I walked for quite a while, until I came to the last person I expected to see--Victor. He was sitting on a tree, an owl perched on his shoulder.
"Hey!" I shouted up at him, hoping he was in a good mood. Maria had shown me memories of her fights, and I knew how to use all of my powers now, but I was still weaker than Victor by a long shot. Besides, I hadn't saved his life, so he probably had no qualms about killing me.
"Hey yourself, how'd you get here?" he responded languidly.
"Stupid question; I walked" I said, and I couldn't keep the annoyance out of my voice. "Anyway, get down from there, I want to ask you some questions."
I was treading on dangerous ground, here, but I was tired of everyone, from Maria on out, treating me like I was of no consequence.
"Me? Ask me some questions? Whatever for?" Victor asked, pretending to be asstonished, which made me scowl.
"Just get down from there, please. I want to ask you about Skylar, since you seem to be the one who knows the most about anything, next to Leon, that is" I said, deciding to try to appeal to his ego.
"So his name's Skylar, eh?" Victor asked, sounding interested.
"Yeah" I responded grudgingly. "Anyway. I'm a bit worried about Maria--stupid as that is. Skylar has a bit of a hold on her, and his aura's way off--as I'm sure you know."
"So, what else is new?" Victor asked, sounding bored.
"Do you know anything about Leon's experiments--specifically with mind control?"
I waited, trying to hide my worry, for Victor's response. Showing weakness was, I reminded myself, not the way to get what I wanted.
"Not a clue" was Victor's infuriating reply. "Why?"
