The clocktower chimed loudly in the distance, and it was clearly visible to her astounded gaze as they stepped through the streets of the city of swordforging and witchcraft. Bells rung from carriages that paraded through the roads, picking up those who wished to travel elsewhere without the ache of their feet.
Omen and Aelem were happy to travel by foot, however, and they soon came to a building sparse of decor. Instead of a door, a thick satin-curtain had been draped, as if to block out any semblance of sun from the interior building.
"Me and witches tend to not fare well when in the same room." Omen spoke softly. "This is something you'll have to go into yourself. I'll be waiting out here in case you need help, so just call out my name and I will arrive by your side."
Aelem wondered why of all things, Omen would have hesitated to appear before a witch, when his heart didn't seem to have apprehensions towards jumping into battle. She shook the thought away from her mind, and stepped through the curtains into the dimly-lit room of the diviner.
Dozens of multi-coloured glass floats had been hung from the ceiling by fishnets that stretched over the entirety of the roof. Lamplight streamed down from lamps hung from wooden rafters high above, and Aelem could clearly sense the chill of a presence greater than her own before her.
All that was afront to her, however, was a beautiful young woman sitting behind a desk. Her hair was a faint carrot-orange colour, and her eyes were of sparkling emerald regard. As she glanced up at Aelem, she smiled.
"You've come for a divination, haven't you?" The woman spoke softly. "You've a need to find something, I'm sure."
Aelem was taken aback as she responded to the woman.
"Can you really help me with such a thing?" Aelem wondered with widened eyes.
The young woman before Aelem set down her quill, spilling a small amount of jet-black ink upon the parchment as she looked up.
"Do you know how divination works, young miss?" She asked of Aelem with a gentle smile.
Aelem shook her head simply in response.
"I don't know much, I'm sorry." She said, her hands falling at her waist as if to explain her frail, bashful demeanor. "Would you care to explain it to me?"
The young woman gestured towards the seat in front of her desk, and Aelem sat down in turn. It was soft, like sitting upon a cushioned cloud, although the aged legs creaked underneath her light weight.
"My name is Juni." The woman said, drawing her fingers across the edge of her desk as if polishing its fine surface. "As you well know, having walked in here with intention in your eyes, you know I am what is known as a 'Witch'- a diviner of information."
Aelem nodded along as she listened in.
"My purpose is certainly not the grandest, nor is it the most magical. In terms of 'skill', it could be described simply as gathering context clues, although on a much larger scale." She grinned. "Perhaps it would be better to call me an 'investigator of the world'."
"So through divination, you can see the entirety of the world?" Aelem spoke with wondrous eyes.
"Exactly. Although, what use that has is wholly up to the 'investigative' skill of the witch. Information means nothing if you can't use it to find what you're seeking." Juni shook her head. "And as far as divination goes, it's only good for so many things. I can see the events of your life, but to use that information to tell your future would only be guesswork on my part."
"So your usefulness is in the present moment?"
"Precisely." Juni smiled.
Aelem glanced up at the ceiling. She could feel her heart quiver, although for what reason it did so was unknown to her. Perhaps as it was listening in, the prospect of its death shook the Dragon to its core. With the seal still in place upon her neck, it could do no harm, although the effects of its seething pride was still apparent.
Aelem slipped the hood off of her head, her neck bare to the air as she met Juni's gaze. The witch's eyes widened as she saw the obsidian-black patches of scales that had grown like ivy upon Aelem's skin, but she shook away any apprehension as she smiled. To see a Leviathan before her eyes meant only one thing.
"So then, Omen must be with you…?" Juni smiled softly, as if she had gathered the entirety of the situation in an instant.
That much was expected of a witch.
"You know of him?" Aelem spoke as she nodded to confirm Juni's suspicion.
Juni's eyes furrowed, her gaze turning towards the curtain that separated the quiet room from the bustling outside world.
"Who else would refer a Leviathan to a witch but him?" She muttered underneath her breath.
Slowly, she reached underneath her desk, her hands settling on the sharpness of steel.
"Omen!" She shouted out.
Sheepishly, he stepped inside the room, small bouts of sunlight streaming into the room.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He smiled nervously.
Her expression was not so amused. Hurling an object over her shoulder, a silver streak shot through the air in an instant. Omen reached his hand upwards without flinching, catching the object in his hands. The sharp steel sunk into the flesh of his fingertips, trickles of blood settling upon the lined maze of his palms.
"You would leave behind your child?" She spoke coldly, having stood up from where she was sitting with an aggravated sharp breath.
"I wish you would stop saying that…" Omen sighed, ruffling through his thick head of hair.
Aelem's heart dropped in an instant, as if it had been chained to a heavy weight, and thrown into the depths of a cold ocean torrent. Her gaze fell to the floor, softened and blank as she let out a quiet sigh. Although, her feet had been enveloped in a white, furry warm blanket that seemed to bob up and down with each breath it took.
"You were happy enough to call her your child when we played around as kids, so why have you suddenly matured out of that behaviour?" Juni sighed as she fell back in her seat. "Is life really fun when you're so empty…?"
"By child… do you mean this…?" Aelem asked with wondrous eyes as she lifted up the fluffy ball of a beast.
In her hands hung a small creature with sharp, pointed ears, and cloud-white fur that had been stained black in small patches like soot.
"That's Cael," Juni smiled, "My child- although that's just a silly little fantasy. She's a Gryphon- although her wings have long since fallen away."
It was not the sort of aesthetic that Aelem had expected of a creature with such a grand name. It looked almost like a cat, although she could see where its wings once were- protrusions of bone jutting out from its skin where the nerves would have connected.
"We should get started, shouldn't we?" Juni spoke with furrowed eyes.
"The price is as always?" Omen asked in turn.
"For you it is double."
"What-?" He exclaimed.
"Triple."
Omen closed his mouth right afterwards, realising the lengths of the witch's spite. She was not a simple witch. Rather, she was the most wicked of them all.
"I'll need your hand, miss." Juni smiled as she extended her own. "It's wholly necessary, for me to feel the blood within your veins."
As she gave over her hand, she asked the witch simple questions.
"What will my blood tell you?"
"Blood holds all of our recent memories, and like a river to a rock, our veins are etched with those remembrances over time." Juni smiled. "Anything that relates to your Dragon will be visible to me, and with that information, I'll have a much more pleasant time finding its name."
"If it's this simple, why have the Paragons killed the Leviathans up until now…?"
"Fear is much greater a driving force than hope." Juni shook her head. "Despite that, it's also not as if the followers of the Nephilim are privy to trusting the words of the witches- those who follow the divine teachings of the Gods."
"Do the Nephilim hate the Gods as well?"
"The Nephilim don't like anyone in particular." She said as she shot a gaze towards the sandy-haired man standing in the shadows, who looked away just as quickly.
Time passed, and as Juni had gathered the information reaped from Aelem's veins, she had a confused look on her face.
"It's much harder, seeing as how you've remembered nothing…" Juni sighed. "Not even your veins can recall your past… it's interesting."
Suddenly, her eyes grew hollow, and she grinned slightly.
"There it is." She spoke suddenly.
Omen had been leaning against the back wall of the room, but he suddenly stood himself straight as he walked forward.
"You've found the name?" He exclaimed, trying desperately to keep his calm composure.
"The Dragon's name has been worshiped readily…" Juni spoke with a cold tone of voice as she gripped Aelem's hand tighter. "He was one of power, it seems… one revered by many others. His name has been engraved upon a stone tablet, but where…?"
Suddenly, her breaths grew shrill, choked up within her throat as she let go of Aelem's hand. From her hollowed gaze, dark-red liquid began to seep down her cheeks. She had begun to grip Aelem's hand so tight that it had turned a bright-purple colour. Aelem bit at her lip as she held back sharpened breaths, but inquired towards Juni regardless.
"Are you all right?" Aelem exclaimed, reaching her other hand towards Juni's cheek.
Omen had rushed to her side, holding her straight up so that her bloodied tears would continue to spill away from her eyes. Yet, despite it all, Juni grinned.
"Yours is an interesting one." Juni spoke excitedly. "Even in the place of a 'memory', there's aggravation lining its existence."
The colour in her eyes returned, and she quickly wiped the blood away from her cheeks, smearing the vermilion colour across her pale skin.
"In a set of ruins, far-west of here, there's a stone tablet buried deep within. It was likely a place used for worship." Juni spoke softly. "This means, however, that the Dragon whose will was engraved upon your heart was one that was immeasurably powerful. I would tread with caution, when exploring such a place."
As soon as Omen had made sure Juni would have been okay, and tucked her away within her bed in the room above the parlor, he stepped back outside to stand beside Aelem.
"A set of ruins, huh?" He sighed.
"That woman and you… you have a history together?" She asked of him, a blushed expression upon her face as she glanced to the side.
"What, is my lover worried about my past relationships?" Omen grinned as he ruffled a hand through her vermilion hair.
"Vassal." She reminded him.
He let out a soft breath, and looked up towards the bright-blue sky free of mist and clouds.
"Let's get going, before the sun sets."