Elmer had never been so glad to return to the quiet state of Tooth and Nails Street. It was so peaceful now when he compared it to the eerie silence of the mansion and forest he had fled from. And he had been slowly finding himself fully relaxed until the hushed mood of another stuffed him with something of a frustrating feeling.
Why was she so quiet?
He led Patsy into the apartment and up the stairs, and as soon as they wandered into his room her silence filled him to the brim. But before he could make his frustration known, she spoke first.
"There was no use running," Elmer closed the door shut as she said, his eyebrows falling in ignorance of what she was talking about—that was until she added, "It did not chase after us." She took herself to the window, raised its shutter, and leaned on its sill while gazing up at the crescent of silver present in the starless night's sky.
It did not chase after us…? Elmer froze, dumbfounded.
He had noticed that much back then, so that was not what took precedence on why he had found himself taken aback, it was because if she knew it would not chase after them…
"Then why did you say we have to run?" He crossed over to Mabel where she lay on the bed, and with a low sigh his heart settled down at the sight of her pale face and hair bangs.
He took a match from its box, lit the halfway melted candle on the bedside table, then sat down beside his sister and brushed her bangs, before turning his gaze toward Patsy who was hunched over on the window.
Patsy sighed. "Because…" She broke off momentarily, but completed her words soon after. "I did not want to see it."
You did not want to see it…? Elmer was not any less dumbfounded. She needed to tell him more.
"What do you know about that thing? What exactly is it?" he questioned, his hand still gently stroking his sister's hair while his eyes remained on Patsy as he awaited answers.
"It was a Lost," she responded after a while.
"A Lost?" If she was answering him then why was his brain being filled with more questions? "What do you mean it was a Lost?"
Patsy let out a deep breath.
"Becoming an Ascender isn't all rainbows and sunshine, you know. It's not only the money that stops people from trying to become one. In fact, it rarely is." Elmer listened attentively as though he had returned to one of those classes Mistress Eleanor used to give at the orphanage. "If it was only money, people would just steal or take a loan or do something to get the elixirs, because they know they can earn twice as much once they become bounty hunters. The real reason why everyone in the city is not a bounty hunter is because they turn into that thing if they fail."
Elmer's chest squeezed and a chill swept upon his skin. "If they failed?" he muttered between his teeth.
"Yes," Patsy said. "Becoming an Ascender is a two-edged sword. On the bright side you gain mysterious strength and speed from the Gods, topped with magic spells or whatever that is. But on the other side you become a monster roaming the night without its senses." She stopped for a moment before adding, "So, are you still thinking about becoming an Ascender now that you know what will happen to you if you fail?"
Her voice was so low that Elmer could feel the night grow darker and colder at her words, but he had already been through a night worse than this one. He was not a stranger to this world despite his lack of knowledge about what undergoes in it.
He took his eyes to Mabel's face, his hand still gently stroking her hair.
Was that why she said it was dangerous…? Elmer remembered his and Patsy's discussion earlier during the day.
"How come you know all this?" Elmer questioned. "You're not an Ascender, are you?"
She does not seem to have any mysterious strength or speed, or is she hiding it…? Elmer thought for a moment.
"No," Patsy answered him. "I know because…" Her voice cracked and she abruptly stopped.
With her sudden hesitation, Elmer noticed that he had somewhat crossed a personal boundary for her, seeing as she had been willing to spew every other thing without any sort of relent.
But even though he'd love to leave her be, this was something he needed to know. If she had such knowledge on the world of the supernatural without being one, then maybe there was a way he too could learn how to get Mabel's soul back without having to become an Ascender of those loathful Gods.
"Because?" He reminded her that she had stopped, and she surprisingly picked herself back up.
"I know because…" She stopped again, and Elmer could glimpse her hands clenching hard on the windowsill, but still…
"Because?" he put in again, and this time it worked.
"Because of my father!" she voiced out strongly, and her breathing raced after she had managed to escape Elmer's chokehold.
Her father…? Elmer's eyes narrowed considerably as he had a sad assumption make its way into his mind after a few seconds of thought. Is it possible that she went through something similar to what I did…?
Elmer shook his head. He could not bring himself to ask her any more. If something of such had happened, then it was better to not touch on those sorts of matters. He, personally, would not like such. And sadly, it seemed the only option he still had left was to become an Ascender.
Elmer closed his eyes and the room turned silent, then suddenly…
"Woah!" Patsy exclaimed, startling Elmer confusedly away from the world beneath his eyelids. "I did not see her there. Who's that?" She hurried over and knelt before the bed where Elmer sat.
"My sister," Elmer answered with a tender smile after breathing himself back into calmness.
"She's beautiful. I always wanted bangs, do you think they would have been fitting for me?" Patsy turned over to Elmer, causing him to chuckle softly as she played with her frontal hair in an attempt to drape them over her forehead.
She had gone through an abrupt change from the mood she had been wallowing in just seconds ago, and it was such a great difference that it baffled Elmer.
Her eyes now had the same bright glint it had had during the day, completely hiding all the traces of the scared, frightened, and sorrowful lady he had been with in the woods.
And at the sight of Patsy's uplifted demeanor, Elmer found himself wishing he had the strength to be such a way.
"But," she spoke again as her play ceased, "why is she sleeping with her eyes open?"
Elmer's chest tightened, and the strength—her strength—that he wished for was nowhere to be found. He took his eyes away from Patsy and placed them on his sister, looking at how lifeless she had become.
"She's…" his voice quivered as he tried to say something. He closed his eyes for a moment, sighed, and tried again, "She's…" But still it was the same thing. He could not bring himself to say it.
"Something bad happened to her?" Patsy's tone went soft, and Elmer turned to see her looking at him with eyes filled with pity.
He hated pity. He did not like it one bit.
Elmer became irritated at her gaze and turned away from her.
"Is that why you want to become an Ascender?" She touched the exact place his heart was, and he could not keep himself silent any longer.
"Yes," Elmer answered. "If I become an Ascender, then maybe…" He trailed off.
"You know it's dangerous, right? After all I've said you should know that." Now, it felt like she was warning him, and that made Elmer snap slightly.
"Then what should I do?" he asked. "Should I just leave my sister like this? If it was you, what would you do? What would you be thinking of?"
"I would become one." Patsy did not hesitate with her reply. "I would become an Ascender and a bounty hunter and find a way to help her with the money. But that's me. What do you want to do?"
Elmer tiredly rubbed his hand across his temples, then he remembered his cap was still on his head, and he took it off immediately. "I want to be of help to Mabel, that's all I want to do."
"Mabel? Her name? She has such a lovely name," Patsy complimented as she took a glance back at Mabel, but it did nothing to brighten Elmer's mood, if that had been her intention. "What pathway do you have in mind?" she put in shortly after.
Elmer's eyes narrowed bemusedly. "Pathway?"
"Ah. I forgot that not everyone knows about that term." Patsy rose from her knelt down position and joined Elmer to sit on the side of the bed, then she turned her gaze toward the window and once again up at the moon. "Each God has their own pathway. When you become an Ascender you end up in one of these pathways. Basically you're becoming an Ascender for a certain God. So what I'm asking you in a simpler term is: which God do you want to serve?"
Serve…? It was such a laughable word. He did not wish to serve any of them, but…
"A pathway, huh?" Elmer smacked his lips in thought. No matter what he had learnt from Patsy on how this world works nothing still changed his initial reason for coming to this city. It was still the same. "I would join the God of Time's pathway," he replied after a while.
Patsy's eyebrows knitted softly in curiosity. "Why is that? Is it because you are in his city?"
"No," Elmer said. "If he really is the God of Time, doesn't that mean he has the power to tamper with time? I came to this city because of that. To enroll in the Church's college and find a way to make that possible for my sister. It's stupid, I know, but it was the only logical way I could think of. Learn about the Ascenders and save my sister."
"Learn about the Ascenders?" Patsy asked. "You never intended to be one?"
"I never wanted to," Elmer answered, "not until now, since it seems I'm left with no choice. I'll join his pathway and find a way to reverse time for my sister; take her back to who she used to be. That's my goal."
Patsy's brows softened, but she said nothing, she just stared at Elmer in something akin to the pity he hated; although, this time, Elmer felt she was still keeping things from him, things he surprisingly could not bring himself to ask about.
As long as it's not the God of Souls… Elmer thought to himself in spite. I could never bring myself to be an Ascender of his pathway no matter what…