Chapter 5: A long awaited meeting

Hermes and I took a stroll in the city while he ushered me to where Daphne lived. We reached a fairly big house made of bricks. The wooden doors and windows served as a nice contrast with the red. I stood in front of what appeared to be a gate, perplexed.

"So now, I have to make her know I'm here. I think I've got an idea," I said, still somewhat confused.

"Well, you're supposed to ring the doorbe-" Hermes said, as I released my aura, making a slight crack in the walkway and scaring off the birds.

"You could also do that, I guess, you showoff," Hermes said, sighing deeply.

I felt the ground under tremble before a huge chunk of land was raised, trying to crush me with its upward momentum. However, I dodged just in time to avoid my spine getting broken yet again.

"Manipulation of the earth, that has to be her," I thought.

I dusted off my cloak, not letting my guard down. A figure emerged from the acacia doors. She approached us carefully, warily. She looked exactly the same, even after all those years. Daphne wore a casual yellow dress which paired well with her lithe figure and fiery auburn hair. Her brown eyes bore into me, like that of a scared prey looking for any sign of hostility in the predator. After all we had been through, her wariness towards me was quite hilarious. But then again, I wasn't supposed to be in the over-world.

When she was about ten feet away, she lunged towards me and pulled a dagger from god knows where before landing uncomfortably close to my face, her dagger glued to my throat.

"Think that's going to be enough to take me out? You never learn," I said, jokingly nodding in a disapproving way.

"It is you after all, Satanael! I'm so happy to see you! And what an entrance you made, were you trying to impress me? It may have worked, you know," she said, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Telling me you're happy while having a dagger at my throat after trying to crush me with the ground is not exactly the greeting I imagined," I teased, pushing away the blade.

"Who's fault is that? Couldn't you have rung the doorbell instead of going gung-ho with your monster aura?" She said, seeming even happier.

"That's what I tried telling him but poor guy has been living under the ground his 'hole' life, get it?" Hermes said, getting contaminated by Daphne's enthusiasm.

"Did you find yourself a new pet? He's fairly amusing, I like him," the principal said, pulling her tongue at Hermes in a teasing manner.

"That's the principal? She's somewhat…underwhelming," Hermes said, stiffening up.

"Don't let her appearance fool you, she's a blood-thirsty monster with whom I trained, back in the day," I interjected.

"Is that a way of describing your cute training partner?" Daphne said, pretending to be sad.

"Cute training partner? Is she behind you or at that school of yours?" I asked, laughing.

"Such an attitude. Well, no matter, come on in, it's so hot outside."

I felt a refreshing coolness on entering the house. Hermes seemed oddly flustered in front of Daphne; he was particularly stiff and spoke in an unnatural way. We sat in the living room which had a minimalist, yet elegant decor. The wooden coffee table was set on a white carpet and the beige curtains matched the mood of the place. Daphne poured us some ice-cold lemonade and crossed her arms in front of her body; I was about to be questioned. Her playful smile shifted into a serious expression and she asked, in an even tone:

"I don't have much time. How and why are you here?"

"I was told to stop a war by getting into your school. As for how I got here, I climbed a flight of stairs," I replied, sipping my lemonade.

"Answer properly, you dense blockhead; she might actually kill you," Hermes said, somewhat apprehensive.

"Ah, I forgot you were here. Well, at least you're reasonable," She said to my companion. Her attitude towards him was now starting to tick me off but I hid that. Calming myself down, I told her that I came from Hell and arrived in Egypt. I told her about how I managed to sustain my aura in the over-world but stopped there. She didn't need to know anything else.

"And how did you get here from Egypt?" She asked, scrutinising me.

"Hermes carried me," I said deadpan.

She looked at Hermes, who sipped his drink like a child who's just been scolded, and broke into a fit of laughter.

"And I was trying to keep my composure. I guess it's not possible with how silly you can be." She said, filling her glass.

"Except that I teleported here, you sassy woman," I thought.

"That answers the 'how', now onto the 'why'. Was it your mother who insisted?" She said, this time with a smile.

She was gradually letting her guard down. It seemed that narrating the story in a slightly self-deprecating way was extremely effective in making a person more agreeable. Just another little push and she'd be open to negotiation, even if she was at a disadvantage. However, I knew she didn't want the answer now; it was something in her demeanour: she suddenly looked tired and shifted uneasily on her chair.

"Indeed. She told me it would be troublesome for my future if I don't go to school," I answered, sighing. The answer was vague but she would understand.

"Mother, huh? How's the old hag doing?" She asked, with an irritating smile.

I remained calm at her attitude towards Hermes; after all, she didn't know him but that was too much. I was very much tempted to release my aura and completely crush the house but I told myself that something was off.

"Mother's fine, thanks for asking," I replied.

Daphne had changed: she used to be jovial and spoke her mind while being quite polite. I then remembered something she told me while we were training once. I lifted my index finger, asking her to shut up. It seemed that I read her correctly for she made the conversation trail off into what would sound like an awkward silence…to someone listening on the outside. I started tapping the table rhythmically. This had to work; after all, we had been trained to decipher morse code like a second language.

"Is someone listening?" I tapped.

This was the beginning of a painfully slow conversation.

"Affirmative," she answered.

- Who?

- School.

- Heard me?

- No, blocked transmission.

"Well, that's a bit of an awkward silence…So, how have you been?" I said to avoid drawing suspicion. Daphne was momentarily surprised but understood my actions.

"It's so hot here but I'll be heading to school in a few days. Your father wants you to enrol there; where I can see everything you do," she said forcing out a giggle.

"Visual?" I tapped again.

"Negative," she replied.

- Place, time.

- When?

"Magic school, huh? Sounds like something out of a fantasy," I said, pointing my finger towards the table to tell her that it had to be today.

"It truly is. Magic is beautiful; it reminds me of the sea. Ah, speaking of which, you should go to the beach at dusk, it's refreshing from the usual stuffiness," she replied, getting up.

"I'll try...Well, My old man's going to get worried if I don't head back soon. Try to save me a place in the academy; I might actually not be a disappointment, this time," I said, getting ready to leave.

It was a wonder that Hermes managed to stay silent during our conversation…Or had she planned it? As I stood up, Hermes merged with my aura and I got out.

I had been foolish. I should have checked my surroundings before releasing my aura. Energy reacted in a particular way to auras; the auras were like ripples on an ocean. I sent a pulse of energy into my surroundings and could not detect any signatures which seemed out of place in a 2 mile radius. There was a region of dense vegetation a mile ahead so I created a distortion and took a step forward.

"Come out," I told Hermes.

"What the hell just happened?" He whispered, his anxiety seeping through.

"You did a good job not saying anything there," I told him, patting him on the back.

"She's just a human right? I may be a bit of a random guy but I'm still a God, yet her presence was suffocating," he said, trying to calm down.

"Human? Who said she was human? And you seem to have forgotten that I trained with her, of course she'd be strong," I said, sitting down on a rock.

"That's fine and all but…you literally cracked the ground there with your aura, isn't that bad?"

"I don't think that it'll be a problem. But at least now, I have an idea of the matter. Daphne was forced into the role of principal, and remained in the dark as for the motives of the academy until it was too late. And due to what she is, she's being tightly supervised."

"You're talking as if I know everything you know."

"It doesn't matter, you'll find out tonight. For now, you'll be my guinea pig."

"If it goes like the first time, I'm in."

"It should be fine. Just stand here."

I needed a way of making sure no one heard us tonight. The house was most likely bugged with what humans called microphones. I had been introduced to this concept by a notorious mafia member who had passed away. He taught me the basics of intel gathering. Wisdom comes from all places, as they say. However, there was another way of spying and this obviously involved energy. Someone skilled enough could send a pulse of energy and gather all sound waves within a certain radius. This method was much harder to detect as energy pulses could come from anything and from anywhere. I wanted to avoid having to deal with such trouble so I thought up something. I altered space-time around Hermes, creating a virtual bubble around him.

"Did you sense any change?" I asked.

"Not a thing yet," he replied, curious.

Again, this solidified my theory, space-time could be altered but seemingly no one could see the change. I held out the palm of my hand and starting moving the atmospheric energy out of the bubble. Hermes didn't say anything so I siphoned even more of the energy.

"Hey, I'm starting to feel a bit wobbly," he said, his voice dragging.

"I'll keep going a bit more so tell me if it gets worse," I told him, in an even tone.

I had removed about half of all the energy from the bubble when Hermes let out a pained shriek.

"Breathing is getting harder and I feel really weak," he said as I immediately withdrew the distortion.

Hermes fell to his knees and I handed him a bottle of water Daphne had given me.

"I told you not to drink all that lemonade," I said, crouching to pat his back.

"Did you? I just remember you hitting the table like a lunatic," he shot back, with a pained smile.

"Thanks for you effort just now, it helped a lot. You still hurting?" I asked, in an even yet concerned tone.

"I'm fine now. It felt like getting strangled until I was eventually released," he replied, rubbing his neck.

"If you're feeling better, could you merge with my aura. I have something else I want to try."

"As long as you tell me what you found."

Hermes faded into my aura while I created a new distortion. I warped space-time around me, enveloping me in a bubble. I gradually started pushing the energy out while holding in my aura. I waited for any effects before pushing further. My companion was also fine, leeching off my energy reserves. I spread out my arms and pushed all the energy out at one go. I felt momentarily weak but that was only for an instant.

"Come out," I told Hermes.

Hesitating, my companion eventually appeared.

"How're you doing?" I asked.

"Fine, but I feel like I just drank a glass of sea water," he replied, pulling out his tongue.

"That's because there's no energy around us. You'll start feeling weak again in a bit and I'll probably get very hungry."

My findings were interesting but I had one last thing to do. I released the distortion and the incoming flow of energy was blissful. My companion visibly felt the same way.

"Stand out here and tell me if you sense anything," I told him.

I created a final distortion around me, leaving out Hermes. I pushed all the energy out and looked at my companion who shook his head saying 'no'. I put on my pokerface and released the entirety of my aura. I stared at Hermes who, yet again, shook his head. I waited till I had reabsorbed all of my aura and released the distortion.

"What did you just do?" He asked, perplexed.

"It would seem that creating a 'bubble' in space-time masks off energy signatures, allowing me to release my aura as I see fit and preventing anyone from listening in. Energy acts as the ocean; a medium through which the spy listens. If there's no medium, nothing can happen," I explained.

"And since I'm pure energy, I felt weak because you pushed everything out of the distortion," he said, his eyes lighting up.

"Indeed, my dear Hermes. I'm impressed you latched on that quick," I said, with a smile.

"I'm not worthy of such praise, lord Death," he said in a overly theatrical way.

- By the way, every time I send a pulse of energy towards you, I need you to merge with my aura. It'll make things easier.

- Noted, my lord.

- It's nearly time. And…Call me Satanael. 'Lord' in a sardonic tone is too much...Alright, let's move.

- You sure it's alright to warp when we could be seen?

- It should be fine. Even if Daphne sees us, it's not a problem.

Hermes merged with my aura and I stepped through the distortion. On the other side, I found myself staring at the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

"Come out, you have to see this," I told my companion.

My feet sunk in the soft white sand as the water rhythmically moved back and forth. The sea was now a dark azure colour and the sun left a golden trail as it set under the horizon. For some reason, this sight put me at ease and I almost ended forgetting about my meeting with Daphne.

"Hermes carried you, huh?" A familiar voice said.

My companion immediately faded into my aura as I turned to face Daphne.

"Why, you're early," I said, forming a distortion around us and siphoning all the energy out of it.

"You can teleport now? I just saw you appearing out of nowhere," she said, deadpan.

"I told you!" Hermes said inside my head, startling me.

"Are you alright?" Daphne asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, just the voice in my head laughing at me. And…Yes, I can teleport," I replied, not bothering to lie.

"Isn't Hermes with you? I'll have to apologise to the poor fellow later," she said, apologetically.

"I knew it was on purpose. He's merged with my aura at the moment. Come out, Hermes," I said.

My companion appeared and stood timidly behind me. His ego had taken a hit, or so it seemed.

"We'll first need to make sure no one can trace us before talking," she said.

"I took care of that. You can probably feel it but there's no energy around you. We're safe here," I said, facing the ocean.

"Your powers never seize to amaze me. How do you even do that? Well, no matter, I need more details about the events about to unfold," she said.

"Here's the thing right…Poor guy doesn't know anything himself. He was just told to save the world, with no other details, like the plot of a cheap novel," Hermes interjected, saving me the trouble of having to say anything.

"I'll have to contact your mother, then," she said, pensive.

"You can contact her?" I asked, almost in disbelief.

"Don't underestimate the person who taught you to play chess," she said with a delighted smile.

There was no mistaking it, Daphne was back to her usual self. She was incredibly cunning. I may have been smart but Daphne was just as smart, if not smarter.

"By the way, sorry for earlier…Cracking the ground and all," I said while Hermes nodded disapprovingly.

"Don't worry about it, I don't even need to do anything about it. If they ask, I'll just I was trying out a new power. The simplest lies can do wonders," she said, winking.

"How did you make sure no one heard that he's Death and all?" Hermes asked, scratching his head.

"I used energy to mask our audio signals to prevent the microphones from picking anything up. However, it was hard to maintain. Good thing Satanael's not that dense and managed to catch my hints," she replied.

"Sure, it seems you're also pretty strong but that doesn't explain why a human's so damn scary, even to a God like me," Hermes said energetically.

"Again, who in world said she was human? Daphne's a half-demon so not quite human. Her father was one of the higher rank demons while her mother was human. Due to this, she can survive in the over-world without worrying about her aura. However, most half-bloods are usually killed but she was given the right to live because of her potential to use magic. We trained together for a while before she left for the surface. If you still want to know, she intimated you to get you to stay silent...which is not an easy task," I explained, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, that's about it. And I also have a question…Isn't Hermes a God? How is he on your side?" She asked, crouching to feel the water.

"God is a vast, and often misinterpreted term. What you mean by God are the ones sitting on Olympus and creating trouble for everyone. I may be one of them but my duties make it so I can side with whoever I want. Since Satanael has always needed me so badly, I could only accept his plea," he said, grabbing my shoulder and grinning stupidly.

"Thanks for taking care of this troublesome master of yours, she said to Hermes, as for you, let's head to the school together tomorrow. But first, please buy new clothes, you stick out like a sore thumb," she said to me, sighing.

We talked for a while longer before getting ready to leave. Daphne apologised to Hermes about how she acted previously.

"You can stay at my place for the night, if you want," she said, yawning.

"Want me to leave you guys for the night? I don't want to ruin the mood," Hermes whispered, trying to shape his face into an innocent smile.

"Shut up," Daphne and I said at the same time.

"I'll have to refuse. I got a few things to do tonight," I told her, pointing at the jewels we got from Egypt.

Without saying anything else, I sent an energy pulse to Hermes and released the distortion. I immediately warped back into the woods.

"Could you go sell these please?" I asked Hermes, summoning him.

"I'll get you a good deal and take a quarter of it as interest," he replied, taking the jewels.

"Don't get yourself arrested, I won't bail you out," I joked, waving him away.

As he disappeared from my view, I lied down on the grass and briefed all the information I had: Daphne would contact my mother, Hermes went off to sell the jewels and I needed new clothes…My companion was right, it really sounded like the plot of a cheap novel.