Chapter 40 - 『Innuendo』

About two hours later, Jack could hear the chattering from the dining room as he stood out in the corridor. Excitement, fear, surprise. Those emotions could all be hinted at in their voices.

"Jack-sama has wings!" Odo could be heard exclaiming loudly. It was almost as if Jack could hear him throwing his arms around. It wasn't necessarily something he expected.

"Seriously?!" The small elf who had been working in the kitchen squealed like a child.

"Is he one of those winged humans?" It sounded like Rhome, who sounded rather calm, but extremely curious and amazed.

"No, I've seen one of those. He's not a winged human at all, that man… He reeks of divine magical energy." Akuna informed the group which struck them all into silence for a split moment.

"What is he… Some kind of angel? What does that make the little blonde girl?" Driskel asked as he was aware of what angels looked like. Most of them wore white holy robes and armor, at least the summoned ones from the Theocracy. Yet this man was in a suit, and his female companion was dressed as a mage! They couldn't both be angels, right?

"Seriously?"

"The girl also had divine protection cast on her… She's probably human though."

"What... Are you exactly?" Driskel's voice shrank slightly.

"She can see magic that is in use," Emani spoke up for Akuna, "It's her talent."

"Magic that is in use?"

Emani would've nodded for her sister, "Like enchantments, buff and protection spells."

"That would be rather useful… Did he have anything cast on him?" Rhome asked curiously as he stepped forward, he was curious about their new owner.

"No… Just had a strange aura surrounding him, made it hard to look away and made me feel oddly calm..." She tilted her head to the side slightly as she described the feeling.

Emani blinked a few times as she looked over at her sister before itching her brow. "Sounds like a mesmerization spell of some kind."

"Not a charm?"

"No, it's an ambient effect, probably a side effect from the radiance that surrounds him."

"Is he a true angel then…?" Odo would inquire, he'd lean against the table. "If he is, then that's definitely not his true form… It's too… Human. So the one thing we can be sure of is that Jack Graham is his name, if he is an Angel, he cannot use a fake name."

Jack would poke at the door, causing it to slowly creek open. He'd peer in, immediately making eye contact with the slaves as they were all talking together. "Having fun trying to figure out what I am?"

"We… We're sorry Jack-sama!" Odo who had instigated the discussion seemed to fumble over himself, using the table to support him as he bowed forward.

"No, no it's fine. If you simply accepted the fact I had wings and didn't continue to figure out who and what I am, I'd be afraid to leave you all to your own devices." Jack laughed a bit as he stepped into the room, folding his hands behind his back.

Jack liked it when people like this group were trying to figure out what he was. As he closed the door behind himself, he would tilt his head to the side slightly.

"Leave us to our own devices?" Rhome asked as he stepped forward, being the closest to the door now as well as Jack. "What do you mean?"

"If I leave the house for a long period of time, I wouldn't want anyone to trick you out of a roof. That and… I plan on freeing you all at some point, with gold coins."

"G-gold coins?" Delilia stuttered when he had mentioned coins as a parting gift of some kind.

"One for each day you've served," Jack added which caused most of them to blink several times in shock. They didn't necessarily understand why or how, but it felt like this man was giving them a new beginning.

If they served him for a year, they'd have well over three hundred coins. If he had them serve for a decade before letting them go, they'd have thousands of gold coins each…

Reasons to leave, reasons to rebel. There were none. It was as if he was there to take care of them, whilst they took care of him. Greed and Need haven't rhymed so well, giving them more incentive to want to work and to live under the same roof, to stay.

"Of course, even after I free you, you're all the more welcome to stay." Jack held his hands out towards all of them. "And to answer the question of what I am… Have a look for yourself."

Just like last time, his Turquoise wings came sprouting from his back, but as two more pairs followed… His wings began to turn into a shining, almost silvery, white. His suit was soon replaced by light plate armor and robes, a helmet appearing over his head with blaring blue eyes.

The wings closest to his head acted as a collar alongside the shoulder armor plates. The lower pair skirted his sides and the main center pair were spread out in both directions.

A singular magic circle was floating behind his head, taking the appearance of a halo, as it rotated at an accelerated rate. "What do you think?"

The two human males just stared at the man, rendered speechless. A live, talking and sentient angel was standing before them. Not under the control of the Slane Theocracy, not a nameless puppet.

When he retracted his wings though, all the light in the room seemed to dim down. He was once again in his suit and the armor was gone.

Rubbing the tip of his nose with the back of his hand, Jack glanced over towards the window which overlooked the dining room. "So, how was the meal?" He asked curiously, looked over all the empty plates and glasses.

It appeared they had sated their hunger prior to having the discussion about what he was. So their priorities were in check, their wellbeing over their curiosities.

His eyes then traced over each one of them who were smiling at him.

They had only known him for several hours now. Though they had hardly interacted with him.

"It was delicious..."

Most of the slaves which hadn't worked in the kitchen, concurred as they nodded with beaming smiles on their faces. It was probably the best food they've eaten in a long time since their enslavement.

The three who did though, seemed to smile as their new found friends and colleagues enjoyed the meal.

"Good," Jack chuckled lightly, "Because you're going to be preparing a selection of these dishes for a ball that will be happening at some point." Jack said with a light nod, causing the three cooks to pale slightly at the idea of serving a large amount of people.

That's when it hit pretty much everyone in the room.

Jack had gathered them all for the purpose of taking care of the house, but mainly, for taking care of the house for the guests who will be coming to this place in the very near future.

"So if you're an Angel… Does that make Arche-sama an Angel as well?" Rhome asked curiously, though he found it unlikely. He just wanted to ask, just in case.

"No, she's my girlfriend, human." Jack responded with a blank stoic look. "She has a similar talent to Akuna." His eyes traced over the two sisters who were looking somewhat disappointed to hear he had a girlfriend. Though it was pretty hard to assume she was anything else but something like that.

Odo raised a brow at this, "Similar?"

"All-Seeing-Eye," Jack educated them with the name of Arche's ability.

"Oh?" Cici smirked slightly.

Some of them knew what the talent could do, the ones that didn't got a small whisper from the ones that did. While it was somewhat similar, it was extremely different.

Arche popped her head into the room as she opened the door partially, looking like the lifeless doll she always had the impression of. "Jack, you're not sleeping in your armor again, are you?"

Jack blinked a few times and glanced over his shoulder, before shrugging. "I'll probably end up sleeping in my suit," a sly fox-like tease of a smirk forming over his lips.

Arche just blinked, her eyes looking over all of the people they had brought into the house recently, then back to him. "What're you doing anyways?" She'd slip into the room, casually walking up beside him. The girls and even the men seemed happier than before, their eyes hardly moving away from Jack.

"Did you flash them with your wings again?"

"You've seen his wings?"

"The big turquoise ones? Yeah, he had them out when he killed a giant skeletal dragon with a single spell." Her head lulled to the side slightly, somewhat clueless to the other four wings which he had.

All of them just locked their eyes on Jack once again, rendered speechless by the fact that he had practically one hit a super powerful undead monster made of humanoid bones.

"I actually have four more wings," Jack's index finger played with her lower lip, flipping it.

Arche just awkwardly looked up at him with blank face of hers. "Four more wings?" Though her lips weren't smiling, her eyes were widened more than usual, showing a mild form of excitement.

Though he was pretty sure she was also wondering why he hadn't showed her these before!

"Yes, I'll show them to you later, if you'd like." Winking to her, Jack seemed to make it sound more like a sexual innuendo than anything else.

"Jack?" Arche spoke his name monotonously.

"Hm?"

"Not yet."

"Eh? What're you talking about?" Jack's eyelids puckered as he narrowed his sights on her, feinting innocence, whilst trying to make her say what she thought he meant.

Arche's mouth opened, as if she was about to speak, only to pause and close her mouth quickly. Her cheeks turned a slight rosy red. Without saying a word, she flipped her cape to the side before turning away and slipping out of the room. The door would slam shut behind her, a few seconds later, her dainty feet could be heard scampering down the corridor he had once been standing in.

Odo, and the others there, were just shaking their head.

"Poor Arche-sama.." Cici seemed to utter quietly under her breath.

Jack's eyes shifted over to the smallest elf in the room, imagining putting her on a shelf. He shook his own head slightly at the idea. Then he went onto turn around and head out of the room. "Arche, where are you going?" He'd raise his voice slightly before narrowing his eyes on Goltron who was walking towards him from the direction he assumed she went.

"Hey, how's it going?" Jack would put on a friendly smile, "You see where Arche went?"

Goltron sized Jack up once or twice, possibly three times. "I'm doing quite well, and I believe I saw her running down the hall towards her bedroom."

"Thanks," Jack nodded his head and went to walk passed him, only for Goltron to follow him with the turn of his head. "Is there something I can help you with?" He didn't look at the high priest.

"Do you like playing with the hearts of mortals?"

Jack frowned slightly as he looked over towards Goltron, "Their minds yes… Their hearts, not so much." He would cross his arms over his chest looking at the armored priest. "Why do you ask?"

"Angel or not, if you hurt Arche, I will hand you the Fist of God."

"And that you should, but I won't hurt her intentionally, not if it can be avoided."

Goltron smiled as Jack seemed to speak the truth. No one could really not hurt another person, as it was destined to happen one way or another, in some shape or form. Hurting someone was not always on purpose, many of times it is simply by accident.

"Though you just might end up breaking that God's Fist of yours against my thick skull if you tried," Jack added with a nod before continuing on his way down the corridor, his hands folded behind his back as he whistled Ronnie Oates' version of "God Save the Queen."