Euryce ~ That which only she can see

I considered myself a ruthless woman, even if Howard always says “oh Eury, you are such a softie”.

It infuriates me just to imagine him saying that. I made sure he could not walk straight the morning after the last time he dared to say it.

What I mean when I call myself ruthless, is that I trust myself to be able to use cold logic when needed and I’m not above blooding my own hands when necessary. That’s why I spent so many years conducting the summoning, even if no one ever came from it.

But even then, there was no cold logic that could justify what had happened in my village. There was nothing that could justify the bloodshed, the way they ripped them away and obligated us all to return to Nochightdad.

I considered myself a bitter, petty woman, even if Howard always calls me “too soft for my own good”.

Last time he said that he got stuck with water duty for three months. I never heard a word of it after that.

But, even if I was truly as kind hearted as Howard seems to think I am, I would still despise Orphie for what he had done. I knew that he could be cruel, but that attack was something that I didn’t think he could do, even in my wildest nightmares.

When I arrived at Nochightdad and saw his face my stomach revolted. I wondered how a man I once loved became such a monster. He had gone to receive all of them, saying that we were not hostages nor kidnapees, but guests and people who were returning home.

How could he be so cynical? How could he look at me with a straight face and justify killing some of the most important people of our lives, people who were our friends and had grown up together with us, and then act like he cared about them?

That’s what I got to find out, I concluded, after finishing the rundown of the events that had led me to now be entering Orphie’s office for the first time after leaving so long ago.

After crossing the threshold of the door and seeing him… a wave of nostalgia washed over the grief and hatred I was feeling in that moment. Not truly dispeling it, but… mellowing it for a moment.

Orphie rose from his seat and walked towards me, without saying a word, simply standing in front of me.

“I missed you so much, Eury.” He said, with the softest voice I ever heard him speak with.

I punched him in the jaw with all my strength. I could hear his teeth clashing together when I did.

He had to take a couple of steps back, a streak of blood leaving his mouth from his now broken lip.

“I see you are as impulsive as you always were.” He said, with only a twinge of anger in his voice.

“That’s all you got to say to me?” I said, barely containing myself from jumping towards him and trying to scratch his eyes away.

“How many died?” He asked, deciding to go to the root of the problem.

“You don’t even know how many people you've gotten killed?” I asked, starting to fume.

“I do have a number but… I wanted to confirm it.” He said, cleaning away the blood that came from his jaw.

“Nine people.” I managed to stutter, my jaw clenched shut from the rage.

“I’m sorry for it all. I’ll send someone to retrieve the bodies so we can bury them here.” He said.

Then I jumped towards him, trying to scratch his eyes away.

He managed to stop me this time, seeing it coming. He grabbed both my arms with his hands.

“Eury, I love you, but I’ll need you to calm down or I’ll have to send you to the dungeon until you do.” He said, the twinge of anger from before growing in size.

“Now you finally sound like the villain you are.” I said, trying to free my arms.

“Eury, we can’t talk if this is how you want to behave. And I know that you do want to ask me things, beyond ripping my face off. So calm down, or I’ll calm you down.” Orphie threatened, sounding once again, angrier than before.

“Finally you stopped acting like you are not a talking piece of shit.” I said, taking a deep breath, and stopping my attempt to fight him.

He let me go, and we both stood there. We were looking at each other in tense silence. Knowing that if we tried to speak what was in our minds we would probably end up in a fistfight.

“I’ll be quick then. Why did you do it?” I asked… closing my fists for what would ensue.

“If I started to explain that we would be here all night. But beyond that, stop raising your fist Eury.” Orphie said, sighing.

“Do you think that excuse’s going to fly?” I said preparing to strike.

“No, but I do have someone who can explain the finer details to you.” He said, putting his hand in my fist and pulling it down.

“Was that my roll call, my guy?” Said a very annoying voice from the door.

I turned around and saw an excuse of an human being, an imitation that clearly lacked the most simple fundamentals of what made an human, human.

“What the hell is this?” I asked, turning back to look at Orphie.

“This is a guest of mine. He arrived some time ago and has been helping us from a while back.” Said Orphie, starting to walk towards him.

“Yeah, what this guy says. You can call me the visitor.” The excuse of a man said, extending his hand as if to shake mine.

“The visitor?” Asked Orphie.

“I finally decided on a name for myself.” he said, smiling crookedly.

I looked at the two of them talk. I could barely believe my eyes. Why is Orphie treating this thing with such respect?

The visitor turned to me, apparently, noticing the way I was looking at him. He smiled.

“You got quite the sharp eyes, don’t you? Don’t be surprised if people start calling you crazy for seeing things only you can see.” He said, his smile growing in a way that gave me the impression his skin was made of rubber.

Orphie looked at the two of us, confused.

“Is there something I should be aware about?” Asked Orphie, with a stern tone, looking at the visitor.

“Only that I paid a visit to your sacrifice prospect. Let me tell you, you ain’t pushing that kid unto the light this cycle unless you want to waste him, that’s for sure.” Said the visitor, his tone going back to neutrality, his smile disappearing again.

Orphie’s face scrunched up. I could see him tightening his jaw when he heard the news.

“How did you ever hope for anyone to survive with such a lackluster preparation” growled Orphie at me.

I swear I’m gonna clock his jaw.

Before I could do so, the visitor grabbed me by the shoulder and guided me away from him.

“Anyway, I heard that you are misinformed about the recent happenings in your vicinity, just like this big oaf used to be, so let me get you up to date so you understand why your little retiree camp is now a pile of ashes.”

I clocked the visitor’s jaw. He barely flinched.

“Really spirited aren’t you.” He said, smiling at me, looking as if he didn’t still have my fist in his face. “I’ll give you a pass in lieu of recent events… but I would not do that again if I were you.”

I could hear Orphie’s closing the door. The visitor smiled wider than ever before.

“So, do we start?” He said, with twisted excitement burning in his eyes.