Conversations

There were many times in which I found myself hating my more human aspects. One of those times being right now. I had spent the past 3 hours critically analyzing my form. Over an hour of that time had been dedicated to vainly seeking confirmation that I looked beautiful, an unnecessary waste of time given the circumstances.

Tena was a literal storm forced into the relative shape of a human. All of this was rather pointless.

Yet, I found myself going through the motions regardless. An activity not making sense is not much of a deterrent for humans, an unfortunate truth given that I had inherited some of those traits.

The friction between the divine and the human aspects of myself had left me not quite fitting in either. Choosing wasn't as simple as it seemed.

My hair blew as the winds raced through them. "My lady, it's time for your meeting." Turning my attention to the vaguely solid mass of wind beside me, I smiled lightly.

"Thank you, Temfra." At my reply, he began to squeal in his high-pitched babyish voice as he zoomed around my head.

Multiple other such voices chattered and congratulated him. The wind spirits were in awe of all my actions. Saying thank you to them was equivalent to a dream come true every time I said it.

They were rather adorable in their enthusiasm.

I could spend all of my time with them but now was not the time. I said my goodbye before I melted into the winds and hurtled towards my destination.

Their cheers of good luck followed for a short instance before they could keep up no longer.

I was unsure as to why Tena wanted to meet in such a formal manner. In the past, we had never set up a meeting. This was entirely new to me. My human instincts hinted at a "date". I wasn't so sure of that, but the idea of it had me a little giddy.

It took me only a couple meetings to race across the continents. As I approached my destination, my eyes landed on the massive storm that churned above a mountain range.

This was Tena's home, and it became more apparent as I came closer.

Lightning tore across the sky in bright flashes of light and thunder. The winds howled while debris was thrown into the air. All the while, the density level of qi continued to rise. The air was thick with it.

The lands were nearly barren. Much of the wildlife had died since they were incapable of handling the increased concentration of qi. Only a sparse collection of trees could be seen dotted around the area.

I continued to head towards the storm, unbothered and unfazed by its winds. According to Tena, that storm should be his actual body.

As I flew through, I could feel his awareness shift towards me. I continued onwards until I reached the center of the storm.

The air was calm within the eye of the storm.

"Deventus, you're right on time." His voice was that of a storm. It boomed like lightning and howled like the winds.

"I'm always on time. You know that."

"I do."

As I took in his form, I felt the change. Tena was always hard to read. His thoughts were not communicated unto his body, but there was clearly something different.

Something had fundamentally shifted about him.

His interference with my vision stopped me from knowing fully, but it was too important of a change not to be noticed. I just didn't have a clue as to what it was.

"Please take a seat." My eyes turned to the wooden table and chair that he motioned towards. If I had a heart, it would most definitely be beating faster.

Was this an actual date?

I raised my eyebrow at him."What's with all this formality."

"You would know if you stopped hovering in the air and came to sit."

I took a seat and waited for him to start.

"Well, first of all, congratulations on your win. You absolutely destroyed me. Couldn't have done that better myself.

Previously I had been excited over my victory, but now I found little joy or happiness from his statements.

"Thank you."My reply was curt. I did not require my abilities to tell that this wasn't what he wanted to talk about.

Looking at the mass of wind, I felt a feeling that I didn't like. Something wasn't right.

He sighed, and for a second, I felt sorrow from him. While there was no body language to read, I could still somewhat read his mentions. In the vast majority of interactions, all I got from him was either indifference, curiosity, smugness, or pride of some sort. This was one of the rare instances in which I'd felt sorrow.

"So, how has life been for you. I know it's been a while. Why not take this time to catch up."

"Come on now, Tena. It's only been 40 years. It's not like we don't have an eternity more to go." His attempts at diverting the conversation were pathetic, but I humored him.

"Not much has changed. I do as I usually do, but I have been trying to break into the first stage. However, that is taking a little time. Unfortunately, I can't gather qi like you can."

"But you can do 1000 refinements."

"Yes, I can." As we spoke, plates appeared on the table, and alongside it came the food. It was an array of various dishes.

I raised my eyebrow.

"Come on now. Can't I do anything nice?

"Well, given that we have never eaten before, this is rather new."I didn't hate where this was leading, and in any other situation, I would be ecstatic.

"Well, it's good to try out new things. As you said, we have an eternity to live. Boredom might not be an issue, but we should always expand our horizons."

"That is a mindset that can lead to many unwanted places, but I'll indulge you. So tell me, what are we eating?"

"Well, that right there.." he said as he pointed towards a particular dish".. is called a burger."

Tena would say whatever he needed to in time. It might not be when I want it, but he's one to beat around the subject for too long. Knowing that I let myself flow with his plans.

So for the next thirty minutes, we ate various different meals and idly chattered about our goals. It was a simple affair, but I found myself enjoying it.

But like all things left unaddressed, we found ourselves back at the first square.

"So, what's all this for? Not to say I didn't enjoy myself, but this isn't something you would do."

"Why does everything I do have to have a purpose behind it? Maybe I want to do this because I feel like it."

"That's a good question. Why is that the case, Tena?"

After a slight pause, he gestured for me to follow him before he flew into the sky. I caught up to him as he slowed down and turned to face the planet.,

We were high above the clouds but not high enough to be in space.

"I think I have known you well enough to know how you behave. In a situation like this, there's always something else. That's not a bad thing, but I'm curious as to what you want."

"Well, then I'm here to tell you you're wrong. I don't want anything."

I turned to face him. His answer wasn't entirely unexpected, but it was surprising nonetheless.

"I'm here to tell you that I'm leaving. "

The silence that followed was suffocating.

"Why?" My voice sounded small into my ears.

He paused and contemplated on his next words.

"I'm going on a journey to a place far from here. I wanted to inform instead of just simply leaving. After all, I feel as if over these centuries we've built a connection. So it would be unfair of me to just leave and not inform you of it."

"Well then, perhaps I can come with you. We can explore the universe together."

Boredom wasn't something I could feel, but loneliness was most definitely something I could. Tena, despite everything, was someone I cared for. Annoying as he was, he was the only one I considered my equal. Even with the wind spirits and the humans, it just wouldn't be the same.

"No, I need to do this alone." For an instant, I felt something rage, but that was quickly drowned in sorrow. Had I perhaps done something wrong? Why was this happening?

I had so many questions, but I held them back. "I see... well then, I wish you all the best." My voice was without inflection.

"I believe this meeting is over."

"Yeah I think so too."