The Peculiar Alchemist

49 || Pitifully Naïve

There were just so many things Kellen had to be mindful of, so many things he needed to remember, and even more things that needed to be done. Sometimes he barely has any time for himself, and other times he tends to forget that he's not actually Agnes' helper. It sure did feel like it most of the time, though.

He's just given so many tasks lately.

Finding Marc's father was simple enough, Kellen already knew all about his involvement with the cult and all, and now Marc knew where his father spent most of his time after he allegedly disappeared. Getting his father out of there was not something Kellen was responsible for, nor did he care much about the matter. This task is done, and Marc got exactly what he asked for. His father's whereabouts.

But did Kellen get a thank you? Nope.

He only got more things thrown at him. Dealing with his grandmother's whims was a challenge by itself, keeping up with the cult was a headache he'd like to get rid of, and the lies that keep piling up were fun at first, but he is slowly getting tired of juggling everything.

There's also the fact that he told Aubrey that he'd find a way to revive Sammy who was killed by none other than Terrance Abbott himself – how spectacular. The odds of that were so slim, Kellen couldn't help but laugh about how it actually happened.

Sammy himself was proving to be a little bit of a problem.

There was no doubt in Kellen's head that Sammy knew most of the secrets he kept – how much he knew was a mystery, but he seemed to know quite a bit – and his request to find the necromancer who was controlling him was just unexpected. Of all the things he could have asked for, he decided to ask for that.

Thing is, Kellen knew who that necromancer is, but he wasn't planning on telling Sammy anything. Not yet, anyway. It's best if he doesn't know for now.

Kellen is just really tired of dealing with all this, and he barely ever gets a break.

Not too long ago, he had to deal with a few necromancers that were scoping the area near his grandmother's cottage. They were wondering about what happened to their missing fellow members.

It wasn't because Briar cared about what happened to them, but because she worried that if they had died, then the ghosts of her dead members would talk. There was no doubt that these necromancers were trying to remove any traces of their cult by luring these ghosts away, but Kellen had no idea who they actually feared would interrogate these ghosts.

As far as they knew, nobody around Aubrey could communicate with the dead with the exception of Toby, but he hasn't been around much lately. Toby was too busy practicing necromancy with Vincent, and that's another thing Kellen was dealing with.

Toby and Vincent.

He was leaning on a wall as he watched the two discuss the different ways a ritual could be done, and Kellen could have contributed to that conversation by giving them some much needed tips, but he kept his silence as he let them continue. While Kellen did cause Toby to get into this whole thing, the help he was providing now was the bare minimum.

Unbeknownst to the two, Kellen was a lot more knowledgeable than he lets on and the two of them might be able to help him get to Briar. That's the only reason why he was there.

He was using them.

Vincent could feel the watchful eyes on him, but he ignored them as he focused on explaining the ritual to Toby. "This one is a little bit harder than the other ones. Put your hand here."

He grabbed Toby's hand and guided it to a certain spot at the edge of the ring that formed the outer part of the ritual. Kellen twitched in annoyance at how inaccurate that position was, and how inexperienced both of them seemed.