The Four Chimes

Chapter 22 - LERA

"So, were you expecting Faro to kill herself?" I asked as I mixed the cheese with a spatula. Four different types of cheeses... My mouth was watering already.

"No," Evo said. "Not at all. She was so happy. She had just had Esfea, and even though her husband was a total ass she didn't care. She would have died over and over again for that kid."

"Wouldn't all mothers?" said Kurie.

"You'd be surprised," said Evo. My thoughts skipped to my own mother. She was probably closing up shop right now. It had been so long since I'd seen her. But at least she raised me well. I mean, yes, I wasn't exactly a model citizen. But she tried her best. And she put food on the table and taught me about the ups and downs of life; that was more than a lot of mothers ever did.

"Hey, are you done preheating the oven?" asked Evo.

"Yes," replied Kurie.

Evo turned to me. "Are you done with the cheese?"

I nodded. It wasn't a perfect mix, but it would still taste great.

"Great," she said, putting the bread boat and the cheese into the oven. "It'll be done in a few minutes."

Kurie cleared his throat. "So do you know anything about Faro's job? Janie?"

"She loved her job." Evo sighed. "It was her life. To a flaw. Some days she would work overnight. She was exhausted. But I think she loved the exhaustion. She would always come home tired, but she would still be smiling."

"Did you live here together?" I asked.

"No, but I popped by quite often to help her out with Esfi every once in a while. I think she felt embarrassed that I came over to help. She was always the kind of person who never took help from anyone. That was probably why work was so stressful for her."

"Did she mention any projects going on at work?" asked Kurie.

"Not much. Some research on how chaita crystals work."

"What do you know about that?"

"She was really fascinated by them. Obsessed with them. How they served as conduits through which the world's energy flowed. How they were formed. It's the one thing science can't explain, you know. Why those crystals, and not sapphires or rubies or amethysts. I mean, sure there are talismans made from other crystals, but that's more superstition than anything." I would know; I sold them in my store.

Evo looked down at the floor. "She was forced to destroy so many chaita crystals for her research. She hated doing it. The second a chaita crystals breaks, its crystal structure does too and it's useless. But she found a way to break a chaita crystal without disturbing its crystal structure. It was amazing. That was about a month before she died. It was the last thing she did before going on maternity leave."

"Is that all you know?" I asked.

"Yes," said Evo. "About her job, at least." Evo seemed lost in thought for a few moments; I didn't want to disturb her. "Oh. Can you two help me set the table? It's forks on the left, knives on the right, spoons on the outer right, and, well, plates in the middle. Glasses directly above the knife, and the pitcher near the middle but shifted to the right a bit. You got that?"

Kurie and I nodded. "What the fuck," I mouthed to him. He shrugged.

After we had finished setting the table, Evo looked everything over and gave a satisfactory nod. Then she took the bread and the cheese out of the oven, pouring the hot cheese into the bread boat. It slowly oozed into the bread as tendrils of steam reached all the way to the ceiling.