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Drim, Kada, and Xard all slumped to the floor after they were teleported. Phon had intentionally placed them a couple feet off the ground so the shock would wake them. She had been getting better at placing people by using parts of their body that weren’t their feet, and had placed their backs against the wall so they’d fall onto their butts. They groggily woke up to find themselves in the parlor downstairs. Phon was standing in front of them, and Mallea was in front of her, prostrating on the ground as if to beg for forgiveness.

“Now then, Mallea, would you care to tell us why there’s a toddler in your room?” Phon questioned her with clear aggression.

“I’m so sorry!” Mallea whimpered. It was quite an unfitting display considering her normal behavior. She looked up at them to defend herself, her eyes red and exhausted. “I was planning on taking them to the orphanage before anyone woke up, but I was just so concerned about it that I couldn’t relax. Before I knew it, I had passed out at some point and woke up when you moved me here. I know this seems unlike me to be so incapable, but I really can’t stand children.”

“Ehh, but didn’t you raise Drim and Phon?” Kada pondered the reasoning behind Mallea’s claim.

“That’s exactly why! I had to raise Phon,” Mallea openly admitted. “Drim was a sparkling bundle of radiance so I can’t say I ever saw him as a child. Plus, whenever any other children were brought over I could barely stand those impertinent little zjiks.”

“To think Mallea had this side to her…” Xard was in awe.

“That’s really not important,” Drim interrupted. “Is there really a child in there, Mallea?”

“Yes there is, wait… This aura… I know it from somewhere.” Phon closed her eyes to get a better look at it, but at the same time the door to Mallea’s room creaked open. A second later, a droopy eyed child was wandering over to them as they stared at it in shock. Their hair was iridescent, changing color based on each person’s perspective every second as it walked closer. Their eyes were like pearls, shiny and without pupils or corneas, reflecting waves of colors as well. There was no question, it was a baby Fiend.

The child stopped in its tracks when they were just a few feet away from everyone. Then, their legs clenched together, and they began wriggling in place. Obviously, they needed to use the bathroom. “You there!” the child pointed at Drim, their gender still indistinguishable based on their voice. “Please, show me to the bathroom, and teach me how to use this… this thing! I don’t trust the red boy, he has lecherous eyes towards other boys!” The child’s gender was clear now, and he had apparently read Xard like an open book.

Drim ushered the child off to the bathroom while the rest of them stood around in silence, all of them wondering to themselves what the hell was happening. “Oh, I’m terribly sorry. In my haste I forgot to introduce myself,” the boy apologized when he and Drim returned, now speaking in a much more refined manner. It seemed the boy had grabbed a shirt from Mallea’s room before coming out to meet them, and now clutched at its sides.

He curtseyed and then finally introduced himself. “I am Feyjrusa Sulatrieve, princess of Archlave. It’s a pleasure to meet you once more.”

“Once more, have we met before?” Kada was quite unsure.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhh, that’s why I recognize your aura,” Phon seemed relieved to have finally made the connection.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you again,” Drim greeted him back. “You’ve uhhh… Your appearance is quite different from just a few weeks ago…”

“No seriously, who is he?!” Xard cut in, demanding answers.

“He’s the old woman we met at the port of Archlave,” Drim cleared the air.

“Ohhhhhhhhh!” Both Kada and Xard blurted in unison, finally able to match the resemblance.

“Yes, I admit I looked rather different that day, so I understand why you wouldn’t recognize me,” Feyjrusa excused them. “To perhaps clear some misunderstanding in the future, I suppose it would be best to have different names for each gender. Please call me Feyj when I’m a boy, and Rusa when I’m a girl.”

“Does that mean you’ll be changing again?” Drim inquired.

“Yes, but not for some time,” Feyj clarified. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I’m a Fiend, but unlike other Fiends, at least all that I know of, I was born like this. Exactly 214 days ago, my mother gave birth to me, losing her life in the process, and turning me into a Fiend. As to why I was an old woman before, and why I am a child now… well I should probably preface it by telling you the name of my curse. It is Rapid Rebirth.”

“To all of you, I am only a few months old, but for me, I have already lived two full lives. You see, I age at a different rate than everyone else, even other Fiends. Every day, at exactly [000], which just so happens to be the time of my birth, I age by one year. So from my perspective, I am 213 years old.” Feyj then turned around, and lifted up his shirt. Beneath it were baby clothes that were now too small for him, exposing the lower part of his back. His Curse Mark could clearly be seen. It was four small flames, roughly the size and shape of a candle’s flame.

“See how there’s four of them?” Feyj continued. “That means I’m three years old since we start at zero. Every day, a new flame is added when I age, eventually covering my entire back. When there are 105 flames, at midnight when I’m about to turn 105, the Curse Mark resets to just a single flame, and I turn back into a newborn baby. The past two lives I was a girl, though. Changing genders is a new precedent. I was also informed that the personalities of my past two lives were slightly different as well, though it was hard for me to tell the difference.”

“Sorry to interrupt you,” Drim spoke up suddenly. “But I think it might be best if we bring over someone else, a sort of specialist on time. She can manipulate it, and change people’s ages. Would you mind if she tried it on you? I think it’s kind of important to know before we move forward.”

“I actually agree,” Phon concurred. “That little troglodyte could be quite useful here.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Feyj readily accepted. “That’s part of why I’m here, to learn about myself from the people who would know best.” Phon covered her eyes, and Ahvra appeared a second later. She was hunched over with an eyedropper in her hand, focusing on it intensely. The next moment, a drop leaked from the dropper and hit the floor, which then promptly dissolved a sizable chunk out of it.

Ahvra’s eyes widened in confusion as to what just happened before she realized where she was. She then gasped, turning into an adult for a second, then back into a child once she finished her reaction. “That was stupid,” Ahvra yelled at Phon in monotone. “I was in the middle of a dangerous experiment. If that stuff hit anyone, it’d dissolve even a Fiend’s skin… and why am I here?”

Phon grabbed Ahvra’s head, and spun it to face Feyj. “Can you turn them into an adult?” Phon cut to the chase. Ahvra’s eyes started to ripple, examining Feyj’s flows.

“Nope,” was all Ahvra said initially, examining Feyj for a while longer. “This one has no time. None at all. It doesn’t exist.” Ahvra then turned to Drim, and her eyes grew a bit larger, sparkling with anticipation. “Can I dissect him?”

“Err, if he doesn't have any time, then wouldn’t he die for good if you made a mistake?” Drim asked hesitantly.

“I promise I’ll be really careful!” Ahvra grew big again and grabbed Drim’s hands. “Plus, that will be part of the experiment! Pleeeeeeeeease!”

“Uhh, we can discuss it later,” Drim insisted.

“Actually, I believe I would be alright if I died,” Feyj interjected. “I’m quite sure I’d just be reborn again, or rather, that’s the instinctual feeling I get from my curse. I assume I just die at 105 as a natural symptom of old age.”

“See, it’ll be fine! Please let me dissect him!” Ahvra pleaded even more.

“While I’m not entirely opposed to the idea, there are many things I’d like to learn first. That’s quite low on my priority list, though I would like to know eventually. Maybe after we get to know each other a bit more,” Feyj tried to reason with her.

“You see… about that…” Ahvra mumbled. “I want to know now!” She dashed at Feyj, grabbed him in her arms, and bolted for the door. Drim sent vines after her, restraining her before she could make it outside and pinned her to the wall. “Damn it! I knew it wouldn’t work, but I had to try!”

“Sorry about that,” Drim apologized as his vines brought Feyj back over to the rest of them. It was only now that they all seemed to notice that Mallea was gone too, having slipped away to the kitchen to resume her duties as normal.

“So, I guess we have another immortal Fiend on our hands,” Xard commented to the others.

“Yup, some people get so lucky with their curses,” Kada sighed with envy. “Though the being reborn part doesn’t really seem like a balanced tradeoff…”

“Another?” Feyj pried, ignoring the other comments.

“Yes, the one who just tried to kidnap you doesn’t age,” Drim explained. “So it’s unlikely she’ll ever die from old age too. She’d die if she was killed any other way, though… probably.”

“I see!” Feyj clapped his hands together and smiled. “I’ve already learned something new I never would have learned at home. I’m so glad I came here!”

“Well, why exactly did you come here?” Drim asked, finally getting to the most important topic.

“You see… My past two lives… were very sheltered,” Feyj told them somberly. “Because of my condition, added onto the fact that I am royalty, my father was exceedingly overprotective. He never wanted me to leave the castle, saying I was too young and didn’t know how the world worked, talking down to me even when I was older than him.”

“It wasn’t long before I learned everything I could in that castle: read every book, memorized every inch. Because of my curse, I learn things rather quickly, and I always want to know more! So, once I reached my limits, I constantly tried to sneak out of the castle. It was a whole new world outside: the people, the sights, the smells, so many new things to learn. It was enough to keep me content for a while… until I happened across you four.”

“The way you all came strolling in on your boat with flames and destruction behind you, the first of my kind I’d ever know besides myself… It made me realize just how big the world is, and just how little I know. After that, I told my father that I wanted to leave, to go and see what else was out there. He refused of course, saying it was too dangerous since we still knew very little about my curse. But as the 105th day approached and my second life was coming to an end, I was able to convince him that being with you all would be the safest place for me. Maybe he just wanted to honor my dying wish.”

“You see, we didn’t exactly know what would happen on the 105th day the second time; whether I’d be reborn again, or if it was a one-off rebirth and this time I’d die for good. So, I made a deal with him. If I was reborn, I asked to be brought here, to ask you all in person if you would take me under your wing. I want to know all I can about myself, about everything, and I truly believe this is the best place I can do that. I don’t need much, and my family is willing to pay for my room and board… though I can’t imagine any amount of money we can offer to be worthwhile to you. All I ask is for a private room if possible.”

“Umm, well we do have empty rooms upstairs,” Drim mentioned. “But they’re not furnished.”

“That’s acceptable. All I’d ask is for a pillow to sit on,” Feyj smiled again. “You see, with my curse, every day I’m reborn at peak health. Even though I get tired by the end of the day, I don’t ever need to sleep, other than the first few days when I’m a newborn. I also don’t need food or water at all, so I can guarantee my burden on you would be low, though I would like them if you’d allow it. I do also like to sleep sometimes, since being awake for so long can become taxing on my mental health. Oh, umm, I’m being presumptuous, aren’t I? I haven’t even gotten your permission yet. Well then, may I stay here?”

“Of course,” Drim put his hand on Feyj’s shoulder and smiled back at him. “The entire reason we made this place is so that Fiends could have somewhere they could live in peace. Welcome to your new home, for as long as you want to stay.”

“Oh come on!” Ahvra yelled from the corner. She was wriggling wildly in her restraints, doing her best to break free. “You have to let me dissect him! He doesn’t need sleep or food?! Think how much more research I’d be able to do if I uncover those secrets!”

“I think it’s time for you to take a break, Ahvra,” Drim swished his fingers towards her. A thorn came out, injecting a sleep agent into Ahvra’s neck.

“Thank you so much!” Feyj was overjoyed despite the weirdness he’d just witnessed. “And I promise, I’ll find a way to be useful to you all. I didn’t tell you exactly how my curse works, but it can be quite handy. Umm… It’s probably best to just show you. Is there a book around, or something I can read?”

Drim went over to the nearby couch and grabbed a book he had been reading off of the end table. After accepting it, Feyj opened it up and rapidly flipped through the pages before closing the book less than a minute later. While he’d been flipping, one of his eyes turned solid white, the other solid black. They’d switch to the opposite color every time he blinked. “There, done!” Feyj announced when he finished the book.

“You read the whole thing?!” Xard asked, baffled by the speed.

“Yes, and I quite enjoyed it,” Feyj said with a grin. “I liked how the two of them got together in the end despite the odds and the strong opinions of those around them.”

“Damn it,” Drim’s hand clenched around his eyes as he groaned. “I didn’t finish it yet…”

“So... you can read fast?” Phon asked for clarification.

“Well… sort of,” Feyj gave an unclear answer. “You see, I age at 315 times speed compared to a normal person, given that’s how many days are in a year. As compensation for that, I have the ability to process information at 315 times speed compared to a normal person. This is why it didn’t take me long at all to run out of books in the castle, since I can read them so quickly. We actually had a rather large library, but I burned through it in no time.”

“So, does that mean the world is like in constant slow motion for you?” Kada wondered.

“No, not exactly,” Feyj answered. “First of all, my curse is not always active. I choose when it is, but sometimes it will activate on its own. For example, if someone shot a gun at me, it would activate on its own, and I would know that I’m being shot at in a 315th of the time it would take a normal person. However, just because I know I’m being shot at, it won’t save me. I still have to move out of the way, and my curse doesn’t help there at all. That would be based entirely on reflexes and skill. I’ll give a bit of a demonstration. Please, try to punch me.”

“Umm, I’m not exactly sure I’m alright with hitting a child…” Kada shared her moral dilemma.

“I have no problem with it,” Phon announced and then swung and Feyj without warning. Feyj dodged easily, as if he could read Phon’s mind.

“That was an easy one to see,” Feyj appraised it. “By the way your muscles were moving, I could tell exactly where you’d try to punch. The world didn’t slow down for me like you suggested. It’s more like... I just suddenly knew and was able to figure out how to respond really quickly, giving me plenty of time to dodge.”

“Man, that’s so overpowered!” Kada whined. “But having to be reborn every 3 months… I don’t know if that’s worth it. Plus, all that time spent as a baby and an old person in a non ideal body... At least you easily know exactly how old you are based on the date. Lucky that you were born on the last day of the month.”

“I guess that’s lucky?” Feyj seemed unsure. “This is the only way I’ve known to live, so I can’t really say whether it’s better than being a normal person. I’m still unsure about the cost, since I would have liked to have known my mother. I overheard the servants saying that she was a rather mean woman who had been stealing money from the taxpayers for years, but I still would have liked to have met her. It’s hard for me to imagine a queen like that since they were almost always kind in the stories I read.”

“The people you trust and care about most have the highest chance of hurting you,” Drim confided. “That’s the harsh lesson that comes with being a Fiend. Don’t let it get you down, though. For each person you feel betrayed by there’s at least two more who will stand by your side. You may not have gotten to know your mother, but as a result, you get opportunities you never would have otherwise. It’s up to you to make the most of those chances, make them more than what you lost.”

“Thank you sir, I’ll take that advice to heart,” Feyj said seriously. “Honestly, I’m not quite sure where to begin, though. I’m appreciative to you for letting me stay here, but I don’t really know how to live on my own terms. I’ve always been cared for, and treated like a princess. I don’t even know how regular people talk to each other, so I apologize if I’ve said something uncouth or displaced.”

“Umm, well if it makes you feel any better, Phon and I are technically a prince and princess too,” Drim mentioned. “So, feel free to just act however you want to act around us. That’s what we always do.”

“Wait… we are?!” Phon clearly hadn’t heard of this herself.

“Uhh, yeah…” Drim admitted. “Guess they never told you. I learned it from one of their books. Our parents basically strong-armed a few nations into granting them sovereignty through royalty, essentially any of them under their control that still followed a monarchy, in order to further their subjugation. They officially became the king and queen of those nations, but this was never told to the public to prevent civil unrest. All of those nation’s rulers now are actually puppet rulers without a master. Technically, those territories still belong to us if we ever wanted to claim authority, but I imagine we’d immediately try to be usurped.”

“Long live the Drazah’s, the true royal bloodline! Long may they reign!” Eleen suddenly exulted to the room.

“Err, may I ask where that came from? Is it a specter or something?” Feyj speculated. He seemed excited by the prospect.

“You get used to it,” Xard waved off the notion.

There was snickering coming from one side of the room, and they all turned their heads to find the source. Once all eyes were on Kada, she started bursting out laughing. “I’m sorry, it’s just… Like Drim I get, but the idea of Phon as a princess is just too funny,” Kada couldn’t contain her amusement.

“Here here!” An agreeing cheer came from Mallea in the kitchen.

“Yes, she never could tolerate wearing fine dresses,” Eleen sighed. “I can’t imagine how much trouble it would have been to force her to take etiquette lessons.”

“Can we move on please…” Phon grumbled. “You, kid, what do you want to learn anyways? We can teach you how to fight and survive, and Mallea could probably teach you any other practical skills. As for academics, though, you’ve probably come to the wrong place. You might be better off at Savant or Logyst.”

“To be frank, I’m not terribly interested in fighting,” Feyj disclosed. “Any physical progress I make will be reset in the next life, so there is little purpose in me trying to improve my strength. That said, I would be open to learning basic self-defense techniques if one of you is willing to teach me. I would also really like to improve my reflexes as much as possible, since my curse is dependent upon them.”

“It’s true that I would like to learn more about academic things… Honestly, I want to learn about everything in this world I can: its history, its people, every story from every land… What I really want, though, is to experience something for myself, my own grand adventure. I am hoping that once this body is a bit more developed, you will be willing to let me partake in one of those job things you do.”

“I’m sure we can find something for you,” Drim acknowledged. “But yes, I think it’s best to wait until you’ve at least gone through puberty. For you, I guess that’d be roughly two weeks from now. As for the academic stuff, I have a small library of my own, but it is true that Savant would be a better resource. However, that’s only accounting for the very niche stuff. Have you ever used Discoverance? It’s a website.”

“Umm, no actually, I was never allowed to use the internet,” Feyj informed them. “My father said it had too many things that would corrupt my young mind.”

“Well, while I can’t exactly argue that point… here…” Drim pulled out his tablet, loaded the Discoverance web page, and handed it to Feyj. “It’s a site that’s essentially the culmination of all human knowledge. There’s very little you won’t find there, though there is a good amount that’s only explained briefly. However, almost everything has links to their sources, so you can trace things back to get more details. Plus, there’s a random button that will take you to something new every time if you are unsure what you want to look into.”

“I see, that is most impressive!” Feyj proclaimed. He pressed the random button and looked at the page that came up for about a second before pressing it again. His eyes switched to monochrome as he pushed it about a dozen more times. “Yes, this will do quite nicely! Wow, there’s over a million different pages! You said there’s empty rooms on the third floor, yes? I will be in one if you have need of me.” Without ever looking up from the tablet, Feyj walked away and got on the elevator.

“Umm, uhh, actually that’s m-” Drim’s voice trailed as the elevator doors closed. “Guess I’ll get it from him later…”

Fiends For Hire Text Conversation 10

Date: Quintlyber 3rd 2077

『Nathym: Hooked the kid up with some tech. He’s a little weird. What do you guys think of him?』

『Xard: He’s definitely strange, but that’s to be expected I suppose. He seems earnest enough, but I’m unsure of how we can use his curse to our benefit.』

『Drim: I have a few ideas, but it’s all up to how much he wants to participate. For now, it’s probably best to let him grow for a while』

『Kada: Who cares about that? What matters is that he’s an adorable little kid and I want to pinch his cheeks! It’s a shame that he’ll grow up so fast. Also, his eyes kind of creep me out, not gonna lie.』

『Ahvra: No, what’s really important is the scientific advancements we could uncover if we study him!!!!』

『Ahvra: Can I dissect Looping Encyclopedia yet?! I snuck into his room and he let me draw some blood, but still wouldn’t give me permission to cut him open! They’re basically the same thing! By the way, his blood was clear and iridescent, like gasoline. The mysteries just keep piling on! 』

『Drim: I guess that name’s because he’s an information sponge? But no, Ahvra, I think you need to learn the meaning of the word ‘Consent’』

『Ahvra: Consent is the scourge of progress!』

『Mallea: He’s able to learn so much. I kind of want to know the secrets of his brain too...』

『Phon: The kid’s whatever. What really matters is I can now use my royal authority to demand anything of my subjects. Mallea, as your princess, I demand that you bring me some tea! Be sure to kneel before me when you serve it!』

『Mallea: You know, regicide is a skill I haven’t added to my repertoire yet.』

『Kada: Wait, wouldn’t that mean whoever marries Drim would get to be queen one day? They’d have even more power than Phon then!』

『Phon: Monarchies are outdated and archaic. They should be abolished.』

 

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