Chapter 96 - The Second Question

“Please, ask away.” Argus nodded, sitting up straighter in his seat.

For helping Argus recover the piece of his soul, Yuzu was promised the answers to three questions. She had already asked the first one after they had left the Great Library - What is the White World?

Though she now had a fundamental understanding of what it was, she felt that she had so many unanswered questions about it. Why was she only able to see a short distance away? Why was she the only living thing that existed in the white world? Was there a way to enter and exit it at will? Why did she enter it whenever she pushed herself too hard?

There was clearly much more to explore and discover about the Aetheric Plane. However these weren’t urgent questions.

“My first question then,” Yuzu said softly, deliberating carefully. She had spent the time in the carriage ride formulating the questions that she wanted to ask Argus. “How can I get back that ornate chest?”

The boy looked quizzically at Yuzu for a moment, as he did not know until this moment that the chest had been lost in the white world. However, Yuzu let her thoughts walk through events that occurred at the end of her most recent visit to the white world. How she had fallen endlessly down through the white void, nearly coming undone only to be saved by the chest. How she had landed in front of a mysterious door inscribed with strange runes that looked like constellations. How the malevolent entity behind that door had nearly forced her to open the door, only to have her lose contact with the chest and get ejected from the white world.

Unless the answer was trivial, Argus would need to explain many things about the white world, the door and the chest to properly answer Yuzu’s question.

Argus raised his hand to cup his mouth and chin in thought, hiding the tiny grin that had formed on his lips. This boy who had proclaimed he already knew the answer to Yuzu’s questions found himself pleasantly surprised. The question was simple, and yet the answer not straightforward at all. He mulled over the information that he had garnered from hearing Yuzu’s surface thoughts on the topic.

“That chest...” Argus said softly, “I see, you lost it in the aetheric Plane. Indeed, this is a tricky situation. After all, it was that chest that enabled you to enter the aetheric plane in the first place. Now that you don’t have it, we will have to find another method...”

“I’ve already entered it once more, after I lost the chest.” Yuzu said.

Argus raised his eyebrow, his interest peaked, “How?”

“I’m not sure...” Yuzu frowned, “I was hoping you could tell me.”

“That’s technically not part of the answer to the question you asked me.” Argus said.

“It was also technically not a question.” Yuzu replied coolly.

Yuzu met Argus’ gaze with one of cool confidence, to which he couldn’t help but crack a smile and shake his head, “Fair enough.”

As a Keeper of Knowledge he was used to having the upper hand in conversations and deals. He was responsible for arranging underground meetings between all kinds of official and unofficial Exalted, but being able to read the minds of his clientele gave him a significant edge. He was rarely surprised and it was exceptionally hard to manipulate him. 

Yet here in front of him was a teenage girl pushing the boundaries of the agreement that he had set the terms of. If he was so inclined he could counter-attack by being just as crafty, providing a vague or incomplete answer, rendering her question useless... But his personal pride wouldn’t let him.

Furthermore, Argus knew that Yuzu herself had read into his pride of being all-knowledgeable, of being able to answer any question that she had with ease. And so despite clearly toying with him and pushing the limits of the question, she knew he would inevitably provide what she wanted.

Rather than feel insulted or taken advantage of Argus felt his respect for Yuzu deepening.

“If not the chest, then, there must be another entity or power pulling you into the white world.” Argus said, though as soon as he spoke the words he shook his head, “No, there is one other explanation, though it is unlikely...”

He looked at Yuzu, “Have you already advanced to Apprentice?”

Yuzu tilted her head, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Each Exalted path consists of a number of ranks or steps. The first rank is Candidate, which was where you were when we last met. The second is Apprentice. When you were a Candidate you did not have the capability of entering the aetheric plane on your own, but if you’ve advanced... it would explain several things... and also pose several more questions.”

He paused, frowning, “I really should have been more careful when I offered to answer three questions from you.”

“This is going to take a while, isn’t it?” Yuzu asked. She was starting to feel a little light headed and drained. A twinge of worry tightened in her stomach as she knew that this was a sign that she was growing dangerously weak. Would she faint here? If she did, would she fall into the white world again?

Argus raised an eyebrow at her, reading her thoughts. He stood up and motioned for Yuzu to accompany him, “Follow me.”

Yuzu followed him down a corridor of shelves, her eyes glancing at the spines of the books as they walked by. Many of the old, faded covers were written in languages other than Nianese, but the few that Yuzu could read were titled with complicated words that had no meaning to her.

At the end of the row of books there was a table with a lamp on it and two chairs on each side. Beside the table inset into the wall was a wall of wooden drawers. The wooden drawers were not uniform in size, forming a grid of rectangles of many sizes. On each drawer was a silver plaque engraved with a flowing script that was unfamiliar to Yuzu. 

They sat down at the table, and Argus held his hand out towards her, “May I?”

Yuzu nodded, reaching over the table and placing her hand on top of his. Argus closed his eyes and digested the information that he received from the direct contact. Once again, Yuzu could not feel anything unusual, but she knew that she was an open book to him at this moment as he filtered through her memories and knowledge.

After a few moments Argus released her hand.

“You asked the wrong question.” Argus said, nodding, “Though I see why.”

“The wrong question?” Yuzu frowned.

“You are suffering from a deadly condition that is sapping away your life energy. The doctor that treated you was able to help you temporarily, but was clueless about its nature. You contemplated the nature of this condition and came to the conclusion that even though it was pre-existing before this week, the problem was exacerbated by your interactions with the ornate chest.

“Several times in the past few days you’ve nearly been washed away into the aether. However each time you were able to rely on the energy within the chest to strengthen and stabilize your condition. As soon as you lost the chest, your condition worsened significantly. Therefore, you assumed that in order to save yourself, you need to retrieve the chest.”

“I’m not wrong, am I?” Yuzu asked.  Of course, everything that Argus said was true.

“You’re not wrong.” Argus said, “I believe that obtaining the chest would in fact be enough to stabilize your condition.”

He nodded to himself, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
 
“My theory is that you have suffered a severe injury to your aetheric body in the past, one that time has not been able to heal. This injury constantly drains your life force. When you came in contact with the chest, the energy radiating from the chest bolstered your life force but also aggravated the injury.”

“The chest provided enough energy to bolster you to health, but now you are losing life force at a faster rate than before. Your body’s natural processes cannot keep up. In addition, I am aware of Dr. Baolan. He is one of the official Exalted doctors recognized by Lord Noga. If he cannot cure you then your condition must be quite unique. That the chest provided a significant improvement to your health when he could not is noteworthy.”

“Do you know what’s inside that chest?” Yuzu asked.

“That is a question all by itself.” Argus grinned. He shook his head and shrugged, “I have been wondering this myself. Ever since you showed it to me I’ve been interested in examining it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the power to see through objects. I don’t know what could be inside it.”

“The traveler who pawned the chest to me told me not to open or unlock the chest under any circumstance. It was so important to him that he amended the terms of the contract to include it.” Yuzu said, thinking out loud, “Actually, he told me to light incense if I noticed anything unusual. Do you think he knew what was inside?”

“Incense has many uses in the Exalted world.” Argus said, “He might know the contents or he might not, but it is probable that he understood that the chest contained something powerful and mystical, even if he didn’t know exactly what was inside.”

“Come to think of it... He told me that he would come pick up the chest in a few days. If he sticks to his word, that means he’ll come looking for it soon.” Yuzu frowned.

This was bad. Not only did she lose the chest, but she couldn’t explain how she had lost it. Forget the customer’s reaction, Xiang was going to murder her!

“We really need to get it back before the owner returns!” Yuzu said.

“Oh?” Argus raised an eyebrow at her, “If we do get it back and the he comes to retrieve it, are you going to be willing to part with it so easily?”

Yuzu hesitated. As a shopkeeper there was nothing she could do about that. After all, the chest didn’t belong to her, it belonged to the traveler. But the chest was the one thing at the moment that could save her life. If she let it go, was she simply resigning herself to die?

“I can’t go against the contract, but I’ll have to figure something out...” Yuzu muttered. “I can worry about that after we get back the chest.”

Argus stroked his chin thoughtfully, “Whatever is in there, it is undeniably powerful. The chest is inlaid with gold and silver, but they’re not for decoration. These metals are specially attuned to mystical energies, they are likely there to contain and seal the power within. But either there is a flaw in the runes, or the item inside is too powerful to contain completely.”

“What do you think is inside?” Yuzu asked, “If you had to guess?”

“I have some thoughts... But I’d rather not throw out wild guesses. I am deeply interested in studying it more closely once we retrieve it.” Argus looked at Yuzu with glimmering, eager eyes, “There are very few items in this world that can exert the power that it does. And given that it is attuned to the Domain of Fate I wonder if your contact with the chest is part of some greater being’s design. Perhaps our coincidental meeting was preordained. Perhaps you were meant to drop the chest in the white world, and furthermore, predestined to retrieve it.”

“Greater being...” Yuzu frowned, “You don’t mean, a God of Fate?”