The hike into Veria was no more difficult than it had been since leaving the camp that morning. Rolling gravel hills dotted with dull evergreens and small patches of weeds littered the landscape. The sun was high in the sky now, and its heat beat down on my neck like a hot iron. I did not mind the heat though, as I was singularly focused on my objective. My mind still spinning with various theories.
I crest the top of a rather substantial hill and in the distance spotted Veria. The river we had been using for water the past week ran between the village and myself. I was able to just make out the red shingled buildings, but nothing out of the ordinary even from here.
"You are behaving quite cautiously, Desmond." Lucifer pointed out. I could not help but smirk.
"Well yeah, I'm taking this very seriously." I replied, beginning my careful decent toward the village.
"Perhaps now is a good time to discuss the Moirai.." Lucifer tentatively broached the subject that had been on both our minds since the previous night. Immediately my barrier went up, leaving only enough room for the two of us to converse.
"Lucifer. I-" I started, still unsure what to say and what to reveal.
"Desmond. I thought you wanted us to be partners. Equals. This was why we worked so hard to train you to partition your mind, so you could have privacy in your thoughts, not so you could hide important knowledge from me." His words were matter of fact, betraying no emotions to me whatsoever.
"I know. I know." I started, quickly attempting to think around the truth. "The prophecy they gave me, they said if I share certain segments, it could change my fate... I just... I don't-" I was losing my confidence in the lie. I knew he could sense my anxiety through the barrier, but I was helpless to change that.
"It is okay, Desmond. You need not worry about telling me anything you might believe would alter a potential destiny you feel the need to have fulfilled." His reassuring words did certainly ease my mind.
'whispering poison that tastes of honey'? I could not see how his words were poison, but they certainly were sweet.
"Is there anything more that you do feel safe speaking of, something that may help us in the near future?" Lucifer added, his probe continued seemingly harmlessly. It really appeared to me in that moment that he had a sincere desire to only help me understand their message. I thought carefully within my shielded mind for several minutes before I finally decided on a course. We needed my magic. I was a wizard, but knew nothing of how to be one.
"there is one part I think you can help me with..." I made sure to piece together the verses that I had decided were similar enough to be considered a single prophecy.
"A blended one combining the mysteries of the cosmos and the divinity of heaven, though the scales tip toward divinity. Look to the tower within and find the power only stars know. Only then can you hope to overcome that which looms overhead." Delivering the segments I had chosen carefully, I knew he would come to the same conclusions as I had, but perhaps he would have an additional insight as to what needed to be done. After all Lucifer was an archangel who had lived for thousands of years and more.
This time it was Lucifer's turn to keep me waiting for several minutes. Left alone with the sounds of wilderness and running water I wondered if he would be able to make any more sense of it than I had. As fleeting time continued to pass, my uneasiness grew until finally he ended my suffering.
"This is quite obviously meant to instruct you that there is a growing imbalance between the power you are developing with myself, and the potential you hold within." He started, laying the foundation for the rest of his explanation. "What I find most interesting is the references to the cosmos and stars. They are obviously suggesting that what you require is something relative to what you humans nowadays would call science or physics. Unfortunately I know precious little of Wizard spells; and what I have seen of them, nothing matches what would be considered 'cosmic' or a power that 'only stars know'. Curious indeed." His long winded answer left me exactly where I had started, painfully nowhere...
"I think we would need to start by getting into that tower in Arce Elymas." I replied thoughtfully, hoping that by being as straight forward with my ideas as possible, he could finally offer me some new insight that I had not considered.
"Yes... But the question still remains 'how'. We have tried everything short of bashing the door in, all to no avail. Perhaps it is a power that needs to be awoken by another wizard?"
"Oh no.... I hadn't thought of that..." I groaned audibly. Wizards were presently not a group I thought of in a necessarily positive light, not to mention finding one who could do such a thing for me would require revealing myself to them; Which we absolutely could not afford to do yet.
"Just a thought, young Desmond. No need to begin your fretting." Lucifer consoled. "It appears there is no use giving it too much thought, as we have no current recourse. I purpose we focus on our reconnaissance and get back to Lilith and Asterion with haste."
Nodding my head in agreement, we silently made the rest of the trek to Veria.
*****
As we crossed the bridge into Veria's outskirts, I noticed that all the buildings were relatively the same. White stone houses and red shingled roofs every one of them. They all appeared to be mostly built into one another as well. I considered this to be odd, since that would mean that families would ultimately share a wall with their neighbors.
I quickly chided myself, this was a totally different culture to my own after all. Judging them on such a superficial concept was less than acceptable. Walking through the streets I noticed sparse few people milling about. The ones I did happen to make eye contact with, quickly averted their gaze, or practically fled away from me.
"Is it just me, or do these people seem.... Afraid of me?" I murmured under my breath.
"No, it does certainly appear to be that way. Let us be quick about our business here. Get to that tavern and find this Gregorios." Lucifer replied, a hint of nerves creeping through his tone.
I still had no idea where to go, and the notion of trying to approach one of these people for directions made me uneasy. So I continued walking, knowing that it would have to be somewhere off the main road that divided the town. As I continued it appeared I had entered a market district of sorts as carts began to appear, though they were more or less devoid of crowds. Any that did have crowds did well to avoid me and my gaze however they could, some even blatantly dispersing at a glance.
Finally after walking for some time longer, I came across single large building next to a row of smaller houses. Above its door said clearly "KOMOS", which I assumed had to be our destination.
Pulling open the double wide doors I found an open air courtyard within. The roof only seemed to cover the establishment in a square around the courtyard. Tables and chairs were set in rows throughout the courtyard as well as down the halls to my right and left. I wondered what they would do if it suddenly started raining, would they even bother moving anything? Or just let it be...
"Focus Desmond... Find Gregorios." Lucifer scolded as a twinge of pain struck me like a hand in the back of my head.
Ignoring the mental slap, I searched for the tavern keeper. Assuming there had to be some amount of realism from the movies and books I had consumed so much of, I assumed he would be behind the bar, cleaning a small glass whilst conversing with the locals, and much to my delight.... I was correct.
"Are you Gregorios?" I asked looking at the balding obese gentleman behind the bar. His hair was greasy and unwashed yet still dark black with slight curls. His apron was a solid brown, while his clothes were white, but covered with age old stains. His skin was an olive tan, just like Theseus and everyone else I had seen, if perhaps a shade or two darker. A noticeable scar ran down the right side of his large bulbus face, swooping down his cheek and over to his missing right ear. I quickly wondered what might have made a wound like that.
Several faces from the bar turned to appraise me. While none of them would be considered well kept, compared to my current state, I must have appeared homeless and potentially even diseased. My shirt and pants were torn all over, covered in blood stains and dirt. My hair was still wrapped in torn up grimey pieces of fabric that had begun to stink with sweat. They didn't seem to be focusing on that though, and instead were eyeing my facial features.
"It's him..." One of the men whispered before stumbling off his stool and making a break for the door. Two more stared at me with wide eyes before scurrying off after their friend. Gregorio though, simply glanced in my direction before returning to his dish.
"Yes, The names Gregorio. But I suggest you flee this town quickly, unless you're looking for trouble." His words sounded lazy, but oozed confidence, like a grizzled old warrior.
"What do you mean? why did those guys run away from me like that?" I asked curiously, searching around the taverna for any additional clues I might have missed.
Gregorio simply reached under his bar and pulled out a worn piece of parchment. Across it was a face. My face.
"You sir. Are a wanted man." His words rang hollow in my ears as I tried to consider what I was looing at. A wanted poster, that much was obvious. But why did it have my face of all things on it.
"Well, Desmond. No need to think about it. Ask the man, and quickly before some authorities come." Lucifer ushered me on, impatient to be away from this place.
"Why am I wanted? I've only just got here?" I questioned the old barkeep.
"Not sure. Only know what we heard from Agreus. He warned that Olympus has put a high price on your head. Which tells us little folk that you are someone dangerous. Someone to keep clear of." Each word sunk my heart lower and lower. How was I going to sneak through Veria and find Theseus if everyone in the damn city knew who I was?
"This ruins our plans, Desmond. You need to leave, return to Lilith." Lucifer prodded the pack of my head as if he was trying to forcibly turn me around. I resisted the urge to flee and pressed the barkeep.
"I need to know if Theseus came through here. I was told he might have come to see you. Can you help me?" I cut to the chase, ignoring any sense of tact or subtlety. The plump man's eyes widened as I spoke my dear friends name, then they dropped to the floor, guilt ridden.
"I tried to help him, I truly did. But Agreus and that damn father of his. They're too powerful. He put up a fight, but they took him about 4 days ago." He grimaced as if recalling an old painful memory. "They beat him fairly bad, pierced his hands into a board and lugged him off. I heard they took him to the temple at the top of the hill, northwest of town."
I ground my teeth tightly in my mouth as I fought back against the rage building in my chest. The Moirai had been right, he was in trouble. This Agreus and his father, they were certainly using him as bait. Bait for me. He was in pain because of me.
"Desmond, focus. We need to flee this place. You cannot scout if we are dead!" Lucifer was growing impatient, but I had more questions. If this was going to be our only stop on this journey, I needed it to be fruitful. So far I knew roughly who had taken him; Why, and where they had taken him. I only needed one more question answered, I needed a better idea of who we were dealing with.
"You mentioned this Agreus and his father. Who are they?" My voice was threateningly low, barely a whisper. Never before in my life had I spoken to another person this way. A piece of me felt sorry for this man who was doing his best to help me, while another deeper part of me enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing the startled expression snap over his eyes.
"You do not know of Agreus? Surely then you must know of his father, A-" Gregorio's voice caught in his throat as his face froze in fear. Sweat trickled down his scar as he stared behind me.
The hair on my neck stood erect, alerting me of the danger too late as always. An overbearing and overconfident voice bellowed out from behind me. "Ah, Desmond and Lucifer, come to play, just as my father predicted that you would. Turn around you filthy little mouse. I'd like to see you squirm before I cut you up."