Adell and Terralt
Adell's surprise faded as soon as it appeared. Of course people with red hair would exist, if purple eyes could as well. His surprise was replaced with annoyance at another person that wanted something with Terralt. They just kept coming like rats, didn't they? He didn't even bother greeting the man, just turned his attention back to the fight occurring below. He knew it was rude, but didn't care. He'd had enough today.
The man shut the door behind him and approached Terralt. "What, you're not gonna greet me?"
Adell didn't reply. He grunted a "yes," hoping this man would understand he didn't want to talk, but he didn't leave. Instead, he sat next to him on the bed, stretching his legs out. Adell frowned, wanting to push them off.
The man was quiet for a few minutes, so Adell let him be. The match below was about to end, one of the fighters receiving a harsh beating from the other, when the man spoke. "Congrats on your fight with Levath."
Adell didn't know who Levath was, but was wondering if he was the man from the alley. Their fight was recent, after all. "The one with the tattoo, right?"
The red-haired man burst into laughter. "That's how you remember him? The tattoo? Not the fact that he's the son of the head of the Golden Manniok Syndicate? The only crime organization in this city that no one dares to touch, and you fought their heir. I don't know if I should call you courageous or a fool."
Adell didn't have to think about his answer. "I'm a fool, not courageous. My grandfather got into an accident just recently, and then Levath appeared earlier today claiming it was his father's fault, and that he was deeply sorry for not stopping him."
The red-haired man stopped chuckling and looked at him in alarm, face grave. "Your grandfather? Are you serious? Is he alright? Are you alright?"
It wasn't Adell's grandfather that got sent to the hospital, so he didn't really care, or know how to respond to those questions. He settled for generic answers. "Yes, he'll recover just fine. I'm alright too. No need to worry."
But the man didn't seem to believe him. "Terralt, be serious. This is me, we're talking about. I'm Zera, your only real friend. I know you can't just be alright after something like that."
Adell was glad to finally know his name. Zera was right, though. Adell had never had a grandfather, or anything resembling a human family, so he couldn't really know what someone would feel in this situation. He imagined, though, that he would feel angry. Very angry. "I'm furious, Zera. Levath apologized on his knees to me, since he seems to understand how unforgivable this is, but I'm still angry. He promised he'd do anything within his power to make up for it, but…"
Zera nodded. "Yeah, it doesn't change what happened. But hey, at least you got someone like Levath to do you a favor. What are you gonna ask him?"
"I have no idea. There's nothing in particular I want or need at the moment." Apart from a trip back to my own world and body, he thought. He loved how strong and fast he was now, but he couldn't help but miss his real body, from a life that was solely his own. Now he had to be someone he wasn't, living their life, and it was exhausting. He hated it. He supposed he could tell the truth, but wasn't sure people would believe him. Or if they did believe him, he didn't want to know what they would do. He didn't want to find out, either. One thing he'd gathered from every single person he'd interacted with was that Terralt was not supposed to be dead, and Adell certainly wasn't supposed to have taken his body. Adell didn't think he was even supposed to be here in this world, much less in this man's body. He couldn't help but wonder why things turned out this way, and how.
"You should think about it. It'd be a bad idea to pass up on such a favor, from such a person."
Adell nodded. "Even if I didn't want to, the man seems to be determined to do something for me. He wouldn't let me leave until I told him I'd accept his offer."
Zera laughed again, and then asked, "Hey, I heard on the way here that some people saw you with sorcerer's eyes. I knew the truth, of course, so I told them off for spreading false rumors, but can you believe that? Why would they think that?"
The now familiar feeling of panic and alarm began to spread through Adell once more. Did no one here know that Terralt had purple eyes? But why? Either way, he thanked his decision to change his eye color earlier. He'd only done it out of curiosity, but it saved him now. "Right? Must have been a trick of the light. You know how dark it gets."
"That it does. Shadows everywhere. I couldn't believe they'd mistaken you for one of their breed. There's not a soul here that doesn't know your name that doesn't also know how much you hate magic and sorcerers. It's ridiculous they'd ever come with such a stupid rumor."
Adell couldn't believe what he'd heard. Terralt hated magic, and sorcerers as well? How could that make any sense when he was a sorcerer himself? When he was apparently the apprentice of some great sorcerer? He thought about the reputation Terralt held at the tower and wondered if that had something to do with it, but couldn't be sure. He glanced at his wardrobe, remembering the limited supply of eye-color changing potions in there. He didn't know how long they'd last him, but eventually Adell would have to go and find this "Night Market" Terralt had written in his notes. He also had to figure out where Terralt hid his money. He knew he had some, considering the room he lived in.
Adell realized now that Zera, who claimed to be Terralt's closest friend, doesn't seem to know that Terralt was a sorcerer, either, or the entire part of his life that involved the matter. Neither did anyone at the tower know about this part of his life, or at least it didn't seem to be the case. Adell found that a part of him could empathize with Terralt. He'd been leading a double-life, more or less, pretending to be someone he's not, or hiding some part of who he truly is, any time he interacted with someone. Wasn't Adell doing the same right now? He was acting like a person he wasn't, living his life, when that wasn't his life to live. He only had to wonder now how Terralt had found himself in a situation like this.
Adell and Zera were silent for a few minutes. A new fight had started, the two men exchanging blows faster than Adell could follow with his eyes.
Zera spoke, his eyes still watching the fight. "Are you gonna fight today?"
"No."
"Okay."
They didn't speak anymore, but after a while, Zera bid him goodnight and left. Adell thanked him silently as he immediately fell asleep.
The next morning came, but Adell couldn't tell it was morning until he checked the time on the desk screen. The window next to him was still open, but it showed an underground space illuminated not with sunlight or moonlight but other light sources. It looked the same as did the previous night, except there were far fewer people. The crowds were gone, and the arena was dark and empty. A few people were cleaning up the ground floor of the grime and trash that had accumulated with the hoards of people. Adell checked his eyes in the desk screen's reflection, and saw they were purple once more. The potion must have worn off while he was asleep. He washed up and got dressed, then used the potion again, his eyes turning blue. He didn't know what to do, but looking down below, there wasn't much to do here. He decided to go back to the tower. He wasn't that curious about Terralt's life before, but with last night's revelation, he found himself in need of answers and knew the tower may provide some.
He left his room, then found his way back to the ground floor before crossing the vast space and leaving out of the door he came into. He climbed up the staircase and left the door that sealed it, momentarily blinded by the sunlight piercing through the holes in the building's roof. He squinted and blinked his eyes, feeling an oncoming headache at the sudden, extreme change. The ring had been much darker than he thought, now that he saw sunlight again. After getting adjusted to the brightness, he moved forward and left the building.
He didn't memorize the route he took from the tower yesterday, but he didn't need to. The towers were tall enough to see from any distance, so he made his way toward them. Hours passed, and the towers got closer and closer, until he passed the first one. He kept walking, knowing his destination lay toward the center of this glass and stone jungle. If he thought about it in such a way, then it wasn't much different from the Laria Jungle. Tall, imposing structures, threats that posed dangers to your life, the constant unknown factors he crossed.
He walked and walked, until he saw one tower surrounded by a a wide pavilion and beyond that, a road. It was the road he crossed when he first left, so he knew this was probably his destination. He made his way inside but didn't get very far before someone stopped him by the shoulder and turned him around.
It was another sorcerer. She smiled gratefully and said, "Finally, we found you. Your master summoned you and said it was urgent, so we've been looking for you to tell you. Please go meet him, he's in his office on the 100th floor."
Adell did his best to suppress a groan. It was one thing after another. Still, he looked up toward where he imagined the 100th floor to be, and wondered if Terralt's master would have some answers.