28 Death clouds (3)

"Where have you been? I've been so worried, and ever since I heard about the murders going on around town I feared the worse!"

Lilian was currently scolding Jack, who was now sitting down in a chair in front of her.

"Sorry, sorry, but my friend was one of the ones who found a body and I was busy making sure that he survived. But I came right here after he got better."

Lilian's face softened but regained it's angry look before she spoke again, "Alright since it was for such a noble reason then I'll forgive you."

"Thank y-"

"But only if you tell me all about it."

"Naturally"

Jack told her all about what he had found in Reginald and how he managed to pull through, when hearing about his family Lilian teared up. Because she had always wished for her family to care for her like that, and now hearing about it from Jack she couldn't stop the tears.

Jack looked at Lilian concerned, he knew that she would be emotional but this was nearly as bad as the day she had met him. Jack picked up Lilian and brought her to the bed, she simply curled up in a fetal position on Jack lap.

While letting her cry it out Jack became lost in his thoughts. He knew that he should return to the church soon, but he also desperately wanted to find out more about the cause of these killings. He decided that he would just have to trust his friends to investigate it when he is at the church. Thinking about what he would request from everybody before he went back his thoughts were interrupted by Lilian.

"Am I a bad person?"

Shocked and confused at the question Jack responded quickly, "No! Of course not why do you think that?"

"*Sniff* because I should feel happy that your friend is better, but I don't, *Sniff* instead I feel jealous of him. I haven't really been in pain ever in my life but I still can't help myself from wishing that I was him so that I could be loved."

At the end of her speaking she was barely able to spit the last words out falling into another fit of sobs. She buried her head into Jacks chest and dug her nails into her shirt pulling him forward slightly.

Jack, stunned by her words cupped her face so that she was looking at his.

"Lilian you are not a bad person, it is natural to want to be loved. It is the people who made you feel unloved in the first place that are bad."

"But I_"

"Shh, no buts, Lilian if you were a bad person would I have kept visiting you and telling you about the outside?"

"But-"

"I said no buts, although you have not been in physical pain before you have enough mental pain to fill an entire hospital. It's not egregious to want something that you have been denied. I'm sure Reginald wouldn't want to trade positions with you at any point in his struggles."

Upon hearing Jacks words Lilian continued to cry before saying in between sobs.

"And that wasn't all, after you didn't show up for a week I lost faith that you would return. Even now I can't help but feel you'll leave for good next time"

Jack gripped her tighter not letting her drop her head again.

"Lilian you want to know what assures me the most out of everything that you are not a bad person?"

"Mmm?"

"The fact that you're telling me all this, so despite your undesirable feelings you still have the conscious to share it. Everyone has thoughts that aren't so pleasant, what makes us good or bad his what we do with these thoughts."

Lilian did not say anything more as Jack let go of her face. And she did not bury her face in his chest again either, instead she simply stared at Jack for a second before kissing him.

Surprised by the sudden aggressive kiss of Lilian Jack had his eyes wide open to see that she was still sobbing but there wasn't as much of the self loathing behind it anymore. Closing his eyes Jack returned to kiss and savored the moment.

Breaking apart the kiss after a while Jack held Lilian's shoulders and turned her to face him, "Lilian next time I come I will give you a gift, but I'll need your help."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I want you to search the seal placed on this room with your Mana and draw it out for me, okay?"

Wiping the tears that were still falling out of her mesmerizing lavender eyes she nodded in response.

Seeing that she had affirmed Jack stayed with her for another hour, telling her stories that he could remember from earth. Then noticing that she was mentally drained from this episode Jack let her fall asleep before he kissed her forehead and left through the window.

Stepping outside Jack turned towards the direction of Celine's estate.

================

Celine had just completed one of the more complex spells she had been working on, it was a spell that allowed her to set a warp point. Of course this was not as great as it sounds as it needs Mana for it to work, that means that once placed you either needed an ungodly amount of free roaming magic to keep it active, or for another person to activate it.

Sweating from all the effort, Celine put on a triumphant smile and sat down on a nearby bench. Taking a big swig of water from her canteen Celine was about to begin meditation again, but was stopped by the sound of her maids foot steps.

Glancing at her watch Celine frowned, (It's not even 12 yet, I should have 7 more hours until diner summons.)

Standing up Celine turned in the direction of the maid, who was just coming into view.

"This had better be important, I have just made a break through and would like to practice it at least 3 more times to have it down."

"I am sorry for disturbing you miss, but that man has coming requesting your presence."

"That man?"

"Jack Axter miss."

Hearing this Celine's eyes widened before going back to normal, putting back on her coat she quickly made her way over to the guest room.

Opening the door she saw a tired looking Jack sitting on a chair presumably meditating, but Celine could not feel any Mana coming off of him. Noticing her entering the room Jack opened his eyes and looked at Celine.

"I didn't know that you enjoyed working out, though I do suppose that it's a nice change of pace from studying."

Celine glared at Jack, "I was in the midst of a breakthrough with one of my spells, plus there is a lot of stairs between here and the garden."

"That's fair, anyways onto business. I have recently helped one of the 'cursed' people recover and they gave me some important info."

"Wait 'cursed'?"

"I don't know what their actual situation would be called but it's faster than saying 'one of the people who saw the dead bodies of the recent murders' don't you think?"

"Ah, but why cursed? And not witnesses?"

"I'll get to that but first, have you heard of the Brotherhood of the Labyrinth?"

Celine upon hearing that name paused before shaking her head slowly.

"I can't recall anything about them, but it does sound familiar from somewhere, why do you think that they're behind this?"

Jack proceeded to explain the events of Reginald, how he managed to save him, and what he said afterwards.

"And that's why I'm here now."

Putting her hand up to her head Celine contemplated for a moment before speaking up.

"I'm not exactly an expert but what you just described to me sounds like it was either a hex or a potion. But neither quite add up, since if it was a potion then why was only one person effected. And if it were a hex then why did it not effect some people?"

Celine became lost in he thoughts and started pacing, "If it were a potion then it would make sense why some people were unaffected, as they could have some natural immunity to the potion. Then if it were a hex then that would explain the voice too."

Jack who was a little lost on what Celine was talking about interjected her monologue.

"What about curses?"

"It couldn't have been a curse, curses require something of the persons that they are cursing. Not to mention if it were a curse it would be silent there would be no voice, and curses can only be purged by a gods blessing or the caster. You would not have been able to save Reginald if it was a curse."

Jack blinked a couple of times before nonchalantly replying, "So it's a parasite then."

Celine stopped pacing as she turned to look at Jack, suddenly she jumped up in an excitement.

"Death Clouds!"

Stunned Jack looked at Celine, "Death Clouds?"

"Yes! Death Clouds is a very rare parasite used by the Bratlens back when they fought against the Zultienes. It is a parasite that travels through blood, and is known to cause hallucinations. It was called Death Clouds because after infecting a host it would look like a black cloud had taken over there insides. It also explains on why it didn't effect some people as it dies after 18 hours of the death of the host, they probably found the bodies after eighteen hours."

"But what about the police officers that took the bodies after the parasitized?"

"Simple Death Clouds always stick together unless separated, meaning as soon as they found a living host they all went to it."

"And the people caring for the parasitized?"

"As long as no blood was spilled then it can't spread. And fortunately there seemed to be little blood spilled."

Satisfied by the result of Celine's deduction Jack asked one last question before standing up to leave.

"Brotherhood of the Labyrinth?"

"Probably the first signs of Hallucinations, but I can't be sure I'll have top dig deeper into it."

Jack thanked Celine and left her residence, stopping at the street Jack looked up towards the mid afternoon sky and sighed.

(Alright now I just have to tell the Cast's and request the Thieves guild before heading back to the church.)

As Jack was walking toward the Cast residence he stopped in his tracks.

(The Assassins Guild! If anyone were to know more about who would you something to kill a mass amount of people it would be them!)