Chapter 826

The new silence was much less uncomfortable... but it felt a lot more final. For Zuhra, it had been an emotional ride and she wasn’t really ready to confront anything else. She’d used up most of her energy just trying not to break down during the latter half of the conversation. Jara on the other hand was better but she didn’t want to push. She was familiar enough with Zuhra to see that she was one step away from trying to rub a hole in the nearby table.

Kat and Lily... they were mostly at a loss. With Jara’s statements on how unlikely it was they could find any answers they weren’t sure where to go from here. The path to answers seemed to be blocked off. There was Marem of course, but the chance that she knew something was quite low. On top of that, Zuhra had made her stance rather clear for the moment. Well, that and they both doubted Zuhra would tell them how to visit Marem.

*So what do we do now?*

[I don’t know Kat. I mean... we have answers for Apep now. Not answers we’re happy with... but we have answers...]

*I suppose we do... but that would likely just start the countdown for us to leave. I refuse to believe there wouldn’t be a system in place for that.*

[I’m not sure there’s much of a choice Kat. There doesn’t seem to be anything we can do...]

*So we just give up?*

.....

[Kat, we made this our problem even when we didn’t have to. I don’t think it’s within our skillset. Besides, you could argue we’re not giving up just directing them to someone else who CAN solve the problem. Isn’t that a solution in and of itself?]

*I guess it is.* Kat turned to Zuhra and said, “Something we should have mentioned before... is that we’re certain a demon could give you the answers you want in regards to what happened to Gaston. It’s not something I or Lily can do... but we’re certain that some demon would have an ability specifically for it. The cost might be a problem... but... well... it might be worth suggesting to Belle,”

Zuhra nodded slowly and asked, “Why would another demon be able to do it when you can’t?”

“Abilities. We all have different ones. I probably shouldn’t go into the specifics but demons are always summoned based on if they can do the job or not... so if Belle did a summoning specifically for finding out what happened to Gaston...” Kat paused.

“She’d be guaranteed a demon that could help right?” Kat nodded at Zuhra’s question, “Hmm... I... I don’t know how I feel about that...”

Lily shrugged in Kat’s lap, “We both think it’s a good idea. It gives Belle a real path to closure and the money or goods she’ll need to summon up a demon should encourage her to go back to operating at peak efficiency. It won’t be so easy to just summon up a demon... but if she knows it’ll get her answers... it might give her a bit of motivation for other things again. I’m not totally sure she thinks she’ll ever get an answer despite everything so... maybe...”

“Why didn’t you suggest this before?” asked Zuhra.

Kat winced, “Do you want the most honest answer?”

“I think I deserve that considering all the snooping you’ve done into me,” said Zuhra.

“What about I’ll give you the answer if you tell us where Marem lives?” offered Kat.

“No. Tell me the most honest answer and I’ll pass it on to Belle without making it seem like you were withholding such an important answer from her,” countered Zuhra. Jara flinched slightly in the background at the acidic tone Zuhra used but decided not to intervene. She knew enough about Kat and Lily to know they would have told Zuhra for nothing. So it wasn’t a major loss to be denied.

Still, Kat couldn’t help but sigh. If they did get to visit Marem that was another thing they could use to put off going to see Apep... but apparently it wasn’t to be. “The most honest answer comes in two parts. The first, is that we weren’t thinking about it. It was only a bit before when we came up with the idea... even if it is rather obvious in hindsight. As for the rest... well...

“Maybe it was a bit arrogant but Lily and I thought we could DO something about it. Thought we could help. We weren’t thinking of ways to solve the issue, we were thinking of ways we could help Belle solve the issue. If that distinction makes sense?” Kat saw two nods, “Yes well... it seems we were being a little self-centred. Two years and we thought we could find some miracle answer... but it’s just not in our skillset,” admitted Kat.

Zuhra just nodded and didn’t say anything else. Jara however, chimed in, “I think it’s somewhat understandable. It’s rare to realise the best choice is to ask someone else when you think you have a chance to complete the task yourself. I had that issue beaten out of me,” she saw a trio of shocked faces, “not literally! Gee. My parents are bad but they aren’t THAT bad. No. I was forced to watch someone else complete the work in less then half the time. Consistently. Till I got the message.

“What was it they said... ‘It’s not wrong to try to do something yourself, but it is wrong to ignore the benefits of asking for other people to do it instead. You have only so many hours in a day. If you want, we will support you in learning to be better, but only in a few things. You just don’t have the time for more.’ It was perhaps the most supportive my parents ever were. It was back when I hadn’t really made my distaste for the role of Lady quite as clear.

“They thought it was just something I was going to grow out of when I got older still. A child’s whining instead of a young woman who knew that she did not wish her life to be papers and politics. Still. It is what it is,”

Kat sighed, “I guess we should go report to Apep now... what should we tell him?”

“Tell him I’m not interested,” said Zuhra... at the same time as Jara said, “Tell him to try harder!”

Jara and Zuhra exchanged heated glares. “I am not interested in him Jara,” said Zuhra, “There is no reason to get his hopes up for something that will likely never happen,”

Jara shook her head and retorted, “Nope. You’ve made more progress towards happiness in this one conversation then you have wasting away cleaning everything in sight for two years. If I thought you needed such a direct push I would have done this earlier. You’re actually talking back to me! It’s wonderful. I didn’t notice how little personality you were using before,”

“Before I didn’t NEED to contradict you. Your ideas were perfectly valid and you didn’t stop me cleaning all that often. Not to mention you weren’t setting me up with your friend at the time! Something I still do not appreciate!” growled Zuhra.

Jara stood her ground, “No. I think you DO appreciate it. Anger is better than the weird despondence you normally have. I think Kat should tell him to pursue you aggressively, to mend your broken heart with over the top romantic gestures. Chipping away at the walls you’ve built around yourself!”

“Gaston wasn’t an over the top romantic! I don’t need large gestures to know he cares! That’d just be embarrassing for everyone!” hissed Zuhra.

Jara nodded, “Right. I’ll get him started on subtle gestures of affection. Stuff like poetry and maybe the language of flowers? You like cleaning so perhaps having him show his efforts by learning to neatly arrange flowers will stoke the fires of your heart. Yes. Indeed. Thank you for the advice!” cheered Jara.

“That wasn’t advice!” growled Zuhra, glaring heavily at Jara who was just grinning back. “I do not need poetry or flowers!”

“Ah, but need and want are different things. I noticed you said NEED and nothing about what you want,” said Jara.

“No, I don’t WANT that either,” retorted Zuhra.

“It’s too late to deny it now. Your heart is on display. Sweet, small gestures all the way! Maybe have Apep brush up on his singing. He used to be really good at it... I’m not sure if he kept up the practice for it or not... hmm...” said Jara proudly, trailing off at the end.

“Wait he can sing?” asked Zuhra reflexively before realising her error. “Wait I mean...”

“Ah, so singing is a big deal?” acknowledged Jara. “Ok Kat, report back to Apep that he needs to brush up his singing!”

“NO!” said Zuhra firmly.

Jara hopped up and said, “QUICK RUN! I’ll hold her off,” with a cheeky grin. Kat glanced at Lily until Zuhra popped up off the chair. She wasn’t free for long though as Jara tackled her back into it just as fast.

Lily transformed into her Memphis form as Kat started to leave, while the demon said, “You know I’m strong enough to lift everyone in the room and the chairs, right?”

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?” shouted Jara over Zuhra’s “I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS!” as Kat left the room. The suppressed laughter from both of them undercutting the seriousness of Zuhra’s replay majorly. Well. Assuming she wasn’t just ticklish.