The Call of Nys #5 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

21 - W A V E R L Y

True to his promise, Zors brought Waverly to the place where she could rest and be beyond Hekate's reach.

In order to prevent a case of future compromise in security, possibly from one of The Balderdash, he alone was to take her there. She first said goodbye to Ghost, then gave an apology for not being able to bring him his memories. Unfortunately, he was not amongst those whom Isadorios had chosen to receive his memories. She had no prior knowledge that the Chay could make such a decision, especially when she had failed to be specific about names. Though she suspected that Zors purposefully left out that bit of information as an excuse to validate why he got his memories and many others did not.

But Ghost did not seem to care much about it. He was simply glad that she made it out of The Loathe albeit the influx of Duke Fletcher and his mindless goons, who caused a stir wherever they went. It made Waverly feel terrible that she was leaving him to deal with the instigators.

"Oh, pay no mind to that!" Ghost had dismissed. "It is now Zors's obligation to handle excesses of the quest he sent you on. Besides, there was never a guarantee that you would return the same way you left."

Unable to argue, she had given a solemn nod and bade him a heartbroken farewell. He, too, was not allowed to pay her any visits nor find out where she would go as part of said security measures, mostly because she trusted him the most. Until Zors came by himself to retrieve her, no soul would ever discover her whereabouts, not even Reek.

The walk to freedom was tiring and long, and she was astounded by the vastness of The Coath because new scapes kept on presenting themselves, as if someone stood in the horizon and paid them out bit by bit as one would do a long line of rope.

As she walked behind Zors, her mind strayed back to Pamola. The Succubus had not only shown mannerisms that were unusual for her nature, but also thrilling ability. The fact that a simple touch could return forgotten memories made her wonder if, perhaps, Pamola was as powerful as even Isadorios. What Waverly had seen was no beautiful picture, but it opened her eyes to a surprising fact - she knew Pamola. Not in the way one would know a friend, or a lost belonging, but as she would recognize the face of a random stranger that she had seen twice in a row. Once, long ago, Pamola was one of a few of her kind that had attacked Waverly whilst on a journey.

And what was worse? It was she who hacked the creature in two, thereby banishing her to Nys.

Waverly could not exactly tell which felt uneasier; that Pamola chose to resurface that particular memory, or that she had been vulnerable enough for the creature to take revenge, but the latter had chosen not to. It was strange, but then again, being in Nys was punishment enough for anyone. After falling into Pamola's pool, she realized that her encounter in the strange jungle had felt a whole lot different than anything Hekate had been whipping up. Whether it were the result of her imagination or not, she had felt real again; alive, and back to the world. It felt as if Pamola somehow restored her to life, but partly, so that her consciousness coexisted in both realms at the same time.

Then came the idea that, perhaps, the Succubus was indeed capable of restoring life albeit for a short moment.

She suddenly began to yearn to jump into the pool again. Not only had she been given the chance to see Judson one more time, he heard when she called out to him. If only she could reach out again, she could tell him where she was, and he would definitely come find her.

All of a sudden, she began to doubt her decision to follow Zors.

Just how long would she hide from Hekate?

Certainly the day would come when the goddess would either wringe it out of someone, or use her powers to locate Waverly herself. It seemed a better alternative to return to Pamola and send a message to Judson than to cower away in some hidden place, like a spineless bug.