To Hunt A Fox (2)

The sight of freshly washed clothes brought back memories of his time with Cato, who would often do just that with a snap of his fingers.

"Wait a second, she is an ice mage after all which means her domains are Aqua and Ignis. She should be able to clean clothes as well as Cato, no…even halfway as decent would be amazing. I have not even made a trip to the Fullones after that first time, let alone the bathhouses. It is so out of the way thus it wastes too much time…maybe I should ask for a favor sometime?" thought Cyrus nonsensically as Minerva walked over and sat down on the couch next to him.

"Mornin' " said Minerva, still rubbing some of the sleep outside of her eyes.

"Morning Minerva. Looks like you had a pleasant night, a rare showing from you. Good fortune lately?" asked Cyrus politely.

Minerva just whistled while shaking her head,

"You two really are night and day. To be honest, every time I see the current you I find it a bit difficult…" began Minerva, looking over toward Imran making sure he was actually sleeping.

Lowering her voice to a tone that only the two of them could hear, she continued and said

"to get over the instinctual rejection that comes with being reminded of *him*."

The unmasked Cyrus took no offense, saying

"It is understandable, everyone has different tastes. You know, I remember that there was a lot of those cold and callous types as the male lead in a lot of romance novels. They were so popular that even the limited amount of entertainment that I had access to in the wasteland was full off them. Don't worry, I respect your tastes. I am sure my other half will be flattered."

Hearing the words that were eloquently, calmly, and respectfully uttered by Cyrus in such a light manner caused Minerva to receive them neutrally, but as the content grew more suspect Minerva woke up fully and glared at Cyrus.

"You…are you serious or joking, I can barely tell."

"Sadly I am not one for comedy, that role belongs to my counterpart. I was actually being completely serious, but it seems I missed the mark. My next guess would be that it was because he offered a solution to your problems, although to me the solution was downright insane but I understand the sentiment. I do suggest a little less blood-" began Cyrus, before an icy voice rang in his mind telling him to shut up.

"What's up with you? Also congratulations on being able to reach me so clearly, it is almost as if you were directly next to me" thought Cyrus in his mind.

"Yeah, yeah save it for another time. Keep your stupidity to yourself, you will turn her against us…well you, if you continue down your line of thinking. What she needs right now is not some kind of appeal to justice but a way to free herself of the past that binds her. The best way to do that? Kill all who hurt her. Simple" spoke the sinister sounding voice of the dark Cyrus.

"Let's say that in this one instance that you are right and killing is the correct answer. But what would happen if that logic were used by everyone in the Empire? Anarchy would ensue overnight; we have both studied the same things. We know why institutions like the Judicars and Arbiters exist: To bring justice to those who have committed crimes…" began the bright half before his opposite shut him up.

"Weren't you supposed to get better after I taught you how to not value all humanity as equals…ugh whatever, put the mask on for a moment so I can fix the mess you made. We have been sitting in silence being gawked at for a while you know."

While the more positive of the two wished to continue the debate, he understood that it most likely looked somewhat bad from an outsider's viewpoint. The sudden silence mid-sentence and changing facial expression that seemingly came out of nowhere could be described as so, "somewhat odd".

With the mask on his face, the sunny disposition receded and was replaced by the snarky and sarcastic dark half.

"Well that was a mess, sorry you had to hear that partner. While my other half's naivety is downright appalling at times, it is necessary as a counterbalance for the current me. He is my annoying conscious and I am his mentor in the true ways of the world" explained the now masked Cyrus to Minerva.

"I am not going to lie, that is pretty freaky. Especially considering…" began Minerva, stopping to lean in closely to whisper the rest.

"the whole thing about your origins. What a weird but intriguing side effect, but don't worry I will not take anything he says to heart. I will just think of the two of you as twin brothers that are attached to the hip, with one comes the other."

"Good to hear, now I know I do not need to hold my present as a hostage to get you to accept my counterpart" whispered back Cyrus as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the gift.

Pulling it out and placing it in her hand, he leaned back to gauge the reaction.

"This should fully cement our alliance, tied together by as many different bonds as possible. Secrets, emotions, promises, fear, awe and now benefits. If my small understanding of humans is correct she should see me as an invaluable individual that is better off to remain on friendly terms than it is to ever betray unless the circumstances are something extreme" thought the masked Cyrus, as pessimistic as ever.

Minerva was confused at first, wondering why the gift was just a small notebook with scribbles written in it. Her confusion soon turned to surprise, then shock, and finally joy as she flipped through one page after the other.

"This…this is invaluable. I had joked at one point that you were the second coming of Mundus, but now I am starting to think that it may not be so farfetched. How else are you also secretly a godly ice mage, something that requires intense study in two full domains? Wouldn't that mean you have expertise over an entire four domains…wait can you use four?!?" asked Minerva, her breathing growing rapid as a look of fanaticism flashed in her eyes.

"Calm yourself and stop drooling, its just the basics written down there. If you have such a reaction when I finish transcribing the more advanced stuff you will end up passing out from the shock" said Cyrus in disgust.

Minerva awkwardly laughed and wiped her face, before realizing that there was no drool in the first place.

Glaring at the smirking Cyrus, she calmed herself and instead asked sweetly with a smile,

"What do you mean the rest? There is more…and it is more advanced than just this?"

"Indeed there is. What you are holding is one part of four, all notes originally penned by a grandmaster of magic who happened to be an ice mage just like you. My gift is all four of them and not just this one, as I had noticed that you were lacking in magical might when we first dueled which allowed me to win despite your far superior swordsmanship. When you have finished fully understanding and applying the knowledge to your own system of magic, and when I have the time to transcribe the rest, I will give them all to you one by one."

Minerva's eyes lit up as she carefully held the notes in her hand, like they were an age-old treasure, and carefully closed and stored it away safely.

She then turned towards Cyrus and pulled him in for a half hug with one arm and said excitedly,

"Thank you Cyrus, I cant believe you actually gave me such a gift. Honestly I was prepared to be disappointed due to how detached from normal people you are, but wow. I never would have thought you knew me so well!"

"It seems the gift worked too well" thought Cyrus who was slowly being choked to death, as he attempted to knock Minerva out but was stopped in his tracks by his other half.

Noticing, or rather feeling, the frosty air that was emanating from Cyrus, the one who had him in a stranglehold let him go while shooting an apologetic look.

"Well…how do I explain this…" began Minerva.

"When it comes to anything related to training she loses control of herself. I was on the receiving end of such 'passionate' embraces more than a few times and do not even get me started what it's like to train with her one on one. Either way…I do not recall you two being so close" said an awake Imran, who looking at the two carefully.

"I wouldn't say that we are clo-" began Minerva, who was quickly refreezing the lake in her soul once more but was stopped dead in her tracks by Cyrus.

Bringing her into his own one-armed embrace by wrapping his arm around her right shoulder and pulling her in close he said,

"We get along quite well now, we might as well be family at this point."

After which Cyrus said, while not even moving his lips whatsoever, in a barely audible voice

"Just put on some kind of bashful look, play along. Think of the notes…"

Worried that she would not play along, which would alter his next move, he glanced over quickly but was pleased by the sight. She was glancing around nervously like some kind of secret had been uncovered and a light red blush was apparent on her cheeks, such a look would cause ten out of ten people to begin to make assumptions.

"Perfection, what a scary amount of acting talent. I better remember this lest I get played like a fool in the future" remarked Cyrus inwardly.

Meanwhile Imran's jaw threatened to hit the floor, clearly confused at the sudden change in the two's relationship.

"That…that is good? I guess?" began Imran, his mind running at full capacity despite his hangover to try and make sense of things.

"I..I give up. I am too hung over to think about this, I will be in my room" said Imran, as he stood up and retreated from the room immediately stumbling the entire way.

Cyrus watched him go out of the corner of his eye, isolating the clear worry and suspicion that Imran retreated in order to hide.

"Thus things have been set in motion, but I will have to be careful in navigating this slippery slope. I have to make sure to maintain the balance in this small group despite my blatant attempts at provoking Imran' suspicion and eventual ire. All so that I can get him fully in my camp just like Minerva. This crafty fox shall not escape me."

Pleased with himself as he was, Cyrus began formulating plan after plan to leave Imran with no other choice than to become his loyal and willing ally through and through.

Yet he neglected one thing, and that was the girl whom was slowly simmering from being held so intimately for such a long period of time.

Feeling something shaking under his arm, he looked to his side and saw Minerva who was trying her best to control herself.

"Woops, my bad" said Cyrus as he released her, not sounding apologetic in the least.

"Such is your character I suppose. Why did you want to rile up Imran though, I do not take you for someone to pointlessly stir trouble" said a suspicious Minerva.

"Simple. I want to bring him fully on board just like I did with you, but unlike you I do not have an obvious way in to quickly gain his trust. At least, I didn't until you so graciously hopped aboard with lightning speed. Now with you, a beloved family member, seemingly falling for the tricks of a crafty trickster…how will he react?" said Cyrus in excitement.

"Oh you…don't be too hard on him. While the troubles that we face may not be the same in scope, that does not mean he does not have his own. Those who have it all do not have such an easy life, for they have far more at stake than people like us whose most important thing is themselves and perhaps one other."

"Have no fear, I want him as a true ally not as an enemy. If my plan fails then we will just have to reset back to neutral and then use the favored plan of my other half by showing sincerity throughout time by both words and action."

"You better, else you will face my wrath" said Minerva seriously, but the teasing light in her eyes said otherwise.

"How terrifying, I would surely love to inquire about what exactly your wrath is but as you see" said Cyrus, holding open his portable time keeping device, "It seems that the first round of classes is starting soon."

Thus, the two stood up quickly and half walked half sprinted towards their classes.