"There it is." Says Isa, pointing up with his chin and quickly looking away so no one would get suspicious as we keep walking. "The research center towards that area. Since they, sometimes, deal with rare diseases, and have exclusive VIP areas, their central is separated from the common area, so this is as close as I got to it."Still following behind him I ask: " Who is allowed to enter?"
"The researchers, of course, some healers who a.s.sist them, mostly novices that are training; which means, mostly the elite; and the ones who compile the books for them."
"Uhm…" I answer, slightly narrowing my eyes towards my target, the building hidden behind the trees with only the top visible where they held the cure for Aeglos, hopefully. Now now, how should I do this? Hopefully the place was better organized than my own library, it would really make my life easier than having to search every sector to know where any information regarding Aeglos problem was.
h.e.l.l now that I think about it what type should I search for? It would be probably a book, but under what sector? Mental control? Puppet magic? Black goopy disease?
Well, all of that if possible, but I doubt it; so let"s stick with Aeglos little mental problem shall we?
The temptation of going there right away and dealing with all of this in one blow was real, but even I knew that it would be a really bad idea, so I look away and follow Isa… for now.
We did not get close enough for me to a.s.sert the place up this time, especially because it was still day and out of the path we normally would take, so to avoid suspicious Isa only showed me the building from afar, indicating the direction I should take to get there.
"So what is the plan now?"
"Stay low and play our parts." Isa says before a young eunuch comes rus.h.i.+ng, stopping in front of Isa to catch his breath and say:
"Sister Isa, welcome back, is good to see that you received our request and came back in time." I can see in the corner of my eye how Isa scowls a little before smiling:
"Letter? I didn"t receive any."
"What? How so?" The little eunuch seems to be taken back a little, but soon realizes it and coughs to hide it. "I see, then it is even more fortunate that you made in time." He says, his clean face giving more emphasis to his puffy cheeks as he smiles.
"In time for what?"
"The High Priestess sent a message requesting that all the High Sisters should be present tomorrow night for a reunion at dinner."
"A dinner? And with all of us? That"s unusual, any idea the reason for it?"
"Ah… eh, only that she will announce something important Sister."
"I see… thank you for letting me know." Isa says, and was about to leave, when the eunuch reaches for him.
"Ah, wait! Sorry, but that"s not all, we will need you to fill the reports about your adventures as well and…"
He keeps talking about a bunch of things Isa needed to do, mostly bureaucratic, and all probably delayed because Isa never stayed long in here, being outside all the time.
Probably the safest way to keep his ident.i.ty hidden… and keep himself alive.
I"m brought back from my thoughts to their talk when Isa hands his bag to be, swinging it back and almost hitting me, as he says: "Seems like I have a lot to do, take our things to our room and prepare the place for me. Little brother, may I ask you to guide her there? Is her first time in this place so I fear she will get lost…"
"Oh, no problem Sister Isa, is my pleasure."
At that Isa turns around and leaves me with this young eunuch… which oddly enough seems to be the first honest one in here; though I know better than to let my guard down.
"So, uhm… follow me?" He says, making me nod and start to really pay attention to him.
I don"t know if is the eunuch thing, but he looks rather young, small and with a babyface, appearing even more without any hair, letting his smooth skin very visible as well as his big round eyes.
We stay in awkward silence, and even though I"m acting as a servant I bet he could feel my oppressive hound aura, in a way that made him nervous and constantly rubbing his hands together.
Or maybe he is shy, that"s always a possibility.
"So, uhm… how did you meet Sister Isa?" I just look at him, already very aware of how things worked around these parts, and pretending to be shy I simply try to hide my face. "Oh, uhm, if you don"t want to talk about it that"s fine, I won"t force you, I just got curious since is difficult to see Sister Isa companied."
I nod faintly, but he doesn"t stop talking.
"I remember when I meet her, I was still very new to this place and costumes, but she was very kind to me and help me out. " He chuckles. "Though I bet she doesn"t even remember it."
He keeps talking and I keep half listening, paying attention to the paths we were taking so I would remember how to get back, making a mental map fo the place, until we finally reach the dormitories.
"Here it is. The front room belongs to your master, and the one behind is ours so you can attend her whenever time you are needed. Well, I have to go now, have a nice evening."
I stand still as I watch him walk away, a bitter taste left behind with the use of the "master" word.
Isa my master? Not even in my worst nightmares.
Finally alone I let out a sigh as I look back at the place;
For the lack of color on the walls each dormitory is surrounded by flowers and plants with the same color for each place, making very clear that there was a color division there, like the red dormitory or the yellow and green, probably indicating from whom they belonged to with their color hierarchy, the only not colorful one being the one with white and grey plants; ours.
And is clear that this place is very fancy and unique, having one building for each color plus being separated from each other by a path of stones and a white wooden fence, the different treatment bringing a specific part of the conversation to my mind.
The Highest Priestess called back the High Sisters… so that means Isaac is a High Sister? What does that mean exactly? Is his position in this place more important than what he is letting out?
Isa, Isa, these little lies keep piling up… and they are doing you no good…
And that is, this constant lack of trust on and from him, that makes me decide there that it would be the best for us all if we parted ways; so after this mission is over I intend to leave them and run back to the elves to better plan this without having to look over my shoulder all the time.
Plus there was no reason for him to help us out from the very beginning; and even though he entered this quest to help out with the injustice against the non-human creatures, his "morale" wasn"t enough to convince me that he only wanted to help out, and if he had any utter reason to why he wishes to help but doesn"t talk about it is just more reason for me not to trust him, it was just too risky and unstable.
After all, moral is such a light thing… and very easy to change, like a bamboo fl.u.s.tering in the wind, it will bend and adapt to what is best suited for at the moment.
And since Isaac already showed his aversion to me and magical creatures… I don"t see any reason to keep him around.
But, well, for now I will do as said and clean the place up; which meant take our bags in more than anything else since the place was already well kept; and pretend to be a little good servant.
Because when the night comes… the hunt will begin.
And soon I will find what mysteries this place has in stock for me…