Chương 469: Chapter 464 - Augur

The Augur's eyes stayed on Amy's face, narrowing as if doubtful of what was in front of them. Then her gaze drifted down, passing over Amy's clothes without seeming to really register them. It was as if there were something else she was trying to spot. Finally, her gaze returned to Amy's face.

"No one has come…" she said in a slow, wondering voice.

"Why is there a voice?" Amy studied the woman's expression closely. There wasn't a trace of fear or concern in it. No alarm at the stranger who had just appeared inside her quarters, nor any attempt to call for help. At the same time, she did not appear to have expected Amy's arrival. Was she even seeing her properly? Glancing around, Amy moved to a low side table nearby and dragged it closer beneath the Augur's vague gaze.

Its legs scraped lightly against the stone floor, but Amy ignored the sound as she withdrew four empty flasks from her storage and used them to hold down the corners of the canvas on the table.

"I'll leave this here," she said, turning back to the Augur.

"If you don't mind?" The woman didn't respond. Amy looked into her eyes, taking in the faint glow that lingered within them.

"Did you know someone would visit you today?" she asked. The seconds passed. She waited patiently, still keeping herself lowered so that she was at roughly the same level as the seated woman. Her attention drifted briefly to the Augur's hands, which had returned to moving the needle through the pale fabric once more. It was like the motion had been worked into her fingertips deeply enough that they didn't need any direction from the rest of her. Melody had been fond of embroidery.

Was it something the sisters shared? Amy had never learned much about the woman's childhood, so she couldn't say whether it was something they had been taught together when they were young. A few minutes passed like that before words finally started leaving the Augur's mouth, so quiet at first that Amy barely caught them. She raised her head, watching the woman's lips move slowly.

"What are you saying?" She leaned closer.

"…the oleanders bloom in spring…" the Augur murmured.

"In hauteur, they are everblooming. The crown wilts in spring…" Amy paused as she realised it just sounded like nonsense, but she still kept listening carefully.

"Sister liked the white stitchwort. Little stars fallen into the grass… She cried when they withered. There is no thread, but the needle still remembers where it must go…" The woman's hand guided the bare needle through the fabric.

"…three cups emptied… The fourth set upon the table… No place for the sun…" Her brow drew together slightly.

"The anomalous directs the convocation." Amy's attention sharpened.

"The anomalous?" she repeated.

"What do you mean by that?" Unfortunately, she still didn't get a proper answer. Even when she tried rephrasing the question, the Augur simply continued cycling through disjointed fragments that mostly didn't appear to make much sense or have any obvious connection to each other. Amy was beginning to suspect that this visit might prove pointless. Holding back a sigh, she straightened her posture slightly.

"You received a revelation recently, didn't you? Can you tell me what it was about?" With Fate gone, she had assumed the Augur would stop receiving revelations. But unless Raimond had been lying to her, that wasn't the case. Which raised the question of what these new revelations actually were. The most likely explanation was that they were essentially just the result of what amounted to Ittar's guesses.

Amy knew for a fact that he was a god who had once been able to peer into Fate, so it wasn't unreasonable to assume that he still had a strong grasp of the world and the course of events within it. Enough, perhaps, to make predictions and pass them along to his Augur in place of any true glimpse into Fate. Still, judging from the woman's current state, Amy's expectations of getting a useful answer were only lowering. Which was why she was caught off guard when the Augur suddenly fell silent.

The needle stopped halfway through. The distant light in the Augur's eyes deepened, and when she spoke again, the wandering vacancy had vanished from her voice.

"Three convocations have passed beneath the sun's gaze. The fourth waits upon the table, a gala with but few places set and no invitations." Her focus drifted past Amy, settling on the curving panes of glass and the clear sky blazing above the waters of Lake Rellaria.

"At it shall be weighed neither crown, nor kingdom, nor mortal life. The measure shall be the measure itself: that which holds the hallowed apart from the profane, and places the divine beyond the hand that would grasp it. Laws that have endured since the elder days shall be opened as a wound, and that which stood beyond petition shall be made subject to terms.

"One made anomalous shall steward the convocation; new in countenance, old in transgression. At its side shall stand the eremite whose hatred has outlived mercy, oath, and world. No place has been kept for the sun. No word of the sun shall bind them. Take heed. Should their compact be made, that which cowered may rise sanctified, and that which receives prayer may be cast down among the common dust.

And in the house where no hymn is offered, those mourned beneath one name shall answer the innocent prayer of a star, though no living god still bears that title." Amy listened closely until the woman stopped, then a frown gradually settled between her brows. So this was the revelation Raimond had heard? It contained more relevant information than she would have expected. She still wasn't sure how Ittar had learned about the gala in the first place. She would need to ask Mistress about that later.

More importantly, she needed to determine exactly how much information about her had escaped along with it. Did all gods know about the gala? If they did, did they all know that someone 'anomalous' was involved? Did they know that was her? Did they have her name and face? Up until now, she had interacted with three of this world's divines in some shape or form. For one, she knew without a doubt that Itris, the goddess of fire, was aware of her.

But Itris wanted things from her, and the goddess had shown herself willing to speak and negotiate before. That didn't necessarily make her safe, but neither did she appear to be an immediate threat. Adtia, goddess of night and moon and Melody's 'patron', might know about her identity, but it had never been clear how much the goddess actually perceived, or whether anything she knew gave Amy reason to consider her an enemy. As for Ittar, he had known about Amy since Beld Thylelion at least.

Despite that, though, he didn't appear to have revealed the truth about her to his followers. This gave her reason to think he could be bargained with, and that was part of why she had come here today in the first place. But what was it that Ittar wanted? And why, specifically, had Raimond thought it important that Amy meet the Augur? Her gaze lowered to the pale length of cloth in the Augur's lap as she turned the revelation over in her head, trying to map each phrase to something she already recognised.

It seemed obvious enough that the 'convocations' referred to the events Mistress had told her about, where the laws of divinity were changed. The gala would be the fourth. And Amy herself was the one 'made anomalous' meant to steward it, while Mistress was the eremite whose hatred had outlived mercy. And 'that which cowered' had been used before to refer to the true Anomalous One.

From the sound of it, Ittar feared that whatever compact was formed at the gala might allow the Anomalous One to 'rise sanctified', while casting the gods themselves down. That could be cause for concern. But at least for now, Amy had no intention of aiding the Anomalous One any more than she already had. Nor had she necessarily decided to act against the gods, even if that might be something Mistress wanted. The final part of the revelation was the least clear, though.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The house where no hymn was offered. Those mourned beneath one name. The innocent prayer of a star. She had some idea what some of that referred to, at least, but it was hard to draw any conclusion from that alone. While she was caught up in those thoughts, there was a shift in the room.

The sunlight seemed to grow brighter, as if a stretch of clouds had passed beyond the windows, and the light settled across Amy's shoulders with an almost physical presence. She raised her gaze to the Augur. The eyes fixed on her now were completely different from the ones that had been looking at her earlier. Their irises shone with pure gold, like the distillation of the room's sunlight locked behind clear glass.

And behind that radiance lay a solemn, immeasurable attention that seemed to pass straight through the face Amy wore and settle upon what rested beneath it. Amy met that gaze for several long moments.

"Ittar?" It was different from back then, but she recognised something of the same pressure she had felt when she briefly communed with Adtia through Melody. At that time, Slate's restrictions had prevented the goddess from speaking directly using Melody as a medium, but with the loosened restrictions on divinity in the Material Realm, Amy knew that sort of manifestation was possible. The Augur didn't immediately answer, but she didn't get the impression that her question had gone unheard or unrecognised.

Adtia had been severely limited in what she could convey, even with Slate present to help shape the communion. Even if Ittar might be more powerful—which was only an assumption based on his worship being so widespread—that did not mean he could easily speak through a mortal. The Augur's lips parted.

"Your name." The words came in the woman's softer voice, but they carried a weight that clearly didn't belong to her. Amy frowned slightly, trying to understand what he was getting at.

"Are you… asking why I introduced myself with that name?" Beyond simply wanting to take the chance to act as her old self for a spell, she hadn't wanted to bring the Hartford name into this meeting unless she had to. Ittar himself would already know that she was Scarlett, so it wasn't as if she had expected the disguise to fool him. That said, she didn't expect him to know her original name. He didn't, right? Then… was he actually curious? Those golden eyes remained fixed on her.

After a moment, the Augur's head moved in the faintest shake. It was small enough that Amy could almost have imagined it, but it gave her the impression that Ittar had decided the question wasn't important.

"Gala. Danger." Amy narrowed her eyes. That at least confirmed that he really was limited in how much he could communicate, just as Adtia had been. Then she needed to keep this efficient.

"You're speaking of the 'fourth convocation'," she said.

"You're saying it's dangerous. Do you want me to stop it?" It was understandable if he did, but she wasn't about to step back simply because a god told her to. Maybe if she could draw out—"No." The answer cut through her thoughts. Amy paused.

"You don't?"

"Necessary," the Augur said.

"Rules worn thin." So Ittar actually wanted the gala to take place? Did that hold true for the other gods as well?

"Then…what is it that you want?" Amy asked.

"A place at the convocation? The chance to have a say in whatever terms are decided there?" That made the most sense. If Ittar didn't want the gala stopped, it would be strange for him not to try securing some influence over an event meant to change the rules that governed divinity and this world. The sunlight in the room seemed to brighten faintly.

"Yes," the Augur said. Amy nodded slowly. Then she was beginning to understand why Raimond had wanted her to meet the Augur. Whether he had inferred this from the revelation alone or Ittar had found some other way to guide him, the priest had sent Amy here simply to give his god a chance to bargain for a place at the gala. Maybe Raimond hadn't thought she would accept the idea if it came from him directly. Or maybe there was a bit more to it. At the very least it was less complicated than she might have feared.

Though it did leave one obvious question. Amy peered into the Augur's brilliant gaze, speaking clearly to the presence behind it.

"Why should I allow you that? Give me a good reason. What do you have to offer?" If he tried threatening her with the Followers of Ittar, divine punishment, or anything else of the sort, he would get nothing from her. God or not. In fact, depending on what was possible during the gala, that might only give her reason to look into restricting his future powers entirely.

"Aid," the Augur said.

"Aid with what?"

"Against opposition."

"Do you even know what it is that I oppose?"

"Aberrant forces." Amy considered that.

"Are you familiar with The Other?" she asked after a while. The Augur almost seemed to still. Amy wasn't sure if it was the woman herself or the god behind her, but seconds passed during which neither made any sound. Finally, though, the answer came.

"Yes."

"Can you help me against that thing?"

"Perhaps."

"Just perhaps?"

"None other can."

"That's a big claim."

"Truth." Amy pressed her lips together. If there was anything in this world capable of helping her against The Other, a god was an obvious possibility. Whether she truly 'opposed' The Other or not, Ittar was likely to know more about it than almost anyone else she could speak with, save for The Gentleman. And the promise of assistance from an actual god might not be something she simply wanted to dismiss. She observed the Augur's face for a few seconds.

"How much more are you able to communicate like this?" The woman didn't say anything. Probably not much more, then. Certainly not enough for Amy to properly question him about The Other here and now.

"Give me a way to speak with you when the convocation approaches," she said. From what she understood of the gala Mistress was planning, it shouldn't be impossible to communicate properly with a divine participant during it. If Ittar wanted a place there, Amy could use that opportunity to question him further before agreeing to any actual terms. The Augur watched her. Then, slowly, one hand lifted from her lap and pointed towards one of the shelves lining the wall. Amy followed the gesture.

Set among several boxes and small ornaments was a chalice made of pure gold that glittered in the sunlight bathing the chamber. Along its rim were several bright red gems, and even from a distance, symbols seemed to appear at its base where the light reflected. She rose and walked over to it. [Chalice of Canon (Divine)] {A hallowed vessel of covenant and offering, carrying the voice of a petitioner before the listening divine} Her eyes widened slightly.

Was this the same chalice she had once presented during the Providing Ceremony? But that item had only been Epic-tier, not Divine. Was this another one? Or had something changed? Amy supposed both were possible, though for maybe the first time ever, she found herself nearly questioning whether the system's classification was completely accurate in its assessment. This chalice didn't feel anything like the other Divine-tier items she had encountered.

After examining it for a moment longer, she picked the chalice up and returned to the Augur.

"You want me to keep this, then?" she asked.

"It will help us communicate when the time comes?" The woman gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Alright." Amy lowered herself to eye level once more.

"I have one more question." The golden eyes stayed on her, waiting.

"The final part of your revelation.

'Those mourned beneath one name.' Is that referring to Eidolon?"

"Yes," the Augur said. Amy ran a thumb along the base of the chalice.

"Eidolon are supposed to be dead."

"They are."

"Then what answered the prayer?" The Other had said that Eidolon was like her. An 'emergent outcome'. He had also given her a quest. [Side questline: Spectre of the Unseen — Eidolon of the Void] {The forays of the divine draw near the Material Realm as they once did in ages past, but far too slowly. Meanwhile, the shadow of a divinity that should not be stirs ahead of all else, and with it, something is foretold} [Objective: Learn Eidolon's identity] [Reward: —] [Failure: —] Could she complete it here?

The Augur didn't respond for some time. Amy noticed that the sunlight filling the room began to fade, and strain slowly showed on the woman's face, her forehead drawing together as if something inside her was being pulled too far. Still, her lips finally moved.

"A memory." Amy snapped to attention at the familiar term.

"A memory of Eidolon?" she asked. Was it tied to the same kind of Memories she had experience with?

"No," the Augur said, but the reply came noticeably weaker than before. Amy leaned forward.

"Then a memory of what?" The Augur opened her mouth again, but this time, nothing came out. The gold in her eyes flickered.

"Unseen," she managed after a moment.

"Wearing their name." Amy stared at her. That was nowhere near enough to explain anything.

"What does that mean? I need more than that." The Augur's gaze dropped briefly to the chalice in Amy's hand before returning to her face.

"Seek the star." With that final phrase, the light vanished completely. The gold in the Augur's eyes was replaced by piercing blue, and she sagged in her chair. Amy moved without thinking, catching the woman by the shoulders before she could slip to the floor. She watched her closely as the Augur blinked, expecting the same vague distance as before to settle over her expression again. It didn't. Instead, there was a brief focus in her eyes. The Augur's gaze shifted to the canvas laid out on the table beside them.

"…Is Melinda safe?"

"Melinda?" Amy drew back slightly, carefully easing her hands away from the woman's shoulders once she was sure she would remain upright. Then she studied her again. Was this…the lucid Augur?

"Is Melinda your sister's name?" she asked. The Augur gave a small nod, eyes not moving from the two girls painted beneath the night sky. Amy glanced at it. So that was Melody's original name, before she had become the Countess. It was strangely close to the name Skyler had given her. Had Skyler known that somehow? Or was it simply a coincidence?

"She calls herself Melody now," Amy said after a moment.

"Mel."

"Melody…" the Augur repeated the name quietly, as if testing it.

"Is she safe?"

"She was safe when I last saw her. At present, she is somewhere that may prove dangerous, but she went there of her own volition. She is…travelling. With my sister." The Augur looked at her.

"Your sister?"

"Yes. I can assure you that she will do everything in her power to—" Amy stopped. A small scowl appeared on her face. She had slipped back into Scarlett's familiar cadence without even noticing. Why was that? Was it because her attention had slipped? Out of habit? Or because she genuinely preferred it now? She let out a soft breath and pushed those questions aside for now, focusing on the Augur again.

"My sister cares about yours," she said.

"A lot. She will keep her safe." The Augur continued looking at her for several seconds.

"You were the catalyst."

"Pardon?"

"He was but ash strewn in the wind. I could not see why, but it was you."

"I'm sorry, but I don't follow."

"You don't have to." The woman lowered her eyes to the painting again.

"I'm sorry. Please help Mel for me. She never understood, and she carried so much pain. I thought I could bear it for her, but I could never save her." Amy fell silent. Eventually, she nodded.

"I have already promised to do what I can for her."

"Thank you," the Augur whispered. The clarity in the woman's expression began to fade as she continued staring at the painting. Her fingers found the pale fabric in her lap again, then the needle, slowly guiding it through the cloth without thread.

"…Is there something I can do for you?" Amy asked.

"No," the woman answered in a low voice.

"No. I am here…." Her words then gradually descended into random murmurs, some mentioning Melody, others that didn't even begin to make sense. Amy remained there for a while longer, watching her until the woman seemed to have forgotten her presence entirely. Finally, she stood. She placed the chalice into her storage, then brought out the metal sphere Mistress had arranged for her. The Augur was clearly in no state for further conversation, and Amy had no intention of pushing her more than was necessary.

Besides, she had learned enough, and she already had a strong idea of where she needed to go next before returning to the official proceedings her doppelganger was currently enduring in her place. Ittar had told her to seek the star. To Amy's knowledge, there was one person in this palace who that description fit particularly well.