Concern and Confusion

Fossegrimen.

At least this time, Seth knew what he was looking for. Most of the old tomes had proven useless, and now he was back in the library digging through any book on magical creatures he could find, even if it was a book consisting of those thought to be extinct or even urban legends. Even in a world with fairies and dragons, the people still and their own ideas of monsters and devils that people had come to believe were real, but truthfully had never existed at all.

It mattered not to Seth what was labeled fact or fiction. If he found anything related to Sin then he'd take the lead no matter where it went. Creatures of the deep, another tome on water nymphs, a collection of strange forest sightings and sounds, ancient legends - anything at all. And so he'd start reading through them, flipping through their many pages, mostly skimming over their contents until he found anything even close. However, no book seemed to hold any concrete description or any information on a fossegrimen.

Well…it might have made a difference if Seth knew how to spell the word properly, but that was beside the point. Surely, something would have turned up by now, he figured. He tossed one book into his return pile and reached for another to observe its table of contents when someone's hand clasped on his shoulder.

"I had gotten word that you were visiting here more frequently but I had to see it to believe it." Leon's friendly voice chimed as he smiled down at him. "What are you reading?" He looked over Seth's shoulder, skimming the page, and then noted the other books beside him. The titles were enough of a giveaway, and he groaned in a light-hearted manner. "Come on, don't tell me you're still looking into your mystery musician."

"Leon, please. This is really important to me," Seth said as he rolled his shoulder to shake him off.

Leon smirked, even though he faced Seth's backside. He sighed and walked around to the side of the table and knelt down to whisper in his ear. "Look, I'm not saying it's not possible but…you should know that people are starting to talk. They're worried about you, Seth."

That got his attention. He turned his head slightly in Leon's direction and without a response, he looked back to his back before flipping to a certain chapter he had decided would be most useful. "What's it matter? I'm still maintaining my usual duties, aren't I?"

Leon grit his teeth. "That's not the point. Look- why do you care about this so much? It just seems strange that it's been such a big concern of yours for over a week now. Look- just…alright, I'll humor you for a moment." Leon grabbed a nearby chair and sat down beside him and looked around before leaning over the table, wanting to ensure their conversion wasn't going to draw any unnecessary attention. "Can you at least tell me why you're invested in this? Please?"

Seth's attention snapped up again, and this time he stared at Leon as a star was shining directly in his eyes, dumbfounded and confused. In all the time he had spent gazing over books and in the two encounters he had never stopped to think about what was attracting his focus to Sin at all. "I…"

Leon remained silent, locking their eyes together and waiting patiently for a response. Although a firm and stern look was in his eye, the way he nodded his head indicated a certain longing and desire to understand whatever answer Seth would give. He opened his mouth as if to speak and then quickly closed it again, wanting to give Seth every bit of air in the whole room if needed, yet the dragoon didn't have an answer ready.

His gaze shifted back to the book and turned the page. There were illustrations of various fiends and legends however the image was…not quite what Seth had expected. The watercolor illustration, striking as it was, depicted a lush forest environment with a satyr sitting on a rock, tooting away on a pan flute naked with an exaggerated and peculiarly large erection. Seth immediately turned the page to cover the image and looked back up as if there was any chance Leon hadn't seen it himself. The look on his face said it all, and Seth leaned back in his chair, sighing.

"Well, erh- um…" Leon hid his face in embarrassment and chuckled. "I see now. Trying to get your lips around his instrument, are you?"

"What? Heavens, no! Leon!" Seth closed the book entirely, too dumbfounded to say anything else as his friend started laughing. He slumped down, resting his forehead on the edge of the book and his nose tapping against the cold table's surface, groaning until the other ceased.

"I'm sorry, but it's a bit funny. Now please…surely you must have a reason for all this, don't you?"

There was no escaping this scenario until he gave Leon an answer. Seth groaned again and shook his head before pulling himself up and tugging his face back, stretching and massaging the muscles in his cheeks.

He thought back to his previous encounter with Sin by the firelight at the edge of the river. Despite his current state of exhaustion, Seth could still vividly imagine the way light reflected across the edge of sin's claws and how the scales on his body glittered in the moon. The man's fangs had a twinkle to their points as they ripped into the fish and snapped hard bones like they were small twigs. The man's hair had been beautiful, covering his body like an endless blanket of the night. His hands had moved with the smoothness of a gentle current up and down his instrument, playing with such passion and sorrow that just the memory made him clutch lightly at his chest. Then the memory of Sin's eyes- it came to him.

"It's like…he wants to be heard."

"Hmm?" Leon tilted his head. "Come again?"

"When he plays- I mean- no one can hear him. That is- no one but me. Yet when I'm there he never stops playing. He's said I shouldn't hear him but he keeps playing. It's like he wants to be heard. I know you said you never heard anything but the past two nights I've seen him he's played songs with such sadness it's like a requiem for the dying. Every night it's like it plays in remembrance of someone who's died…."

The air around them both fell silent and heavy momentarily as if Seth was second-guessing his own words. He continued after another moment of thought. "I…I feel sorry for him. When I saw him- the other night when I looked into his eyes they were so dark and void of light. I felt like I was staring into the very essence of suffering and almost…fear." Yeah, that was it. He was sure of it.

Leon didn't respond right away. He leaned forward again and rested an elbow on the table as he cupped his chin between his thumb and index finger. "Hmm…well…if that's true then perhaps you should give him what he wants. Or rather, what he needs in this case?"

Seth blinked. "What do you mean? Do you actually believe me now?"

"No." Blunt as ever. "But I can tell that you're committed to this and I can't standby and watch it eat you alive. So for now I'm willing to go along with it so long as you keep your wits about you and stick to your duties. For the sake of the Scaleshire, the last thing we needed is the most prominent wyvern rider going insane."

It was a harsh truth, but one Seth couldn't deny that if in Leon's position, he'd be saying the same thing. He nodded his head slowly, gritting his teeth again. "Fine. I promise."

Leon nodded. "It sounds to me like this water nymph of yours is rather lonely. So next time you visit him, maybe try and be more friendly and you'll learn more about him. I don't know what all of this is supposed to accomplish, but if it'll make you happy then go for it. Our duty is to protect all the people of Scaleshire and so long as he's within our kingdom's border then he's a citizen like anyone else. Protect him."

Seth nodded and his lips curled into a slight grin. Finally! Even if he didn't have Leon's faith entirely, it was nice to have him on his side for the time being. "I will. Don't you worry."

"Good…" Leon gave a final nod before standing up. "Mind the time. I'm sure your wyvern is expecting you to take him out to stretch his wings this morning, is he not? Don't keep him waiting." Leon took his leave, and as he walked away he could hear Seth quickly gathering his things and hurrying to the front desk to borrow each book like he had the previous week. Lilith glanced in his direction as he walked by.

Their eyes met and she pursed her lips as if disapproving of him being there. He shivered but walked on towards the exit as she gave her attention to Seth.