Infinite Finity - Volume 1 Chapter 18 Perform Like Trash

When Neutrum opened his eyes, he yawned and stretched. Cometes stood by his side while Meteorum socialized with his newfound friends. “I assume the place is ready since you’re awake.”

Neutrum nodded and thought to himself silently. ‘This silent kid has a knowing look on his face at all times. It’s like he knows everything that’s happening, and as long as he gets information and hints, he does. Complete opposite of his brother. The shadow and the light.’

Neutrum motioned Solis to walk over along with Gladys. “Uhm, I’m a bit tired so, everyone has to be touching. Normally I’d get you all out the same I got you in, but I want a nap. If someone isn’t connected, I won’t be held liable.”

Solis silently chided in his mind ‘Such a lazy guy.’ Gladys simply relayed the information to everyone else. Holding a rope, they all were brought to the main lobby of their new home.

“Welcome to la maison de los almairusks!”

Gladys and Neutrum both looked with deadpanned faces at Chao. Ignoring her silliness, Gladys carried a sleepy Bea to their new room. Luna, being a loudmouth, walked up to Chao.

“Do you have to be so obnoxious Lady Chao? Don’t answer that. We’ll be going to study with Solis, Cometes and the other one.” Sauntering off, she dragged Noctis with her.

“I love teasing that little girl.”

. . .

In Chao, Serenus, and Neutrum’s new room, he was currently being coaxed by the two women. The two ladies were sitting on the bed while Neutrum was leaning on it while sitting on the floor.

“We weren’t excluding you when we met up Inamorato,” said Chao. She rubbed his shoulders while Serenus played with her curls.

“You never tell us where you are, what you’re doing, or how you’re doing. Tell me, how do you think I felt every day for these past 3 million plus years thinking about you with no way of seeing you. Did you even stop to think about talking to me even once?!” Serenus started off soft and meek before growing more and more unstable. By the end she was sobbing. Her tears ran down her face falling onto her lap. Chao immediately stopped fussing over Neutrum and embraced her.

Head laid atop Chao’s bosom, Serenus’ tears slowed and she hiccuped. Chao’s voice at this moment was nothing like yesterday. It was as soothing as a warm blanket in the fiercest cold.

Neutrum’s pupils dilated as he sprang up, stole Serenus from Chao, and laid her head on his lap. Her sparse hiccuping turned into raging tears once again as he softly murmured and pat her head. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry. You’re right. I was wrong. I really did forget. I only remembered when I felt you two go into the pagoda one after the other. I was chasing some resources.”

Chao’s face burned in fury as Serenus sobbed even more. “But you know what? I thought about you two everyday. ‘Sweetest would really love this hat. Darling would love these heels. I’ve got to bring the two of them to play here.’ You two never left my mind. I never spoke to either of you because I wouldn’t be able to move afterwards. I was on the chase after some things and people were out to get me in return. I wanted to stabilize my empire before gifting it to my Empresses.”

When Serenus stopped crying and hiccupping, Neutrum fell backwards bringing Chao down with him. The most cherished words accompanied the most beautiful painting. A delicate beauty laid across his stomach with red eyes, a fierce beauty laid over his shoulder possessively, and the two beauties linked their pinkies with the icy man’s pinky. “My love, my soul, my life, they’re yours. Whatever you do, I’ll stand by you. Whatever you want, I’ll retrieve. Whatever you need, I’ll provide. In this life, in the last life, and every life to come.”

. . .

Noctis looked at his sister in bafflement as did the rest of them with the exception of Cometes. “Hello? Are you really my sister? Has she been replaced by a more respectful young lady?”

Luna’s eyebrow twitched as a vein slightly pulsed in her forehead displaying how much pent up aggression she had.

“Are you a much more womanly lady than my boorish sister?” Finally exhaling, she turned to him. She pet his head and slapped it. “I agreed to be a tail.” She turned away to hide her mild blush. “It’s only right that I address her by the proper title right?”

Nubis and Caligo giggle while Noctis ran around with the boys. Cometes and Solis starting writing down some pointers and information about the powers gained from the bonds. When the two called the rowdy boys over, they decided to pretend to be a professional Acapella group.

“Hello new friends!

We’re here to say we’re here!

Let’s be friends to the end!”

“You sound terrible. You’re completely out of sync with one another. There’s no harmony here. Don’t ever perform like trash in front of me or within my earshot ever again.” All of a sudden Cometes, the silent, indifferent, young man, went off on a tirade. His eyes were colder and sharper than an execution blade.

The entire room became gloomy as Meteorum swooped in to lift the air. “Calm down little artist. We’re just playing around.”

“Watch me play with this hammer.”

Luna walked up to Solis and gushed, “Cometes, you’re so cool!”

“Alright children.” Inrigo diffused the stalemate. “We’re here to help ourselves, are we not? Otherwise, you all can turn into shriveled up dehydrated onions.”

Meteorum’s face became twisted as he imagined a dried onion with his hair and clothes on it. “Kid, are you trying to curse us to become mummified corpses?”

Noctis chimed in not letting his chance slip away, “Maybe if your brain and my sister’s brains are rehydrated, you’ll end up with an influx of brain cells! You might become smarter!” Before another argument exploded, Solis stepped in. “Are the Ten Tails going to disband as of today because of petty arguments preventing any growth?”

At that, all was silent. “That’s what I thought. Sit down and let me tell a short story. Now I’ve been with Serenus for 8 years. I made my first bond with her when I was 7. Like what Lord Neutrum said, when you make a bond with any of the almairusks, you get a fragment of their powers as well.”

He turned to Cometes, seeing that he didn’t want to continue for him, Solis could only explain further. “The almairusks have seven attributes – Heavenly, Hellish, Godly, Humane, Light, Dark, and Spatial or Galactic. The attributes come in pairs with the exception of the Galactic. It’s purpose is to basically assist or make the other attributes happen.”

He grabbed a set of color pencils and started drawing different symbols. He pointed to the pair of clouds, one yellow, the other red. “These are the Heavenly and Hellish attributes. They allow the almairusks to pass judgments on people’s souls. Rewards or punishment.”

Next he pointed to a pair of human figures, one had a Spectra of lights coming off of it while the other had a cacophony of colors within the body. “These are the Godly and Humane attributes. Like the names suggest, they allow them to accomplish tasks with the ability of either one. So, either the power of the mind, or the power of abilities.”

The next pair of pictures featured two lightbulbs – one lit, the other unlit. “These are light and dark. They allow the almairusks to manipulate any light and any shadow. Light is particle wave right? Using the light attribute, they can actually isolate specific characteristics of light to best sit their needs. Darkness is an absence of light therefore making it an absent space.”

The last picture was undescribable. It’s shape was random with a ripple effect that was supposed to be around it. It looked like messy spiral art. “This is the oddball. It doesn’t have a defined shape. It takes on whatever shape the almairusks borrow from it. It allows for spatial manipulation. Basically, warp travel as well as teleporting are possible along with a lot of other things. Depending on the universe, they might not be allowed. Someone could theoretically use this power to erase an entire galaxy since it exists within a space. They wouldn’t do that, but it is possible for them to do so.” Getting a cup of water and a part on the back by Cometes, Solis whet his throat.

“Any questions?”

Tellus raised his hand, “Is there a bond that would give us full access to the full extent of their powers?”

“No. No matter how many bond they create and we inherit, we will never have the chance to be on complete equal grounds with them in terms of raw power.”

Caligo raised her hand, “I heard some people say here and there that there are announcements made through telepathy.”

Meteorum cut in, “Oh yeah. Almairusks can broadcast their thoughts telepathically to whomever they please and as soon as you make a bond, you’ll be able to do the same. The only thing is, the lower your bond, the weather your messages are. To put it in simpler terms, it’s kinda like having a data limit with an emergency supply, too. Your messages can’t go to as many people because the size would be too many and they can’t be too long or else they’ll be choppy or cut off entirely.” Caligo nodded her head and Nubis continued.

“How do we know what the limit is?”

Solis answered as Meteorum had forgotten. “You’ll have a small number on the worst opposing your dominant hand. That’s why entire families follow them and it’s also the reason why there’s a minimum all for getting a bond. The numbers look like tattoos and in some of the more extreme cases, according to Serenus, a great grandmother saw the “tattoo” and threatened to flay the skin off with a flaming hot machete.”

They all stopped thinking about the almairusks and their responsibilities at that moment to appreciate the insanity of humanity. Some time later, the ever silent Cometes opened his mouth.

“If there aren’t any more questions, it’s about time we started with the studying.”

Sighing, m.o.a.ning, and groaning, the children all began to meticulously rewrite their professor’s notes.

. . .

Ignis was currently in the middle of dueling a group of chimpanzees for a refrigerator.

“Furvus, be a good boy and hand over the booklet and plug.”

‘Scratch that idea. They’re animals and their trainers.’

Furvus almost handed it over before shaking his head vigorously and pouting. “Gladys, my biggest bro, it’s not fair to use that voice of yours and your eyes to cheat me out of the fridge.”

Albus complained, “Furvus, just give it over. Why do you even need the refrigerator anyway? You get easily cold.”

“I don’t want him to have it.”

Sighing and shortly struggling to recompose herself, Albus questioned him. “Why do you not want our friends, Gladys and Bea to have the refrigerator?”

“I want to keep booze in our room.”

Speechless, Albus stalked over to him. She yanked the things out of his hands, kissed him, kicked his shin, and whispered in his ear. “I need a bed coolant. If you don’t want to fill that role anymore, I’d be happy to ask Ignis.”

“Love, he literally uses fire in ever single one of his forms. If I keep the fridge, I can give you the box.” With that offer, she hesitated.

“If you let us have the box, I’ll help you build a house out of boxes and you can have Bea in three days to play around.”

“Deal.” Like that, the boyfriend was ignored and abandoned for the cute girl who was older than Albus.