Chapter Text
In all his time roaming the earth, watching empires rise only to fall and burn in the flames of their own making, humans had never ceased to fascinate him. Whether it was the way they were always brimming with life, emotions so volatile they could be joyous one moment and down right violent the next, or the way humans were driven by some unseen desire to create. Whatever it was, it had captivated him from the very first day he laid eyes on the human race, and so he spent many of his years watching as the humans changed the world around them with their own hands and ever evolving creations.
None of the humans walking the city streets paid mind to the gust of wind as he landed upon the pavement, broad, black feathered wings fluttering to a close behind him as his pristine white robes settled. He was free to walk and sightsee as he pleased, something that allowed him to more easily witness humanity up close; though, he could not say he's experienced it. A male human brushed by him, head down as they stared intently at the glowing screen in their hand, oblivious to the world around him just like many he had seen. Nobody noticed the black haired male with eyes like galaxies in the reflection of the shop window as they passed. There were some days where he wondered what they would do if he were to... show himself, but just as quickly as the thought came it would leave without much pondering.
He followed a woman with a baby tucked away into a blue stroller, skipping lightly so he could walk backwards in front of the stroller as he bent down. His head tilted curiously, white pupils fixated on the infant bundled in white and yellow blankets with a small bear by their side. The infant blinked at him and he blinked back; the young human reached out with tiny hands, so tiny that he marvelled for a moment despite having seen hands like them before. He knew instinctively that the child could not see him, he wasn't one of them, but he had come to realize certain sensitive individuals may notice his presence in some intangible form; often it was the younger humans and animals like cats and dogs that took notice to his presence, though it was hard to say just how aware they were. He stopped and the stroller passed right through him, the woman on the phone not even batting an eye as she, too, walked right through him.
He ignored the cries that now sounded from the child as the woman walked away, his attention already stolen by the smell of something sweet coming from a shop just nearby. Following it, he found himself in front of what looked like a cozy cafe with the door open in a welcoming manner. He stepped inside and none of the occupants turned his way just the same way as none of the server's took him to a table. Still, he was unbothered by this and began inspecting the cafe; nobody noticed the way the small candles may have flickered a briefly vivid blue or violet colour before turning back to their warm, orange glow.
The wood tables were mostly smooth under his fingers, only the faint grooves providing any texture as he ran his hand over them. By the cashier there was a glass display of various baked goods, the smell of more wafting from a door behind, but he continued his leisurely scout around the cafe where the patrons sat. There were a few shelves, adorned with small trinkets and even a ship in a bottle, something he recognized as familiar which brought a familiar feeling of warmth. This time, one particular table noticed as their candles suddenly flared slightly before dying out completely, the couple seated there eyeing them quietly before laughing quietly to each other; it seemed his brief excitement as he spied the cat perched on the windowsill had been a bit too much for the weak flame, his cursed energy reacting subconsciously and his hold on it briefly faltering.
The cat was pretty, to say the least; It's fur was a beautiful, sleek white but it had streaks of faint grey that he thought looked nice with the pale blue eyes that looked up at him. The cat's ear twitched as he stroked its soft fur, not long but neither short, a rather perfect length if he had any opinion. He felt cursed energy pulsing within his palm where he touched the cat, a common occurrence when he wished to interact physically without the common populace spying him, but he was careful to never alarm or hurt the small feline. The cat stretched and a young boy at one of the tables close by whispered to his mom as he pointed at the cat, saying something about its loud purring; to them, the cat was simply content from its nap in the sun and had begun purring, of course they did not see its company.
Humans, animals, so many creatures. They were all utterly fascinating to him, amusing in some ways and dumbfounding in others, even the annoyance they may cause him could be intriguing if looked at in the right light. He didn't know what he truly felt, he could call it love for them but he knew it was not of the same level human's perceived love and so the word felt wrong. Attachment could work, but again, he did not weep when human lives passed before him like fleeting winds, so that felt wrong as well. There was no other word for it other than it simply being curiosity; it was a feeling that drew him in because he wanted to watch, to learn, to know just how they lived and why they continued to do so.
Yes. He was curious of the humans and the world they lived in... Galactic eyes flickered up to the window where they gazed at his own reflection, his stoically serene expression replaced with a vaguely cold expression as his eyes focused on something behind him.
But, he couldn't say the same for some of the... by products, so the speak.
Turning around, he set his eyes on the hooded man in the far corner of the cafe. The man was ordinarily human, that much he was certain, but the stench he carried reeked of blood, of death. Now, it wasn't in the sense that he could actually smell it, but rather it was as though he could sense a particular energy emanating from the man that was similar to the way human's smell various scents in the air. The energy was faint, just like any 'scent' as he called it, but it was enough to tell him the man was what human society would call a murderer. That, and the spindly cursed spirt that wrapped around the man's torso and rested its multi-eyed head on their shoulder, letting out an eerie hiss every now and again. It was most definitely feeding of the man, and likely whatever poor soul he inflicted pain upon, but as much as he was not found of the small black creature of his own kin, he made no move against either of them and instead made his exit from the cafe.
Cursed spirits were much different from humans, and they were by no means allies just because they shared similar roots, in fact many of them were territorial and violent at times. But, he preferred to leave them be just as he wished to be left alone; the only things to die by his hand in ages were those who made themselves nuisances and were, as such, unwanted and then swiftly removed without hesitation. He was not one to favour violence, but that did not mean he would avoid it should it prove needed.
Besides, he was still a cursed spirit after all and sometimes urges came without notice. Though, it had been a long time since he remembered having an urge strong enough for him to act upon it.
With a small shake of his head, he stepped onto the sidewalk and made his way down the city streets. If there was one thing in particular he missed from older times, before technology had rooted itself into present day human culture, were the open markets in the middle of kingdom plazas. They were always so colourful and bustling with life, shopkeepers often trying to outsell one another as potential buyers eyed their goods and wares. It was just as common for children, too, to shout gleefully as they weaved between the crowd with stolen goods and old toys of fake swords and paper birds. Now, it was more common to see a group of teenagers meandering their way down the streets with none of the energy he remembered from older times. There were no longer any shopkeepers who stood at the doors of their markets and pitched their sales openly, rather it was the ones they hired who sat inside and awaited all day for customers to enter.
It was much less entertaining to him, someone who enjoyed the constant life and atmosphere of such a lively place, but the modern age was definitely not without its perks. He just... wasn't exactly accustomed to them himself yet. Yes, he knew how they should work; the rectangular devices called phones responded through a simple touch, some of them even by voice, and cars were driven with a pedal and a wheel. There were a lot of new things now, and he was sure there was a number more he remained unaware of, but the matter remained.
Yes, he knew of the new technologies, its just he had never actually used one before. It wasn't like older times where it was easy to blend in, adapt, and place himself among the common populace to explore. Now, people had ID's and phones with numbers that helped identify them, something he was still trying to understand--despite listening to those who practiced themselves in technology, the series of words they used were not helpful for his understanding during the rather short times he would try to learn. Now, it was harder to appear and disappear among people, harder to blend in if he didn't know what to do or how to act.
Today, it was harder to play himself off as a human when he wanted to explore, and so he stopped doing so a while back after a rather annoying incident.
It's actually been a while since he last came to the heart of any city, rather content to keep to himself in the forests or high within the mountains. But lately he's been feeling... off. Like he's missed something, something very important. It was as though something shifted in the energy, a sign of something he didn't yet know but couldn't shake off, and so here he was now taking to the human cities if only to let his mind wander.
He came to a slow stop as a large building came into view, one he recognized as a school for those around mid to late teenage years if the students nearby were anything to go by. He's never been inside a modern school and he hasn't learned of the new 'classes' they took; things like business and political studies were only for certain folk way back, it was nice to see today's world being more accepting. They still had a long way to go however.
He was just about to step forward, eager to look around the school, when a strange tingling sensation buzzed along the surface of his skin and his eyes snapped quickly to his left. There, across the street, was a boy in a dark sweater, black bangs hanging down to conceal his right eye. He couldn't sense anything significant from the teenage boy, no abnormal energy or anything, but he was at a fair distance and he knew something must be different about the boy. Maybe his energy was just weak and being at this distance he couldn't pick up on it as easily?
He tilted his head, cosmic eyes unblinking as his white pupils thinned to slits; his wings slightly unfurled at his side in a strangely eerie display and the boy jolted visibly, turning on his heel to dart into the shadows of an alleyway. Well, his little test had worked and now he had his answer and he carried himself with quick steps toward the alley.
It's been a while since he'd faced a sorcerer.