Stepback Tempo

• × Chapter Six: Explanation × •

Jacques had followed the duo into a large dining room, watching as Ensley's flame grew solemnly and lit up most of the room from behind the boy. Chancellor dimmed the lights of the giant room a bit, giving the Englishman's flame a chance to glow. Shifting, the gambler had found his way in the brightly lit room and settled at the table that was centered in the dining room, leaning back in a large, oak tinted chair. Jack could see Ensley step up from behind him and with a calmer gait than the manager, he pulled out a chair from the table and carefully sat down in it. Chancellor made a low "tch", moving a hand over to point at a chair next to the other spirit. "Sit, boy. We don't have time to stand around if you want a full-on conversation."

"Calm down. He's curious."

"Curious about what?" Chancellor spoke to the other, hands tapping impatiently against the table's surface. The two talked as Jacques stumbled at the other's demand, and soon settled down in the chair next to Ensley. "He's only twelve, Chancellor. Don't get him abashed."

"Don't baby him." He spoke, curtly. Shifting to the boy, Chancellor glanced at his face, then down at his pocket. "Show me that crystal you have, child."

"My name is Jacques." The ginger spoke back, pulling the blue gem from the newly made home in his parka, and leaned up to set it on the table. However, the moment he moved away from it, he glanced at the gambler who picked it up in his hands, and commented. "You're... blonde."

The man only looked up at him. His hair was swooped in a fancy manner, blonde bangs pushed to the side, and on his head was a black suede hat. "Good eyes kid, you know your colors." Chancellor commented sarcastically. He was holding the crystal up to Ensley, and Jack watched. "I can't see his flame." He inquired. Ensley lounged back in his seat and tugged on his scarf, yet the crystal in the other's hand glowed as though it was lit by a light source. "We still, however, can." The soft, English accented voice of his friend replied. "You may not be an Oculatum, but the both of us are. And we can see our true forms without a crystal."

Jack leaned up over the table now, watching as Chancellor was observing the gem. "What is that, anyway? I only found it off the street."

Chancellor looked up at Ensley, post the boy's question. From Jack's view, the other gave an upturn of his brows and a shrug, but the boy looked at the crystal and saw that the light reflected off of it... turned pink. The manager turned his head towards him, sitting back down in his seat after having got up to look at the jewel. "It's known as a Perception Gem. Whoever dropped it on the street must of known about us, because you cannot especially find a stone like this simply lying out in the road like that." He answered, the man's heavy accent contrasting widely to the other's. "You know by now it seems, that keeping it on your person allows you to see Oculatums."

"Yeah. Ensley told me that bit."

"Of course. He would of needed to at the time." Chancellor hummed. The boy gave a nod, then watched as Ensley had quietly stood and went to make something at the kitchen counter. "Can I ask you more about um... spirits?" Jack asked. Chancellor gave a slightly inquiring glance, otherworldly hued eyes looking back at the other. After a moment, there was a surrendering hum. "As long as I may be able to answer them. I truly do not know much." Not long after his response was there an outside rumble interrupting the two, and then they could audibly hear a grumble from the third. It sounded like it was storming once more. Jack listened, before speaking as Ensley had eventually brought over cups of tea for him and the manager, and a glass of orange juice for the boy. "Well... why are you and uh... Ensley... you?" He tried to speak without seeming to be rude, drinking the cup of juice in his hands. Chancellor's eyebrows immediately furrowed, and ruby orbs settled on the other who was calmly sipping his tea. Ensley paused, the newfound silence causing his eyes to open, before he placed down the cup and searched within for a good way to explain. "I'll answer this question for you." He cleared his throat. Chancellor set the Perception Gem on the table, in order to take a sip of his own cup, and listened in as well. "Well," Ensley began, "when people die, they usually have two paths to travel at the end depending on how they've lived. Either the good afterlife, or the bad."

"So, heaven or hell?"

"Yes, I assume. You get into one for good deeds, and the other for the bad. However... on rare occasions in which they balance out, enough cases that lead you to equally good and bad deeds... instead throw you into "limbo". Unlike heaven or hell, we stay here as spirits instead of either. As Oculatums. And as the others call it, we live in the middle, or the Medium." Ensley stated. Jack listened as he swallowed the rest of the drink, then watched the gem. "Does that mean you can't live on?" The boy questioned. The shopkeeper had a worried expression, glancing at Chancellor before he spoke. "No. We stay here for all eternity, in a constant struggle."

"That sounds... horrible." He frowned.

The New Yorker made a low sound, leaning back in his chair. "To you, it is. However, it's not the absolute worst. We can still live out our lives like we did when we were alive, but in disguise of our old selves. The worst however, is the other spirits who come to say hello."

With a creak, Chancellor leaned forward in his chair. "You see, boy... there are many Oculatums now. And many people on the middle ground means barely any in the two paths of afterlife. So, they come down here and try to get us to go on their side."

"Do some go?" Jacques mumbled. Ensley gave a nod. "They do, but not all. There may be two afterlives aside from this one, but neither treat Oculatums politely due to either or good deeds, or bad."

"What you call "angels" and "devils" are equally giant assholes." Chancellor huffed, resting his arms on the table's surface. "Paragons act like they have sticks up their asses, and they bite you in yours no matter the cost just to try and get you on their side. And demons nonetheless have always been assholes, and they try to do the same. It's like a game of tug of war, except both people pulling you are bad, and surprise, surprise, you're the rope."

"Where's the god of them, then? Isn't there a god for each end?"

"No, actually. There's just one." Ensley added. "The lore I hear is lengthy - he was a god whom created everything, yet with even such a power, he was forced to nothing. He created both afterlives in not his own intention."

"That's even worse! And unfair." Jack puffed up his chest. "They shouldn't hurt you for their own gains... And you guys like it here!"

The two spirits glanced at each other, before Ensley proclaimed. "Most of the time, yes. However, they simply cannot harm us, for we cannot die."

"However, kid, they can harm you." Chancellor spoke. "Paragons and demons would love to get their hands on the living to force an Oculatum onto their side. However... as long as they're seen, the living can indeed see and hurt most spirits. That's why the Perception Gem proves useful. Some you may not be able to see, but most you surely will." He glanced at the gem, then at the boy himself. "Speaking of which... there's someone I would believe you would find useful in this hotel. She can help turn that crystal into something you can't lose." Chancellor stood, pushing in his chair and finishing his tea, then glanced at the duo that stayed at the table. "I want you two to follow me."