She tried to find him again. She called him by the name he gave her, but to no avail. He never came back.
She never gave up, either. She spent the next month trying to track him down, detective style.
Her boss visited her house once. She hid under her covers and didn't answer the door. Yup, her job was toast.
She decided to make a scrapbook of all the information she had on him, and see what she could do from there. He seemed to take part in quite a lot of political affairs, but apart from that first meeting, he was never an active member. Almost like he didn't want to stand out on purpose.
Why did he want to blend in? Was he monitoring them? On who's orders?
She doubted he acted on his own; he didn't seem like the type. That meant there were a whole slew of immortals just like him, planning something from the shadows. Or was that plan already in motion?
The more she learned, the more she feared that the world was in peril.
How many more like him existed?
Problem was, there was no easy way to find information on that. Conspiracy theories thrived in the online community, sure, but how would she know which one related to her case? Which one wasn't made up? She needed historical proof to back it up.
'That's it!'
Of course, the best proof was the objective one. The past! There had to be records of him in the past. Somewhere…
Another month passed by and she was nearing the end of her ropes, and also her finances. Nothing concrete about him in any book she could buy or read online. Unless he erased all proof of his existence on purpose, which she doubted since he seemed to miss the 1844 newspaper, he laid so low for the past hundred or so years nobody bothered to write about him.
She looked through her fridge. Empty. She needed food, but she had no money left. Her personal and professional life were all but ended at this point, but going back meant defeat. It meant he'd win. She couldn't let him win.
Her family called on several occasions, but she refused to answer them. What could she tell them anyway? 'Sorry mom and dad, I quit my job to go looking for this strange immortal being I know nothing about so I can write an article about him?'
The nuthouse wasn't even far from her home; she was sure she would see her parents through the barred window stare disappointingly at her, writing her name off their will.
She sighed. She hit another dead end. Maybe she should yell at the clouds again, it did seem to work last time. She gathered her strength, made sure the neighbors weren't home and started cursing that Xellos guy with all her might.
Nothing happened. All she did was get a lot hungrier. She felt like giving up for good.
As if on cue, the phone rang. She jumped to her bed to grab it and looked at her caller in excitement.
'Oh, it's just grandpa' she realized, all the energy draining from her again.
She thought about it for a second then decided to answer it. She hadn't talked to him in a long time. Her grandma dying seemed to hit him very hard and he slowly broke contact with the rest of the family. With his waning health, everyone was worried about him. She felt like, if she didn't talk to him now, she might never get another chance.
"Hey grandpa" she said, trying to sound as serene and cheerful as possible.
"Your parents called me"
OH.
"Wanna talk about it, sweetie?" he continued. That's rich, coming from someone who shut himself in for years. But, she felt like she understood him somewhat. She smiled a little.
"It's a long story, grandpa. I've just been busy with work, that's all" she lied. She still imagined it was for work, but she knew that wasn't it. It was for her. It was a dare the purple haired man placed on her. Catch me if you can, he seemed to say.
"Well, want to work on it together?" he answered.
"Oh, grandpa, what could you possibly help me with?"
"I have a pretty big collection of books at home, you know. I kept everything just as your grandma placed them. Maybe some of them could help you?"
Lucy felt a tingle in her heart. Like she found what she was looking for.
"Yeah, maybe they could. I'll be right over!" she beamed, hanging up.
Fortune was smiling down on her once again.
She picked up the phone and called him back.
"Grandpa, what are we having for dinner?" she added, blushing.
She skimmed through the entire bookshelf. Nothing useful. She slumped into the old armchair, feeling defeated once more. She was sure one of those books had to have something on him.
"Any luck, partner?" an old voice came from the doorway as her grandpa shuffled ever so slowly into the room, a pair of lemonade glasses in his hands.
He offered her one and petted her head in encouragement.
"No, but thanks anyway". She mumbled, taking a sip of lemonade. She bit her lip. He really liked them sour, huh?
"I don't even know where to look anymore. I searched every book I could find all the way to the 13th century. He isn't there…" Is he even older than that?
"Ah, you're looking for someone? A king? A lord?" her grandpa mused.
"Could be. Thing is, I don't really know. I just know he was important."
"Well, there are a couple of old books I kept around. They were your grandmothers and she treasured them deeply. She told me she got them from her father, and he got them from his father, and so on. I guess you could call them a family heirloom." he chuckled.
'I hope grandma knew how much he loved her to think so highly of her belongings.'
"How old are they" her eyes lit up in excitement. Grandma never told her about these books before.
"Very old" he answered proudly. "Also very frail. She kept them in a case in the attic and I'm afraid to open them, since they might come apart. As such, I've never read them myself, but they're the oldest books I've ever seen. If you can't find what you're looking for in there, you won't find it anywhere else."
This is it.
This is what she was looking for. And she would have all her answers, today.
It wasn't there. The box her grandpa described wasn't in the attic. Couldn't be. She searched the whole house and even the garage. Nothing. There was one explanation.
'Xellos took it. He knew that box was important and got rid of it so I couldn't read the books.'
'Let's not get paranoid. How would he even know? Did he have anything to fear?'
'Fear?'
She was sure of it. Xellos did take it. And the books inside were vital to her finding him. Nay, thwarting his plans! That's why he didn't want them around.
She had to find where he hid them. If he knew about the books, he knew about her family. She realized that they were now in danger because of her nosy actions.
Her quest suddenly became very personal. She had to get in contact with him and find out the truth.
