Scarlet

[Are you kidding me?! Don’t do something so stupidly dangerous! I’m the reckless one, remember?!]

I glare at my phone, having a hard time believing someone like Belle would actually do something like this. And for what? Just to go to Lion’s Heart Guardians university? Why does she want to go this badly anyways?

I’ve heard that there are some Guardians who take their children to Fractures in case a ‘spirit’ decides they want to contract with them, but generally that’s looked down upon. Many believing that surviving your first Fracture unaided until reinforcements arrive being the best way to prove yourself or something. Not to mention that apparently people who do that aren’t anywhere near as likely to be contracted. To the point that I’ve only heard of one or two people who did manage to contract that way.

“Of course, they aren’t contracted,” Tar suddenly says, reminding me of the weight on my chest that I had forgotten about thanks to her message. “When you’re looking for a champion to represent you, would you pick someone who is basically being walked through their first Fracture, taking the easy way through life? No. You wouldn’t.”

Then the tanuki goes quiet again.

He makes a good point though. If a fae’s status is represented by their contractor, then they wouldn’t want some spoiled rich kid.

I feel like I do remember hearing some news about people who tried getting a contract this way and failed, only to end up in a Fracture themselves by mistake or happenstance later on and get a contract then instead.

Belle responds to my text a minute later, making me grimace.

[Then take this as me learning your tricks. You always pull through after all, so why can’t I?]

She has a point. I don’t think I have the right to get mad at her over this.

But…

I quickly copy her original text saying her plan before sending it to Arthur.

He can.

And with my tattle tailing done-

My thoughts pause as the phone buzzes again before I can even put it down.

[I see. Thank you for telling me, I’ll be sure to have a nice little chat with her.]

I grin at that as I put my phone away and get up, startling the tanuki into flying into the air. But after a few seconds, he just floats over to my head and lies down there instead, making me flinch as he touches my ears, which are still way too sensitive for their own good.

Better not to let others touch them, else they might see how sensitive they are. Specifically, Belle.

She’d have a field day trying to tickle me through my ears.

I grimace at the thought as I reach over to grab my jacket and pull it on while walking over to the door.

Time to get some fresh air.

Tar appears next to me – having vanished the moment we left my suite – as I lie down on my back on the roof of the base. Which took me a while to find.

High in the sky are the beautiful stars that you don’t get to see from the city proper thanks to the lights, along with the full moon glowing a bright yellow. I can’t help the smile that stretches across my face as I just stare up at the sky, looking at the moon.

At least I now have a logical reason for why I love the moon so much. It’s probably because I’m half blood lycan.

The peace of the night calms my nerves after spending most of the day doing tests that were more akin to torture than evaluations, followed by my workout which fortunately was a lot less eventful. Even if there were still some people watching me, what with me being a newbie here and all.

Actually, come to think of it, do Guardians really need to continue working out?

Tar’s ear twitches as he answers, “Yeah. It’s a little complicated, but your draining of life force basically makes your presence in reality stronger, increasing the current prowess of your body. And if you don’t keep in shape, it will show in a pretty decent decrease in your physical capabilities. Of course, you’d still be far stronger than a regular human being. But not as strong as you could be, and you wouldn’t look as physically fit either.”

Oh. That’s honestly rather interesting.

There’s still one thing bothering me though.

“What’s that?” Tar asks, lying down on the ground next to me, surprisingly not lying on top of me this time.

Well, I noticed that my life drain skill mentions that it drains the life energy from other beings to heal myself. What’s the difference between life energy and life force?

Tar glances at me before staring up at the sky again with his little legs splayed out on each side in an adorable manner that showcases just how artificial his body is considering the lack of any biological parts besides what appears necessary to defend himself. Which I guess makes sense since the fae are supposed to look as endearing as possible to the humans they're contracting, and their body on Earth is just artificial.

My thoughts are distracted when he answers my question, “Life force is what grounds you to reality and what reality uses to ground itself to you. It establishes your presence, and your power. But life energy is basically just what keeps your body alive. Kind of like the HP or hit points you often see in a video game.”

Wait, you know about video games?

The tanuki rolls over as he says, “Yeah, my last contracted partner was really big on them. To the point it was nearly an obsession, and he was even starting to think of the world as a game as well. What with the similarities between the System and games. Which wasn’t a good thing for a Guardian.”

I wince.

Yeah, I can see that being bad.

Sorry I asked.

Tar floats up into the air and onto my stomach as he says, “It’s fine.”

We both stay silent for several minutes, just enjoying the peace on the roof that is only occasionally broken slightly by the sound of an explosion occasionally happening from the experimental fields. Explosions that make me even more happy that the building is soundproof. They also makes me switch to my human ears, because ouch.

“Tar,” I ask, my relaxed face turning sad for a moment.

How do you think the others would react to knowing that I’m a half demon?

The tanuki doesn’t say anything for nearly an entire minute.

“Probably not well,” he eventually responds in my head, which is unusual for when he’s out physically on Earth, since he usually talks in my mind while not physically here and out loud when he is physically present. “But I can see your friend Belle looking past it, from what I’ve seen of her so far that is. And maybe that Cipher guy as well. Maybe.”

Hmm.

Thank you.

He nods his head before closing his eyes and resting his head on my stomach as if he were going to sleep.

If I’m being honest, I don’t really care much about not being fully human anymore. But I do care about what they’d think.

Tar doesn’t say anything to that, his breathing hinting towards him having fallen asleep.

I let out a sigh.

Why couldn’t life be more like a video game than it already is? Games aren’t often complicated. Not some of them at least. Move your chess piece one space to the right and look at the board to figure out your next move. Not guessing beyond the limited scope of moves the other player has. No way they could break the known rules and go off the board. No other players there to interfere with the game.

No emotions going into play in the game, complicating everything.

I let out another sigh before following the tanuki’s example and closing my eyes.

A short nap will be nice. Then I can go back to my room.