It's like I blink and there I am, back in an interrogation room. This one is much more of a dungeon than the one I'd been questioned in. And, in a nice change of pace, I'm NOT the one being questioned.
"Why have you come here to Asteria?" Adma begins her interrogation in earnest. We'd knocked him out after the battle, and he was just starting to come to.
His head is flat on the table, and he's snickering to himself. "For the Magician, of course. To steal some of his fancy little powers. You're a lucky lady, commander. You can harvest some wonderful things out of that one. Do you want me to show you?"
He looks directly at me when he speaks. Even in restraints, he gives off a threatening aura. I uncomfortably pull back my cloak, as if to hide myself from him.
"There will be no harvesting, thank you," Adma affirms. "How did you know the Nephilim would be in town? You must have arrived even before we did."
Leoni raises his head and looks upward, as if to stare at the sky. All there is above is the dark and dusty ceiling of the interrogation room.
"The moon. Don't you feel it?"
His tone softens. The malice leaves his face. He goes inert and his voice becomes robotic.
"The moon is crying out in pain. The Magician of the Moon has yet to be sealed. Without another Magician to perform the rites, she may never be. And so it will crumble. We won't even have to enact our plan to destroy the moon. It will destroy itself."
I grit my teeth."Got all that from your Flamekeeper, did you?" my hand reaches for my sword. I don't want to kill him, defenseless as he is. But I might not be able to help myself.
The Flamekeeper knows so much about us. He even referred to the Magician of the Moon as a she. So he knows about Rylin too, then?
"It is the role of a Guide to provide their Magician with an understanding of their destiny. The Flamekeeper's destiny must truly be to destroy the moon and all life upon it."
And my destiny is to save everyone. Isn't it? Sola. Isn't it!? You're my Guide, aren't you!?
I can almost hear her sigh.
"August, I am so sorry. But until you have a Vessel, I -"
Adma takes a step toward Leoni. He's been forthcoming enough, but his answers just spawn more questions in both of our minds.
"Where did you get those eyes from?"
Leoni perks up. He's excited by the question. An opportunity for him to gloat. Disgusting.
"Ohhh, you want to know about my eyes? I'm flattered," he muses. "They are beautiful, hmm?"
He tries to stand up from the table but he can't - his restraints are stopping him from doing so. He groans and returns to his chair.
"A little Nephilim named...oh, goodness. Silly me. I seem to have forgotten his name already. He wasn't much bigger than this little one you're parading about."
He leans back in the chair and gives me a wink. "Don't worry. He didn't need them."
I feel my body tighten. His gaze is violating. I instinctively reach to my shoulder and cradle my arm around my torso.
"I think I'll go," I say abruptly. "I'll wait outside, Adma."
I step out of the room, falling against the door as it closes behind me. I take a few deep breaths. I'm okay.
Humans are just as despicable as I've been warned. The thought of being harvested brings terror to my soul. If this man did it, who's to say other Nephilim haven't been harvested by other monsters like him?
Who's to say Kieran isn't being torn apart right now?
"He's still safe," Sola informs me quietly. "In fact, I can feel his energy much stronger than I could before. We must be closer now than we were at the castle."
I wait outside the room for about forty minutes. I'm indoors, so I can't see the sky, but I imagine it must be getting dark by now. The earth spends half of every day in darkness.
Eventually, Adma steps out of the room and looks at me with a somber smile. "He doesn't appear to know anything Kieran. And I believe him. He was only too happy to gloat about everything else."
I smile. "Thanks, Adma. You've been a big help."
She nods her head. "Get some rest, August Madera. Our guard will continue to search for your friend, and if anything should be discovered, I will have you informed immediately. You'll stay here tonight, if you don't have any objection?"
My eyes flicker. A full day and I haven't found Kieran yet. This might be the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other. Not like we have the opportunity to go on long trips in Little Moon Town often. I'd say it was rare enough for Kieran and I to ever be more than a mile away from me at any point in our lives.
Adma escorts me to where I'll be spending the night. Along the way, I have a burning question that I can't help but ask.
"Adma, you knew about Nephilim's wings. Not like the king did. He'd only ever heard of them...you've seen then, haven't you?"
She smiles to herself. "Yes. A few times, in fact."
"So this Mercury, he must have been special to you? And you were special to him?"
Adma opens the door to a room and shows me inside. She's thinking quietly.
"The first time I saw Mercury's wings was an accident. The second time, he wished to show me himself. And the third time, he...he was forced to reveal them. And they..."
I close my eyes. It's painful to even think about.
"Did he survive?"
"Yes. But I never saw him again."
I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. Thinking of what Mercury must have went through hits too closely to home.
"You knew. That's why you stopped the king. That's why you brought it up."
"Of course," Adma says. "To someone like him, it's a parlor trick. A story to tell others - I saw a Nephilim's wings. Right? But to you..."
I take a deep breath. "There are only two who have ever seen my wings. My mother, and my best friend. And there's one other I want to show my wings to, some day. Her name is Rylin. She's the one that I love. But..."
Adma closes her eyes. "Young love," she smiles. "I remember it well."
I look to Adma, uncertainty in my eyes. "I'd show you," I say quietly. "After everything you've done for me, I trust you. If it would help anything..."
Adma pats me on the head and ruffles my hair. Her icy heart seems to be melting.
"I appreciate that, August Madera, but I refuse your offer. You've no need to prove yourself to me. You owe me no such vulnerability."
I breathe a sigh of relief. I wasn't exactly eager to do it, but if I had to show a human, I'd rather it be her.
"Good night, August Madera. I will wake you if I hear any news."
"Not even going to offer me a warm meal?" I smirk.
"Should you desire one, I am happy to oblige. Though I never knew Mercury to have much of an appetite."
I chuckle. "Good night, Adma."