Hmm, he did want the house pretty badly. Might as well continue going down this path and not worry too much about anything.
As she had said, there is no reason to regret a decision - who knows how any other one would have turned out? It would be best to choose the one where he could say, he tried everything. However, it was better to continue on knowing he hadn't given up without even trying. That was likely to turn into a regret sooner or later, considering this was about something precious to him.
In his own apartment, Fel first put his groceries away and started to prepare the ingredients for a simple meal. With a job that took up most of his time, he finally learned the value of good food.
He could try to continue living like a student, but his stomach would not go along with that for an extended time.
Coffee, the common adult’s drug, was bad enough in the amounts he flushed it down his body. If he added the usual stress, the minimal amount of sleep and the skipped meals over the day, he needed at least some sort of healthy aspect.
Being an adult was exhausting.
Maybe that was why he was so attracted to the fantastical, almost childish, world of that mansion. A sort of game world with fascinating NPCs, some of which were supporting you, some which were passing by, and the endboss-like Gatekeeper. He kind of did want to try to convince him.
The young man let his thoughts flow freely as he prepared his meal. Carrying the finished bowl to his living room, he put on a series and carefully ate his noodles while watching.
For once, he fell into bed early. Too tired from everything that had happened recently, he sighed deeply and pulled his blanket up high. Freshly washed, his bed smelled comforting and good.
Through the slightly opened blinds, a bit of light fell into the room, just enough to allow for a bit of orientation.
Fel blinked into the thin wisps of moonlight, turned around and closed his eyes. Sleep came easy.
The young man couldn’t help but do a double-take. It looked like a dog. It walked like a dog. It talked like a human, but that was normal here. All in all, it… really seemed like a dog.
“It’s not a dog”, Areus commented from Fel’s shoulder. “Many visitors can shapeshift. Some won’t, some will shapeshift into something more humanoid, and some will take any random form from this planet.”
“Why would they shapeshift?”, Fel wondered out loud, putting a couple of unusual fruit into a bowl in preparation for bringing them over to a guest.
“Depends. Some think it’s funny, and then there are those… Do you know about Eldritch Gods? The thing with, a human can’t look at them without going insane? Yeah, that.”
“I’m loving this place more and more with each day”, Fel forced out through grit teeth.
His boss had been surprised to see him so overwhelmingly motivated for his office job. Fel had basically been singing as he had carried stacks of paper around and typed away on his work computer. Meanwhile, his uncle had been surprised to hear Fel declare in a desperate voice that he wasn’t going to help out in the near future. Normally, Fel had a lot of fun helping out at the restaurant.
And so, his normal life has flipped.
Fel lifted his hand to reach out for the last fruit, only to realize it was gone. Confused, he looked around, and found it in the mouth of the dog.
“Ah, sorry”, the dog awkwardly said. “Thought you were done.”
… No, but, how did it get up on the counter and down again without him noticing?
“Please don’t worry, I can take another one. But dear customer, I must ask you to not simply take any of the food stored here. Please ask me or Areus to hand it to you”, Fel warned. It wasn’t as hard as with the Lamia, since the other person looked like a poodle.
“Oh, I see”, the poodle replied with some embarrassment. “Thank you.”
Today’s talisman was another one. It was like a newbie-sticker on a car. Not only did it warn everyone entering that the current owner was likely to make mistakes, it also kindly asked certain species with more irritable temperaments to not visit just yet. It would stay for about a month or two, Areus noted, depending on how quickly Fel adjusted to the work.
The new visitors were a wild mix. While two from the last time returned, the rest was new. Many of them were first-time visitors who felt comfortable with an equally new owner.
It led to some awkward scenes, where a new visitor or two tried to form a closer relationship with Fel in order to get better treatment.
That was when Fel officially found out about another peculiar thing.
Carrying the tray, Fel walked upstairs and knocked on the door to a playroom. Inside were a mix of interesting creatures playing billiard together, one of which had asked for fruits.
“Thank you”, the customer said according to human custom’s.
“If there is anything else you need, please notify me”, Fel said with a business smile.
As he walked out, he patted against the wall.
The ‘train stations’ between the worlds were not simple hotels. They needed to be places that were enough part of a world for an owner to enter, but far enough that other inhabitants wouldn’t stumble over it easily. This sort of in-between place would easily get torn apart if it didn’t have a special characteristic.
It was half alive.
Or it had a soul, you could say. A bit.
It wasn’t like it was a person, in that sense. But it had a rough personality and would retaliate against attackers. It could throw out customers at the owner’s request, as well. If it disliked the owner enough, it could also throw out the owner. How violent or friendly it was in these actions depended on its personality.
This place… was kind. It was like a mother-bird, ready to protect the owner if necessary, but otherwise liked to let them do whatever. The moment Fel noticed this, he wanted the mansion even more.
The thought of it falling into someone else’s hands was unacceptable.
“You look like you feel comfortable”, Areus began to pry. “Are you going to stay?”
“I want to talk to the Gatekeeper again tomorrow morning”, Fel confirmed. “Somehow… I’ll convince him. I’m sure we can talk it out?”
His voice began to waver towards the end. He didn’t have too much confidence. The Gatekeeper’s piercing eyes were still clear in his memory, as if the man wanted to tear Fel and anyone disturbing him limb from limb.
The memory of those eyes haunted him all night. With the list in hand, Fel wished his guests a nice rest and slowly locked up what should be locked, turned off what should be turned off. He yawned and stretched, feeling relieved that the night was over.
The list was neatly placed on his office table before the young man got ready for the next important thing. The sun was rising, which meant he could go to sleep afterwards.
Fel stood in front of the ladder in the upper hallway like he wanted to cry.
“I hate ladders”, he mumbled unhappily and climbed it up with tense shoulders. Rather than a fear of heights, he had a fear of falling and so he hated unsteady places like ladders. A bit worse than most people had, but nothing noticeable in common live.
Areus waited in the hallway as before, leaving Fel to enter the space alone.
The attic was as clean as it had been the week before. It was cool, almost cold, and Fel shuddered slightly. As soon as he had stepped completely up into the attic, he also saw where the cold air was coming from.
The last time, the Gatekeeper had appeared out of nowhere after he called him. This time he was there - sitting in a corner, his posture unnaturally crouched like he was in pain. The sun hadn’t appeared completely yet and the attic was slightly dim, which allowed Fel to see that the Gatekeeper’s hair was slightly luminescent and shining just like the stars on his clothes.
“Mister?”, he called out carefully, taking a step towards the crouching Gatekeeper. Surprise was causing his voice to come out louder than intended.
The man flinched as if Fel had shouted right into his ear. He whipped his head around, cold eyes stabbing into Fel like daggers. The temperature seemed to drop further.
The Gatekeeper’s features were human, but at this moment they distorted in fury. Like a beast, he pulled back his lips and snarled his words. “Get out.”
i hope fel manages to melt star guy...
Thank you for the chapter.