30

Old Acquaintances

XAVIER

Not a soul dared to speak.

Alexander was frozen where he stood; Jaq and Octavius exchanged nervous glances beside him.

Lilliana. The name rang in my memory, screaming at me. I did know the name. But something was wrong. It sounded unnatural. Lilliana… No! It was…

Lilli!

Yes, that was it. I vaguely remembered calling someone that, years ago. She always went by the shorter name.

“L…” Alex’s eyes narrowed at her, recognition dawning. “Lilli…?”

The girl, Lilli, gave a satisfied smile, her small crow fluttering cheerfully. “So, you do remember me?”

“Good Gods.” Alex cupped his mouth, sounding horrified. “Lilli?”

“You sound so shocked,” she mused flatly. “I haven’t changed that much, have I?”

“What are you trying to…” He weakly pointed an accusing finger, but bit his knuckle instead, stifling whatever curses I could hear him muttering.

He glanced at Octavius, then at Jaq. Henry had abandoned his work on the armor and stepped beside the two, his stare equally questioning at Alex, awaiting an explanation.

Alex shook his head and turned to Lilli again. “Onet ysch choft ul myel trenn, Lilli?” he demanded in Grimish.

Lilli staggered. Either she was puzzled by his sudden change in language or by the profanity in the question. She peered at the three lingering men behind us, all of whom now looked lost as Void since none of them spoke Grimish—Jaq only knew a few words and common phrases—and she seemed to understand: Alex wanted this conversation to be private.

She put a hand on her hip and replied. “Onet ul ma trenn? <Why are you here, then?>”

“<We’re following an assignment.>” He threw a hand at Jaq and Octavius. “<Our last assignment as student Reapers, I should add. Since when were you given leave from the Death Palace? You’re supposed to be on the opposite Undercontinent with your father.>”

“<And you’re supposed to be underneath this continent with yours,>” she countered. “<I think I deserve an explanation as well. Why are both you and Xavier in the same town, in the same kingdom? You can’t possibly have me believe you know nothing of him?>”

“<For the last Bloody time, Xavier is dead. And you damn well know it, you were there with us when it happened.>”

“A gegt a’ul! <He’s the one I saw in the temple last night, he must have brought me here. Now where is—?>”

“<How would you like it if I asked where your mother went?>”

She stopped cold.

“<Ah, that’s right.>” He strode to the beverage cart and poured himself a glass of gin, snorting. “<Her soul was destroyed. Like my twin.>” He knocked it back and sank into a cushioned armchair, propping his feet on the matching hassock. “Hu’choft Necros, a’hu’fett…”

Lilli had lapsed into a long silence, her face hollow.

Behind us, I heard Octavius whisper to Jaq. “What’s going on?”

“Ya got me,” Jaq muttered back, his head shaking helplessly beside Henry.

Lilli slowly lowered onto the ottoman next to us, her voice soft as she switched the language back to Landish. “That… wasn’t what I meant, Alex.” She sucked in a pained breath before letting it go in a swallow. “I’m sorry. You must not have known.”

Alex cocked an eyebrow. “Known what?”

“Xavier is alive,” she hushed. “One of his memories was found in the Dream realm.”

—my mood made an incredible leap from the psyche. “A memory?” I blurted, my voice bouncing in the void. “MY memory?”

Alex gave a mocking laugh, ignoring me. “I fail to see how that’s relevant.”

“What was it of?” I asked franticly and watched keenly through the window. “Where was it set?”

He muttered through clenched teeth to me. “It isn’t relevant…”

“Damn relevance, I want that memory!” I laughed. “Ask her how we can get it! Or what year it—”

“Lilli,” Alex sighed. “Just because you found a small memory, which may or may not be his, that doesn’t mean anything.”

With the baffled look she gave him, you’d think he’d decided to dye his lashes purple. “It means everything,” she said. “Every soul’s lost memories are scattered across Aspirre. And when that soul is either destroyed or disappears from Nirus, the memories disappear with them. Yet Xavier’s memory was found.” The smile that split her face brightened any sour mood she’d had before this. “His soul still lives… He’s alive, Alex.”

He touched his now ice-only glass to his brow, sighing. “Then, this is why you came here, is it? To… to find him?”

The little crow on her shoulder twittered before she answered shyly. “Er… Indirectly, yes.”

“What do you mean, ’Indirectly’?”

“King Dream was the one who entrusted me to find Xavier,” she admitted. “But only because he wished for me to reunite him with you.”

“Dream?” Alex scowled at the name. “Why would he want that?”

She sang an exhausted sigh. “Oh, I don’t know. I rarely understand the man. But, er, that isn’t the only news…”

Alex waited for her to expound.

“After I left,” she began, biting her lip, “Willow overheard where I’d gone, and what I’d planned to do. Recently, I’d gotten word that she…” Lilli blushed. “Ma yeyt kes mea…”

Alex’s stare splintered at her. “Yeyt kes O?”

“Willow is here.” She said in Landish, pulling her knuckles anxiously. “In Everland…”

Another wave of silence fell over us all.

“Willow is…” I didn’t need to breathe in the psyche, yet I found myself suffocating. “Willow is here?” The room had grown distant and fuzzy, a swell of… of something thumping my incorporeal chest. Whether it was fear or incomparable thrill, I wasn’t certain.

Jaq whistled and rubbed his nose. “Well, damn. Didn’t see that comin’.”

Octavius sheepishly agreed beside him. “Um, yeah… wow much?”

SLAM!

Alex hit his glass onto a table nearby, his throat ripping a growl. “Willow can’t be here. She can’t Bloody be here.”

Lilli snatched his glass and poured her own shot of whiskey, glugging heavily and slamming it down with a clack, grimacing darkly. “She shouldn’t be here, of that we agree… Yet here I am: tasked with finding a man who’s come back from the dead, and returning my runaway charge before her father discovers she’s left.” She collapsed into the seat and hid her face in her hands, groaning despairingly. “Oh, what am I to do, Alex? I’ve lost the Gods damned heiress of Death! I’ll be held responsible if anything happens to her, since I… Death, I wasn’t supposed to leave her side in the first place! Oh, I’m ruined, Alex, ruined…!”

Alex breathed through his nose harshly, trying to calm, but his tone still flared. “What is your plan, then?”

She grumbled and folded her arms with hunched shoulders, crossing her legs in thought. “I suppose… since you’re up here as well, we could find her and Xavier together?”

Alex shot up an impatient finger. “Oh, no, no, no. Firstly, I don’t want to hear another word about Xavier. Who is dead.”

“Thanks,” I grunted dully.

He ignored me once again and went on. “Second, I’m not helping you find anyone. I have my own ‘missing persons’ assignment to handle, and I’m not failing my last test because you slipped up yours. Third.” He rose, glaring bolts at her. “I think you need to leave.”

She remained seated, perplexed. “What?”

“You heard me.” He went to open the door, gesturing sharply to her. “It’s time for you to go.”

“Alex, I really don’t think separating is wise,” she said, fumbling to her feet. “Did you already forget that horde from yesterday? Those demons are still out there. And right now, we’re the only Reapers this city has, apprentices or not. I’ll… I’ll leave if you wish, but after reinforcements arrive, which I’m sure your mother has already deployed, knowing her.”

“Which is precisely the point we’d agreed on ourselves,” I reminded from the psyche. “We needed her help yesterday, and we’ll surely need it again if another attack happens.”

“And…” She blushed, rocking on her heels as she cleared her throat. “I’m, er, also out of money. I can’t afford a room of my own anywhere, let alone here…”

Octavius interjected meekly from the back. “She’s also malnourished, remember? Feels like she’s been starved for days.”

She blushed further, rubbing her arm. “Yes… and that.”

Alex ran a hand through his hair. “Gods dammit…” He relented and closed the door. “Fine! But listen here. If Willow has run away up here, I could be blamed for kidnapping her simply by being in the same kingdom. Right now, this entire continent thinks I want to rip off their heads. I don’t need Willow’s ‘abduction’ added to that. If I let you stay, you have to swear never to tell the Death King I was here. Is that clear?”

She nodded, her crow hopping from her shoulder in agreement. “I’ll not say word. I promise.”

“Good… but once those reinforcements arrive, I’m giving you enough Mel to go on your own.”

She nodded again, solemnly this time, but I saw her shoulders relax nonetheless. “Thank you… I’m in your debt, truly.”

“Don’t blather on about debts,” he muttered, going back to the cart to fill himself a new glass of whiskey. “Blasted woman, coming up here unprepared… murrderes duxuth…”

He stiffened when she snagged him in a hearty embrace.

“Thank you, Alex!” She squeezed tighter, overwhelmed with relief. “Bloods, am I glad Nira sent me to you of all people…!”

“All right, all right!” He wriggled free, tugging his jacket and scowled. “Death, you haven’t changed… you’re still annoying.”

“And you’re still no fun at all.” She chuckled and folded her hands behind her back. “Oh, and you’ll be happy to know Xavier doesn’t seem to have changed either, from what I could glean last night.”

He chewed on a string of curses, taking his drink. Then he nearly choked, catching the time from the clock tower outside.

“Death, it’s almost noon!” He hustled to the table cluttered with half-polished armor, throwing on a set in a hurry. “Lilli, for your sake, Maveric had better still be there!”

The other three men followed Alexander’s example and hurriedly donned their own armor, the viper man hopping on one foot as he pulled on his last boot and scrambled out the door behind us. After yesterday, we weren’t about to take a single step outside unless we were fully equipped this time. Dirtied plate or not.

“Who had better be where?” Lilli called after us, she and the others rushing to keep pace behind us.

“Don’t concern yourself with the details,” he clipped, stopping at the lift and jamming the call button. “We have information to acquire. We’re to meet with our contact in one of the Healing Clinics in town, and we’ll be late if we dawdle any longer. This is not an appointment I wish to miss—the shock of your sudden arrival can wait.”

The lift arrived and the cage folded open. The attendant within froze at the sight of us, paling. Alex jerked his head in a curt gesture, and the man scrambled out of the box.

Our company shuffled inside, Lilli hopping in quickly, and Alex cranked the doors closed and maneuvered the lift to descend, leaving the liftman shaking on the top floor.

Alex tapped an impatient finger on the lever, and an awkward silence swelled in the cramped box.

Lilli timidly peered at Jaq and Octavius on either side of her, then turned to Alex. “If we’re going to a clinic, I don’t suppose…” She cleared her throat and gestured to her boot. “I’ve nearly run out of my previous Healing tonic for this bite and… well, as I’ve said, I don’t have the, er… funds for…”

“We’ll purchase you another vial,” Alex said. The lift stopped at the lower lobby and he led the way out, crossing the floor and stepping outside. “Irritating as you may be, I scarcely want the only extra soldier we’ve gained to fight with an old wound. And I have no desire to face the wrath of your father if you die up here. I’m trying to avoid him at all costs and…” He clicked his teeth shut, as though regretting that last bit.

I heard her limping steps behind us, her tone suspicious. “So I see…”

“Quickly, quickly!” he encouraged nasally, hastening his step. “And for Death’s sake, keep alert. I’d like to go one Bloody day without any damned Necrofera, but given our luck thus far, I’m not fool enough to count on it—”

“aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” A terrified scream erupted above us as we crossed the front of the Howler’s Inn building, and a figure came flying down at top speed—

Squrrlsch—crack!

The rabbit-eared figure splattered into a mess of bones and pulpy, bloody muscle at our feet, dead as a sack of rotten cabbage.

Alex smeared a hand over his face and groaned. “Gods damn it, Vendy…”

Lilli screamed and rushed to the broken body, frantic. “Good Nira, did she jump down here?! Oh, Bloods, if I’d known she was suicidal, I wouldn’t have left her up there—!”

“Lilli, be calm,” Alex muttered. “She was already dead. Meet our vassal, Vendy.” He gestured to the leaking chunks of what had once been Vendy.

Lilli relaxed, breathing in relief, though she kept a skeptical hand against her chest. “Oh, thank Death… er, but why did she jump?”

“I suspect she was too lazy to take the lift,” he grunted, then waved a violet-glowing hand over Vendy’s pieces to put them back in place, restarting her heart.

Vendy gasped awake and bolted upright, panting, her clothes now covered in blood. She looked around, everyone staring at her.

Vendy gave her illustrious, crooked-toothed grin. “Hah! It worked!” She stabbed a finger toward Lilli, exclaiming, “She’s awake, Da’torr!”

Alex sighed.