บท 159: Do Not Lie
Emile and Blood followed the timid fox out of the gardens. They climbed the stairs and pushed through the main hall, the new fox found it particularly entertaining all of his brethren confronted Emile while he got to escort him.
They climbed another staircase, returning to the second floor, and then walked along a bridge and arrived at the break in the hallway leading to the Ceremony room. Turning right, they descended once again and were spit out into the Ceremony room.
Unlike their first visit, where the room was ghostly empty, today the room was almost full. Foxes surrounded the fireplace, their legs crossed as they sat on the pads beneath them.
Most of the foxes were gold, some were black, two were white, and only a single red fox occupied a seat at the Ceremony. Luckily, Emile recognized one of the white foxes, Skipper, who guided him through the Ceremony just yesterday.
Skipper stood up and approached Emile, he grabbed hold of Emile's hand and pushed into his body, getting as close as possible to Emile so he could whisper without the rest hearing.
"Do not lie," Skipper's stern voice traveled into Emile's ear.
Looking down at the white fox, his wide eyes bore into Emile's irises. He was serious and strict.
Skipper released his hand and turned towards the rest. He raised his paw towards an open pad, alluding that Emile should take it, before returning to his seat himself.
Emile obliged and kneeled down, taking a seat next to the sole red fox and one of the gold foxes. Just as he sat, the meeting began and one of the gold foxes began to speak:
"On behalf of my brothers, we thank you for accepting our invite and participating in this meeting with us, Fallen Sky's Spright."
As those words left the foxes mouth, the entirety of the present foxes lowered their heads and closed their eyes. Emile, of course, did not lower his head and instead observed the foxes as they performed some strange act of reverence towards him.
"Skipper took the liberty of telling us about your Ceremony experience just this morning. Upon hearing about its woes and disruptions, I'd like to formally apologize for your uncouth welcome."
Emile shook his head, he had no qualms over the fox people. The Ceremony was merely a fortuitous encounter, an unlikely coincidence the two parties shared with a prominent historical figure.
Although, the foxes were not made aware of his relation to Madame Mercy. So from their perspective, their typically harmless Ceremony sentenced a foreign ambassador to a bedridden state. A misunderstanding Emile didn't think he could correct.
"Please —" Emile sighed and shook his head, "do not concern yourself with that. Accidents are an unavoidable reality we all must face."
"Hmm, yes, you're quite right —" the gold fox scrunched his face and fell into thought.
He seemed to be the leader, at least that's what Emile thought. His fur radiated a powerful presence, like that of a lion's mane. With deep blue eyes, a silver ring hanging from his ear, and an arm covered in bracelets, the gold fox definitely appeared the most affluent of the bunch.
"At the very least, you must take something for yourself before you depart. I encourage you to visit the production department, I'm sure they have something that could be of use to you," the gold fox finished his welcome.
"Thank you for your kindness," Emile nodded.
"It is of no concern, ahh! I've forgotten to introduce myself —" the gold fox stood from his pad and bowed towards Emile, "I am Michaelangelo Junior and I run Underneath's trade and commerce."
Emile stood as well and returned Michaelangelo's bow with a bow of his own, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Wonderful —" Michaelangelo returned to his seat, "now let us speak of business."
Like a light switch was flipped, the remaining foxes sitting around the fireplace straightened their back. They leaned forward and looks of determination spread across their faces.
"What type of business are you interested in?" Emile asked.
"It's quite simple really —" Michaelangelo looked across the fireplace into Emile's eyes, goosebumps traveled down Emile's spine as a strong sense of exposure crept up on him, "we'd like to purchase any information you have on a human women by the name Madame Mercy."
The feeling of exposure immediately evolved into the feeling of suffocation. Emile parted his lips to respond, but his voice was stuck in his throat.
Instead, a thousand different thoughts raced through his mind instantaneously.
Why are they asking about Madame Mercy? Considering she's their Master, or at least their sponsor, they should have more information on her than he does.
Does that mean they know he's connected to her through the elixir? But how can that be true?
The Ceremony? Was the unnatural reaction from the spirit flames a result of his connection to their Master? Was the Ceremony a test for future generations, was its purpose to find those connected to their benefactor?
But how could that be? What exactly did the spirit flames see in him that alerted them of his connection?
Emile quickly recognized how long it had been since Michaelangelo asked the question and, in an attempt to not seem nervous, Emile forced himself to say something.
"Madame Mercy?" He asked while flashing a look of confusion, "Who's that?"
Michelangelo smiled, the smile gave Emile shivers. Something about the way his lips spread felt devious, like Emile was moving exactly the way Michaelangelo wanted.
The gold fox chuckled and looked behind him. He raised his paw and pointed towards the mural covering the back wall, "She is Madame Mercy. She is also our master, savior, and benefactor. We owe her our lives and more."
Emile scratched his cheek while thinking of what to say. If Michelangelo already knew about his connection to Madame Mercy, then why was he talking in circles?
Why not directly ask Emile about his connection to the women? Why make the question open-ended? Did they really not know about Emile's connection?
There was only one way to find out, Emile had to pick a story and stick with it. He needed to give the foxes an opportunity to prove him wrong.
If they only suspected his connection and lacked concrete evidence, they wouldn't be able to prove him wrong, thus he'd be able to turn down any and all questions without fear of exposure.
Only if they had proof could they argue against Emile's own words. And that was the mystery, was the Ceremony their evidence? And if it was, what exactly did it expose?
"She sounds like quite the woman," Emile smiled. He needed them to control the conversation, that way, they could only ask vague questions.
The moment he slipped and revealed anything, it was over, the flood gates would have opened and the foxes would have every justification to dig into Emile's past.
"She was extraordinary. A living, breathing Goddess, but you already knew that," Michaelangelo smirked as he stared at Emile.
Emile's heart dropped.
Why would he say that? Emile already asked who Madame Mercy was, according to the existing conversation, Michaelangelo should believe Emile has no idea who their savior is.
He must know. He has to know.
But what if he doesn't?
But why else would he say that?
Emile and Michaelangelo stared at one another while the rest of the foxes around them sat in silence.
Emile couldn't help but curse internally, he was f*****.
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