The Bad Offspring

Algos could not answer directly, every time this subject came to his mind, his mind fogged up, but after a considerable effort, he managed to get out of this state. His eyes changed immediately after he understood what had happened to his cousin and what had probably happened to her. He looked up at his aunt with a worried look, Mag immediately understood the situation.

"You left her with the noble...?"

"Um… Technically, yes… but… I'm going to get her!" he cried out as he put his jacket back on.

"My poor daughter…" Mag began by hiding her face before turning around to her nephew. "Why did you do that? You could have at least tried to bring back a piece of her, I don't know, like, an ear, a leg… something like that."

"What are you talking about...?"

"I'm trying to de-dramatize the situation, you larvae." she replied in an annoyed tone. "Do you even know where he lives?"

"Yes, don't worry… well… anyway, it's partly my fault, so I'll go." he explained briefly as he opened the door of the house.

"Thank you… Otherwise, are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"I can feel that deep inside you, Bahala's will is shaken, something has happened?"

"Yes, I'm fine… I guess… I wasn't feeling particularly well, but I seem to be better now, but I'm more worried about Felicia, who knows what that Poisonous could do to her."

"It's very rare to see you like that, almost stressed out." she said in a detached tone before Algos lowered his head. "Ah… Sorry, I shouldn't have said that it's not your fault, we can't blame you." she paused, scratching her head and stared at the door. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Mag nodded after hitting his nephew's head and pushed him out of the house to make him go even faster. Algos now felt a little uncomfortable about finding Felicia, but when he thought about it, she too seemed to have been controlled by the young nobleman, but he does not have time to think.

He accelerated northwards towards the city center. It was still quite far from home, a half hour's walk awaited him, not to mention the many people walking in the streets. The city center was the opposite of the cathedral, between the great school of knighthood, the smiths and the many bars and grocery stores that littered the area.

The cloudy and threatening sky finally offered a break among too many summer heat that swept the cobblestones all day long, it would probably start raining in a short time.

When he arrived in the city center, Algos immediately recognized the large shops of the various great trading families, most of them had been there for one or two centuries, more for the older ones. Trade was like a kind of tradition and the way it worked was not very different from that of a religion. There was some kind of ceremonies if you wanted to be part of the "family" and there were many celebrations to be held.

Samuel was one of the greatest of them, the fact that he was now becoming an alchemist was different from what his family wanted from him, Algos had been pleasantly surprised by this fact, generally people prefer to take the easy way, it avoids problems and their paths are clear and all set out, but not for this noble. This made Algos think a lot during the walk to Rayan Obinski's house; without a real goal, without a dream to feed, he wasn't going to be able to go far, he needed something to stand on to become strong, that's how the world worked.

"If your life doesn't have a finish line, you just never get anywhere." said his grandfather, a simple and stupid sentence, but which was nevertheless a good way to motivate yourself. Algos remembered his grandfather as a brave man who had fought for caste equity, he had ended up being murdered in his home by extremist conservatives. Algos had prayed the gods to forget what he had seen that night, hiding in the laundry room, but they never came to his aid, his memories reviving even more when he had to come to live in the same house after his childhood home had been destroyed. Living in him, two traumas at the age of 10. He had handled the pain quite well, but it had still left a scar in his heart, like an unhealthy presence in his own person.

For Felicia that was different, she had experienced several moves, which caused her a lot of stress, making her gain weight more easily than other girls of her age. She cared about herself, but she couldn't be perfect either. The moves were mainly due to her mother's work, sometimes Felicia also had to go to see her father across town. Mag was a divorced woman, she didn't want a husband as violent in his words as in his behavior. It had caused a hell of a mess in the family, even though Algos was not necessarily well regarded, even in the eyes of his own mother.

After this thought, Algos finally arrived in a residential area of the city center, where it was easy to get lost even with the help of a map. That's how he started to walk into the streets a little embarrassed with the d.e.s.i.r.e to get it over with as quickly as possible, the rain had started to fall and he was completely soaked, his hair flattening like a pancake on his head. It was after about twenty minutes of research that Algos finally found the address, it was a rather large pavilion, but not so majestic as one might think of a family like the Obinski.

To his astonishment, Algos saw movement in front of the building's gate, there was a carriage parked on the side of the road and just in front of it was discussing two people from the religious police, the Solstices. They seemed to be having a tumultuous conversation with Rayan Obinski's parents, which disturbed Al somewhat. He could see Felicia standing between the Solstices and the carriage, and in front of her was Rayan, stuck between the religious police and his parents yelling at him.

The young nobleman tried to answer his mother who shouted at him said that he had betrayed them, but he took a slap that made him stop speaking. Rayan looked at his mother with a cold look and pointed at her before turning to the Solstices, they handcuffed him and the rest of the time he didn't turn once to his parents. Just before he was forced into the carriage, he saw Algos and pointed out to him where his cousin was, and just after this he disappeared inside the carriage, the eyes closed, with a resigned face.

If he was taken on board by the religious police at this time of the year, it only meant one thing, he had not followed the tradition. And so he hadn't performed the ceremony, so the Lumio went telling priests and that's how it ended. A 17-year-old young man who was about to be ejected from his city and probably his native country.

Throughout the time, Algos had remained focused on what he was seeing, his cousin had approached him with a tense smile. Algos looked at her quickly before putting his eyes back on the carriage that was beginning to move away in the distance. The young nobleman's mother lost face and could no longer hold back her tears, so her husband made her enter the pavilion as quickly as possible to prevent passers-by from seeing her in this state, but it was too late.

"H-Hey, Algos…" Felicia began, salute Al with a waving hand.

"Hello…" he replied, disturbed by what he had just seen. "I'm sorry I left you like that, Felicia, I was out of my mind… I-"

"It's okay, I know you, you wouldn't have left me like that."

"Well… I don't want you to see me as an asshole…"

"It's not the case, so don't worry." she laughed as she tapped her cousin's shoulder. "Sometimes, just… Ah… no, nothing." she put a lock of hair back behind her ear and continued. "I know I shouldn't be talking to you about this right now, but it seems important to me. I have… talked a lot with Rayan…"

"Um… All right… and what did he tell you? If it's not intrusive."

"I… see." he continued, starting to walk out of the city center. "Why did he do that? If he's finally a good guy, why doing all this…"

"He confessed to me that it was to thwart his loneliness." she blew while shaking her hair a little. "He had tried everything to be noticed, but nothing ever worked, it may be pathetic, but it was no less tragic… He asked me not to talk about it, but I trust you…" Felicia muttered, looking Algos in the eye. "Son of a nobleman, only son, pressure on his shoulders, put aside, growing up alone with his parents and family not devoting a second to him, all this and something else more intimate… he just wanted to be able to talk to someone and be listened to, to no longer be his parents' ghost for only a few hours, even if he could be mistaken for the worst kind of sc.u.mbag." she stopped for a moment, seeing that Algos was listening attentively, then continued with a very slight smile. "I think he was desperate and yet, I hope I gave him some balm in his heart before he left his native country…" Felicia whispered as she lowered her head a little; her eyes contained a kind of melancholy, something painful. "At first I thought he was bad, I pushed him away, that I didn't want to do it with him and he just told me that if I didn't want him, he would make sure that he was the one designated by the Lumio and not me, because he was 'the one with nothing left to lose'…"

"I know you, you tend to want to take on all the responsibilities." Algos began by tapping her head. "You don't have to hold back, if you want to cry, go ahead."

"No, it's okay, but thanks for worrying about me, it's so rare that you say that kind of thing that I won't complain." she laughed in a tight voice. "But to be perfectly honest, after learning who he was and having a little talk with his parents, the only thing I feel, is remorse…"

"I… Your mother will be more comfortable discussing this with you… you know me, even a little too well. Just too well." he said, trying to cheer up his cousin. "He took you to his house for what reason then?"

"He knew he was going to be followed all over the city and he knew he was going to be found quickly, so he just asked me to follow him and talk to him before he got home and explain everything to his parents… confess everything directly to his parents… and, after, the police arrived… an hour later, I think."

Algos kept walking without saying a word, sometimes it was just a matter of listening to relieve a person, he knew it, his cousin had been there for him when he needed it.

His cousin was not the lying type, so, Algos know he was the one who was wrong, even if it wasn't really his fault. He who had clung to the appearance and behavior of the young nobleman without understanding its meaning was now feeling a little sad for him, he knew the feelings he had felt and he did not wish anyone to experience the same thing. The guilt slightly struck the young man's c.h.e.s.t; Rayan, like him, was a descendant of Bahala, when he had passed by him, Algos had felt his distress and anger, knowing now the cause was disturbing and even a little painful.

Felicia and Algos walked in silence for about ten minutes before Al decided to talk when the rain seemed to have stopped.

"The Solstices told me I should come back to the ceremony next year…"

"Next year… it's been 488 days… it gives you time to think."

"What do you mean by that?" Felicia asked with a suspicious look.

"N-Nothing." stammered Algos as he realized she could easily read his thoughts.

They came home half-soaked but in one piece. Mag tried to hide her joy so as not to make her daughter uncomfortable and greeted her waving him, as Felicia could.

The girl dropped off her jacket and started talking to her mother. Algos took the opportunity to take a shower; his head was full of different information, mostly bad information.

This nobleman had been ejected with the 96 outcasts the Cardinal had mentioned and, to tell the truth, no one really knew where they were sent.

Rayan Obinski had saved Felicia from his own stubbornness by sacrificing himself, even if he had used unconventional ways to achieve his goals; Mag, Philia, and Algos could only thank him.

However, Felicia was going to have to repeat the ceremony next year, so one thing was almost certain, she would become an outcast next year unless she fell in love with someone, but the chances of that happening were more than minimal. She had loved someone at once, but that wasn't the case anymore and she wasn't the type to go out a lot. He was going to have to find a way to get her out of this mess without the Lumios finding her, which was impossible for the moment according to Algos.

The solution had to be found by him alone, if he talked about it, it could spread like a rumor and he would have big problems, but if he didn't, he would not do for his mother, his aunt, his grandfather and even less his cousin any honor, in addition to being a coward.

However, the acts of rebellions were punished by hanging, so this somewhat curbed the young man's ambitions.

After all his thoughts, the young man rinsed his body and called his System in the hope that he could help him.

[Satisfied with your statistics?]

[I don't think you need to ask the question…]

[It was a joke :) Otherwise, you were calling me for something?]

[Do you have any news for me?]

[You gained a point in Endurance and Speed, you get one for every 5,000 steps you take.]

[5,000? That's a lot?]

[Okay, kind of like a board game. Otherwise, please open the competence tab for me.] after a short moment, he asked : [What the hell is this?]

[Just the"skills" you have, so, drawing for example, at least the basics of drawing, etc. Not to mention meditation skills you have and so on.] explained Tom.

[I see...] Al rubbed his eyes because of the foam that was stinging him and resumed the conversation. [You told me that Bahala's will… made it much easier to find its way to men who had suffered much, so the gift was more powerful.]

[Yes.]

[A gift used to… control people's minds are considered more powerful than the average?]

[Yes, I would say that this gift is of the same level as me, even higher, because it does not directly affect the host, but people outside the host.]

[I see, thanks… I just wanted to know that… I'll get back to you soon.]

[No problem.]

The image of the carriage moving away in the distance came to mind. To get young people out of their homes, to take them away from their families, to make them live alone in nature with nothing, whether it be a nobleman, a religious, or a member of the populace, how could people close their eyes to that? Or, what was it that people didn't want to see the injustices of this world? Faith or fear? Algos could not choose between the two, for him, faith is the madness that every human being shares and fear is the feeling that every human being feels as he is. Two very similar things, but at the same time radically opposed.

Al rinsed his body one last time before drying and dressed in clean clothes. He had a tired head, maybe he had thought too much. Before leaving, he stopped at the door for a moment when he heard Mag and Felicia talking from the kitchen with a distant voice.

"It's normal for you to ask yourself that question, Felicia, but I'll let you know that Philia and I have already asked ourselves that question."

"That doesn't answer the question, I know we matter to him, but if he could just confide a little, I'm sure he'd feel better."

"Aaah… I know that! But what do you want, I'm not his mother and he's not easy to talk to, you know… understanding what he's thinking isn't easy, so the best thing would be to ask him."

"I know him a little better than you think." Felicia stopped for a short while before resuming the discussion with a more assertive voice. "I'll go ask him as you told me…"

"Oh! Ask also for me and Philia too!"

"Yes, yes, I would." Felicia shouted as a sound of broken dishes was heard. "Damn it!"