The time after the vial's arrival was hectic and confused. Although Amaris had a respectable knowledge of how the Lab and Raevans worked - there was the essence and the soul, and the two were different but vital to a Raevan - she did not possess much knowledge as to how the soul was acquired or why a soul was even necessary. Why couldn't something more material be used instead? Like old bread? There was plenty of that to offer.
As a result of its owner's lack of knowledge and consequent busying of selves, the vial was left unattended on the top shelf in her bedroom's closet for quite some time. Amaris, in fact, had nearly forgotten about it until the day Mitsuoujo had gently asked when the stork was going to bring her half-sibling.
Thus, in response to the toddler's inquiry and the shame she felt at having to be reminded, Amaris sat down with the briefcase and once again opened it. Reliably nestled in the padding inside was the mysterious writing-filled vial.
"Hello," she tentatively said.
The pace at which words formed seemed to slow for a moment. After a clear punctuation mark, it stopped completely. Go ahead, it seemed to say. Make your excuses.
"I'm sorry," she attempted and immediately felt ashamed of herself for not having anything more clever or witty to say or a good excuse to give. "I... um." She didn't forget. No. Clearly not. "You've sort of been on the backburner. But I'm going to work on... you know. Getting you a soul, or something. That's what I think I'm supposed to do."
After a few awkward moments of staring into the vial, words began to form again. She felt strange - there was writing in the bottle, she knew it was writing, it was actually the most beautiful calligraphy she had ever seen - but she couldn't read it - no, she couldn't remember it, she realized, even when she had just read it, known she had read and comprehended it, moments before. Her new discovery, though, quickly slipped from her mind like sand through her fingers, and she was once again left to another moment of staring into the vial, wondering what it was saying.
"You're an oddball," she concluded. The flow of the black inky writing did not slow.
Amaris was stuck already. She honestly could not think beyond this point. She was supposed to get a soul. How? Is that something you could buy in a store? Could you go out and fetch one easily? A soul, she thought, is a very grand thing. That soul had to come from somewhere. She began to feel uneasy as she eyed the soul bottle. It wouldn't take hers, would it?...
The answer popped into her head almost as suddenly and pristinely as the words in the vial. If she didn't know how to do it, obviously she needed to stop and ask someone who did know. She could ask Kyou but she didn't want to bother the doctor unecessarily - especially when there was someone else to call, namely the man who sometimes paid her to babysit his own little failed experiment. Oh, Gage. Oh... Gage's owner. His name. What was it? Amaris gulped nervously. It had been so long... Well, hopefully it would not come up - and she had his number, so all she had to do was bluff her way through the beginning of the call and ask her questions quickly...
Before her doubt could swallow her intentions, she picked up her phone and dialed his number with one hand, holding the Fel essence in the other.
