The Escape - Part 7

All was silent as both Octavia and Sylvia looked at the apothecary shopkeeper. They could very clearly see the shock that was present on her face as her eyes darted between them and the door that lay on the floor.

"Well... are you going to tell me why you broke my door?"

The words she spoke just ended up going in one ear and out the other, as they both tried to comprehend what had happened.

How did they end up in the apothecary shop?

Octavia was sure that with all the running around they did, heading towards one of the town's exits, they were nowhere near the market square they had visited before. Could it be that they had ended up so turned around that they actually ended up here?

Then there was a nudging sensation from before. Whether it was instinct, a sixth sense or something else, why had it let them to this door and this shop? What was the point of coming to this place?

But the last question that still plagued her mind was where the men following them had gone. They were right behind them. She could clearly remember the leader shouting right behind her. He even nearly managed to grab her. Yet as soon as they broke the door down and entered the shop, they were gone.

"Hello. Are you going to speak any time soon?"

The words of the shopkeeper broke her away from her thoughts, almost jolting her back to reality. She could see the same thing happen to Sylvia as well, where the woman's voice had made her jump.

Turning to look at her again, they could see her standing there, the shock having been exchanged for frustration. They needed to say something.

"Err…we- we were being chased. Yes. They almost caught us and we broke down the door trying to get away from them." Octavia said just deciding to be honest with her. She was too confused to come up with a credible lie, not that she needed to.

"Chased. Chased by who. I only see you too and the market square is empty." The woman said with a hint of confusion.

"That…err… is a good question. They were right behind us. They must have fled when we entered the shop." was Sylvia's follow-up.

The woman stared them down as if trying to catch them in a lie. The whole thing could have been one, with how odd it was. But thankfully, the woman's expression eased up after a while.

"Well… It is a bit odd how there isn't anyone else around. It does however look like you have been running for your lives. So, while it doesn't make complete sense, I will take your word for it. For now."

Both sighed at that.

"But first I think you need to help repair my door." the woman said as she turned and headed to the back of her shop.

Both Octavia and Sylvia quickly agreed that they would. It was only fair having broken it down.

Octavia bent down, and using her improved strength, managed to right the door, and place it against the frame. The shopkeeper then came out with a hammer and some very large nails, handing them over to Sylvia, who then proceed to use them.

The repair job wasn't too difficult. Whatever hardwood the door was made from was very durable, and only splinters had broken from it. The door itself was as solid as ever. The hinges had bent slightly from the force, but after several knocks with the hammer, they bent back into shape, making it easy for them to hammer the nails through and into the frame.

With the job done, and the hammer handed back to the shopkeeper they then took a break, sitting on a couple of chairs that the shopkeeper brought from the back of her shop. They took this time to rest and figure things out. While doing so, the shopkeeper left the room saying she would make some tea for them.

With the shopkeeper gone, they tried to figure out what had happened.

"Did you know we were heading to the apothecary?" Sylvia asked in a hushed tone.

"No. I just had…a sense, an instinct, that told me to head for that door. How it was the apothecaries I don't know. We travelled a long way. We shouldn't have been anywhere near it."

Sylvia agreed with her on that. More so, as when they thought about it, the market square they went to before was in the opposite direction from where they had been aiming to go. She couldn't figure out how they had ended up here. Even if they got turned around, they would have had to travel a great distance to reach the apothecary from where they were heading.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"What doesn't?" the shopkeeper said as she re-entered the shop area holding a tray with tea.

"Oh, just…where the men went. They might still be looking for us or waiting for us to leave your shop." Octavia quickly said, not wanting to reveal the oddity of turning up at her shop. She felt it would just raise more questions from the shopkeeper than she really didn't have answers for.

"That is scary. May I ask though? Why is it that these men were chasing you?"

Thankfully, that was something they could answer, and so they told her what had happened at the castle. They told her of the fight between the nobility and these men, and how for some reason they were after her specifically. The woman listened with rapt attention, astonished at all the two had gone to. She even asked if she was okay having lost most of her tail.

"It's-it's fine. It should grow back."

"You said that before, but limbs don't just grow back." Sylvia quickly added still confused about that.

"Oh, it's just a part of being a Lamia. It's only the tail that can grow back though."

"Even without it being possible for the other limbs, having your tail grow back is quite the feat in of itself." The shopkeeper stated. "Like having a sword and shield that you can regrow when it gets damaged."

They continued to speak for a little while longer, where she talked about the escape from the castle to the fight in the house and then them coming across the leader and his men.

"That's quite the rotten luck to have travelled all that way and then stumble upon them, that must have been devastating." the woman brought up.

"Yes. Yes, it was." Sylvia said while looking down recalling the feelings she had during that time.

"I-I…I was actually going to surrender, but I…I felt it would be best to run."

"Surrender. You were going to surrender. Why?" Sylvia almost shouted at her when she heard that.

"To keep you safe. I figured if I handed myself over, they would just let you go."

"You think after all that they would have just let me go? Really?"

"Well, they were only after me. Why would they go after you once they got me."

"I can assure you that I would have ended up going down fighting than just letting them take you away. Surrendering would have been a stupid plan."

"Girls, girls. Please don't fight." The shopkeeper said raising her voice to stop them from talking. "It's clear to see that you both care for one another. You would have done what you thought was right to keep the other safe. That is lovely to see, but fighting about it now is just pointless."

Both girls grew quiet after that, but the shopkeeper was not finished with her speech.

"Octavia, it is great that you were looking out for Sylvia, but you should also think about yourself as well. If those men had captured you, who knows what they would have done to you, and how that would have affected Sylvia," she said to Octavia, after which she then turned to Sylvia.

"And the loyalty you show for Octavia is great as well, but fighting a losing battle would just get you killed and cause Octavia grief."

"Is this woman a therapist or something as well as a shopkeeper?" Octavia couldn't help but wonder.

The woman then looked at Octavia and back to Sylvia every now and then before continuing.

"You both should think more before you act and use the skills at your disposal. What I don't understand is how you ended up running into these men. I mean with your hearing Sylvia, you should have heard them easily. And for you Octavia, how you missed them with that vision of yours doesn't make sense. I'm just glad you got that message to run when you did." the woman said with a nod of her head.

But as soon as she finished, silence prevailed in the shop. Partly from them dealing with the sermon from this woman, but also because Octavia's mind ended up fixating on the last few sentences.

"Wait. The vision of mine and the message to run," she said as she looked up at the woman.

Sylvia was still reeling from the talk and all that she had said. But once Octavia started to speak, she looked up as well, realising something was wrong.

"What?" the woman replied.

"You spoke about my 'vision'. It's Sylvia that can see well in the dark, not me, so what 'vision' are you referring to? And how would you know about the type of 'vision' that Lamia have."

"…"

"You also spoke about a 'message to run'. When we saw the men and I was about to surrender, I felt a sensation I thought was instinct or something and it told me to run. How can you know about that? You also said it as if you sent it." Octavia stated as she stared the woman down.

"…"

But silence was all she got in return.

This however only lasted a few seconds before the woman rolled her head back and started to laugh. She did so for a good long while before she wiped a tear from her eye and looked up at the two girls who were both reaching for their weapons.

"Oh my. You are very clever and observant. I can't believe I messed up like that. Shows me right to try and lecture you two. I got so into it and kept talking that it just slipped out."

"Who are you?" Octavia said wearily as it felt like the whole atmosphere had changed.

"You know you asked me that before right? And while I would love to tell you, I really can't right now. But don't you worry?" She said as she stood up. "I am not here to hurt you. I'm more of an…observer, maybe a guide even."

Octavia and Sylvia just looked at each other in confusion.

"Don't you worry your little heads about it, as I'm sure you will forget soon enough? For now though, I think it's about time you got on your way. It won't be long before the men following you arrive at my shop, and I'm sure you don't want to be here when they do. So if you want to get ahead of them, I think you should leave through the back entrance of my store. That should get you some… distance from them. What do you say?"

Neither of them really knew what to say there. They couldn't tell whether they should believe her. Was she good or bad? Who's to say the back door to her house wouldn't just lead them to their capture or death?

They had a lot to contemplate, but it seemed the woman didn't have time to wait.

"Okay, okay. I can see you're worried. You don't trust me, I get it. So, to make this easier on you. I'll just decide for you."

Before either of them could do anything, they felt a force hit their backs, sending them forward and towards the back of the store. Soon, the door at the back opened, sending them through to the store room where the woman had taken the chairs from. They kept moving against their will and headed towards another door, which like the first opened, and was followed by a gust of air from inside hitting them in the face.

It caused them to react by closing their eyes so they could not see what was through the door before they entered. But when they did, the next thing they knew, the force had dissipated, and they dropped to the floor with a thud.

Just like when they had crashed into the door, hitting the ground rattled their brains a bit, so much so that they barely missed the sound of the door behind them closing.

Neither were sure what to expect, but they had thought it being the back of her house, it would have led to another path in the town, so they would have hit cobblestone. But, what appeared beneath them was wood of some kind.

After some groans and they struggled to stand, Octavia opened her eyes and saw a bed, a chest of drawers as well as a table and a couple of chairs. But what surprised her the most was the last object in the room.

A massive broken egg.

"What the-?"