Chapter 839

Gramps turned his head away from both Kat and the food, one for sanitary reasons and one to keep his reaction hidden for a few moments. Kat, not realising what she’d missed asked, “Gramps are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” said Gramps as he waved off Kat’s misplaced concern, “I’m not getting that old just yet,” he sucked in a few breaths of air to give himself time to think. “What did you want to talk about Kat? How have you been?”

“Well... I’ve been good. Quite good actually. Um... hmm... what do you want to hear first. Crazy adventures, my miniscule social life or Sylvie’s newfound role model?” asked Kat.

“While Sylvie finding a role model is an interesting and momentous occasion Sylvie isn’t here visiting me you are. Maybe you can convince her to tag along next time, but we can leave that too the side. Hmm... I guess I’d like to hear about your social life. I always worried you would struggle finding good friends when you left school, so hopefully you’ve mended that gap somewhat,” said Gramps.

Kat gave a few dry laughs, “ha ha ha yeah... I guess I have. I can start with Minor. She’s... honestly she’s only technically a friend due to the distance between us. She’s more of another little sister like Sylvie, if not one quite so young... but she also has even less experience. It’s a mess... Minor and her twin sister had an accident when they were young that ended with them both in the one body... and Minor didn’t really do anything for over a decade.

“Now Minor is finding that she doesn’t really know what to do. She doesn’t want a full life, I think the idea of having that kind of agency again is terrifying to her. At the same time... she doesn’t want to just watch her sister without saying anything either. So... yeah the exact amount of involvement she’s going to have on the real world is still being debated.

“She sort of latched on to me when we met. I’m not sure if it’s because I didn’t really know her sister or if it’s just that I was there at the time. Urgh... I don’t want to be around when her mother gets involved. Just the with Grandmother it’s already a mess of conflicting wants and desires. The current best solution they have at the moment is teaching Shizuka, or Shizuru... Minor’s sister, how to create fox clones and give Minor some control over them occasionally,”

.....

Gramps sighed, “I think she’ll need to get used to it. She sounds like a shy girl but she can’t just live in her sisters head forever...”

“Eh...” Kat gave a ‘so-so’ gesture waving her hand from side to side, “Maybe? It’s complicated because the ritual that saved Shizuka should have killed Minor in the process. It was the only way at the time and she was basically already gone... but Shizuka saved Minor accidentally at the time. It unclear exactly how much of her own person Minor is or can be. One of the stranger things is that she doesn’t really WANT to be a full person. It might be an instinctual thing, knowing that she cannot be a full person again, I don’t really know,”

Gramps shrugged, “I may not know much about magic but I know that’s liable to cause issues eventually. Even if Minor really is ok with it all things will inevitably get awkward as the pair get older,”

Kat nodded, “I suppose when Shizuka wants to live her own life away from Minor it could be an issue, if it happens,”

Gramps gave a slightly pitying nod to Kat, not wanting to correct her line of thought. It was... close enough anyway. “Right... well... who else have you met?”

“Hmm... well there’s the tournament group. I’m not sure that I’m really friends with any of them though. Green tends to nap a bit too much for me to really get to know her and Gareth’s time is monopolised by her. Kress is certainly an annoyance and he doesn’t like me at all... but Nixilei is really in an odd position.

“I’ve spent by far the most time talking to her and it’s always been pleasant... but she’s a spy. She’s been upfront about the fact that she’s a spy... but she’s still a spy. So it makes it somewhat hard to know just how close we’re getting you know? I know she’d do pretty much whatever she was ordered be that spying on me and trying to get answers about something perhaps even all the way up to attempting to kill me. The only reason she might not agree to that sort of mission would be I don’t think she could actually take me out... but that’s more of a practical thing,”

Gramps nodded, “That sort of thing can be hard. There is something I’d like you to keep in mind though. I was friends with a spy some time ago. Still would be if he didn’t pass away,” Gramps let out a long sigh, “that’s not important for this part of the story though. See we grew up together. He wasn’t one of my closer friends, just someone I hung around with occasionally at school. As everyone grew up, I was one of the few people that stayed in our hometown. So whenever he was off deployment I’d invite him out for a night of drinks.

“Neither of us particularly liked alcohol, so a lot of the time it was just soft drink and the atmosphere... but there was one particular day, when I was thirty five that I’ll never forget. He called me up and asked not for a night out, but he wanted me to come and visit so I did... and... the poor man just broke down.

“He spilled more than a few military secrets that day. Stuff I’d never thought about, and more than one thing he was extremely ashamed of. He started crying earlier on as well and he just kept rambling. At the end... I’ll never forget the face he had when he looked me in the eye and asked if he was a good person, if he’d done the right thing,”

“And I stand by my answer. I said ‘I don’t know’ because I didn’t know. Even with all the information he’d told me there was no way to know if what he’d done was the right thing. Before it got too far though I added, ‘I do respect what you’ve done though,’ and there was more tears, a few drinks that were actually alcoholic along with a recommendation that he consider quitting. Not because he was wrong per say but because it was causing him so many issues,”

Gramps shook his head, “I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can’t be forever guessing how much of a friend this spy is to you. If it comes down to it, it comes down to it... but they really appreciate a good friend. I know this, not because of anything he said when he was alive, but because I was left nearly everything in his will. I had to listen to some of the most heartfelt words I’ve ever heard coming not from him, but from the dry voice of a lawyer,”

Gramps sniffed and wiped away the tears starting to congregate, “Sorry. Sometimes I get a little lost. I keep saying I’m not that old, and maybe I’m not... but I’ve lost a good few people along the way. It’s strange. Now I have all these questions... like where are they now? Is heaven real? I don’t suppose you can indulge an old man here,”

“Um... well... souls are real?” offered Kat, “I don’t really know about heaven... and hell might be real but it’s not where all the demons live anyway. I’d ask my system... but it doesn’t like telling me anything about angels so... I wouldn’t be able to get an answer. I do know reincarnation is a thing... but I’m not sure if it’s a common thing, an optional thing or what,”

“Guess I’ll just have to have a little faith then. Just knowing souls are real is enough for me I think. To know that when we die there’s something else. Good or bad... I think the idea of nothing is much more frightening. I’ve never understood the atheists because of it. Why would you WANT nothing to be what you experience when you die?” asked Gramps.

“I don’t know Gramps. I don’t really think you should be looking for religious advice from a demon,”

“Ah but I can always ponder these sorts of question with my daughter right?” asked Gramps.

“Of course,” said Kat, not minding the tears starting to leak slowly from her eyes, “Questions of all sorts are always welcome when it comes to family,” Gramps paused in his preparations as Kat leaned into him. The silence stretched on. The early morning giving everything a sense of peace, and something neither were interested in breaking.