Paragon

Remnants of the Great War [16]

PARAGON

Remnants of the Great War Arc [16]

Chapter 25 : Aura

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"Oh, you look dreadful, my dear."

Zelda Leora fingered her rings as Cynthia settled into the seat across from her. True to Zelda's observation, even the ever-present radiance of the Hano Grand Resort could not hide Cynthia's weariness. She fell back into her chair with a slump, and sighed.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"Well, no better time for this, then." Zelda lifted a bottle of dark silver liquid off the table and pulled off the crystal stopper, before carefully pouring some into the empty glass in front of Cynthia.

Cynthia watched her pour, the alcohol swirling like storm clouds within the glass.

"I like this one quite a bit," Zelda said, replacing the stopper. "Take a sip before I tell you what it is."

Usually Cynthia would be cautious, but she was so exhausted she couldn't even bother feigning concern. She lifted the glass to her lips and emptied a bit into her mouth. Immediately, her face wrinkled and she put her glass down a but harder than she intended to. She swallowed and rubbed her throat.

"It's spicy!" she said, cringing with one eye closed. "Is that whiskey?"

"Very good, Cynthia! You're exactly right. Aged in cask made from the spectral wood of a former Phantump, then finished with 0.02 milliliters of Salazzle poison. The poison is scraped directly from the tongue of an adolescent, when it's at its sweetest, and that takes with it a bit of its fiery mucus. Before it can congeal, it's blended with the whiskey in a centrifuge so its flavor gets distributed evenly. It's said that a single sip can add a whole year to one's life. What do you think?"

Cynthia opened and closed her mouth a few times, letting the taste work its way around her mouth. Since it was so spicy, she couldn't taste the whiskey at all before,but now she could, and it actually soothed her inflamed tongue. A smoky aftertaste wafted throughout her mouth, and she stifled the urge to cough. "It has an interesting flavor," she eventually said.

"I can't get enough of it," Zelda smiled. "But enough of that. Have some of these ocean cakes. And have a sugar stick with it."

Cynthia did as instructed and loaded up her plate. She took her bites slowly, and chewed even slower. Today's sweets were quite exotic, and she found herself disliking more items than she liked. Zelda let her take a few bites before speaking again.

"So. You must tell me what ails you, my dear. Miss Leora is here to lend you her ear."

"AZ," Cynthia said, dabbing at the corners of her mouth. "What else?"

"'What else,' indeed. These attacks on Interpol's bases have yet to abate. It's quite concerning that his cohorts seem to know exactly where they are. It's almost worse that they never take anything of much value. At least then, we'd have a lead on what it is they're after."

Zelda wasn't a part of the International Police, but Cynthia knew they were connected in some way. Maybe she worked for them in the past, but Cynthia had never asked. After knowing Zelda for so long, she'd come to expect that Zelda had eyes on everything.

"Actually about that," Cynthia said. "I've been thinking. If they're not stealing anything of value, then maybe the purpose of the raids isn't to procure anything in particular. Maybe the purpose of the raids is simply to whittle down Interpol's resources."