Wish Upon a Sin

Arc 2 - Interlude: Huginn

Huginn remained intangible and undetectable, hovering above his target, who spoke to the other residents of the manor in low whispers.

He could recognise that they were talking to each other, but none of them had particularly outstanding spiritual affinity, so Huginn wasn't able to make out much more than their general emotions.

So he didn't bother. Instead, he took some time to think over the... peculiarities of his contractor.

Of all the mortals he had encountered, his contractor, 'Subaru', was undoubtedly the strangest. Both in terms of his personality, and the sheer amount of knowledge Huginn was sure he wasn't supposed to possess.

He had called out to Huginn specifically, but the fire spirit was certain that they had never met before that day. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, Huginn had flown to him and witnessed his mental struggle.

His mind had been warring against itself, far more fiercely than Huginn had ever seen before. The spirit had known then and there, that whatever it was that troubled him meant a great deal to the human.

When he had finally decided himself, and became aware of the spirit, he had felt grateful, if a little uneasy. What the boy had to be grateful of, Huginn still hadn't worked out. Perhaps he had met before? If they had run into each other during his journey south with Muninn, then it was no wonder he'd forgotten about it. It had been a very long time ago, and back then, he had been worrying about far more important things.

But that didn't explain Subaru's knowledge of Sol. The Yang spirit rarely left the palace, and in fact, Huginn hadn't heard of Sol ever leaving the city. The Yang spirit had confirmed that he had never met Subaru either.

Muninn and Luna were also sure they had never met him, but Huginn found their testimony... less reliable.

Luna made some attempt at communication with so many mortals that it wasn't hard to imagine that she'd run into him at some point.

And Muninn...

As much as he wanted to defend his little sister, he knew her personality. She loved new experiences, but talking to one random person was the same as talking to any other random person. Even expecting her to remember his face would be asking too much.

In fact, that was probably the most likely solution to Huginn's conundrum. Muninn was a blabbermouth, and if someone was asking around, looking for spirits, then she'd almost assuredly recommend the three of them.

But that felt off to Huginn. Subaru had known their names, which they hadn't even known until he mentioned them. And he had known a great deal about this 'witch's cult', despite having been lying through his teeth every time he talked to them.

But the most damning piece of evidence was his pre-existing contract, which had prevented him from saying something.

What exactly, Huginn wasn't sure. Was there another spirit working behind the scenes? One who had sent Subaru into the city to prevent this 'cult' from destroying the city?

Huginn wasn't sure, but over the past week, he had started to think that maybe it didn't matter. His master was earnestly trying his best to improve his abilities, to improve their abilities, and was resolutely dedicated towards his goal of destroying the cult.

Then why was he so upset about it?

Huginn radiated his displeasure as the cultists below him began to disperse.

Subaru was finally rid of the indecisiveness that had still been plaguing him over the week, and yet, somehow, his contractor seemed to feel worse. He didn't seem aware of it himself, but now he seemed even closer to the edge of despair than when he had met Huginn.