Untrustable

Chapter 3

The Obsidian. Their skills were head to head with the Eye of the West, or- although I'll never admit it- even better, based on my experience against them. They're so secretive and sleuth-

At this point, they should have been the Jasper of the South so that everything started with an S. The first word though?

Shitty.

"Don't you mean... Narnia, the North!" I pointed to the shelf of jars in front of us, pretending they were nonexistent.

Nana smiled. "No, I mean The Obsidian."

Damn it- she wasn't going to stop talking about them.

She put her hands on my face so that I would look at her.

"Listen, I know you don't like The North for whatever reason, but this is work, sweetheart. We just gotta do as they ask, okay?" She peeked into my eyes.

I sighed- she's never failed to convince me.

"All right," I said at last. "So you need my help?"

"Maybe," she wriggled her eyebrows.

"Okay, let's get to work then."

It didn't take long for us to create what The Obsidian asked.

"I wonder who they're planning to use it on..." I mumbled as I sat in the wooden chair back at the cafe, sipping my second cup of tea.

"They just got out of a war with the West only 2 years ago..."

"I'm not sure, but it's not our business to ask, and you know that." Nana was knitting by the fireplace, her needles rhythmically clinking against each other, the neutral-colored yarn blending. Half of the scarf was already finished.

"But it's my business, you know," I talked into the mug. "The others can just ask me to, you know." I turned the cup in my hands.

She stopped her knitting and looked at me. "Yes. I know. But we'll see what happens."

"I guess."

She could be right. It's not like I can do anything with the information I have anyway. Might as well start another war if I ever opened my mouth.

The Obsidian guy came the next Apothecary day. Like most groups, when they know they're going to meet people they're not planning to kill, they either send an Uber or have someone pick up the order. Or, they can dress up like any other people in the street. They blend in so well, that sometimes it's scary who could sit next to you on the train.

"Hello." The Obsidian guy came walking in long strides.

"Hello, how are you today?"

"Good, good," He did look happy.

"What is your order?" I asked, looking up to see him.

"I, um..." He paused, feeling around his pocket. "Oh! Here it is."

He took out a slip of paper from his coat. He slowly handed it to me.

Weird- why is he so hesitant? Is he nervous about what he ordered? Is the paper forged? Or does he not trust me with his order? I gave no sign as I read the paper.

The slip of paper had the date of order, date of pickup, and customer number. I checked to see if they were right using the order book, and placed the piece of paper into a jar filled with clear solution.

The liquid immediately started turning green. If the slip of paper had been forged, it wouldn't have had any color change.

"Whoa," The Obsidian guy said.

Okay. He was probably just nervous- I think. Must be his first time ordering.

I took out the order from the behind the counter. He asked for 1 dose, so it's not even a jar- it's in a small plastic container the size of a thumbnail.

"We're a small shop, but we pride ourselves in this business. We're not going to have some idiot trying to steal our creations." I repeated what Nana said to a customer once.

"I see," He nodded. He still seemed mesmerized.

"Cash or credit?"

"Cash," he said, the paper money already in hand.

Makes sense. Why leave a digital record that could exist forever when you have money with so many fingerprints that can cover up yours? So I guess he's not that stupid.

I made sure it was real, and I put it in the register.

"So this is 1 dose, so you only get 1 chance to inject into the subject. And," I said before he could ask, "The subject will die painlessly, immediately."

He smiled at me as I handed him the order. "Thank you," he said.

I smiled back but immediately faded when he turned around and walked out of the door.

Thank you... for what?

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Sorry for the short chapter 😭

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