Choices (Part 3 - Viola)

After getting the information about Artem from the fish seller in the village, Boris got more excited. After a very long time, he was hoping to find his long lost friend Krish. In order to get some more information, Boris went to meet Viola as per the direction given by the shopkeeper.

While walking through the village, the team noticed that all the doors of the houses were either made up of thick wood or metal. Moreover, there were very minimum windows in the buildings. When they reached the house as per the information provided by the shopkeeper, Boris knocked at wooden the door. No one opened the door after the first knock, so he knocked few more times. Finally, the door opened, and a woman who seemed like she was in her early fifties, opened the door. She was wearing a greyish furry coat.

As soon as she opened the door, she asked, "Who is there?" Even though three adult people were standing right in front of her, none of them replied.

The team was surprised to see her clouded eyes when she opened the door. Clearly, they were not expecting a blind woman to respond to their knock. All of them were stunned and looking at Viola. So, when Viola didn't receive any reply, she asked once again even though she had sensed them. "I asked, who is there?" She asked.

Danny took the lead and replied quickly, "My name is Danny, Ms. Viola and I am with two of my friends. We came here because we heard that you knew Artem."

Viola was speechless for a moment after hearing the name Artem after a very long time. Danny just brought back some precious old memories which made her a bit sad. "Artem? After 25 years, someone finally came asking about Artem," She lowered her head and paused for a moment. Suddenly she looked at them with her clouded eyes and asked excitedly with a smile, "Is Krish with you?"

Everyone was surprised at the mentioning of Krish's name. Boris was assured that he indeed came to the right place. He was speechless for a moment, and before he could speak, Danny replied, "Sorry Ma'am, we have never met Krish, we just know his name. We came here just to get some answers if you won't mind?"

Viola's smile disappeared when she heard the answer. "Sure, please come in," She responded calmly.

All of them entered the house and sat on the chairs near the dining table. Viola also took a seat near them. "So what do you want to know about Artem?" She asked.

"Was Krish the name of the kid living with Artem?" Boris asked curiously without wasting any time.

"Yes…he was a very nice kid, very lively and joyful. Every day they came to my house, Krish used to talk about everything he did that day. Sometimes he used to play with other kids in the village, but I doubt anyone would even remember his name after so many years," Viola replied.

"Do you happen to know where did they go?" Boris enquired.

"I wish I knew," Viola sighed and continued, "Artem was hiding from the military. That poor fellow," She chuckled and said, "He risked his own life just to save that kid."

Viola stopped speaking and went into the thoughts of Boris and Krish. She was unaware that tears from her clouded eyes were sliding down her cheek in front of the guests. Boris, Danny, and Maria understood that Artem and Krish were very close to her heart, and something really bad might have happened which made her break down to tears. They didn't want to be rude to Viola, so Maria quickly went to the kitchen and brought a glass of water. She placed her hand on the shoulder of Viola and offered her the glass of water, "Here Ms. Viola, have some water."

Viola wiped her tears and took the glass of water. "Thank you, dear," She smiled.

After a small moment when Boris thought Viola was comfortable, he asked with hesitation, "Is Artem dead?"

"I want to believe that he is alive… 25 years ago when he left, he and Krish had a heated conversation because of me. He said to sort it out the next day, but he never returned," Viola replied.

Viola took a sip of water and paused for a moment. Meanwhile, Danny was finished eating the fish that Boris bought. "Hey Boris, please forgive me, I ate all the fish we just bought," He apologized.

Boris turned around and saw all the grilled fish was gone. "HOW CAN YOU EAT ALL THE FISH? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY SHAME?" He scolded, but then he quickly realized that Viola was sitting there. So, he calmed down and looked toward Viola. "Sorry for the bad behavior, Ms. Viola," He said.

Viola smiled after listening to his apology, and said, "What a coincidence. Your name is also Boris!"

"Who else's name is Boris?" Boris asked with a curious expression.

"Artem's. Artem was never his real name, he used that name to hide his true identity. His real name was Boris Bolotov," Viola replied.

Boris froze, his mouth and eyes were wide open when he heard Viola's answer. "How can that be?" He stuttered.

"That's a pretty normal man, I have met many people whose name is same as me," Danny interrupted.

"But my name is Boris Bolotov," He informed with a stressed voice.

Everyone was surprised to find that Artem's real name and Boris' name were exactly the same. "Now that is weird," Danny expressed.

"Boris, have you ever been to this region?" Maria asked.

"No," Boris replied.

"I think Boris lost his memory when he left this village 25 years ago," Danny joked.

"Shut up Danny," Maria scolded.

"I think it's a coincidence that you share the same name as my Boris, and Boris was older than me anyways. Do you happen to be 55 years old?" Viola questioned.

Danny burst into laughter upon hearing that, and with that Viola got her answer without even getting a confirmation from Boris. In the meantime, Maria asked, "Ms. Viola, can you please tell us how you met Artem, eh Boris?"

Danny stopped laughing in order to hear the answer. Viola took a deep breath and exhaled before replying. "He met me when he started living in the hunter's house. He always had a soft spot for poor things, so when he saw me in need of help after my father's death, he came to help me and became like a family to me. He was a fugitive who was running from the Drachmann military because he tried to save some children who were involved in something bad operated by the military. Krish was among one of the children."

Boris got more curious and asked, "For how much time did they stay in the hunter's house?"

"Two years," Viola replied.

"We got to know that the creature attacks started after few months of their disappearance. Is that true?" Maria enquired.

"Yes, it is true that creature attacks started after their disappearance. Many of the villagers fought with them and later gave up but, whatever happening nowadays is not a normal creature attack. They make some human noises to lure people outside, and I believe there is only one creature coming every night unlike earlier when a group of creatures used to attack the village," Viola answered.

"Ms. Viola, has anyone seen the creature?" Boris enquired.

"I don't think so," Viola replied.

"Does it repeat the words, like someone in need of help or is in pain?" Boris asked.

"No, it talks like a normal human. It even replies to the question you ask," Viola confirmed.

Maria looked at Viola with narrowed eyes and asked curiously, "How do you know that?"

"That's because I have talked to it. The creature's voice was like of a man in pain. It was standing on the other side of the wall one night, and it asked me to come out. When I asked it why? It told me that it wanted to kill me… it wanted to tear my body apart and free my soul," Viola replied.

Danny started rubbing his arms not because of the cold but because of the scary story. "Aren't you afraid?" Danny asked.

"I have grown used to this as everyone else in the village," Viola smiled.

"I have also encountered some individuals in the past who could transform into some creatures," Boris informed.

"We also know some individuals like that, but I have never heard a case like this," Maria added.

"Don't you guys think the creature which we encountered last night could be this creature?" Danny said and looked toward his group for an answer.

"Maybe it was. Good thing I brought Toby along," Boris raised one of his eyebrows with pride.

Suddenly, Maria looked at Viola and asked, "Ms. Viola, will it be alright if we stay here tonight?"

But, before Viola could reply, Danny interfered by saying, "No we are not, we have some important business at Othon."

"We can leave for Othon tomorrow, its only 30 miles from here after all," Maria proposed.

Danny stood up and grabbed Maria's wrist while Maria looked at him out of surprise. "If you will excuse us, Ms. Viola, Maria and I have to buy some grilled fish," He sounded a bit angry. Soon after that, he took Maria outside the house while Boris stayed behind with Viola.

When they got outside, Danny left his grip on Maria's wrist. He glared into Maria's eyes. "What do you think you are doing? Have you forgotten that we have a mission which we have to complete in one month?" He hissed.

"No, I haven't forgotten. Don't you think there is something weird going around here in Drachma? First, we boarded a military controlled train which used to stop at isolated places after certain time intervals to pick people. Now, we have come to a village where a human chimera is attacking the villagers," Maria answered calmly.

"So what? We are not here to hunt chimeras," Danny continued to sound angry.

"Don't you get it, Danny? Human chimeras were a result of human transmutation experiments in our country that was being conducted by the military, which can also be happening in Drachma," Maria explained.

Danny then understood what Maria was trying to do. He calmed down and added, "If human transmutation is being done by Drachma, then it also means that Drachma does have alchemists, and if they do have alchemists then why haven't they used them in battles? Also, based on the information provided to us, human transmutation requires the philosopher's stone otherwise the alchemist will lose one of their body parts."

"Then you should also know that there is no other country who have the knowledge of making a philosopher's stone, and I don't think they will be sacrificing alchemists to make a human chimera, if they really do have alchemists," Maria added and continued, "And if we catch this chimera, we can clear all our doubts."

Danny sighed and a huge smile appeared on his face. Watching that Maria said with a smile, "See, I was telling you, I didn't forget the mission."

"So how are you planning to catch the chimera?" Danny asked.

"For that, we have to talk to Boris, and it will be easier if you can bring some grilled fish first," Maria smiled.