Chapter 226: Confusion

Listfully stepping out, Isis blinked a few times into the empty air, unsure what she had seen. Seth didn’t look back up straight away, continuing to play with his toy, until he put the final piece together and chuckled. Chuckling, he threw it in the air, caught it, and put it into his bag. "So..." Rubbing his eyes, he stopped himself from laughing. "What did you see? How to make money, or did it drive you insane and you can no longer speak?" Isis looked at him blankly, rubbing the Lunarian mask.

"I don’t understand anything?" His eyes widened in surprise, and he dragged Isis towards a nearby restaurant. Ordering a private room so Isis could take off the mask, he looked behind him and reached into his blazer towards the uninvited guest that had been following them. Isis followed his gaze and saw the soldier in the distance scoff and lean against the wall, ignoring the complaints of the restaurant owner by flicking a gold coin onto the floor.

"Your escorts are so annoying. Always watching; they may as well join us when we eat if they’re going to be around." Clicking his tongue, Seth shook his head and lazily leaned against his fist until a bottle of wine arrived with a plate of small bites to be shared. Picking up one of the olives, he popped it into his mouth and nodded in satisfaction. "Even if I hate this place, the food is quite good."

"Did you already lose interest in what I saw, Seth?" With a playful smile, she poured a large glass of wine, careful not to spill a single drop. Seth stared at it, his eyes widening at the amount, getting a sharp glare in response.

"I’m not judging, don’t worry. Just... surprised you drink so much in one go." Taking the bottle, he stared at half of the missing contents before pouring his only glass and swirling it before taking a deep inhale and a sip. "Now then, I am interested. So what was it?"

"First." Isis thought for a moment, taking a large gulp of wine. Wiping her chin, she picked up one of the olives, throwing it into the back of her mouth. "The mirrors, what are they?"

"Mirrors?" Seth questioned with a raised eyebrow, "I didn’t look through a mirror but a small bowl of water. Fascinating, the arcane is truly wondrous."

"I see." Muttering under her breath, Isis remembered everything she saw and slowly explained: the old butler drinking and eating, not asking a single question. After ten minutes, Seth finally exhaled and leaned back, taking the wine and finishing the drink.

"A mirror you are sure you looked at but can’t remember what was seen. And the terror you felt from it." Rubbing his eyes, he thought for a moment, bouncing his fingers across the table, and finally paused after a moment. "Memory is a strange thing. Believe it or not, it is possible to transfer memories from one thing to another. But it is a hard thing to do and requires a very intimate conduit, the blood of the said person being the best one. But what you experienced is very different. A complete wiping of said memory, but leaving behind just enough so you wouldn’t dare look back."

"Then, do you have a guess of who or what could do it? Actually, let me ask this: could your teacher do it?"

"Maybe, but not that quickly. He was a master at Runcraft, and whilst highly skilled at the arcane, it wasn’t the study he focused on mainly. As well, if he were to do it, my guess is it wouldn’t be so clean. He likely would open your skull and play about." Chuckling at his disgusted face, Seth waved his hand. "I’m joking." Despite his words, Isis could tell he wasn’t and only said it to ease her. "Well, let me put it like this: to do what happened, it would require an intimate knowledge of you as well as an absurd understanding of the world and power. Only one type of being could do it."

"A god." Seth nodded, his gaze on her with deep interest in Isis, wondering what she was hiding.

"Anyway, for the rest of your visions, it is probably people you want to see or need to. But a Magi and a Cosmaton. The Cosmatons have always been a strange family; in fact, all the Great Houses of Veston are strange."

"That makes me wonder: what are the Cosmatons? Unlike the commonfolk of Veston, I had the luxury of being around the lords; because of that, I know the power in their blood is real and not stories made up to keep up appearances. The same with the rest of the Great Lords."

"I don’t actually know. There was a Cosmaton who became a Magi once, Wolfram, and it was because of him that the Magi have so much knowledge of the Cosmatons and their power; after all, the only real way to learn about them is to either get a willing subject to test on or steal a body when they die. I read his books about his findings, and from what he found, the Cosmaton blood is inherently different from normal people." With a smile, Seth laughed to himself, "Teacher had always wanted to study a living Cosmaton, but the closest he ever got was studying alongside Wolfram."

"Wolfram. That isn’t a recent Cosmaton; after all, I never heard of him."

"If I remember correctly, this was around four hundred years ago. Give or take. Before you say anything, I wasn’t alive then." Isis laughed, but it made her narrow her eyes.

"You’re really old, Seth." The old butler smiled and lifted his glass of wine to hide it, taking a deep drink.

"Listen, I am old; I won’t deny it, but my teacher was a freak. He did things to himself that I wouldn’t dream of doing just to extend his life. I honestly think that if he wanted to, he could have lived longer, but after he failed to achieve the final goal, he had no more reason to do so. But that’s just a personal theory; in the end, his age may have caught up to him." Under his breath, he muttered ’freaky guy’ before eating another olive.

"Back to the topic. I need to meet a Cosmaton and a Magi. A Cosmaton won’t be in Oros, and the Magi can appear anywhere via the doors."

"Well, I guess you just have to get lucky. My main interest is the statue of Lady Death you have. I personally wouldn’t be too spooked by that vision. Those fanatics have always craved death; it’s only natural that a vision surrounding it would be littered with bones. What is interesting is what it means."

"Who knows? I don’t really know anything about them."

"You know the core teachings. The prophecies for her arrival, the new world she will make when she does and the acts of devotion one can do in her service. Anyway, I am guessing what you wanted had to do with that secret you have. Think about it. If you can’t do anything with the knowledge, then don’t think too much." The conversation died down, and Seth slowly drank, watching Isis down the rest of her wine and pour herself another large glass. "Isis, are you okay?"

Isis paused, her hand shaking as she lifted the new glass up and took a large gulp, nearly finishing half of its contents in two sips. "I don’t know how much longer I can keep doing this, Seth. I can play to his tune as long as he needs if it means I can go afterwards, but I’m not sure leaving will even be an option."

"Why don’t you run? I can help you." Isis tensed up, her body shaking in terror, remembering the flayed man in Justinian’s manor. That was horrifying enough, and yet she didn’t know why, but she was sure that if she ran and was caught, a fate far worse would be inflicted upon her, one where she would beg to die but never be able to .

"Seth, even if we did, how far could we get?" Her eyes shook in desperation. Justinina wasn’t just a random merchant in Danmor, but a person with a long reach. Cras already wanted her dead, and Justinian had already made a deal with people in Fargo. The next closest place to get to was Malas, but if she could even reach them before she was caught felt like a dream.

Seth didn’t reply. For himself, it would be easy to flee; they both knew that. But to take Isis with him whilst also wishing to complete her goal of reaching Verat was nearly impossible. Part of himself wanted to just ask her to give up her goal of reaching Verat and returning the statue of Lady Death to them, but he knew he couldn’t. he could see in her, much like his teacher and himself, that she had already given herself a goal of travelling to Oros whilst returning the statue, and wouldn’t step away from that goal even if it was the smartest thing to do.

Sighing, he lifted his glass and drank. "I don’t know. Just keep moving forward, and don’t have regrets."

"I already do."

"We all do. But some can move past them. It’s healthier if you can." Seeing his words had no effect, he smiled. "Justinian is only a person. A terrible one, but still a person."