Nathanriel's Fate- Chapter 5
#5 of Nathanriel's Fate
Bit more of a lead up to events far down the line in context of the story. One of the main themes of this story in the trilogy is that the main cast are the central actions to everything going on, and yet at the same time are just so utterly out of their league in regards to everyone else. And yeah, I would strongly bet that any Kinal playing poker would have to wear sunglasses since their eyes are mood rings. Not so much for Nathanriel as long-term exposure to Anrisil has muted the effect.
Now for some of the details since I don't intend on having it exposited much in the story itself. On Esana there is an accepted status of what one is, based exclusively on how strongly magic (which is effectively the energy of the soul) is infused in their body. Without any effect you have the Animal Class. Then above that are the humans then finally the three classes of demon (lesser, normal and elite). The higher the class, the easier it is to use magic, and the more impact magic has on the individual. Lesser demons (like Angylia) and below don't really exhibit any physical characteristics. At full demon you can see a few subtle changes that reflect who they are and on elite demons it is strong enough that even their mood would have an impact on their bodies. For the higher end of full demons and elite demons, you get to the point where it isn't so much a matter of choosing to use magic as choosing not to use magic. So when you have a species where it's normally harder for them to not use magic, it makes sense why a bar would absolutely refuse giving them a substance that by design would inhibit control.
This is also the second time where Fate has decided to speak up in this story not so much to say anything useful as to get attention. Though not to the same extent with Anon in chapter 2 as that one was to actually get him to move as well, in both this chapter and chapter 2, Fate is not directly trying to force Nathanriel to act. In fact if you look at his statement in this one he doesn't even give any useful information. He just says "Don't lie" when Nathanriel has already said just about anything useful that he was going to say and then only says one more line. However, if you look closely at each instance, you'll notice that the moment Fate talks, they both immediately react, meaning they are at least aware that Nathanriel can hear Fate's Voice, which Fate has decided is important to get what it wants.
"Hello," a reptilian demon comments, coming towards them from somewhere in the bowels of the store. Apparently there is something that even alerts the people working here when someone enters. As he takes a good look at them he takes an exasperated gasp, though something about his eyes makes Nathanriel feel weary, as if his entire demeanor is entirely fake. "Please tell me that the two of you are from that fighting pit. I would honestly weep if I could if someone that took so poor care of their weapons that they ended up in such a shape decided to walk into my store buying a new weapon."
"Uh, yeah, actually. We just escaped from there earlier today," Bob answers, something Nathanriel would have preferred he didn't do since they don't know how they'd react to this information considering how the pit would bring quite a few visitors to the town.
"Well that's good," the lizard replies, his expression hard to discern. "As it is not illegal in this country at best we have to be neutral regarding that Pit Arena, but between you and me I always consider it a victory for demonkind whenever someone manages to escape that wretched place. But enough of such a dreary topic. It's far too rare that I get to see any real demons in this place. Let me take a good look at you two."
The lizard comes up close to Nathanriel and stares very intently making him rather uncomfortable. Nathanriel takes a step back when those slit nostrils begin inhaling deeply.
"Male Kinal, barely into adulthood from the scent. Not too bad a specimen, seems fairly healthy and don't really see too many scars on you right now. Though muted fur color and eyes suggest long term drainage of magic or more likely use of Anrisil," he comments into a sort of box that he pulls out of his pocket. "Am I correct?"
"Yes, actually. How did you know? Is it a side-effect of the drug? That's actually one of the reasons I'm here, to see if I can get a refill or something."
"Well if you have the money then you've certainly come to the right place. As far as how I know it's actually rather easy. Though I do have one more observation to make. Guessing by the fact you do use Anrisil and your lack of knowledge why fur or eye color would let on this fact I'd say that you do have not interacted much at all with your own kind. Most likely raised by a lesser demon race or a human I suppose but based on your accent I'd say probably western Massal kingdom. Anyway, as odd as it is too tell someone something about their own race the Kinal race is considered to be in the elite demon class and as such have various traits that actually vary based on that person's mood or who they are rather than their genetics. For Kinal this is most evident in their fur and eye color. For a Kinal the more morally minded they are the lighter in tone it is, often settling on a white or very pale blue. For the more evil it goes with the more vibrant reds, oranges and browns. For those in between it is usually a yellow or gray. You eyes aren't that complicated. They basically just act like a mood ring would. Look into a Kinal's eyes and you'd instantly know what they're feeling. Makes them crap at poker I'd say."
"And you," he turns and looks at Bob very closely for a moment longer, "you seem to be a pretty fine specimen of a Koryou demon."
"I'm a human, actually. I just look this way because of a curse," Bob replies.
"I see. So you say. You look fairly healthy though. Anyway," the lizard suddenly takes a step back and claps. "Where are my manners? I am called Erick and this is my store." He makes a grand gesture for the building they're inside before speaking again. "What can I do you two for?"
"Well as I said earlier I need a refill of Anrisil. And as we're not going to be staying here long I thought we should get as many supplies as possible. Though I guess that makes our first priority to be trying to see if you have anything that we can do for some gold," Nathanriel pauses a moment before speaking up again as something dawns on him. "Though first, I have to ask. You know quite a bit about my kind, right?"
"I would like to think I'm fairly well versed in the details of all races in this area. But, sure. I know about the Kinal. Why do you ask? Want to know how to find more of them?"
"Well that would be nice, but I was thinking more about colors. What do you know of black kinal?"
"That depends. There are a few gangs of kinal that dye their fur black as either a form of rebellion against being judged by their fur color or to try to come off as soulless. Though it's a bit too far south for those to be in this area."
"I think the ones he's thinking of weren't in a gang," Bob adds. "Or I guess given how well they seemed to be moving about it's possible that there were more but I only saw the two females."
Erick's expression twitches at the mention of them being female, a very subtle move that sets Nathanriel even more on guard.
"These two females, did one always seem to have glowing red eyes while the other's were pure black?"
"I think so, and one of them seemed to have some markings of white fur on her face."
Nathanriel can't read his expression, though that almost makes Nathanriel want to change the subject. "Do not lie," the Voice commands into Nathanriel's head as the lizard's face changes into what would normally be a disarming smile.
"You two are certainly quite lucky to still be alive after having come across those two. I wouldn't worry about them if I were you. They are vastly more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine. The reason they didn't kill you is simply because you were but a speck to them. But you wouldn't happen to know where they are now by any chance, would you?"
"Well they were in that pit we escaped from and left just before we did, which was maybe an hour or so ago."
"Excellent," he states before turning back to the interior of the store, shouting to someone further in. "Hey Daniel, we have a positive sighting on our two favorite Kinal and they should still be within our net. Alert the sages to scry their exact position and tell them to make sure that all the preparations are ready for the seals."
"What's that all about?" Bob asks.
"Oh, nothing for you two to worry about. Those two have accrued a lot of enemies who would pay a lot of money to see them dealt with. Unfortunately those two are immortal and cannot be killed by any means so sealing them away for a thousand years is the best that we can do. But that doesn't really have much of an impact on the two of you. As I said they are vastly more powerful than anything but the celestials and you wouldn't be able to help even if you wanted. Tell you what, we do pay for people who give us the location of a known terrorist," he states before heading over to some sort of register. "Given how it is still an hour old it wouldn't be much money but it should at least pay for a lunar cycle's worth of Anrisil for you, a good meal to tide you two over for a little while. And I insist that you leave your weapons and armor with me for now. No, it's not against the law, but I just can't stand to see that equipment in such poor shape. It'd be an embarrassment to let you two out with that looking like it does. People might get the wrong idea about the quality of our wares. So shoo, go get some food and come back in an hour or two and I'll have your stuff all ready and might have another job for you then."
Nathanriel feels very vulnerable walking out of that temple of a shop and back through the town without any means of protection but didn't think it wise to refuse such an insistent offer from that particular person. Even still, they manage to find a decent enough looking place to eat without incident, though they do quickly shuffle them off to some back corner of the place out of the regular traffic. What does strike him odd though is that they have a sign near the bar with decent drawings of various races, ones focused more on realism than any stylistic or expressive manner with a sign on it saying that these demons were not to be given any alcoholic beverages. There was a picture of one of his kind but when he looked at it more closely it didn't specify a single person, but rather listed his race's name instead.
Nathanriel almost finds it a little offensive on how his entire race is being denied alcohol of any kind. And yet it clearly wasn't necessarily just about the fact that he's a demon since Bob's race isn't in there as well. It is to the extent that when a waitress shows up he feels compelled to ask.
"Why is it that you have an image of my kind on that paper over there?"
"Oh, that. There are some demons that are known to be unable to really hold their liquor. Letting them drink is very risky and our insurance doesn't cover such things. Anyway, what can I get you?"
"I don't know, maybe a couple of steaks would be good enough, how much would that cost us?" Nathanriel asks.
"For the two of them? About fifty lesser gold. And since you're outsiders I'll have to ask you to pay up front."
Nathanriel looks through the money that Erick had given them and finds enough coins to pay. She takes some particulars about it and then leaves with the coins.
"So where do you think we should head to next? Beyond trying to find a cure for this curse I have no real preferences."
"Well I think it would be nice to know more about my own kind. All I know about my kind growing up is that they are generally just up in the northern steppes. So I figure that would be a good place to start. Unless of course the voice inside me tells me what to do instead."
"Voice?"
"Yeah, every now and then there's a voice that begins shouting into my head, telling me to do things. If I try to ignore the Voice it just shouts louder and louder till it starts getting painful. That's how I ended up in that pit, it shouted at me so loud I lost consciousness. I know it makes me sound crazy but it hasn't lead me wrong so far."
"Oh! So you're a child of Fate? I thought those were always wiped out at birth. But if you're a child of Fate then I'm definitely not leaving your side," Bob states in a rather enthusiastic manner.
"A child of Fate?" Nathanriel asks, having never heard the term before.
"Yeah, the Celestials like to watch over us and guide us. The Celestial named Fate is in charge of taking care of the destinies of everyone in the entire world but with free will this is very hard to do. So Fate will select certain people and bless them at birth with the ability to hear His call so that they may take a more involved role in shaping history."
"If that's the case why were they killed at birth?"
"Oh, just some ancient superstition about how it was the result of too many children of Fate running around that caused the Great War a thousand years ago. Gin told me all about it, how over a thousand years ago there was war after war in this entire continent for over a century. As soon as one war would end another would begin somewhere else. It all ended at the Battle of Fate."
"Battle of Fate?" Nathanriel asks as their food arrives.
"Yeah. One rather powerful demon apparently figured out that the constant succession of wars could be stopped by defeating Fate itself. To defend itself Fate called in every single one of its children. The Battle of Fate is where this demon took on and defeated Fate while their allies held off all of Fate's children. A lot of people died during that battle but with Fate subdued for the time being none of the children could get any more instructions from Fate and shortly after that the War ended. Many places started killing all of the children of Fate they could find to make sure that the Great War wouldn't start again."
"I see," Nathanriel reflects on it, half glad that he wasn't insane for having something talk to his mind but at the same time wondering if letting anyone know of this fact will put his life at more risk. "Just how old is your summon then if they were in a battle one thousand years ago."
"Don't know. Figure it was never polite to ask them. The shrines were certainly there for a long time and given the requirements of becoming a summon they were old even before becoming a summon."