Chapter 296 - Chimaera

The trip back home to Elysium was uneventful save for one unprovoked attack by a heavily armed merchant ship. The proactive ship tried to sink them as soon as they spotted the mark on its hull which declared it part of Bella's faction. After that attack, Rowan had the mark painted over with pitch.

As the days went by, Syryn got better and better at fishing. He caught himself many dinners and lunches which were shared with Levia. The bottomless Levia though was a big fan of salted fish. She cleverly used the fresh catches from Syryn's basket to trade for the salted fish in the kitchen. It was a good trade for both herself and the cook. The only one annoyed by it was the fisherman. 

Levia had become somewhat of a mascot on the ship, doted on by the crew who fed her the scraps from their plates. Whether it was vegetables or non-vegetarian food, the little monster ate everything she received with the same enthusiasm. Suffice to say, her stomach always remained full. And when it was time to sleep, she snoozed in a nest of clothing that Syryn made for her inside the crow's nest. 

Enkansh too was a daily fixture in the crow's nest. It was high up over the ship and afforded him a wonderful view of the sky and the ocean. The siren sometimes dove into the water and swam behind the ship, following its slow course towards Hide harbour. 

Artemus on the other hand spent a lot of time in his room, only coming out to meddle in the kitchen when he felt it was time for a hygiene check. The cook tried to pick a fight with the dark-haired anti mage but after having gotten verbally rinsed and directed towards all the food stains in his apparently dirty kitchen, he learnt that it just wasn't worth it to argue with the man. All he had to do was shut up and let the anti mage disinfect his kitchen every night when cooking was done.

The most problematic person on the ship though was the one called Syryn. Artemus may have been a clean freak but they benefitted from his habit of cleaning the kitchen. Syryn, on the other hand, had developed an intense love-hate relationship with fishing and it caused problems for everyone. To his consternation, the mage often reeled in the weirdest looking ocean creatures that the crew had never seen before. And Syryn always forced the cook to make meals out of the ugly fish. The good and normal catches were either given to Levia, Enkansh or kept for himself. The cook had a theory that Syryn kept catching strange fish because he was using bait soaked in a potion that he always took out of his dimensional bag right before fishing time. 

The least problematic person was Rowan, a much-beloved man to whom the crew owed their lives. He was the only thing standing between Syryn's inedible catches and the cooking pot. The scariest episode had been on a day that Syryn ended up catching a bright orange fish whose scales were covered in a greenish snot-like mucus. It had taken a good amount of sweet-talking from Rowan to persuade Syryn out of tossing the fish into the dinner pot. In the end, even Levia had taken a sniff at it and rejected the fish. A collective sigh of relief had been breathed out when Rowan threw the thing back into the ocean. 

And then there was the man with maroon gold scales on his skin. The crew members guessed he was a merman but nobody dared to ask him. Enkansh was gloomy on a good day, and downright murderous looking on days when he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Rainy days though were his favourite. That's when he dived into the water and swam like a ribbon of silk flitting through the water. 

By the time the ship reach reached its destination at Hide harbour, Syryn had already given up his fishing hobby because he had poisoned everyone including himself. It had been a normal looking silver fish that had done it. Rowan and Artemus had conveniently skipped dinner because the latter had made a rice stew out of salted fish. Throwing up for the fifth time on the final leg of their journey, Syryn had a nagging suspicion that the anti mages knew and had allowed it to happen. 

When he asked Rowan about it, the blond told him that Artemus hadn't liked something about the fish and had casually mentioned it to Rowan. Syryn thus asked Artemus about it and the dark-haired anti mage replied that the fish had smelled too pungent. He had a very good sense of smell and so his nose was overpowered by its fishy scent.

Later on, Rowan again mentioned that Syryn shouldn't have succumbed to the toxin in the fish because demons were more resistant than humans. 

His confusion was cleared by the Sage after Syryn began rinsing his mouth with the strongest alcoholic wash he could find in his bag. 

Your body is still going through changes so you're more sensitive to the environment. 

[How does that work?]

You're being rearranged at the tiniest level of your body. 

Syryn was equally intrigued and horrified. [What am I being rearranged into?]

A chimaera. You're part human, part demon, and now part something else that you'll understand after you've adjusted to the change completely. 

[So what you're saying is that I'm more vulnerable right now but later I'll become stronger than I ever was. Is that it?]

Yes. You won't just become stronger physically, you'll also gain magical strength. 

[All for free?] Syryn's scepticism was apparent. Why would anyone bestow power on another for free?

You're suspicious of my motives and that's understandable. I too would be suspicious. 

[So.]

So nothing. Nothing I say will convince you that I am here just to pass on my legacy to a successor.

[The only reason I'm not looking for a way to throw you out is that I want all the benefits you're offering. If you take over my body, Rowan will kill us together. You know that right?]

How many times will I tell you I don't have such intentions?!

[As many times as it takes to convince me.]

And how do you know that your lover will kill us? I don't recall you having such a conversation with him. 

[I just have a feeling.] 

I believe that. Your anti mage is not normal. 

[What do you mean?]

Forget I said anything. 

[No. Tell me.]

No. 

[I'm telling Rowan you called him abnormal.]

Go ahead. See if I care. 

Syryn had gone ahead and told Rowan about it. 

"Oh? He said that?" The anti mage had replied in an unconcerned tone. 

"Yeah." 

"He's right," Rowan had said before ending the conversation without so much as an explanation.

Hahahahaha! 

The laughter was gleeful.

Syryn fumed at the old man's immaturity, forgetting that he had acted the same by tattling on the Sage out of spite. And as an act of revenge, he did exactly what the Sage hated - Syryn found Rowan and kissed the blond passionately. His mindscape was suddenly blessedly empty.. The Sage had gone into hiding.