Chapter 14: Daybit Sem Void
Rock music blared over the comms built in the metal walls, shaking the fully lit room and disorienting anyone daring enough to enter without thinking about it a ton.
"99... 100!"
Nicholas threw down the 300 kg barbell after, well, an absurd one hundred overhead squats, with no sweat on his perfect form and raised his untired hands in victory.
Though, he supposed it didn't really feel rewarding when it had taken zero effort.
Nicholas rubbed his chin in thought, eyes closed before nodding slowly like one of those Chinese grandmasters as if he'd gleaned something extremely profound, "Absurd as ever."
It was almost as if he'd forgotten blowing a hole in the skies and temporarily changing the weather moments after arriving in the middle of Antarctica with a CASUAL jab.
Actually, what if he tried punching the Earth?
Fate decided to not leave him alone with his thoughts.
The metal door slid aside, drawing his attention to the figure of Scandinavia Peperoncino, or 'Pepe', as he insisted Nicholas call him. The eccentric man wore one of his usual outfits, like most of the A-Team Masters as he'd come to notice.
The weirdos seemed to have only one set of clothes that they kept using again and again.
They were supposed to be Mystic Codes or something.
Nicholas wanted one.
Bill told him they'd make him one based on his origins.
Till then, he was going to wear the standard uniform prepared for Arctic incursions.
All the others looked like total shit. That strange not-vampire girl had agreed with him.
"You're still here?" Pepe crossed his arms, slightly tilting his head, "Don't you think it's about time you come out? You've been here for weeks dear!"
It was supposed to be a show of concern or something but Nicholas froze up instead, "I'll never get used to this..." It was strange, Pepe was the strangest damned man he'd met in his whole life, "I'll leave when I want to."
"Sure." Pepe shrugged his hands, "But... little Hinako seems so lonely, reading books all the time."
"That's just what she does all the time, or stalk me, she's a weird old ha-... Nevermind, I get it." Nicholas leaned against the wall, "It might be one of those 'you amuse me, mortal' situations."
She was a chinese immortal who'd been persecuted all her life, it made sense for her to cling to the few people who didn't hate her for nature. It made even more sense after he'd learnt Xian were branded vampires by the Clock Tower.
"I can see the merits of merely following you around." Pepe giggled, shifting his arm a bit, "It'd be like following a monk-... Forget what I said..." He slowly licked his lips as his eyes went over the teenager's body, making Nicholas shiver and raise his fists, "With a body like that, it'd be offensive to my own standards to say that."
Nicholas stepped back dumbfoundedly,
"S...Stay away from me."
He picked up the barbell, and took off all the weights from one side, brandishing the exercise gear like a club, "Come at me now... bitch." Nicholas didn't even want to be near the ma-... creature.
"Bitch? You know, you'll never be popular with girls with that sort of language... You should be more elegant." Pepe smiled at the pale haired teenager, visibly amused, "Though, I suppose you don't car-"
The strangely dressed man hastily ducked, narrowly avoiding a free but permanent face-changing surgery carried out with one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology ever thought up by a human mind.
A club.
"You're hella fast." Nicholas slightly tilted his head, "You dodged me before too."
Pepe smirked in response, "You're not punching the hardest you can though, are you, dear?"
"No shit, Sherlock." Nicholas deadpanned.
"..." The eccentric Master smirked further, "Is it because you don't want to disappoint the Director?"
"No, it's cause I don't wanna kill someone." He hadn't even thought it possible but it happened anyway, Nicholas deadpanned further, "And I don't wanna risk being erased without getting to punch the guy first."
Pepe giggled again, "Of course, of course. Being around magi desensitized me a bit, it's normal to not want to kill inconvenient people for a civilian." He mostly agreed with that ideology, just Pepe didn't have any reservations about doing it if it served some greater purpose, "I fear you'll have to change that outlook if we're to achieve some of our goals, it'll hurt far less that way."
"Daybit wanted to meet you."
"Neat."
Daybit Sem Void was the most elusive member of the A-Team.
Nicholas knew his name but other than that nothing was available, just that he wasn't the sort to engage in extended conversations, was extremely serious and had apparently appeared out of thin air, with even less information regarding his origins than Nicholas himself.
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"What is human life worth to you?"
Nicholas emptily stared at the young blonde, purple eyed man sitting across the table from him, "The hell is that supposed to mean?" He eyed Kirschtaria sitting to the side, more alarmed and tense than he'd ever seen him before.
"Be quick."
The calm, collected, leader of their A-Team who had passed out after drinking a lot of vodka and then later been confused as fuck when he woke up in the toilets as if that wasn't the obvious outcome of blacking out at a part, seemed ready to jump into action at a moment's notice.
It was weird.
"I agreed with Beryl Gut's philosophy regarding delight in murder."
"How do you think I'm going to answer that?" Nicholas spoke so gently one wouldn't think he wasn't in the middle of picking up a metal table to cause bodily harm.
Daybit jumped back and kicked the metal table flung at him, snapping it in half with an ugly clang, before defensively raising his arms, "I see. Think nothing of what I just said."
For a moment, a smile flickered across his monotone features, "Think of it as a test. Tell me more about yourself."
...
The Chaldean Masters were a gathering of freaks and weirdos.
Kirschtaria placed a hand on Nicholas' shoulder and nodded when the teenager glanced at him, trying to reassure him.
"No." Nicholas sat back down, crossing his arms, "I refuse."
"For the sake of camaraderie?"
"You don't get to change my mind with your badassery." Nicholas instantly shot down Kirschtaria.
Kirschtaria coolly retracted his hand, "... I see but... What is this badassery you refer to? I'm unfamiliar with the term." He walked back to his chair as he talked and for a moment, Nicholas wanted to believe the man was sulking.
Daybit looked at his watch and turned to leave, "That is all the time I had. This has been completely unproductive. Let us converse at another date."
"What the fuck is wrong with that guy?" Nicholas pointed at the leaving Daybit with his thumb, "It's like all those 'I'm cold and emo cause reasons' tropes piled on one. Let me guess, he loses his memory each day or wait, I'll do you one better."
Daybit Sem Void froze in his steps.
"He has a godlike being watching his every move or acting through him."
Nicholas chortled, his back turned to the disoriented but cautious gaze of an alarmed Daybit, "I see."
Those statements were too close to his actual situation to be jests, Daybit realised he was dealing with something far more capable and of far greater intellect than any human, surpassing even their brightest geniuses, than the simple minded buffoon Chaldea thought he was.
Nicholas Martel was the most dangerous man there.
Daybit would have to be careful, anything done against the man would be noticed instantly.
He'd have to be covert but, was it really worth the risk?
Who knew how much he'd given away in this meeting, how much would be 'covert' and really escape the man's gaze?
Wasn't it just better to act as if nothing was wrong and hope he wasn't a target?
Nicholas had killed Beryl, one of their strongest fighters, with no effort.
Daybit could take him, but it would take too much from him to do so.
Both fortunately and unfortunately, Nicholas only thought that Daybit was an emo weirdo.
"I don't think you should be that upset over his moral compass." Kirsctaria Wodime offered coolly, completely misunderstanding the clusterfuck mother of all misunderstandings in the room.
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...P.S?
This is a bit wobbly in my head still but hey, we have the servant summoning next chap.
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