Finding Purpose

Chapter VIII

For every individual of the onehundredandfortyfour amazing people that are following me. Thank you for waiting.

-Ann-

"Alright, what do we have?" Ayme asked as we stood together around the table two days after we had arrived.

Eva had let us stay at the house in the guest rooms, but it was clear that Ayme had wanted to leave the moment we had settled in. I couldn't blame her. I wanted to save Percy as much as her.

The four of us, Ayme, Eve, Eva and me seized up the amount of information we had of the poison Ayme had brought. As it turned out, the contents had changed in comparison to the previous vial. A new ingredient had come clear to the surface, but until now we had been unable to find the origin of the element.

"Are we able to find the origin with this equipment?" Eve asked.

Evalyn shook her head. "No. Everything I have here is able to work to a certain point. In the past, when Percy came to visit me, we used another way to find it."

"Can we use that way again?" I asked.

Eva bit her lip. "It might not be enough this time."

She thought for a moment, moving her finger over her lips out of what seemed like a habit. "I might know someone who can help us with that, but I'm not sure if she's willing to."

Ayme frowned at her. "Why wouldn't she want to help us?"

Eva started putting the papers back into the files. "The girl I came to know is a bit of a wallflower. Despite everything she can do, she doesn't want the fame many people have offered her already. It's why she's living on the outdoors with her mate, somewhere deep into the woods. Also, we haven't really been on good terms after not speaking to each other for a long time."

Eve crossed his arms. "But can you find her?"

Eva laughed and put the files on the stacks again. "Of course. But it will be the other way around."

"The other way around?" I asked.

"It will be her finding us."

"How long until we get there?" Ayme asked, not wanting to spend another moment on walking aimlessly walking through the woods without having found a trace.

Eva frowned and already opened her mouth to answer, until a voice interrupted her.

"What are you doing here, Eva?"

The voice was clearly that of a girl, but something sounded off. It had the silent undertone of a robot, but that couldn't be real, right? I turned around and felt my eyebrows rise. In front of us was a petite girl, leaning on her left leg with her arms crossed, a curious expression visible on her face. Half of her face was hidden by her dark blond hair, but her dark blue eyes were standing out.

"We need your help, Meda," Eva answered.

The girl sighed. "That's the only thing you come here for. All those times you visited me, there's never been a moment when we would have sat down and drink something, watch a movie, I don't know, something like girls like us should usually do?"

Eva smiled at her. "We're not usual girls, Meda, you know that yourself. Besides, the last time we watched a movie was when we went to the cinema together, remember?"

The girl smirked. "You remember which movie that was?"

"Of course, that was Intouchables. It was my birthday present from you in.." Eva's smile faltered for a bit. "2011."