209 – A Nice Little Chat
At Emmett’s words, Elise immediately grimaced.
“Helene?” she asked.
“No, not her,” said Emmett. “In fact, I have no idea where she is currently.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Did you think we had her as well? We might, if we knew where she went, but she disappeared a few days ago.”
That’s a relief.
“You seem to know something. I assume you must have met her in the Dungeon? Was she supposed to meet up with you? Hmmm… I see. Well, it doesn’t matter right now. We can deal with her later. I don’t want to waste any more time.
“You are here under suspicion of trying to infiltrate Jelor in a wide attempt by Ostra to plant people in positions of power to gain control of not just the country, but the entire world.”
“What?!”
Elise blinked in surprise. Whatever nervousness and apprehension she had been feeling was completely washed away by her confusion. This was the second time in a couple days that she had learned she was being framed for something, and between that, and the news that the gossipy girl had shared, she knew there had to be something going on. Something big had happened at the peace summit. Something big involving Ostra.
“I don’t normally take on interrogations personally,” he continued, staring at her in a way that made Elise certain he was trying to tell her something. “But given the fact that you are my student, and I am therefore familiar with your abilities, I have decided to take this capture and interrogation on myself.”
Elise nodded. Beyond whatever had happened at the peace summit, there was clearly something else going on. Emmett had already known that she was a changeling, and likely that Ostra was involved. He had given her an opportunity to help clear the Grays’ name, so they could avoid culpability. He was calm, and explaining the situation to her, rather than jumping straight into the interrogation. She couldn’t read his emotions, but she was fairly certain that he was not entirely on board with whatever was going on here.
And that raised the question of what was going on here? Had Jelor betrayed Ostra? Had Ostra betrayed Jelor? What had caused them to suddenly become enemies, and where did Emmett actually stand on the issue?
“So, I have a few questions for you. You are a member of Ostra, correct?”
“No.”
“No?”
“I am technically not. I sometimes attend the meetings, and I am friends with some of the members, but I am not actually a member myself.”
Emmett stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded.
“Interesting. I did not know that. Next question: What was your involvement in the Blood Syndicate incident?”
“I helped take it down. I was a member in one of many squads on the mission, and my squad in particular helped free many of the prisoners kept beneath the arena.”
“So you were involved in dismantling the Blood Syndicate, then?”
“Yes.”
“What about its creation?”
“What?”
“Were you involved in the creation and growth of the Blood Syndicate?”
“N– No?”
“Were you aware of Ostra’s involvement in the creation and growth of the Blood Syndicate?”
“Ostra’s inv–?” Elise started. “Wait, you mean Ostra helped create the Blood Syndicate?!”
“Yes.”
“Y– you’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
“Someone framed them! Why would they do that? Half the slaves the Blood Syndicate kept were monsters!”
“Why indeed,” said Emmett. “Care to take a guess?”
Elise’s mind was still reeling from the revelation, but she did her best to think through the question. It just didn’t make any sense. The operation to take down the Blood Syndicate was just so huge and costly. Even beyond the monsters enslaved and killed by the Blood Syndicate over the years, the operation to destroy the organization had cost dozens of lives. Dozens of Ostra’s most powerful members, even.
She just couldn’t wrap her head around it. All those lives destroyed, and all those sentient monsters lost, and they even had to give up their secrecy, and for what? It was a noble cause, but a noble cause that didn’t need to exist, if what Emmett had said was true.
It had to be a lie. Just like the evidence that she had colluded with Jelor, someone must have fabricated evidence that Ostra built up the Blood Syndicate. Was it Firona again? It was clearly connected, at least. Elise would have been the scapegoat for the issues. Why Firona wanted to make Elise the scapegoat, she couldn’t even begin to guess, but it was clear that was what was going on.
“I don’t get it,” said Elise, looking up at Emmett. “It doesn’t make sense. They lost so many lives taking down the Blood Syndicate. Why would they have done all that if they had set it up? And why set it up just to take it down?”
“Think about it,” said Emmett. “What happened to Ostra immediately after the Blood Syndicate was taken down.”
“Their existence was made known to the public?”
“Precisely.”
“Precisely…?”
“When their existence was made known, how was their existence made known? How was the news treated? How did the people react?”
“They were… shocked?”
“And…” he said, gesturing for her to continue.
Elise thought back to the days immediately following the raid on the Blood Syndicate. Ostra had caused a massive stir, but it wasn’t all bad. They had taken out what was considered the largest evil organization in the world, freeing thousands of slaves, and bringing safety to hundreds of communities, at least for a short while while the surviving criminals laid low. So the existence of a secret group of sentient monsters was shocking and worrying, but many people supported them…
No… thought Elise, comprehension dawning on her. They wouldn’t…
Except as soon as she thought that, she realized it wasn’t true. They absolutely would have done that. Whether it was Firona herself, or someone ordering her around, someone in Ostra was alright with stirring up false accusations to eliminate people they didn’t want around. If that same person thought that setting up the Blood Syndicate would be worthwhile as a later publicity stunt… they probably would.
The two things were on a completely different scale, but if Elise had learned anything in the dwarf and drow caves, it was that scale was much less of a limitation for people in this world than she might have thought. If Emilia was willing and able to manufacture an endless war to level up, surely there would be other monsters willing and able to manufacture something like the Blood Syndicate to gain public favor.
Freddy did kill an innocent rabbit to teach Walter a lesson…
“Oh,” she said.
“Yes,” said Emmett, nodding. “I take it that you claim no knowledge of this prior to this meeting?”
“C– correct,” said Elise. “I never– I didn’t– Are you sure?!”
“Positive.”
“This isn’t some kind of setup? No one’s framing them?”
“The evidence was quite damning.” He reached into his coat pocket and produced a piece of paper. “Do you recognize this woman?”
Elise was stony-faced as she looked at the drawing on the paper. She recognized it instantly. It was someone that she had interacted with on multiple occasions, and even at one point believed could have been a friend.
“I do,” she said.
“She is a member of Ostra, then?”
“Yes,” said Elise. “That’s Rayna. A vampire.”
“That coincides with independent testimony,” he said, stowing the image back in his coat. “We got this image, as well as her name from your adoptive brother, Nicholas Gray. She is the one who was in charge of the Blood Syndicate, and the one who tried to turn him.”
Elise felt partially devastated at that statement. Assuming Emmett was telling the truth, she should have been able to find out about Ostra’s involvement with the Blood Syndicate much sooner. All she had to do was ask Nick about his time in the Blood Syndicate. He would have told her about Rayna, and Elise would have recognized who it was, and they would have been able to connect the dots much sooner.
But she hadn’t. She tried to avoid the topic, worried it would dredge up bad memories for him, and he never brought it up either. By the time Elise would have felt it was safe to ask him about it, the idea had entirely slipped out of her mind.
She knew that she shouldn’t beat herself up over that, since there was really no way she could have known. It wasn’t like she suspected foul play, but decided not to ask. The thought had never even crossed her mind. But it didn’t make her regret it any less.
“You seem to know her a bit better than Nicholas did, however,” said Emmett. “So please, tell me everything you know about Rayna.”
Elise proceeded to tell Emmett everything she knew about Rayna, which admittedly wasn’t much. She knew that the vampire was very powerful, very difficult to kill, and had a strong mastery of aether, but beyond that, she knew very little. And that probably wasn’t any more than they already knew about her.
Emmett managed to squeeze much more out of her, though, asking about things like her personality, her style of clothing, her manner of speech, and the nitty gritty specifics of their conversations. He was particularly interested when Elise mentioned Rayna’s divine ascension plight, and now that she thought about it again, Elise was too. Unfortunately, all she knew was that Rayna couldn’t ascend because she would be stuck underneath her sire.
“This is all very useful,” said Emmett, scribbling a few lines on a piece of paper. “We’ve been struggling to track her down, or even find where she came from. A vampire ascending to godhood would certainly be known by someone, though, so hopefully, we can track down her sire and find more about her.”
“Yeah…” replied Elise.
“Your cooperation will also do wonders for your sentencing.”
Elise glanced down at her hands in partial surprise. The conversation had been going on long enough that she almost forgot she was actually a prisoner here. Well, at least for now. They had failed to confiscate her spatial storages, and she could easily shed the handcuffs whenever she wanted, so leaving was very much possible, as long as no one was paying attention to her.
“What will happen to me now?” she asked.
“Likely nothing,” said Emmett. “Of course, we can’t free you, but it’s very difficult to lie to me, and you have not told any lies here right now. Your innocence will protect you from punishment, but even in the most generous case, you’ll be stuck under heavy surveillance and entirely lose your freedom.”
Elise frowned.
“That is, of course, assuming you don’t escape somehow,” he continued. “We would chase you, but with so many other targets to go after, pouring resources and manpower into hunting down a low level changeling whose innocence is already proven would be a waste. We would put out a warrant for you, definitely, but a warrant for a changeling would be a formality at best. It’s not like we can know every single identity you’ll ever take up.”
Elise’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Since you’ve already been interrogated by me, your innocence is more or less proven. Even if you were to disappear from this room right now, we wouldn’t expend much effort trying to find you. Though we would be keeping an eye on your known connections to make sure you don’t try to return. You would have to be quick, though, as I will be back very soon.”
With that, he stood up, and as he did, the leg of his pants caught on the end of the table, and a small iron key fell out, landing on the ground by Elise’s feet. He pretended not to notice, instead walking toward the door and exiting, leaving Elise alone, and feeling very confused.
It was obvious that he wanted her to escape, but why? And what had happened at the peace summit? Clearly, the news that Ostra was behind the Blood Syndicate hadn’t been made public yet, or else she would have heard about it at the awards ceremony. Was it currently a secret investigation, then? And why was Emmett risking himself by so blatantly letting her escape? Was it a trap?
Regardless, it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to be here, and he had given her a way out. If it was a trap, it wouldn’t matter. It was clear she wouldn’t be going back home, so she had nothing left to do in the city, and nowhere specific she wanted to go. This was the perfect time to use the teleportation scroll that Samantha had given her.
She was a bit apprehensive about doing so, especially after what happened with Nick, Bianca, and Sophie, but an untraceable, unpredictable teleport to a place where she could achieve maximum growth sounded like exactly what she needed. She just needed to get it.
She couldn’t access Astrid’s Star with the cuffs restricting her mana and aether, but she also didn’t want to just slip out of the handcuffs, since she was worried she was being watched. Instead, she did what Emmett probably meant for her to do, grabbing the key with her foot and bringing it up to undo the cuffs physically.
“Not so fast,” said a voice.
Elise froze, her foot halfway to the table. She knew that voice. Its tone was different to what she was used to, but the voice itself was the same.
“I think we should have a little chat,” said Firona, sitting down in the chair that Emmett had just vacated.
Elise had no idea how Firona had gotten in. As far as she knew, the room had been empty, but there was also no sign of a teleport. Was she just sitting invisibly there the whole time? How did she know Elise would be there? Was she behind Elise’s arrest? She must have been.
But what about Emmett? Had he known? Was he setting her up? Or was he just as oblivious as Elise had been. Until that moment, she had not sensed even a hint of aether from Firona, and she knew Firona was powerful, so it wasn’t that far-fetched that she would be able to hide, even from Emmett. Even as skilled as Emmett was, Firona was likely older and more experienced.
“Talk about what?” asked Elise. “Why you’re trying to kill me?”
“Sort of,” said Firona. “I suppose it would be more accurate to say it’s a conversation about why Freddy would want to stop me.”
“What?”
“Freddy was very invested in keeping you safe, you know,” she continued. “It was to the point of obsession. He was constantly checking in on you, making sure you were safe, and making sure you were growing well. But he never bothered to tell me why.
“Of course, you are an aetherborn, so it’s not entirely unwarranted, but even so… So, tell me, why would he do all that?”
“I don’t know.”
“As if I would believe that.”
“I really don’t know,” said Elise. “Is that really why you’re trying to kill me? Just because Freddy doesn’t want you to?”
“Didn’t,” Firona corrected. “Didn’t want me to. But Freddy is now dead.”
“What?”
Elise flinched as Firona suddenly reached forward, but the demon’s hand stopped halfway across the table, grabbing and crushing Elise’s handcuffs. Immediately, her mana and aether became available again, but the action only confused Elise more.
“{Inspect} me,” said Firona. “I know you have the Skill. I won’t stop you.”
Elise hesitated, then did as she was told.
[ Demon King of Envy, lvl ??? ]
“See?” said Firona. “That would not be possible unless Freddy either died or ascended, and I can assure you that it was not the latter. I would say that you could ask your knight friend, since she was the one who did the deed, but I’m afraid you won’t be leaving this room.”
Penelope?
“So, why did Freddy care so much about you?” Firona asked again. “Why did he let you get away with so much?”
“…You just said I wasn’t going to leave this room, so why should I tell you anything? How about a deal? I’ll–”
Elise doubled over, her body writhing in silent pain. It lasted for a few seconds, nearly sending her to the floor before it vanished just as suddenly as it came. She was left gasping and trembling as she tried to right herself again, looking back at Firona, who had not moved a muscle.
“Why should you tell me anything, you ask?” asked Firona. “So that you don’t experience that. Answer my questions, and your death will be painless. Don’t, and you’ll experience that and more, over and over again until you relent.”
“Emmett will be back soon,” said Elise defiantly.
“And he will die too,” said Firona dismissively. “I didn’t just come here to kill you. Neither of you will be leaving this room. You will both die here. Your answers will only change how painful it is. So, why did Freddy care about you so much?”
Elise gritted her teeth, glancing at the door. She was in a bind. Firona was too powerful. Elise was keeping her hands under the table so that she could summon the teleportation scroll at a moment’s notice, but Firona would no doubt sense it before she got it off. If she tried, she would simply die. She needed some kind of distraction, but if Emmett was so dismissable, in Firona’s eyes, would he even be enough?
I don’t even know the answers she wants, Elise thought. I can at least stall by answering.
“I don’t know why he cared about me,” said Elise. “I thought it was related to his Divinity Quest.”
“It’s not,” said Firona. “I know what his Divinity Quest is, and it has nothing to do with you. Do you really not know? In that case, I don’t see a reason to keep you alive.”
“Wait!” said Elise. “Just– Just give me a couple seconds to think!”
Elise tried her hardest to think about why Freddy would have cared about her, but nothing came up, and she instead found her mind drifting to Firona instead. Had she really managed to kill Freddy? And how did she use Penelope to do it? And more importantly, why was she here?
She said she wanted to kill her and Emmett, yet she had the perfect opportunity just a few minutes before, and chose to do nothing with it, instead waiting until Emmett was gone so she could talk to Elise. Clearly, the talk was the real goal, and the killing was the secondary goal. But why?
“Why do you care so much?” Elise asked. “Why does it matter why Freddy liked me?”
“Because I’m curious,” said Firona with a shrug. “Nothing more.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Elise, narrowing her eyes. “I think you’re lying.”
“Oh?” asked Firona, raising an eyebrow.
“I think you’re jealous,” said Elise. “You were jealous of Freddy, so you had him killed, and you were jealous of me for having his attention, so now you’re trying to kill me too.”
“Ha!” said Firona with a toothy smile. “Don’t be ridiculous. Jealous? Of you? Do you realize how arrogant you sound right now? You’d make a good Pride demon. If that’s all you have to say–”
“No, I don’t think it’s ridiculous,” said Elise. “You’re a demon of envy. It’s in your nature.”
Elise was grasping at straws, but she needed to stall, and maybe distract Firona, and this was the only way she could think of.
“Envy is in my nature,” said Firona. “But do you really think I’d be envious of you? Freddy? Sure. He was the Demon King, the closest thing to divinity on the planet. But you? You’re an upjumped rodent with an anomalous soul. I have no reason to envy you. I have much better targets. Divine ones.”
“I think you’re lying to yourself.”
“I think you’ve realized you have nothing for me and are trying to stall for time. Unless you have something actually useful to tell me, I believe this will be your end.”
“W– well–” Elise stuttered.
“I guess not,” said Firona with an exaggerated frown as she raised her finger and pointed it at Elise.
It’s now or never, thought Elise, her fingers twitching under the table. I only have to dodge once. If I can do that, I might be able to escape.
“I’d say it was nice knowing you, but it really wasn’t,” said Firona as mana gathered on her finger. “Goodb–”
Right as Elise was about to summon the scroll, the door suddenly exploded beside them, flying straight in and slamming into Firona. It tore through the table and destroyed the chair she sat on and wrapped her up like a steel blanket, slamming her into the wall.
“Go!” said Emmett’s voice in Elise’s head. “Now!”