"Who?" Diane asked, having not moved an inch from her tracks.
The creature stopped finally and slowly turned to face her, with an unreadable look on his face.
"The man you were with, obviously." "Who else do you think I was asking about?!"
At this, he resumed walking. Diane tried to keep up with his pace. She imagined the creature listening in on her thoughts too. She thought of how much the creature knew and how best to answer. Wait, is she even answerable to him, and why?
"How did you find me? You lost your second sight, remember?" Diane asked, trying to shift the discussion. Even though it was meaningless, there was something about her encounter tonight that made it feel personal. Like it shouldn't be a tea-time discussion among even best friends, and so she wanted it to be just her memory. She would have asked how he knew him or who exactly the man was, but she let defense win against curiosity.
It is also too early to start forming camaraderie with entities she doesn't know well enough. Not the man, but also not the one before her, who seemed to have the weight of the whole world on his slightly hunched back.
It looked like he might care about her, about Lady Athea actually. Where Diane came from, every intention is questioned, and every act of kindness is attached to a hidden price tag.
"I'm connected to you in more ways than you can imagine, Diane. For one, the life thread binds us." It was said as a matter of fact. I had gone to your residence out of boredom, but you were nowhere to be seen, not even in the garden. I had to activate the little energy i can muster to finally trace you."
"And ooh, I saw a frantic maid, looking for you over and under the earth; a funny sight it was!"
Mira, she must have been shocked by my disappearance, Diane thought. Her feet ached from all the walking; she felt if she walked any longer, she might pass out. How on earth did she get all the way to the sea if it was this far from town? The version of her here is weak stamina-wise. Diane used to have a lot of energy; she would run for an hour and not be out of breath.
The fact that she gets tired after every little physical activity now was an indication that Athea was physically weak. She decided to start running again soon; being this weak in an unfamiliar world felt like a ticking time bomb. Depending on her supposed mystical powers that are weak and uncultivated is only but a death sentence. She has to take her life into her own hands.
Diane had never been one to leave her life to chance. Structures. She will make sure to arrange her life here well enough. It does not matter how long she would be here for.
When she couldn't walk anymore, she sat down with a thud. The creature who had been talking for a long while finally stopped as it stared at her with pity. Daine had zoned out while it talked about its frantic search for her, about the life thread, and about how stressful it is to not be in possession of it. But Diane had zoned out.
The creature crossed its arm to the back as he started pacing round Diane. How can someone born of the house of magic be this weak? He could not fathom the sheer powerlessness that was Athea, and now Diane, for he has decided that both are the same person. It all suddenly made sense—why the house of Lyselle would sacrifice their daughter by marrying her off to the devil himself.
"Can you stop? You are making my eyes turn more!" Diane said, interrupting his thoughts.
"Will you please stop pacing? You are making my eyes turn," she repeated as she watched him stop in his tracks finally.
"Unlike you, I'm a busy man, Athea. I do not know how to idle away lazily, so don't keep me here" the town is not so far off anymore; we'll be there within minutes."
He offered a hand to her, which she took after what felt like a minute of hesitance. She understood that he just called her lazy and idle without mincing words, but she had no choice but to walk, albeit grudgingly.
By now the full moon was back out, clearly illuminating their path.
"What is your name? There must be something you go by. Diane asked out of the blue. She was, in a way, grateful to him, and if going by what he previously said, he had saved her life before and now—twice.
"A cat?" He said mockingly, clearly out to taunt Diane over her reckless conclusion on their first meeting. This made Diane laugh. How can he be petty in this situation?
"I'm being serious, so please tell me your real name, and forgive me for my ignorance and impertinence."
"Impertinence—that is a new one," it said, now playing with the few strands of whiskers on its chin.
"Well, people who know me call me Fenn, and of course they are only a few; we're too little, my kind. The last few surviving.
Diane thought she saw something in his usually expressionless face—was that sadness or rage? Diane could not tell exactly, for it vanished as soon as it appeared.
"That is a nice name," she exclaimed almost too loudly, but still unable to mask her sudden uneasiness. This creature has a sad story too, and while she felt sorry for him over a sad story she will not ask about today, she was also secretly relieved she wasn't alone.
Hypocrisy, she said to herself as she shuddered at her skewed view of life. Does this mean that as long as everybody is suffering too, then her own suffering is bearable?
It was just as Fenn had said, because in no time they were inside the town. The once bustling streets were now much quieter, with only a few people passing through or standing by the already closing stores. Mira had told her about curfew; they could not have missed it already? The thought of being locked out was the least appealing part right now, not because of being discovered but because all she wanted to do was sleep. She needs her soft mattress to do so. Then someone called out her name in an unsure voice, probably trying to decide if it were really her or someone else. She recognized the voice immediately.
"Athea!" Mira shouted suddenly as she ran into her embrace.
"Why are you so disheveled? Were you attacked by a wild animal? Why is there blood on your dress? Why is your face swollen?" Mira kept throwing several questions at her as she checked her out from head to toe, without giving her a chance to answer any.
"No, we'll talk about the specifics later," she said while wiping her eyes clean with the back of her hand.
"We need to pass the gate before the last bell, or we are in trouble!" She half dragged Diane who looked over her back to thank Fenn and tell him goodbye, but he was not there.
He had gone before she had the chance to give him her thanks for saving her.
They passed by two huge-looking men dressed in merchant clothes. They stared so hard at them that they increased their pace out of fear. Diane almost forgot her feet hurt as she half ran. It must be the same everywhere, for even in this mysterious world she found herself in, women are wary of men at night.
They got to the gate just as it was about to be swiped closed. Once in, they walked around the Pluto house until they got to the gate connecting it to her residence. The gate was wide open surprisingly. They had feared someone had closed it on a whim. They stepped in only to come face-to-face with a woman dressed in a golden robe that screamed high class. She was surrounded by what looked like an entourage.
"Your grace!" Mira shouted in a defeated tone.