Chapter XX.
More than Gold
Hylos gazed at Freya whose expression, despite Odette being very friendly and not suspecting anything, was tellng him to be careful. He then gave her a small nod and turned to the girl. "Since you know who are we looking for, can you help us?" He asked a smiple question.
"Hm... Maybe. I think I can." The girl who still had her hood on replied. She had a cocky grin spreading all over her face. On her right hand, there was a golden claw extended with long blades. She was cleaning it with the glove that was covering her other hand. It was a very unusual weapon to see.
"Then tell us. Where can we find him?" Hylos questioned her. "We need any trail that can lead us after him." He said, still in a calm tone. His gaze was examining her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet.
"Hey, hey, hey. Slow down a bit. Why would I tell you anything about that?" She asked, her grin growing as she focused her cold gaze, the one of a murderer at Hylos.
He stood fearlessly in front of her but started loosing his nerves. "You said you would help us!!" He said angrily frowning. "Stop playing games and answer my question!"
The girl chuckled slightly before correcting him: "I said I could help you, if I wanted to, not that I would help you." She said. "Why would anybody in this world do anything for free? What do I get out of helping you hunt down my own family memeber?"
Before Hylos could reply to her, seeing it would only make things worse, Odette stepped in between them and said: "Hey, then how about making a deal? Tell me, what do you want? Gold? Jewles?"
The assassin in white hood now frowned. "That's below my honor to betray people for money. Come on, I though you had something more to offer." She said.
Hylos was confused. He has never met an assassin not willing to betray somebody if offered a fine amount of gold and he has met quite a bit of them so far. "Then what do you want?" He asked.
"I don't know. Find something I'd like and we will talk!" Natalia said before jumping in a nearby bush and disappearing in the whispers of leaves. The three were left alone once again, surrounded with garden that hasn't been taken care of in quite some time and in front of a rich looking building already covered in moss.
The Swan Princess quickly followed her and tried to spread the branches to reveal her but she was gone just as she appeared, with a gust of wind. "Wha-- Where is she?" She asked. "Well, this was weird..."
The valkyrie remained unusually silent throughout whole conversation with the assassin of Church of Light but she was indeed thinking about their new problem; what is more valuable than gold for an assassin?
Hylos nodded. "You're completwly right about that. What do we do now? Are we really going to try to find something she'd take in exchange for information?" He asked.
Freya sighed and finally spoke: "Wether you want to admit it or now, she is the only clue we've got so far so..."
Odette then realised something. "This place is big. There must be something that'll tell us more about their pasts. We can find something that impressess her enough to help us."
"Or... We could find out more about Lancelot himself and get on his trail without her help." Freya suggested. "Sorry. I just can't shake off the feeling she isn't somebody we should trust."
"I don't think she'd that bad but I'm going to trust your instincts." Hylos said while Odette just shrugged it off. "Anyway, let's get in and find some clues." The centaur suggested. "And we can even spend a night there since something telling me we won't be done anytime soon.
***
Two wings were still dancing around in the thick darkness of the deep dugeon. Karina watched them feeling, for the first time warmth emitating from them. Alice's voice then whispered: "Come here, little girl."
A hand reached out towards her. After hesitating for a moment, Karina took her hand and was pulled up by it. The lady then wraped arm around her back and led her down the hallway.
"You know, I've been thinking a little lately..." She started. "Ever since we moved to here, and even before, we were never really close, I've never actually realised that it was my duty not only to be a man's girl but also to be a child's mother."
The warm embrace she was giving Karina was alreasy repairing the image of her as a cold-blooded beast.
"I've been pushing you, shaping you into a warrior by being harsh and cold but lately I've been starting to realise that's not all I had to do. I am not your mother and I'll never be but I guess I should be more of a person who will support both you and your feelings, ideals, and less of... what I was all this time."
Her talking made a small smile break the teared-up surface of the assassin's face. Out of all things that could possibly happen, this was the last one she'd be expecting. Finally, she returned embrace and said: "It's okay... I appriciate this, I really do... mom."
The demoness's black heart suddenly lit up at her words, more specificly the one, special word she used at the end of her sentence. With two smiles on their faces, they continued their way down the hall, completely ignoring the helpless cries that were coming from the room they just passed few steps ago.
"Ruby, calm down... We can settle this peacefully... I- didn't- didn't mean what I just said." A male voice was saying. The voice just made crying worse. It sounded like a waterfall but instead, it was just a very sad girl.
"How could you say 'I like her more' and not mean it?!" She yelled out before dropping to the floor. "No-" She mumbled to herself holding her head. "NO!!" She yelled even louder. "It's just a spell! It's just another damn ghoul trying to take you away from me!!"
The girl's tears were still pouring down her cheeks and even the heavy stone walls were trembling in front of this seemingly little girl. She suddenly stood up, her eyes red as anger she felt boiling inside her. "Don't worry, honey. I'll keep you safe from the evil. It just wants to lure you away--" She said approaching him and eventually trapping him in a corner of the room.
"R-Ruby... Please... I've never seen you like this. What has happened to the little girl I've met in the woods? The girl picking mushrooms and flowers?" He asked shaking, getting closer and closer to the wall.
In front of Ruby's eyes, there flashed the scene, what she saw the first time they met. She saw a monster, gray wolf with glowing eyes in the dusk. Its cold gaze was met with hers and turned her into a human figure, unable to move in fear.
It all went on until he came, he sliced the wolf in half and the last thing she could remember were the words: "Don't worry. You're not alone any more. I'll always be there to protect little girls such as you."
Ruby's hands slid down the wall as she looked down at the ground. It took her few moments before she rose her gaze and stared into Alucard's eyes for a moment. "I- She's still here. But you refuse to see her as you saw her before... You broke your word, not me, yet I've still managed to fall in love with a man like you." She said sadly, staring into his sky blue eyes with the two of her own.
***
"Look at this!" Odette said with a wide smile. "It's so cuteee!" She said holding up a very good drawing of a baby dragon and a boy patting it.
Freya and Hylos ran in the room within a moment. "What? What did you find?!" Freya asked looking around. They found themselves in an old children's room. There were two beds with unlimited aumonts of dust on them, half of the pillows pink and half blue.
Odette just silently showed them the small piece of paper with the drawing on it so it hid her face. "Hehe... Here... You like it?" She asked with an innocent smile. "Sorry. It isn't a real clue or... anything."
Hylos sighed. "Okay... Have we really not found anything up to now?" He looked worried. "Man... Maybe we're at wrong place?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck.
Freya shook her head. "No. We're just where we have to be..." She said and walked to the bed with a pink pillow. There was an envelope. She picked it up and gazed at the other two. After recieving their supporting nods, she slowly opened it and pulled out a piece of slightly yellowish paper with few coffe stains on it.
"Dear brother..." Freya started reading. "Fear not for me. I know it will be hard for you to stay alone but my heart is calling and destiny has finally revealed the path it held for me." She read out loud.
"The Church of Light is my home now, my family. And I wish all the luck of the world to you. Make your dreams come true and goodbye. I'll se you again some other time, in some other place." She said before making a small pause.
"This is sweet... but it isn't saying anything about Lancelot and his plans." She mumbled.
Odette now took the letter and found the place Freya stopped reading. Then she continued: "Everybody has to find their place in the sun and I know this is mine. They will teach me how to become what I've always wanted to - the protector of land. The one who works in darkness to serve the light."
"Well... That girl sure is ambitious." Hylos said. "Poor thing the Curch itself has been destroyed, just few members are left and they aren't working together any more..."
"Indeed. Sad..." A voice whispered. It was the same voice they heard in the yard, Natalia's voice, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Huh?" Hylos turned around. "Who said that?" He asked looking at the other two ladies.
"Who said what?" Odette asked confused, leaving Hylos confused as well. They just stared at each other for few moments before few chuckles came from the midle of the room but there was nobody visible. It was empty, wasn't it? What was going on? Was he going crazy? What kind of witchery was that?
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