Horatio was still among the bodyguards, Hector noticed. “Ibai, you have to stay with us,” the man said with bags under his eyes. “You cannot just teleport away whenever you like.”
“Eh, I’m pretty sure I can.”
“No,” Horatio growled. “What if you accidentally teleported inside of a person?”
“There’s no risk of that,” said Ibai. “I can see everyone’s soul when I do it. Here, let me show you.”
“Wait--”
Ibai grabbed his cousin’s arm, and they blinked away together. Hector couldn’t tell where they’d gone, but it didn’t matter, because they returned to the same spot a moment later. Horatio looked like he was about to puke.
“Oh, whoops,” said Ibai. “Sorry. I didn’t even think about your motion sickness. Did that actually trigger it? You weren’t really moving, you know.”
Horatio just held up a hand and stared at the ground. Everyone waited for him to speak, but he said nothing further.
Ibai shrugged and turned back to Hector. “Well, anyway! Would you believe you’re the first black person I’ve ever met?”
Hector did not respond.
“I’ve seen some of you on television and such, but I’ve never had the pleasure to speak with one personally. Isn’t that something?”
Hector had to refrain from telling him that he still did not have the pleasure of speaking with one.
“I know there’s a pretty profound age difference here,” Ibai went on, “but would you like to be my first black friend? I’ve always wanted one.”
Hector could only squint at the man. With the way Ibai spoke, it was somehow easy for Hector to forget that this person was quite clearly a middle-aged man.
“Or wait. Was that a racist thing to ask? If so, then I apologize. I’ve never had very many friends, you see. Well, I’ve had my family, of course. They’ve provided such fantastic companionship; I wouldn’t want to give the impression that they haven’t. I love them very much.” He slapped Horatio’s shoulder.
Horatio turned and barfed over the edge of the cliff.
“There you go, cousin,” said Ibai. “Feel better?”
Horatio just returned a deathly stare as he wiped his mouth.
“But yes,” Ibai continued to Hector, “they are my family. It’s a different sort of relationship. I feel there is something uniquely special about becoming friends with someone who is in no way obligated to you already. It’s a bit purer, in an odd way. Or perhaps I am just romanticizing it. What do you think?”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
I think he's in the earlier 30s of his life?
ReplyDeleteHaha, yeah, you missed something. It's been mentioned multiple times. For instance, his introductory scene ended with him using his shadow in order to shave his facial hair.
ReplyDeletewait Ibai is an adult? since he acted like a kid i assumed he was one, did i miss something or was that on purpose?
ReplyDeleteCome on hector, the kid is so friendly and trying so hard. Have a heart and give the adorable rapscallion a chance.
ReplyDeletePoor Ibai. Nobody trusts him and he makes his cousins barf.
ReplyDeleteAww.
2 things will result of Ibai
ReplyDelete1) he will betray them when it matters most in the end
2) he will sacrifice himself to save them all. And become this series's fav character
Now riddle me this, which would lead to a more satisfied reader
I see a third possibility. In the coming fight Ibai will eat Miles's reaper, then be killed by another of the vanguard.
ReplyDeleteThe sacrifice. Not that I want anybody sacrificing themselves, but if it was between two choices, then I would be very upset if Ibai turned traitor. I like him too much.
ReplyDeletePrincess Nova's possibility seems oddly specific and therefore unlikely to me.
correct
ReplyDeleteDANGIT. Upon realizing that Ibai is in not a child, I have gone from thinking he's adorable, to thinking he's attractive. CURSE YOU FROST.
ReplyDeleteSure you would be upset but it would draw out emotions yes? Isn't that what a good book is supposed to do.
ReplyDeleteI just had a most bizzare thought if I was Hector. You are not making black waifu out of me.
ReplyDeleteI nominate Ibai as having the literally worst social skills in this series. Congratulations Hector, you can finally step down.
ReplyDelete...Horatio most likely saw the same thing we, the readers, saw when Ibai first teleported...
ReplyDeleteWell, Ibai is an adult in body only. ... and quite clearly has some very odd twists within his personality. And damn, he is adorable and definitely now my favourite character aside from Hector.
ReplyDeleteHis poor cousin, though. XD I wonder what he did see.
I wonder if that's what triggered his motion sickness, or just the quadruple jump cut (void, destination, void, back).
ReplyDeleteYou know how aberration abilities always "center" around consuming souls, and yet for Ibai's that aspect seems more tacked on? I figured out the connection.
ReplyDeleteAssassination. Blink in, slash, blink out, and you steal the soul as you go.
C'mon, Hector, you volunteered to guard him because you wanted to learn more about him. How much do you learn from cold stony silence?
ReplyDeleteNah: not enough confusion in either of those options. I pick "saves in a way that betrays, yet you can almost picture why until the landscape shifts and you find out that was not it at all, but something else entirely". Ibai makes Parson look as straight as a die, for all he'd argue he's not a bit complicated. :/
ReplyDeleteEven the people who can actually see what he looks like tend to forget that he's actually about 30, Frost said so himself. It gets way easier when you don't get to see what he actually looks like. He's just so sweet and childlike that one naturally assumes he can't be over the age of 12.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it might just be that his power focuses less on killing because he does. He was taught not to desire to cause harm to others, so his power focuses less on what is normally an integral part of Aberration pyschology. I also just realized that it makes no sense how aberrations supposedly develop their powers by consuming souls, considering that they consume souls by using their power. Its like a book that teaches you how to read.
ReplyDeleteMotion sickness works by the dissonance of what they see and what they feel. For this reason, it is impossible to get motion sickness on a bike, even if you go down the same windy road at a similar speed to what is likely to cause it in a car.
ReplyDeleteI think he's not someone whose power really lends itself to sacrifice. If someone falls off a cliff and would die for real, he just teleports them out.
ReplyDeleteCould be that too.
ReplyDeleteI was puzzled by the "you must have consumed souls" thing too. Perhaps they were referring to the strength of the ability rather than its presence. Which is quite accurate, since he did consume souls to get it that strong, just not human ones.
lol so true
ReplyDeleteHe played with a black in the car and now he realise he is the first black he has seen...
ReplyDeleteHe made his cousin barf :D :D :D
He wants to be friend with Hector and Garovel just said "Good idea!!!!"
Hector: ... ... ... ... ... ... .... ... ... ... ...
I think the victor of the battle hasn't been decided yet
ReplyDeleteThe weirdo who talks a lot VS The weirdo who doesn't talk... Epic Rap Battle!!!
Not wrong, but are you sure you didn't mean "Horatio Just returned a deathly [glare] as he wiped his mouth."?
ReplyDeleteI think the winner of that one is clear from the start.
ReplyDelete