Twelve Realms

Chapter 16

Aerid

Lucia gingerly steps through what I think was a window at some point, but the glass is long gone and the hole where the window used to be has started to crumble. 

"Are you sure you don't want to come in here?" she calls over her shoulder.

"Yep," I say, flatly. 

This has to be the twentieth time she's asked me to accompany her, and this is only the third house we've been to. There are at least fifteen, probably more, and that's not counting the wreckages that don't technically count as "houses" anymore, which she'll almost certainly want to look at. You think she'd get the hint by now that I have no interest in looking in any of these houses. 

At first I thought that she wanted me to help because she was scared of going in alone, but I realized that's not it. She tackles these investigations with professionalism, attacking them with reluctant but unwavering determination. I think she might just be lonely. Which strikes me as odd, because she grew up in a temple, where I would assume they spend a lot of time alone worshipping the gods or whatever. And she claims to have such a high and mighty connection with Dea, so why does she need my company?

I certainly don't want hers. I can say without a doubt in my mind that she's the most annoying person I've ever met. She's this weird combination of superiority, where she acts like she's better than me because she's from the Temple of the Winter River or has a connection with Dea or something, and childishness, where everything here seems new or novel or interesting to her, and she knows practically nothing about what the Realm is like. Not the landscape and certainly not the people. She still seems to think that everyone will respect her and trip over themselves to help her because she's from the Temple. Most people here don't respect people from the Temple of the Winter River, they fear them. They fear them because they represent the end of life. The eternia flower she keeps pinned to her lapel isn't going to make people want to talk to her.

But my annoyance with Lucia isn't the only reason I choose to not go into the houses. For starters, who knows if there are soldiers using these houses as a camp? I'm just going to hand myself over to them. 

I can also use this time as a way to check the area to make sure there are no wanted posters pinned to the trees without Lucia seeing me do it. I can't imagine Lucia allying with the king to turn me in if she found out I was technically a criminal, but she seems way too uptight and obsessed with following the rules to just do nothing if she found out. She probably wouldn't turn me in (I hope), but she'd definitely stop wanting to work with me. Not that it would be a bad thing, but it would significantly diminish her chances of finding the Trickster, and the longer the Trickster remains at large, the worse and worse my personal chances of being able to stop living like a fugitive get. Besides, I can't guarantee that she wouldn't turn me in, and it's not a risk I'm willing to take. 

I find two wanted posters in the area. Neither of them are particularly close to the house, but they are definitely visible from it, and I'm not taking any chances. I shred them into strips which I'll use as a firestarter later. 

When I'm sure that there are no remaining wanted posters within sight, I sit down on a rotting tree stump not far from the entrance. I can't see Lucia looking around in the house, but I can definitely hear her. Is she always this loud, or is it just because the floors of these houses are so cluttered?

Another reason why I shouldn't have agreed to help her. She pays no mind to the fact that in being loud she's risking attracting people. Not just the king's soldiers, but also outlaws. There tend to be fewer of them in this area, just because there are barely any people who live around here, but it's entirely possible that there are some lurking in the area, just waiting for an unwitting traveller to wander by. The numbers of outlaws only grow as the king continues to raid villages. But then again, just because Lucia is naive, it doesn't mean she can't handle herself. She's not defenseless, she'd probably stand a better chance against outlaws than I would. Except that she'd probably try to reason with them first, to command respect with her status from people who have no respect for anyone. 

Maybe I was wrong to bring her here. I seriously doubt that these houses haven't already been picked apart by the king's men, looking for the exact same thing Lucia is. Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea where the Trickster could be, but this seemed like a good start, and it's still possible that the Trickster moved in after the soldiers did their raids. But it's not like he wouldn't be able to hear her coming, with the clamor she's making. 

Honestly, maybe I should just leave her here. She's probably more of a risk than she is an asset, and I can't be doing her that much good anyway. She'll manage without me, and I'll be in much less danger without her around. She'll probably be in there for another five minutes at the very least, which leaves me plenty of time to slip away unseen. If I travel through the treetops, she probably won't even be able to track me. She's not from this realm, she doesn't know that people climb through the trees to get around. 

But I can't help but feel a little bit bad for her. She's been given this giant, impossible task that not even the great goddess herself could solve. And she's so determined to finish it, to do what literally everyone in the Twelve Realms has tried and failed to do. She may be annoying, but she doesn't mean me any harm. And I've barely helped her at all. 

I guess I can stay for now. Just for a little bit longer.