The city was alive with colours with colours and sounds. Red, green, yellow, purple, blue, orange, teal, it was as if a rainbow had descended from the sky and settle in the land itself. The streets were naturally filled with people enjoying the sights, as well as the booths that had been set up practically everywhere. Food, games, souvenirs, the citizens had worked themselves to the bone to prepare everything for today so now they would make sure to enjoy it as much as they could.
"This one, Fen, you have to try this one!"
Alice was as bubbly as the rest of the citizens, bouncing around between stalls and buying or trying everything that caught her fancy. The feathered serpent spirit Quetz was curled up on her shoulder while the wolf Fen walked at her side, both of them force-fed everything tasty she came across. Nergal was also allowed to come out, bobbing about on Gabriel’s shoulder. He too was force-fed everything that Gabriel came across, but while Alice did it too make Fen and Quetz happy, Gabriel did it because he didn’t like the way Nergal was looking at the people around them.
"Ah, can you pack up some of these? Teresa, you should bring them to your brothers later."
Naturally, Alice didn’t forget to pack away food for Teresa’s brothers, who were still back at the estate. Normally, Teresa or Gabriel would be loaded with luggage due to this, but since Gabriel could just tuck things into the darkness they were saved that hassle. But conversely, this also meant that there was practically no limit to how much she could buy so Alice was free to buy every little thing she found.
"Oh, take this mask, Gabriel, I think the wolf look will suit you!"
"Teresa, take this necklace, the dark gold should go well with your hair."
"Gabriel, look, they have white leather gloves, they’ll match your hair."
"Gabriel, look, you have to taste this, and pack some for Teresa’s brothers!"
"Gabriel, here, come and try on this jacket, the insides are reinforced with small chain-links so I’m sure it will make for good armour. The dark green colour should also look good on you."
From stall to stall, from booth to booth, sometimes she skipped the festivities entirely just to enter a shop because she found something in the windows that drew her attention. Gabriel didn’t know if the Karas Dilu spell would start to be affected by the weight at a certain point, but he felt like he was inching closer towards it at a rapid pace if such a point really existed.
But, luckily, with all their walking about, they were slowly approaching the destination that Gabriel was working on guiding them towards. He only had to get them close enough, once they reached a certain distance he was confident that…
"Hm? Fen? Have you found something?"
Right on que, Fenrir stopped walking. He sniffed the air a few times before he turned towards the direction of Silbecker street, his lips curling back slightly as a low rumbling growl built in his stomach. Yes, if it was a wolf spirit with a name like that then he should have a sense of smell that was at least this good.
"Should we check it out? If he’s reacting like this then someone might be hurt."
Gabriel narrowed his eyes and craned his neck to peer into the distance, he could just barely spot the roofs of the warehouses that lined Silbecker street.
"Hmm, then we probably should go. It would be sad if someone was hurt and needed help but didn’t get it."
Yes, he knew that she would respond like that. Alice was different from Gabriel, she was inherently a good person, the world had just twisted her into a villain. Now that someone might be facing a problem, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to help.
Well, that was at least how Gabriel was looking at it because he could only view things through his own biased lens. To Teresa it looked more like Alice only agreed because Gabriel was the one who made the suggestion.
"Alright Fen, lead the way."
Alice pat the wolf on the head and the spirit shot forward, the rest of the group following right behind it. As expected, he ran through the streets and turned corners until he hit Silbecker Street. He ran right up to warehouse 23, his lips curling back further as the growl in his stomach grew deeper.
Rrrrr.
As Fenrir growled, the thick wooden door crumbled, crushed from top to bottom until it looked like a squished line. There were no guards around today, the one who could order them to be here was no longer around after all.
"Hmm, there’s something in the air, isn’t there?"
Alice’s nose pricked up slightly when the door broke down, there was something slightly unpleasant in the air. She didn’t know the name for it, but Gabriel did. The scent of blood, it was trickling up from below.
"Keep going, Fen."
The spirit lead the way through the maze of boxes until they reached the backrooms, another door getting pulverised into the ground. Alice’s gaze swept through the room for a moment before she spotted something that was a little out of place.
"A secret door?"
A section of the floor was slightly ajar, a tiny bit of light leaking out from it. She walked up to it, but the wood was crushed before she even got to crouch down, Fenrir making sure to pave a neat path to her.
"Ugh, it’s even worse here!"
The stench hit them full-force now that the hidden door was broken, Alice quickly covering her nose. Her gaze wavered for a moment between Gabriel and the descending ladder, but she eventually made up her mind.
"Alright… Let’s go…"
She scampered down the ladder, Fenrir hopping down first for her safety. Teresa moved up next, but Gabriel stopped her with a hand on the shoulder and pulled her back.
"Wait here."
He hopped down the ladder after he spoke, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Teresa behind. But as the smell from below tickled her nose, the gears in her mind started to move.
"It’s coming from behind that door, isn’t it?"
Alice still covered her nose as they moved through the stone hallway, pointing at the door ahead of them with furrowed brows. If the smell was already this bad here then she didn’t want to think about how bad it would be once they opened that door.
Sssss.
A soft hiss came from Quetz after Alice spoke, a bit of wind picking up around her. The wind formed a thin barrier around Alice, blowing away the smell before it could reach her, allowing her to finally unplug her nose.
"You’re the best, Quetz."
Alice rubbed her cheek against the feathered serpent, enjoying the fluffy sensation now that the stench was gone. She walked forward with renewed vigour, the door crumbling thanks to Fenrir. But Gabriel’s hand shot out the moment the door fell apart.
"Eep!"
Alice almost jumped when Gabriel’s hand appeared in front of her, his palm blocking her vision the moment she was about to look into the room.
"Hey, what’s the big deal!?"
She wanted to puff out her cheeks, but Gabriel’s arm was so close that she could feel it brush against her right cheek so there was no space for it to expand.
"You shouldn’t look, my Lady. It’s not a pleasant sight."
Gabriel had set it up so he naturally knew just what sort of state the room ahead of them was in. Nergal had eaten one, but the Baron had come by so there were still seven bodies within the room. They all had cuts of varying degrees on their bodies, some looking as if they died on the spot while others looked as if they tried to leave the room.
From the outside, it looked as if two parties had engaged in a fight and ended up destroying each other, their bodies starting to show smaller signs of decay. He needed Alice to come here to pick up something, but if he could avoid having her look at the scene then it would be for the best.
"Are you looking at it, Gabriel?"
Alice had already calmed down now that she understood the situation, her head tilting slightly as she questioned him. Naturally, there was only one answer Gabriel could give to that question, receiving a swift response.
"Hm? Of course."
"Then I’ll look too. Please remove your hand."
She spoke so calmly and quickly that he was caught a bit off-guard. There was conviction in her voice, determination that he did not feel confident enough to rock.
"I said that I would make you my knight and you said that you would make me the Duchess. Whatever we say or do… We’ve already become one in this endeavour. So I will see what you see, and you will see what I see. Remove your hand, Gabriel."
She crushed him down with facts and logic, promises of days past. Her voice was firm and prepared. From the looks of it, he had underestimated the girl he was showing a new life. And in doing so, he had insulted her.
"I’m sorry, my Lady."
He removed his hand so that she could see, her body stiffening somewhat as she resisted the urge to recoil at the sight. He could feel her quickly sucking in a few breaths, Fenrir and Quetz sticking close to her. Eventually, she mustered up the strength to enter the room, eyes narrowed unpleasantly as she surveyed the scene.
"A fight…"
The bodies were strewn about, still holding the swords they used to cut each other apart. The splattered blood was already dry and had seeped into the wood. She couldn’t smell anything thanks to Quetz, but it was easy to guess that the stench from earlier was the dried blood and rotting bodies.
She wondered exactly what they had been fighting over when she spotted some papers tucked away beneath one of the corpses, its blood staining the pages. Gabriel acted upon her gaze and pulled out the papers, skimming them over even though he already knew the contents. His expression darkened a little before he handed them over.
"It looks like they were fighting over this, my Lady. I believe you should take a look at it."
Alice accepted the papers, her chest a bit heavy because she was worried what could make Gabriel look like that. Luckily, she realized that it wasn’t that bad when she actually read the paper.
"Assassination…"
A plot to assassinate the duke, or at least his eldest daughter should their other plans fail. This was a grand plot, a duke hadn’t been assassinated for the last 100 years. This definitely had to be handled quickly and appropriately so she tucked away the papers and opened her mouth. But her mind moved as she spoke, her words halting and changing halfway through.
"I need to take this to the du… No, I’ll take it to the guards. Come, let’s go quickly."
The duke… The Duke… Why should she bring this directly to the duke? He’d deal with it and sweep it under the rug neatly, almost no one would ever know about it. No, she couldn’t take this straight to the duke. She uncovered it alongside Gabriel, wasn’t it right for them to at least get rewarded a little for something like this? Especially Gabriel, he would definitely need it.
She quickly retraced her steps, Gabriel and the others following her out of the stone hallway and back up the ladder, where Teresa was still waiting. Alice took the lead with Fenrir and Quetz, Teresa taking a stealthy step closer to Gabriel so that she could whisper to him as they moved.
"Gabriel. Once we return to the estate, I would like to speak with you."
———
While Gabriel and the others were leaving the warehouse, another young child was moving through streets that were bustling with even more life than the capital of the Vritara duchy. The capital of the Earhart Empire, home of the Imperial Family, no city was as lively as it was today.
"Ahhh… this is a pain…"
The child, a young boy with short black hair and dark pink eyes rubbed his neck as he muttered. A mark resembling a spinning octopus was embedded on his neck, but it didn’t seem as if any of the citizens around him could see it. Caine Woodime, the male lead of the show.
"Why would you place such a stupid restriction on me if you want me to stop Abby?"
He muttered his complaints to the sky as he rubbed the mark on his neck. He’d really been saddled with a monumental task out of the blue. Well, at the time it was out of the blue, but as the memories came pouring in it became a bit easier to understand. The task in and of itself wasn’t that hard, he’d managed it a few times before. Or rather, he would manage it a few times in the future.
But now, in exchange for the knowledge he gained this time around, he was saddled with the same restriction of others who got the same privilege. And that restriction alone made the task many magnitudes more difficult.
"Can’t even be bothered to answer me… Do you guys have any idea how stubborn and anxious third turn Abby was? How am I supposed to stop her without saying or doing a damn thing in the early stages, did you ever even consider that?"