Coffin & Feathers [Elisop]

Chapter 7

Following what had happened the day before, Aesop was now determined to go talk to the infamous hunter Eli Clark. Even though his job was to accompany lost souls to their final destination, he didn't feel like guiding Campbell to his own, not yet. No, he still needed to observe him before that to see if he deserved it.

Finally, despite this sudden decision, he couldn't go find the hunter without a plan, that would only be foolish and dangerous.

Survivors were allowed to go to the other side of the manor where the hunters resided if they were accompanied by another person. This rule was put in place for safety purposes because even though some hunters were quite friendly people, it didn't mean that all of them were, and some of them hated the survivors.

Unfortunately, it was unlikely that anyone would want to go with him and he himself didn't really want to ask for help. Victor ? Too fearful. Andrew won't come if Victor isn't there. As for Patricia, she would try to stop him if she learned that he wanted to see the diviner.

In the end, it seemed that there was only one solution left, to go alone.

The embalmer swallowed his saliva. He was in the hall separating the survivors' side from the hunters' side. His hands were sweaty and he kept putting back the lock of hair that was falling slightly over his face. Everything should be fine if he could avoid the hunters he had to watch out for.

And by beware of, he was thinking mainly of the Joker who sometimes had violent tendencies. The Violinist Antonio as well as Percy did not reassure him either, these two looking a bit like lunatics. The brothers Will, Violetta and Bane also made him uncomfortable because of their particular attributes. Other than those, Aesop felt he could handle the others. At least, he hoped he could.

Perhaps he had spoken too soon.

In front of him stood Luchino, surely one of the tallest and most imposing hunters in the manor. The two men, even though one of them looked more like a giant lizard, stood face to face without saying a word and simply looked into each other's eyes.

After a moment, it was the taller one who broke the silence.

"Hm... It's rare to see the embalmer on this side. Let me guess, you came to visit Eli ?"

How did he know about this, Aesop thought. He had vaguely heard about the accident that had left the hunter in this state and wondered if there was a possibility that he had gotten a talent for reading minds or something.

"I don't read people's minds, but I heard that this one was rather fond of you so it seemed obvious to me that you came for him."

"I-Indeed..." he said, stammering slightly.

He nodded slightly even though he didn't understand all of Luchino's words. What did he mean by fond of him ? He and the diviner had only spoken together once during a match and had rarely crossed paths in others since Aesop spent most of the time decoding alone and when he saved someone, he would set his coffin down in a rather remote area before heading off in the most opposite direction possible. 

"I don't talk to him often but from what I've heard from Joseph, he seems to rather like you." he said, looking briefly behind him as if to check if anyone was there. "His room is right in front of yours isn't it ? You shouldn't have too much trouble finding it in that case since the two sides of the mansion are practically identical."

That was the last thing the hunter said before tracing his path to what appeared to be the kitchen. It was an encounter that the embalmer had not anticipated at all and he didn't know if that was a good thing or not. He decided to forget about it for the moment and so, he made his way to the third floor.