Of Thousand Lives

Interlude 1

  It has been a good while after the 3rd Iazhiorian Siege happened. As for the cities, all of them have recovered from the last attack of the Abyss, which was about 1 week ago, according to Raven. Good for them at least, Thannatopia is still finishing its last touches, small shops are reopening, the library is somewhat almost done fixing and restoring books and not to mention that the members of the Thannatopian military are doing a good job helping the citizens rebuild. It's nice seeing the city getting itself back together piece by piece. As for the Valkyries, Hurlem has just received a surgery to put an augmentation around his punctured leg. This gave him a new wind of movement, all thanks to the brilliant medic of the team, Hope. Vurul and Theobold are mainly helping citizens move their belongings or building materials. They're both very efficient at what they're doing, sometimes they challenge each other to races, which none of them win as both of them are equally speedy. Astrid is still nowhere to be found in the public, she rarely goes outside probably because of all that paperwork. Office jobs can be quite the trouble when there's a ton of them to do. Natalia seems to be doing fine with church work. She seems to have earned herself some good reputation too. The people of Thannatopia are often on good terms with people who work at churches, they're all religious people it seems. I'm glad that she can finally be away from the conflicts caused by her family's old deeds.

  Today is going well, I've gotten quite a good bit of rest and peace from that. Though, now I notice something: I haven't gone out of the city all this time! No wonder the city streets are starting to seem a little bit plain now. It's the weekend, Natalia is enjoying a story book, being lazy on a bench of the church. I sigh, slowly standing up, breaking away from my train of thoughts as I approach the girl. "Natalia, have you been to other countries apart from Thannatopia?", I lean on the seat. The cat girl looks at me and puts her book down on her chest, humming softly. "Well, not really. I've never left Thannatopia. I just don't know where else to go, and I'm not sure if I have enough budget for a trip.", she shakes her head, fixing her bangs and redoing her hair to make it neat. "That's fair. Maintaining this church takes a lot of time anyways, not to mention the fact that you and I are just the two doing the work.", I nod, now sitting down next to her. "Yeahh, but it feels more bearable having another pair of hands to help me out.", she smiles, looking at me as she scoots over a tiny bit closer. I return the smile. We both stay quiet for a bit of time, thinking of what to say. "Hey.. Do you guys really like headpats that much? I saw Theobold this one time, and I was curious.", I quietly ask her. She tilts her head, looking at me curiously. "Well.. I guess.. We are genetically built to enjoy affection. We are all social creatures at times. I'm sure you guys are, too.", Natalia answers me softly. "Would you.. like a head pat, right now?", I then follow up with another question, looking at her, though a little shy. Her face suddenly flushes with a bright red colour. "Really..?", she brings up her book slowly to cover up her beet red cheeks. "If you want one. Yeah.", I'm really doing this.. "I would.. love one.", the girl shyly says, pulling down her hood as she lays her head gently on my lap. Her ears are standing up, excited for what comes next. Oh.. boy. I slowly and gently place my hand on her head, pushing her ears down. Then I run my hand through her hair, feeling the soft and silky smooth strands of hair of the girl. She seems to be at peace, I've never seen her so.. relaxed. With our eyes closed, we enjoy this moment of silence and peace together, occasional purrs softly echoes in the church with my hand subconsciously patting the girl's head. "Heya!", Raven bursts into the church, waving hello to us as if he knew that we would be here. Natalia immediately gets up and swiftly fixes her attire, putting back the hood on. The elf scratches his elf, unsure if he startled her or not. "Well, guys. I have a gift for both of you, for helping me run this small church. I felt like giving you two a trip to Cerula. Tickets are on me.", he closes the door behind him, walking into the lobby as he does so. Raven sits down next to us, letting out a little sigh. "Have you two been getting along well over the past months?", the elf looks at us two with a smile and asks. "Ah.. Yeah, we're good buddies.", I give him the thumbs up and nod. Natalia sits there, still, pretending to read the book whilst holding it up close to her face to hide her face and pretend that she's not listening. "That's nice to hear. Well, about Cerula. All you need to know is that it's a port. One of the few business ports in Iazhioria. I have a few friends over there. Ah, and there is also one Valkyrie who mainly operates there. I reckon you've heard of Berlda before. She's the Valkyrie that handles the seas here. She's pretty adventurous too, so prepare yourself if you ever meet her.", he nods then chuckles at the description of the woman. The elf now quiets down, leaning on the seat as he looks around the church. He looks a little saddened. "You alright?", I ask him. "Yes.. It's just, things are a bit harsh for me, sometimes. I always have to be here and there everyday. They call my family the 'Heavenstruck', the righteous hand of God. Sure, it's great to be extraordinarily good at arcane, but the back-hunching burden of being a Circulus that just doesn't go away will one day crush me.. Do you think I should.. maybe take a break for at least a few days?", the elf nods, then eventually goes on with his explanations, looking at his own hands occasionally in his speech. "Jeez, boss. Never knew you were under big pressure all this time.", I scratch my head, humming. "I think it's best if you take a break, mister Raven. You really deserve it! At Cerula, we can enjoy the coast and go swimming.", Natalia softly suggests as she puts her book down, looking at her manager with a worried expression. Raven breathes in and out deeply. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. You guys are right. I needed a break.", he huffs, then stands up, seems like he's made a decision for himself. "Pack your stuff. We're going to Cerula tomorrow, yeah?", the elf turns to both of us with a faint smile on his face. "Yeah! You rock, boss.", I cheer him on, excited for the upcoming adventure. He laughs and shrugs a little, "Yeah, maybe I do. Take care until then.". With no more words, he disappears as quickly as he entered. We both remained silent for a while after that. The girl lets out a soft sigh and lays back down again, "I feel bad for mister Raven.". I look at her, hesitant at first, but due to her scooting her head back, I continue the petting. "Me too. Never knew he was having a hard time all this time.", I sigh. "But, it's nice that he's gonna get some time to rest. I needed this as well. I'm getting a little fed up with church work nowadays.", the girl giggles at the last sentence, then turns to lay on her side, her back facing the chair's and her eyes now closed. "Do you have any animal people in your world?", the girl asks, accompanied by a soft breath. "We do have animals, but they're not people, like you. We have cats, the ones that are quite similar to you and Theobold, dogs, birds like Vurul, rats, snakes and so on.. A lot to talk about. Some are friendly and some aren't.", I answer her, running my hand through her soft hair, occasionally pushing down the soft fur ears. With a fragile voice and a soft smile, she says, "Ah.. That sounds neat. Did you know.. that there used to be a lot of us.. back in the olden times..? The kingdom of birds was lively, nesting more than 30 types of birds. Wolves were also there too, they were nice to everyone and they liked to have a good time. Snakes.. Bulls.. And so.. so.. much more than you can imagine. It was.. a wonderful world, truly. It's just.. such a shame that..". The weak and little smile slowly fades the more she talks, bitter for the sudden loss of so many of her own kind. Yeah.. I would be pretty upset if my friends suddenly all disappeared due to something. Poor Natalia.. I can only imagine such a diverse and majestic world that was in the olden times. She suddenly tears up. "Woah, hey. You okay?", I take my other hand to wipe away the tears that are slowly rolling down her face, trying my best to avoid the glasses. The girl sniffles for a little bit longer, then nods. Natalia slowly gets herself up. "I'm sorry.. I'll head back to my room for now.", she sets off immediately, leaving behind her book, maybe because she forgot. I stand up, taking the book with me as I go upstairs. I guess.. an extinction event happened, then all of them disappeared, except for Vurul and the cats. Who was there to write down the event anyways? Maybe it was all a hoax..? Unsure of what I'm even thinking of, I shake my head and let go of the thoughts. It's just a headache to think about it. Letting out a sigh as I approach the door to Natalia's room, I look at the book to make sure it's in good shape. I should knock, but I don't want to disturb her right now.. Well, I'm going to disturb her anyways if I'm going to call her. I finally knock on the door. "Hey.. Nat, you forgot your book. I'll leave it at the door, alright? Take care.", I lower my voice, then place the book down gently, before eventually going to my room. I guess I'll just prepare for tomorrow.

[. . .]

  All done! Ah.. Just in time, too, it's going to get late. Hurm.. I'm a bit hungry, I think I'll go out tonight to get some food. Natalia's candle is snuffed, she must be asleep. Better not wake her up. I slowly make my way down the stairs, to the lobby of the church. To my surprise, the girl is sitting at the window sill, basking in the moonlight. "Oh, Natalia. You're not sleeping yet?", I ask. I think I'll leave the food for later. She shakes her head. I get onto the window sill as well, looking out the window. It's a peaceful and starry night. The lit windows of distant buildings blend in with the stars in the sky. It's a full moon tonight, pretty neat. "Are you feeling any better?", I attempt to break the silence. She looks at me and nods, "Yeah. I got over it.". "Well, that's nice. I'm glad to hear that.", I nod back. The girl looks out the window once again as she did when I saw her. "Great night out, huh?", small talks.. Not my forté. We both fall into silence again. She feels more distant than usual. Maybe she's still thinking about it. I don't blame her. This awkward and unnerving silence somehow gets filled out by the sounds of the crickets that are humming in unison around the church. Despite being in the middle of a bustling city, this sanctum stays close to nature. It's a charming feat, in my opinion. "I'll.. head back to my room, yeah. Remember to rest for tomorrow too, yeah? Night, Nat.", I slowly get up from the sill, stretching left and right a little bit. After that, I set off for my room. "Wait.. I have something I've meant to say to you.", the girl gets up as well, holding my arm gently by the wrist to stop me. As I turn my face to her, Natalia takes her hood off. "I- I.. Urm..", she stutters, fiddling around with her hair a little bit. After a bit more thinking of what to say, she sighs then gently pulls me over for a kiss on the cheek. Surprised by this, I look at her, wide eyed. Her face is all red now, I can feel mine being flooded as well. "T- This is a tha- thank you, for being here for me all this time. For the last 9 months.. I know sometimes I.. Did mess up in communicating with you. But you've helped me gain courage to live my life proudly despite my origins. And.. I-", the girl once again stutters, searching for the words to speak for her feelings. "It's alright. I've been feeling the same feeling ever since we first met, too. I don't have lots of friends either and it gets lonely sometimes, y'know what I mean? Ever since I've been here, you are one of the first people to open up to me, and that means a lot to me. I guess I didn't notice, but I was slowly falling for you. I guess I could say.. I love you.". Natalia's face brightens up after hearing my words. Upon hearing this, she immediately rushes into me, hugging me tightly. "I love you tooo..!", the muffled words are more than what I wished to hear. We both enjoy the warmth of each other's embrace in this blissful silence. Our heartbeats are almost resonating, beating strongly in the midst of these rising emotions. We look at each other, her gaze silently asking for a kiss so dearly. With the mind willing, our lips slowly meet in the midst of the silence of the night. It feels like we are floating, with our minds lifted off of the troubles of this world. Even if momentarily, it feels like heaven. We then reluctantly break the kiss. "I hate to say it.. But it's bed time now.", I softly mutter, letting her go. She hums softly, pulling her hood back up. "Well.. I'm not sure if I'll be able to sleep tonight, but good night, anyways.", Natalia nods and smiles, before leaving for upstairs. Phew.. What a crazy night. I don't know if I'm going to sleep after this, either.