By the time Clio had found the family of Niles and returned them to their home, Anthony had helped tie up and secured the prisoners in the barn. Master Zoe had used the last of her antiseptic sedated until the final procedure using all the skill she had used when treating Lycus earlier. Although most of their damage was superficial, the skin burns on Castor had to be heavily treated as well as purge his body from the effects of raw Emerald Leaf ingestion. Now with the critical situation under control, it was time to begin a little interrogation.
Clio started to suppress the anesthesia in Oceanus’ system. As he slowly awoke he began to realize his new surroundings. He was disoriented but still conscious enough to see Master Zoe staring back at him. Anthony was with her holding his new dagger at the ready in case things go violent or out of control.
“Y...you?” The angry Water Mage’s eyes focused on Anthony, the man who had knocked him out with an electrical shock. “How did you...shock me?”
“You got questions, that’s good.” Zoe smiled a wicked grin sitting in front of him. “I’ve got a few of my own, starting with how do you expect to reimburse me for the cost of your treatments?”
“T-treatments? You?” He seemed insulted and angry at the assumption.
In a regular situation he would have used his fists to frozen fury to answer her questions, but for some reason he couldn't feel any water in or around him.
“What have you done to me?”
“A man in the herbal trade such as yourself must have heard of a special spore known as Angel Mushrooms?” His eyes lit up at that name. “A curious spore, rare, but in the right cultivation it can enhance concentration to water mages allowing them to break into the Fifth Circle of spirit force. Few people realize that the opposite is true, that it can also counter the effects of spirit creating a suppressant which is now running through your system. The best part is, it only requires a small amount, but it’s still incredibly potent. It can only be found on the graves of a myrrh ant Queens, but luckily I have a source.” She tended to look toward a hay-bed close by where Castor was resting heavily bandaged and beaten. “Consider yourself luckier than your friend who will have to remain heavily sedated or he’d be screaming all night from the pain. You on the other hand can enjoy the pleasure of a natural good night’s sleep...provided we can be civilized about all this.”
Using Castor’s own words against him was like staring into a darker mirrored version of his friends, a complete outrage for Oceanus. Even though he was intimidating as he was calculating he knew his information on Zoe Gaia. She was a war heroine, a scholar, more powerful than either of them, and if she had been alone and unhindered by the civilians she would have all of them out without remorse. Now, without his powers or his friend was powerless in the face of her demands.
“What do you want from me? Money? It’s back on our horse...”
“Oh, we already found that.” Zoe waved off his comment and pointed behind her. “That kid over there is a pretty good tracker, found out where your third guys ran off to, even in the dark. Found your horses, your saddlebags, you must have collected more than just this far.” She remembered the shock she had when Anthony brought the saddlebags practically loaded with money and several useful materials. “We’ll be keeping some things, but most of it will go to repay for the damages you’ve done to this farm and its family. However, there’s something more important that I want for you, namely information.”
“What’s that to you, we’re just enforcers. What could we know that’s worth anything?”
“Not true, if you are enforcers you know the names of other people like this family. People who have cooperated with the Boreas Group who are against them, anything that I can deem worth enough and we won’t have to resort to sleeping like your friends over there.” The choice was obvious if not someone one sided. “So, what do you say, Water Mage?”
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For the rest of the night Oceanus began to spill everything he knew about his daily routes. The names and places he’d seen and delivered, while Anthony watched him carefully, seeing if he even attempted to break his rope bounds or harm Master Zoe in some way. By the time he was finished, it was a couple of hours past dusk. It was enough to satisfy Master Zoe as she nodded her head in acceptance.
“Thank you for your cooperation.” Her smile continued as she got up to her feet. “I hope you rest easy tonight.”
Master Zoe left toward the barn door exit, leaving Anthony and Clio to guard the prisoners.
“Aren’t you going with her?”
“Master Zoe may be kind, but she isn’t stupid.” Anthony said, staring Oceanus in the eyes. “I’m sure you thought that if you were left alone, you could find a way to slip out of your ropes in the middle of the night. Know that if you try anything shady all it will take is one wink and Ms. Harmonia can bring out like a light.”
“Um, Anthony, may I speak to you for a minute?” Clio asked, pulling him to the side away from his sight. “You sure it’s safe to stay here, he may not have his magic but he’s still a trained hunter. What’s to stop him from breaking those bonds?”
“Do not be afraid Ms. Clio, I tied those ropes well enough that not even an expert hunter could break them. I’ve also been instructed to stay the night with you to make sure that no harm befalls you.”
“Then how are you going to sleep?”
“I have a rather unique ability that I’ve been perfecting since I was a boy. My mind and body may rest but my spirit force can spread out like an invisible wired net. If anything dangerous comes near it will be tripped to alert my soul to have my body react.”
“You can do that, even while you sleep?” Clio was on alert to make sure that Oceanus didn’t hear the sudden change in her voice, but he did not respond. “I’ve heard that only fourth circle wind mages have that ability, but they rely on the aid of the elemental vibrations like air or water, not just spirit force. How can you even attain rest with such a network of inner forces?”
“To be honest, it comes naturally.” He spoke as if he could recall these days as clearly as the one in front of him. “When I was younger, I became fascinated by what people call dreams. Although some of the maids in my manner shared these with me, I never understood how or why I could not dream as they did. However, as I explored the inner workings of Fourth Circle Magic, I began to notice the ability had lied dormant this whole time. I thought it was just intuition, like knowing malicious intent, feeling a storm was coming, but when I started hunting I found it was more invaluable to survival than any other skill I had.”
She looked to Oceanus again, noticing his indifference to their conversation. Although she was a bit skeptical about Anthony’s claims she knew that this man would guard her with his life given his previous convictions. That fate was enough to let her rest easier as she nodded her head and walked over to check on the Castor.
Not long after Anthony sat down staring at Oceanus until he closed his eyes in a deep trance like state that could be a convincing sleep. Oceanus had tried to undo his ropes the moment his eyes closed, but found it was troublesome and almost impossible given his current state. He made noise and rumblings that would have woken up the lightest of sleepers but every time he checked he saw no stir from either his guard or the healer sleep across from him.
A slow steady creak of an opened door drew his ears to the door. A stranger entered the barn, much to his surprise, a knife in one hand readied by his side. He tried not to scream in his defenseless position he would be an easy target. So he pretended to be asleep like everyone else and quickly waited and listened.
The creek of wood was soft and steady, as it approached him, the sound of the knife singing sweetly as it approached his back. He had only one chance to stop it before it stabbed him slowly, in that moment it would be either his attacker or himself who came out the victor. When he felt the knife lightly between his wrist he knew it was now or never. Quickly he turned around grabbing the knife from the stranger and turning to see who would dare attack him in his sleep.