Death, Devotion, Dissonance

Evin was in his Imperial Language class, reading a passage from a book named 'Calamities Come'.

" 'Most historians agree that the most hated of the Twelve Calamities was the woman named Lauwich, most commonly known as the 'Sin-mother'. 

" 'She wasn't the most hated because she was the strongest among them. Every one of the Twelve Calamities were strong enough to make a mess of the world of they wanted to. And nor was she the most hated because of how much she killed. That title went to the Father of Beasts, whose forces scoured the lands in search of food to consume.

" 'The Sin-mother was the most hated, because death by her hand was the most unimaginable thing for someone to go through. Her victims could do nothing, except to be forced to part with all of their minds, as the Sin-mother harnessed their every memory, making them even forget to how to breathe.' "

"Very good," the teacher said. "Now, here are two examples of the author using a passive verb here. The first one, is about how the Sin-mother is hated by everyone, though in this example, the author is using a passive verb as an adjective, almost, so it doesn't matter much. But in the second example, where the author describes her victims being forced to part with their minds… that's a good usage of a passive verb.

"As you all know, I recommend you all to refrain from using passive verbs as that makes the subjects look weak. Like they're letting all these things happen to them. But that's perfect in this situation, isn't it? It's not like the Sin-mother's victims have any way to resist her powers, so all they can do is stay silent and hope she didn't kill them. Their circumstances are very passive… as you can probably imagine."

Evin listened with half a year, wondering if anyone here wanted to write a book. His point was proven when one of the students spoke.

"Uh, how did the Sin-mother take someone's memories, though?"

"Ehhhh, that's not a question related to the Imperial Language, so I will not answer."

'No one knew exactly how the Sin-mother killed her victims, but whenever it happened, a blue-green tree would appear from her body,' Evin replied in his head.

"Teach, please?"

"You can go ask Teouka when you take the history class. Or you can even go read 'Calamities Come' when you get to the library."

Saying so, the teacher ended the class; and everyone slowly dispersed. 

Evin slowly made his way towards the cafeteria, where he was going to meet Bella. 

But when he made his way there, he found Decatur standing next to her table, speaking something. Evin couldn't really hear what, but from Bella's open frown, he could tell it was something annoying. It quickly turned to joy as she noticed Evin's approach.

Seeing the sudden change, Decatur looked back, and seeing Evin, scowled and walked away. His gaze looked especially hateful today.

"Is he still asking you to join that committee?" Evin asked as he sat in front of Bella.

"Ugh."

"What is that committee going to do in the first place? Sounded to me like it was just some pointless social club that talked a lot about what they were going to do, instead of actually doing anything."

Evin really didn't know what Decatur was trying to do. But he did go around inviting all the important noble students to it, even some of the upperclassmen. He was very insistent on inviting Bella, coming to talk to her daily for the past week or so.

"Ugh."

"So that made me think… You're sure he's just not trying to hit on you?"

"Bleargh."

"Well, he was jealous of me a lot, so I thought it natural he'd suddenly develop feelings for you."

"Geh."

Amused the sounds she was making; he went around her to massage her shoulders. She seemed like she needed it, with how busy she was lately becoming. Her father's often been calling her and assigning her tasks back at Jiha town and its few surrounding villages, and the other noble students were also busy.

Evin didn't know what exactly Bella was working on, since she refused to talk about it, but she was working hard. 

"The committee's something he's doing for his Heart-casting class," Bella murmured. "I think."

"How does that work?"

"For you, who's trying to enter the World of Thoughts, you need to learn how to clear your mind. For me and Decatur, it's to learn how to deal with our anger. I have it much easy, since I stopped caring about my father, but Decatur's still feeling anger at you. Not just you, his brother, his mother, Phel, the World… but of course, not himself. His reptilian brain isn't capable of such introspective thoughts."

"And what does that have to do with that committee?"

"Honestly, I don't have an idea. But he's been acting like that ever since Lady Sufia told us to learn to deal with our rage and anger somehow," she shrugged. "But I do wish he'd learn how to deal with his shit himself, and not drag the whole county into a fucking frenzy."

"Sounds dumb," Evin commented, and resumed his massage.

'So the reason why everyone is suddenly so busy is because of Decatur… or rather, because he's trying to deal with his anger issues?'

Evin felt like it wasn't working so well. In fact, he felt like Decatur was getting worse and worse. Every day, his hateful gaze would turn a notch darker when he looked at Evin, and every day, he would lose his temper over the most childish things.

'He probably wants to settle his anger issues by killing me…' 

The thought didn't unsettle Evin. He probably should've felt some fear, but Decatur only felt like some small-time villain at this point. At worst, Decatur would only send him to the warzone. 

Evin didn't know why, but that thought didn't unsettle him either. At first he was pissed, but at some point, he'd just accepted his fate and decided not to think about it too much. It wasn't like he was belittling war or the army. He knew he wasn't going to have a good time there. But he had this feeling that everything was going to turn out okay.

'But seriously, where am I getting all this confidence from?'

Ever since he became a mage, slowly, he was turning into someone else. If someone showed him his 10-year-old self again, surely, Evin wouldn't be able to recognize the boy.

As he was mused with his such thoughts as he rubbed Bella's neck, he heard someone's urgent voice coming towards him.

"Bella! Evin!"

Daishan was running at them, her large, scarred figure contrasting heavily with the lace and elegance of the cafeteria.

"Daishan?"

"You must follow," she said, looking at Evin. "Your family, they were attacked!"

It took Evin some time to process her words. But when he did so, he immediately pulled out a lodestone from his pocket and started floating.

Bella pulled him down to the ground by his feet and ignoring Evin's confusion, slapped both his cheeks. 

"What are you doing?" Evin demanded.

"Don't be in such a hurry," Bella said. "You can't just hurry there knowing nothing, can you?" Bella made sure that Evin was somewhat calm again, then turned towards Daishan. "Is everyone safe?"

Daishan paused, making Evin imagine the worst. "They are safe. Thank the Empress."

Evin wanted to curse Daishan for adding that weird pause, but he first breathed out a sigh of relief. Bella nodded and asked: "What happened?"

"Last night, Evin's family attacked by mages! Two! But Horn-bearer stopped them! Family are now in manor."

"Why were they attacked?" Bella asked.

"Don't know," Daishan's answer was short, just like her recollection of the event.

"Thank you, Daishan," Evin found himself saying.

"No bother. Let's go."

…

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