Clock Tower

"You don't say. Seems we've both been plagued by a problem..."

'It's not someone with the aura of a rotting corpse, is it?' she then blinked, realising that shouldn't make sense to him.

"I can't sense auras. But it's like she's an enigma to me. People are supposed to be easy for me to read. But not her."

'Why is she so difficult to read? I could give it a try.' she offered.

"I don't know. I feel like she uses the same word games as I do to trip up criminals who need to confess to something." 

"It's like... talking to myself, I don't know. I get this uneasy feeling yet she seems to possess no real threat at all..."

'Perhaps she's a super secret agent like you are for the Ministry or something.' She rocked on her heels excitedly. 'Like Lara Croft... sort of.'

"Who?" Crest looked at her like she was speaking a made up language.

'Muggle film, don't worry.' She shrugged. 'She sounds pretty badass though, I'm still betting she's secretly working for the Ministry.'

"Doubtful. If she was, I'd be aware of her...." Crest had faith in his network of information. He had eyes and ears in several places, surely he'd have heard of another ministry agent like him.

'You never know..' She added hopefully.

'Besides, I think you should just outright ask her. If she's so much like you, she'd be surprised you asked and you'd be able to catch her out.' Mer offered it as a half idea, not really expecting him to take it on as an approach.

"I don't know, I get where you're coming from, but it could be a costly mistake. And I'm not supposed to make those..."

'Then you'll just exchange the same stale lines forever then. She does seem like you, which means you'll both know what the other will say.' She pointed out.

Flawless logic, and the direct approach was usually best suited to him...

"Worth a shot I suppose." This seemed to surgically remove the nail in his mind, "Thank you."

'Maybe then you can help me with the problem we've been having?' she was seeking advice, but didn't demand it.

"That being?"

'When we were away, this person kept visiting Amaya on a daily basis. Their aura was the rotting corpse feel i told you about, they repulsed me. Yet Amaya kept brushing it off and saying they were a nice person...' She frowned.

Amaya complimenting someone other than her known associate Joachim... highly unusual.

"How long were these visits?"

'Only about 5 minutes or so. I wouldn't be worried if this person wasn't so... creepy. Bryn interrupted them a few times too, but even he thought nothing of it. I don't get it.'

"I'll look into it for certain than. However Amaya and I..." He tried to make a delicate phrasing of this, "don't get along. Maybe she'd open up to you while I continue my investigations of Donia."

'Why don't you get along?' Meredia didn't realise she was asking a loaded question, obliviously chirpy.

Donia... doesn't ring a bell.

She's a convict and I take in convicts.


However he couldn't be so blunt with Meredia, he valued their friendship too much.

"Our personalities are just too different."

'Aww come on, I don't have to see to know you're lying.' she still gave him a smile, laughing lightly. 'I know she's done some bad things but she doesn't do them for bad reasons. The only person she's really hurt was someone who almost killed her.'

Meredia was also aware that she'd have no luck talking to her sister about the person, not this time. Amaya was unrelenting in her hostility whenever she brought it up.

"I'm bound to justice. Infraction of that justice are mine to deal with." 

"I wish I could be more open minded, but... I can't. Evil is evil to me."

'So you would never kill someone if it was to save the life of someone you love?'

"If it could be avoided..." 

He had faced such a predicament before many times,  and each time he struggled between doing what was smart and what was right.