A little startled Eryn turned around to notice Lily who was already
looking over the room. Eryn handed her the notes he had found by Melvile and
asked her to look over them while he preceded to look around. He didn't mention
that the two men, scientists or doctors or whoever they were; were intangible to
him. In the struggle that ensued only ended up with him getting chocked up
against a wall, before the two disappeared through it. Lily on the other hand did not mention to him
that she noticed a golden beetle as embroidery on the more distinguishable man
in the screen he was holding. She looked down at scarab on her finger, the
stone that formed its shell split open and tiny mechanical wings folded out.
She tried to cover it up using her other hand, dropping the research. She felt
hands grabbing her feat and covering her mouth as she was dragged through the
floor. Eryn turned to notice the disarray of papers, her wooden box on its side
on the floor, and Valma's sleeping form nestled in-between. He believed that
his usefulness had been spent and she continued onwards with her own goals.
As he gathered up the notes, he noticed that the box was
asking if he wanted to 'connect'. He first took this as a communication,
probably from Lily. Eryn had now gathered this was typical for her, to be this
self cantered and almost refused to answer on those grounds alone. His logic
prevailed, and he gingerly picked it up and noticed the only option was a yes
or a no. He looked over the box to see if there was an interface he could find
on the box to guide his answer. Defeated, he placed both his hands on the sides
of the box and under the thumbs he could feel raised nodules that responded to
his touch. He moved the answer to yes and the screen changed. Following it was
a picture of a two toned flower, with fuzzy white outer petals and crisp, sharp
inner yellow ones. It was described as a Parnos flower and only a few feet away
from him. He paced around the room searching through the liquid metal stains,
the blood splatters, and the utter chaos of the apparent ad-hoc autopsy. In a
smashed pot, on its side, was the Parnos flower. The box then asked for him to 'confirm',
which he did. The box opened a small opening in the front panel and outshot two
lengths of twine attached to ceramic needles, which lodged themselves into the
plant. It then 'confirmed connection' and asked again for confirmation. With
this last press, he noticed the plant's roots were connected to some sort of
light under the soil which was just peaking through. All of a sudden he felt
the burn of rope on his wrists as the rooms definition was lost. Shapes turned
to colours which turned to greyscale and then to black. He awoke to find
himself in the storage room of what
sounded like a busy shop.
The room was barely lit but from what he could see there
were two men arguing over something. Not wanting to draw attention to himself
after what had just happened to tried to listen in silence. However his arrival
had betrayed him and no sooner had he moved than so too did what was stored
around him in a almighty crash. The man on the left of the table which the two
figures both stood over, now carefully approached. He removed one of the boxes
to see Eryn half dazed and very confused.
Eryn recognised the attire this man, an Aeon Priest to be sure but it
hadn't seen a tailor or dressmaker recently. It was moth-eaten, ripped and
marred by dirt, but only at the edges, the damage must have been recent. There
were hastily sewn insignias of Hawk-Eyes on the inner lining. Although the
priest offered Eryn a helping hand up, Eryn was then instantly dismissed as uninteresting
when compared to his method of travel. Without introduction the priest asked
for any and all information about what was had just happened and the box. The
other man left by the table was a lot more cautious. He had piled the papers on
the table into a neat stack and had placed them under a book before turning around;
holding his dart thrower from behind his back.
Eryn had backed away from the priest now who had seemed to have had completely forgotten that
Eryn was still occupying the space. He was forced to move over to the table and
with a quick glance looked down at what the two had been looking over. The
writing that was visible form the sides of the book were calculations, theories
and scribbles notes. Most of it on the margins to a differently scrawled text,
the handwriting of Melvile. There were two options now for Eryn. That these men
were either working with the ones who were in Neave's house or perhaps something
far worse in his mind. He thought best to introduce himself, to see their
reaction, in hopes they would not recognise him. Their gaze never faltered. He
mentioned now more honestly his method of travel and that of Melvile, who he
noticed they knew of. He told them that a colleague of his had met Melvile
recently and possibly had research from him.
This he hoped was his bargaining chip. The man with the dart thrower holstered
and was stunned into silence. Eryn recognised his expression, the workings of a
man behind his eyes. After a few moments the priest pulled out the plant that
Eryn had arrived from, noticing the light that the roots were curled around and
fed into, while the other broke down in faint tears. He told Eryn that he had
believed for years that Melvile was dead. He was told of his death in detail, it
was a fact he had eventually made peace with. In those last few seconds of
revelation and unnoticed, the shop floor had gone quiet. There were creaks of
many heavy footsteps on floorboards, and the mumbles of quick conversation with
what presumably was the owner and a low voiced gentleman. Within seconds the
door burst open and five men appeared, brandishing weapons and ring tattoos on
their fingers.
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