“AHHHHHH” Aurelius wheezed, his eyes greeting Tiberius’s ugly mug once more.

  Tiberius bounced back, landing on the pavement with a fearful expression.

  Aurelius had not expected that his revival would be EXACTLY THE SAME as it had been the first time. The sudden rush of sensations and the dizzying feeling of his blood haemorrhaging inside of his body was equally, if not worse than how the first time had been.

  The merchant and his familiar face pushed through the crowd, offering Aurelius the neon blue potion.

  “Young man, drink this. It should help with the pain-” He started.

  “Yeah I got it man. I’m not dying. Don’t worry.” Aurelius managed, putting aside his pain to snatch the bottle from the merchant’s hands.

  Aurelius gulped down the cool liquid, feeling the warmth spread around his body as he grabbed Tiberius in a bid to stand up.

  “I-I’m sorry mate, I don’t know what I was thinking! Thank the Dragons that you’re alright!” Tiberius rambled, as he supported Aurelius and his broken body up.

  The crowd, noticing Aurelius’s improving condition, started to disperse slowly, casting the last of their concerned glances as they returned to their weekend plans.

  “Fuck… You, Tiberius.” Aurelius ground the words out between his teeth, each syllable dragged through the fading pain and the dull fog settling in from the potion.

  Tiberius was THE PRIMARY REASON why he had been involved in a mess of DIVINE PROPORTIONS.

  “I- I do deserve that-” Tiberius agreed meekly in agreement, wisely going along with Aurelius’s provocation, yet unaware of the depths of Aurelius’s burning hostility.

  “You have no idea what you have done.” Aurelius rasped out.

  “Nonono, You don’t understand. I mean it. Fuck. You. Tiberius.” Aurelius repeated, menace dripping from every word.

  “It was a present-”

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  “For Lucina, I know. Dungeon crawling was it?” Aurelius replied venomously.

  “How do you know that?” Tiberius asked in confusion.

  Aurelius would have been delighted to reply, launching into an insane rant about the trouble he was in. However, the inebriating effect of the potion was difficult to resist. With the last few words, Aurelius ended the conversation.

  “I’ll tell you in The Spoon. You. Are. Buying. Don’t even fucking start.”

  ???

  The duo stepped out of the chapel, Tiberius looking rather haggard from the amount of nagging he had endured. The priest had been as uptight as he had been last time, tearing into his stupidity much to Aurelius’s delight.

  “The Spoon.” Aurelius announced simply.

  TIberius balked at the statement, instinctively opening his mouth in a bid to defend his wallet.

  However, Aurelius’s annoyed glare shut the boy up quickly, as it had in his first death.

  The magi-cars and the weekend crowd meant nothing to Aurelius and his hunger, and he pushed his way through with precision, reaching the posh restaurant with Tiberius trailing behind.

  Taking their seats, Aurelius ordered a steak and soup without pause, disregarding Tiberius’s wallet completely this time.

  “A STEAK FOR LUNCH? AT LEAST LOSE THE SIDES!” Tiberius exclaimed involuntarily, hurriedly pulling out his wallet and checking his coins.

  “You have enough if you don’t order anything.” Aurelius replied coldly, munching on the complementary bread slices with a shameless expression.

  “How- Yeah, that does seem right. What the hell, Aurelius? Did you pick up some divination tricks or something?” Tiberius asked with a dismayed expression, as he finished rummaging through his purse.

  Aurelius held up his finger, glaring at his friend with a murderous expression.

  He would not start talking until his food arrived.

  Seeing this display of dismissiveness, Tiberius was now torn between two contrasting feelings. On one hand, he had almost murdered his best friend. On the other hand, Aurelius was being a total tool!

  The two friends sat in silence, waiting on Aurelius’s food. One sulked, and the other salivated at the aroma of food that wafted about them.

  ???

  “First of all, you KILLED ME” Aurelius started at a still pouting Tiberius, his mouth stuffed with meat.

  “No- You’re clearly ali-” Tiberius squinted at him in indignation.

  What was Aurelius trying to pull now?

  “It’s TRUE” Aurelius yelled, drawing in judging glances from the other patrons.

  Disregarding these stares and Tiberius’s displeased expression, Aurelius began to explain his predicament in earnest.

  ???

  “...And now, here we are. In the Spoon. Again.” Aurelius concluded, his belly now full and content.

  Tiberius’s face was now completely scrunched up in disbelief, as he reconsidered his friendship with Aurelius.

  “Prove it.” He replied, his arms crossed in skeptical denial.

  Map of Toetlcan

  I will be uploading on Monday, Wednesday and Friday the coming week due to my upcoming exams. I will return to regular daily posts from the following Monday onwards

  ko-fi, and buy me a coffee!