Chapter 107 - Chased by Shadows

As the two spectral beings spoke in front of her, Medusa did not dare look up from her kneeling position.

Her hair that resembled vines hung down over her face, rain running freely off of the thick braids onto the muddy grass. Though the rain was cold she did not mind it, and in fact enjoyed the sensation of being so close to nature. This love of the wilderness was one of the reasons that she so fervently followed the Path of Life.

As they continued to discuss, Medusa grew increasingly worried that she had offended these esteemed guests with her personal request. She couldn’t tell what they were saying at all, the voices were distorted and echoed off each other, muddling not only the meaning of what was spoken but also the inflection and tone. The fact that they were taking so long to come to a decision meant that her request was not simple.

In fact, Medusa knew this. Protection from a higher being was not something that was granted lightly. She was prepared for the spirit to say no. However, she was worried that simply asking for this help would offend the spirit and incur her anger.

“You can’t ask your monk friends for protection? Are they not assisting you with the rebirth ritual?” A hazy voice asked her. It took her a moment to realize that she was being addressed and that she could understand the words.

“I... I can’t trust them.” Medusa said, “Not anymore...”

“What changed?” The voice asked again.

“A man arrived at the monastery... Pale, with white hair and red eyes.” Medusa trembled as she recalled her brief interactions with that man, “Up until that point the monks were setting up the rituals per my instructions. However as soon as he arrived, they didn’t listen to me anymore.”

The woman shook her head softly, her lips tense, “They continued to ‘help’ me progress the ritual, but the energy is different. I can’t explain it, I can only feel that things are not right.”

“And your God?”

“He is slowly awakening, but in his current state he only sends me sparse instructions.”

“Stand up.” The spirit commanded.

Medusa obliged, placing her hands together palms up at her chest level while keeping her head bowed, the formal gesture of respect from the south. The steady downpour rained down upon her, drowning out all other sounds. The mysterious fog continued to billow around the two spirits, unaffected by the rain.

“I will help you,” The spirit said, “On one condition. Tell me more about the man with the red eyes.”

“I’m sorry!” Medusa apologized profusely as she bowed even lower, so that she was almost bent at a forty five degree angle. “I don’t know anything about him. I only saw him from a distance once or twice. What I said about his effect on the monks were based on my suspicions and intuition.”

“You still cooperate with the monks, correct? Then try to find out what you can.”

“Yes, great spirit.” Medusa hesitated briefly before humbly agreeing.

“You can refer to me as the Maiden.” The tall spirit said, then turned towards her companion and seemed to chuckle slightly, “And to this one as the Boy.”

The Boy seemed to tense up and look at the Maiden. Though he didn’t say anything Medusa felt like she caught a sense of indignance coming from the shorter spirit.

“Yes, great Maiden and… great Boy.” Medusa replied somewhat awkwardly. “I will try to uncover more about the man.”

“Once you find out more, I will see about protecting your shrine.” The Maiden said.

“Yes, great Maiden.” Medusa could only bite her tongue and hide her disappointment.

“Remember to protect the visitors to my shrine.” The Maiden said, “When you find out information about the red eyed man you may contact me by praying to me at my shrine.”

“Yes, great Maiden.”

The maiden nodded and calmly looked over the darkened plateau before settling her eyes on Medusa, “Very well, you may leave us for tonight.”

“Yes, great Maiden.” Medusa said, stepping backwards with another bow, “Thank you for your kindness.”

The tribal woman was about to turn and leave when she spoke up one final time, “There is one more thing. Earlier, I sensed the presence of another person in the forest nearby. I am worried that it is one of the monks. Please be careful.”

“It is no problem.” The maiden said nonchalantly, “I have already steered him away from here.”

“I see, of course! I apologize for the unnecessary caution.” Medusa stumbled over her words out of embarrassment. She quickly bowed again and departed into the darkness.

Yuzu and Argus watched her leave. When she was out of sight Argus frowned, “You told her to call me the ‘Boy’? Couldn’t you have picked something more... dignified?”

“If it bothered you that much, you could have corrected me.” Yuzu couldn’t hold back from grinning.

“It would have upset our image with that woman.” Argus grumbled, “And I know you knew that when you said it, so there’s no point in pretending.”

“I’m not pretending anything.” Yuzu said innocently.

“Hmph.” Argus sighed.

“I wonder if she’ll find out more about that red eyed man.” Yuzu said, “There can’t be many of them in the world, right?”

“His description was particularly unique.” Argus said, raising an eyebrow at Yuzu, “I’m surprised you agreed to it...”

His tone indicated he wanted to say more, but was respecting Yuzu’s thoughts by not jumping forward in the conversation.

“Yes, I learned about a man with a similar description today. I’m just a little curious.” Yuzu said softly, “Have you heard of him? A man named Markus Gantt.”

“No.” Argus said, “But since he’s important to you, I can ask my sources. However I doubt it will be a simple investigation, or a simple answer.”

“You still owe me one question, right Argus? Let me use it on this matter.”

Argus frowned, “The answer is likely worth more than my remaining debt to you. Never mind that I’ve already given you more than a question’s worth of assistance on your question of how to retrieve your chest.”

“You want to file a complaint?” Yuzu asked with playful provocation.

“No.” Argus smiled, “But I will definitely be looking to even the balance before long.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Yuzu’s eyes cast over once more to the darkness where Medusa had made her exit, “I wonder if I’ll hear back from her soon.”

“She has to contact the monks, so I’d expect at least a day or two” Argus said thoughtfully.

“Oh? I was thinking it might be as soon as tonight.” Yuzu said.

“Tonight?” Argus looked confused.

“Remember that monk that she said was in the area?” Yuzu grinned, “After she left I tied their strings together. You know, to help her out a bit.”

“Somehow I doubt she was looking forward to fulfilling your request.” Argus said.

“Then maybe this will give her the nudge she needs.” Yuzu shrugged, “Or not. If she doesn’t help me, I don’t have to help her. I’m fine with that too.”

“You need to be careful.” Argus said, “She might be cooperative now, but that’s because she’s mistaken your identity.”

Yuzu frowned, “It’s not my fault.”

“No, but if she or her God discovered that you were only an Apprentice… Well, even as an Apprentice of Fate you are a powerful ally.” Argus said, looking at her seriously, “But they are cooperating with you because they do not know your true strength. If they knew your real rank, they would not be bowing to you, but coercing you.”

“What about yourself?” Yuzu’s eyes darkened, “Why are you cooperating with me?”

“Because it’s more beneficial for me this way. Others might not be so benevolent.” Argus said, then paused before adding, “This cultist was the first to come looking for you, but she won’t be the last. With the location of your shrine becoming public knowledge, there will definitely be more parties approaching you in the near future.”

“I’ll be careful.” Yuzu nodded.

“Anyways, I’ll worry about that later… for now I’m ready to go home.” With a sigh she looked out into the darkness, “I’m sure you have a secret door or some other way to take us back quickly into the city, right, Boy?”

“No, my dear Maiden.” Argus said, “We’ll have to walk.”

“I was really hoping you wouldn’t say that.” Yuzu frowned.

“I know.” Argus grinned.

~

Below the plateau, Medusa was already far out of sight of the pair as she picked up her pace, heading away from the area as quickly as she could. Her hands were ice cold and trembling, not from the weather but out of fear of the two beings that she had just made a deal with.

She couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Although this feeling had been present during her meeting with the Maiden and the Boy, it had been like a quiet undercurrent beneath a still and foggy lake. She had been anxious and alert, but felt like she could handle the situation. However as soon as she struck the deal with them, that calm lake within her began to tremble and boil.

As she ran swiftly through the underbrush, the pouring rain blanketed her and drowned out all other sounds. Though she didn’t have enhanced vision, her intrinsic connection to the plants and life forms in the forest allowed her to move unhindered in the complete darkness. Because of this connection her awareness of her surroundings extended several hundred meters in every direction, far past the range of sight and hearing in this downpour.

Despite not sensing anyone around her, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being followed. She had expected the feeling to subside after leaving the plateau, but it only became stronger.

Her plan was to head to her secret shrine that was hidden in a valley. As soon as she reached the sanctuary she planned to pray to Prince Deka for his protection, hoping that that would chase away the feeling of danger clutching her heart. She deeply hoped that he would advise her not to contact the Maiden again.

However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The spirit hadn’t agreed to protect her shrine unless she provided assistance first. What if something happened before she could meet the spirit again? These thoughts bore into Medusa’s heart as she kept up a fast pace towards her destination.

The ground took on a rockier feel as she neared her hidden shelter. She closed her eyes and concentrated, carefully checking whether she had been followed. She reached down and touched a fuzzy plant that resembled a cactus. This plant had been planted specifically for this purpose by Medusa. There were several of them scattered around the area, and they were all connected underground through their roots. Though they did not have consciousness and could not speak to her, they were specially tuned to aetheric energies and were particularly sensitive to energies from other domains. If any exalted being had walked by in the last twenty four hours, she would be able to tell.

She carefully checked their energy, confirming that there was nothing out of place. She breathed a sigh of relief, holding a hand to her chest to still her rapidly beating heart.

She quickly proceeded to a rocky wall at the bottom of the valley that was overcome with vines. It was overgrown like the rest of the rock wall and didn’t look out of place, but with a quiet wave of her hand the vines parted revealing the entrance to a cave.

She entered, closing the entrance behind her and quickly proceeded down the short cave. After a few turns the soft green light from glowing flowers greeted her. They were hung above a cloth bed roll and a sack of her belongings.

The sight brought a brief sense of comfort to Medusa that immediately vanished as she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

“Oh?” The deep voice of a man had a tone of amused curiousity, “So this is where you’ve been hiding.”

Medusa’s eyes widened as she turned around to see a man materialize out of the air, his body still shimmering with the distinct saturated colours of the spiritual world. He was bald, with a sharp nose and strong jaw. He wore a set of flowing brown robes that fluttered softly in an unfelt wind.

“Ming Ru…!” Medusa’s blood turned cold. Out of all the monks she had met, Ming Ru terrified her the most.

She realized suddenly that it wasn’t the Maiden that her intuition had been warning her about this whole time, but the man who was in front of her at this moment!

“Are you alright?” Ming Ru’s lips curled up into a grin, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”