Chapter 2 – Gilded Cage.

It served as a distraction, another attempt at defiance, but to be honest, the job really wasn’t much. Of anything. Just a simple retail gig in the poorer end of town for a nationwide franchise. The pay was crap, not that Fraser actually needed it, staff turnover high, and some of the customers left a lot to be desired. But it helped, in its own way. Some of the other staff were actually quite nice people, even if he found it difficult to talk to them for long, or say much beyond the obligatory morning and commentary about the weather or job conditions. He just didn’t open up well to other people, preferring to stay in his own little bubble. It was easier that way.

Today wasn’t any different at all. A small surge of customers wanting to look at the latest shipment, now that they knew that it had finally arrived, the team trying desperately to actually make it available. While still dealing with all the other tasks that they needed to do, the boss barking out orders while running around like a headless chicken, failing to delegate out as much as he should, and not using his team to their fullest potential. He actually needed to stop for once and look at who he had, and what they were good at. He’d make life easier for them all if he did. It was a wonder at times that he managed to keep the store running. But he had, at least for the three months that Fraser had been working here. He had never found out how long his boss had been running this branch for, not that it really mattered to him. Keep his head down, work away, and hopefully there’d be no complications, or questions asked.

“Oh. Nice tattoo,” a young lady commented, looking at his hand as he scanned through her purchase for her.

He blushed a little and cringed. “Thanks,” he mumbled. For all of his preparation this morning, he’d forgotten to pack a new glove after the last one had worn too thin and he’d had to dispose of it. At least he was wearing long sleeves. If he’d mucked that up, there would have been no end of additional questions.

“Who did it for you? It’s really intricate.” Oh. She wanted to talk some more about it. Yeah, not so good.

“A friend,” he replied instantly, the lie well practised. “He’s rather talented, scarily so, but only does work for those who he knows well. Kinda picky in that way.” Enough information to hopefully satisfy, and make a point that no, they were not going to find out who did it. Cause they didn’t actually exist.

“They really are quite good!” Another smile from the customer as he handed her her purchase, one last look at his hand, and then she turned and walked away to the store’s exit.

Fraser sighed in relief, and looked down at his left hand himself. Even ignoring its true nature, it really was a beautiful and intricate tattoo. Swirling lines and entrancing shapes that took up the entirety of the back of his hand. The mark of the Blessed. And it was still evolving and spreading. He’d thought that since he’d lost the use of his magic it would have stopped changing, but the opposite had in fact been true, and it was considerably larger and barely recognisable from what it had been then. There was more to it than just what you saw at a glance. There were identifiable things inside of it as well, if you knew what you were looking for, and for his own tattoo he certainly did. He’d had far too much time to study them. The sword that he’d once had, the mark of all of that training, was nowhere to be found now, though the arcs of lightning and fire were still there. The book had become more prominent, go figure, and there were hints of some animals too. And course the ethereal element as well, a constant reminder. All things that he had associations with, and the same applied to all marks of the Blessed. Not that most Blessed could actually understand their marks in the first place. Most just saw them as that. A mark, that grew a bit as they got better and more familiar with their magic. Grew into their power as it were, the mark growing with them. But it was still there just the same.

What did confuse him though, were the aspects that he was pretty sure that he could see, but that he couldn’t think of any association for at all. And a few others that were definitely shapes that had meaning, but as to what that was, he had no clue. Things that he just pushed off into the corner of his mind, till he could form a better understanding around them.

The rest of his shift went smoothly, without any real issue, everyone just settling into the groove of the day, Sure, his boss was still almost losing it to the stress, but he sort of had it under control, in the almost at breaking point but not quite there kind of way, everyone else just working under and around him. The shipment got all sorted, customers filtered through, and idle chatter was had. Then he was done, throwing on a jacket and grabbing his bag, and heading out of the store into the still warm day.

And straight into his mother.

Fraser stopped, trying his best to hide his shock and worry. What on earth was she doing in this part of the town? She never came here. It was below her, part of the reason he had applied for the job here. She towered over him, even though she was only half a head taller, looking all proper and self important in the femme business suit that she wore most of the time. It was just a pity that the importance wasn’t just for show, and was very much real.

“Mother?” he asked. “I didn’t expect to see you here. You’re back, I see.” That was it, feign as much ignorance as possible. Except that she’d see straight through it.

“Fraser, what are you doing here?” she asked, ignoring his attempted misdirection.

“Shopping?” he tried. That wasn’t going to work, not this time. He was still in the uniform after all, which she was staring straight at. He had hoped to get home and changed long before he ended up running into her. If at all. Avoidance was something that he’d got better at.

His mother just shook her head, a look of disgust and disappointment on her face. “I expect to see you at dinner this evening.”

Fraser sighed, his shoulders slumping a little. “Yes, Mother.” Why was he still being subjected to this at his age? A pointless question. He knew the answer. Because he was a member of a founding family. Because his parents had always been that way. It was a miracle that they even tolerated his friendship with Uriah.

It took only ten minutes for the phone call to come through, as Fraser walked his way home, his boss on the other end. Ex-boss now. He politely informed Fraser that he was no longer needed and that he was being let go. Effective immediately. That of course broke all the rules, but his mother broke rules like that. Making sure that no one was around, he screamed in frustration. She had done that to him Every. Single. Time.

---

This place was his solace. Well, most of the time it was. Beautiful, calm, serene. Admittedly it wasn’t far from the complex of the Guardians or his home, given that he was right at the edge of the old buildings, but no one else came out here. They had no need to. There was nothing here for them, and the creatures no longer spawned here. They hadn’t since then. Fraser sat against the wall of one of the buildings, still sturdy enough to hold his weight, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

The forest grew close here, still trying to encroach on the town, the magical barrier still active after all these years, slowing down its advance. A series of simple sigils that basically encouraged the growth to go in a different direction. They wouldn’t last forever though, and then this place would be more than just forgotten. The grass was short and green, lush, and still a little damp in places, having been in the shade all day. Some butterflies flittered around, leaving trails of colour behind them, avoiding the sparrows that were feasting on the small swarms of insects that had gathered in the shade of one of the larger rogue trees that had managed to defy the barrier. A little rabbit looked at him curiously from between two of the buildings, ears up straight and its nose twitching a little. It was cute, and probably thought that he hadn’t noticed it.

‘She’s still a bitch huh?’

Fraser looked up at the small shimmer in the air, Felicia’s manifestation,and sighed openly. “Yeah. I had kinda hoped, but...”

‘I feel for you, that she did that.’ If Felicia had been capable of giving hugs, Fraser was sure that she would have, her presence shifting a little bit closer.

‘I totally understand what you’re going through. Not for the job aspect specifically, never was allowed to do that, but everything else. Been through it all.’

“Yeah, I know.” Fraser gave her a smile back as he threw some crumbed bread out to the birds, watching as they cautiously swooped in, pecking at it as they looked at him. Her life had been rather similar to his in that respect. They’d had to inform her next of kin, after all, once they had managed to identify her, and he’d healed enough to be able to go and personally apologise. That had been more than just a little bit difficult, for many reasons, and to be honest, hadn’t gone well. The families of scions were never very receptive. It was also the one time that his mother had actually listened to him, and let him do things his way. He didn’t regret that though, and he’d learnt quite a lot about her, and all that she’d had to suffer through.

‘Will you try again?’

Fraser shook his head. “No. She’s done that too many times. I have no idea how she even found out about that one.” Another big sigh. He absolutely hated the cage that he was in, and that, in the end, there was nothing that he could do about it. If he’d still had his magic, then perhaps he could have, but even then. He shook his head at his own thoughts.

‘Oh! Your mark has changed again!’

Fraser looked down at his hand. Felicia was right, there had been some changes, though they were rather subtle. He still had no idea why it was happening, this change no different in that regard. And it had only been a few hours since he had last looked. Felicia was rather perceptive when it came to his mark, and she was probably the only other person that he knew that actually had a decent understanding of them. Probably in part because he had taught her. He came to see her often enough. He owed her that much, and she was easy to talk to. More so than almost everyone else that he knew, Uriah being the other exception of course.

He gave his hand another glance, before looking back up at her manifestation. “And how are you holding up?” he asked.

‘Oh, just hanging here. Unsuccessfully haunting this place and all that. The usual.’ Felicia chuckled and then sighed, her shimmer moving around some more. ‘I will admit that it is kind of boring, and I would like more, but hey, I’m more than happy for your company, and to be honest, outside of that, it mostly just passes in a blur. Everything feels a bit different on this side.’

“I’m sorry.” He’d said that a million times, and still meant it too. The pain was still there, very much raw, even after all of this time. It had been his fault that she had died, because he hadn’t been good enough. Because he’d lost the use of his magic, and frozen when it had mattered the most. And she had paid the price for his incompetence.

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‘It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you at all. We’ve been over this so many times. I’m just grateful for what you did. You suffered through a lot. And still do, because of me. Please, don’t blame yourself.’

He couldn’t help it. He still did. He just couldn’t forgive himself, even though Felicia had. There were too many stark reminders, too many other things boxing him in and keeping him in that place.

‘Hey, your boyfriend’s here.’ Felicia had returned to her usual cheeky tone, her manifestation flashing pink for but a moment.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Fraser whined back. Best friend, yup. Boy, yup. But not mashed together. He didn’t feel that way about him. Didn’t feel that way about anyone in fact.

‘I beg to differ,’ Felicia teased. ‘I’ve seen the way you two interact...’

“Perfectly normal, thank you,” Fraser grumbled.

The rabbit that he’d seen earlier scampered as Uriah appeared from between two of the buildings, the birds doing likewise, the spellsword making his way over and sitting down next to him. “Talking to your ghost friend again?”

Fraser rolled his eyes. “Felicia, and yes. It’s not like she goes anywhere else.”

‘Yes, I am quite stuck here.’ She had a habit of replying, even though she knew that Uriah couldn’t see or hear her. He could sense her though, so he knew that Fraser wasn’t making her up. It seemed that he was in fact the only one who could communicate with her. For whatever reason.

“As much an anomaly as you are,” Uriah commented, before looking directly at him. “I knew I’d find you here. Your mother found out, huh?”

Fraser sighed, and leaned in towards Uriah a little, resting his head against Uriah’s shoulder. The benefit of being slightly shorter, though their physiques were about the same. Approximately. One just more muscled than the other, and all the better for it too. It was comfortable, and comforting. “Yeah.” He sighed again.

“And she got you terminated?”

Fraser growled. Not at Uriah, but at his mother. “Of course. And she wants me there for dinner this evening. Not happy at all.”

‘We’ve been over this already, not-not-boyfriend.’ Felicia flickered a bit more, but she wasn’t being mean, just being herself, trying to comfort him in her own way.

“Yes, but he wasn’t here, was he.” Fraser gave Felicia a small smile. She deserved all the kindness she could get.

Uriah chuckled. “Still not used to these half conversations, even after all this time.”

Felicia and Fraser apologised in unison.

“I’m sure you’ll fill me in later anyways.”

Yes, that he would. Given that they lived together.

A rustling from the forest edge took his attention, a little black nose followed by a furry red and white face making its way out of one of the smaller bushes. “Oh, you came,” Fraser said quietly, a smile on his face. Sitting up again, he reached back into his bag, pulling out a small bundle of waxy paper. Unwrapping it, he gently tossed the strips of treated meat onto the grass a little distance from him, and then leant back against Uriah, who had gone still, watching with curiosity. He wouldn’t have seen the little red fox before. Fraser had, though. Quite a bit. It was cute, and he liked it. It seemed to tolerate him enough that it wouldn’t just scamper away again, and would eat the food that he offered. It was also staying a little bit longer afterwards each time. And of course was oblivious to Felicia’s presence, who also found it rather cute, along with many other fluffy and warm words. She did moan a lot about not being able to pet it though.

The fox sat there for a few moments, eyeing up Fraser’s companion, before obviously deciding that Uriah probably wasn't that much of a threat, and carefully padding forward to the meat, quickly devouring it, eyes on them both the entire time. Once it was finished and had licked its lips, it sat there staring at them some more, big black eyes filled with curiosity and desire.

“Sorry, that’s it for today,” Fraser said softly. “I’m sure there is plenty around for you to hunt, though.” It looked healthy and well, as it always had. Like all of its kind, it was a skilled hunter, and he had seen the signs of such on it. But it was also very cute and adorable, and he really liked it when it decided to make an appearance. It gave them a happy yap, then turned, and disappeared back into the forest, Uriah noticeably relaxing.

“It was cute,” Uriah said quietly. “You’ve been feeding it regularly?”

“Yeah,” Fraser said with a bit of wistfulness, fully resting his head against Uriah now.

‘And you two make a really cute couple!’ Felicia teased, again.

Fraser rolled his eyes. No, this was perfectly natural behaviour for best friends.

They stayed like that for a while more, all three of them, just enjoying the moment, till Fraser started to feel himself dozing off. It was a little too nice, and if he fell asleep here, he may not wake till morning. Which wasn’t the best idea, especially with his mother having commanded that he see her this evening. And Uriah, he couldn’t cook. Reluctantly, he peeled himself away and stood up, Uriah doing likewise.

“We should head home,” he stated, Uriah nodding. “Take care of yourself,” he added to Felicia.

‘Always,’ she replied. ‘It’s you I’m more worried about.’

Eh. He’d be fine. Things couldn’t get any worse, right?