There were a few things that Leo would skip past when telling Daniel what happened. He didn't lie, he just didn't include every little bit of the story, a byproduct of the contract's wording. Leo didn't have to say what happened exactly, he only had to recount it.
One of the things he skipped over was the identity of Elinor.
Elinor Renee Sharpe, of the Sharpe family. Leo had John look into them after Luke joined the demons, only to find out John already knew pretty much everything about them by heart.
The Sharpe family was a family of monsters, with nearly every member becoming an apostle, something very few could ever hope to achieve. But they also had a very small family, consisting only of a father, a mother, two brothers, a sister, and the youngest of the family, Luke.
So, out of the thirteen apostles, five of them came from the Sharpe family, which was a remarkable feat. Leo, however, was unaware why they let Luke go. Leo could ask but he felt he wasn't close enough to get an answer, it would also be hard to explain how he knew all of that.
Lady Elinor walked over to Kyle who tried to get away from her despite being hung from a hook. Lady Elinor stood before him and watched him struggle from behind her doll mask. Evelyn pleaded to her, over and over.
Faust still hung from his hook, his eyes closed, and Leo just watched the scene with disinterested eyes.
"He already told you! Please stop!"
Elinor paused, the syringe hanging around Kyle's leg, and Elinor looked over at Evelyn.
"Ms. Castille, he told Mr. Whittemore, not me. Now, Mr. Whittemore has shown me the recording, so I naturally know what Mr. Stout said. What I am doing is not to get Mr. Stout to confess, but to get you to confess."
"Wh-what?" Evelyn stuttered.
"Naturally, our minds do not work properly if they are not attuned to the environment, meaning you probably do not remember exactly what Mr. Stout said. But I do. And you should easily remember what happened before this, since that environment was a lot less stressful, at least in the beginning."
"I don't get what you want from me!"
"She wants to cross examine Kyle and your statements to see what the actual truth is." Leo said while looking at her.
"How can you be so calm!" Evelyn yelled at Leo.
"Ms. Castille, he is correct. I also believe he is calm because he has been in a situation like this before. Most likely more than once."
Montague rolled his eyes.
"So, you just want me to tell you what happened?"
"Don't do it Ev…" Kyle muttered weakly.
Elinor looked at Kyle and tilted her head, "Ev...? Ah, Evelyn. I see, I think I get it."
"Pfft. It's a nickname Elinor. Like if I called you Ellie." Leo chuckled.
"Hmm. I understand. Thank you, Mr. Doe. Uh, Mr. Deer…?"
"That's not really how they work. I had some trouble unders-"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?!" Montague shouted, silencing the two.
"It seems I have forgotten the situation, that was impolite of me, I apologize." Elinor bowed.
"But… Ms. Castille, if you don't tell me-" Elinor continued.
"I will! Don't do anything to him please!" Evelyn interrupted.
"Ms. Castille, please do not interrupt me. If you don't tell me the truth, for every conflicting statement, whether it be a purposeful lie or an accident, I shall use the syringe." Elinor raised the syringe and put it over Kyle's bare foot.
She let a single drop of the acid fall.
Instantly, Kyle contorted and started flailing on the chain wildly. He screamed as the acid tore through his foot at a lightning pace. As the screams rang out from him, as well as the pleading screams of Evelyn, Elinor looked at Leo silently.
She stared at him for a moment before speaking, "It seems we are similar in quite a few ways Mr. Doe." She paused again and watched him for nearly a minute as the other two, very, very, slowly calmed down.
"Mr. Doe, I only take off my mask in private, it is a rule of an archangel, just as it is a rule of the demon's hunters. If we are seen without our masks, we must kill the person without exception. Today I shall make an exception though. Our faces reflect one another, I want you to see what I see in you."
Leo remained silent.
As Elinor began taking off her mask, she spoke to Leo with her words being mildly muffled, "I believe I know what will happen to everybody in this room within the next few hours. I believe that Mr. Faust, Ms. Evelyn, and you will leave this room alive. I believe that Mr. Whittemore will die before the day is out, as will Mr. Stout. As for me… I am unsure of my fate."
She paused briefly as her face was revealed. It was as pale as the porcelain doll on the mask. It was as smooth and perfect as the mask as well. In many ways, it mirrored the mask exactly.
"I would at least like for someone as likeminded as me to see my face before I perish. I do not think it has happened since last I saw my siblings without my mask, a great time ago. We are all similar to you, my brothers and parents, except for my younger brother that is."
She set the mask onto the ground and untied her hair, letting it flow freely. She sat on the floor and looked up at everyone with an unnaturally still face, as if she never took off the mask.
Kyle had fallen unconscious due to the pain, his mind unable to keep up. Evelyn's pleading had switched instead to sobbing as tears fell onto the floor.
"Ms. Castille, please start."
"Please stop this." Evelyn cried out.
"Ms. Castille, must I get up and use the syringe again? I do not need to use it if you just tell me why you and your squad are in this city."
Evelyne was silent, even the tears that hit the floor didn't make any noise. After a long break, she finally spoke, her head completely downcast, her eyes pointed towards the floor, although she stared past it, at nothing.
"We were sent here to gather information on Montague to pass our graduation test. If at any point, Doe squad needed backup, we were supposed to help as the supplementary squad. That was whether they needed backup in a gunfight or gathering intel. But they never called upon us and they advanced quickly in their goal. Our squad would get bonus points for helping them and we would leave as soon as Doe squad passed their test. But they acted nearly immediately, meaning we needed to act too.
"If we gathered enough intel to figure out who was backing the Ivory Eagle gang, we would pass our test, regardless of if we helped Doe squad. But they acted too fast, we didn't have enough time to scout out Schloss Adler, nor the Ivory Eagles. Based off of Mathias's prior conversation with that scar guy, I assume he already has intimate knowledge of this city and its inhabitants, our squad did not.
"I would like to be angry at Mathias, but I cannot find myself capable of it. I am instead mad at the proctors meant to protect us and the Abyss not giving us a fair assignment." She said, her eyes and lips trembling the entire way in fear that Kyle would get hurt again.
"Thank you, that was wonderful, but please tell me about your capture."
"What more is there to say?"
"What were you doing to get caught by Mr. Whittemore?"
"I already told you, we were investigating him to find his ties to an outside party funding them."
"Well them, just tell the story of the capture, I'd like to hear it."
"Fine… We were going to take our time to find out information from the Eagles, but then John, one of our proctors, told us Doe squad was moving ahead and that if they succeeded, we'd have to leave too. Meaning we'd fail. We had spent the first day getting acquainted with the city, figuring out its layout and where Schloss Adler is.
"When we were told to hurry up, we went ahead and immediately started looking into the interior of Schloss Adler. Knowing that our team works better together than Doe squad gave us a false sense of security. Did you know that everyone on Doe squad is a powerhouse, but they all have a flaw spotted during training? Faust and Andrew do not get along together, Mathias cannot use magic properly, and Luke-"
"I know of Luke's problems." Elinor interrupted with the slightest of smiles.
"What I'm getting at is, because we thought we could work better than them, we'd be okay. We didn't realize that our mission would fail so spectacularly. We decided to break into the nightclub, it was around five in the morning when we decided to break in. A party was going strong, and we easily got in, not that long after we incapacitated three guards and took their outfits." Evelyn spoke slowly, choosing each of her words carefully. Although she did that, every so often, she would stumble on a word and become fearful of Elinor.
"After taking their outfits, we headed towards his office in the club, but looking inside from the second floor, we found it empty. Thanks to some intel, we knew he had a personal office at the top of the skyscraper. So, we headed up the floors through the stairs quickly. At the top floor, we expected to have to kill a great deal of security, but it was oddly empty. We knew it was a bad idea to press forwards, but we didn't want to fail our test, so we headed on. We reached Montague's office and opened the door to find him sitting at his desk, with an icepack on his head, drinking alcohol. He seemed to be slightly banged up, less so than now, and we walked towards him with our guns raised.
"The entire time he didn't even bother to stop us, nor move. But we saw that he was watching us. As we reached him, we told him to give us what we wanted. Evidence of his involvement with an outside party. He did so without complaint, he reached into his desk and pulled out a large file. He tossed it to us and went back to drinking without a care in the world. We started leaving and got off floor without any problem.
"We got to the street and thought we were home free. Then our mage," she started crying again, "Arty was shot in the back of the head. He died just like that. Kyle and I watched him as he fell to the floor. It was so surreal, just like that, he was gone…" She started crying for a quite some time.
Her sobs started quieting down and she continued, her voice weak, "B-behind him was Montague, he had shot him. He wasn't alone and instead had a whole bunch of men with him, aiming towards us. In our panic, Kyle and I didn't realize they weren't shooting, and we started running. Eventually Montague shot Kyle in the leg, that was when I realized they wanted to capture us. When I finally decided to shoot back it was too late. Montague walked up to me and hit me with his gun, knocking me out."
"Excellent Ms. Castille! Full marks! Kyle will be perfectly fine based on your account. Mr. Doe, how do you think she did?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"Just looking for the input of a likeminded individual."
Leo was silent and Evelyn looked at Elinor, yelling, "Why do you keep saying things like that?!"
"Ms. Castille, please calm down. You need a calm mind to take in your surroundings. If you had a calm mind, you'd easily see what I was referring to. Mr. Doe here does not care about the situation he finds himself in, he doesn't care in the slightest."
"What?"
"While I did want to make sure what Mr. Stout said was true, my goal is to determine how to break Mr. Doe. To my surprise, he seems very much like me. You see, he doesn't care about this situation." She paused for a moment and watched Evelyn's expression.
"He doesn't care about anything, not you or Kyle. But he might perhaps care about Mr. Faust, I have yet to determine that." Elinor said with certainty, while Leo smiled ever so slightly.
"Mr. Doe, am I correct in my assessment."
"Hmm. I wonder…" Leo said lightly.
Elinor looked back at Evelyn and said with an unreadable face, "Knowing that, I'll ask you two questions, get either wrong and Kyle dies."
"Please, no…" Evelyn tried pleading.
"Question one… If Mr. Doe was captured and you had to opportunity to save him, and you both would make it out alive, would you?"
"What kind of question is that?!"
"Please answer it Ms. Castille."
Evelyn was conflicted, her eyes unable to see properly. She looked towards Leo; his figure slightly blurred by the tears flowing from her eyes. Would she save him, knowing that he doesn't care about her or Kyle?
Her lips trembled, "Yes, yes I would."
"Good. Now for the next question. If you, Ms. Castille, were captured, and Mr. Doe had the opportunity to save you, and you both make it out alive, do you think he would?"
Evelyn looked again towards Leo's figure as they hung from the hooks. Leo looked at her nonchalantly despite the situation.
Evelyn swallowed the saliva that was building up in her mouth, her breathing got heavier as she said quietly, "No. I don't think he would."
Elinor got up from her sitting position and looked at Evelyn. Elinor's face hadn't changed once in the interaction that would decide the fate of a life. The entire time, it remained the same, completely unreadable, even somewhat disinterested.
"If I am understanding Mr. Doe's disposition correctly, he is someone who enjoys having people around him. He enjoys having a great deal of people to choose from. He likes toying with others. Like me, he does not care about others, he only enjoys the values that others can bring. But Ms. Castille, a royal does have value, they have influences reaching far and wide. What I am trying to say is that Mr. Doe would save you. In other words, Ms. Castille, you chose incorrectly."
"W-what?! No, no! Mathias, tell her you wouldn't! Tell her!" Evelyne looked at Leo and pleaded as Elinor walked ever closer to Kyle with the syringe.
Leo watched Evelyn and was thinking casually, he spoke up just as Elinor raised the syringe to Kyle's head.
"I wouldn't save Evelyn in all scenarios and in some scenarios I would. It depends completely on my profit Ms. Sharpe." Leo smiled, "Your question was flawed, you cannot have gotten a correct answer from it. Instead, you should have asked if I would save her if her value was high or low. But then, the answers would be obvious."
Lady Elinor turned and looked at Leo with a wide smile.
"I was right… You are different. They told us you'd be 'righteous,' that you would be valiant in your quest to slay the gods. Sparing those along the path that you deemed were innocent, killing those you deemed guilty. But you're just like me, you only see the pros and cons. You're fascinating Mr. Blight."
Leo's face didn't change upon hearing his name, it instead remained having a sly smile.
Internally however, he was a bit confused upon hearing about 'slaying the gods.'
"This is bad." Grey said to Leo in his mind. Leo ignored him.
Elinor watched Leo's face with a pleased expression. She reached into her pocket and lifted something shiny up. In her hand was a silver bell hanging from a red ribbon. When Leo saw this, his expression changed quickly to anger.
"Interesting…" Elinor muttered with furrowed brows.
"This morning?" Leo asked simply.
"Correct, when you saw me and John fighting. I took the bell from him then. I have a question, Leonardo Blight. Are you angry because the bell is in my possession or because I took it from John?"
"I don't know." Leo answered immediately with a glare.
"You truly are fascinating Mr. Blight… Don't worry, John is fine." Elinor walked forward and placed the silent bell around Leo's neck. His skin shivered slightly at the touch of the cold metal.
She backed away at looked at the four as another person in a doll mask entered the room. Elinor kept their back towards them since she didn't have her mask on. They noticed this and spoke quickly so they could leave the room.
"Lady Elinor, Roderick is calling for you. He says that he needs backup as the Lightning Demon is raiding their building and killing everyone."
"Hmm… Tell Roderick I'll be there." Her subordinate bowed and left the room, Elinor looked back to Leo and spoke, "Before I go, I'd like to see something."
Leo watched her as she watched him. She took some steps forward towards Kyle and lifted the syringe. She poured all of the remaining acid out of the syringe and onto Kyle's head, instantly it started dissolving and melting through his skull.
"No! NOOO!" Evelyn screeched as she desperately tried to get out of her chains, "You goddamn psychopaths! I'LL KILL YOU!"
Meanwhile all Leo did was furrow his brows slightly in confusion. Elinor then took out a knife and went towards Faust. She flicked the knife open and aimed it towards Faust's throat.
Leo watched her and she watched him. She slowly started pressing it in, drawing blood, but she didn't go any further than that. She retracted the knife and put it away.
"Interesting." She muttered as she backed away from the group, she grabbed her mask and quickly put it on. She looked at Montague and said, "Follow me for a moment, I want to talk with you. As for the rest of you, I must take my leave."
She took a moment and looked at Leo directly, saying, "There is one difference between our faces, Mr. Blight. Yours is good at lying. My job as an apostle is to kill you, but you're different than I suspected. You've intrigued me and since we will probably never meet again, I want you to fulfill your desires... I want to see how far our kind can go in life." She said with a large smile hidden behind her mask as she turned to leave.
When she reached the door she hesitated slightly, and looked towards Leo one more time, "He is different from us, but unlike what my family thinks, I believe that to be a boon rather than detriment, so please take care of Luke. Now, I am off to see what fate has in store for me." Then she disappeared from Leo and the others. Montague looked at them before leaving too, following Lady Elinor.
When the door closed, Leo looked towards Faust, "They're gone now, pop your chains."
Faust's eyes opened and his fingers started tapping on the chains that were binding his hands. He had done this slyly during the entire encounter with Elinor. He tapped on his chains whenever the subject of conversation was on nobody else, with his eyes ever so slightly open. He used his fingernail to hit the chain and amplified the noise greatly to do damage to it in a single spot. Then he dampened the sound for everyone else.
He didn't think anybody had noticed, but Leo had. Which meant that Lady Elinor had most likely noticed too, but she didn't care. Upon seeing nobody in the room besides the three, he wildly started tapping away, warping the metal until tiny cracks started appearing.
"What was she?" Leo asked Grey. He was referring to her predicting the future, she seemed to confident in her assessment.
"She must've been a seer. Sometimes they'll get an understanding of the world, from it they can do different things. It is different for every seer, some can see the future, some the past. Some can read minds; others can change fate. They are dangerous people, especially to you." Grey answered.
"Fascinating." Leo mumbled.
Evelyn's head remained towards the floor, completely defeated. She wanted to leave, she wanted to hide herself away forever. She wanted to look away from the blood trickling all over the floor underneath Kyle but couldn't bring herself to. She stared at it as tears fell from her face.
Faust's chains broke suddenly, and he fell onto the hard tiles with a groan. He slowly got up from it and looked at the carnage. For the first time he saw what Kyle looked like now, he cursed under his breath. Kyle's body was dissolving in half at a stable rate, most of his head was mush and the acid was now tearing through his chest.
Faust looked around the room and saw a table. On it was a key and Faust, of course, grabbed it. He made his way over to Leo but stopped. He looked up at Leo watched him.
"Is what that lady said true?"
"Hmm… Mostly." Leo replied, his expression almost bored.
Faust frowned but threw the key up to Leo. Leo caught it and unlocked the lock binding the chains together. Leo fell and landed on his feet. Leo stretched slightly and cracked his neck. He turned and walked towards Evelyn and snapped his fingers to get her attention.
She looked at him coldly and spoke, "Go away."
"If you're so stupid as to throw away your life in this situation, what do you think Kyle would think. I, for one, think he'd be upset that he died for nothing."
She glared at Leo fiercely and Leo ignored it. He threw up the key and she caught it. She unlocked he chains and fell to the floor. She looked up and muttered angrily, "First prince or not, I hate you."
"That's fine by me, but I'd rather you hate me somewhere else."
"Wait, your leg." Faust said, looking at Leo's leg.
Leo looked down at the leg that was shot, "What about it?"
"How are you walking?"
"Kings and princes can do everything that the each of the classes can do. That includes my leg fixing itself over time, since grims have regeneration."
"Really? Wait, why are you just acting as a random person." Faust asked, his eyes squinted.
"Now's not really the best time to discuss this, we need to leave. You two find a place to hide or leave. I, personally, am tired of Montague and the Eagles. In other words, I am going to put the slaughter in slaughterhouse."
As Leo said that Lady Elinor was walking with Montague talking to him. They reached the exit of the building and she looked at Montague.
"Mr. Whittemore, I do believe that this will be the last time we see each other. Besides that, I'd like to let you know that Mr. Blight is most likely already out of his chains." She turned away from the now panicking Montague and waved slightly, "Good luck. He seems slightly annoyed."
Then Elinor left the building and got into a car that started driving to Roderick's building. The car didn't drive urgently, instead it even drove under the speed limit. There in the car, she was thinking of someone.
She smiled warmly as she thought of the first prince.