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Taking to the skies again.
Fall had taken over the gardens of the Gleeful Manor, and for William that only meant one thing: fresh rosehip tea. The air was getting cooler and the days shorter, meaning that the demon slave didn’t get as much time in the sun as he did in summer. Yet the season of the spicier teas meant that he actually spent more time outside than in the summer. It took time to collect the rosehip from the plants, and because master Stanford was so set on using only the finest for his teas, he gave William permission to take his time with this task. The blue haired Cipher was grateful, especially because it meant he had time to heal his hands when the thorns left cuts. He couldn’t wear his gloves when doing this, and his tender skin broke easily. Or maybe Stanford’s roses were just more dangerous? He didn’t know. The flowers were beautiful, but the thorns were razor sharp, and if he wasn’t allowed to heal while collecting, the rosehips would have been covered in his blood by the time he would be done. So, in the end, it was best for everyone if Will took his time to get this done. And over the years, he had become more than efficient enough to not get too much behind on other tasks.
Today was one of the days he would be outside most of the time, with a large basket. And his cat. Sixie was allowed to come along, as always with the promise that she wouldn’t keep the demon slave from his work. Will wasn’t all too scared this would happen. Ever since Blueberry had set up a nest in the tree across his window, Sixie was perfectly capable of entertaining herself without distracting him. The kitten was always happy to follow him outside, just because she was a little more independent these days didn’t mean she didn’t love Will to death anymore. After all, Sixie still slept curled up to his chest every night, licked his tears away on the days he wasn’t feeling well, and purred happily when he had time to play with her between chores. No, the two were very close, and that would never change. For some reason, Stanford had never tried to punish Will by taking Sixie away from him. The demon slave was eternally grateful for that, so he didn’t dare questioning it. He just took what extra time he could get, especially when that time could be spent outside. His single blue eye scanned the nearest rose bushes. It would be a long day, but the harvest was promising, from what he could see already. And while he began this delicate task, Sixie ran up to the tree where Blueberry was whistling a happy tune.
Stanford was watching from a window. There was an experiment he wanted to do. Usually he would just invite his slave to his office, but today he had another idea. Between his fingers was a strange pendant with a blue gemstone, which had the same colour as William’s eye. It had been delivered the other day in a heavily enchanted case, to make sure his slave wouldn’t sense it when he put it on Stanford’s desk. The master had studied it, but other than the fact he could sense a power, trapped inside the blue gem, it would not give up its secrets to him. Usually when he tracked down strange objects like these, especially when they came with many stories of people falling victim to their magic, it did not take much effort to at least find out what direction he would have to go with it. But this thing, this relatively simple jewel, remained closed. Out of reach, despite the fact he held it in his hands. But he wasn’t the only one in the house with access to certain abilities. And no matter how much it irritated him, no matter how much he managed to limit it, William had direct access to a source of magic that Stanford could not reach. His slave had explained to him that direct exposure to the Chaos that magic truly was, would be lethal for humans. The demon had then promised to always lend his abilities, whenever Stanford might need them. Well, today would be one of those instances. But he didn’t want to ask William what the thing could do. No, this time he wanted to see it first-hand.
The master did make sure to wait until the slave was fully occupied with his task before he let go of the pendant. Instead of letting it drop, he had it float over to the tree where that bird was still singing. The cat was underneath it, and with great care, the sorcerer draped the pendant over one of the branches. Once it was there, he smirked and shortly returned to his desk to put the box away. When he returned, he saw that Blueberry had noticed the shiny object, exactly as he intended. Now if the two animals were even a little bit like he thought they were, they would do exactly as he needed them to. And indeed, Blueberry fluttered over to the thing and tried to pick it up. It proved to be too heavy for the small bird to carry it, but Blueberry was smart enough to peck at the pendant until it fell off the branch, landing right next to the kitten. Sixie jumped aside and Blueberry flew down from the branch. The bird sat on top of it, and the kitten came closer again to sniff the thing. Now came the moment of truth, Stanford knew very well that the cat didn’t like him at all, and if she could smell too much of his scent on the pendant, she might not bring it to William after all, which would be a waste of his time and effort. His brown eyes were fixated on the blueish white kitten as she curiously tapped the pendant with her strange paw, trying to see what this new thing was. It didn’t look like the other shiny trinkets her bird friend usually brought with him. It was bigger and prettier. She meowed softly, looking around to see where her demon friend was.
William turned out to be a little bit further in the garden, slim fingers carefully removing the rosehips from their thorny branches. He was quite focussed on his task, so avoid needing his healing ability at all. Sometimes it still happened that he felt the sharp prick of a thorn puncturing the skin, and then it was always followed by a soft glow that zipped the small cut shut immediately. Every now and then, a small drop of blood trickled down, which the demon slave quickly wiped away before it would stain his uniform. And so, he worked, silently and with the utmost care. His basket was slowly filling up, and he was careful to keep an eye on the time, so he wouldn’t miss lunchtime. The first cup of rosehip tea would accompany it, he already had enough for that. William looked up when Sixie ran up to him and reached out to pet her for a second before going back to his work. His kitten was unusually excited about something, but Stanford had warned him to not let himself be distracted by Sixie, and he would listen to that no matter what. Okay, maybe if she was truly in danger would he consider going against his orders. Master Stanford had rules in place, and he had to follow them. Whatever it was that made Sixie so fussy could wait. When Blueberry flew over, William looked up again, frowning a little. Clearly, they needed him to see this thing, they were both very worked up. Upon checking the time, the demon slave let out a sigh. “In ten minutes, I will go make lunch, after that I can come to see what you find.” He promised the two animals. Sixie meowed at him one more time, but he shook his head. “No dear, you know that I have to work.” He told her with a sigh.
Eventually the two animals just returned to the glimmering pendant, seemingly guarding it. Stanford had mixed feelings about this. He would have preferred it if William had followed the cat immediately, but he did give orders to stick to the schedule, and he was glad that the demon still followed those orders so well. When his slave came into the office to bring him lunch, he turned away from the demon and gave a warm smile. “Your punctuality is as impressive as always, my darling.” His soft tone was met with a smile back. “I do my best, master. Sixie wanted my attention earlier, but I didn’t give in. I will go see what she is so worked up over now.” William spoke softly, pouring out a cup of tea for the sorcerer. Stanford tilted his head a little, accepting the teacup and calmly stirring it. “From what I saw, your cat has found something. Go see what is, my little blue bird.” He spoke calmly, taking a sip of the tea. The slave froze shortly, praying to the Axolotl that the tea was perfect. He never messed this one up, but every time he felt a short moment of fear, before the warm smile of his master calmed him down again. “Off you go now, my dear. I wouldn’t want to deprive you from your time listening to the bird in the tree. A little blue bird, I must say. Not nearly as sweet as you, but still. Its song reminds me of you.” Stanford didn’t look at William, but he didn’t have to. He could almost feel the blush that had creeped up on the blue Cipher’s face as he hastily made his way out. It wasn’t all too hard to keep the slave neatly wrapped up in his strings.
Meanwhile Sixie got impatient. She wanted to show Will the fun thing Blueberry found, and he was being slow. He wasn’t, but the kitten had her instincts and restlessly circled the pendant. When the demon finally showed up with their lunch, she meowed loudly, making clear she wasn’t happy with him. “I am very sorry for making you wait, sweety. But I have time now. Master Stanford said I should look at it too.” Will spoke thoughtfully before crouching down, picking up the thing Blueberry and Sixie had been so fussed about. “How did this end up in the garden?” He spoke softly as he turned the pedant in his hands a few times, his slim fingers brushing over the gemstone. He could feel the magic trapped inside it and tilted his head a little. “Blueberry, did you find it somewhere?” He asked the bird, who was pecking at bugs between the grass. The bird looked up and whistled a short tune, flying up to the branch where the pendant had been. Will frowned a little, looking at the branch. That was odd, how did it get there? The slave pondered over it while he sat down on the bench underneath the tree. That was actually new. Stanford had it placed there a few weeks earlier, without offering any explanation for it. Will didn’t mind. It was underneath Blueberry’s tree, so he could listen to the bird’s song while eating. But today, the bird was sitting on his shoulder, dead silent. Sixie ate her lunch, but once she was done, she sat next to her demon friend to watch the pendant. Will watched it too, but nothing was happening yet.
When he was done eating, he picked it up again, focussing on the energy inside of it. For some reason he did not quite understand, it felt airy. He got visions of clouds and skies in his head when he rubbed over the precious gemstone. The demon knew that he was supposed to bring all objects of such a nature to Stanford immediately, but his interest was piqued and he wanted to figure out what was going on with the thing before he would give it to his master. Sixie meowed softly and set her paw on Will’s leg. He looked down at her and scratched behind her ears, looking over the thing again. For some reason it didn’t really try to reach out to his powers. It needed a nudge. But wasn’t it dangerous to activate magical objects without his master present? “Forgive me Stanford, I just want to know, and I don’t want to disturb you.” He mumbled to himself before sending a spark of his magic into the thing. It didn’t help much yet, and he frowned before actually putting it on and trying it again. This time it did work, somewhat. The magic woke up in a sense, and he shivered lightly, feeling what this could do for him. It could give him an opportunity he had been missing for a long time. “Blueberry?” He turned towards the bird, who let out a whistle. Will smiled and whistled back for a second, feeling the magic in the gemstone stir. Shapeshifting magic, one of the abilities he no longer had access to these days.
The demon let it fuel him, change him, reshape the form he appeared to be. When he looked up again, he was sitting on the back rest of the seat, right next to Blueberry, who seemed a lot bigger than before. They were the same size now. William laughed, but instead a twittering sound came out. Sixie was watching them, meowing loudly, very confused, but also absolutely delighted. Will spread his new wings. His head was filled with one thought only: flying again. Like he used to do, in the old days. It took him a bit to get used of his wings, but eventually he took to the sky, circling the garden once before he felt a call. Stanford. Immediately he flew back and landed back on the windowsill of Stanford’s office. The sorcerer looked at him with a smile. “Well done my dear, you figured it out all by yourself. Now if you would change back for me. And for your cat. She seems rather concerned with your well-being since you landed here.” He spoke calmly, and Will hopped around for a bit before changing back to his regular form. “I’m sorry, master. I didn’t mean to go against your order to bring these objects to you right away.” He spoke up as soon as he was sure he could do something other than tweeting. The sorcerer gave him another smile, holding out his hand for the pendant. “You are forgiven, my dear. But I think I am not the only one to apologize to.” He looked out the window again. Sixie was meowing loudly underneath the window. Will sighed. “Yes, I’d better go to her before she gets scared.” He sighed.
Once he left, Stanford looked at the pendant again, sliding his finger over the gemstone. It did not activate for him, not even when he put it on. Strange, and mildly irritating. But maybe, he could put it to good use in a different way. William seemed to enjoy his short flight very much, and the sorcerer knew very well how well it worked to give his slave little extras when he managed to be flawless for an extended period of time. That was also part of the reason the demon had been allowed to keep the kitten. Maybe, in the future, he could use this to his advantage. There were plenty of options. For now, though, he just put it away, settling in his desk chair again to watch as William joined the animals outside. Immediately Sixie moved away from the window and followed the demon slave into the garden. A shame that the kitten seemed to distrust him so much. She was an interesting little thing he would love to take a closer look at.