Chapter 63: Blacken

Prytaneum

Blacken​

I snapped around, hand going to my pocket in an instant as I was startled by the noise—but instead of a slavering monster or someone ready to stab me in the back, the way I'd sort of expected, there was just a figure dressed in black. And I mean all in black; most of his body was covered in a single, long black robe and the rest of him was covered in other black stuff. He had a hood up and a cloth wrapped around his face, without any holes from his eyes, mouth, or nose. The voice sounded sort of masculine so I figured him for a guy, but I wasn't even sure of that much, he was so concealed, and his voice was oddly distorted. By the cloth, maybe. The only spots of color on his entire body were his hands, which also weren't visible, covered as they were by golden gauntlets that seemed long- and narrow-fingered.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, his odd appearance doing very little to diminish my surprise. And…okay, maybe I was stereotyping, but the guy was wearing nothing but black, was wearing swishy robes, and was covering his face. Forgive me, but I was suspicious; I didn't really know a lot of nice guys who shopped at dark and darker.

Well, except Nico, maybe. And Thalia, I guess. And possibly Hades, when he wasn't being a huge asshole.

"A friend," The man replied, bringing up his hands to steeple them in front of him. The gauntlets were clawed, I noticed, and neither it or the steeple thing was doing much to convince me he was telling the truth.

"I've got a lot of friends," I said. "And, I admit, not the best memory. But somehow, I feel like I'd remember you."

"Recently, you and Mrs. Lyon have been investigating Evilus," The man said, apparently ignoring that. "Perhaps I might be of assistance."

"Yeah?" I asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Because, no offense, you look more like the guy I'd expect to be with Evilus then anything. Kind of coming off a little suspicious here."

The man released a sound that I assumed was what a sigh sounded like through thick fabric and whatever was wrong with his voice.

"I get that a lot," He said drily. "It's a fashion choice, nothing more—and you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"Yeah, but books can't just change covers," I said. "You could have just worn something else. Have you ever considered pastels? I'm a baby blue fan myself, but I hear there are a lot of colors to choose from. Also, why are you covering your face like that? Isn't it hard to breath? Or see?"

"Needless to say, I manage," The man said, voice making it obvious that I was being more difficult than he expected. I felt absolutely no shame about that, especially after he snuck up on me. Stuff like that wasn't easy to do with a demigod, distracted as I might have been; odds were he'd put actual effort into it, when he could have just as easily not done so. "Do you wish to hear what I have to say now, perhaps?"

"As long as it starts with an introduction," I said, frowning as I looked around. "You snuck up on me and cornered me on an empty balcony, so you're obviously trying to avoid attention, but you chose to meet me at this party and sneak past everyone inside because…? What, you weren't sure where I'd be? I don't know, but this seems like a lot of set up to meet a friend. I have a house, you know, and Ryuu literally works at a bar—you could probably have just waved us down or something. Frankly, I've had people put less effort into trying to murder me."

Unless he wasn't just worried about speaking to me in private, I abruptly thought as I looked past him at the glass doorway back inside, but also of being alone with me. With this party, if either of us tried anything big, everyone inside would be alerted; I couldn't just flip out and stab him right next to the door inside. Well, I mean, I could, but I assumed it was some kind of social faux pas.

"You begin to understand," He said after a long moment.

"Maybe," I said grudgingly, despite the fact that I felt a bit better for the insurance. Assuming, of course, that it wasn't deliberate and he didn't have some way to get away with attacking and was trying to lure me into a false sense of security. Which might have been paranoid, but I had a way to do that thanks to Mrs. O'Leary and for a long moment I considered pretending to relax, to lure him into a false sense of security. So. "Though, again, the security and countermeasures really don't lend much to the argument that we're friends. Are you going to give me a name or am I going to have to make something up? I'd recommend giving me one, because I suck at naming things at the best of times and I'm already in a bad mood."

The man was silent for a long moment before bobbing his head in a slight nod.

"Ishtar can do that, I suppose," He said. "Very well, then—I apologize for my rudeness. And trust is hard to come by for one such as myself, Perseus Jackson. You may call me Fels, if you wish."

In any other situation, the apology and politeness might have made me feel a bit chastened, maybe even a bit embarrassed—but the sound of my name set me immediately on guard, because there were really only two ways for him to know it, leaving out magic or just plain guessing. Either he was good enough at hiding that he'd been around when I told Ryuu my name and neither of us had noticed, or…he'd heard it from someone else. If it was the former, that was both creepy as hell and concerning, but if it was the latter…

I felt my heartbeat quicken in my chest and wanted to scold myself, knowing it was too soon to get my hopes up, that the situation was too dangerous. I was well aware that if someone wanted to manipulate me, using my friends would be a hundred times harder to resist than anything Ishtar could offer, but—

"Where did you hear that name?" I demanded, voice falling quiet.

"From our mutual friend," He replied, tilting his head as if looking down. "That's an interesting bracelet you're wearing, Mr. Jackson. Adamantine, if I'm not mistaken, and therefore something priceless. There are, after all, so few who can refine it from Adamantite. But what's more, the symbol upon it…it's marked with the symbol of Daedalus."

I reached down to tug at the cuff of my sleaze, baring the bracelet fully. The crystal metal gleamed like diamonds and silver, my friend's mark clear on its surface.

"Where," I began before pausing and taking a deep breath. "Did you hear that name?"

"We were given a list of names to keep an eye out for, before he passed," Fels said.

"We?" I asked.

"His Familia," He replied.

"And my name was on it?" I asked.

"Among others."

"Who?" I asked at once and narrowed my eyes when the man hesitated.

"It was before even my time," He said. "The list was given to my god, not to me. I was merely sent to contact you."

Convenient, I thought, forcing myself to be suspicious instead of jumping in head first. True or not, there was more at work here.

"And who is he?" I asked. "Your god."

"I can't tell you that," He replied. "Not yet, anyway."

I watched him for a long moment before nodding and exhaling slowly.

"I see," I said before leaning forward. "In that case…I would recommend saying something that proves you're telling me the truth and that you really are a friend, right now. Because if you're lying to me, I'm gonna be upset. And if you're an enemy, I'm going to be furious."

I couldn't see Fels' face through the cloth he wore over it, much less read it, but he was quiet and considering for a long, long moment before speaking again, clearly choosing his words carefully.

"…I was told the word 'Quintus' would mean something to you," He said at last.

I watched him closely, searching for anything that might give this away as a lie or a trick, and then closed my eyes. I nearly shuddered, nearly started shaking, in pure…relief? Happiness? Excitement? Maybe pure wasn't the right word, when I wasn't even sure how I felt right now. Was it a sure thing yet? Maybe not. Was there a lot about this that just screamed suspicious? Oh hell yeah. Even if Fels wasn't lying to me, someone here was definitely lying to someone else about something, or there wouldn't be any need for this secrecy. I had a pretty good feeling that there was more to this, all of this, then there seemed and I could all but smell the fact that someone wanted to use me for something.

But it was a start.

"Okay," I said with a nod. "I apologize as well, for being rude and…everything. How can I help you, friend?"