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A couple of days passed, and it came time for class to be held again. Karina had sent by mail a copy of the silly story she had given Lucian. When Lucian heard Janus comment on the matter, Lucian felt a little sad for reasons he did not understand. When Lucian saw Janus at the store, he asked, “How goes the church business?”

“It’s not a business!” said Janus annoyed.

“Are you making a profit or losing money?” asked Lucian.

“Alright, so it might be one,” said Janus. Changing the subject, he asked, “Do you have the packet?”

“Here you go,” said Lucian handing him something from under the counter.

Like most merchant families, the Uradels lived in their main store. The bottom floor was the shop, and the last two floors were the living quarters. The basement was the storage unit. Aside from selling any hot ticket items, the Uradels relied on their jeweler and watchmaking business. There was always a demand for such items in a city like Veragerung. They stood out from their competitors by working with semi-precious stones. This made the jewelry cheaper, and more accessible to the upper middle class. They also got a little bit gimmicky with the shapes of the metals. So much so, that it was almost impossible for competing jewelers to replicate some of their pieces.

The crowning achievement was their development of ornamental masks. Lucian’s father, Luscious had found an ornamental mask while digging a well. The mask had caused a career change for the man. And so, he apprenticed to be a jeweler. He developed new metallurgy techniques and recipes while trying to replicate the mask. So far, he had been unsuccessful. The story of this mask was well known, and it brought plenty of curious visitors who wanted to see it. An approximation of the real thing was kept in a class box, on permanent display next to the counter. The original one used to on display, but it once got kidnapped. After paying a ransom, Luscious was able to get it back. Ever since then, it was kept under lock and key in a hidden location know only to Luscious and his son.

Janus studied the fake mask with curiosity. When he was wee small, he had seen the original version. This one paled in comparison. The devil was in the detail, and the original had many, far too many. It was a half face, carnival mask. It was designed to be a phoenix. The ornamental feathers were delicate strands of copper. The forehead gem was a ruby, surrounded by pink and golden topazes to simulate fire. One could easily spend hours staring at the mask, and finding new little details to describe, from the little engravings inside the edge of the eye holes, to the fact that the casting was design to be a perfect fit for someone.

Luscious imagined that the mask must have been made for a pretty lady, based on the shape of the face. When he was younger, he would have his little ladies try on the mask, to see if it was a perfect fit. The one who got closets to this fit became the mother of Lucian. As with most marriages based on fancies, it was lackluster at best. Lucian was familiar with the story, and at times he even imagined that his parents were in love. This was nothing further from the truth, but there is no worse type of blind person than a man who refuses to see.

Caught in the remembrance of this story, Lucian was compelled to ask, “Who is the pendant for? Suntaria?”

“No. Somebody new. I decided to go look for someone else because she was driving me crazy. Nag, nag, nag, nag. As if she was my mother,” said Janus rubbing his temple. Just hearing her name was enough to give him a headache these days.

“Who are you going to give it to them? I am curious,” insisted Lucian.

Janus opened the case, and then said to Lucian holding the pendant, with the necklace up, “Do you think our teacher is going to like this?”

“Are you really that desperate? She is older than you, you know,” said Lucian, turning serious. The smile had vanished from his face.

“I don’t see anything wrong. She is possibly 10 or maybe 20 years tops, older than me, and that is adding more years than what she appears to be. She could be part elfin. Nobody frowns when a 1000-year-old elf marries a 20-year-old human, so I really don’t see why age should be a factor in this relationship,” said Janus grinning.  

“She is your teacher. And it is against the law for teachers to seduce their students,” said Lucian, “Do you want her to get in trouble?”

“The law says nothing about students engaging in courtship. And there is a statutory limitation on that law, to allow for such marriages to occur. As long as the student completed the class more than two years ago, they are good to go, but only if they are older than 18, and the teacher has not sought any romantic entanglements with the party in question,” said Janus smiling.

“Boy, you have been researching that stupid fancy of yours for a while, haven’t you?” commented Lucian dryly.

“Since the first day she dropped the letter in my mailbox,” said Janus happily.

“Good for you!” said Lucian, “Well, off you go then. I am very certain she is so, going to love it. All girls like pretty baubles, and one made specifically for her pretty neck is sure to wow, our little Karina.”

“You mean my little Karina,” corrected Janus.

“Yes, yours, yours,” said Lucian giving a fake, warm smile.

As soon as Janus turned his back, Lucian started staring daggers at him.

On his way to class, Lucian pondered a bit on whether the little bauble would work. Karina certainly took all the presents she received, but she was never seen wearing them. Some of the gossiping maids from time to time checked the Kingly Royal dump to see if Karina happened to throw one of her expensive gifts away. Aside from the gift boxes, nothing else was ever seen of the presents. What Karina did do with her gifts was feed them to her pet, Ahi of a brother. If they were dresses, she would chop them into new attires that were more to her liking. If the fabric did not suffice, she made doll clothing. At other times, she would dress other people’s dogs without the owner’s permission. Overnight, the pets would be sporting a silly costume. It gave people plenty to talk about, but since there was no malicious nature to this type of event, it did not warrant the guards’ immediate attention.  

Since he was lost in thought, Lucian arrived a little bit late to class. He was mortified when he noticed that Karina was wearing the necklace Janus had bought for her. Janus was the only fellow to have noticed that Karina liked orby things. The pendant itself was made of gold. In the center, there was a dandelion with some seeds floating away. The links were all perfect circles, as well as the chain link. Karina was seen often eating dandelions. She mixed the flowers and roots, with her occasional salad. She claimed the plant was good for digestions, and it kept her skin healthy. It also had antioxidants, but Karina never shared this information because she did not want to overwhelm the locals with scientific information.

Karina greeted her students in her usual manor. Her bored mimic Vindkald had become a usual pest. The mimic surprised all the students, including the new one when he decided to look human for a change. In response to their skeptic looks, Vindkald said, “What? Even I get bored of being sat upon all the time.”

After saying this, he flopped over to the nearest couch, before setting down and taking a nap. The clothing he grew was quite curious indeed. He wore a red kimono, with white clouds and golden flowers patterns. The black sash had different color carnations. It was tied by a green rope. The hair was silky white, and while he slept sometimes the hair trembled as if it had a life of its own. The eyes were milky, blue, like those of a blindman.

Karina got from behind the couch a blanket. The clothing, like the rest of Vindkald was part of his body. And so, he was technically sleeping without anything on. Today, everyone was there: Casimir, Mico, Janus, Lucian, Babysel, Periwinkle, Carmenta, and Suntaria.

The new person attending class was Regin. As part of her punishment, she had to attend Karina’s weird ethics class. Right behind Lucian, followed a new face. The fellow was Letholdus the Bruce. Whenever a class had a large gathering of people of means, he made a brief appearance. He was wearing a sign, which he removed and placed and top of the desk. The sign read, 50 percent off on all teas bags, this weekend only at Echinoid’s Home goods and Sundries. Letholdus was not a student. He had been homeschooled by his overprotective mother. He only interacted with people his mother approved. Since business was dropping, he was tasked to sport an advertisement, while he roamed the city. Since Letholdus was curious and was going through a bit of a rebellious streak, he started to go to school to promote his wares. Most teachers tolerated him because he was as quiet as a mouse. Often than not, it was easy for people to forget that he was a person. These days, he was regarded as a piece of furniture in the school, and nothing more. Since he was not a student, he wore journeyman’s attire, which consisted of a red hosen, a long sleeve shirt, and a warm overcoat. It did not scream poverty, but it also was not showy. Had the ladies bothered to truly look at him, they would realize that he was a handsome devil, with his clean-shaven face, his strong jaw, and masculine features, thick lips, and deep, focused blue eyes. This beauty was all hidden beneath a large mane of black, wavy hair that was almost halfway down his back. He had been growing his hair over the last four years. He had grown from an, ordinary child, to a pretty boy during that time. It was his hair and his demeaner that hid this fact from the rest of the world.

Karina looked at Letholdus, and she raised an eyebrow as she pouted her lips. She then started as thus, as she addressed her class, “From what I hear, it is the Petit Malice law that seems to be landing a lot of people in hot water lately.”

“It just seems very vague, like it deals with far too many things, and how many negative actions equate jail time?” said Carmenta.

“Well, to put it bluntly, the law is designed to punish people who are evil fustilarians,” said Karina.

“Can you use words spoken by normal people,” said Babysel.

“It’s a law to punish assholes! There, happy! Sheesh!” said Karina folding her arms and looking quite displeased. She then wrote on the chalkboard that fustilarian was the same thing as an asshole.

“Anyhow, fustilarians are a type of crazy people. Over the years, they have developed a compulsion to do small evils, even though, they do not bring them any personal gain,” said Karina. She then pointed to Regin, “There, that’s a good example of a Fustilarian!”

“Yes, yes! Pile it on. I should have expected some type of public humiliation,” said Regin raising her hands.

“Public? It is just us! Sheesh! Stop being such a martyr,” said Babysel.  

“Yes, but some subjects never seem to die,” whined Regin, “Everywhere I go, people hide their purses, as if I was some common thief.”

“That is certainly a problem. Who is the person who brings it up the most?” asked Karina.

“The religious nuts,” said Regin.

“Now, that is a problem. How is a person to return to society if the punishment sees no end?” asked Karina.

This matter had never crossed the mind of anyone in the classroom. Since the students considered themselves law abiding citizens, the problems of prisoners reintegrating to society had never crossed their mind. As with most problems, the students only bothered with evils that affect them directly.

“See, those people who take it upon themselves to continue punishing others are also a type of fustilarian,” said Karina. She then opened the window and yelled, “Mortimer, come onto me.”

Mortimer’s true name was a growl consisting of the M, R and T sound. As was the habit among dragons, Mortimer answered to a humanoid name, when dealing with creatures that could not speak like the dragons. As for Mortimer, he was a little Pudgy Dragon, about 18 inches in length. He had golden feathers on his head, and white feathered wings, with a golden mane. The snout was black, and his eyes were rather small, and black. Due to his coloration, Mortimer was cordially known as the Cockatoo Dragon. This was a nickname that Mortimer did not mind, considering that he tended to hang out with a flock of moluccan cockatoos.

Mortimer entered inside classroom. He was soon followed by two cockatoos. The first was a male bird who answered to Gigas, and the other was his lady Copi. Karina said to Mortimer, “Some well-behaved orderlies have been breaking the Petit Malice law. They keep reminding Regin of her crime, even though she has taken all the necessary steps to remedy her fault. Remind them of who is the true law in Veragerung.”

“As you wish,” said Mortimer bowing.

The birds repeated, “As, you wish.”

“Pretty boy’s gone schooled,” said Gigas to Copi, before whistling.

“Come and gander, and then they are gone,” said Copi barking.

Mortimer flew to the window, before leaving he said, “I will be going now, let’s my children continue their disruptive, noisy behavior.”

Mortimer left, and was followed by Gigas. Copi stayed behind. She flew and landed on top of a chandelier. From up there, she gave good luck to Vindkald, who had been snoring with his mouth open since the class had started. After receiving his blessing, Vindkald awoke with a start, angry, while the students laughed at him, including Karina. Annoyed, Vindkald turned into a shifting, amorphous monster and contorted his frame to catch the bird. Vindkald gathered his massive frame around the bird, who studied him coolly. Copi moved her crest up and down a bit, as she studied Vindkald with disdain.

Karina said to Vindkald, “Relax, it is just a stupid bird, and don’t tell me this is the first time you ever have received a blessing form the posterior of an animal?”

Vindkald said nothing, only he flew out the window. He was followed by Copi yelling, “I am the blood of the living sugar penny. Come, you merry men, to stagnation awaits…”

“Boy, that is one crazy bird,” commented Suntaria.

“You ever wonder about the nonsense those birds say?” asked Casimir.

“They are just words, they don’t really hurt anyone, so what does it matter,” said Carmenta.

 “Well, words can be problematic too, if not used carefully,” said Janus.

“I suppose, they could be harmful if you lie to get a poor fellow in trouble,” said Lucian.

“Or, if you lie in order to make a person feel bad, like calling a girl ugly, or stupid,” said Letholdus with his deep voice.

“Well, you can cause harm by telling the truth also. Like, let’s say a person ran past you, and then there is a fellow chasing him. The guy asks you, in which direction his target ran, and then you say the truth. And low, and behold you got a poor fellow killed. Even when choosing to not say anything, you can still cause harm to others,” said Karina.

“So, no weird story of the day?” asked Letholdus disappointed.

“Fine. I got one, more or less. Whether you find it odd or not, it is up to you,” Karina then started as thus.

“There once was a shapeshifting, mind controlling monster who had a healthy appetite for people. By appetite, I mean… one second thought… Maybe this one would work a little better. It is a bit more down to Earth, in a sense, that it is something that happen a long, long time ago. Anyhow, there once was this world full of lots of people. Many thought that the place was overcrowded. To deal with the problem, they would spread the plague every 100 years. What they did is more of a major malice. The small malice occurred during one of their little plagues. The plague was designed for killing old people and making the young carriers. Despite knowing this, the young did nothing to protect themselves, and even some of the old folks were in denial about the entire problem. Those who were too lazy, and too stupid to protect themselves made certain that the plague would last 2 years, killing tens of thousands. So, there you have it. How by just being lazy, a petit malice can contribute to a major problem,” said Karina, “So, any questions?”

“Tell us the story of the monster,” said Regin raising her hand.

“Fine, whatever. You are all old enough to drive anyway. Anyhow, by a healthy appetite, I mean, the type that contributes to the population grown,” started saying Karina.

“You mean Sss,” started saying Mico when Karina interrupted him by saying, “Apapa! We don’t say that word in this classroom.”

“Why not?” asked Mico.

“Cause this is a school,” interjected Janus.

“Yes, and I am only allowed to say the word, in private, when speaking with only one or many individuals, and since you are not on the menu, then I won’t be saying the word, or permitting others to say it,” said Karina.

At that moment, Babysel, and Regin opened their mouths to repeat the word, but they were cut short by Karina’s mind control abilities. Regardless of how hard their tried to formulate the word, their mouths would instead say like: Bladdered, Banjaxed, Peelywally and Steampigged. These were all words that were euphemism for being drunk. It was the first thing that came to Karina’s head, for even suggesting such a story. The truth of the matter was that she could not be awe inspiring all the time. There were certain days when it was better to just call it quits, and put on a stupid movie, or go on a field trip. Since she could not take them to the movies, Karina opted for the field trip option.

“You know what, today is a nice day, why don’t we go outside and fight petite malice. They are so common, we are bound to run into one, and put a stop to it, before it escalates,” said Karina laughing. 

“I don’t wanna,” said Regin coiling on her seat.

“Periwinkle just fell asleep. If I move the cart, she will wake up,” said Babysel.

“You are going to have to move her sooner or later,” said Suntaria, “I am liking the idea of getting up, and doing something with my life, all this philosophy nonsense has to eventually lead to something, anything. A city is not made up of words.”

“You surprise me,” said Janus raising an eyebrow.

“What? You think I am stupid, or something because I am a soldier? I will have you know that the education in the army is far better than in this stupid place, with all your cushions, and your lay about attitudes, and your frilly dresses,” said Suntaria getting up to stand before Janus.

Janus unintimidated pushed back his seat a bit, and he said with a grin on his face, “I meant nothing by it. I am aware, and I respect our much wise, and courageous soldiers. Thank you for your service.”

After saying this, an argument began. Periwinkle started crying, and Babysel got annoyed and he got up and left. When both went at it, Janus and Suntaria were oblivious to the world around one another.

Eventually, Karina rose her voice and said, “Enough!”

Karina then brought out from beneath her cape two swords, “Here! Just get it over already! There is nothing my people hate most than pointless arguments. Either kill one another or stop arguing. If you are unable to do either, one of you is going to get exiled from the country, and that somebody is going to be you Janus!”

“What? Why me?” asked Janus.

“You know what you did! You keep up with your petit malice, and your little schemes, and I will personally kick you out of this world,” said Karina.

During this interchange, the students who still remained watched the scene with bored amusement. This incident had occurred several times in the past. At first, it seemed to them that Suntaria was the instigator, but now, it seemed that Janus knew how to get her riled up.

In the end, Suntaria said, “Fine… you don’t have to kill Janus. I can do that myself, thank you very much.”

Suntaria then picked up the sword. It seemed quite solid, and made of a strange, clear blue metal. She slashed the air, around Janus, but he did not feel anything. It was only later when he noticed several, thin, paper cut like slashes over his bare skin. From then on, Suntaria never returned to class. And Karina fed the gift she had received from Janus to Ahi. There was a silver lining to the entire incident. Now, everyone understood the concept of petit malice.

When class concluded, Lucian said to Karina, “Can you tell me that weird story, about the shapeshifting monster. Is it about Vindkald?”

“Vindkald is not that type of creep,” said Karina.

“But he is a creep,” insisted Lucian.

“You said it, not me,” said Karina grinning, “Come with me, and have dinner at my place. I can tell you more on that nonsense there.”

“Sure, but first I want to go home and get changed from this uniform. I will see you later then,” said Lucian.

He left with a hurried pace, and as soon as he was out of Karina’s sight, he started running back home. After locking himself in the washroom, he started having a little panic attack. As with most things, he seemed to be reading too much into Karina’s invitation. Since Karina could not get a good read on Lucian, she was somewhat oblivious to the problem, and Lucian’s growing obsession with her. Either that, or she just pretended not to notice.

The hours rolled by peacefully for Karina, and turbulent for Lucian. Karina was so mellowed out that she received Lucian wearing her pajamas. Her brother Marduke, Kanon and little Inana were also there as well. The dinner was being made by Marduke. Thus, Lucian felt quite out of place between the casual Karina, and the stoic Kanon. Kanon was in his humanoid, armored form. He had heard that one of Karina’s students was visiting, and so the bored Sphynx dressed up to be an intimidating douche. He did not say anything intimidating, nor was he cold. He simply pretended that Lucian was not there, by never speaking to him. As for Lucian, he was too nervous to address Kanon.

Being there, in the intimacy of the King’s abode was not what Lucian had expected. He could handle court life just fine. He was used to the chitchats, the hypocrisies, and the pointless stories about business, or the charity projects for the disadvantaged. He was not expecting, honest, hardy, conversations. In the end, he interrupted Kanon’s conversation with Karina by saying, “Teacher… you were going to tell me the rest of the story…”

Kanon annoyed at being interrupted said, “If you want a story, go to the library, and pick up a book or something!!”

“Don’t be mean,” said Karina grinning.

This was soon followed by the baby, slamming the spoon on the desk of her baby chair, as she said, “Ababanbababa! Prurrrsssshhh!”  

“Fine, if you insist,” said Karina.

Karina looked into little Inana’s face, and suddenly the child started laughing. Kanon pretending to be in on the joke, started laughing as well.

Lucian sat back on his chair and folded his arms. Karina benevolently said, “Come on! Don’t pout. I will tell the story to you as well.”

After straining her memory, a bit, Karina said, “Ah, yes, the monster, the monster was just like the beautiful moth. It thought that if the partner believed it was consensual, then everything was fine. I mean, why have mental powers, if you are not going to use them? It was then when one day the curse began. A curse is born from a mass of injustices, eventually, the curse gains flesh and blood and it attaches itself to the source. The curse may take some time to find you, and even if you think you did nothing wrong, the spirit always knows the truth. So, after much wandering about, the curse found its progenitor, and then I named it Vindkald.”

“I don’t get what you are saying,” said Lucian confused.

“Give it some thought, it will come to you,” said Karina.

“Nobody is perfect after all,” said Kanon.

Vindkald, who was the table at the moment whispered to Karina, “That is not how I came to be. My mother was a tornado, and my father tennis racket!! I was born in a baseball field, it was November, and the daisies were starting to migrate down south to be with the lily pads…”  

“Nobody is perfect, except my lovely, little sister,” started saying Marduke pointing at Karina, “Hair like obsidian, and teeth like pearls, and skin soft like butter. To be with her, is to be with me, and the rest of my siblings! Tell me, what is your intention! Why are you here, with me? Don’t you have anything else to do with your time, lo, you have come this far, and now you must come through me!”

“And me,” said Vindkald.

“And me,” said Kanon turning into his Sphinx form.

“And me,” said little Inana.

Lucian got up, and ran for the door, but Kanon blocked his exit. Purring, he said, “Meat! Are you this much of a coward? Come, sit, eat!”

Since Lucian did not walk back to the table, Kanon moved out of the way to allow him to pass. Back on the table, Marduke said, “What a bother. Your little suiters are starting to become a pest.”

“Oh, yes indeed,” said Karina sighing, “I don’t know. I just enjoy my peace a little too much as of lately.”

“Yes, an outside weirdo might spoil the fun,” said Kanon sitting back down.

Like the others at the table, they pretended not to notice that Lucian was still lingering. He had hidden behind the door to eavesdrop on the information. Indeed, he had come farther than any of Karina’s would be suiters.

“But you forget my dear Kanon,” said Marduke, “You used to be an outsider yourself.”

“Hardly, you like weirdoes, don’t know,” said Karina pointing to Kanon.

“At least, he is not boring in the least, but I still have a bit of a grudge from that time you smashed my brains against the asphalt,” said Marduke, reminiscing.

“Ah…those were nice days indeed,” said Kanon lying down, and resting his head on his paws.

Lucian lingered there for some time, listening to the people at the table talking trash about the human race as a whole. When he could not take it anymore, Lucian started looking through Marduke’s apartment. There were plenty of curiosities, but all items on display were things that already existed in Veragerung. Eventually, he found Karina’s room. He guessed it was her room based on the plants by the open balcony.

Lucian had heard from his father that by studying furniture, one could learn a lot about a person. Even if the furniture followed the latest fashion, if one looked close enough, there was at least one item out of place that stood for the truth. If one found such an item, a shopkeeper might be able manipulate the client into spending more. Lucian indeed looked about; the items seemed ordinary. He sat down on the bed, and he felt it move a little bit odd. It was a waterbed. Lucian had only seen a couple of them, and they were found in clinics for invalid patients, or patients with chronic pains, that could not lie down in regular bed. They also prevented the formation of bed sores. His great grandmother had one of such beds, and Lucian used to lie down beside her, with the pretest of keeping her company.

The waterbed told Lucian that Karina had back problems or was a daydreamer of sorts. The following item that called his attention was a miniature. It showed a bunch of identical children, with two adults that could not be any more dissimilar. The Lady had the face like one of those royal courtesans. The other fellow had his face hidden in the shadows but based on his attire he was a magic user. Lucian picked up the photograph. He felt a shiver down his spine, and then he heard a familiar voice tell him, “What are you doing here Lucian?”

The voice made Lucian drop the picture frame. Since Lucian knew that listening to voices was something only crazy people did, Lucian proceeded to try to ignore it.

“Do you think a fair rose would be interested in a pasty faced, sniveling, sly faced weakling like you?” asked the voice, “Why do you even bother? Forget her, and all women, you should be focusing yourself on learning magic. With magic, even a vixen, such as her, will respect you!”

“I don’t care if she doesn’t respect me. Respect has to be earned, not demanded,” said Lucian remembering one of Karina’s past ramblings. He picked up the broken pieces of glass, and he threw them in something that resembled a garbage can, due to the crumbled-up papers inside of them. Lucian turned the little miniature around, and he noted names. Each name corresponded to a face on the other side. The face corresponding to Karina was just as silvery, and pale as the others. Lucian imagined the picture was a type of monochrome lithograph. Indeed, everyone was in color, but it they had gone for the dark type of feel for this particular photo. The children were all in white night gowns. Karina was the one with the little bonnet, with black ribbons. The little toddler was resting her little hands, on top of the arm of a nearby couch. The couch’s legs were twisted at an odd angle. Something about the way it was shaped, reminded Lucian of Vindkald.

After looking at the photo, Lucian appraised the item he had broken. He brought out from his pocket a couple of gold coins. After rummaging a bit, he got interrupted by Karina, she said, “There you are!”

“Sorry, I did not steal anything. I am sorry I broke your picture, but I already paid for it,” said Lucian shyly as he started to depart.

“Wait, you are going to miss the coolest thing I have in my room,” said Karina holding a half moon shaped wooden box.

Lucian drew nearer, and saw that it had a stylized person’s face, and some ornamental patterns for the hairdo. Smiling, Karina said, “This is called a Kuba box.”

“Why is it called Kuba?” asked Lucian.

“I don’t know. If you open it, it is just like any other trinket box, except that it is made of rose wood…see, don’t it smell nice,” said Karina holding the box closer to Lucian, who smelled it over the top.

“Yes, you have a very lovely box indeed,” said Lucian flatly.

“Let me open it for you,” said Karina.

The crescent moon of a box opened, and from within floated out a tiny little planet. Lucian stared with eyes open at the tiny floating world. Not understanding what it was, he reached out to touch it. His hand was repelled by an unforeseen force. Karina laughing at his shocked face said, “What are you a toddler? Did I say you could touch it!”

“Sorry,” said Lucian shyly, feeling rather stupid.

He asked, “What is that?”

“It is a world, with rivers and trees, just like the one in this world,” said Karina.

“Did you make it? Are you a God!” asked Lucian surprised.

“No! Don’t be stupid! It is just like anything else really, if you have the ingredients and the proper tools any person can make their own little tiny world,” said Karina, “Still, it is a lot easier just to take an existing world, and just make it habitable, it saves a lot on water and iron.”

“Is this what you people did in this world?” asked Lucian.

“Not really. We are just standing in the shoulders of gas giants, and I mean that in the metaphorical sense dear Lucian. To be with me, means being part of my family and being burdened with the truth of the world. I am not as my brothers, I don’t want a plaything, someone to pretend to be something I am not. It gets so tiresome after a while. So, tell me Lucian, do you want to know the truth of this world, or not?” asked Karina.

Lucian was thoughtful, for some time. The voice inside his head told him to go for it, for the spirit that haunted him was extremely curious about wielding godlike powers to create a world, in his image. Sighing, Lucian said, “If we are being honest, and direct, then I suppose I wanted to try the whole dating thing that is so popular with the kids. I wanted to get to know you a little better, and maybe, but. You know. And if we happened to enjoy each other’s companies, then maybe we would get married. You want a husband, and I feel like I am a bit too young to be thinking about marriage.”

“Coward,” said Karina closing her Kuba box. She had quite the content look on her face.

Lucian saw himself out, but as he was leaving the building he felt a bit dizzy. When he turned around, he saw the spirit that was haunting him. The spirit was struggling to get out of the building. Karina with her brother were punching, and kicking the spirit, while their shadows coiled around him. Her brother yelled to Kanon to get Chalon before the thing got away.

Kanon flew out the window, in the form of a bolt of lightning. Kanon had an elemental form he rarely used because it drained most of his powers. Still, speed was required. The person known as Chalon was there in minutes. He materialized from a pentagram. To Lucian, Kanon resembled a gypsy dressed in green robes, with a scythe. Gypsy was a term coined by Berthame to describe a certain wandering merchant families that looked a certain way. Anyhow, Chalon was carrying with him a strange looking scythe. The scythe was used on the spirit. A shell grew around it, and then it manifested in the physical world.

For the last couple of years, Karina had been working over Lucian to get the ghost that was following him about. Had she asked Lucian to visit, the spirit would have gotten all paranoid. Lucian was a quite confused by the entire scene, specially about the fellow, with long black hair, and gray skin, with the red, flaming eyes. Both fellows looked at one another with confusion. In the end, Lucian decided not to give it anymore thought, and to just go home.