Chapter 871 A Burning Memory, Part 4



There was suddenly a noticeable damper in the general vibe of the room. I could almost see the gray clouds, almost hear the faint rumble of rolling thunder hanging over our heads - a monochromatic haze that somehow even managed to drain the light from Ria's flames. 

"Easier said than done, you know?" Ria said, pinching a fry from her plate and absentmindedly sizzling it crisp. "If making new life, artificial life at that, was so easy, everybody and their mothers would have been doing it. Torem, Silas… they both had their work cut out from them. But they were confident, they had hope, and with the power of friendship combined - what couldn't they do?"

She snorted, dropping the charred piece of potato back onto the plate with a hard clunk. 

"Twenty years, give or take. Twenty years of hiding from the eyes of the Church, twenty years of experimenting, and twenty years of failing with the finish line not any closer than when they first began. Quite the substantial waste of time if you ask anyone, and Silas was beginning to see that too. Given his high position within the Church, it was wearing down on him constantly having to juggle between his sacred duties during the day and committing sacrilegious, unnatural acts by night. He could see the writing on the wall… failure was a common expectation in the world of discovery, but twenty whole years worth? At that point, he would ponder to himself, what good was another twenty more?

"Torem was different though. Much, much different. Failure wasn't a frustration, it was an encouragement. Every attempt, year after year, his resolve would only strengthen more and more. Twenty years, thirty years, however long it'd take, he was going to do exactly what he set out to do. I suppose that's what separates the good from the great… and the great from the complete batshit insane. It would be another few years, countless more failed attempts before Silas eventually brought up the idea of just cutting their losses. They did their best, gave their all, there was no shame in conceding to the absolute impossible. But Torem, of course, disagreed with that ridiculous notion."

Something tells me that Ria had long exhausted herself from storytelling. The charm had all gone, all the usual Ria-flair, she even stopped straying away every three sentences for some silly bit. The upside was that she was getting more to the point now than ever. The downside though… well, it's not very often you see the circus clown perform without their signature silly smile. 

"It was the first time the two of them ever had an argument with one another. Always each other's yes-man, always each other's pat on the back. But not this time. Torem pretty much told Silas to fuck off if he didn't have it in him anymore to go on. He didn't. At that point, Silas was completely drained. Of morale, of confidence, there wasn't a single part of him that desired to continue with the madness the both of them had started. Despite that, Silas stayed. He was given a way out, and he didn't take it - why? It's clear as day Torem's gone cuckoo in the head, his once arguably noble ambition turning to an unhealthy obsession. But still, he chose to go along with it. Because of course, he did.

"You don't spend that many years together without developing some sort of commitment, loyalty… or, hell, even a little bit of love. And Silas loved Torem. Loved him more than he's loved anything else before. He held out hope that his dear friend will soon see the errors of his ways, that maybe staying with him will somehow do something for him. In other words - he thought that in the end, true love would eventually trump all. But for the time being, he'll continue to remain by his side, in good times and in bad, for he knows that is where he rightfully belonged."

Ria broke off, staring blankly somewhere to the side, wearing a little smirk that just screamed bitter irony. 

"One day, Silas came by to their super secret den where they conducted all their heretical misdemeanors, only to then be told by Torem that he didn't need him anymore. In private, Torem had mastered the elusive ability of Creation himself. The only thing that kept Silas of any worth, any use - gone. Turns out, you tend to pick up a thing or two watching someone do something again and again for twenty over years. Doesn't hurt that every question you might have about the process will always be quickly clarified and explained by your most loyal, bestest friend in the whole wide world. And then to repay his dear friend's kindness, Torem made Silas into nothing more than a liability." 

We locked eyes, Ria and I. Actually, it felt like she was staring more at me than I was at her if that even made sense.

"Loving, right?" She said, throwing me a raised brow. "That's what you called my father? Yeah, pretty loving guy, alright." 

I knew better than to open my mouth. From what I know from all the things I've heard so far, was that I know absolutely nothing at all.

"Torem only cared for his ultimate goal and nothing else… as Silas would eventually come to realize," She continued without skipping a beat. "And to add salt to the wound, Torem had Silas pledge to a vow of absolute silence." 

"Vow of silence?" I parroted back.

"You got NDA papers in this world - the same thing, really. Only instead if you try to breach the terms of the vow, you just drop dead." 

Of course you do.

"The Succubi possess a similar kind of ability actually," Ria said, her expression brightening only slightly. "But I'm pretty sure you'd know all about that one already."

Someone, somewhere, someplace fidgeted uncomfortably in place, and it definitely couldn't be Irene. No, she was as cool as a cucumber submerged in a scorching desert.

"He was extremely paranoid, yes," Ria burnt another poor fry. "But I prefer to call him absolutely heartless. All those years, he's shared with this man this secret for all those years. If he really had a heart in the first place, he'd know Silas wouldn't have breathed a word to anyone - vow or no. Silas could have refused it too, and if I were him I'd have run for it screaming to anyone that would listen to me 'cause fuck it at that point, that prick. But Silas was stupid, stupid, and in love, and like the idiot he was, Silas chose to assuage Torem's concerns and keep the man's secret to his dying breath. Begrudgingly, bitterly, extremely broken-heartedly… but completely willingly.

"And that's where their time together came to an unceremonious end. Silas continued working for the Church, developing a more cynical outlook on life in the process. When it came time for another Magus to take his place, Silas locked himself away in an abandoned tower far from anything resembling civilization where he would remain for all time, conjuring an eternal rain across the proximity to deter any would-be solicitors. And as for the ever-brilliant, illustrious Torem himself?

Ria shook her head.

"No one knew where he went. One day, he just upped and dropped off the face of the world. Years would pass, decades came by, and eventually, his name, his reputation would slowly fade away into irrelevance… and the few folks that do still remember this once brilliant, unprecedented figure believed that he had just simply died a death unworthy of his eminence. Not a single one of them knew about the hermit of a man hiding in some desolate old cave. Nobody knew what he was up to or what he was even doing there in the first place. Until suddenly, one day - woosh!" 

With a burst of light and heat, a swirling bright flame ignited atop Ria's open palm… 

"No one knew it back then. Hell, not even the hermit himself. He lamented and he mourned, cursing his own failure. But what he didn't know…was that from that brief spark of flames he had conjured…"

The fire swirled and burned… before slowly, it faded to a puff of thin white smoke.

"Was also Ria Ignis' first few brief seconds of her eternal life."