CHAPTER 12 "Latte and Croissant"

  Dan went up to his apartment. He hung his coat on the hook and sat on the pouf by the entrance door.

  "Hmm…" he drawled, pressing his temples with his fingers. "A Primitive-mage… this is definitely not good… and a Rift in the city…. If this continues, people will soon definitely encounter magic…"

  Dan took a deep breath and exhaled calmly. After sitting on the pouf for a bit, he stood up and turned on the light.

  His gaze fell on the green spots on the floor. The aftermath of the battle was dripping from his coat onto the porcelain tile floor of his apartment. He watched with disgust as a piece of flesh slowly slid down the cashmere until it plopped onto the floor.

  "Hmm…" Dan drawled, raising his eyebrows. "That won't wash out…"

  He took the coat off the hook, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it into the corner by the door.

  Dan walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. It was already too late to go to bed, so he turned on the TV.

  Flipping through channels in an attempt to distract himself, he only sank deeper into thoughts about the "new developments" in the Rift.

  "For four thousand years, I was only greeted by goblins, orcs, sometimes giants, and other Primitives… and now? What was that thing… unlike anything… as if a crowd of goblins were thrown into a meat grinder and an ugly patty was molded from the mince…"

  Goblins, orcs, ghouls, trolls, and other creatures were typical inhabitants of other realities. But where did these names come from? Dan heard them here. On Earth. From humans. They accurately described the typical inhabitants of other worlds. For the Lords, all these creatures were just Primitives.

  "Where do humans get the idea of what these beings look like? After all, people haven't seen them with their own eyes, and no one believes in their existence. They should evoke fear and horror, but people use their images as a joke to scare children…"

  No matter how hard Dan tried to find the source of these "fairy tales," he always ran into the same thing: "heard from my grandmother" or "they told stories in childhood." It was long ago. A very long time ago. And now, millennia later, finding the primary source of the "fairy tales" is impossible.

  One thing is clear - humanity is not ready to dive into the fairy tale. Human weapons are useless. Even their most fearsome invention, which they are so proud of - the nuclear bomb - is merely a tool for destroying themselves; even the weakest Primordial would only feel a slight tingling at the epicenter of the explosion. Only magic can oppose magical creatures.

  Dan sighed. He understood this wasn't the last Rift. They would appear more and more often, closer to people, and even if he put all his effort into closing them, there was no guarantee that some random gawker wouldn't be nearby at that moment and absorb the mana.

  "Perhaps… this reality was doomed from the very beginning… we only delayed the inevitable…," thought the Lord, looking out the window where the first rays of sun were wresting ownership of the sky from the night.

  He stood up, walked to the window, and glanced at the street.

  Dan stood by the window and watched as the dawn quietly dissolved the night and people crawled out of their nests.

  "Humans… amazing creatures. They live knowing that every breath brings them closer to an inevitable end. They see death ahead as the final frontier, and yet they do not despair. On the contrary - it is this knowledge that gives them strength. They strive to live in such a way that even in their short, spark-like years, a light burns. So that one day, standing on the threshold of life, they can say: 'I lived a good life.'," thought the Lord, observing the "ants," for whom each such life was merely an instant, a point on the infinitely long segment of his eternity.

  He tore his gaze away from the street and looked at the clock.

  7:45 AM

  "Hm.. just recently I thought my time in this city was coming to an end and it was time to think about moving… but now…"

  Dan felt a familiar sensation. Somewhere in the area of his stomach.

  "...now it's time to eat."

  He went to the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he discovered it was empty. Dan was surprised, as this was a first; he never forgot to buy groceries.

  "Can't be… what was I thinking…?" he muttered coldly, looking at the empty shelves.

  "Alright, I'll go have breakfast at the café… maybe even… try something new…"

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  *ding* *ding* *ding*

  7:45 AM

  The alarm clock shattered the oppressive silence that had settled in Seline's apartment. She silently walked over to the phone and turned off the sound. She hadn't closed her eyes that night, spending all her time in her now habitual spot - on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket.

  The tears had already dried. Only the pain remained. Pain she didn't want to feel, but which was inflicted upon her by the only one she, despite her reclusiveness, had trusted. She wasn't angry. She wasn't resentful. She was looking for an excuse for his actions.

  "maybe… maybe he wanted to spend time with me before his departure… because he liked me too…? But that's cruel… why did he do this to me… I… imagined something completely different… fool…"

  A lump rose in her throat. She realized that a little more and she would cry again, and it was already time for her to leave for university. Seline didn't want anyone to see her tear-stained face. Gathering the last of her strength, the girl headed to the bathroom.

  Standing in front of the mirror, Seline saw the consequences of her hopes and dreams: lilac circles under her eyes testified to a sleepless night. Her pupils seemed to flicker with frames of that scene at the entrance, his last words, his cold gaze, and his back disappearing into the darkness. She felt as if a part of her had remained there, in the night, next to him, and now the reflection before her was merely a shadow of her former self.

  "Poor girl… so much pain… I forgot how fragile human hearts are… I'm sorry, but there was no other way.", Rin thought with sadness, observing from the shadow the one he had sworn to protect.

  Rin had firmly anchored himself in the mortal girl's aura. Now he would be an invisible bodyguard, the one who is always nearby. He had sworn an oath to his Master - to protect. But could he protect her from herself. From the pain that spread like cracks across her heart, cracks that deepened and one day could turn into an abyss. From the loneliness that would envelop her soul day by day until she forgot what it felt like to feel warmth.

  "No," a determination flickered in Seline's eyes for a moment, "He didn't abandon me. We will meet again."

  The illusory hope gave her strength. She began to get ready at an accelerated pace, and fifteen minutes later she stood assembled before the entrance door.

  The morning sun blinded Seline as she exited the building. She squinted, trying to get used to the bright light that brought no warmth at all. The golden rays touched her skin but did not penetrate deeper. Inside, everything remained cold, as if her heart had frozen in ice.

  This cold was not physical — it was born from loneliness. She felt that the sun and the world around continued to live their lives, and only she walked apart — a stranger, cut off from the warmth that should have been warming her.

  She walked to the bus stop. Seline felt a familiar sensation. Somewhere in the area of her stomach.

  "Dammit… I haven't eaten anything…," she muttered, putting her hand on her rumbling stomach, "just that ice cream last night…"

  She took out her phone and checked the time.

  "I'll have breakfast at the café… I think I have time…"

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  The café greeted Dan with the aroma of freshly roasted beans and a soft hum of voices. He sat down at a table by the window, took the menu, and began to study it slowly.

  ?Bagel… poached… shakshuka…? Dan raised an eyebrow, reading the strange words, ?What even is that… hmm…where are the eggs??

  He was about to close the menu and call the waiter for a recommendation when a bell rang above the door. Dan automatically looked up—and froze in the same instant. Seline was standing on the threshold.

  "What is she doing here?", the thought flashed through his mind like lightning. His heart skipped a beat for a moment; he sharply clenched his fist, unleashing just enough power to allow him to vanish. His form dissolved into the air, leaving only a faint trace of Darkness.

  No one noticed. Everyone was too busy with themselves: someone was scrolling through their phone feed, someone was laughing at a joke, a waiter was hurrying with a tray. For them, nothing had happened. Only a woman passing by the table felt a chill that remained where Dan had been sitting. Her body was covered in goosebumps, and she hurried away.

  The modern world. Here you can disappear right in front of everyone, and no one will even look up. People live as if there is nothing around them but their own thoughts and smartphones.

  Seline took a few steps inside. The warmth of the café softly touched her face, but suddenly something burned her memory. A familiar scent. The scent of his cologne. She sharply turned around, her gaze sliding over the tables, over the faces of the people.

  "Dan…?" she whispered almost inaudibly.

  But he was no longer in the café.

  Seline looked around in confusion, her heart pounding as if she had just run a marathon. People around were calmly chatting, waiters were carrying trays, the café lived its usual life.

  The familiar chill had not yet had time to dissipate. As if the air in the corner by the window remained slightly heavier than in the rest of the room.

  She headed exactly there. To the table where Dan had been sitting a second ago. She carefully sat down on the chair, ran her hand over the wooden surface of the tabletop, as if hoping to catch a trace of his presence.

  "I haven't gone crazy… right?", she whispered to herself.

  "Aren't you cold here?" asked the waiter who had approached and felt the aftermath of the Darkness.

  "no…" Seline said barely audibly, "I'm comfortable…"

  "Alright, I'm just a freeze-baby then," the waiter smiled, "have you decided on something?"

  "A latte, please, and a croissant," Seline pointed her finger at an item on the menu.

  The waiter took the order and left. Seline remained sitting, analyzing her feelings: "That was definitely his cologne… or am I making things up again… why would he be here? he left…or that's what he told me… I don't know.. I don't know anything anymore… I need to find a way to move on…"

  Dan was standing right by the window, watching the girl. He was hidden by magic and invisible to human eyes.

  "Even after yesterday… your aura is still the same… strong and kind…" Dan smiled involuntarily, "Latte and a croissant, then…"

  His thought was interrupted by a dull sound. The sound of a fall. A man passing by had fainted. Dan glanced at the man lying on the ground.

  "I'm sorry..." the Lord mentally apologized for himself and hurried away.

  Several people had already rushed to help the man who had lost consciousness and began to revive him.

  "are you okay?" a young man asked fearfully, helping him to his feet.

  "Yes, thank you… my blood pressure must have spiked… thank you"