Devil's tale

Devil's tale chapter 33

"Oh man, I needed this!" Jazz exclaimed, leaning back in the water of the imperial lake. The goblin had elected to swim completely nude, much to Avarice's dismay, and the devil could only imagine how Emily felt about it. Still, Avarice stayed by Jazz's side, knowing that the goblin was in no position to swim in deeper waters with his limp arm.

"Farris didn't hurt you, did he?" Avarice asked.

"Nah! He was rude to me, but that was about it. He kept going on and on about his 'divine mission' and stuff like that. Goes to show what a pair of new wings will do to you, huh?"

"Yeah..." Avarice sighed. It had been several days, since Farris's attack, and the minstrel was still trying to figure out everything he had heard. His rage had since died down somewhat, but the core heat of it was still there, hiding in his gut, waiting for him to stoke it again. He'd spent most of his time in the imperial library, reading book after book. He'd hoped the abundant literature would improve his mood, but his memory of Farris's words made it so he barely felt any excitement in the library. 

"So, is Emily gonna get in, or not?" Jazz asked, glancing over at the cleric, who was still sitting at the edge of the water, reading a prayerbook. Interestingly, the book was dedicated to Lilith instead of Leto. She and Avarice hadn't spoken since the incident with Farris, and Avarice hadn't pressed the issue. He'd needed time to himself to think anyway, and he was sure Emily was dealing with her own problems, considering she'd directly attacked an angel, that night.

"I think she's fine, for now." Avarice remarked, his voice heavy.

Jazz sighed. "You two have a fight?" He asked.

"Not exactly." Avarice replied. He asked. "Did you know about the letter?"

"That she wrote it? She told me a few weeks ago." The goblin looked at Avarice apologetically. "It wasn't my secret to tell."

"I know. You did the right thing. It's just-" Avarice grimaced. "Somehow, everything to do with Emily, which would be hard to deal with on its own, is the least of my worries at the moment!"

"Think there's a way to get your dad his wings back?" Jazz asked.

Avarice shook his head. "I don't know. First I need to figure out how to heal your arm."

"Kid... that's your old man. I get if it's more important to you." Jazz said softly.

"I made a promise. I'm keeping it."

"Fair enough. Think you'll head back to the library soon?"

"Don't really have a choice. I can't let Emily outpace me." Avarice joked, gesturing with his head towards Emily. Every time he looked at her, the world seemed to lightly glow, everything around her just seemed a bit livelier and Avarice's heart would race. Jazz seemed to notice the look in Avarice's eyes and remarked. "Young love ain't easy. Give it time."

"It's not easy under normal circumstances. I can't even imagine how hard it is for her." Avarice said.

"You sound mad at her." Jazz said, sounding surprised.

"I'm not mad at her. I don't think I could ever be truly angry with someone like her. It's the people that somehow convinced her that falling in love is sin against her god, that I'm angry with." Avarice answered.

"Hey, about that. If you go back to Northland and overhaul the church, can I keep some of the religious treasures?" Jazz asked.

Avarice chuckled. "I'd rather have that money circulated back into the economy, so you'd better spend it."

"On hookers and blackjack, but yeah, I'll spend it." Jazz joked.

Avarice laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder. He then got out of the water. The presence of Jazz and Emily was something that helped him relax, helped him worry less and generally just made him feel more at ease, even when there was an awkward air between him and Emily. But he didn't want to feel relaxed at the moment. He got dressed, donned his coat and headed back towards the imperial library. There, his smile from his talk with Jazz, disappeared. He returned to the spot where he'd spent most of his time in the library, a small room, lit by magical, purple torchlight with a humble table in the middle. The book Avarice had been reading the day before still lay open where he'd left it. He sat down and continued reading, as the book, detailed the process of stripping an angel of their power. It had been surprisingly easy for Avarice to find the tome, as the imperial library was nothing like the one back in the capital of Northland. Here, there were no forbidden sections and no materials restricted to government-officials or members of the clergy. Avarice continued to read, and with every word he passed by, his frown deepened. Everything about the process was described as inhumanely painful. It was a violation of the victim's very soul. Avarice forced himself to keep reading. He wanted to know exactly what had been done to his father. More importantly, he wanted to know if there was some way to reverse the process. He used his rage to distract himself as well. To keep his mind from dwelling on the fact Farris was his brother. He didn't want to be related to someone he hated so much. Then there were his parents. Had his mother truely been as traumatised by his birth as Farris claimed? Avarice felt he was about to blame himself for if it was true, but he stopped himself. He was done feeling sorry for what he was, and if his mother couldn't reconcile that, then that was her problem, not his. No, Avarice had made many mistakes, but being born, was not one of them. Eventually, someone in a soldier's uniform approached him.