Chapter 150 Janae

Babara continued.

"Now with that out of the way, we can finally get down to the issue at hand. This is no joke Xzavier, neither is this a fabricated tale. Everything I am about to tell you is the truth."

She pointed towards her workspace where piles and piles of paper sat neatly on the table; "I have well written and well detailed notes on all my investigations. There is no speculation here. Just facts."

Xzavier watched her and listened carefully. When she saw that she had Xzavier's undivided attention, Babara dove right in and started to narrate her own findings. She spoke with the confidence of one who told the truth. She told Xzavier every single thing she had discovered. She elaborated as much as she could on Princy Castle. She tried to keep her voice free from pain as she spoke of her sister. Babara kept her own sentiments aside and did her best to stay on track. She told Xzavier everything, leaving nothing out.

By the time she was done, Xzavier remained quiet for a really long time. In fact, it was so much that she wondered at intervals if he was awake or sleeping with his eyes open. It began to cross her mind that maybe Xzavier had deceived her. Maybe he was actually on the governor's side and had tricked her into telling him all that she knew. Babara violently shook off those doubts from her thoughts. This was Xzavier, he wouldn't do that.

Actually, she didn't blame him for being quiet. This was too much information to offload all at once. She herself had taken weeks to figure it all out. And now, the poor Xzavier was getting it rammed into him all at once. Finally, her guest took a deep breath and broke the silence.

"You have said quite a lot Babara, but you still haven't told me what exactly you need my help for. What do you want me to do for you?"

Babara realized that Xzavier was right. In all her narration, she had failed to make her request of him which was the true reason she had come after him in the first place. Maybe she had wanted to gauge his reaction first to her theory. She couldn't have jumped the gun by making her request first. No, it was needful he knew the whole thing. Then he would be in a better position to help her.

Either way, courtesy demanded she present her request formally. Xzavier wasn't a mind reader. The only way he could help was if he knew exactly what she wanted. Assumption was the mother of all blunders. He couldn't simply assume. It was better he knew. If he could do it- fine. If he couldn't, then it was also fine. But first, he had to know. So, Babara officially presented her request to him.

"I have tried to get into Princy Castle, but have come up short of coming up with the perfect plan. I lack the resources and information to get through. But that's where you come in..."

Xzavier kept his eyes on her, never taking it off even for a second.

"...I need you to get in there Xzavier. I need you to find out for me if my sister is in there. I need to know if..." she forced a sob downwards that wanted to come forth and finished her own sentence,"I neee to know if she is alive."

Babara couldn't believe she was the one saying this. But she had to be prepared to face the worst even as she hoped for the best.

"We were separated when we were very young. So, I don't have a portrait of her for you to go by. But Janae, (her sister's name) looks very much like me. She is older than me but the difference isn't all that much. She is pretty Xzavier..." she lowered her eyes to the ground and added sorrowfully; "Far prettier than I ever was."

She lifted her gaze with hope in her eyes and encouraged Xzavier;

"But don't worry! You'll know her the moment you set your eyes on her! I promise!"

While Xzavier was busy calculating the probability of the suceess of this mission, Babara rose up from where she was seated across from Xzavier and went to a corner of the room. She pulled out a peculiar looking handkerchief and handed it to Xzavier.

"Here, take this. Janae is a very stubborn and willful girl. There is every possibility that she might doubt you if you tell her I sent you. So when you find her, show her this handkerchief. She will instantly know that it's from me."

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

Xzavier collected the handkerchief and held it up to look at it carefully. Just as he had suspected initially, it was one of a kind. There was some kind of embroidery on it that made it different from anything he had ever seen. As he pocketed the handkerchief, his eyes wandered to the window and saw that time had really flown past since he came here. Since his mission was practically done here, there was no point in staying any longer than he had to. It was time to go.

He stood up abruptly from the chair he had been sitting on.

"There's a lot of work to do. As you know, to pull this off without arousing suspicion will require serious planning and a lot of information. I will have to get back to you on this."

His tone suggested that he was done here and he was leaving. He expected Babara to pick up on this and stand up to see him off, or at least get the door open for him as a guest. But instead, she reclined back in her seat, crossed her legs and fixed her gaze on the door as if her mind wasn't even on what Xzavier was saying.

Xzavier thought it was weird. But he didn't pursue it any more than he had to. He had already gotten used to the strange ways of the people of this time. He thought maybe this was just another one of those anomalies. He didn't know how wrong he was.

"I'll be on my way now. Take care."

Still no answer. Xzavier turned his back on her and headed towards the door. As he walked towards exit, he felt a very strange energy in the room. It was like the dynamic had shifted in the last couple of minutes. It wasn't violent, or threatening or anything of the sort. But he couldn't lay his hands on it par day. Either way, he was glad he was getting out. Only he wasn't going anywhere.

Xzavier laid his hand on the door handle and twisted, willing it to move. To his surprise, it didn't budge. He tried it again, using a much greater force, but nothing happened. It was very strange. Xzavier's custom black fitting suit (which he wore under his garments at all times) provided him with an enhanced grip that could break any material made up of matter. It began to dawn on him that maybe, he wasn't dealing with actual matter here, maybe...

"Where do you think you're going Xzavier?" Babara's cold voice confirmed what Xzavier was thinking already- magic!

Xzavier slowly turned around to meet the cold black eyes of Babara burning into him.

"What's going on Babara? What is the meaning of this?"

She rolled her eyes. "I forgot that you have no mana whatsoever." She slowly rose up from her seat like a cobra uncoiling, and strolled over to Xzavier until she was only a couple of meters away from him.

"For your information, I have used blockade magic to seal this room. You're not getting out of here Xzavier. Not until I say so anyways."

Xzavier cringed. "What do you mean until you say so? I have agreed to help haven't I?"

Babara was acting really strange now. Her look, attitude, and general tone reminded Xzavier of the famous black widow spiders. They were a breed of female spiders that devoured their males after mating.

"You see Xzavier, I can't just let you walk out of here just like that..."

For the first time, Xzavier noticed what Babara was wearing. The disguise she had on earlier on was a big black cloak which she had draped all around herself like a blanket. As soon as they had gotten into the house, while Xzavier had been looking around, she had slid it off and taken her place opposite him with a pillow on her laps. The conversation had been way too dense for him to think about other things. But now, his mind was less occupied, and it seemed like Babara wanted to occupy more of his mental space.

As the young lady stood before him, Xzavier saw that she was clad in a very short black gown that stopped only a few inches above her pubis. Her dark long hair which she had let down over her shoulders, and her thinly strapped black gown made her appear different than she usually was. Her coldness was still there, but this time, there was a sensual ring to it.

"You see Xzavier, you know too much already…" her voice had dropped to a low, almost inaudible whisper. "You can't just walk out of here. What if you end up telling the governor of our little arrangement here?"

Xzavier swallowed hard. "I won't. You have my word."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Babara shook her head as her tongue clicked against the roof of her mouth repeatedly. "All I have is your word. Forgive me, but that is almost useless to me…"