MTLNOVEL Chapter 23: Getting Up To Speed
After a pause to collect his thoughts, Vorden looked at the wide eyed Jade and proceeded to relay the shortened version of the epic tale of his beginnings. At least... the parts necessary to explain that he is over a millennium years old. Which basically means leaving out the sad -my dad is a monster- island part and skip to the part where one didn't have a body.
The brief but impactful tale still packed a punch. If Vorden didn't lie he actually quite enjoyed telling his tale finally. Especially without Raten yelling over him in the background. In truth though, what made it enjoyable was telling the story to Jade. Not only was she completely enthralled by the epic adventure, but as a person who is knowledgeable on these matters, she didn't need more basic components explained. She also knew just the right moments to gasp, or emote, making very animated faces at all the right times.
After a few predicted questions he gave
a couple of simplified answers that Vorden had committed to memory decades ago, whenever he imagined the best way to have this conversation with somebody, however the moment never came until now.
"So let me make sure I understand..." Jade was looking directly at Vorden with a face of sheer determination. He tried to hide a smirk and nodded. Jade took a deep breath and continued. "For some reason that is too lengthy of a tale to delve into now, you had ended up without a body, so you and your brother were both bodyless consciousnesses placed within the body of your other brother. That other brother is Sil. Then, due to some other circumstances also redacted for brevity's sake, you decided to fade into the subconscious. However your brother Sil and your best friend the great hero Quinn both missed you and went on a grand adventure to capture two humanoid beasts of a high tier and tried to transfer you into the beasts. Which of course is another story for another day.... "
"But the gist is that after learning from the beasts memories you were able to strike up a compromise with the creatures to share their bodies, and proceeded to consume beast crystals to evolve said beasts until you ended up as demon tier humanoid beasts. Then helped your two brothers whom you had shared a body with, and your two other siblings, the twins, to defeat your abusive maniacal father before you all then aided the hero Quinn to win the second Dalki war... Am I following so far?" She paused and waited for a nod from Vorden and then proceeded.
"Ok, then you lived a long life in the body of beasts for many years before you and a the student who had gained the ability to move you in the first place were all transferred into the body of another family member so you could move out to a ship in space to help rebuild your family, but most were lost during Jim Eno's tragic war, so you all moved to a complex built for you by Logan Green, which he's your brother in law so that fits, and you all help Sil run his orphanage, and very recently were able to obtain a body of your own which is a clone of that brother Sil who now looks like your father. So you , Shiro, Sil, and Raten are all over a thousand years old but the actual body you are in currently is less than a month old? Did I miss anything?" She waited calmly for Vorden to reply. Her big brown doe eyes were wide open and determined.
Vorden couldn't help but let out a short laugh, and blushed ever so slightly. He began to awkwardly look around and scratched the back of his head before crossing his arms in front of himself and looking back at her with a bashful smirk. "I mean... When you say it all, like that... It sounds, sheesh, like a wild fantasy novel. But, I mean, yeah, I guess you got everything alright". He shrugged.
Her shoulders immediately slumped down and she lowered her face letting out an overly dramatic "Whew!" Pretending to wipe the sweat from her brow in a characature-like over the top manner. "Well, now that we got that out of the way, yeah sure. I mean that all tracks". She raised a single hand and waved it off with a flick of her wrist, before settling her hands on her hips.
"Makes sense". She casually leaned forward in her desk facing Vorden, offering him a mischievous smile as reassurance. Vorden who had been holding his breath, finally let the stress and tension wash away. He wasn't really sure what to expect exactly. His past endeavours did indeed sound like some sort of high budget fantasy script and that is just the bits that he actually told her. Though, he had to admit she took the info rather well. He had expected it to be a much more negative experience.
"So... Can you tell me what it is like to be a demon tier beast now? You don't get to just gloss over something like that, I mean, what is it even like being a non corporal form? I bet it's exhilarating". Jade gazed absent minded off into the distance like she was lost in a day dream. She looked so at peace and content. Vorden really didn't want to burst her bubble... But he wasn't going to lie.
"Um... Well, I guess you could say that. It was more like, terrifying... At least to me. Not having a body of your own is a rather stressful experience if I'm being honest". Vorden's expression grew somber. Suddenly Jade felt very guilty. Sometimes she had the bad habit of getting carried away with her excitement and didn't think before speaking.
The tension mounted in the air and the empty space between them started to feel stifling. Desperate to dispel the suddenly awkward atmosphere that manifested itself she quickly added "I am really sorry that you ended up having gone through such an ordeal, and also that you didn't get to enjoy being a little kid. I can't imagine. I realize that topics such as these tend to be more difficult to discuss, but if there is any way you might be interested in helping me add on to my research about abilities... I think your unique experiences could be... Absolutely illuminating. I find it... I find you, very interesting. I have been working on a very lengthy paper that I was meant to publish ages ago now.... But it just isn't complete. I think you just might be able to help me fill in the blanks?" Jade sat across from Vorden, and suddenly her demeanour shifted. Before she was playful, almost childlike with her tone and antics. Now, it was like she had swapped with somebody else, a teacher. Her straight forward attitude and serious tone, her down to business side was very unnerving.
Just a few minutes prior and Vorden would have thought that she wasn't serious enough to be working on any kind of meaningful research. However, now a doubt would never even cross his mind. He stood there contemplative for a few moments.
Vorden weighed the pros and cons of the situation, there really wasn't too much at risk by answering the girls questions. If he is the one being asked the questions then he can simply refuse to answer the ones he is unwilling to answer. Not really much to be weary of with that. Of course, that being said, Vorden couldn't help but feel like if he agreed to this proposition, there might be some unforseen problems that Vorden couldn't readily account for. The girl is far more cunning than he was aware, that he was sure of. He was also quite confident that the young beauty was deceptively clever and her disarming beauty would almost positively be wielded like a weapon to get him to admit to things he may not want to. The question was, did he feel confident enough in his ability to navigate the minefield of an inquisitive spirit and an ambitious soul?
"Let me think about it for a bit, ok? I need to make sure I'm fully confident in my choice either way, and I prefer not to break promises so I don't make ones I can't keep. I need to sleep on it". Jade's eagerly patient face fell slightly, though she attempted to keep it covered up Vorden could still see the deflated look buried beneath her calm, polite fabricated shell. Scanning her face carefully he simply felt cold. She was a damn good actress, most people wouldn't even be able to see that she was disappointed with that answer, but to Vorden who had been living this life for over a millennium, the subtle cues and quiet signals of others are the very tools he used many times to stay alive.
He couldn't lie to himself, he didn't really trust her just yet.
"Yeah sure, of course that's ok. Take your time" she finally said visibly trying to hide her heartbroken true feelings. With that the air grew quiet again, and the silence was thick with the many thoughts that flowed out from the two of them.
"I don't know about you... But I am starving, would you like to accompany me to the canteen for a bite to eat before they shut it down?" Jade had collected herself and shifted to a new topic. "I absolutely have to tell you about my Hero Quinn memorabilia". Just as Vorden's eyes shot up with a horrified expression he was met with a smirking Jade who immediately burst out in laughter at the look on his face. "I'm sorry, I had to, the look on your face, oh priceless".
Vorden couldn't help but laugh as well. The light hearted Jade was back to her childlike playfulness and knew the exact way to break the mounting tension. Relieved, Vorden thought about the growling felt from the pit of his empty stomach and happily agreed.
He still couldn't shake the feeling of unease. He just wasn't sure if it was coming from Jade, or something else altogether.
Sheesh Vorden, stop acting like you haven't ever talked to a girl before.
Jade dropped off the last few things she had brought with her to leave in the classroom, and with that they walked to the canteen and sat across from one another discussing various topics of interest. In all honesty it wasn't really that bad, in fact, it was kind of nice not eating alone again.