Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Who are you?
Percy halted.
"It worked!"
Warmth spread through him , the Oath completing its function, percy paused mid-step , his twenty seconds march toward the source stopped cold.
"That actually worked."
"Good," the man said, lowering slightly now that Percy had stopped. "If not I would not have hesitated to put six holes in your head."
The warmth evaporated immediately. "Raise your hand slowly and no funny movement, I do not give chances ."
Percy swallowed. Cold spread down his spine in its place, sweat already tracking down his face, as he slowly raised his hands.
"Stay silent," the one next to the vendor said, her voice toneless, "and you’ll feel a hole in your leg."
Percy’s mouth opened before he could stop it. "W-What do you want me to say?"
Ronan watched from the inside, looking out at the alley and the three white-robed figures through Percy’s eyes.
"Did I walk straight into a trap?"
"I was too careless. I should have reported back the moment I saw him. I knew it then and I went in anyway."
The vendor spat. "Are you from the Cursed Bloodlines of Curtiana?"
The gun remained level at Percy’s head. The man’s voice dropped lower.
"I advise you not to lie. Or hide half truths." He glanced briefly to his left. "She is of the Shade principle. If you know what that means , don’t try anything. Any lie you tell will be the end of you. I will not endure lies." He spoke the last part with disgust.
Percy spoke the moment he finished. "No. I’m not."
"Not from what? Say it in full."
Percy swallowed. "I’m not from the Cursed Bloodlines of Curtiana."
The Shade nodded. "Truth."
Ronan remembered the name. Lyro or Craig had mentioned it at some point , he couldn’t remember exactly when.
"Which cult do you belong to? Answer in full."
"I don’t belong to any cult."
The man raised a brow. The Shade answered. "Truth."
A pause.
"A stray then." The man’s eyes narrowed. "Who hired you?"
Ronan assessed the situation rapidly from the inside.
"Run up the wall? No , I can’t move fast enough to dodge a bullet at this range. My minor wound healing won’t do anything about a shot to the head. Cooperation is the only option right now. Find the opening within that. But the Shade is the problem . I cannot lie at all."
"Speak," the man ordered.
"I don’t entirely understand the term stray," Percy answered carefully. "My understanding is that it refers to Haunted who don’t belong to any organisation. Beyond that I’m not certain."
"Truth," the Shade said, disbelief audible in her voice.
The man with the gun frowned. "What kind of nonsense. who the hell are you, really?"
Percy paused. Then, instead of answering, he asked.
"Who are you guys ?"
The man’s expression soured immediately. "We are the ones asking questions here. Not you."
The Shade suddenly answered.
"We are from the Church of Serionah. The Lady Goddess of the Yania Family."
The man turned back to Percy sharply. "What are you?"
Percy sighed.
The man blinked. "Hey, what are you..."
"I’m from the Eclipse Syndicate." Percy kept his voice even. "You can verify it. I have a badge. And you can confirm it too i believe." He looked toward the Shade.
"Truth," she said immediately.
She looked toward the man. "Put it down."
He held her gaze for a moment, then slowly lowered the revolver. "I’m keeping it drawn. For safety."
"Understood," Percy said.
The tensed atmosphere was now visibly lowered between them.
"What were you doing here?" the Shade asked.
Before Percy could answer, the third figure , the one who had said almost nothing , pointed at him.
"You’re cursed, aren’t you."
It wasn’t a question.
Percy looked at him, confused about what he waa talking about, but remembered about his sensation being something akin to a curse .
"I’m not certain if it’s a curse exactly," Percy said. "But I do have something like that."
The man with the gun studied him while Percy explained it vaguely, carefully about the sensation.
The Shade brought her hands to her mouth. "A poor soul," she said quietly her hands moving to make a gesture Percy recognised to be a gesture of the faith of Serionah, since the nun in the orphanage he was from used it often , which he and the others couldn’t use since they weren’t baptised yet.
The man with the gun finally seemed to let something ease in his posture, thiugh his Haunted form remained active. "That is genuinely unlucky, kid." He stepped forward. "Do you have a firearm on you?"
Percy nodded, as he gently waved his coat away to show the holster and the bullet belt.
The man looked at it for a while , before he gestured with his eyes toward the disturbed ground at the end of the alley. "I presume that’s what you sensed?"
Percy turned and looked at it. "Yes."
The man glanced toward the quiet one. "Walter. Check it."
Walter nodded and produced a small shovel, digging with careful precision until the soil gave way and revealed what was underneath.
A red finger lay in the earth.
Walter produced a metal case and sealed it inside. The moment it closed Percy felt the sensation cut off entirely.
"You don’t seem surprised," the Shade observed. "Have you encountered one before?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"One."
She considered that. "You said earlier you weren’t certain what a stray was. Does that mean you’re a new recruit?"
"Yes, miss."
"Cindy. Call me Cindy"
Percy nodded "Yes miss Cindy I’m a new recruit . You may call me Percy."
"A pleasure Mr Percy"she smiled, her tone warmer.
"And you can call me Heniston" the vendor spoke.
"Mr Heniston a pleasure"
Heniston nodded as he asked. "Whom are you under?
Percy was confused for a moment. "Whom am I under?"
Heniston nodded "Yes the one incharge of you in your missions."
Percy shook his head. "I’m not sure. I haven’t done any missions yet."
Heniston sighed. "I see." He tapped the gun once, thinking. "How about this , who helped you with your integration ceremony?"
Percy immediately thought of Lyro. Then of Charles. He settled on Charles.
"I was helped by Charles," he said.
The man and Walter both looked toward the Shade. Her eyes had gone wide.
"Charles," she said slowly. "As in ... Charles Kaerleston?"
A pause.
"The Headless Jester of November?"
