The Black Lake

"Begin with the most common," Eagle suggested. "That's always the best start. If you can rule out more common curses that could cause this in her, then you can move onto rarer and more complex ones. By the process of elimination, you'll find something."

'Fancy reading up on curses with me?' She knew her weakness was dark magic. She was logical, but that didn't always equate to extensive knowledge. 'This might take a while.'

"It'll be a pleasure to help you." Eagle's reply was honest; he loved spending time with Ace, and with the combination of a case to work, it was almost like heaven. "My resources are limited on magic, however. We may have to locate extras depending on how rare this curse is."

'If i may be honest with you, I hadn't focused so much on the magical side of things -Bryn's more of the expert than I am. I was quite intent on investigating one of my sister's acquaintances.'

She pulled a photo out of her pocket of an unusually pale girl with white hair. Her eyes seemed to stare into the camera intensely. 'Know of anyone called Donia?'

Eagle peered down at the photo, trying to commit the face of the girl to memory. He'd never seen her before, although now that Ace had mentioned investigating her, he wished he had more to offer her than a simple shake of the head.

"I'm afraid not. I've never heard of her nor have I met her."

'Then that worries me even more.' She admitted, placing the photo back into her pocket. 'What if I'm following a cold trail?' The first fragments of self doubt were beginning to form in her mind.

"No trail is truly cold," he disagreed. "Like magic, people leave traces. There isn't a single person who can remain truly hidden, not when others look hard enough." Eagle glanced at her again, eyebrows raised. "Who is this Donia?"

'She visited our house a few times when we took our leave from here.' She explained, thinking back to the photograph. 'May said she's known her for a long time, used to do jobs together.' She hoped she didn't need to describe the sort of job.

'The only reason i was suspicious is that she was just so... strange. Too nice for an assassin'

"It wouldn't be surprising if an assassin were able to adapt their personality depending on the situation, though," Eagle pointed out. "It's not uncommon for them to do so in order to remain hidden, Ace. It's a rather efficient tactic, in fact."

She nodded, lip slanting into a slight frown. 'I guess i'm just seeing a puzzle with half of the pieces missing. I feel like Donia is relevant - somehow - but I can't figure out why or if I'm just trying to see things that aren't there.'

"Follow up on it," he recommended. "It doesn't hurt to check all possible leads. If it comes to it, you've simply eliminated a suspect, and there's no harm done. I understand that time is of the essence in a way because you wouldn't want Amaya to become worse, but it's also best to be thorough."

'I've worked for so long, yet Amaya is still getting worse and I am no closer to a solution than I was nine months ago.' She pointed out more to herself, covering her face with her palms. 'I'm reaching the point of desperation.'

He turned where he sat, letting his arm drop from her shoulders so he could take her hands instead. Eagle curled his fingers around Ace's, giving her hands a gentle little squeeze. "I'll help you, my dear," he promised. "We'll find the answer. It can't hide forever."

She offered him a weak smile, looking down at their joined hands. 'You always know the right thing to say.' Ace then paused, thinking. 'I worry about Donia, a lot. It seems strange that the only friend Amaya has spoken to in this time is her and Amaya suddenly contracts this condition.:

"I'll see what I can find amongst my files," he offered. "Perhaps there's some record of her, if she really is a criminal." Eagle's strength was not knowledge itself, however; he could memorise things, he could recall them with ease, but he only knew what was presented to him. A puzzle was something he could solve simply, but only if he had all of the pieces.

'Thank you.' She lifted her free hand to rub his back, smiling to herself. 'I really have missed you, you know. Everything seems more bearable when you're here.'

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