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"Ah, thanks. I'll wait up there." Daemion gave a nod of respect before gliding to the stairs and ascending.

He eased into a chair upon reaching the third floor, and waited, and thought.

"..." You know, there really wasnt much for him help out with now that the woman had her own vision back. The monk simply waited, standing as he was as Lucind got up.

Lucind carefully stretched and hid a yawn behind her hand.
She looked up at him and tilted her head a little. "Hey, why don't you look at me? You're wearing your glasses so... Ah, but after I've seen through your eyes I might be no longer overly affected by meeting your eyes."
Lucind shrugged and smiled, then walked over to the next window and peered out.

"By the way, I've heard the new stadium has almost been finished. Dunno if it helps you or something, but I could show it to you when visitors are allowed to enter."

After a moment of silence she told the monk she would go and tell her staff that her eyes where working properly now.

Lucind wanted to start working the next day and when she'd convinced the others she was really fine Kara gave her some hours in the kitchen and behind the counter in the morning and afternoon.

Later on, the Half-Siren went out to contact Hetel and asked her to inform Larhien first. - Lucind went into her room to cheek her mailbox and surf for random information.

And where would the monk be? Down in the cellars, tending to the little pot of herbs he kept by the window so that the plants may thrive in the unlight that came through the glass. And he would be down beneath the build until the next day, possibly tending to the plants the entire time, though most unlikely.

Back to normal, everday work took over again.

A few days later, Lucind sat on one of the bar stools at the cafe's counter, a fresh latte macchiatto next to her, and browsed through the regional newspaper. The title page showed a large photo of the new stadium, the headline reading, "Leviathan arena III - The legend is back".

Inside the paper there was a 4-pages-feature, summarizing the whole destruction story and the process of rebuilding. Lucind raised an eyebrow: She could even find her name there, being counted among those who'd saved the life of hundred of innocents. Also, Feimurgan was called "a place, where those involved in the tragedy meet to search for lost friends and heros in disguise appear to find out who of their equals have survived." Even the uproar about Enki in his Leviathan from was reported in an extra panel.
The journalists still hadn't stopped speculating about the actual happenings inside the arena and the text presented different opinions of eyewitnesses and 'experts', each giving a different version of how the famous building had been devastated.

The Half-Siren chuckled and sipped on her macciatto. "Thanks guys for free advertising..."

When Kraun came up the stairs she told him the stadium was about to open for visitors.
"I want to go there and see what it looks like now. Would you like to come with me then?" She removed the pages with the arena article and threw the rest into the trash can.

Lucind looked at him, waiting for his answer. Yesterday she'd found out by pure chance that directly meeting the monk's cursed eyes was much easier for her now. The straining effect wasn't gone, of course, but she could hold his gaze without being paralyzed and her mental shields going haywire.

She nodded in return to his answer - "Okay^^." - then fell silent for a moment.
The woman finished her espresso drink and her became thoughtful.

"You know, Kraun, showing you the stadium is actually the last thing for me to do, it seems... There're no other important things for me to teach you."
She frowned, still looking down on the empty mug in her hands.

"If you're supposed to learn as much as possible, then it's not fair to make you stay here any longer..."

Almost a month had passed since the monk's arrival at Latent. And it had been a most intriguing and pleasant task to play his teacher - but Lucind soon had to realize that he was indeed a quick learner: biology, culture studies, computer work, modern technology, customs and languages and whatnot - he absorbed the knowledge like a dry sponge.

The only thing that obviously puzzled him was the motives of humans and other beings, that is, all actions derived from emotions. Even if he was able to decipher facial expression and body language in general, Kraun just couldn't feel the meaning.
However, Lucind still thought it was possible for the man to even learn this. But considering his quasi timeless existance, his immortality and therefore his age, it might take hundreds, thousands of years - time she just didn't have. Nevertheless, it was this one task Lucind felt strangely attached to, like obliging herself to manage it. Because looking at him reminded her of a state she never wanted to reach. A state she feared.

Yet it wasn't exactly the same. The coldness of her fullblooded relatives originated in the deliberate controlling and supressing of emotions. Kraun's cold, though, was his natural state. He just didn't know otherwise. And this was also the reason why Lucind pondered if it was wise at all to want him to have feelings.

Therefore, maybe she wouldn't have been only happy if she'd known about the mental impression the failed ritual had left in the monk's mind...

She hadn't directly returned to her store but wandered tjrough Latent for several hours, then spent some more time sitting in a cosy cafe, mainly staring out of the window and daydreaming.

The Half-Siren entered Feimurgan when the first streetlights were switched on. She briefly talked to Kara and the others then walked down into the cellar.

The small room still smelled of the monk's inscences. The Chinese styled robes lay neatly folded on the table, the glasses on top of them. Even his herbs were still there. Lucind made herself comfortable in the arm chair and placed her jacket over the rest.

So this was the end of another strange episode of her life. Or perhaps it was only the beginning. Nobody knew. But she hoped it was.
Sitting there and recalling memories made her fall asleep after some time.