“I don’t know… Your aura’s brighter since we got back from Nevertide,” Varga replied.
“Is that a good thing?”
“I think so. I think our meeting with Kabbah made you stronger, in a sense. Though that doesn’t come as a surprise, given the verbal beating you gave him,” he laughed lightly.
My cheeks were on fire. “I had to say those things. I had to make him see…”
“Oh, I completely agree. Honestly, I don’t think he would’ve told us otherwise,” Varga said. “Your contributions to this mission are priceless, Eva. I hope you know that.”
And now, I was melting, all gooey on the inside. No one had ever made me feel this way before, and I couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous. He’d basically just told me I’d done a good job, and I was fawning over him like he was the brightest star in my universe. My mother had taught me to seek my interest above anyone else’s, even in a relationship—much like she’d done with Azazel. After all, she’d only gotten with him so she could have a child. Me. However, I wasn’t like that.
I wouldn’t have dared use Varga, or anyone else, for that matter, like my mother had used Azazel. That move had backfired on her, anyway. Had it not been for Draven and Serena and their friends, Azazel would’ve found us, eventually. And I sure as hell had never wanted to be an heir to his empire of pain and misery. He would’ve killed Mom.
I sighed deeply. “Thank you,” I said to Varga. “I try to do my best.”
“You’re a badass.” Riza giggled.
“Now you’re exaggerating.” I scoffed, crossing my arms.
“Anything new, Phoenix?” Herakles asked, leaning back in his chair.
Phoenix shook his head, eyes glued to the screens, analyzing a gigantic star map and checking his notes every other minute. “Not yet. I feel like I’m close. Amelia described a few constellations, but I’m not there yet.”
“What about Mortis?” Varga replied.
“Oh, I’m still waiting on the result for that,” Phoenix replied, pointing at another screen, on which numbers and strings of code flickered, page after page, as he’d linked the telescope to the computer in order to do an in-depth search of the In-Between. Once again, I found myself gawking at these magi-tech combinations like an ignorant little girl. I knew little to nothing about them, but I did understand their capabilities, and I was aware of the extraordinary results they yielded. They were just some of the perks that had drawn me to GASP in the first place.
Fallon hissed, then pressed his index and middle fingers against his temples. He’d been having these headaches since we’d come back from Nevertide.
“You don’t look so good,” Varga said, watching him intently.
“I think it’s some kind of mental residue from Kabbah,” Fallon replied, blinking several times. “I keep getting flashbacks that aren’t mine. How are your parents? Are they safe?”
“Don’t change the topic, Fallon,” Varga reprimanded him. “Mom and Dad are okay, and they’re certainly not targets of the Hermessi. I need you to tell me about these flashbacks. What do you see?”
Fallon scrunched his nose, clearly not eager to talk about it. “Ugh, the more I think about them, the more my head hurts. It’s like an automated migraine.”
“Nevertheless, we need to know what you saw,” I replied gently. “Remember, Kabbah wasn’t too generous with the information, so if there’s anything you saw in these flashbacks that might help us with finding Mortis and Death…”
“Yeah, he gave us the name but didn’t think to give us any coordinates,” Herakles grumbled.
“That’s okay,” Phoenix replied, his back still to us. “I told you, I’m handling that.”
“Fair enough, but Eva’s right,” Fallon said. “These flashbacks might tell us more. Something else, even. Something we may be able to use against the other Hermessi. I don’t know, just spitballin’ here.”
Riza smiled. “Listen, just close your eyes, take a deep breath, and delve into the clearest of these flashbacks. Surely, one or two of them are recurring. Right?”
Fallon nodded, then followed her instructions. He took a few minutes, his eyes moving rapidly beneath his eyelids before they popped open, and a smile fluttered across his face.
“Walking through a forest,” he said, and cringed from the pain. “Ugh, it’s like knives poking through my head whenever I think about it.”
“A forest?” I asked, my eyebrows raised.
“Yeah. Tall trees. The tallest I’ve ever seen,” Fallon replied. “And weirdly thin. I was actually wondering how they could stand up straight and reach so high up with such slender trunks. They look a little like the bamboo trees from Earth. Green all over.”
“So you’re walking through this forest,” Varga pressed.
“And I’m hearing water flowing, not far from where I am. Like a stream. The sky above is clear. It’s daylight, which first made me want to look for shelter, or at least a hood,” Fallon said, slightly amused. “It felt nice to walk in the sunlight again.”
“What would that mean?” Herakles asked, his brow furrowed. “What would that memory be about? Kabbah is from somewhere other than Nevertide?”
“Or, long shot, Death’s location? I mean, it’s the single most important thing we wanted from him,” Riza suggested. “What if he left us more information in Fallon’s head?”
Fallon sighed, rubbing his face with his bare hands. “I’m not a memory stick, dammit…”
The door swung open, and Viola came in, wearing a bright and warm smile. “It’s time for you all to take a break,” she said, then glanced at Phoenix. “Not you, though, babe. We need you to keep looking.”
“I love you too,” Phoenix grumbled.
“We’re not doing anything worth taking a break from,” I said. “We’re just… waiting.”
“You might as well wait in the banquet hall in Luceria,” Viola replied. “Aida and Field put together quite a banquet for you.”
“Why?” Varga asked.
“Because you’ve earned it!” Viola said. She seemed a lot more chipper than she had been a few hours ago. I dared think she wasn’t as devastated about Mount Agrith, compared to her sisters. Then again, she hadn’t spent much time there, not like the other Daughters of Eritopia. But there was still sadness bubbling beneath the surface. I could tell from how quickly her smile faded. “Listen, Mount Agrith was destroyed, and we have lost access to the pink water. Our cult prisoners can’t be interrogated, and… well, Harper is sort of nowhere to be found. We’ve got it bad enough as it is, but at least you came back with extremely valuable information. You spoke to one of the oldest Hermessi in existence, and, thanks to you, we know where Death is. And with all the unfortunate developments that we’ve been dealing with, we’ve all come to a consensus here on Calliope.”
“What’s that?” Varga asked.
