7 in 3

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Iota

】〓〓〓〓【

 

The first thing I see when I wake up is the ceiling of a carriage. Patting myself, I find clothes that fit for once. I sit up to find a trio of eyes staring me down. The Count and Zenith sit opposite me, apparently giving me the entire side to sleep. 

“Boy, you’re awake!” The Count gives his usual smile. “We’re going to the temple at the moment, lad, to see your status.” Thumbing the pin on his lapel, he grins. “And we can get the material to make you and Zenith some of these.”
I nod at the Count’s words and glance out the small window at the side of the carriage. The tips of rooftops and smokestacks zip past the side of the road, the buildings far below. Noticing that it’s almost dark outside, I look at the Count. “Why are we going at night?” 

Count Cleave smirks. “We aren’t, boy. The temple is in the middle level, the tier above causes the darkness.” Confused, I just nod and accept the Count’s words.

Soon enough the vehicle slows to a stop. Count Cleave and Zenith open the doors and hop out without hesitation. Not wanting to be left behind, I scramble out of my seat and the door. I almost fall on the brick road but catch myself. On righting myself I see a huge building before me. The building is simple, built out of marble. Small windows dot the surface of the exterior wall. Above the temple, I see the cause of the darkness. Stone blankets the sky, casting shadow under it. 

The Count notices my gaping mouth. “Boy, that stone above is where we live.” He grins. “Ain’t that cool, lad?” 

Nodding silently, I follow behind the Count. Soon we’re inside the large building, its interior matching the outside. The entrance is a large open room with chairs and benches placed around the regularly occurring columns. People mill about, praying or speaking to each other in hushed tones. The Count walks straight through the center of the room, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. 

Eventually the three of us arrive at a counter at the back of the spacious room. A small woman sits behind the divider, barely able to see over it. Looking up with bored eyes, she sees the Count. Her eyes widen into saucers and the woman jumps out of her seat, to vigorously bow. 

“Oh, gosh! Count Holdings, why did you not inform us of your visit?” The woman’s skin has a layer of cold sweat on it. 

The Count stares at her with a cold glare I’ve not seen from him. When he speaks, it’s in a frigid and formal voice. “I would have informed the clergy of plans to visit if I had had any, but this visit is spur of the moment.” His words are clear and even, formal to a fault. 

The frightened woman manages to stammer out a few words between her continued bows. “What do you need today, Count? I can help set anything up for you.” 

Count Cleave coughs a bit, causing the woman to stop bowing.  His words rumble out of his chest. “I’d like to register these three as my children, and arrange a private status check for them as well.” He gestures to me and Zenith without giving us so much as a glance. 

The clerk looks at the two of us, her eyes vacant as she digests his words. She opens and closes her mouth a few times before responding, “Of course, Count, right away.” With a bow she rushes to a door behind her. Before the door even shuts behind her she pushes it open, coming back with three papers. “This is three forms for registering children, while you fill those out I’ll go inform a priest they are needed.” Without waiting for a response, she quickly leaves.

Watching the woman walk away, the Count waits until she’s out of sight to speak. “Well, what do you guys want for your middle names?” He shoots us a grin, the warmth returning as if it hadn’t left.

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

After filling out the forms, we don’t have to wait long before the clerk comes back with a priest. The priest, upon seeing the Count, smiles widely. 

“Count Holdings, long time no see!” He gives a partial bow to the Count. “I’m glad to see you’ve returned safely from Spearstone!” The priest’s flowing robe is tied loosely around his body loosely with a simple length of rope. 

The Count gives the friendly man a curt nod in response. “Good to see you, Father Rex.” His voice is once again flat. “I came here to seek your aid.” The large man motions vaguely towards us. “These three kids need a private status check, and I was hoping you’d be willing.” 

Priest Rex looks me and Zenith over, a hint of greed in his smile. “Well, of course I can help you, Count. You know you can trust in my aid.” He shifts his unnerving focus to the Count. “I saw that these three are going to be adopted by you? What happened to the famous Kidless Count?” The priest’s tone has a bit of edge to it. 

The Count doesn’t react to the man’s prodding, aside from a directed cough, before he answers. “I’ll give you more information when we get into the examination room.” His cold stare burrows into the holy man. Rex nods quickly before waving for us to follow him. 

The five of us enter a smaller room in single file. A large machine sits in the center of the space, filling the room with a bluish glow. Ropes snake out of the large metal object, going into holes in the walls of the room. The priest goes behind the machine, to retrieve a small stone tablet with a cord coming out of it. 

Bringing the tablet over to the four of us, he motions to a table with chairs around it. “This may take a while, so be comfortable.” His smile gives me the creeps, but I sit in one of the chairs anyways. The man places the tablet on the table between the five of us. “This is a reading stone, it will give your data to the main processing crystal over there.” He motions for me to give him my hand. “Just hold your hand to this, child.” 

I place my hand on the flat surface. The moment my skin makes contact with the stone I feel the comforting cold fill my body. Mist leaks out of my shirt sleeves, startling Priest Rex. Before the man can do anything, Count Cleave intervenes. 

“Don’t worry, Rex, the boy is fine.” The Count’s even voice causes the priest to calm a bit. After a few minutes a small green light appears on the tablet and the holy man removes my hand from it. He fiddles with the object until a light beams out the top, displaying a square in the air above the table. Soon words arrange themselves in the space provided by the light. 

After the words settle into the provided space, the priest’s eyes go wide. “Count Holdings, this reading makes no sense. For multiple reasons.” The priest’s worried tone is interrupted by the light. Squares like the first are projected, one after another, until six float in the air. “What… What is happening?” The priest glances at the Count’s stony face as words fill the air. 

Silence fills the room as everyone looks at the words written in front of us. The squares each collapse into one bright point before condensing into a small pebble. The silence is broken by six stones hitting the tabletop. 

“Count, where did you find this kid?” The priest's eyes no longer hold worry, instead showing fear. “None of this makes any sense, some of these words mean nothing to me.” He clutches his head with his hands. “My entire understanding of things is useless here, I’m not qualified to interpret these readings.” Looking at the Count pleadingly, he begs, “You need to take this to a bishop at least, please, Count.” 

The Count nods slowly. “Very well, but first take the other two children’s readings.” The priest complies, his eyes empty of life. Zenith places his hand onto the tablet until the green light appears. After another session of fiddling with the device, light fills the room. Repeating the actions it had done before, it displays a new set of writing. 

The priest wordlessly stands up, catching the newly condensed stone. He repeats the process with Zenith’s female body. After the entire sequence finishes, the result is the same as for the other Zenith. The priest doesn’t question this, handing one stone to each of Zenith’s bodies without a word. After that he hands me all six of the other stones before sighing loudly. 

“Count, this is above my paygrade.” The man’s voice is flat, having lost all the friendliness of earlier. “I’ll take you to the bishop.” He and the Count both stand and head to the door. 

The Count motions for us to follow. “I’ll take you out to the carriage first, you two don’t need to be here for this.” Count Cleave gives us a solid, determined look. I follow him, and he helps me into the carriage. After Zenith hops in as well, I turn to look out the door at the Count. He gives me a quick smile before closing the door. 

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

As I chew my steak, I try to make eye contact with Zenith. They’re sitting across from me at the dinner table, staring at their plates. I try to summon one of the white shapes from within me so I can talk to them. Comforting cold spreads out from my heart, a small wisp floating out of my shirtsleeve. 

The small white puff of mist floats above my dinner, seemingly waiting for an order. I mentally command the smudge to check if anyone is listening outside the doors to the dining room. I feel a tug in my chest as four more wisps sneak out of my clothes. The shapes float up to the first, as if they’re following its lead.

The four clouds fly out of the room, each going to one of the doors. A white sheen appears over the eastern entrance. Feeling comfortable now that any eavesdroppers have been deafened, I call to Zenith, “Zenith! Why are you pouting?” 

Their heads snap up, wearing matching dazed expressions. They shake their heads a little and their eyes clear. “I was thinking about what will happen to us. The Count could easily harm us with the information he gained at the temple.” Their brows furrow as their gaze shifts back to their untouched dinners. I think their fears are unnecessary, Count Cleave wouldn’t hurt us like that. 

Turning my attention back to the first wisp, I try to mentally communicate again. 

You are the child-like one from the carriage, aren’t you? 

The small ball of mist bobs up and down in response. This guy has come twice after I asked for help, maybe I should name him. Looking at the floating smudge, I try to come up with a cool name.

Alpha! Because you’re the first one to get a name. 

I smile at my cleverness, but my moment of pride is interrupted by a sudden movement from Alpha. The small shape quickly flies from its position slightly above the table, settling at the ground next to my seat. After landing, the bouncing wisp starts to glow brightly. Squinting from the glare, I try to watch what's happening. 

The small glowing orb slowly grows larger, shaping itself into a small humanoid form. After a few secondsr the glowing shape dims, revealing what looks like a small boy made of snow. The boy’s form is somewhat see-through, allowing me to see the chair behind him. Two pale pupiless eyes lock with mine. A large grin stretches across the small ghostly form’s face. The boy gives me a deep bow before shrinking back into a small wisp. After doing a small happy loop around me, the wisp disappears into my chest. 

When I look up from my little moment, I see Zenith staring at me twice. I give them a questioning stare. Like they’ve never done something weird spontaneously. 

“Was that a ghost?” 

Their direct question strikes my mind. Is that child a ghost? Are my powers ghosts? My status did have the blessing of the dead, it would make sense. I give them a nod. Their stares drop, their attention returning to their dinners. 

I suddenly feel a sharp sting in my chest, followed by a muffled bang from the door. Looking just in time to see the white sheen leave the door, I realize someone used something on the spirit. A wisp flies over to me, significantly smaller than before, and zips into my chest. Glaring at the door, I see a butler walk in followed by two maids. 

Thoroughly looking over the three intruders, I memorize what they look like. The butler seems young, with hair hanging in coils from his head. His eyes have a sharp look in them. The maid directly behind him is sickly thin, as if she hasn’t eaten in weeks. Her sunken eyes dart around the room. Lastly a shorter maid comes in. Her body is larger, giving her a cute appearance. She has neatly braided hair that reaches her back. 

“Honored guests,” the butler says, “I have come to invite you to enjoy a warm bath. We apologize that you haven’t been offered one up until now.” Standing from his shallow bow, he gives us an obviously fake smile. 

I thank him as I rise from my seat. He motions for me to follow the frail-looking maid, and she leads me out of the dining hall. 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

I blow bubbles on the surface of the water, trying to relax. The bath I’ve been led to is not a single person one, but a massive room-sized pool of a tub. Steam rises off the water, filling the air in the room. The warmth of the water feels uncomfortable, a hostile sensation to me. 

My attempts to relax are interrupted as the door behind me opens and a figure walks into the muggy room. Seeing the approaching Zenith I stop blowing bubbles. Zenith disrobes without hesitation, slipping into the pool pretending to be a bathtub. I look anywhere except at him, trying to avoid his nude figure. Zenith lets out a small chuckle.

“Are you afraid of me, Iota?” Zenith’s voice betrays his amusement. “The steam is covering everything up, not that there’s anything I haven’t seen before.” Another chuckle trickles out of him, infuriating me. 

“What do you mean, nothing you haven’t seen?!” I stand up, fuming. “It’s not like you’ve seen me naked before!” I sit down with a huff, causing a splash in the water. As I stew in frustration, I see an annoying smile on Zenith’s face. 

“Iota, who do you think tied the shirt around you?” His voice is layered with vile amusement. The shirt? What is he talking about? I mull over his words, and then my veins suddenly run cold. When I first woke up. Giving the bully a glare, I turn away from him and try again to relax. The warmth from the water eventually starts to feel pleasant.