Mᴜᴛᴀɴᴛ Aᴘᴏᴄᴀʟʏᴘsᴇ 6: Tʜᴇ Vᴀʟʟᴇʏ

24 || 𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐎𝐄𝐒

The Shores

Walking alongside each other, Vv, Cormac, Vasari, and Duke are strolling the shores and property areas of Liberty Lake, where the Shorians live inside the lake houses and catch lots of fish. Here, they will locate Parzival, the leader of the Shores. He is the only one who knows about Lilac, the young woman mentioned in Zoey's journal entries.

"So, where do we go from here?" Vincent asked Cormac.

"We just need to find his house. It's close to one of the beaches." Core said, stopping in his tracks and letting out a sigh. "I'm gonna fly ahead and see if this is the right spot." He opened up his wings and lifts off from the ground.

Vv, Vasari, and Duke glance at each other as they wait patiently for instructions while standing on the ground. This provided them a brief opportunity to survey their surroundings, observe a few people strolling around the neighborhood, and enjoy a clear view of the lake with a large number of houses on the opposite shore. For anyone who looked at the body of water, a few areas of dazzling lights were created by the sunshine reflecting off the lake.

After a few short minutes, Cormac landed in front of his friends, folding his wings behind his back.

"So?" Duke proceeded his friend.

"He's available. Come on." Says Cormac, gesturing to his friends to walk further down the road until they found a house with a cabin-like appearance. Right away, Core knocked on the door to notify the Shores leader of his arrival. "Parzival? You here?"     

The door with a sign that says 'Welcome' is opening up and standing on the other side of the door is the leader himself. "Cormac." Parzival says, seeing the other three friends standing behind him. "What brings you guys here?"

"We need to speak with you about something regarding the Arrows." Cormac answers him. "May we come in?"

The expression on Parzival's face is enigmatic and appears to be gray. He seemed dejected. "Sure." He replied, opening the door wide open to let his guests into his house which he lives in alone. At first glance, Vv noticed there was a bunch of junk and dirty clothes, and other items scattered on the floor and placed on different pieces of furniture. "Sorry for the mess. I'm trying to clean up..."

"Uh huh..." Duke mumbled while watching Par lead his companions to the living room. There, the couches and coffee table were both free of clutter. Around those things, everything else was disorganized. He and the rest of his friends had a seat and together, they watch Parzival pour four glasses of crystal clear water.

"What did you want to talk about?" Par asked.

"Well," Cormac began. "I wanna be straightforward." He paused, watching his friend get comfortable on the other couch, leaning on the armrest. "Your sister, Lilac. When was the last time you heard from her?"

Parzival scoffed at that question. "My sister is dead to me."

"How so?" Vv asked him, watching Par reach for his cup of coffee on the lamp stand.

After hearing his sister's name he just felt like shutting off but if his friends really wanted to know what had happened, he was going to give them the information he knew. Honestly, Par's sister is really dead to him, not just family-wise but also physically and mentally. Like she doesn't exist anymore. "I don't know about her whereabouts or anything." He says, his tone indicating he hardly cares.

"But do you know about her and Zoey's friendship?" Duke asked the leader. "Was she aggressive?"

"Lilac has always been aggressive-- well, she had anger issues and is a total narcissist." Said Parzival, taking a few sips of his warm, sweet beverage. "I know nothing about Zoey, though."