章 73: Ghost

Syryn's metabolism made it very difficult for him to reach an acceptable level of inebriation. 14 glasses of the strongest alcohol and he was finally drunk enough to feel like throwing up on himself. But what had possessed him to drink like a thirsty cow?

Sebastian's head was resting on their table and he lay unmoving. Was he asleep? the alchemist belatedly wondered. Syryn's bladder was very insistently making known its discomfort to him. The teen left Sebastian to take a leak outside, hoping that the mage wouldn't wake up thinking Syryn had abandoned him. When he wobbled back from the relatively clean toilet at the back of the building, he found Sebastian being propositioned by an attractive woman who had recognised the famous mage.

"Nn-nno you don't!" The drunk alchemist righteously pushed her off the mage who wasn't making much of an effort to resist.

Sebastian was hopelessly smashed and taken into another plane of existence by the combination of Frost Vengeance and Demon's Kiss that he had competitively imbibed. Syryn had been impressed when the mage downed his 8th glass of Demon's Kiss.

"S'ryn, what are ya doin'?" He spoke to the woman in as earnest a tone as he could manage. "Yer pretty but a bit too young fer me-"

Through the haze of alcohol, Syryn fumbled for his coin purse. It took him many tries before the alchemist successfully counted out the correct amount of money which he tossed onto their table. Never again. He was never drinking this much. Never.

"Not sure where we're going," Syryn told the mage who was on unsteady feet next to him.

"Follow me," the mage slurred.

The duo stumbled out onto the road and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked. The cold night air was a relief to their heated bodies. Syryn's double vision had disappeared, a sign that his body was flushing out the alcohol. His sobriety was already returning to him.

"Hmm.. where's the carriage?"

"Uhh... " Syryn looked around and noticed how unfamiliar the place was. Under Sebastian's lead, they had strayed off towards an emptier part of town that was a market during the day. Elysium's canal peacefully ambled past the place where they stood, confused and still very drunk.

"I'm takin' a dip here," the mage dramatically announced.

"Nooo!" Syryn grabbed Sebastian's arm. A sensible part of his mind warned him about the dangers of swimming in their current condition.

"K.. I'll just dip my feet."

Syryn reluctantly let go of the mage's arm. Sebastian lowered himself to the edge of the canal and sunk his boots in. It seemed funny to a drunk Syryn who began giggling.

"Excuse me? Can you help me?" A crystal clear voice called out to them. Syryn slowly turned around and squinted at the person who called out from a dark alley. He could see a tall man-shaped figure but it was shrouded in darkness. Syryn's drunk mind buzzed a cacophony of warnings he couldn't decipher.

"Can you help me?" The man was standing so still, Syryn would have sworn it was a statue.

"Help?" The alchemist repeated when a wave of vertigo nearly swept him off his feet. It had been a mistake drinking so much alcohol.

"Who?" He heard Sebastian ask. The mage had also turned around and was staring straight into the darkness with a keenness that no drunk should have managed.

"Excuse me? Can you help me?" It repeated. Despite his inebriated state, Syryn's previous experience with the skin collectors helped him realise quicker this time, how the pattern of speech was repeated word for word with the same flat vocal inflexion. Aside from that, there was something else about the sound that bothered him. What was it?

"S'ryn," Sebastian was suddenly behind him, soberer than the alchemist himself. "I'm going over there to hunt it down. Keep your eyes on the shadow," he whispered low enough for only Syryn to hear.

"Sebastian, what's going on?" But the mage was already off.

"Heeey, what help d'ya need?" Sebastian swayed from side to side as he approached the still figure. Syryn watched silently while judging the danger level of their situation. He was starting to believe that their walk to this area had been deliberately orchestrated by the mage.

Sebastian tripped on his feet and landed on his knees. "Ugh shouldn't've had so much ta drink." The sandy-haired mage heaved himself back on unsteady feet and precariously swung from side to side like a pendulum.

Faster than Syryn's mind could comprehend, the black figure exploded into droplets of dark liquid that left a hissing mess on the ground. It took a second for his thick as molasses mind to understand that Sebastian's attack had caused the explosion. In an impressive show of speed and reaction, the mage had also raised a wind shield that buffered him from the mysterious liquid.

The mage then disappeared into the alley with the nimbleness of a wild cat. Another explosion sounded out loud enough to rouse the sleeping residents of the neighbourhood. Syryn's feet pounded on the ground as he followed the sound of controlled explosions that continued in a series of booms. Sebastian was hot on the trail of something and Syryn was determined to see it before the mage blew it to vapour.

When Syryn caught up, he found Sebastian staring at a dead end. Syryn could feel a wave of unease radiating from the broad back that was turned to him. Aside from the mage, there was nothing else in the empty alley.

"Sebastian, what the hell happened?"

The mage ran a hand through sandy hair and walked to the wall of the building that blocked their path. He placed his hand on it as if feeling for something.

"It went right through this wall like a ghost."

Syryn couldn't understand what Sebastian was talking about. "You killed it at the mouth of the alley. What else was there, Sebastian?" If it had been another lesser mage than the one that stood before him, Syryn would have suspected a drunk hallucination had taken place.

"That thing that spoke to you was just a puppet. Its master is what I was chasin', S'ryn. The creature was wrapped up in darkness so black, I couldn't really see it. I followed the blue light that came from its eyes and chased it till it jumped right through the wall."

Syryn had never heard of such a strange creature before.

"Right before it jumped, its body glowed blue and I saw its shape." Sebastian turned around to face Syryn. A whole lot of confusion and what seemed like embarrassment flickered in Sebastian's eyes. "It looked like a.. umm- I know this will sound stupid.."

"Like what?"

"Like a squid."

Syryn's expression conveyed his bafflement. "A squid? Sebastian, are you sure you're not just drunk hallucinating?"

"Listen, I saw what I saw okay. It was a bulbous floatin' creature and it had a lot of long tentacles."

"And you're telling me that it passed through the wall? You realise how weird this whole thing sounds?" Syryn's metabolism had worked through all the alcohol left in his system. He was now as sober as if he had never had any alcohol. What he couldn't explain was Sebastian's stone-cold soberness.

"I realise I sound crazy. There's no proof of what I saw-"

"Let's not forget about all the alcohol you drank tonight."

"S'ryn, I really saw it."

The alchemist crossed his arms and stared at the mage. "Okay, let's say you really did see it. I'm taking a wild guess about why you brought us here. This wasn't a coincidence, was it?"

"I wasn't expecting to run into something so strange if that's what you're asking." The mage turned back to the wall and experimentally knocked on it. "I've been sittin' on my bored ass since I arrived at Elysium. I'm not used ta havin' nothin' ta do so I began readin' the mage hunter reports that's accessible by the public."

He gave up on the fruitless endeavour and gestured for Syryn to walk back out with him. "One of the reports stood out to me. It was a fresh list of dead mages, and the circumstances of their deaths seemed very suspicious to me. Even more so than the standard magical murders."

"So you decided to take a detour here to bait the killer instead of going straight home like a normal person?"

"Yup. Ya see, there has been a known total of eight mages whose deaths have all been linked back to this locality. All of them were purportedly drunk before their untimely deaths."

Sebastian increased his pace as they headed towards the mouth of the alley. "The strange thing about it is that apart from one of em, the others showed no indication of external trauma, nothin' at all to explain how they'd died. I spoke to two witnesses of different victims and they both verified the report's observations."

Syryn came to a stop at the place where the black liquid had been spilt. The two mages then looked at each other with matching grim expressions. There was no black stain to be found. It was as if nothing had happened there.

"Did we both hallucinate the same thing?"

Sebastian's hands were on his hips, gaze fixed to the spot where previously a large stain had darkened the ground. "Fuckin' shit it's gone." The situation was getting weirder by the second.

"I can't believe we imagined everything," Syryn dreamily said to the frowning mage. "I'm unbelievably confused."

Sebastian's exhale was rough with his frustration. "We met the killer and I'm sure of it. We got lucky tonight S'ryn. The anti mages have made no headway with this case but we saw somethin'."

"Can you access the autopsy reports?" Syryn asked despite knowing the answer.

"I'm not a mage hunter."

The mage hunter archives were accessible exclusively to the members of their organisation and to a lucky few who were able to secure clearance on account of their expertise in fields that were crucial to solving difficult cases.

"Lucky for us we know a mage hunter who might just help us, huh?" Syryn grinned at Sebastian.

"Help you, ya mean."

"We're on the same team, Seb. I think the mage hunters might be interested in what you saw tonight."

"I'm not tellin' those stuck up bastards about it," the mage scowled.

"Not all of them. Artemus is also a mage hunter."

"And he's the most stuck up of bastards in their group." The mage sighed and met Syryn's serious gaze. "Yer right. I'll go tell em what I saw. They're not gonna believe me, S'ryn. They'd sooner kick me out than accept my drunk tale."

"I'm not sure I believe you either. A murderous squid that glows and has the ability to pass through walls? It just sounds really made up."

Sebastian's smile was tight. If his self-confidence wasn't so high, he would have doubted himself too. Drunk or not, Sebastian was sharp enough to tell reality from illusion. He had most definitely seen a glowing squid-like entity. "Well, at least I have ya to corroborate the first part of the incident."

"You do realise that we have no proof of what we saw. How do you think they'll react to the story of two drunk buffoons who each had 9 and 14 drinks before witnessing a crazy incident?"

"You're the one that wanted to take the story to the mage hunters," Sebastian retorted. "Anyway, I need a bath and a change of clothes first. They'll never let us through the doors stinkin' of alcohol."

"And a nap. You look like you need a nap."

Sebastian stared at Syryn strangely. "Y'said ya had 14 drinks. How t'fuck do ya look so fresh and sober?"

"It's the illusion, Seb. Under it, I look like shit too."

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at Syryn and it called him a liar. "Yer illusion fell out a while back, S'ryn. Didja not know?"

"What?" Syryn touched his own cheek reflexively. "When did that happen?"

"I dunno. When ya found me, yer illusion was already undone."

Syryn hadn't powered off his illusion so just what the hell had happened? The tiny amount of mana consumption had become un-noticeable to Syryn but he should've realised it if his magic was cut off for a moment.

"Let's go home, S'ryn. We'll figure it out after a rest. My head hurts like it got kicked in by a dragon."

"Did you perhaps take something to burn out your intoxication?" Syryn asked. It was the only explanation to how the mage had recovered so suddenly.

"No," Sebastian answered. "I brought some pills but I didn't take any."

"You sure?"

"I would remember if I took one. S'ryn, no more talkin' now, I need some quiet."

Considering how wrecked Sebastian was feeling, the two of them headed straight to his house where Syryn received a bed in the guest room. The alchemist fell asleep as soon as his head hit the soft pillow.

He was woken up by gentle knocking on the door. Syryn was disoriented for a few moments as his mind struggled to understand why his room looked so different. And then it hit him, he was in Sebastian's home.

"S'ryn? for the love of Eos, please come out. Artemus is threatenin' arrest if I don't produce ya immediately." The muffled voice of Sebastian cut through his sleepiness like a blade.

Artemus was here?? It was past a decent hour of the morning and Syryn figured someone from home had reported his missing status to Artemus. Considering how many times he'd gotten lost, it was perfectly reasonable for his friends to panic. His spending the night over at Sebastian's house after a night of drinking was something he did not want Artemus to find out about. Too late now though. Suspicions would be riding high.

Syryn remembered to power on his illusion before throwing the door open. Sebastian looked tired but otherwise fine.

"I'll get you a hangover potion. Come home with me," he told the mage. Syryn wasn't impervious to hangovers but it took a lot more than the amount he had imbibed to trigger it.

A sharp smile lifted the corners of Sebastian's mouth. "Yer right, I'll ask A-mu for a ride. Let's go, S'ryn."