My Servant Is An Elf Knight From Another World

This wasn't making any sense. There was a line of causality here somewhere, a paper trail I could follow to accurately pinpoint how things lead up to this moment.

But I wasn't no snoopy detective, I didn't have no notice board cluttered with thumbtacks and leads that I could follow, so how exactly Sera ended up knocking hard in the middle of a dark and stormy night was a mystery that rightfully earned its place in a YouTube top ten.

Unasked, unprompted, and very much not wanted, the quiet purple lady wandered on through the doorway - and on impulse, like a doorman greeting a valued guest, I stepped away to the side and simply allowed her through… because goddamn, what the hell else was I gonna do?

"S-Sera?" Amanda was completely up and about at this point, her eyes were glued onto the shambling violet figure fluttering around in the dark, staring at its outline gradually creeping closer if all her worst fears up till now had just been confirmed and were prime to be realized in t-minus one. "What, h-how… w-why are you doing here?" 

I could hardly blame her for acting so panicked… unexpected visits from a renowned figure of death in this weather, at this time, especially just freshed off paranoid thoughts… there was no greater, graver omen… Sera might as well have been carrying a glistening scythe too while she was at it.

Once more, a bright ominous flash from the sky briefly illuminated Amanda's apartment,  and the rumbling and the crackling that followed had to have been the loudest, most foreboding one yet. 

"Did something happen?" Amanda asked, her disquiet all the more palpable in the eerie dark. "Is it the rain? Is… is something bad happening again?"

Guess a certain someone's forgotten that a certain someone else isn't exactly well-known for their eloquence. Amanda waited, her breath bated, for a reply from Sera, only to later realize that as much as she asked, an answer won't come.

So, undaunted, she tried the next best thing - guessing.

"Are you here to cause something? Prevent something? Stop something? Um, you can nod, nod your head if I'm right… and shake it if I'm… oh, I'm wrong? Oh, um… well… are you here just to visit, are you hungry, thirsty? No? Uhh…" 

Suffice it to say, Amanda wasn't yet well-adapted in deciphering Sera's silent intentions. It could take all night if we left the translating and interpreting up to her… something I'm sure none of us had the patience for. 

I clicked close the door, and just for a moment, quietly peered over at her there, the dampness of her cloak, how tiny stray rain droplets clung loosely onto the fabric, and the small muddied prints she made with every step.

It couldn't have been easy in this weather - walking that distance. From her place all the way here to Amanda's apartment, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. There were long miles in-between, miles of many puzzling twists and confusing turns… especially for someone like her, and yet, regardless, here she stands before us.

All that effort, for something, a reason, important… what? I think I'll take a guess.

"Are you here to finally talk about the new deal you mentioned?" 

In the darkness, aided by candlelight, her glowing golden eyes slowly shifted over towards me… then ever so subtly, I saw her give a single nod affirmed me right.

"Deal?" Amanda peeked over behind her, flashing me a questioning stare of her own. "Wait, what new deal? What's going on?" 

I didn't mean to go about purposefully dodging her injuries, but there were simply more pressing matters to tend to at the moment, and so for the time being, Amanda was kept in the dark as I dealt with said matter.

"Before we move on to anything else, there's something I want to know first," I said, gradually closing the distance between us. "How did you know to come here? How'd you find me so easily?"

It seemed Sera herself was keen to get the main topic at hand, because before I could even completely make my way to her, she took her own step forward, thrusting a finger on my chest, halting me dead in my tracks.

Ow.

She jabbed me again, harder this time… then upon seeing the confusion on my face, poked me even harder again, and it was with the second thrust that I finally understood - she was trying to answer my question.

I guessed again. "Oh, you sensed my magic." 

A shake of the head, wrong. She poked again, digging deep, I noticed her jabs were more onto the left side of my chest, constantly, consistently… almost rhythmically.

"You can sense me?" 

The moment the words left my lips, that's when finally drew her finger away. So I'm right, but I'm not exactly sure how I'm right… between me and my magic, just what the hell's the difference? 

I think, indirectly, that question must have manifested in my expression, because immediately right after, Sera made a weird waving gesture of some sort, something regarding her, and then made another one… this time something regarding me. 

To my surprise, and I think much to Sera's too, it was Amanda that arrived at an answer before I even came close to coming up with one. 

"It's because it's you that summoned her," She said, all eyes turning instantly towards her. "It's like when Leonardo got summoned, they explained it. See, she's a creation of your magic, actually, she is your magic. In a way, she's pretty much a piece of you as much as your limbs are. In the game, you can always sense where the people who summoned you are at any given moment. I guess it's the same here too."

Alright, I guess that makes some sense, kinda… I can follow the logic in that. Sera's my magic, so therefore I'm a constant beeping GPS signal for her to freely follow 24/7.

Wait, if that's the case, then -?

"Does that go the same way for Ash and Jay?" I asked. "She's his creation, after all. Can she sense him too?" 

Amanda made a face. "Well, if she could… I'm pretty sure she would have told you right away, right? Perhaps, it's different? From what you told me, you said he botched the summoning, didn't he? Maybe something ended up being messed up with their connection." 

Once more, another hope of finding this bastard dashed and snuffed. Why does it seem that luck always seems to favor him mostly? Don't tell me there's a spell for that too.

But before I could wonder and wander my mind too much in that direction, Sera made a noise, an impatient raspy groan that brought my eyes back down towards her.

She's indulged me, now it was time for me to indulge her now.

This amended deal of hers, this one single thing that spurred her to walk the many miles in puddled roads, muddied sidewalks, barefooted and without any form of shelter. 

Just how important was this deal to her that it had to be now, in like the most unlikely of places ever? In the dark, the cold of Amanda's apartment.

I guess it's high time for me to find out, but for the time being…

"Care for a towel first?"