A Chat with a Spider

The very next thing that happened was Tienne snatching the keystone off the counter and darting off to the other side of the shop to pore over the freshly-altered stone. She talked to herself in a low voice, evidently as fascinated by this new discovery as she was unwilling to share its secrets.

This left Ash standing at the counter with Noctus, as the beastkin woman watched Tienne with great amusement.

“You didn’t actually answer my question,” Ash said.

“Didn’t I?” Noctus asked, voice dripping with faux offense. “You asked why I knew about the keystone, and this is why.”

“I asked how you found out about it, not why, and you conveniently left that part out.”

“An honest mistake, I’m sure,” Noctus said, with a smile that confirmed it was anything but.

“You’re hiding something,” Ash said, eyes narrowed.

“Just part of the business, Miss Assistant. Nothing to worry about, I promise.”

Ash let that sit for a moment.

“So what, the alchemy thing is a front for dealing in information?”

“Oh no, not at all. Alchemy is my passion. All this is just a way of earning a little extra money and helping the cause. Have you met Lady Solenia, by the way? Very nice woman.”

“Yeah, when she actually gives straight answers. I can see why you two are friends.”

“You’re a funny one. I like you,” Noctus said, smiling broadly. She probably meant it to be friendly, but the fangs complicated the image somewhat.

Ash almost ended the conversation there, before she realized that Noctus had changed the subject again.

“Wait, no, that’s not what I was asking,” Ash said, shaking her head clear. “How does an alchemist wind up informing for a super-secret Valkyrie order?”

“Surprisingly easily, as it turns out,” Noctus said, shrugging both with her shoulders and back-legs. “I do love my work, but it can get rather boring around here.”

Ash considered asking her to elaborate, but she suspected that Noctus would do so regardless of whether or not she was asked to. This suspicion was proven correct immediately.

“Alchemy is a wonderful pastime, I assure you. So many fascinating mixtures and reactions to discover, so many creative solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had. Unfortunately, much of that nuance is lost on most folk. They look at me and just see someone who can whip up a potion to make them smarter, stronger, or to cure their husbands of…performance issues. That last one is quite common. Serves me right for making such effective brews.”

Noctus punctuated this remark by flashing a mischievous grin at Ash, who blushed furiously.

“Point is, there’s little enough intellectual stimulation to go around. One thing there was plenty of was gossip. Oh, people do love to talk, especially when they’re trying to justify a rather intimate purchase to themselves. So, I started learning things, far more than the people doing the talking probably intended. One day, a very nice elven woman in red armor paid my little shop a visit, and offered me some extra coin to tell her if I learned anything particularly interesting. So, now all I do is make an effort to get people talking. It really isn’t much difference to me, and it’s a great deal of fun.”

“That’s a pretty stupid reason to get involved with the Valkyries,” Ash said reflexively.

“Now that’s just rude,” Noctus said. Any offensive the woman displayed was far too dramatic to be serious, but Ash still felt the need to explain herself.

“I mean…even if you’re just passing along information, you’re still involved with Valkyrie stuff, and from everything I’ve seen so far, Valkyrie stuff is dangerous. So I would think you’d need a better reason to get into it than being bored.”

“Do I really need a reason?” Noctus asked. “Valkyries are the guardians of all that is good and holy, no? Doing anything I can to aide them in their mission is an honor.”

“Oh please, you don’t really believe that,” Ash said, rolling her eyes. “If you did, you would have told us everything from the start. Maybe bowing and scraping on the floor, too. So, what’s the real reason? The money?”

“I already told you the real reason.”

Ash narrowed her eyes, as if doing so would allow her to pierce into Noctus’ psyche and see the truth of her. Noctus obligingly sat still, resting her head on her hands as if posing for a painting. This did not happen, of course, but Ash was left with the most baffling, incomprehensible answer possible: Noctus was telling the truth.

“But…you said these Emerald Hand guys were trying to kill you! You haven’t left this shop for who knows how long because of it! How is “fun” worth all that?”

“Admittedly, this has been a little more exciting than usual,” Noctus said. She stayed calm, declining to meet the rising pitch of Ash’s voice. “But such are the risks, I suppose.”

Ash simply could not understand the beastfolk woman. There was no other way to describe what she felt in that moment. Ash’s whole life had been driven by an absolute, overriding principle: do what needed to be done to survive. Every single thing she did was in service of that goal. Everyone she had ever known had lived by that principle, too. There was a mutual understanding in the underworld of Mearn that everyone had to live like this. There were no hard feeling when one person’s need to survive conflicted with another person’s needs, because the situation could just as easily be reversed the next day. Even Ash’s role as benevolent hero-thief was really just another manifestation of the principle: gathering others around her and helping them helped keep Ash alive and well. In turn, being part of the group helped the others survive. Ash was only dimply, distantly aware that there were other ways to live.

The fact that Noctus had willingly entered into a world of mysterious keystones and murderous thugs was a violation of universal truth. Ash was left utterly speechless.

Noctus must have realized that Ash wasn’t going to say anything, because she was happy to fill the void.

“May I assume that your reason was also less than compelling, Miss ‘Assistant?’”

Ash did not miss the conspiratorial tone with which Notus said that last word. The girl was struck by the sense that she had been caught in a lie she hadn’t even told.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

“Admittedly, I am unfamiliar with the finer points of how the Valkyries organize themselves, but if they have ‘assistants,’ you most certainly aren’t one of them.”

“How—”

“You look nothing like Miss Tienne, there,” Noctus said. It was unclear if she was responding to Ash’s abortive protest or simply talking to herself. “The lack of armor certainly doesn’t help. Your clothes are brand new, too, and you look like you can’t figure out how to make them fit right.”

Up until then, Ash had been unaware that there was anything wrong with her new clothes. But the moment Noctus pointed out the possibility, it felt as if they were crawling all over her body.

“I’m guessing you’re…a runaway, perhaps? Maybe something less savory? Well, I won’t judge. Anyway, I’m guessing you got picked up by Miss Tienne or Lady Solenia quite recently, and under rather dramatic circumstances. But like you say, being around folks like them can be oh so dangerous. So, why have you stuck around?”

Although the distraction from her suddenly ill-fitting clothes was welcome, the fact that the distraction came in the form of this impossible question was less so. Ash knew at once that she would be unable to answer it. So instead, she said the very first thing that came to mind, or at least the first thing she could say with any conviction.

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Is that so,” Noctus said, flashing a smirk that left no doubt she didn’t believe Ash for a second.

Any further discussion on the matter was cut off by Tienne suddenly rejoining the two of them. She announced her return by slapping the keystone down onto the counter.

“What is it,” the young Valkyrie demanded.

“A map, as I said,” Noctus responded, unbothered as always. “I’m afraid I have no idea where to, exactly.”

“Then why were you so insistent that we retrieve the keystone in the first place?”

“Some deeply unpleasant people are trying to get their hands on it, and I suspect they should not be allowed to,” Noctus said. Then, almost as an afterthought, she added:

“Oh, and my original source was clear that if the keystone fell into the wrong hands, it would mean the end of Mearn as we know it.”

Ash wanted to forcefully protest the fact that Noctus had kept such an important detail to herself, but thankfully Tienne seemed to have that covered.

“What? How?”

“You’ll have to find out for yourself. I wouldn’t want to spoil the discovery. Also, I have no idea.”

Tienne snarled in frustration, but evidently her ability to deal with Noctus was at an end, because she promptly picked up the keystone and stormed out of the shop. Noctus winked knowingly at Tienne, as if any of that was supposed to mean something. Ash decided that she, too, would rather be anywhere else in that moment, and so she ran eagerly after Tienne.

One of Noctus’ back-legs was waving goodbye as Ash ran.