Chapter 55: Soulmate
The light of Polaris illuminated shelves with various books that were collecting dust. Judging by the sofa and a coffee table that still had a mug on top of it, this room was some kind of living space, although its size was too insignificant to fit a group of people. But I did not really care to notice more details, since my eyes were fixed on a tiny star right above my wand, the slightest move of my hand also moved the star and it flickered lightly. Once I thought it would cease away, I gasped and froze in place.
"Whoa! You really did it!" exclaimed Faust after fully pushing his head into the hole, he looked over the room with interest, then his eyes fixated on the door in the corner. Afterwards, I heard Nila's voice, she said, "Good job, Dusk, I knew you would do it."
Even though her words of praise lacked enthusiasm, I could not help but break a smile that I hid from Faust, although his annoying grinning was too loud to remain unnoticed. Despite all that, I felt as if I accomplished something, no matter how insignificant my work was there, I still was able to use magic for the first time ever.
"This is curious, so did Dusk cast Polaris reflectively?" suddenly asked Riaz, to which Faust returned his face to the group and said, "Then it must mean he has a talent for magic, right?"
All I could do was listen to the conversation. It was a waste of time, but for some reason my ears were pricked a lot whenever Nila was speaking. She said with a hum, "That's right, his soul is in motion, meaning that he has aptitude with natural magic as well."
"Then he could potentially be a better mage than you, Riaz!" energetically announced Faust, to which Riaz sighed, "There is no need to rub it, however, this is fascinating as usually those with talents are able to use magic in early childhood."
Now it was Riaz's turn to face me through the wall. He waved with his hand, and I kneeled towards the hole. He was not sticking his head inside, but instead spoke from the outside, "Can you tell me if you see this trail now?"
I raised my brow while observing the surroundings, even though I could perfectly differentiate the details, there was still no sign of Nila's spell that trails down animals. I shook my head in denial, to which Riaz said, "Then you still are unable to see the flow of magic… Excuse me, but how did you cast this spell? Did you really just envision it and Polaris popped off?"
"I really do not know, but does it even matter now?" I shrugged, then Nila spoke, "We can discuss it later, for now, Dusk, since you can't see the trail you would need to explore everything in the house. Tell us if you find a cat, we will be waiting for you outside."
Riaz silently agreed to this plan, only a smile of encouragement exited his mouth once he stood away from the hole. Before I pushed the door, diving further into the abandoned house, I could hear Faust's remark, "Be careful out there."
I froze for a second upon hearing those words, but then pushed the door and illuminated the next room. The spacious space that still contained the faint scent of manure and dried grass told me everything about this house. The room I was in happened to be the living space for horses, just a few of them, as there were two noticeable stalls. This living space belonged to traders of some sort, which was further solidified by its placement within the city, a few blocks away from the western gates.
Quite a boring place to explore, thus I did not waste much time looking around and instead proceeded with my search for the cat. There were several more doors that lead to various rooms, although I ignored most of them, because my fixation was set on the staircase, I wanted to reach the top floor. Nila suggested that I thoroughly observe every nook and cranny of this place, but there was absolutely no need for that. In the end, cats were most likely to settle in the space where they could hunt. Naturally, the attic, that happened to be infested with pigeons, should have been the perfect spot.
Once I stumbled upon a staircase, I scaled it to the 2nd floor and to the attic afterwards. The dust was floating around the place, making the very atmosphere there suffocating. It was quite unbearable, ever more so because it reminded me of my last moments back in the real world. The light of Polaris was not very helpful here, especially after pigeons began freaking out upon seeing an intruder. They flapped their wings in chorus, further dusting up the room and flew out of the small window which we saw from the outside.
I began coughing violently from the misdeed of those winged rats, pigeons remained nasty through cities, countries and even realities. I raised the shirt up to my nose, filtering the air just a little bit, and began my search for the cat that was supposed to be there.
My search did not last for long despite the tightness of this place. Further away from the nestling side of the pigeons, I noticed two massive suitcases that formed a small barrier from the birds. Once I peeked behind it, I saw it lying motionlessly on its side. No matter how close I got or how much squeaking noise my feet produced upon stepping on the wooden floor, the cat did not move an inch. Once my hand brushed against its soft fur, I could feel the coldness of its body. The cat was dead.
All alone, it died in a dusty attic of an unknown place, surrounded by noisy pests that were not bothered by its presence. Those pigeons likely mocked its pitiful appearance every time they saw it, as the leg and tail of this cat were broken. It could not hunt, could not feed itself. I sat beside its corpse and carefully dragged it onto my lap. For how long did it suffer before meeting its inevitable demise?... Did it feel scared? Or perhaps abandoned? Maybe resentful that it did not get to die in a place of its choosing, surrounded by those it cared about?
That's right, no one ever cared about its pitiful existence on the streets. It died from the cruelty of fate and the world, giving up on its dreams that were never present to begin with. I tightly embraced the stiff body of this pathetic creature, and tears suddenly formed within my eyes, while quiet sobs escaped my lungs. It was a tragedy only two of us could share.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone