August Intruder- Chapter 243- Nope (Patreon)

Ark pushed the door open and stepped out. The hinges did not creak like they tended to do in some buildings. Melmarc could still remember the hinges in their therapist’s hospital when they were young. It creaked anytime it was open. He always wondered why it creaked. The office had looked well enough. It hadn’t looked like the therapist had been strapped for cash, and considering he was a therapist for powerful Delvers, he had to have had money.

They stepped out of the building, Melmarc worried. He didn’t think something had happened to Veebee. His worry was more about Veebee doing something that Veebee was not supposed to do. It was not the malice of Veebee, but the innocence of the creature.

There was also a new consideration in his mind. It was in the way Ms. Jennifer Baldur had begun furiously scribbling on her notepad the moment he’d left her office. He hadn’t had the time to care about it because he’d had something more important on his mind, but now he wondered what she could’ve been typing so enthusiastically.

Their last conversation had been her telling him that it was alright to put down the burden of responsibility. That there was no crime in just resting. It had been interesting, but Melmarc knew that it was not entirely true. Sometimes, there were things that only one person could do, things that could not wait. And when such a time came, there was no resting, there was no putting down the burden, there was only doing.

He had learnt that from watching Ark and Ninra. Although Ark and Ninra were also supporters of the resting concept.

“Well, that went well,” Ark said as they stepped out into the open and under the gaze of the evening sky. Ark looked around. The students moving about were few, mostly those who were in no hurry to return to their accommodations or had some interest in one hang out or the other.

Melmarc moved his head from side to side, trying to remember what he could of Veebee’s last location. “Yeah, well enough.”

“Completely expected her to ask about your fight with Sanders,” Ark added, walking down the stairs. Melmarc followed him easily. “I mean, everyone still whispers about it when they think you can’t hear them.”

Melmarc nodded to that. He could often hear them. The whisperers were mostly poor judges of distance. They rarely ever knew just how far he could hear if he paid attention.

“Figured out which way we’re heading?” Ark asked.

Melmarc shook his head. He closed his eyes, tried to remember what he could about Veebee’s last location. Where had it been? What had it been doing? What had it shown him?

The answer to the last question came easily. It hadn’t shown him anything. He hadn’t thought anyone was in trouble so he hadn’t tried to figure out where it was visually. And now it left him with a problem.

He shook his head. “I can’t find anything.”

“You aren’t connected right now, right?” Ark reconfirmed.

Melmarc nodded. “I can’t even sense him in my mind.”

“I see.” Ark’s face fell a little, it was in his eyes. “Did you see where it was or did it tell you where it was before it disappeared?”

Melmarc shook his head. “Only that it was looking at something curious.”

“Alright then.” Ark took a deep breath as they got to the bottom of the stairs and returned a wave at a student Melmarc did not recognize. “I’m going to teach you something that Spitfire taught me. He said its normal with anyone with a bond that is even remotely strong enough.”

Melmarc looked at Ark. He knew that just like him and Veebee, they had a mental link. But he’d always assumed that theirs was stronger than his and Veebee’s because they’d worked together longer and Ark’s mind was not busy making noise in his head from time to time. “I’m listening.”

“I need you to close your eyes,” Ark said.

Melmarc popped a brow at that. “Just close my eyes?”

“It’s a start,” Ark said, rolling his eyes. “Now hurry. For all we know, Veebee’s probably out there eating someone alive.”

It was a joke but it was not an impossibility. Melmarc knew for a fact that human flesh was a potential delicacy for Veebee. Thinking about it now, Veebee being present on earth was dangerous to human beings.

With those thoughts still in his mind, Melmarc closed his eyes.

“Good boy,” Ark joked, then cleared his throat awkwardly. “Now, I need you to think about that time Ninra burnt the pasta because she was on a call with her friends.”

Melmarc smiled a little at that. “And dad insisted on eating it even though we  ended  up ordering pizza.”

It was a good memory. Ninra had been forced to watch their father eat a whole pot of burnt pasta cooked for a family of five while everyone else ate pizza. She’d wanted to eat it with him simply because she’d been feeling bad, and he’d banned her from doing so. Their dad had eaten all of it by himself, kissed only Ninra on the forehead, told her the meal was horrible in his deadpan voice, then retired to his room.

“I said think about it, not relive it,” Ark chided him, jerking him out of the memory. “Don’t relive it, watch it. You are an outsider, an observer.”

Melmarc tried to obey. He pulled himself back a little, separating his emotions from the encounter and his love for his family to simply watch, to simply achieve objectivity.

“And don’t talk,” Ark added.

Melmarc was taken aback by how easily separating himself from his emotions in the memory was. In the blink of an eye, just like that, he felt nothing for the scene in front of him.

“Alright,” Ark said with a quiet cheer in his voice. “That’s it. Now watch everything, take stock of your surroundings.”

Melmarc wanted to ask how Ark knew he had done what needed to be done but remembered that he was not supposed to talk. Instead, he focused on the world around him. Their father kissed Ninra on the forehead. Ninra’s lips twitched a little, turning up in happiness before drooping back down in sadness.

She really wanted to eat it with him, he noticed once more, just as he’d already known. What he had not noticed back then was the twitch of her lips. Her joy at being loved by their father in that moment had failed to overturn her disappointment in herself and the fact that she still felt like she’d let everybody down.

“Forget about Ninra,” Ark said. “And no, I’m not reading your mind. You know the memory is important because of something Ninra did, so the memory will try to focus on Ninra. Ninra is unimportant, focus on everything else. Ignore me if you can… you know what, scratch that. Just watch.”

Melmarc obeyed. He shifted his attention, looked at their mother. She had been smiling. Throughout the whole meal even as she’d eaten the pizza and all the way to their father thanking Ninra. She had not, for even a moment, looked displeased. It wasn’t very surprising. Ark often got scolded when he did something wrong, but Ninra was always spared the scolding. The reason was simple. Ark was always reckless and making mistakes, so he needed the scolding. When Ninra made a mistake, it was a genuine mistake. It was not a recurring thing, and she made them very rarely.

There was also the part where Ninra already scolded herself a little too much while Ark needed external reminder to know that he had done wrong. Ark was not the best at truly understanding and appreciating the gravity of what he had done until someone had to spell it out to him in reprimand, unless his wrong had something to do with Melmarc or Ninra.

“You’re getting distracted again,” Ark scolded him from the world beyond that he could not see with closed eyes. “All you are doing is watching, observing. You are not supposed to judge or make any form of connection. Just observe, learn nothing more than what is in front of you.”

Melmarc nodded before he could stop himself.

“Don’t respond,” Ark chided. “Oh, hi, Max.”

Melmarc didn’t hear anyone respond. Still, he refocused on the memory. Now, his attention was on Ark and the smirk on his face. With Ninra not being reprimanded, Ark took all the pleasure he could in her beating herself up.

When their father had returned to the room, disappearing from the memory, their mother turned to Ninra.

“You know your dad isn’t punishing you for it, right?” she asked.

Ninra nodded slowly, holding on to her slice of pizza but not eating it. “But him refusing to eat with us feels like he is.”

Their mother smiled kindly. “But he is not.”

“Then why did he eat it instead of joining us?”

“Because he didn’t want it to be thrown away,” their mother explained to the best of her abilities. It was even clear on her face that she had simply come up with an acceptable answer. She, too, didn’t know why he had chosen to eat it.

Melmarc hadn’t known then, but somehow he knew now.

Because he can. The answer was really as simple as that. Their father had eaten the burnt food because he could. It wasn’t even as some display of his show of love for his daughter. If anyone needed a different reason, then it would fall along  the lines of saying that he ate it because it was already what he had intended on eating from the beginning—the pasta being cooked in his kitchen.

It was interesting how a lot of things changed in his memory when he understood better.

With that, his attention shifted to the last person in the room.

Melmarc paused. Me?

He watched himself, observed himself. His face was eerily familiar and he felt as if he found it interesting. A boy who knew that killing was bad but was willing to do it while stopping others from doing it. A boy who surprisingly had raw mana in its purest form growing within him, spreading through his veins while usurping his very own mana. It existed separate from everything else.

A boy who did not even know that he was more than happy to be the sacrifice. His face carried confusion and worry in unequal measures. A boy that was confused by his father’s action and his mother’s explanation. A boy who was worried about his older sister and if she would be fine even though she was always fine.

The [August Intruder] that will be Veebee’s ticket to sentience but not sapience. Veebee not sure.

Veebee just think Melmarc interesting. Veebee like Earth. Earth have food everywhere.  Veebee no like void, void boring. [Demon Lord] die soon…  maybe.  Veebee miss [Demon Lord], but Veebee no mind. Melmarc miss [Demon Lord], but Melmarc fine in the end.

Melmarc [August Intruder]. Melmarc bring Veebee from void.

Melmarc strong.

Melmarc…

The world swayed, and Melmarc found himself standing in front of a building covered in black stains. Where the black stains on the buildings around the school looked like intentional designs, this one looked as if someone was tearing the life out of the building, as if someone was ruining the white walls to replace it with one single black wall.

There was also the way the building made him feel. It was as if someone had broken into his house and started trying to change the locks, as if they were still in the process of changing the locks without his permission.

But the thought did not make him mad, it made him curious. Not many things could sneak into his world and do all this, not at the current state of the world. It was interesting, intriguing.

Then, most interesting was the building. A man and a woman stood in front of the only door leading in and out of the building. He knew it was the only door because he had already checked around the building to be sure and yet had not. It was also the only building in the entire school with armed personnel at the entrance.

Maybe he would have to check it out.

Melmarc stepped forward and the world shattered immediately as something seemed to click into place. The world around him shattered and was replaced by a notification from his interface.

[Optimum Existence increase Detected.]

[Optimum Existence (49.99% > 50.00%)]

[Optimum Existence (50.00%)]

Melmarc’s eyes shot open.

He was back in the present, standing in front of Ark, staring his brother in the eye.

[Demon Lord] die soon, he remembered. Maybe.

Ark was smiling. “Let me guess,” he said. “You found him.”

Melmarc nodded absently.

“Then let’s go get him,” Ark said, turning. “Which way?”

Melmarc hesitated. His mind focused more on Ark potentially dying than on Veebee being missing.

Those had been Veebee’s thoughts. They had to be.

“Mel?” Ark hesitated, stopping midstride. “We’ve got to hurry.”

Melmarc shook himself from his thoughts. They would find Veebee, then Veebee would explain in detail why it believed the Ark was going to die.

They would find Veebee inside that building. The only problem was how they were going to get past the guards.

We’ll burn that bridge as we get there, he decided.

He took another step forward and the world fell away from him.

He froze now. Ark was gone from him. The evening sky was gone from him. The few students loitering about were gone from him.

All that was left to him was a world of darkness and, at its center, a double door as tall as the heavens above and as wide as a house. And the door was without color.

Melmarc looked at it, feeling an eerie familiarity with it. He had been here before, once upon a time. In a time without time and a place without place.

He moved forward, his legs carrying him to the door. He knew that he should not be here, but there was something behind the door. His feet moved him more, transported him until he came to a stop in front of the double door.

Questions that did not exist ringing inside his head, Melmarc placed his hand on the door, and pushed.

His interface popped up.

[Welcome to the ????]

The world creaked like a swinging door on rusted hinges.

…

The glass of warm water paused at Uncle Dorthna’s lips, and he frowned as something pricked at his senses.

His brows furrowed as he paid attention to what it was, then his face hardened.

“Excuse me,” he said to the beggars sitting around him in their rags, talking about how they would change the world if they were Gifted not knowing that they would soon be.

The creaking sound of a door on bad hinges filled his head and he growled.

He got up from the ground…

“Nope.”

…and vanished.