Each Their Own Desperations

The Aetherglow herb was a plant that grew in areas dense with Aether, absorbing Aether from its surroundings as it grew. It was a plant favored by the mages for its Aether replenishing properties. The leaves could be brewed into tea while the roots and stalks needed to be processed before consumption.

There was, however, a risk in drinking tea brewed from it. When drank frequently, an overabundance of Aether may accumulate within a person's body and begin to crystallize, causing extreme pain, and, depending on the location in which the crystals form, death could occur as well.

With the leaves as potent as they were, needless to say, the roots and stalks of the plant held a far higher concentration of Aether.

Theodore had been watching Albatross closely since the day they met and came to be very familiar with her habits. One of the things about her that stood out to him amongst others was that she would always drink the tea he brewed, the tea brewed from Aetherglow herbs.

He had warned her about it, of course, seeing that she claimed to be incapable of sensing and wielding Aether, she might not know about the dangers of this particular tea. But she said that she knew, having been running about this city for nine years.

Nine years was a long time to be stuck in this god-cursed city. It stood to reason as to why she had such a strange demeanor for someone in her position. Theodore assumed that she had learned her way around the city and its mages to make the most of it here, what little there was for someone incapable of wielding Aether. If what she said was true, that is.

Because in spite of drinking the Aetherglow tea every day, nothing seemed to have happened to her. It was either that she was very lucky, or she had the ability to manipulate and regulate the Aether within her, one that had to be at least equal and perhaps even greater than Theodore's.

Confident in his abilities to manipulate Aether and having dissipated a large amount of Aether on digging his tunnel, Theodore would add powdered roots of the Aetherglow herb into the tea, increasing the Aether density within and replenishing his lost Aether. Said tea he had also served to Albatross when she first visited the workshop, wanting to see her reaction to it.

Albatross took exactly three sips before stopping, the interval between sips longer than the last. It was almost as if she had noticed something was wrong with it and refrained from drinking too much. Even so, Theodore couldn't be sure and more testing was needed.

Since then, Theodore had adjusted the Aether density within the tea he brewed, sometimes lower, sometimes higher. By doing so, he noticed that the amount Albatross drank was correlating with the Aether density within the tea. By this point, he was certain that Albatross was lying about not being Aether sensitive.

There was, however, a single doubt in Theodore's mind. Why did Albatross keep drinking the tea despite risking her lie being exposed? She could have easily not drunk it. It wasn't as if Theodore had been forcing her to, so why such foolishness? The answer he arrived at was simple. It was greed.

As Aetherglow herbs were plants that required a large amount of Aether to grow, only a few was allowed to plant them in this city, Kalman being one of them. Having a supply of Aetherglow herbs at his disposal was one of the few merits of being under Kalman, whatever that was worth.

As such, if Albatross was so desperate for the herbs that she would risk herself being caught in her lie to partake in them, then perhaps there was room for negotiation. That being said, Theodore wasn't looking for a partner. He was looking for a pawn, one that he could be sure would not betray him.

"Just to be clear," Theodore began to explain, "the tea you drank today had a large amount of powdered roots of the Aetherglow herb added to it. Within a few hours, the Aether within your body will begin to crystallize. It will be painful and depending on where they crystallize, they will kill you. If you don't want to die, I suggest that you best cooperate."

"Of course," said Albatross, her tone agreeable despite her situation. "Though, to go through the trouble of poisoning me, I guess you want things outside of what I am allowed to acquire, huh? Do you want me to steal something? Or do you want me to deliver poison to someone? The curse placed on me restricts me from doing certain things, but those things I can do. You see, there is no such thing as a 'normal' courier in this city. You don't even have to poison me to get me to do it. Of course, if what you want has something to do with my curse's restrictions, then I am afraid there's no point blackmailing me. I can't do it either way."

"I want a few questions answered first," said Theodore, ignoring the disturbing implications of what Albatross had just said for the moment. "Why did you lie about not being able to use Aether? The fact that you noticed something wrong after taking just one sip of the tea is more than enough proof that you can sense Aether."

If she could control Aether, then she could have become an apprentice proper, yet from her words, it truly did sound like she was a courier, a job handed to apprentices-in-name. Theodore wanted to get to the crux of her deception. Through it, he believed that he could find the strings with which he could control her with. Of course, this could still all be a part of her lies, but Theodore wanted to see where it would lead.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm afraid," said Albatross. "While I can't sense Aether, I can still feel that there's something wrong with my body. With it happening right as I drank your tea, I only made the most natural assumption."

Theodore unconsciously frowned. He was well aware that she was lying from his observation of her. Even if she was right in that she would have felt something wrong with her body regardless of Aether sensitivity, her behavior with the tea served on other days with less Aether density showed that she could indeed sense how much Aether was in those tea.

"Don't lie to me," Theodore warned. "Maybe you haven't had a good grasp on your situation, but the amount of concentrated Aether in that tea is considered lethal for anyone that's not roughly equal to a master in terms of capabilities. You're not going to just get one chunk of crystal inside of you, but several. Chances are, one of them is bound to be deadly. If you want the cure, tell me the truth."

As soon as she realized that she could not lie her way out of the situation, Albatross's gaze turned immediately cold.

"So? What about it? Did you think death is enough to scare me?" she said, suddenly defiant, as if she was tired of putting on the act.

"So you don't fear death, is that it?" Theodore's tone grew colder to match Albatross's, forcing himself forward. He had long gone past the point of no return. The moment he served that tea, his path was set.

"Having a bunch of rocks cut you apart from the inside is nothing compared to what the mages can do to you. Do you know? They have a way to keep people alive for as long as they want while torturing them. Some of the people that fell into their hands still lived despite being reduced to slabs of meat that can only feel ceaseless agony. Compared to that, I'd say that outright killing me is about as close to kindness as mages can get."

Albatross did not appear to fear death. Rather, she feared a fate even worse than death. The moment she explained her lack of fear, Theodore was able to glimpse into her true fear.

"I see... I see how it is. So you don't care if you die because something worse might happen to you, is that it? Otherwise, why are you so eager to die? One wouldn't seek death unless a fate worse than death is right around the corner. So let me take a guess, if I were to tell the other mages that you're pretending to not be able to sense Aether, they'll torture you like the way you described. Am I correct? That's why you're keeping it a secret and pretending that you're not Aether sensitive, yes?"

Albatross gave Theodore a smile as he presented his deduction, one lacking utterly in warmth. Was he wrong? Was he right? What was he missing? He could not even begin to fathom these questions. He had rushed into this, underprepared and way out of his depth.

Theodore had been in a hurry. Ever since he had that dream that felt all too real, ever since he saw Fio's terrified face in that dream, he had lost all sense of patience and caution. As the days dragged on without hearing news of his home, Theodore was slowly losing control. If he believed that he had the slightest chance of making it through the city gates by charging at it without regards, he wouldn't hesitate to make an attempt at it.

Cold sweat began to drip down Theodore's back as he realized that he had screwed up, that he might have read the situation wrong. In the end, he did not have the firsthand experience, intimidation, or even strength of character to pull an interrogation like this off. At this moment, he was but a child pretending to be a full-fledged Demon Lord.

"You know..." Theodore began to attempt his one last pathetic push. "I could always tattle on you to Kalman or Fiana. Of course, if you do as I ask, your secret won't leave my lips. I just need you to-"

But before Theodore could finish, he saw before his eyes a flash of silver. Albatross had pulled out a small knife, her hand holding the blade towards her neck. In that instant, Theodore understood the meaning behind her cold smile.

At that moment, a myriad of thoughts surged into Theodore's mind, but there was no time to consider any of them. Without hesitation, Theodore rushed forward. He needed her, preferably alive.

Theodore reached for the knife. At the same time, threads of Aether lined the fibers of his muscles, enhancing their mass. He was going to wrestle the knife from Albatross with his enhanced strength, or so he thought.

Before Theodore realized what had happened, the knife had already drawn blood.

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End of Chapter 43

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