“I need you to handle a rather troublesome errand.” At this point, our meal was almost finished and Ella was smoking on a pipe handed by a servant.
“One of our girls went missing. It's been several days since she has been tasked with a job and has yet to return. I’d like you to follow up on their safety." She took several puffs of smoke in between her explanations. I let her finish entirely before asking any questions since it seemed like she still had more to let on.
“If they are alive, bring them here, otherwise find and capture the lowlife that dared harm one of my flowers.”
“That sounds simple enough, I’ll need to know more details on where to start searching. Though this task should be a cinch for one such as your guard. Why hasn’t this issue been resolved already?” For all the control and sway everyone was making Ella out to have, her actions made no sense.
“Think of it as an opportunity to work for me.” The entire time she said that made me think that I would rather not.
“Okay well, I’d like a private room to talk amongst my companions first. You can send someone with the details a bit after.” For one I wanted to have a long conversation with Jade and Eris about matters and the other was to get away from Ella’s irritating personality.
We were led through several winding hallways until the attendant showed us into a spacious tatami floored room with a simple table to sit down at, in the center.
“...Ah, wait. I’ll need another room while these two rest here.” I caught the attention of the attendant before they ushered off and looked at both Selka and Jade. I wanted both of them to remain here in the meantime while Eris and I had a private conversation in another room. I felt more comfortable speaking to them individually.
“Are you really going to work together with her?” Eris didn’t even want to say Ella’s name. I found it surprising she opened up first as we situated ourselves on chairs across from one another in the second room.
“I really don’t want to. What do you think?” That wasn’t the thing I wanted to talk about but there was no rush when it came to Eris.
“You can’t be serious. She’s mental and will for sure backstab you if the chance presents itself.” There was visible annoyance on her face. It was pretty cute to see her act against the age of her body.
“She has already tried, with that little test of hers so I wouldn’t doubt it...” I sighed trying my best to think back on the events only to fail.
“Then, why are you even indulging any possibilities?”
“You know as much as I do. Are you suggesting I ignore Jade’s advice completely?” The only reason we got into this whole situation was Jade. She was going to have to do some real good convincing to both of us if she wants us to carry through with helping Ella.
“Listen I should know, even if she has a slave seal it doesn’t mean she makes the correct decisions. That is for you to judge.” Eris joined with a sigh, using her fingers to massage the side of her forehead.
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“Okay, I hear you. We can bring her in here for the three of us to discuss these concerns. I don’t think we need to keep this part secret from one another if that's fine with you.” I agreed with the logic of everything that Eris saw mentioning. I keep forgetting that she technically houses the mind of a really old immortal, despite her being a small little girl.
“But, that wasn’t exactly what I wanted to talk about when I pulled you away into here.” I moved onto my actual concern relating to Eris.
“What is it?” She leaned back into her seat to rest.
“Ever since Balthazar’s trials you’ve been on edge.” I got straight to the point and was immediately shut down.
“There’s nothing wrong, don’t worry about it.” Her response was short like I caught her off guard.
“You can’t just say that and expect me to continue letting you know everything that's on my mind. I didn’t ask before, hoping you would open up to me eventually but this is starting to get troublesome and I want us on the same page when we’re up against any enemies.”
Her mouth opened, then closed. It looked like she was hesitating on whether to let me know the truth or to dismiss me altogether. It took a few moments of staring on my end to finally get her to open up. “You’re right.”
Her couple seconds of silence almost had me retorting a rash remark. Patience wasn’t my strong suit and I’m glad she spoke again before I could chime in. “For starters, the reforcer in the second trial. Even with his face distorted with the strange blur, it was obvious based on his magic. He’s one of the main reforcers that has always been dispatched to kill me.”
“How was he able to kill you when you won against him in the trial without too much trouble?” That must be why she was so triggered and sent into a frenzy the moment he appeared.
“His magic output was vastly reduced. Balthazar mentioned the trial was a snapshot of the past. He is many times stronger now, plus I never had the chance to grow my magic beyond the age of ten.”
“So you’re telling me he or another reforcer is already two years late?”
“That’s one way to look at it...” Looking at her life objectively earned me a disapproving expression. It was disheartening to hear that these reforcers kept becoming more dangerous after each conversation I had about them. Their strength seemed almighty at this point.
“Anyways to make matters worse, it was the third trial that really messed with my head.” Eris paused for a brief moment as if to gather herself before continuing again.
“It was like I was reliving my worst nightmare. Repeating the moment I was labeled as a target by the nobles and separated from my loved ones.”
“Especially my partner...” Eris sounded like she should have been bawling in tears yet she only maintained an odd stare at my face when she mentioned her partner.
“What is it?” I looked all around my body in confusion.
“It’s so crazy. Don’t laugh, okay?” Her voice maintained a steady tone.
“I promise, what is it?” Eris was acting strange and laughing was the last thing on my mind after hearing about her nightmare trial.
“You resemble the one I loved, a lot. So similar to what he looked like when growing up. Though his eye color was green, not solid black like yours.”
“Wait you’re not messing with me, right?” Her silence had me flustered for some reason. “That is crazy, how is that even possible? There’s no way that kind of coincidence exists.”
“Just your appearance though, and nothing else.” The last part sounded like a jab at my character with the way it came out of her mouth.
“Is that why you decided to call me master and follow me right after the arena incident?”
“That was half of the reason, the other you should know by now. I didn’t have anything to lose.” Now her weird attachment to me was explained and I questioned if she would have treated me the same if not for the uncanny resemblance to her loved one.
I was beginning to fall into a devolving spiral of useless what-ifs. Was her trust and kindness misplaced longing for her previous lover and not truly aimed towards me? It amazed me that this was so important to me right now. I thought selfishly about myself instead of listening to Eris.