7 in 3

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Iota

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A loud bang makes my eyes shoot open. Jumping to my feet I feel my clothes sag onto my limbs. The room I’ve woken up in is large, but plain, and there’s also a stranger laying on the floor with his chair. Glancing around I see Father and Zenith standing next to me, so I let myself relax. I crouch down and tie off the clothes in the back so they don't fall off me. 

The man on the floor doesn’t seem to be attempting to get up. “Cleave, what the hell have you brought with you?” 

I’m assuming the floor man is speaking about me and Zenith. Anger flares in my face and I feel the chill spread out from my heart. “Don’t be rude! Zenith and I are good people!” 

My words get a snort from Father. What was so funny? Glancing back down at the floor man I see him creepily staring at me. After a few moments of watching him watch me, I realize that the man is staring at the mist rising off my body, not at me. My chest fills with a harsher cold, almost defensively, and the mist thickens around me. 

“Yo, little kid!” The man’s loud voice grates against my ears. “Is that frost magic? No, Cleave said you all had blessings… So is that a blessing of frost? Maybe winter? Don’t leave me in the dark, kid!” Desperation fills the man’s eyes, frightening me. 

I feel Alpha slip out of my heart, forming in front of me. The spirit child gathers mist in his hand, condensing it into a spear. He protectively gets between me and the floor man, pointing his small spear down at him. 

Wide-eyed the man stares up at my subordinate from his position on the ground. “Kid! Is that a ghost? A for-real ghost? I knew they existed but I haven’t seen one before! I used to explore abandoned asylums and churches all the time to try and see one. You can control spirits then, kid? That's amazing.” 

The insane man’s ramblings muddle my mind, his stream of consciousness confusing me. Alpha protectively tensing his hand around his spear makes me wave him down. After a moment the ghost child backs off. 

My view of the floor man is suddenly cut by the large form of Count Cleave. Stepping in front of me, Father begins speaking. “Your Highness, you see that I was telling the truth now, correct? One soul cannot have more than one blessing.” Zenith shuffles nervously at Father’s words. Either not noticing my sibling, or ignoring them, Father motions to me with his hand. “This child is a flighty one, please forgive him for threatening you.” Father inexplicably bows to the creepy man. 

“Threaten? Did the kid threaten me? I got distracted by his blessing so I wasn’t really paying attention.” The man finally rights his large chair, sitting in it incorrectly. He moves it around with wheels on the bottom, kicking his way to the front of the room. “Cleave, I’m going to use the royal seal on their statuses. Only the two of us, well and them, will be able to read it. If they use it for identification, it will just give their name and class.” He gives Father a strange smile. “I suppose I’ll have to read that report then, huh?” 

He kicks a spot on the floor near his chair, causing the floor to make a loud click. The strange man motions for us to follow him. 

“C’mon Holdings crew, let's eat some pizza!” 

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

The odd man leads us out of the long room into an even longer one. The new room is made of glowing stone of every color. Seeing as the last room only had one entrance, we must have come through here already. 

When we meet with a group of guards they all look at me strangely. Whatever, it’s not my fault I have no fitting clothes. My frustration must’ve shown on my face because the guards start looking even more confused. Without giving them any more attention, I go back to following my group. 

The odd bald guy, aka floor man, slowly leads us through long monolithic hallways. Eventually we stop in front of the first normal door. He glances both ways before ushering us inside. 

Darkness temporarily fills the room, until a click that floods the room in light. The room is messy, objects strewn all over. Empty bottles and cans litter the edges of the space, giving the place a grungy feeling. Bald guy leads us through a partial wall into the next room. Beads hanging on strings clatter together as we walk through the doorway. 

This room is much cleaner than the last. All around the space lumpy orbs sit squished. Almost immediately the man jumps into one, causing it to make a fwoosh sound. He motions to the other orbs, inviting us to sit. Father is the first to concede, sighing as he sits into the soft bag. Following Father and Zenith’s leads, I sit in the nearest lump. Once everyone is seated, the strange man speaks. 

“Welcome to my personal dining room, Holdings! You’re the first to be in here besides my servants.” The man’s face would have you believe we had won gold. “So! Which brat is this one?” He motions at me, his smile never faltering. 

Blood rushes to my head, my anger swelling. Before I can even consider retaliating, Father cuts me off. 

“This is Iota, Your Highness.” My Father’s words are polite, and deferential. Who is this bizarre man that Father lowers his head to? Wait, His Highness? I learned in my classes that only the king is called that. This man surely isn’t the king. 

The man’s smile changes, as if he can read my mind. “Well, Iota, I’m King Zander Gemshell. Pleasure to meet you.” 

Shit, he is the king. Face flushed, I bow my head. “Nice to meet you, Your Highness.” I do the greeting that Father taught me. 

The king’s smile inverses. “Cleave, why are your kids such sticks in the mud? They all are so respectful.” The grown man’s face twists into a pout. “They’re all dull like you.” Curiosity sparks in his eyes suddenly. “So, Cleave, tell me their blessings!” 

Father gives the monarch a withering gaze before acquiescing. “Well, Iota here has the blessing of the Dead.” Father is immediately cut off. 

“Of the Dead? Not a specific spirit?” The king’s eyes pop out of his skull. “What a potent blessing, and it’s a full one. Insane, actually. Cleave, where did you find these kids, really?” 

Father averts his gaze. “Let’s talk about that later, Your Highness, I’d rather get the fun things out of the way first.” 

The king nods sage-like at Father and then turns his focus back to me, his smile intense. “So, kid! How many spirits do you have?” He looks at me like a cut of meat. 

Trying to not make eye contact, I answer truthfully. “I don’t think there is a number sir.” 

“What do you mean? How many have you seen?” His questions probe further. 

“Well, as long as I call them, more keep coming.” 

The king’s mouth drops open. “Wow… Iota, that’s incredible. Are any of them named? Can I meet one? Can they speak to you? How does controlling them feel?” 

His questions hit me like blows. Dazed, I do my best to answer. “Only one is named, Alpha. You met him already in the other room.” The king nods. “They can’t speak and it feels like a comfortable cold when I control it.” Hoping my answers are enough, I pleadingly look at Father. 

“Your Highness, his isn’t even the most strange.” Father successfully distracts the maniac away from me. “Zenith here has two blessings.” His words are calm, but purposefully loaded. 

“What! Really? How!?” The king looks incensed, staring at Zenith’s bodies. “One soul can only have one blessing though, how can you carry two? Even if you have two bodies, your shared soul should combust if you were given a second.” His thoughts pour into the room. He stares at the floor, thinking in silence. With a sudden jerk, he looks at Father. “Cleave, what blessings do they have?” He gestures at Zenith passionately. 

Father runs his hand through his hair with a sigh. “The blessings of the Mage and the Warrior.” Father’s calm words incite more mumbling from the king. He occasionally glances up to look at Zenith or me. 

A loud burbling sound rips through the room, causing everyone to look at Zenith. Her stomach continues growling for almost a minute straight. 

“Right, food.” The king speaks as if he’s mentioning a chore. “We should do that, I suppose.” Reaching into his clothes, the king pulls out a small orange stone. With a press the stone flashes once before growing dim. Satisfied, he slips it back into his robes. 

Not long after that, a group of servants come in carrying plates of food and cups full of different colored drinks. Since the room lacks a table, they just pile everything in the space between the lumpy cushions. 

The room soon is filled with the sound of Zenith inhaling her food. 

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

The casual conversation being shared over dinner eventually comes back to blessings. The king presses Father for the blessings of my siblings. 

“Cleave, can you please tell me more? Pretty please?” With a shameful display, the monarch begs his subordinate. 

Father rolls his eyes at the pathetic royal. “Your Highness, you can just read the report I gave you.” Father’s face is stoic. 

The king slumps in his bag, defeated. “But Cleave, the report won’t tell me what they can do with their blessings!” His whining cuts the air in the room. “Please tell me?” 

Sighing, Count Cleave gives in. “Fine, one at a time though. What order do you want them in?” Father speaks in a tone as if he was asking what color the king would like his dishes to be. 

King Gemshell’s face lights up, ecstatic. “Well, Cleave, you can pick!” If I didn’t know better I’d say that the king was vibrating in excitement. 

“The eldest girl, Scarlet, has the blessing of Nature.” The king smiles harder. “She used a flower monster seed to somehow make a new companionbeast. Damn thing looks like a scalesnap with leaves all over it.” Count Cleave shakes his head. 

The king bounces in place. “She made a new companionbeast? As in a new breed?!” The king frowns fiercely. “I must see this creature at some point, Count Holdings.” The king’s attempt at a serious tone elicits a chuckle from Father. 

Father continues. “Luna, one of the younger ones, has the Blessing of Night. She’s constantly invisible, and anything that touches her slowly disappears as well.” 

The king slowly nods. “A neighboring country had records of a hero who had that blessing, nothing about being invisible, though.” He rubs his fuzzy chin thoughtfully. 

“My youngest, Wight, has a strange one. His blessing is of the Archdemon.” 

The king doesn’t notice Father’s nerves. “Archdemon, I’ve never even read anything like that. Plenty of records of demons from all over, but no Archdemons.” He glances at Father. “How does it manifest?” 

Father meets the King’s suddenly harsh eyes. “He seems to be completely invulnerable. He has average strength but his invulnerability pushes things away, regardless of logic. He can pull apart metal like it's nothing.” Father’s eyes look fatigued. “He fell three stories unharmed, but put a foot-deep hole into my garden.” 

The king snorts. “Well, that doesn’t seem to be very demon-y, let's not worry about it.” His eyes flash excitedly. “Last one, Cleave!” 

With a sigh Father finishes. “The last is Pim, she has the strangest blessing.” The king's eyes grow more intense. “She has the blessing of Law. I have no idea how it manifests, or even what ‘Law’ entails.” Father rubs his face.

The king stares at the floor for a moment. “I’ll look into it, Cleave, don’t worry too bad.” He gives Father a genuine smile. “So, tell me, where did you really find these kids?” The king flicks his wrist and a blue sheen covers the walls. “No one can hear us.” 

Father nods. “They wandered up to me in the deathglades. Just came right up to the road. Had no idea that they were in severe danger or even where they were. They tried lying about being foreigners.” Count Cleave gives a smile at us. “But I caught on pretty quick. They had no memories and had just woken up in the woods. I couldn’t just leave 'em there so I brought them home. Eventually I figured I might as well adopt them. Why not, ya know?” With a jump, Father realizes he’s smiling warmly. He quickly hides his feelings, going back to a cold, indifferent expression. 

The king smiles like a kid who saw something he shouldn’t. “Odd, how did they even get into the deathglades…” The king rubs his chin. “I’ll look through my recent reports, and the archives, for any similar events.” Giving a satisfied nod, the ruler stands. “Alright, I’m tired, so you all have to get out.” He gives another nod with a blissful smile. 

Father lets out a long sigh before standing, the rest of us quickly follow suit. Each of us say our goodbyes to the monarch before exiting his messy room. 

Once in the hall, Father starts quietly laughing to himself.