[OOC: I'll refrain from calling Silanus maddie. He might take it as an insult or try to continuously correct Natsumi. x)]
Her offer, while hastily thought up, proved enough to placate the madman. A pointed spear retracted, and jubilance replaced suspicion as water washes away flame. The plan, it seemed, was a success, and so Natsumi continued on her merry way without another word.
Unfortunately, Silanus proved incessant in his talking after the fact. The druid had responded to his initial apology with a simple, "That's alright," trying to ignore the ramblings that came afterward. Valkyries were rare beasts, and corrupted valkyries even rarer. It just seemed so insane, and Natsumi wasn't sure what to assume as fact. Not only that, but there was something else distracting her during the journey, enough to where she didn't respond to much of what Silanus said.
No one around could observe it, but Natsumi was becoming paranoid the longer the journey went on. She got the feeling someone was watching her – someone familiar. Only when the blood red words appeared upon the blackened backdrop of her mind did she realize that this presence was her dreaded handler.
'You become more like me by the day,' the voiceless message read. 'I both wonder how deep you will go and how much self-loathing you will endure after your self-imposed journey ends. Will you regret as I have, or will you remain cold?'
The mere thought of being like the creature that had enslaved her soul sickened the druid. She tried to shrug it off, but her instincts took over despite her common sense to not antagonize such an entity.
"I am nothing like you, Chess-Eccentric," she hissed aloud, forgetting that Silanus was nearby. Perhaps he would think that she too was mad, but, unlike the voices in his head, this messenger in Natsumi's was very much alive. It even bothered to respond before disappearing in a mist of disease.
'You are in more ways than you seem to imagine, my Black Queen. After all, t'is not I that is using Silanus as a pawn. The fault of that lies solely with you.' Thus, The Handler's presence vanished. By that time, both Natsumi and Silanus were in front of Adelano's cabin, or rather over the hill closest to its front entrance.
"Here we are," the now shaken woman said as soon as the sight met her eyes. Next to a frozen river, the ramshackle edifice stood. It smelled of harsh chemicals and arcane magic, the kind of scents one would expect of a proper wizard's laboratory rather than living quarters. All seemed quiet around that building; too quiet, in fact. The only thing out of the ordinary, however, was the suspicious traveler from earlier on the road, or, rather, his cart, that had been conveniently placed next to the open door leading inside.
To others, this might not seem too unusual a site to see in the countryside. Rural individuals often did not assume there was an excessive need to always lock the door, because sneak thieves were more common in the city. As such, it was not out of the ordinary to see an open door out in the country during the day – even during Glaciem, sometimes. Even so, something felt wrong about the whole scene.
"Something is foul," the druid said before approaching the home any closer than she had, her mind now sensing danger. It was then that she saw it. Although mostly hidden from view, the body of the traveler from before lay strewn about in the entrance of Adelano's hideout. He had been frozen solid, his black boots just barely visible from the distant hill that Natsumi stood on. "Looks like Adelano had a violent disagreement with a merchant at his door."
