Next thing Hirune knew Kala kept almost every weapon she tried to pick out of her reach. The first weapon she wanted to choose was a cool looking sword that seemed to have a skeletal handle with nerve endings that morphed as it's blade. Kala said she couldn't use it because it drained too much energy and that it was too complicated to use for someone as new as her. The second weapon Hirune tried to pick was this weird flail that had 2 endings. One ending could open and close like a mouth and the other was a dagger that could open up like a peacock's tail. Kala said she needed more training for it, and it kept on going like this until Hirune just gave up and told her she didn't need a weapon.
As they walked back, Hirune saw the jester again. She nudged Kala, which she ignored. So, she shoved Kala into the wall then forced her head to look at the jester's direction. She wouldn't normally do this, but she had some pent-up anger towards her after she knocked her out, so she didn't feel guilty.
"Do you see that jester?" Kala frowned and slowly took Hirune's hands away from her face, "I don't see anything there. What are you talking about?" They stared at each other for a moment. Then she looked at the jester again as Kala shoved her off of her and kept on walking. The jester was getting closer.
"Can we hurry up a bit? We clearly don't get along so maybe hurrying it up a bit would be better. That's just me though." Kala glanced back at her and groaned as she walked faster.
When they got outside, everyone else was there already. "So, why do you lack a weapon?" Ellen asked with an eyebrow raise. Hirune shrugged.
Ellen sighed, "Hey Clint, could you use that whistle that makes the car appear." Clint nodded and pulled a silvery whistle that looked like a Rolls Royce from the 50's. Which when he whistled it a large cloud of fog came out of it, then when it dispersed the same car appeared from it. Just that now it was slightly tweaked in order for it to have as many seats as a modern-day SUV.
"So, how'd that work?" Hirune said intrigued by this machinery unknown to her.
"You act as if he has any idea. Sure, he's socially smart, but he's not that bright. He got it after he pleased Vereta. The goddess of time and reincarnation." Ellen answered. Hirune stared at her, thinking.
There were myths of 10 gods. In Triste they were taught about the myths, but they never taught them any way to worship or anything like that. Hirune always found that curious, why teach them about it if they weren't going to use it in their day-to-day life? She always knew the answer, but it was kind of annoying to her either way. But she was curious now, Vereta, the goddess of time and reincarnation, was known for being the first of the 10 deities, and for giving all the other deities their spots in the pantheon.
'So, how did he even get the attention of a god?' Hirune was tempted to ask, but considering what Ellen just said about him, none of them probably knew.
***
They all hopped into the car. Clint in the driver's seat, Ellen in the passenger seat, Kala, Tundra and Hirune in the back.
Hirune thought about asking Ellen about a couple of things like Namulenza or the Shadow Jester. Yet she felt that if she asked about both Ellen might start to pry into what she knew and didn't know, so she was unsure as to what she'd ask about.
'Yet again, the more I know, the higher the chance of me being able to escape gets right?' She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. Asking about some random jester she saw wouldn't her help, but asking about Namulenza might. After all she'd somehow seen her after losing consciousness so there was a chance that she was connected to her due to either the artifact, or another personal connection.
Hirune let her head fall down with an exasperated sigh. Then as soon as she did, she shrieked as she saw the decapitated head of the shadow jester on her lap laughing at her. "You, ok?" Hirune nodded hard as she tried to catch her breath.
Hirune took a deep breath trying to pull herself together. Then asked, "So who's Namulenza?"
Ellen borderline snapped her neck as she looked back at Hirune, "How do you know about her?"
Hirune shrugged, she wasn't about to tell Ellen how she knew her. After all both of them were careful about what they said to a degree. Hirune looked out of the car then said, "Heard of her once in a book and was intrigued. You seem to know a lot, so I thought I'd ask you."
Ellen stared at her with an eyebrow raised. After considering if she should tell her, Ellen said, "Namulenza was a witch of legends. The ruler of 1/4 of the surface layer of this world, the queen of apathy and famine, and the empress of shadows. She was possibly one of the strongest witches to ever live, to this day it's unknown how she died." Hirune nodded, then turned away again.
Luckily for her, Ellen didn't seem like she wanted to pry, respecting whatever reason Hirune truly had for asking that question. Yet Hirune was unsatisfied, Ellen only told her what Namulenza herself told her. The only new thing she learnt was that nobody knew how she died, which was interesting, but she didn't want to disrespect a dead person by prying into how they died.