Chapter 221 - Crazy
Chapter 221 – Crazy
Just who was this Marya?
She had introduced herself as a trueborn seer, but, obviously, there had to be something more to the story.
Her claim of being able to listen to the voices was enough to make Reve alert. The skills required for that were [Seventh Sense] with a level above Lv.4….or at least that is the required level Reve estimated it should be.
Not just anyone could acquire this skill. It wasn't innate and also wasn't something one could train for. It entailed one to be associated with a mystical experience.
For Reve, his access to the [Path of Secrets] was just the experience that he needed.
However, if he were to believe Marya's statement, just what was her own experience?
"…And the wiccan was just baffled by how easy it was to attain higher ranks after centuries of stagnation. A hole had opened in him and endless potential….."
Listening to the stream of words that attacked Reve's ear, he winced in displeasure.
How can such a lady speak so much?
He impatiently spoke, "Marya!"
"What is it–"
Understanding dawned on her instantly. She looked downwards with guilty eyes mirroring her minute movements.
"I'm sorry."
"I don't care. I don't want to know anything. I came for the journal as I was told it was in your hands," intoned Reve.
He realized he was a bit harsh with his words. Yet, his desire to get the journal after coming so far clouded his mind from anything else.
Marya softly responded, "Oh, the journal! I kept it because I knew you would come looking for it sooner or later."
"Where is it then?" asked Reve.
Marya searched the room for the object until she found an old dusty book laying on one of her chairs. Its leather cover was torn and some pages inched outwards.
Looking at it, Reve asked for confirmation, "Is this it? The journal of Vaddon Drateel?"
With her gaze still on the floor, she nervously spoke, "Yes. I checked it myself. The key to finding the doors of Taxan is there. There are some things you would have to figure out on your own but the clues…they are helpful."
The entire atmosphere had undergone a total change. The lively bearing had been long gone as a sour feeling lingered in the air.
It became more pronounced when Reve took hold of the journal and skimmed its content. It was encrypted in an ancient language that he recognized but there was a problem.
'I can't understand this, not here. I need to get somewhere comfortable.'
Reve placed the journal in his subspace and attempted to depart.
He was held down by Marya's courageous shout, "Is that it?"
"What?" wondered Reve.
"Is that all? You are just leaving?"
"Is there anything else?"
Her fingers kept twitching as she spoke, "I have dreamt of this moment for years. I have planned on my words. I have prepared for this. And you just leave! You can't leave! You can't leave me!"
"But, why?"
"You can't just leave!"
A line of tears slowly dripped down the corner of her eye.
Reve cocked his brows at this situation, "I have no business with your dreams. I came to get what I want and I have gotten it. Now, why can't I leave?"
"You can't leave me! Your face is all I see when I close my eyes and, for years, I anticipated this very moment. I beg you, don't leave. I will do anything. Everything you want. You can't leave!"
Facing this act of craziness, Reve stepped back as he inwardly thought, '….This is madness. Pure madness.'
While Marya knelt on the floor and weeped, Reve gave one last look before dashing for the door. He jumped over the stairs and landed on the doorstep.
Not wasting any second, Reve slipped out.
*Bang!*
He closed the door with all his might.
In the next moment, Reve leaned on the door and caught his breath. As a new wave of energy replaced the already spent one, Reve felt safe again.
His face seemed to have paused in time as he didn't know what to think of the scene back there.
He now understood why the elders had amused expression when addressing the identity of Marya.
He was concerned, 'That witch is crazy…I'm familiar with craziness. Yet, how can someone be this crazy?'
"I see you have met her," an elderly voice spoke to him.
Reve jerked sideways. His eyes caught the figure of Amaya.
Just as he was about to speak, the tower shook yet again, accompanying a shriek, "You can't just leave!"
Feeling endangered yet again, Reve was about to continue his escape when Amaya spoke out, "Where are you going? You don't know the way out of here. Follow me."
Immediately after she said that, her feet began moving again. She didn't look back for once but it was obvious that Reve was behind her.
.
.
.
.
.
Inside a cottage on the outskirts of the coven.
Reve squeezed himself into a small chair. His eyes darted around, observing every detail about the interior of the cottage.
No matter how he looked at it, he found it strange—-
"You didn't expect a powerful witch like me to live in such a small cottage?" teased Amaya.
She was seated on a rocking chair that continuously moved. Beside her was a small stove with a kettle placed on it. The red embers that grew beneath the kettle indicated that it was being used.
"That's–" Reve tried to apologize.
"It's alright–" she lent her ear to the birds chirping outside, "—When you get old, you would come to appreciate plain lifestyles and peaceful sceneries."
Reve sighed, 'Circe said the same thing too…..'
If one were to compare Circe and Amaya's stance towards reclusion, they would find Circe to be way overboard.
While Amaya preferred to live in the outskirts, Circe banished herself from the world of Arcadia and hid in one of the most neglected continents in Arcadia. She went further to live in the outskirts of said neglected continent.
'Yeah, Circe is way worse.'
He couldn't complain though.
Reve had come to love such a simple lifestyle, especially when since the moment he got to Xoris, he had been embroiled in all sorts of conflicts.
The kettle whistled and Amaya revealed an old smile, "Oh fantastic, tea is ready."