Muriel froze. There was something in the air. A presence. A familiar presence that made fear bloom in his chest.
His heart sped up. This was impossible. Lucio was dead.
No. Not impossible. He closed his eyes and took a quiet, steadying breath. If there was anything he’d learned, it was that nothing was absolute. Not even the boundaries between life and death.
And if there was anyone who refused to let him live in peace, it was Lucio.
He almost jumped out of his skin when something cold brushed his hand. It was Inanna. She was crouched low to the ground, her ears pressed flat against her head. A low growl bubbled from her throat.
“ Bad man .”
Muriel grumbled in response and ran a hand along the wolf’s side. She was tense, ready to lunge or flee.
“ Is this...where you live, Scourge? I…didn’t really…expect much, but this… is pitiful.”
Lucio’s voice was faint, nothing but a noise at the edge of Muriel’s hearing. High-pitched, reedy, riddled with laboured breathing as if he was still feverish with plague. Inanna bristled beside him and snarled. Wheezing laughter ricocheted in Muriel’s head.
“ Oooh, a feisty one.”
Muriel twisted this way and that, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. If it was coming from anywhere at all.
“ No, you won’t be able to find me. Not here. Not yet. ”
“Why are you here?” Muriel asked. Hysteria ran through his veins, making his clenched hands shake, but it stayed out of his voice. He brought his magic to surface, just at the edge of his fingertips. Whatever this thing Lucio was, it could be any type of strong.
“ Oh, no reason . Just thought you might enjoy the visit .”
“I’m not.”
Muriel could hear the sneer in his voice. “ Tsk. That’s... exactly how you made me your enemy in the first place, Scourge. You have no knowledge of the art... of diplomacy.”
He swore, sometimes the man didn’t even hear himself think. A shame that not even death had changed that.
“Leave.”
There was silence, broken only by Lucio’s breathing. With each tense moment that passed, Muriel grew more dizzy with fear, the familiar sensation of dread turning his limbs numb. Lucio’s death meant that for the first time since he was a child Muriel was free of the Count’s influence. He left his home because of Lucio. As a child, he felt unsafe on the streets of Vesuvia because of Lucio. And all those people he’d…
One year of quiet. That was all he’d gotten.
“You’ve always been quiet, Scourge. You’ve always preferred solitude to partying. I never understood that. And that ghastly curse you asked for… why would you want that when it’s so clear that Vesuvia adores you? When it’s you that keeps their city safe?”
“I said leave .”
The air around Muriel hummed with magic. Lucio did not leave. In fact, it was almost as if the presence was creeping closer, circling him, trying to find a space to strike his death blow. And he was scared Lucio would find it. Scared that he wouldn’t leave him alone, that he’d stay breathing down his neck until he agreed to do his bidding.
“ I want…to offer you something. My people haven’t expressed their gratitude clear enough. You think they see you as a monster. Something to be feared. That’s why you hide. ”
Muriel thought back to all the times he’d left the arena, another person’s blood on his flesh. He thought back to all those wide-eyed people. They would always give him a large breadth. Especially the children, the ones young enough to run back to their parents without shame. He thought back to all the times he wanted to say something, all the times he wanted to tell them you don’t have to be scared .
But how could he have expected them to listen? He was scared too.
“No, it’s not.”
The energy of the presence shifted around him, becoming frantic. “ Then why, Muriel? Why do you do this to yourself? Tell me! ”
Inanna quivered at his side, whimpering. Even though he knew it wouldn’t reveal anything, Muriel searched the air. What was Lucio trying to achieve? And why?
He tensed when the presence calmed. The buzz of his own magic almost covered it entirely. Lucio’s voice rung in his head again.
“ I told you years ago, Muriel. Generosity’s hard to come by in this world. If you were wise, you’d listen to my offer. You wouldn’t wanna be on my bad side, not when you see who I have behind me. ”
A sickly warmth bloomed in the air. When it passed, Muriel and Inanna were alone. All he heard was his own heartbeat, his own breathing. When he unclenched his hands, they shook from fright.
Inanna lapped at his fingers, and he scratched behind her ears.
Those last words echoed in his head. When you see who I have behind me .
Lucio wasn’t working alone. Of course he wasn’t. He never could get much done without a benefactor. He didn’t even have the resources to take care of his own city. But who was behind him this time? Surely a single person, a non-magician nonetheless, couldn’t grab the attention of entities that struck bargains. He’d never heard of that happening. Even during Lucio’s failed ritual, Asra had been there to lead it.
Damn, he needed to go check on Asra.
Muriel stormed inside his hut, beelining for a cabinet in the back. If Lucio was going after him, who was to day he wouldn’t go after Asra? And Lucio’s patron...
Asra had his hands full with his apprentice, he wouldn’t be able to fend off an immortal entity.
Because if Lucio was able to come here, if Lucio had struck a deal with someone powerful...
If there was one thing Muriel had learned, it was that nothing was absolute.