Chapter 167

  “I don't know shit about that Sea. I stole it. Took it. Gave it away. That's my job, Maul. I stole it from HER.”

  “Liste, Dreadus, this isn't hers. Well, it was, or not, as I don't really care. I observe someone affected by it. I even touch and see it more than any man can! She doesn't, yet for... how long? You said a long time, but how long is small or way too fucking much, yes? Do you have any idea how much human conditions could change or work around the Arcana and our science? What about that Sea in this equation?”

  “Well...I do.” Dreadus eyed Celeste and exposed the truth. “Maybe she did that for a decade or much longer. I mean...” He wasn't certain. Maybe the moment she killed Frederick, she was already at Rank 0 for some time.

  What of before or much later? What of the Holy Land and Darks all over the place?

  “Decade?! She is barely fine being fifteen if my tests are good enough, and it isn't as if that Sea changed her too much. That's the thing. It literally doesn't have any flaws while she is like a living, surviving and battling miracle. Flaws should still be there, right? None. Yadan! You wreaking sinner, her points are dusted to halls of clouds! I can't even get it under my radar.” Maul panicked in frustration and slapped Dreadus's chest to make a point.

  “Try other points then.”

  “Sounds about right,” Reaz said. “She is a child, after all, brought under the sunlight, but she is already tanned and fine. We stole her too and played by the seeming paradise, huh? Wait....” she shut up when Dreadus looked at her, and Reaz swore he had never been this angry.

  “Hag...” Celeste added, and Hound barked in unison.

  “At what tier could she be? How far could this be?” Dreadus moved on, noticing for the first time how Celeste tried her best to be... everything. Wasn't it too straining for such a girl?

  Well, the rising questions and issues of genders revolved around this era, where men might support women if they had to do it, while some women did it more than gracefully because Arcana was a very fickle thing. Spirits were the same, while... Emblems were the ficklest things in existence.

  Maul pondered about the eras also, but the idea of Walkers and Arcana was more up to his taste. He heard about queries like quests and said it to these Walkers as best as he could.

  “That is the neat part. I have no clue what she brings to the table or what she has. Body? She is perfected yet slim and flexible. Her Emblem marks some weird duality, but it isn't excessive or fine for my sight. If I take her as a whole, it seems oddly locked in many parts that my work is splintered. Maybe the First would do it better, as even her Rank 0 is dubious in activity. She is like an Enchanter without being one, while the Emblem shows nothing directly. She is... trying, right? What can she do? When? How? Does she control it?”

  “Can we run more physical tests? Demanding ones...or the worse kinds?” Dreadus asked.

  “That is depending on you and her, or it might expose her to a wider audience. In that sense, I do not recommend it if you want to keep your little charm close.”

  “Maybe losing is unavoidable. She is a Walker so she is meant to see and know what she is getting and living with. Let's know that point.” Reaz added. “She is bound to be exposed one way or another, Dreadus. Unless she already is, which is when we can't stop but start to respect some boundaries or just give to her what she asks for.”

  “W-what?” Celeste muttered, wondering why these three people argued around her for nothing. She was fine. She wasn't hurt or breaking.

  “We are trying ot understand what is going on, Celeste. Be patient,” Dreadus urged her and moved closer to Reaz. “I plan to give. I do. I need to know what first, isn't that better?”

  “Maybe. We went to that Holy Land with splendor and walked out of there on foot. Who knows who looked at us and saw her beforehand and let her live because of something stupid or nice. Of course, they might not tolerate her or us, but the Sea? That is why clothes were clever!” She said proudly, standing aside and feeling important.

  “I thought you didn't like her. Also, who paid for it?”

  “You did? Well, I am not that petty. Look at yourself.”

  “What's so wrong with me? I am fine with me.” Dreadus said coldly and didn't care he was still a walking mess, but not at the point of Reaz, who was speechless by his honesty. By all rights, Dreadus looked to be in his prime and his physical appearance was above average even to someone like her, who was quite a bit younger than him.

  The issue was somewhere else, either in that brain or somewhere else in that shitty head.

  Celeste felt like she was the fourth wheel and didn't know what kind of tests they talked about. At this point, the weird man stole her blood and started to do something with her Emblem. Her skin took it well whether she flinched or flexed her limbs, but those needles weren't great. She wanted to cry in a corner for a while, and her Hound was too far from any help because Dreadus took care of his sniffing and walking.

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  For a while, three adults surrounded her on all fronts as if she was a gem that they were trying to assess, build, and polish at the same time.

  “Physical tests... Biology. Arcana. You know...” Dreadus mumbled. “Emblems would do a whole lot more than some body changes or looking for perfection. People are similar.”

  “I don't think it is viable. I don't have the equipment ready, and even if you do it yourself. You could harm her and I wouldn't gain much out of it. That means... it is indeed possible, but do you know that?” Maul argued and felt more tests were necessary. But not as much as being careful and not messing or breaking such a fine specimen.

  Maul had been struggling for a better part of an hour, so he couldn't help but hope even more. He didn't want to stop Dreadus and couldn't watch Celeste hurt and misled to nothingness.

  The first round passed under his hand and he needed more than one. Research was all about time, practice, knowledge, patience, and knowing what one was touching or trying to be patient about. As for the time, it was a problem.

  Fortunately, Maul was one of the best people for this kind of job in the Federation and probably the only one who would do Celeste some justice without creating any unnecessary drama.

  After discovering and locating her questionable readings, he got much more careful with her and considered not only her feelings, emotions, and eyes, but even her occasional grunts or words. They added context and much more personality to her forceful seat, cuffs, and eyes.

  Celeste went through some trauma, obvious to Dreadus's little lacking story, so the unknown of this girl caused Maul no small amount of frights and shifts.

  Dreadus didn't know much about her, and perhaps even the matter of questions didn't matter for many good reasons. She was here, prone to Forced Awakening, and definitively prone to fighting. What figthing, however, or how well was she, both in spirit and body?

  Dreadus hesitated. “Prepare your work for tomorrow, Maul. I will have some words with her and make it better for both of us.”

  “Wait. That's still harsh. I am not over with what I could do. It is how I make my practices. I did it. If that's fine, let's combine it with her more involved engagement.”

  “Hmm. Good luck. I am not forcing anyone without her knowing,” Dreadus said resolutely and let Celeste make her own choice.

  She grabbed the chair, still seated, and sighed. “This... no cage. I am fine. Fine to keep...waiting. I waited.”

  “Not knowing parents. Walkers. And stuff, eh?” Maul walked away, guessing what he wanted to know by the silence.

  “Do whatever.... leaf.” Celeste urged and closed her eyes. At least she still had her neat little kimono.

  “She acts as if we are about to torture her. Silly girl; she doesn't even know what's coming for her, or what was already done.”

  “We do?” Reaz said, surprised but aware she hadn't done anything.

  ***

  After four hours of further decisions, discussions, and other runs through numbers and results, there were clearer forms with even more darn questions. Maul was no longer panicking after getting a rough read of her character and what was done to her body.

  That came without stripping her clean, which must be part of Dreadus's deal, as Maul saw with his eyes that he cared about her a whole lot more than anyone else. For once, that was kind of respectable, so Maul was focusing on his necessities.

  Which was what? Dreadus wasn't too specific and gave him Celeste as if she were a painting he should fix. There was not much of that here, wasn't it? Though what one watched or saw on the other side might be kind of important, the body was a temple, and the magic of Arcana was boundless.

  So Maul got to work and more hours had passed.

  The main characteristic Celeste was prone to was her incredible health and sturdiness, if not beyond human senseless biology. Her heart was strong, not tricking the brain or leading to some unkempt feelings or curses.

  It was hard to tell how exactly how reasonably it worked, or on what, but from the medical point of view and these tests, Maul couldn't say she wasn't that different from any other Rank 0. At least form the physical and standing factual logic.

  She was just way greater, that is. More reasons to take this job seriously because even with new and still missing bits, he could still show some results.

  This wasn't some complex machination. It was a person. A Walker. She also had her mouth and head that wasn't obviously correct to call proper, and if anything Maul knew, it was emotions and stress and Arcana that was showering wonders at any Rank. From away, others, or within, there were responses to everything.

  For natural results, physical tests were decent and very physical and tested by calls of anatomy. Her effort and willingness weren't without merit. They were absolutely necessary since the physical means displayed very daring answers.

  And with her on the chair, speaking, or asking, let alone poking at her like a bug, it might not show every result.

  It was an Emblems issue, Maul judged. That was it. It was simple; everything was always about them, be they bad or good or terrifying.

  Celeste watched that bright and offering wall as if it were a night sky making its point. Unfortunately, the whole room was bright so she couldn't know how much time had passed.

  Considering the hours, procedures, talks, and so on, she endured it in her own bubble and bore with a rather sensible section of the underground.

  Dreadus decided not to go too far. What Maul already said was more or less enough, and Celeste's condition had no redeeming issues or cursed hiding anywhere, which was good. It was a problem that hadn't ended up worsening his situation, so he was glad and almost happy.

  Celeste had physical defects, high needs, and no burdensome Emblem. It hadn't done anything, even with Maul and him nearby. But these physical issues could become more severe and weirder further down the line. In the end, it showed that Dreadus accepted this, and Maul made her points meaningful.

  Perfected, eh?

  Her Emblem was serene and hushed as if asleep. She wasn't, but it was also true she was in a constant move the moment they met. How long ago was it? She didn't even sleep in pretty much twenty hours, if not more.

  Sitting beside the chair, Maul read a bunch of papers and looked through examples and historical records. There were thousands of Walkers recorded across all sorts of fields, nearly organized and subjected to scientific or systematic papers. Some showed simple names or descriptions, while some had vast folders worth multiple pages.

  Maul held dozens of them at the moment, and he might get even more from the archives if needed. It wasn't; there was no comparable story to hers in all recorded history, which he checked again just in case.

  Maul recognized after hours of brainstorming that he had accepted this first finish line.

  It wasn't the worst idea since half of the world was still kind of obscure for the Association. Who knew what was happening and hiding in Asia, living and breathing in China or Japan? Indonesia had shattered ages ago, yet it still had some job in this world, becoming a paradise for those alleged mavericks.

  Considering the time and the incoming Forced Awakening, the current Emblem Association was quite busy, so Maul let Celeste go after dissecting her shell.

  What it was hiding might not go unnoticed. For everyone's sake, Celeste listened and learned a lot of words today.