Chapter 41

**Merianna**


When we finally managed to get to the Council’s front steps the next morning, I was impressed to see a dimensional facade encompassing the whole building, like the one that we had around the Order. An actual human business was obviously being run in the business everyone saw from the outside, but once you managed to slip through the barrier it was obviously the world of witches that greeted you on the other side.

Dimensional barriers were always handy that way, which is something I was forever grateful for. It would be quite an interesting story if normal humans were to discover how much bigger their world really was compared to what they thought they knew.

It also felt strange to know that the Council had decided to set up their main headquarters in America of all places... Last time I checked, most Hunters tended to come from this section of the world.

Noch had grumbled all the way from the Order to here. And even when he took Thyrion and me through the barrier his grumbles didn’t stop for even a second. Instead of focusing on him I focused on the structure instead.

Looking up at the Council’s building I was surprised to note that it was most definitely not a cathedral anymore. They certainly upgraded along with modern human society. A person would swear that the Council was part of the Government or something with the white marble building they were sporting.

Squinting, I looked up at the sign that the building sported on its front. WWC was branded boldly on the front in shiny metal lettering, clearly visible for all who crossed the dimensional border to see.

“What does that stand for? Wannabe Wizard Centre or something?” I asked. The Council I knew had always just been the Council. Since when did they feel the need to change their name?

Noch snorted so hard that he doubled over while Thyrion let out a reflexive bark of laughter before he slapped a hand over his own mouth.

“Oh how I missed you Demon Spawn.” Noch chuckled while whipping a fake tear from his eye.

“Ha- I believe, the sign stands for- pffff- World Witch Council, if I remember correctly.” Thyrion tried to say around his chuckles.

I raised an eyebrow at that and cocked my head to scrutinize the sign a little more. “I still don’t see why they felt the need to change their name. Especially to include the World part in their name. I’ve never known of any other organization that handled purely Witch matters over the whole globe. Unless I missed something while I was MIA?”

Noch shook his head and just gave me a rueful smile. “Nope, no other witch organization has ever popped up that called themselves ‘The Council’, so I’ve always thought that this was ridiculous as well.” He said while pointing to the sign.

Thyrion cocked his head for a second. “I think I remember something about a group of Vampires calling themselves ‘The Council’ at some point in time. They caused quite a bit of havoc and got a reputation if I remember correctly.”

“Something like that actually happened?” Noch asked curiously.

Thyrion shrugged. “Not that I would expect you to know after all of you had holed yourselves up inside the castle for so long.”

“Fair point.” Noch shrugged back half-heartedly.

“Alright, we can’t keep standing here at the border of the barrier all day long. We’re here for a reason.” I said as I grabbed a hold of Noch’s wrist and started dragging his shuffling weight along to the entrance of the building.

“Don’t expect me to speak to anyone.” He muttered saltily.

“Don’t worry, we’ll just let you sneer away at the youngins until they bring someone higher up on the ladder.” Thyrion assured as he fell into step with me.

Once we got closer to the building, the hustle and bustle of people suddenly became more apparent. The whole area gave off the feel of a big corporate organization. Many people were wearing formal office attire, while it looked like people who were there to make inquiries and settle personal matters were more normally dressed with the odd over-the-top eccentric wardrobe here and there. Granted, those with the more eccentric looks seemed like they couldn’t be bothered with the ever changing fashions of the world anymore.

“You and Noch can wait here. I’ll go talk to the receptionist first.” Thyrion said once we reached a pillar.

“Alright, yell anytime if you want me to let Noch loose.” It was a valid statement since I still had a good grip on his arm, and he looked like he was about ready to rip the heads off of any Council staff that came too close to his personal space.

“I’m not a dog.” Noch sneered, but he also didn’t try to shake me off either.

Thyrion gave a chuckle then swiftly bent down to give me a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back.” he said as he turned and walked away.

For a moment I didn’t know how to react. I’d almost forgotten that kisses like that were part of the norm between Thyrion and me. But now I felt slightly flushed, like a girl that just got her first kiss from her biggest crush. I could feel a set of eyes on me and turned my head to see Noch giving me a smirk.

“What?” I asked defensively.

“You look like someone who needs a good tumble in the sheets Demon Spawn.” He snickered. I blushed and gave him a good punch in the shoulder.

“Ouch!” He said but didn’t move to rub the spot. Instead he just decided to analyze my face. I glared at him, trying to warn him with my eyes not to say more on the subject.

“Oh my, don’t tell me you guys haven’t gotten down and dirty yet?!” Noch genuinely looked surprised. He might have asked but he definitely didn’t need me to verbalize my answer to him, the heat in my face did that for me.

He drew in his breath in a dramatic gasp. “You’re still a reborn body virgin?!” He said it so loudly that several nearby heads suddenly turned curiously in our direction. I even saw some decent people trying to pretend not to have heard, but their lagging feet said differently.

I didn’t think and only noticed afterward that my body had moved on its own. One moment Noch was leaning against the pillar with me while I still gripped his arm, and the next moment he was on the ground with my foot on his head while I was nearly pulling his arm out of its socket, and trying to separate his head from his body at the same time.

Noch wheezed a laugh as he stayed in that position. “Oh by the gods, you ARE! I thought you guys would have been at each other like the old days the moment you woke up the first time!” He cackled as he nimbly flipped his body around and made me lose balance.

When I hit the ground I instantly flipped straight into an armbar hold and heard some of his joints pop with the pressure. “It’s not like I could help it, the surges made that a little difficult! Plus it literally has nothing to do with you, so shut it already!” I half whisper-shrieked with embarrassment.

“Why?! He cackled like a naughty schoolboy. I haven’t seen you this riled up in a few millennia!” He then surprised me by lifting me off the floor by the arm I was still attached to, like the fact that my legs were supposed to bar his movements didn’t exist. “This is definitely more fun than just waiting for Thyrion to finish yapping with the receptionists.”

He then suddenly let me fall back to the ground without warning. When my back hit the cold marble floor I lifted one of my legs and brought it down squarely over his stomach, making him grunt with the impact.

“Are you really that desperate to keep yourself occupied?” I asked as I rolled back onto my feet.

“I wouldn’t call it being desperate, but it definitely beats having to look at all the stuck up faces around this place.” He grinned as he also got to his feet and sank into a sparring stance.

“You’re really going to make me fight you in this building?” I groaned.

“Of course! I bet that even you would rather be doing something like this while waiting instead of just standing around and twiddling your thumbs.” He said smugly.

I wasn’t angry that he was being smug about what he said, because he wasn’t lying. Ever since I woke up with that memory vault that Noch had created, I had felt my magic settling more snugly in my body than before. That feeling had mostly settled in my muscles and bones, making me feel slightly restless. My mind had started wandering towards seducing Thyrion to satiate the feeling, but then we or rather I got dragged into the library to help sort all those books and documents, then we also got interrupted by the Ga’s. So I was left with feeling that restlessness even more after waking up from that last surge. But now we were here, in the Council’s building, surrounded by people. It might not be the right time or place, but I couldn’t lie and say that my body didn’t need a bit of intense exercising.

I didn’t answer Noch’s taunt, but he could see the answer written all over my face. And that was all he needed to start with his attack. He dove in swiftly with a punch which I blocked, then tried to use his momentum against him to pull him into a flip. He on the other hand instantly adjusted his footing and nimbly used my movement to put him into a better position to instead flip me.

I was having none of that though and used my flexibility to grab a hold of his middle while I twisted my body out of his grip and pressed both of my feet into each of his to force him into a split since his stance was already wide.

He grunted with the effort to keep his stance and not lose his balance. “Are you trying to make sure that I don’t have any children in this lifetime Demon Spawn?”

I just raised my eyebrow at him. “Not like you actually plan to have any in this lifetime, so you’ll lose nothing by falling into a split, but you might just as well gain some more flexibility.”

“I’ll only gain ripped muscles if you continue like this. Since when did you learn to play dirty?!” He grunted. He was slightly stuck. He couldn’t budge me without falling over himself, but that moment of falling over might also give me that split second I needed to force his legs into a split along with mine. And my legs were in a much better position to push his apart than his were to keep his wide stance.

Or at least, that was what I thought until he suddenly bent backwards and pulled himself into an effortless handstand which left me to slide into my split without resistance.
“It looks like your back got more flexible at least.” I said as I quickly rolled back onto my feet.

“I picked up quite a few things while you were gone.” He chuckled as he settled back on his feet too.

We both dove back at each other for round two and ended up grappling and breaking holds while poking jabs here and there with wayward elbows and knees. I was so engrossed in the activity and the exhilaration of feeling my muscles finally go through some good use, that I didn’t even notice when Thyrion had started wandering back to us. Noch and I only noticed Thyrion’s presence once he put his hands on both our heads to still our movements.

“What on earth are you two doing?” He asked with a smile. But that smile didn’t look like he found the situation funny though.

“Exercising.” Noch deadpanned.

“Exercising.” I parroted.

Thyrion heaved a sigh as Noch and I untangled ourselves and finally smiled for real, only to break out into a chuckle. “At least you look like you had fun.” he said as he wove his fingers through mine. It was then that I also finally noticed that I was smiling and that I genuinely did enjoy the small moment of sparring that Noch and I just had, despite the time and place not being ideal.

“Thanks to the two of you though, someone did just run off to alert a Council member of the disturbance. Luckily that saves me from insisting that they bring a Council member here to see us.” Thyrion chuckled.

“Hah! I prefer it that way anyway! I'd rather they come to us than get herded into one of their offices like sheep.” Noch grumbled.

“Nochtandriel?! Is that you?” A voice said as the people that had gathered suddenly started dispersing. Councilor Ferina emerged from the thinning crowd with two guards flanking her sides and stood frozen for a second as she took in the sight in front of her.

“Trust me, not even I can believe that I’m here right now…” Noch deadpanned unhappily.