Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 511: Easter Egg - : The Healing Shadow

City of Wandering, the gentleman was dressed in a suit that once had color, now gray and white, with a withered rose on his chest looking like gathered dust, so fragile it seemed it would crumble upon touch, his flesh masquerading on his skull to form a tense face, yet his expressions, in reality, had a much more straightforward way to present themselves.

That was trembling. Seated in his chair, the gentleman’s body was shaking violently, affecting the tea cups on the pristine table and also his companion.

"Avonreiter, Avonreiter! If you invited me out just to show how to act like a quality bell, very well, your performance is quite successful, I’m now so irritated I want to slap you." The black tail swept across her cheek, the comforting touch relaxed the black cat’s expression considerably, as she appeased herself with her own tail, the cat and its tail seemed like two separate creatures.

Veraliz, Shadow Beast, and now the Witch Matron. The gentleman had a part belonging to the King of Rats, a Shadow Beast named Avonreiter that brought the Black Death plague. They were of the same species and also the last two Shadow Beasts.

Veraliz’s warning took effect, and the gentleman ceased his violent shaking, though the tremor lingered in his left hand, twitching beneath the table. This didn’t interfere with the cat’s enjoyment of the tea; she bent down, licked the tea with her small tongue contentedly, savoring this minor pleasure.

The simple action caught the gentleman’s attention.

"You weren’t like this before; the old you would be more straightforward, inflating your head twice its size and gulping it down whole, cup and all."

"How long ago was that, ten years? Or twenty years past? I do change, just as you are no longer the familiar rat I knew, now you’ve disguised yourself as a Lich." The black cat stopped drinking her tea, stretched out a paw to wipe her cheek, "I need to be a bit more elegant, to make our combination look less strange; you’ve taken on all the eccentric parts."

"Do you really care about that now?" The gentleman’s fingertips gently touched one another, "No offence meant, us... I thought we’d have more... understanding."

The tail curled up a napkin, wiping over the fluffy cheek; the cat lifted her head and looked into the gentleman’s eyes with her pitch-black pupils, although the latter averted his gaze quickly, his face showing embarrassment.

"Once we were both Shadow Beasts, now you’re the Witch Matron, and I’m a Lich. I have a clan to look after, and you... you’ve got your own group too. I’m sorry, gentleman, this meeting was a poor decision; we... we’ve become different. Before things get worse, I think we need to learn to adapt." The black cat turned, ready to leave.

Just as Veraliz was about to jump off the table, the gentleman cried out.

"Birthday! Veraliz, today, I came to celebrate your birthday!" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The black cat halted her steps, resuming her seat at the table’s edge.

"I’ve heard this term from the little witches; what does it mean, what’s it for?" The Shadow Beast species did not celebrate birthdays.

"A birthday is the day life is born; many intelligent beings have the tradition of celebrating it every year, and today, Veraliz, is your birthday."

"You know my birthday, Avonreiter?" The black cat drew closer, curiously looking at the gentleman, a date she had never cared about, yet he remembered.

"I don’t know the day you were born, Veraliz. When we first met, you were already as big as a calf. But a birthday isn’t just the day we are born. Veraliz, twenty-three years ago today, we left our clan and depended on each other for survival. That’s the only day I can remember that’s related to you; I consider it your birthday. If possible, I’d like to celebrate it for you."

The black cat remained still, looking at the man before her.

"That day was also the day our clan was wiped out, and soon after, you left me too, with a terribly clumsy lie, leaving me all alone. As you said, Avonreiter, today, indeed, is worth commemorating."

"If I could, I’d want to make amends today. Celebrating a birthday should be joyous, if, you could trust me once again." The gentleman extended his palm.

After a while, just before the disheveled gentleman intended to retract his hand, the black cat placed her front paw on his fingertips.

"You know I can’t do that. As in the past, to reject you, to reject my only clan member now, Avonreiter, you cunning old rat."

Stars lit up in the eyes of them both.

Veraliz jumped into Avonreiter’s arms, and the gentleman left a small pile of Gold Coins as a token of hope provided by the restaurant.

A man and a cat chatted leisurely as they walked.

"Be honest, who taught you about celebrating birthdays? Those Liches?"

"...You’re half right; it was indeed the Liches that inspired me, but you know, those long-dead geezers are more likely to remember another date over the elusive and buried memories of birthdays. Their death anniversary. Some Liches even celebrate their death anniversary, experiencing different ways to die on this day."

"...It won’t take long before that crazy bunch of Liches find new ways to kill themselves again." Veraliz rested her head on the pillow made from the coiled fluffy tail, extending a paw to pat the withered rose on the gentleman’s chest. "But they’re right, Avonreiter; we shouldn’t forget the deceased so easily..."