Strangers in the North

Chapter Thirteen

The sound had changed again, this time in the middle of the night. The sudden shift in tone pulled Percy from his drunk induced sleep. Stumbling into the bathroom, he splashed water on his face hoping it would help him wake up more. He realized he hadn't even changed out of his clothes and could barely remember any details from his night of drinking. Probably one of his many reasons for not over doing it like his friends. The tone became pitchy and he covered his ears letting out a hiss. For the past couple of days he had been sober enough to ignore it but after tonight his judgment wasn't as sharp. He could feel his anger rising in his chest and he was suddenly determined to figure out where the noise was coming from.

He could have just gone back to bed, they were leaving the next day so what was a couple more hours of his sanity? None of that seemed to matter as he irrationally got his boots on, checked his gun and headed out of the suite.

Once outside the tone was less abrasive and now sounded more like music again. Walking down the street he realized he wished he'd grabbed his coat. The city must turn the heating elements down at night. Even in the dim lighting he seemed to have an idea where to go but wasn't sure how he knew. The music changed into what sounded like several voices singing barely above a whisper.

The singing led him down below the surface that felt very isolated from the rest of the city. At least the temperature was getting warmer again the further he went. By the time Percy reached his destination the singing was now a soft humming. The large wooden door before him was built right into the side of the mountain. Grabbing the handle with both hands he pulled as hard as possible. The solid wood scrapped against the ground and once it was open just enough, he turned side ways and slipped through. As he took a minute to catch his breath inside, the door slammed loudly behind him.

"So much for discretion," he groaned as he pulled his gun from its holster. Moving further in, he noticed the thick humidity that hung heavy in the air. His glasses instantly fogged up and he pulled them off to tuck them in his breast pocket before heading down a narrow hallway. He caught a blur of a shadow and turned a corner, aiming his weapon in that direction. The hallway opened into a large room with a decent sized hot spring in the center. There was movement in the water and he took a step closer unsure he could hit anything from this distance if the need arose. "Stop right there," He blinked several times and inhaled sharply as the humming finally stopped. He could make out a slim figure in the water. "Are you the one who's been calling me?" He raised his weapon at the individual and adjusted his grip when he noticed the steam in the room was causing him to sweat. There was a faint giggle as the person rose to their feet but didn't turn to him. It was obviously a woman but that didn't stop him from taking another step closer, gun still aimed in her direction. "Answer me, dammit!" His tone was low and dangerous as he narrowed his gaze.

"I was wondering when you'd finally come to me, Percival," her voice was pleasant and seductive. She turned around and he suddenly realized she was naked. He immediately brought his gun down as he became flustered.

"Oh, I…I didn't realize you were," he quickly turned away from her as she stepped out of the water. "W..why can't the others hear you?" As he cleared his dry throat he felt her arms around his waist as she pressed herself against his back. She leaned up, resting her chin on his shoulder and inhaled deeply. He smelt like gunpowder and she grinned as her mouth brushed against his ear.

"They aren't like you, they don't carry the same darkness. It's intoxicating." He grounded his teeth pulling out of her grip and turning to face her again. Squinting in the dim light he suddenly realized who she was.

"You're the Magistrate's steward." She moved forward, closing the distance between them and bringing her arms around his neck. This just made him feel even more flushed then before.

"I'm whatever you want me to be and the names' Elaina," Before he could push her away, her one hand moved to the nape of his neck and she leaned up more, kissing him. Percy's mind went completely blank as his arms suddenly felt heavy. He remembered hearing his gun hit the floor but didn't recall dropping it. The kiss became more intense as she pressed her lips against his more forcefully before pushing her tongue into his mouth. His eyes slid shut as her other hand pressed slid down and started undoing the buttons on his vest. It wasn't long before she was undoing his collared shirt as well trying to get to his skin. Pulling away from his mouth she pressed her cheek against his. "You're so tense. Come take a soak with me," she whispered in his ear.

She then pulled back and glanced down as she got the last button undone. Pushing the now wet material off his slender shoulders, both the vest and shirt fell to the ground. As her hands slid over his muscles he quickly became self conscious and tried to step away. Something tugged at him and he looked down to see her hand at his belt, her fingers had slid between the buckle and the fabric of his pants. Something in the back of his mind was telling him this was wrong but he couldn't seem to stop it from happening.

...

"Are we sure this is really something to be concerned about," Pike asked as they looked around Percy's room for anything that might seem out of place.

"Seriously? Percival is the least likely of any of us to just leave in the middle of the night," Vex'ahlia explained as she opened the top drawer of the side table.

"Yeah, that's true. I mean, I could totally see Vax and Vex ditching all of us for any number of reasons," the mage across the room commented. Vex's eyebrow twitched as she glared in Keyleth's direction, "So what are we looking for," she swallowed hard and quickly changed the subject.

"Well for starters, he never goes anywhere without these." Vex pulled the drawer out and dumped it on the bed-his gloves and bag of holding its only contents.

"Why would he take his gun and leave all the ammo," Pike asked after checking the bag.

"Unless he wasn't expecting to use it," Keyleth mentioned, now receiving looks from both of them.

"Yeah I'm with Vex on this one, that doesn't sound like Percy at all. He's always prepared…for like fucking everything…most of the time. Come to think of it he also left his coat. That's weird too, right?" The paladin pointed to it hanging on the back of the door.

"Yeah," Vex snickered quietly, "he's literally the most overdressed person I know." She was trying to play it off that she wasn't that concerned but based on what he'd left behind her stomach was already in knots.

"So what's the plan? We're supposed to meet with the council again in awhile," Keyleth brought up. Vex rubbed her chin trying to keep a clear head about the matter.

"Vax is in no shape to go before the council so he should stay here and sleep it off. We don't all have to be there for their decision so why don't the two of you go and see what they have to say. I'll go check back at the tavern from last night to see if they know anything. I can also check with the Inn's front desk. Maybe they saw him leave."

Pike and Keyleth agreed that for now this was the best they could do. After they left for the Magistrate's court Vex stomped into Vax's room and yanked the blankets off him. He let out a groan and covered his head with his pillow this time.

"Get up, you're coming with me," she told him in her no nonsense tone.

"I don't want to," he mumbled back through the fluffy material. She grabbed the pillow was well and wrenched it away from him. He sat up grumbling again and rubbing his one eye. "What'd I do to you?" She leaned down to get uncomfortably close to his face and leveled him with a glare.

"You lost Percy and now you're going to help find him."