The Observatory was surprisingly easy to guide the placid Simone through. Lewis carried enough weight that others knew not to bother him in any tasks he was doing, and those that would were luckily absent. Not that he would mind explaining, but he had been away for some time and would rather have time to at least wash up and get changed before delving into the problem at hand.

Lewis had been given free reign of where he was allowed to stay, and had chosen a secluded tower floor on the east side of the Celestial Citadel. While there were a few instances of Pilgrims getting lost and finding their way to his area, for the most part he remained hidden from the view of most.

“Simone,” Lewis said as he opened the door to his area of the tower. After a certain incident, he had asked for a key to the entire floor. “You may not leave this floor without my supervision. If I find that you have, I will not hesitate to sever the muscles in your legs and arms. I only need you alive.” He pushed her into the main hall, which held a total of three rooms, and a spiral staircase. The three rooms had basic amenities, such as beds and tables, ready for use if needed.

“You may use any of these rooms. The doors can be locked, but I have access to every room. The floor is secure, and no one other than my Master should come here.” There were a few others who would have access, but it was rare for them to visit, if at all.

“Food will be brought here upon request, though do not abuse the system as the servants will not take kindly to having to come here often.” He let loose her bindings.

“Do you have any questions?”

Simone looked oddly satisfied once they reached the beaches of Apoy. She didn’t say much but it was the only time she had stopped if only for a second, to look at the beach. Once she was done she picked up her skirts and ran after Lewis.

For the first time in perhaps a long time, Simone was experiencing something new in a god’s domain. Her eyes were wide as she felt the pressure. Her eyes shifted to a more dull reflection for a few moments as she looked around. This was all too new to her and it was overwhelming. Once she was in the tower though she appeared to perk up and the dullness was gone.

So… She wasn’t going to be locked in one room. She tilted her head at Lewis and as he loosened her she took a few steps to check out her surroundings on her own. “Do…” She pulled gently at the cowl he had put on her, “Do you think I could get some fresh clothes? These ones smell of death.” She wasn’t talking of his but her own.

It had probably been whatever magic was on her but the stench of a corpse was rough in the last few days. It seemed deliberately from whatever the curse was. “I won’t abuse the servant system, it’s hardly my place Lewis.” She turned back to him and looked him in the eyes if only for some respect. She had to be the easiest prisoner ever.

The assassin’s eye twitched at her almost nonchalant attitude towards the whole ordeal. And that fact that his name was even uttered by her made him feel wrong. He was tempted to tell her off for it, but held his tongue. It would be something he would have to grow accustomed to in the short term while he learned what her secret was. It wouldn’t be too long before he eliminated her presence, and went on with his life.

Still, he was a little surprised at her requests. It was something that shouldn’t have surprised him, but there were many things that the young man thought of when it came to certain things, including but not limited to the needs of others. It was not something he really ever needed to concern himself with, as when he was stealing to survive, it was always the needs of basics for survival.

“I’m sure the servants can find something,” he said. “Although the smell of death will still linger if you do not wash. I will instruct a servant to…” He paused. Leaving her alone was not really an option at this point. While he had never had use for it, Lord Raith had communal baths for whatever reason. It would not be too difficult to take her and make sure she didn’t try to escape.

That, and he had no idea how Lord Raith would react. Killing her within the halls of the Citadel were bound to have some kind of adverse effect, and it was not something he wanted to test at this time.

“Never mind, we will go together. It would be best not to leave you unattended. I just need to grab some things from my room…” He started up the spiral staircase, and unlocked the door to his space. He threw his bag and auxiliary equipment onto the bed, and placed his bow and quivers underneath the window.

The room was, as always, a disorganized mess. Strewn about were open books, and there were several haphazard stacks across the bed and floor. There were daggers and knives spread around the room, as well as vials of unidentified liquids, poisons and potions like that could have any kind of unknown effects. Lewis moved through the room swiftly, as any assassin would, without disturbing the piles. Perhaps it was unconscious training, or…perhaps it was just the room of a messy teenager.

Simone was still a little uneasy but she figured he was keeping her for a time. There was no point in being shy around him considering they would be living together. It was sort of like what her father told her about married couples. There were just things she would have to suck up when dealing with Lewis. Her virtue or whatever her father called it wouldn’t matter much anyway if he was really going to kill her.

“Okay,” that was a simple enough thing. There were servants to ask but she wasn’t sure just how much she could ask for. The bath part tripped her up since it seemed like one second he was going to ditch her… and the next he didn’t trust her to take a simple bath.

She waited for what seemed like a few seconds before her curiosity got the best of her. She came up the stairs like a church mouse and peeked into the room. It was a disaster which was something she wasn’t prepared for. She could vaguely remember a scolding or two for keeping one’s quarters like a pigpen, however, it didn’t really look like anyone like that told Lewis anything of the sort.

“How do you find anything in here?” She spoke before she caught herself and it was evident by the way she cuffed her mouth. “I just mean… You have everything so well planned on the way here. I expected your room to be the same…” She ducked from the doorway and went back down the spiral staircase. Gods knew he probably would have killed her for such a remark. She wasn’t making fun of him, she was simply curious.

Pulling her long mess of black locks over her shoulder she began to pick the leaves and twigs out of it from the night he threw her in the bushes. It was the first time she had been able to actually take a look at the damage. “Ow,” she lightly hissed as a thorny stem them got her finger. She watched the blood ooze for a moment before fighting with the thorny branch once more. “Out with you,” she finally got it but not before adding a few more nicks to her hands. “Wonderful~ Going to take ages to get all of it out.” Her hair was long and thick but she didn’t even remember letting it get this long. She sure was missing quite a bit of memory.

Lewis heard Simone come up the stairs. As he had not given any specific instructions on his room, it didn’t really bother him. There wasn’t much in the room that she could use to hurt him, and if she did manage to get a hold of something, it was likely to end her own life before his. And, with that being the goal, Lewis had no qualms if she managed to off herself.

Her comment on his room, though, made him pause as he glanced back. She seemed almost shocked by the words that she spoke, and she seemed to dig herself into a deeper hole with the next set. Almost immediately, she left, leaving Lewis to look around his room.

“It’s not…that bad…” he said. “I know where everything is.”

It wasn’t much longer before Lewis came downstairs wearing a basic tunic and pants. Had she not seen him in his assassin garb, she may have mistaken him for a normal teenager. In his hands were a set of towels, of which he threw at Simone.

“Catch,” he said. “We’ll go now. I’ll make sure the servants know to bring you some clothes. Follow me…”

He lead her down the stairs once more and through the cold hallways of the citadel. If Simone were not careful, she could easily get lost in the halls, and most who ended up lost found their way to the dragon. While that wasn’t a problem for the Pilgrims, he was sure that the dragon would thing Simone nothing more than a tasty treat. At least, he assumed it might. Lewis wasn’t entirely what instructions Lord Raith had given it, or how much it felt like listening.

Finally, they reached the rooms that were sectioned off for bathing. “Go in and undress. I’ll at least give you the courtesy of privacy. Let me know once you’re in the water.” He crossed his arms, and motioned for her to get going.

Simone caught the towels with ease and held them to her chest. “Thank you…” She wasn’t sure what to expect from him. Curiously she eyed him with those stormy eyes before following right behind him.

She could smell the water from just outside the room. It was almost like an herbal soak, good for your skin, and good to get all the blood and gore off of you. Or that’s what Simone would have liked it was for. “Okay…” She eyed Lewis again before hastily going inside the bathroom.

His cowl came off first and she folded it neatly away from what ended up being the torn rags of her dress. Was her it dress though? It seemed awfully roomy on her. She scrunched her nose up and before long she dipped her foot in the water.

It was nice and hot just like how she remembered them from before. Why would baths change though? Why was that at the forefront of her mind? Just what had she been doing all this time? She sunk into the water and got herself to her own little corner.

“Alright Lewis, I’m in the water.” She called out before she sank herself down. Her fingers were going through her hair as she got the rest of the debris out. This time a tad more careful about the thorns. She put them off to the side of the bathing pool.

She waited for him and looked away until he was in the water. She spoke up after many minutes of silence as she took the soap and scrubbed off what she thought was her own blood. She had her back to him looking down at the bits of debris from her hair. Plucking another thorn it punctured her finger again. This time she stared at the blood with a grimace. “I hate it. The constant tug of where I’m going next. The ebb and flow of never knowing when it will stop. Watching myself learn how harsh the world is again and again. The same optimism each time.” Dull and dead eyes turned back towards Lewis now, “I’ve lost count how many decades it’s been now. And knowing that he–”

She was cut off as she brought her hands to her head and her legs wobbled letting her fall into the water. After a few seconds, there was splashing as Simone came up and started coughing. She was laying over the side of the pool. "I guess I must have slipped and hit my head when I was daydreaming," Simone told herself even though she was unsure of what really happened. Her eyes held that spark of life as she looked back at Lewis. "Sorry for the noise."

Once Lewis received word from Simone, he took himself into the changing room. It wasn’t long before he was slipping into the warm waters. He let out a hearty sigh. It felt good to be home. With his back to Simone, he took a few moments to wash the grime off of his face. Across his back and arms were scars from when he had received beatings as a child. Failure to bring enough coin was usually met with brutality, and after the first few beatings, it became almost impossible to comply. Lewis had been lucky, and had adapted to the cruelty to survive.

He finally turned his attention to Simone, who seemed to be struggling with the thorns in her hair. The assassins was tempted to just cut it all off with his sharpest dagger, and almost suggested it when eh pricked herself, the blood welling up. Something, though, changed in her demeanor. She seemed older somehow, despite the fact that she couldn’t be much younger than he was. Her eyes were dead, much like the corpses of those he would assassinate. Her words made no sense.

Then suddenly, she fell. Lewis stared for a moment. He didn’t react. He had no need to. If she drowned of her own volition, then perhaps it would be the end of it all here. But no, she came up moments later, sputtering and coughing, very much alive.

But what she said next made no sense. Daydreaming? Slipped and hit her head? No, something different happened. Lewis stayed silent about that, instead choosing to go with her explanation for the time being. “Be careful, then, and make sure it does not happen again…”

In the end, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. At least not yet. Perhaps it was already time to arrange a meeting with Lord Raith.

“Anyway, take your time. We’re in no rush here…” Lewis said as he went back to washing himself. “Just keep your hands to yourself…”

Simone nodded and looked like she was watching her footing as she scrubbed her hair mercilessly. The water around her became clouded with a light red. It was sort of weird how much blood her hair had soaked up when it hadn’t really been involved in her murder in the first place.

She calmed down with the scrubbing once Lewis spoke up again. Her face instantly flared up red though as he spoke his last few words. “Keep my hands to myself?” She looked at him honestly for the first time in full view. “But I wasn’t…”

Getting a stubborn look on her face she went back to scrubbing herself silently. He was the one who manhandled her first and yet she was supposed to keep her hands to herself? He made no sense, at least that’s what she thought. She pulled up all of her locks and nimbly wrapped them around her head as she could sink down and wash her skin without it getting in the way.

She wanted to know where she came from. She could vaguely remember who she was but… It was just vaguely. The only thing she knew for sure was her name. She was so lost in her thoughts that she left the bathing area without telling Lewis she was going to do it. It wasn’t at the forefront of her mind as she wrung her hair out and towel it before drying herself.

Looking up at the ceiling she had but a simple thought come across her mind. “I’m afraid of water.” She turned and looked at Lewis. “But not this water… Or the ocean. I don't know why because I never was before but I'm afraid of water. Deep blue and the sun barely strikes. Sometimes it's glossed over like frosted glass. I can see it clearly but yet… I can't put my finger on why or where just that I am.” She frowned a bit. "…It's not fear I guess… It's resentment?" The more she thought about it the more her head hurt as she slid against the wall until she was sitting and holding it.

She was trying to find answers that didn't want to be found.

If Lewis had been annoyed by her flustered remarks, he didn’t show it. He may have been a traveled assassin, but he was still a boy. Without the tools and armor, he even looked it.

It didn’t take Lewis anywhere near as long to clean himself as it took Simone to do her hair, so Lewis found himself relaxing, his back against the obsidian coloured tile, soaking in the warmth of the bath. The servants would have to drain and clean it afterwards from the amount of filth the two had, but it wouldn’t be something that happened constantly. He sighed, closing his eyes.

Her remarks about the harsh world were echoing in his mind. Having to learn again. Lewis knew how the world worked from a young age. But the way she had spoken… Again. But the way Simone acted was that of someone who had yet to experience the world for what it truly was. He would hesitate to call her ‘innocent’, but it was the word that he could associate with her. But that instance before she fell…it was as if the veil had lifted, and she saw the world for what it was.

She said ‘Thank you.’ Did she? Or was that just a figment of his imagination. Who would thank their killer? Someone who cannot escape? Someone who was tired of living. Tired of the cycle of death.

And rebirth.

Lewis opened his eyes as Simone moved to leave the bath. He wanted to say something, and started to turn, bur as he saw her naked form, immediately turned around. “Next time warn me!” he said aloud. “And let me know when you’re clothed.”

Behind him, he could hear her drying off. Lewis did his best to erase the image of her from his mind, and for once was okay with her starting to speak again. And it just so happened to be another clue.

“Water?” he mused aloud. Why would she be scared of water? No, not scared. She said she resented it. Fear. Resentment. Was she associating water with something? “It’s just nonsense…” he said. There wasn’t a clue to be found after all. At least, not yet.

“Sorry!” She about eeped it out. “I wasn’t thinking I swear.” It’s true she had nearly forgotten that he was with her. Now she had actually embarrassed but it wouldn’t take long for that to float away. She dressed back into the rags and covered herself with the cowl to make sure nothing showed through. “Nonsense… It feels like it should be a nightmare… but I don’t remember dreaming it.”

She squinted her eyes a bit and huffed softly. “I’m dressed though.” She went to leave and stopped. Her eyes were mulling something. “One more thing about the water… I feel like I don’t have enough room and I can’t breathe. It’s probably just a nightmare though. Something like that would actually kill someone…”

Once they were back up in the tower they waited for the servants to deliver something new for her to wear. It was a simple dress and her shoulders were far too small for it as the deep green material fell off of them. They managed to get the waist tight enough to stay put and when they were sure her chest wouldn’t magically fall out they left her be. They took the rags with them so it didn’t stink up the tower any more than it already did.

“Thank you,” she had stopped them. It was important to be thankful right now. For some reason, the thing about the water had unnerved her greatly. It felt so real to her even though there was no way it could have been. She flailed her hands lightly getting them free of the long fabric. Taking a brush to her hair she was able to get the knots out easily enough.

Finding Lewis once everything was tidied she knocked on his room door but didn’t bother crossing into the room. “I didn’t think you wanted them to take this away with the rest of it.” It was his cowl all folded neatly again. “What now? Do I leave you be until you think of some use for me?”