided to probe a little. “But you do have someone, even if it’s different. Dan almost died protecting you in the dungeon.”

  Faith smiled sadly. “Uncle Dan… yeah. He’s taken care of me since I was a child. He’s more like a father than an uncle. But he doesn’t really count.”

  Before Arianna could ask why, Faith continued.

  “You know, Uncle Dan is often just… really sad when he looks at me. He told me he was my mom’s friend, but I think he loved her. I have no idea why he stayed, or why he raised me. He’s been more of a father than my actual father ever was.” She sighed. “And I know he isn’t my father. When I was a kid, I wished he was, so I secretly did a DNA test.”

  Arianna blinked, surprised, and also unsure how one secretly arranged a DNA test, but Faith went on.

  “The result confirmed it. I’m really my father’s daughter, not Uncle Dan’s.” Faith shook her head. “I don’t know why he stayed, especially since my father doesn’t treat him well.”

  Arianna could easily picture it. Keith hadn’t even acknowledged Bryce before they entered the dungeon, hadn’t really looked at or spoken to him, just issued orders. Like Bryce was beneath him.

  The relationships in Faith’s family were far more complicated than Arianna had imagined.

  She spoke honestly. “If you feel like Dan is your father, then that’s okay. Blood relations are nice, but… you can find family elsewhere too.”

  Just like Cassis’ family. They didn’t feel distant. They had opened their arms to her. They didn’t replace her parents, they became another family.

  Faith smiled, though to Arianna it looked more like a grimace. “Yeah… but I don’t think he feels that great about me lately. I’ve done some terrible things, and he’s gotten into a lot of trouble because of me.”

  The pain in her voice brought tears to Arianna’s eyes. What was going on?

  “If you want,” Arianna said gently, “you can talk to me about it.”

  Faith looked at her for a moment, then closed her eyes and exhaled. When she opened them again, they shone with quiet determination.

  “Thanks. You see… my mom died early, and Uncle Dan promised to look after me. My dad was never really home. His work was more important, and he has an important position. Uncle Dan raised me. Shortly before my eighteenth birthday, I even made plans to leave home with him. My father… my father isn’t a good man, and…”

  She stopped, took a sip of water, then continued.

  “But then my father came home with a toddler. Shari, my little sister, from another mother I had never even heard of before that day. He just dropped her in my arms, told me her mother had died, and that I should take care of her.”

  Faith smiled bitterly.

  “I didn’t want to at first… but she’s my sister. And then I couldn’t leave. So for the last ten years, I’ve raised her, and Uncle Dan helped me.”

  Arianna felt Faith was leaving something out… but she couldn’t tell what.

  Still, the picture she painted was terrible. Two women Keith had children with, both dead shortly after childbirth. He wasn’t even raising the children himself.

  Coincidence… or…?

  Arianna watched Faith’s face and saw the same doubts reflected there.

  If even Faith suspected her own father… just what kind of man was he?

  “Alright, that’s enough of that,” Faith said, suddenly forcing cheer into her voice. “Right now, I’m just waiting for Shari to grow up. Then we’ll leave together. It’s only six more years.”

  For the rest of dinner, Arianna tried to steer the conversation toward lighter topics. She could tell Faith hadn’t meant to reveal so much, she had simply needed to talk to someone. And now she didn’t quite know how to handle Arianna knowing all this.

  So Arianna did her best to make her feel at ease.

  At the end of the evening, Faith insisted on walking her to the station. Once there, they hugged goodbye. Before Arianna could say anything else, a man’s voice sounded behind them.

  “Faith.”

  Arianna whirled around and saw Bryce. He was still a few meters away, not too close. Not yet dangerous.

  “Arianna,” he said with a nod.

  Arianna smiled politely. “Dan. Are you here to take Faith home?”

  He nodded. As usual, there was no smile on his face.

  Arianna remembered Cassis’ warning. She wanted to leave, but the subway was still ten minutes away. As long as she kept Bryce in sight, it would be fine… right?

  She made small talk, wondering why Faith had gone silent, but didn’t dare look away from him. She hadn’t had a bad feeling about him before, but now, something in her chest felt tight. Alert.

  Finally, she heard the train approaching.

  She relaxed, just a little.

  Then she felt a faint touch at her throat.

  A soft click.

  Arianna froze.

  She couldn’t move. She couldn’t feel her mana.

  What—?

  This sensation… her throat… the click…

  A slave collar?

  She couldn’t lift her hands to confirm — but the paralysis itself was proof. Cassis had described this exact feeling.

  But Bryce was still in front of her.

  She hadn’t looked away. She hadn’t.

  Then how—?

  The touch had come from behind.

  Behind her…

  Faith.