Aya gazed at Zepar with a thoughtful expression for a moment before looking back towards the locked cabinet. She returned her gaze to Zepar with a determined expression. "I think we can help each other here, Zepar," she said firmly. "Normally, I'd simply have you pay me twenty gold for a reading. But I have another idea for payment."
"I'm listening," he said, leaning a little closer.
"I need you to complete a task for me, after which I'll give you a reading and tell you everything you want to know," Aya explained. "Don't worry, the task won't be a hard one."
He arched an eyebrow. "I'm very flattered, but my body is a temple," he said with a grin. He could tell that this wasn't what she was after, but the faint blush on her cheeks made his joke worth it as far as he was concerned.
"W-what kind of woman do you take me for, Zepar?" she demanded. Her cheeks darkened a bit further, causing Zepar to lose his composure and begin laughing heartily. His whole body shook as he laughed.
"My apologies, truly," he managed to say after his laughter had subsided. "I couldn't resist. And it's been a very long time since I've had a good laugh."
She glared at him with a face filled with injustice at being made the subject of his humor. Her cheeks were still quite dark and he couldn't help chuckling softly.
"If you are quite finished..." she began, her voice a bit high from embarrassment. "Can I tell you the task I require now?"
"Very well, as long as it's reasonable...and not indecent," he said playfully.
"It is very reasonable," she replied coolly, ignoring the last part of his comment. "My father makes it a point to be away from home every day around midday and doesn't return until morning. For personal reasons, I can't have that." She stood up and walked back to the cabinet, taking a large brass key from the pouch at her waist. She quickly unlocked the cabinet and retrieved a crystal ball the size of Zepar's head before relocking the cabinet and sitting down at the table again.
"I need you to bring my father home, alive, and by any means necessary," she explained as the image of a man appeared in the center of the crystal ball. The man had gray hair and a thick beard of the same color. He seemed rather thin and frail to Zepar's eyes, which made him wary as opposed to confident.
"Is he a mage?" he asked seriously.
"He's not," she replied. "Nor is he a warrior of any kind. So he should be easy to detain."
Zepar nodded in understanding. He looked closer at the image of the man in the crystal ball and realized he recognized where he was. "I know that place," he remarked with a devilish smile curling the corners of his lips. "It's a few towns over, the Hidden Butterfly Inn."
"Isn't that place..." Aya began, but couldn't finish. She looked at her father's image in the crystal ball in disdain.
"A brothel," Zepar finished for her, nodding. "I stopped there once while travelling before I first arrived in Gilramore." He looked at the sidelong glance Aya was giving him and chuckled. "Don't give me that look, I was too tired to do any of the things you're thinking of," he told her with a look of mock indignation. "I am still very pure...in that regard at least." He gave her a playful wink. She blushed again but made no further comment.
"In any case," Zepar began while standing up. "I know where I'll find him, and with magic, I can be there within the hour."
Almost an hour later, Zepar streaked across the sky, standing on his staff which he'd enchanted to fly through the air. Eventually, he'd learn to fly without it, but that was ninth circle magic. He smirked as a familiar sight came into view. The Hidden Butterfly Inn was so named due to its outer appearance, which made it seem to be a simple tavern. But Zepar had learned otherwise when he'd stopped here during his travels. He'd had to tell the innkeeper more than once that he didn't desire company in his room. He had neither the energy nor the inclination to entertain 'guests' on that particular night.
Zepar touched down softly and dismissed his staff inside his storage ring. "Alright, he'd better not give me any trouble," Zepar muttered, referring not to his target, but to the innkeeper. The suave bastard had been quite pushy the last time he'd been here. He walked through the door and was immediately assaulted by the strong scent of incense and perfume mixed with the aroma of wine and ale.
"Some things never change," he sighed. Just as he was about to make his way over to the bar, where his target sat, the innkeeper swaggered over to him.
"Lord Blackthorne! It's been an age," the innkeeper, Hugo exclaimed. "Come back to finally get a taste? I just knew you couldn't stay away forever." Hugo, the innkeeper of the Hidden Butterfly Inn, was a middle-aged man with hazel eyes and short, slicked-back black hair with gray flecks. He was clean-shaven and wore elegant maroon robes with silver trim.
"Sorry, but I'm actually here on other business," Zepar said coldly. "Perhaps another time." Zepar was trying to be diplomatic, since he didn't want to make a scene, but Hugo was just so obnoxious and insistent.
"Nonsense," Hugo insisted. "My friend, I'm telling you, with a face like yours, it'd be a crime to deny the ladies a chance to properly worship you." He leaned in to whisper to Zepar. "I'll even give you a free night, just tell your friends all about our top-notch service."
Zepar had had enough, and his expression turned dark. "Hugo, I said no," he said quietly, his voice laced with killing intent. "I will tell my...friends, all about your 'top-notch service'. But I really am busy at the present."
Hearing the razor-sharp edge in Zepar's voice, as well as the murderous look on his face, Hugo quickly apologized and hurried away, going to count his earnings in his office. Zepar nodded in satisfaction before heading to the bar and taking a seat next to Aya's father.
"Jared?" Zepar asked casually. The man stiffened upon hearing his name. He moved to leave, but Zepar's hand quickly gripped his shoulder, subtly using enhancement magic on his grip and arm muscles as he forced the man to remain seated.
"Please, I'll give you whatever you want." the pitiful man begged.
Zepar sneered at the coward. "Your daughter has already offered me what I want, in exchange for bringing you home." Zepar smirked slightly, realizing how his words could be misinterpreted.
"You bastard!" Jared roared, coming to the exact conclusion Zepar had expected.
"Temper temper," Zepar warned, squeezing the man's shoulder tightly, smiling inwardly as he heard a whimper of pain. "She's going to give me a reading, in exchange for my help. So you and I will be going now."
"W-wait, I can help you," the man pleaded. "I...I am also a seer."
Unconvinced by the man's claim, Zepar just shook his head. "Yeah, and I'm a healer," he said sarcastically.
"No, really. I'm a seer. Aya, she inherited her gift from me," the man insisted desperately.
"Fine," Zepar hissed. "If you truly are a seer, give me a reading. If you're bluffing, it will be an unpleasant trip back home for you. If your information proves useful, I'll pretend you were already gone when I arrived." Zepar then explained exactly what kind of information he wanted, and Jared nodded quickly before turning to face Zepar.
The man closed his eyes and focused on Zepar, paying extra attention to his birth and early years. But just as he was about to look closer at his parents, another sight invaded his vision.
"Well?" Zepar asked impatiently. "What do you see?"
Snapping out of his trance, the man's eyes shot open, and he stared at Zepar with a horrified expression.