Anachronistic: Endless Masquerade

33 | Unsuccessful Distraction

- 33 -

Much to her frustration, Pandora had spent the better part of the morning searching for a good place to conduct her research. She was thankful to Allister for giving her a place to stay the night before, but she couldn't keep getting herself arrested. Besides that, there was no desk in the holding cell, so she searched.

        After the incident with the storeroom it was decided to initiate a lock down. All the aimless wandering about an empty ship had given her plenty of time to think, the one thing she didn't want to do right now. Though, that was due more to who she was thinking about. The previous night still weighed heavy on her mind. The way she had made a fool of herself. That's what she gets for trying to grow close to someone. Hadn't she failed enough times to realize she was meant to be alone?

        Pandora shook her head, trying to knock the thoughts loose. She needed something else to distract her mind. If only she could find a suitable place to look through her bestiary. Really sink herself into the hunt. She did know of one place perfect for the job; a small library for first and second-class passengers. Unfortunately, no one had bothered to unlock the doors. It made sense. What point was there in opening up the library when all the passengers were on lock down? Still, what a cruel prank fate had played on her. She couldn't return to her room, yet had nowhere to go because everyone else was trapped in theirs.

        Once her search had failed, she found herself back at the dining hall. Like everywhere else, the doors were locked, but she could hear the workers inside preparing for dinner. At least she wasn't the only one who's job was complicated by the lock down.

        The cooks had it a bit easier since there was no ordering; everyone would receive the same meal. But the wait staff had been put to work pushing carts of food across the whole damn ship, delivering to each room individually. Apparently they had been deemed too essential to be locked away from the youkai.

        Pandora didn't want to bother them, they already had enough to deal with, but she had run out of options so she sat her bags on the deck and gave the door three heavy knocks. There was no answer. Pandora wasn't sure if the knock had gone unnoticed or if they were ignoring it, but she didn't expect a different response from trying again. She took up her belongings and turned to leave as the door creaked behind her. Big brown eyes regarded her through a thin crack in the door. They gave two blinks, then the door swung open. They eye were attached to one of the waitresses, a small woman with pale blond hair.

        "How did your investigation go? Are you any closer to catching that thing?" the woman asked.

        Pandora couldn't remember if this woman was around when she and Allister visited the storeroom, but she recalled her being around on her first trip back to the kitchen. She had stood up to the chef and gotten herself in trouble. Maybe she would be willing to do it again. After all, Pandora was sure the chef wouldn't want her around.

        "That's why I'm here. I need to go through my notes; I was looking for a place to sit for a while."

        The woman beckoned Pandora inside with a hurried wave. She pulled the door shut, then fastened two separate locks before turning back and saying, "Have you had anything to eat? I can get you something. I know you were working through breakfast."

        Pandora moved to the nearest seat and began to unpack her books. "Actually, I haven't. That would be great."

        The waitress gave her a warm smile then started for the back. Pandora's gaze followed her until she disappeared into the kitchen. Turning back to her books, Pandora flipped each one open and arranged them so they'd be easy to cross reference. Her notebook lay open at a rendering of a feather. In the corner was a list of every feathered species of youkai she could remember. Each one was crossed through. She had already eliminated them all, but decided to go through again; maybe she had overlooked something. If that failed she would go through every entry in her bestiary one by one looking for anything that matched. She wasn't ready to confront the possibility it was an undocumented species yet. And besides, at least it would get her mind off of Lilith.