Chapter 35

Suspicions

Zeromast climbed a ladder leaned against the wall in a tall, circular room. He ascended until he was next to an alcove marked with a placard labeled "LA CITÉ DES CLOCHES". Several of the alcoves in the storage room were fitted with similar placards, marking the worlds where the items were retrieved. The scholar placed a crossbearer's staff, condensed by magic to fit without difficulty, into the slot in the alcove, then climbed down. He stepped off of the ladder and found himself standing next to Maleficent.

"Well, it took more attempts than I would have liked and a few lessons in discretion, but this one is in our possession," Zeromast told her.

"Yes. Who would have imagined that sending the Horned King into a church would cause such an uproar," Maleficent said dryly. She looked up at the small collection they had thus far gathered. Five of the artifacts were in their possession, including the Mysidian Crystal that Zeromast had been watching over. They had yet a long way to go.

Diablo placed the stall post from Pearl Gesner's barn in another slot, then flapped down until he was standing once again on Maleficent's shoulder. He glared up at the empty spaces in the wall, disappointed that they were making what appeared to be good progress but actually had barely scratched the surface. He glanced at Zeromast. The enigmatic scholar's stoicism annoyed him, as he was never able to get a read on him, and for an animal who had the purpose of spying on enemies that was the ultimate torture. He remembered when his mistress only had to collect seven girls and had been invading other worlds in the meantime. He knew that he ought to be patient, even with the minions he was forced to work with to get what Maleficent wanted, but he was starting to get irritated that they had to collect so many objects, each step seeming to come ever closer but actually not by too much, before he would even get an idea what they were for. But, alas, he was a mere familiar, a constant companion and enforcer of discipline but lacking in power to influence decisions or force inquiry.

"I can tell that you have a question," Zeromast said aloud, without making eye contact. For a moment, the raven feared that he could read his thoughts, until Maleficent answered.

"How is it that you know about the whereabouts of these artifacts?" the fairy asked, also avoiding any attempt at eye contact.

Zeromast waited a moment before answering. "The same way that I know about all of you, and how I know everything that has happened before this endeavor began," he said cryptically. "Your exploits are quite well explored. I know these things by studying the history of all. And I have an innate curiosity and a keen mind for the little details, 'Horn girl'."

Maleficent's eyes widened in surprise. Although her memory of that age did not concern her in the slightest, it struck a nerve in that he knew so much about her past, particularly a detail that minor. It angered her that he would know everything about her but she knew absolutely nothing about him. She could not be sure what he was hoping to get out of the arrangement, and she knew that if she tried to get him to tell he would only dodge the question.

She was left to wonder what was going on in Zeromast's mind while being forced to rely on him for intel on the other artifacts.

Above the storage room, in the chamber which had been unofficially made into the meeting room for the assortment of evildoers, a number of the villains were taking advantage of some downtime. Doctor Facilier assisted the Horned King in conducting a ritual to convene with what the lich claimed to be "demons". Doug bided his time mixing chemicals. Loki walked by and, while Doug was looking away enough for the trickster god to be outside of his peripheral vision, in a single fluid motion, switched two bottles. Moments later, Doug grabbed one of the bottles and mixed some of its contents into a beaker containing an amount of another chemical. Doug stopped pouring and mixing when the solution began to release steam when it should have been an endothermic reaction, and stumbled backward when the solution crystallized and started bursting in sparks. Incensed at the tampering and Loki's snickers, Doug grabbed a nearby knife and ran at the trickster with it, but Loki simply teleported out of the way.

Hämsterviel was studying the screen of a handheld computer device, clearly frustrated, while Pete looked over his shoulder nervously.

"Nothing! Merely simple details on the Crystal and theories on its nature. There is nothing in any of these files concerning Zeromast!" Hämsterviel complained.

"Well, like the guy said, the only information Ansem had to connect the Crystal to him is his old man telling him not to get more info on it," Pete reminded him.

"That does not change the fact that we know nothing about this man. How does he know so much about all of us? I am not even from this pathetic stink-hole of a World yet he knew who I was. What are his intentions, even? I do not like when there is something that escapes my knowledge, particularly variables which I cannot control."

"Yeah, I don't trust him either," Pete agreed. "But we've got a long way to go before we get what we're after. I'm sure we'll figure something out eventually." However, this clearly did nothing to placate the arrogant gerbil, whose red eyes tightened in anger.

Doctor Facilier slinked over to the duo, having concluded his business with the Horned King. "Have you ever considered that perhaps there are more ways to gain knowledge than from your 'computers'?" he asked, enunciating the last word due to not really understanding the system.

"What do you mean?" Pete asked, confused.

The Shadow Man grinned. "Well, the man is a scholar," he said. "And, at least where I'm from, scholars use a different way to find the information they desire. He lives in the castle; there is a library in the castle. Perhaps try some of the books. You might find something of interest."

Pete and Hämsterviel thought it over. "You sure he'd have an autobiography sitting on a shelf where anyone can read?" Pete countered.

"Perhaps not something so easy. But you never know what you could find. It could be enlightening," Facilier suggested, pulling a book from behind him and opened it to a seemingly-random page. The title on the cover read Poetic Edda. "Let's see… 'Speak now, Eldir, for not one step farther shalt thou fare; what ale-talk here do they have within, the sons of the glorious gods?' Eldir spake: 'Of their weapons they talk, and their might in war, the sons of the glorious gods; from the gods and elves who are gathered here no friend in words shalt thou find.' Loki spake: 'In shall I go into Aegir's hall, for the feast I fain would see'—"

His excerpt-reading was interrupted when Loki materialized next to him and yanked the book out of his hand. "Petty ramble of those who did not know what they were talking about," the Asgardian commented before throwing the book out of the window.

Pete scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You know, you may be right. We'll just hafta search the library whenever we can. And if we can't find anything there, well, nobody can hide things forever," he said.

"And if he attempts to prevent us from prying…?" Hämsterviel wondered.

"Gyah hah ha!" Pete laughed. "Like Maleficent said before, he can't just get rid of us; he needs us for this as much as we need him. He's just gonna have to put up with it."

Satisfied, Hämsterviel opened another program on his device and began to hack into the castle's computer network to develop a plan for when and how to sneak into the library to begin their investigation.