While Illumisia slowly chews away at her plate of meat and vegetables near my feet, Clutter messily devours his own lunch while glancing nervously at me, and Pearl daintily nibbles away at whatever she has in her shell, I find myself waiting in silence for all of them to finish their meals. My empty plate, nearly clean from how little time the food sat on it, stares up at me in fear of just how ravenous I apparently was.
My eyes meet Clutter’s, and he obviously snaps his gaze down to focus on his food. I can’t hold back a smile at his worry; it’s almost like watching me eat is the most intimidating thing I’ve done. Unfortunately for him, I’m still hungry.
I wave the same Ytocwa over who took our orders just a minute ago and put in a hefty request for some desert. They scribble it down with a frown of concern, almost like they don’t think I can handle something that’s supposed to serve three people, and slowly walk back towards the kitchen while throwing glances over their shoulder.
“I’m not going to change my mind.” I say without looking up at them, which startles them a little. “If you knew the day I just had, you’d be asking me why I’m not ordering more.”
“Or why you are not drinking as of yet.” Illumisia says directly into my mind. “Your encounters were quite amusing to hear second-hand; if only I could have witnessed them with my own eyes. Maybe then you would not have lost to the three idiots.”
‘Three idiots’. That’s a strange way to talk about the masked attackers who apparently could've killed me at any time. Just the thought of them straightens my posture and razor-focuses my awareness–but it isn’t enough. If more people like them show up, my awareness won’t cut it. There has to be some way to make it better… but since Pearl hasn’t offered any solutions yet, she probably doesn't know how.
Maybe if we can get some of her memories the system is holding hostage back… then that’d be something. Unfortunately, I’m pretty damn sure we have to progress her quest for that to happen. And I have absolutely no clue how to do that.
“Don’t blame Shelby for that–it’s as much my fault as it is hers.” Pearl’s voice wavers and hand trembles as she grips something tight. “We couldn’t even use relocation to get you there, because it would screw up the quest somehow.”
Illumisia stops eating and looks up at me quizzically. I nod just a little, and she makes a noise of concern deep in her throat.
“That is very strange. I thought your skill merely pointed you in the best direction–as if it magically drew a destination on a map. Though if it insists that my intervention would mean you failed in your quest for a quest, then it is for the best that it silenced you.” Illumisia leans down to lick up a chunk of fatty meat, chews once, then swallows. All without pausing her speech. “Now we must work with the knowledge that my presence would somehow derail you–and in answering that question, you may come closer to finding the quest itself.”
She makes a good point–somehow, calling Illumisia in would’ve prevented us from getting the quest. But if I really think about it, that shouldn’t be the case. All she’d do is chase down the masked attackers, probably kill them, and prevent whoever they’re selling the information to from getting said info. Stonestep Solutions is the most likely buyer, but they’re already out to kill me–do they really need more info?
Honestly, the answer’s probably yes. I lean back in my chair and purse my lips as I stare up at the sky–something Illumisia would’ve done would’ve directly prevented us from getting the quest. Are the attackers important to that somehow? Does my info getting into someone else’s hands somehow make us more likely to succeed in finding the quest? It sounds far-fetched, but it’s the only possibility I can think of at the moment.
Maybe something more will come to me later. But since I see our Ytocwa waiter struggling with a mountain of something that looks a hell of a lot like an amalgamation of a cookie, brownie, cake, and a quarter gallon of ice cream, dessert comes first.
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With a satisfied sigh, I ignore Clutter’s stare of stunned disbelief and pay for our meal. He doesn’t say anything as we get up to leave, walk through half the district, and eventually come to something that looks like a park with a bunch of fountains–except it’s all stone. Illumisia laughs to herself at the display of disbelief, and Pearl stifles a giggle when Clutter sits down at a bench and cradles his head in his hands.
“C’mon, Clutter–it was just desert.” I pat him on the shoulder and offer him a closed-mouth smile that he doesn’t see. “Just because I can out-eat you, doesn’t mean you should be afraid of me.”
“Ninety-six seconds.” He mutters. “It took you ninety-six seconds.”
I shrug. “What can I say–the place makes some damn good food. Let’s put lunch behind us and keep looking, yeah? All we’ve got left is the jewelry store, and then we can try to solve the mysteries of Marywell Den and Denmary Well. In… a day and a half.”
He groans and leans back, trailing his hands down his face. “I know, I know. The jewelry store isn’t far from here–but it’s super exclusive. To get in you either need to be Clearance ten, prove you have ten thousand liquid Worth, or have some cloakstone.”
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“Cloakstone?” I pull my mask out of my inventory and hold it up for him to see. “You mean this stuff? I thought it was called an ‘alternate self mask’. At least that’s what the system calls it.”
Clutter blinks, then straightens so quickly I can hear his back crack. “That’s it! How the heck did you get so much of it? A full face mask isn’t just expensive; you physically can’t get them from… like… anywhere!”
“Honestly, I don’t have a good answer for you. The store showed up when I got clearance five, and the shopkeep there gave me this.” I tap the mask against his forehead for emphasis. “I’ve seen people with full masks hanging around the resort back on Earth, so they can’t be that rare.”
“Nononono!” He vigorously shakes his head. “They are! They are so rare! If you get it carved by a professional… wow. That’d be so cool. Who are you when you put it on–wait, no! Don’t tell me! It’ll just give me a really bad headache if I try to link you and the cloakstone you. I’ll take us right there, show you the place, and then you go in with that mask on. It’s foolproof!”
…Foolproof? Putting on a mask and walking into a store is a foolproof plan? I flip the thing around in my hand and study the backside for a few seconds before shrugging.
“Sure. Really should find out who I was supposed to get in contact with to carve this thing, though. Eh–that’s an ‘after the quest’ problem.” I send the mask away as Clutter stands up, all his worry about my devastation of lunch seemingly forgotten. “Ah, shit, I need to message Ursula and tell her I won’t be here next week for the pills. That’s just too gosh darn bad; now I won’t be able to shred my muscles for a few weeks.”
Illumisia raises her head with a toothy grin. “Stay safe, Shelby. You as well, Pearlescence. I will be back before nightfall.”
“Back before… wait, where are you going?!” I call out to Illumisia, but with a flash of red, she disappears. “Damn it. Guess I’m not getting out of this one.”
Clutter points down the street Illumisia just disappeared down with a dumbfounded look. “Did she even use mana for that?”
“Hell if I know. Probably?” I throw my hands in the air and start walking. “She’s definitely screwing with me because I told her about the masked attackers. When she gets back, I’m definitely getting a bunch of hellish training I’m not in the mood for.”
“Can’t you just… um… say no?” Clutter suggests as he hurries to my side. “I know she’s pretty strong, and apparently she can communicate somehow, but you have rights you know.”
I snort in amusement and shake my head. “Clutter. Poor, innocent, unknowing Clutter. I don’t get a say in this–I just have to trust that she has my best interests in mind.”
“She does.” Pearl assures me. “It’s just that her looking out for your best interests does not take into account your comfort, pleasure, desires… anything, really. But she definitely won’t interfere with the quest–she knows how important it is.”
Yeah, I’m not worried about that. The one thing Illumisia definitely wants me to be is stronger so I can work towards getting Pearl free. I rub my hand against my holster at the thought of the info the masked attackers have on me circulating through all the wrong channels–but if Illumisia is confident enough to leave us alone, that means we’re not in immediate danger. Right?
Clutter scampers ahead, speed-walking up the road while his head snaps from sign to sign. After a few blocks he slows to a stop, stares down a bisecting street, then turns and waves.
“We need to turn down this street!” He yells while pointing with his non-waving hand. “The store’s another few blocks and turns away, and it’s in a pretty ritzy part of the district, so we need to be on good behavior!”
I snort in amusement at his blatant contradiction as I close the distance. “Good behavior, huh. What does that entail, pray tell?”
“Oh, that’s easy–being quiet, making sure not to bump into or bother people, having on clean clothes…” He trails off as he looks down at himself. “Ooh, that’s going to be a problem. They might call the guards on us if we look like we just rolled around in a graveyard.”
“Mmhm, that’s the only issue here.” I agree with a grin. “Do you know if there are any bath houses around here?”
He furrows his brow in thought, then nods. “It’s not that nice, but you can rent a shower for fifteen minutes for really cheap. Or… wait, I have a much better idea! Follow me!”
Without waiting to see if I’m actually doing that, Clutter sprints off down the same street we were walking on–not the one that leads to the jewelry store. I blink in surprise, then share a look of mild concern with Pearl.
“There’s no way he just got sidetracked, right?” I hesitantly ask.
She doesn’t answer right away. “...Maybe?”
“Yeah, maybe.” I sigh and start running after him. “Please let this be something actually useful, and not a foray off to another random bath house he likes better.”
Following Clutter through the streets isn’t all that difficult, but ignoring all the looks that get thrown our way gets harder and harder as the minutes whisk by. From the outside looking in, it definitely seems like I’m tailing him through the city–and that he’s running full-blast so I don’t catch him. I could catch up to him in a few seconds, but with how erratically he’ll turn and full-blast down a random street or alleyway, I’d end up wasting that time catching up to him again.
So I just follow him. Through twists, turns, alleys, crowds, and a single line of idiots stretched across the street like ants. More than a few yells and screeches follow me as I run from that one, but honestly, I don’t feel bad at all–anyone who lines up into the street deserves to get pushed aside.
And after a good fifteen minutes, Clutter stops below a random four-storey building and turns to wait for me. I jog up to him slowly, watching as he pulls out his Class Card and starts tapping on it.
“So what’re we waiting for?”
He points up at one of the balconies overlooking the street. “My girlfriend has a shower, and her clothes should fit you. It’s perfect!”