"..."
"What's wrong?"
"...And then? Who are you? Sorry, I'm not some psychic who can deduce your life story just by hearing a name."
Athena felt a bit speechless; she had to admit that the woman before her looked quite frightening. Unlike the Prophet at the door whose presence gave a sense of being broken, the Isadora Morgana in front of her seemed truly shattered.
Those fine green cracks started from the wound on her chest, spreading across her body in a haphazard, irregular pattern. Her skin was deathly pale, almost grey, and under the green light, it presented a bizarre color—honestly, if it weren't for her ability to move, she looked more like a corpse than a "person..."
...A corpse?
Could it be that she was a living corpse with intelligence?
"It's not as you imagine, madam."
Isadora interrupted Athena's swirling thoughts. Athena's expression sank; she hadn't voiced her thoughts, which can only mean...
"Before rifling through someone else's mind, shouldn't you get the owner's consent?"
Athena pretended to be serious, speaking in a low voice, though she knew she probably didn't have much bargaining power. But since the other party went through the trouble of saving her, she must be useful in their plan, much like the Black Wizard they once imprisoned at Olympus—named Volt...or something like that?
Of course, even if she wasn't useful, she didn't intend to start with too low a stance—at the very least, she needed to know what the other party wanted from her.
"...I only read your superficial thoughts, like observing ripples on water."
Isadora's tone remained calm, devoid of apology, as though stating an objective fact, "For me, this is an instinct as natural as breathing; even if you describe it this way, I can't restrain it. If you're unhappy about this, perhaps you could choose to maintain some level of...'calmness'."
"...Who are you?"
After listening to this, Athena nodded, apparently having no other choice, but now, there was something more important, "Or rather, what are you?"
"As I just said, I am Isadora Morgana—a wizard once obsessed with the source of power, who committed an irreparable mistake."
The woman, glowing green, slowly walked towards the center of the stone chamber, casting twisted, flickering shadows on the rough stone walls, "As for now, as you see, I am an 'echo' shaped like a ghost, forged by the time paradox—you probably can't comprehend this, and that's normal; even we can't understand it to this day."
She paused for a moment before continuing, "We spent several years barely peering at a sliver of truth from the crevice of space-time..."
"...Was that person outside just now too?"
"We all are those unfortunate ones who had contact with that guy—"
The woman stopped a few steps ahead of Athena, her grey-white eyes "gazing" at her, "You're probably wondering why we, these 'rats' living in the crevices of time, would seek you out—you might have already guessed..."
"Since you can read my thoughts, you can certainly be sure of one thing."
"...Alright, you've guessed it."
Isadora nodded, her tone unchanged despite being rebuffed, "That guy, of course, is the one who nestles in the wrong place, William Richard—he recklessly disrupts the laws of time, summoning us from the crevice of space-time, making us suffer—yet he remains blissful."
The emotion in the woman's voice remained neutral, but anyone could sense the gritting frustration within her words.
"...Did he do it on purpose? Or was it an accident?"
"An accident? Perhaps."
Isadora's chest pulsed slightly faster in green light, like a chaotic heartbeat, "The laws of time are profound and fragile; his actions are like a boulder crashing into a still pond, stirring us, the remnants sunk at the bottom, and tossing us onto the shore of reality—for us, it's endless torture; our existence itself is constantly being worn away: memory, perception, even the boundaries of 'self' blur and erode...Mr. Rookwood's condition, you probably saw too."
"He seemed more...robotic than last time?"
Athena pondered for a moment and found a fitting word—indeed, compared to last time, the "Prophet" outside looked more like...a puppet?
"Because he experienced another death—"
Isadora's gaze returned to Athena, "that rapidly increased his pace of deterioration."
"But..."
Athena spoke, somewhat confused, "If I remember correctly, Mr. Rookwood didn't seem to be killed by Richard at that time. Instead, it seemed like someone who planted a curse inside him detonated the Curse—I thought it was you."
"No, it was himself."
"?"
"He sensed his emotions were being stirred by William Richard, about to spill everything out, so he killed himself."
Isadora nodded and continued explaining, "Before dying, he constructed a fictitious enemy with his words to mislead the investigation direction of that guy—it seems his diversion tactic worked—until now, that person is probably still in the dark, hence he threw you as bait."
"...You know?"
"Of course I know."
"Then why did you seek me out?"
Athena asked instinctively, "You knew it was that person's trap." She glanced at the blue flame pattern on her wrist, "Do I possess something you need? Like this, my connection with him?"
"No, we don't need that."
"...What is it then?"
"The reason is simple."
Isadora slowly turned to face the massive bookshelf, "Because you are the bait he threw out, and we need to bite the hook at this moment, that's all—"
"What is this...wait, I think I understand. So you want that guy to believe everything is under his control, thereby becoming complacent?"
Athena paused for a moment and couldn't help but ridicule, "This is impossible; didn't you already use this trick before?"
"But it worked last time; his character flaw has always been like this, hasn't it?"
"...You could actually use another reason to deceive me."
"We have always been honest with people, believe me. We are merely innocent souls forcibly left in the world to suffer—and now, only you can help us."
"Me? How can I help?"
"Pin the location here to that Demon; I know, you left the eyes behind for him, didn't you? Just make him believe you haven't exposed anything, everything is still under control, that's simple, isn't it?"