Zodiac Circle

Chapter 67: The Muses' Concerns

Ivy led Kokujin and Edmond to the second floor and into a black door. They appeared in a large room with a simple bed and wooden furniture, but the most outstanding was still the sculptures of many different versions of Ivy - baby one, teenage one, and adult one with all kinds of different-coloured hair and clothing. 

"Huh? Now someone clearly loves their muse here," Kokujin chuckled, putting hands on the back of his head as if a careless guy.

"Oh, Billie and I have quite many memories," Ivy beamed at such a remark of his, disregarding his slight irony. "Anyway, boys, take seats and let's begin our discussion". 

The boys sighed with reluctance, but once they saw a severe look flicker in Ivy's eyes again, they gulped and quickly took their seats as demanded. Ivy kindly smiled and began with Edmond:

"Edmond Meerjung, right? I have nothing particular to discuss with you, save that now as you decided to emerge, you must serve your Creator loyally".

"I'm willing to do that," Edmond shrugged and reclined on his chair, putting his feet on a writing table nearby.

"Now the main concerns you, Kokujin," Ivy turned to Tamie's blue-haired muse with a strict gaze, "Why didn't you respond to your Creator's call? The fact that you were brought to life by Tamie Wingfield doesn't mean you should stop responding to her summoning".

"I'm not obliged to respond to her every time she desires to ask me stupid questions..."

"Tell me the true reason rather than making cool-boy excuses," the green-to-blue energy flared up around Ivy as she clenched her fists, "You both are still young muses. You know nothing of how dangerous it is to abandon our Creators in danger. Even when they call us to ask some questions, we should emerge and answer them. We are there to inspire them, help them, love them, support them! You cannot act for your selfish purposes. After all, no matter how selfish you are, your fate is still intertwined with your Creator's one - if they, God Forbid, die, you shall perish too. Do you realise that?"

"I perfectly realise it. She almost killed herself and me many times when she stuck her nose into things that didn't concern her," Kokujin frowned. "That is the exact reason why I didn't emerge - I wanted her to feel I was upset".

"But what are you so upset about?" Ivy gained back her maternal attitude, as she was far older and more experienced muse than the two boys.

"She... Ugh, Tamie chose Byakuya von Drachen as her love interest. I fear that guy's not too trustworthy... especially after I know how Tamie tends to choose wrong guys - she had an interest in Erik von Drachen before, and he turned out to be an evil assassin who wished to use her for his selfish purposes".

Edmond shrugged:

"I'm fine with Riza hanging out with Edmund. He is a nice guy".

"Edmund is a different matter, Edmond - he is a normal man who rules a respectful order! But what do we know about Byakuya? Nothing. And, didn't you all feel something strange about his aura and energy?" Kokujin furrowed his brow even more, once recalled how unusual Byakuya's aura felt every time Tamie found herself close to him.

"Now that you mention it, there was indeed something weird about that Byakuya guy..." Edmond scowled too.

"Yes, on that one I agree," Ivy crossed her arms as well. "However, I think you must trust in your Creator's feelings too, Kokujin. You will always be there to protect her, so she will be fine. We are muses and belong to the dream world. I think you should leave Tamie to her real-world affairs and go back to the dream world where you belong, just like I did".

"But I don't want her to hang out with some weird ones," Kokujin argued, still upset. "You didn't even allow your Creator to marry a real-world woman, Ivy - you even bore him a son. You agreed to come to real life just like me, and even stayed to bear a child!"

"Well, I had my reasons, Kokujin. You see, Billie... he is born in Steinbock Clan - the Clan that has extremely powerful eyesight, so their eyes, depending on the sign and the spirit they belong to, can vary in power - for example, Billie's little sister, Luna, who was a Libra of a Rooster spirit, became the Bearer of the Sight, so great her eyesight was. Her son, Edmund Jaeger, became the next Bearer of the Sight as he inherited both the Jaeger's powerful eyes and the Steinbock's ones. As for Billie, as a Capricorn of a Goat spirit, he has Black Orbs..."

"Huh? Black Orbs? What does that mean?"

"His eyes are black with white eyeballs, since his birth," Ivy sighed, "This renders him rather monstrous, so he was never liked by any woman, and he was obliged to always wear sunglasses to not only hide his hideous eyes but to decrease his sight, because if Black Orbs are directed towards a person, they can manipulate with their Zen, and thus their whole aura and energy - imagine being depleted in an instant... Everyone avoided Billie because of that. It is his special power and so he was even named the Saturn Celestial Lord before Goldie would grow enough".

"So that is why you stayed with him until the end and even had a son with him, because otherwise... he wouldn't make it?" Kokujin sighed, understanding her reasons now.

"That's truly unfortunate for the guy," Edmond expressed his sincere sympathy as well.

"Yes... I was obliged to take those measures, even though I belong to the dream world and not the real one... But you boys don't have such desperate situations with your Creators. They're two beautiful girls. One of them even has a boyfriend already," Ivy beamed at Edmond, and then looked at Kokujin: "As for Tamie, she is a cute maiden and will definitely find a guy, so don't you worry, Jin, and return to the dream world. Trust me. It will be better for both of you. Protect her, inspire her, but don't invade the real world. We muses don't belong there. I too, after giving birth to Goldie, returned to the dream world, because that is where I belong, and both Goldmund and Billie are happy. Billie can still summon me whenever he wants, so we'll be together forever".

Kokujin sighed - she was right, he did not belong in the real world... It was time to let Tamie know. He should help her with her life, but not invade it and disrupt her private matters, because he was not her boyfriend, but the muse - the source of inspiration, the ruler of her dreams and not her real life.

We will always be together in the dream world. There, she is mine, and she's happy with it... A bright smile covered his face - Tamie was amazing. She'd surely be fine.

After all, he'd still be beside her... always.