Fantasy Chronicles of Cre' Est

[Mothman]

“...Fine.” She didn’t love how to the point the man was. As well as how ungodly vague everything he said was... Would it kill him to answer even one of her questions?

“...I get why you killed him, Shadow. He was a piece of shit. He...” Shadow’s next words made her stop talking and look up to him with a slightly agape mouth. Was there more to it than she knew? She had never drilled Ernest on why he wanted so many oddly specific people dead. Was it more than just his own personal enemies...?

As he told her to get going, she simply let out a sigh and tucked her hands in her pockets as she stood up. “Yeesh, I get it... See you, then, I guess.” Shaking her head in slight frustration, she stood up and ran. The alleyway the man had run into wasn’t hard to remember, and she had crossed enough buildings to be directly above the alleyway. Peering over, she hoped that at least something would finally start to make sense. Though, she got barely even a glimpse of the man before he had unlocked a door to his left, stepping inside of it with a quickened pace.

She stayed staring at the door for a few seconds, leaning over and looking down, before clicking what was going on. This man had to be headed somewhere. And, if he was willing to duck into a building and take a roundabout way to reach it, it had to be important... Why did she have to be doing this now!? Her head was still killing her, and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was some sort of test from Shadow. "...Shit!" Realizing that this man's destination mattered way more to her than she had first assumed, she got back to her feet and quickly leapt the alleyway to be atop the building. Not only did she have to be quick, and keep up with a man that could be headed anywhere, she had to do so without drawing any attention to herself.

Once she was atop the roof of the home that the man had entered, she took a quick walk across the perimeter. Two doors, a front and a back, as well as the windows. That was, unless the home had any sort of underground exits. If that was the case, she was royally screwed. Continuing to pace around the roof, waiting for the man to exit the building, she started to worry if the building right there was the place he had been headed, and she was missing out on whatever it was Shadow wanted her to hear. Before she could get herself off the roof, the back door of the home opened, and the man emerged. As opposed to his fairly simple attire from before, he was dressed far nicer now. A well-crafted black coat, with matching trousers, and a slick looking hat atop his head. The man stepped out onto the main street for only a few steps, before ducking into another alleyway.

Said alleyway, though, resided on the other side of the street, across a gap that she couldn't make without help, or something to boost off of. Checking her back for just a moment, she assumed Shadow wouldn't be waiting to vault her across the gap. Sure enough, there was no sign of the man. "Down we go." Muttering to herself, she turned back to the house she had just been watching, wasting as little time as she could manage leaping down, grabbing hold of a windowsill to stop her fall. Once she was on the ground, she quickly turned and made for the main street once again, putting the hood of her cloak up and rushing down to the alleyway she had watched the man go down. Three different doors existed in the alleyway, all connecting different buildings to the one alley. Not having time to sit and think on it, she prayed that the man would have gone into one of the two doors on the left. Hopefully, they would both connect to the next alleyway over.

GojiBean​

 

[Mothman]

With a quiet, aggravated sigh, Whimsey was quick to ditch the alleyway she was in and wait by the next one over. A little luck, and she would still be on his trail. Though, while walking to the alleyway only took her a matter of seconds, waiting there had yet to yield anything helpful. Had she picked the wrong door? Lost the man so soon!? With a hope to catch up to the man who had likely gone in the other door, she made her way back towards the alleyway with three doors. Just as she was about to turn into it, though, the sound of a door opening made her pause. Peeking around the corner, there was the same man, exiting from that same door she was worried he had gone into in the first place, now moving to the other side. If only she could be on the roof, watching for which way he was going would be far easier.

Instead of exiting the alleyway, the man she was trailing simply walked into another door in the alleyway, opening it and stepping inside just as quickly. He was doubling back!? Just how hard was he trying to lose any would-be stalkers? A small curse escaped her as she considered just how much easier this would be if Shadow had been helping, or at least covering one route the man might be headed. Though, it was now or never, and her plan to get on the roof was the only one she had. With a short breath to get herself prepped, she ran for the wall at the end of the alleyway, hopping to the closest windowsill, before making a second hop to get her fingers on the rooftop. If anyone saw her climbing up from the street, there'd be trouble, so she told herself she had to hurry the hell up. WIth a short exhale of frustration, she got herself up atop the roof, before immediately sprinting to her vantage point to watch the doors from.

Thankfully, it was a brief moment to breathe. The man was inside that house just in front of her, he had to be. If he was headed somewhere this important, she was confident that the man wasn't headed to a simple building with multiple windows to converse. He would leave eventually.

While it took at least fifteen minutes, the man eventually did leave. Though, she was signaled to his exit, not by seeing him, but by hearing a door open... On the other side of the alleyway. A small gasp of shock escaped her as she stood and ran back to where she had climbed up from, and as she looked down, there he was, coming back out of the exact same door. This was getting ridiculous to her, in honesty, as the man now went into the first door he had originally entered. This time, though, he exited out the other side quickly and was on his way.

He was persistent, if nothing else. Whimsey continued to stay just a bit behind the man, observing from the rooftop as the man continued to duck into alleyway after alleyway. Any time he spent on main roads were quick and precise, and he would duck into another alley without interacting with anyone else. Once again, Whimsey was forced to come down from her rooftop and continue trailing the man, but caught the next doorway he walked into. She bet her money on the man returning through the same door, and waited. What she hadn't been expecting was yet another change of clothes, as the once fancily-clad man emerged, this time wearing nothing but rags and stained garments.

It took Whimsey a long moment to be sure this was the same man, as she worried for a moment he had sent out some sort of body double. Though, the man's hair and nose were almost exactly the same. If she was wrong, and this really wasn't the man, then she really had dropped the ball. Two more alleyways, and the man was gone. As if he had vanished into thin air... Whimsey stepped into the alleyway, one with zero doors the man could have gone into. Did she take a wrong turn? Lose sight of the man?

"...Shit." Muttering under her breath, she was about to turn and go check the nearby alleys to find the man. Though, as she turned, the sound of clinking metal, one that only be audible to someone in that same alleyway, sounded out to her. Turning back around with an odd amount of eagerness in her eyes, her gaze looked down a large metal plate blocking off an entrance to underground. She knew that meetings of such importance took place in secret locations, but underground in what she was pretty sure was a sewer system? It was a little much.

It took a bit of elbow grease, but she managed to get the metal plate up, and herself onto the ladder. Looking down, though, she realized the entire area was metal... Her boots were solid enough that they would clink against the metal if she tried to pursue him... While it wasn't something she loved having to do, she quickly untied her boots and tossed them into a pile of trash in the corner of the alleyway. With that out of the way, she went down the ladder, gently stepping onto the metal below her feet and looking forward. The tunnel itself was awfully dark, but there was some sort of clearing at the front of it, that seemed to be decently well lit. The man she had been trailing was near the clearing already, and while she wasn't entirely sure, there seemed to be a second man waiting there.

There were a few breaks in the tunnel that lead to other passages, as if the whole area was built like a maze. If they were all as dark as the one she was in, it'd be a perfectly place to hide and eavesdrop, as well as retreat out of. Staying low to the ground, she walked forward as silently as she could, already glad she had left her boots above ground. The sound they would have made against the metal, no matter how lightly she stepped, would have given her away for certain. She stuck near the side of the passage, able to tell that the two men were already starting to converse. Just a bit further, and she'd be in earshot...

Taking one last big step forward, she ducked into one of the other passages connecting to this one, though kicked something she wasn't even sure what it was. Likely just a rock or a piece of metal that had fallen from the structure. The man she had been following immediately turned, before raising a hand to the man he was speaking with, and walking back towards her. The panic immediately set in, as she grabbed for one of her knives and tried to think of the easiest way out of here. She could make a break down the tunnel she was in, but she had not even the slightest idea where it would go, if anywhere. It could be a dead end, for all she knew...

But the footsteps from the man came closer and closer, and she realized she'd have to get ready to fight the man and run before the other one came to help. Just as she was about to break around the corner and swing at the man's eyes, another small clink sounded out from the other side of the tunnel. A small rat, scurrying around the tunnel, knocked a small stone forward as it dashed away from the man Whimsey was following. Seeing the small rodent, the man seemed to believe it was the cause of both noises, turning and returning to the man to begin their conversation anew.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Beneath the thin, broken beams of light shining down from the surface level, a figure clad in a dark gray cloak with a large insignia on the chest of a stylized gust of wind swirling around a pair of black wings stood motionless. The man Whimsey had followed approached cautiously, but with a straight back and head held high.

"You're late, Wil'hem." The clocked figure growled.

"Apologies. I had to make sure I wasn't followed." Wil'hem replied.

"It doesn't happen again. Understood?"

"Of course."

The two men stood almost equal in height, but the cloaked figure's posture, shoulders, and relaxed stance compared to the subtle hunch and edgier tone of voice in the other spoke volumes.

"What did you find out?"

"Only what the rumors say. Supposedly the Demon killed him, and the guards, and the va-"

"I couldn't care less about the guards or some worthless vagrant. Did you confirm the Demon's involvement?"

"N-no. Only that some heard the vagrant shout his-"

"Again. You speak of things I don't care about. Confirmation or a lack thereof is good enough."

"M-my apologies. No. No confirmation."

"Fine. Then what about Geilam?"

"He was killed. We don't know who by."

"Details?"

"Clean kill, by the looks of it. Quiet, too. The servant didn't find him until the next morning."

"It wasn't the Demon then. He doesn't care who hears it."

"Does this put a damper on our plans?"

"Not at all. Geilam was a loose end that needed to be tied up. Selev played his part perfectly."

"You heard about his death, right?"

"Yes. And I don't need you telling me the Demon was responsible. "Gutrend Butcher" indeed. He is the Gutrend Butcher."

"I-I... See."

"Selev was nearing the end of his usefulness anyway. Our clean up in Valkyom is nearly complete. And whether or not it's Selev and his ilk or anyone from your neck of the woods doesn't matter to us. So long as it gets done."

"Question?"

"Quickly."

"You said Selev was nearing the end of his usefulness... Does that mean you'd have killed him?"

"I think you already know the answer to that."

"Th-then what about me? Am I to be disposed of when I'm finished as well?"

"Hmph. You're already finished Wil'hem. I have what I need."

The figure lunged forward and slammed a hidden blade which had been tucked against the back of his arm beneath the cloak through Wil'hem's chest, just below the ribcage. Holding it there for a long moment, he then pulled it halfway back, tilted it upwards, and thrust up until the blade pierced the back of the man's neck from his stomach. And with a horrible choking sound, Wil'hem slumped to the floor in a heap as his life blood pooled around him. The figure sheathed his blade, and turned on his heel to depart through one of the other sewage pathways.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

From Whimsey crouched position, she couldn't hear everything being said. Though, the important bits did register with her after a bit of thinking on it. While she wasn't a hundred percent sure the group that these men were working for, it became quickly apparent that it was the same group that Ernest had been working for, and by extension, she had. Their speak of the 'Demon' in relation to the killings made her bite at her lip out of worry. Utoros and another victim they didn't name... Apparently Shadow had been involved with the latter. It must have been one of the murders that Linde had mentioned back during their first meeting... Though, she was surprised to hear Utoros' name in mention as well. Did that mean she was eavesdropping on someone from Te'i Sai...!? That seemed like the only logical explanation, and would go along wonderfully with the note she had found in Utoros' study. How ironic that his real killer was only a matter of seconds away from them.

The coming words regarding Selev's death made her shake her head. She had assumed that Shadow was the one behind it, but had believed previously that the Gutrend Butcher was someone different. This man seemed to be saying they were one and the same... Her first assumption was that meant Shadow was working with Te'i Sai, disposing of people they didn't find useful, but that couldn't be right. Why would he send her on this chase, to listen in on sensitive information like this? It wouldn't make any sense to let her hear all of this, even if Shadow planned to kill her afterwards.

She got little time to think on what the man meant by 'cleanup in Valkyom' before the pained sounds of a man being stabbed reached her eyes. While her eyes went wide in surprise, not even a small gasp escaped her. Once Wil'hem's desperate gasps quieted down and he bled out, and the sound of footsteps grew all but silent in the other direction, she shook her head and stood up from her crouched position. In truth, she didn't really understand what this all had to do with her. Ernest was her employer, sure, but she held no real allegiance to him, especially now that he was dead. Their work together only lasted so long as it did because he had been blackmailing her. The fact that Utoros had come up in the conversation worried that it might have been a warning, that Te'i Sai would have been after her too?

Thinking on it in an empty sewer wouldn't do her any good, nor would trying to work with this headache. With a small sigh, she quickly made for the ladder back to the surface. Once up, she got her shoes back on and found a different alleyway to get back onto the roof with. Her eyes darted around, hoping to see Shadow on the rooftops with her as well, so she could get some damned answers.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow appeared not long after Whimsey found her perch on the rooftop, launching himself up in a single leap and landing on the balls of his feet before standing to full height.

"You found them?" He asked.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

While she was glad to have found Shadow so easily, Whimsey's face contorted into a frown as the man appeared beside her. Glancing up to him, she simply nodded and paused for a moment. "Give it to me straight, dammit. What'd you want me to hear all that for? I knew you killed Ernest. I knew he was involved in some shady business. Never knew that business was Te'i Sai, sure, but doesn't change much." She raised an eyebrow at the man, standing up from her crouched position and crossing her arms.

"...All I want is answers. Don't get why you'd pay me to have done that, either. Sounds like it's more than just wanting to make Doctor Almna happy, too." She said with a huff.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow's face contorted into a hard frown, even more so than usual.

"I guess you're not as smart as I thought if you couldn't figure it out." He growled.

He brought out the coin pouch, pulled out a single gold coin, and pinched it tightly between his thumb and index finger while holding it up for her to see, but not to take.

"Selev was a Te'i Sai pawn... And by association, so were you."

He dropped the coin on the ground at his feet, and took out another in the same fashion.

"Some of your targets were innocent. Ordinary people caught in the middle of a struggle they had no control over, but were forced to engage in anyway. And now, their blood is on your hands."

He dropped the coin, and again pulled another.

"Selev's agreement to take these lives, even if not by his own hand, is a sign he cares nothing for life. He was willing to throw your life away in exchange for his own when I confronted him. He practically begged me to take you instead."

He dropped the coin, and again took another.

"Considering that fact, you're no different than your own prey. A life. Damaged, but still innocent. Just trying to get by. Caught in a struggle you didn't even know was happening. And I refuse to allow your blood to stain my hands."

He dropped the coin, and brought out the fifth and final coin while throwing the pouch off the roof entirely.

"The swirling wind signifies swiftness. And the black wings represent the wings of death. That's what Te'i Sai translates to in the modern tongue. Death on Swift Wings. And it comes for any and all who stand in the way of their ultimate vision... All except me." He said.

He dropped the final coin and turned away, walking to the edge of the roof before glancing over his shoulder at Whimsey and giving her a long, hard stare.

"Despite incessantly chasing it, there are those in this world who come to fear the truth and deny its existence... Don't be that kind of person."

With that, Shadow leaped off the roof into the alley below.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

Whimsey stayed mostly silent as Shadow spoke, only nodding when it was appropriate. Though, it certainly did make everything click a lot more. Shadow's insult to her made her frown and give him a pissed off look, though she quickly shook her head and let him carry on. It wasn't like this whole situation was easy to wrap one's head around, either.

How Shadow managed to be the one to reach her was beyond her, but what he was saying made a lot of sense. Ernest was the one who had been spurring her onward, and as terrible as she felt about it, it was for her survival. If she hadn't done what the man had asked of her, the knights would have taken her head off without a second thought. Same with her mother. Had she ever disobeyed or question the killings, she would have been taken care of and silenced. And, of course, even in his final moments, Ernest had tried to strike a deal to save his own sorry hide. As far as she knew, the man had never taken a life by his own hands.

She had been so focused on Shadow's words that she didn't notice the coins until Shadow was already dropping the last one. While she still wasn't certain why the man was paying her for this, when it didn't seem like he gained much of anything, she wasn't stupid, and most certainly wasn't about to argue with him about it. Ten gold would have her set for long enough to have some time to figure out her next move.

As much as she hated to admit it, she was most certainly invested in this now. While she always knew Ernest got orders from someone else, she never would have imagined it would have been such a large group with so much power... For a short moment, she considered asking Shadow what she could do to help him. He had already been a huge help to her, and despite him being the Red-Eyed Demon, she wanted to return the favor. Before she could speak even a word to the man, whether it be of thanks or of more questions, he was gone.

For a long while, Whimsey stayed on that rooftop, simply taking a seat after collecting the coins Shadow had dropped. "...The truth, huh?" A chuckle escaped her as she finally stood up, stretching her arms above her head after thirty minutes or so of sitting and mulling a variety of things out. "You're not such a bad guy, Shadow... Doctor Almna's got good taste." Giggling to herself, she finally decided to get a move on and get back to the main area of the town. She was starving, and owed herself a day to find a bathhouse and just take a day to herself. No hits, no hallucinations, no travel... Just to live life like a normal person, for a little while.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

That evening, Linde was resting at home and enjoying a soak in her bath tub. The hot water soothed her weary muscles and a stiff crick in her neck which had bothered her all day.

"Rgh... Must have slept funny." She said as she tried to stretch her neck and ease the tension.

She stretched her arms above her head, getting a small crack out of her shoulders and elbows, earning a small yelp of momentary pain before the relief of the cracks set in. Letting her arms down slowly into the water, she leaned her head back and took a deep breath. Her chest rose out of the water, and she could feel the path it followed as he flowed down around the large scar between her breasts.

Linde let the breath out, lifted her head, and looked down at the scar in question.

"..."

She took a shorter, more shallow breath and let herself slide further under the water so she didn't have to look at it. Now staring at her ceiling, she thought about Whimsey and the state she might be in pending whatever Shadow's method of helping her was. After all, helping wasn't really his strong suit. He did it well every now and then. But could he really help Whimsey?

"It was something of a whim, wasn't it?" She asked nobody in particular.

In her head she heard his voice. I hate every second of this. And at the thought, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's exactly what he would say." She laughed.

"And what's that, exactly?"

Linde gasped, sitting upright and spilling water out of the tub to the tile floor below and covered her breasts as best she could while observing Shadow standing in the bathroom with her.

"When-... What in-?... Shadow! Get out of here!" She barked.

Shadow blinked. "Hmph." He turned and walked out the door, closing it behind himself. Linde's breathing was shallow, and her heart was in her throat. But after a few moments to take deeper breaths to calm herself she grabbed her towel and quickly dried herself off. Donning her deep indigo purple bath robe with white trim, and taking a moment to spin her hair into a bun held in place with a long needle, she opened the door and walked into the hall where Shadow leaned against the wall just opposite the door.

She didn't think he'd be so close, and in her surprise she failed to stop herself in time and her breasts ended up pressed against his chest and pushed upwards threatening to pop out of the robe. Her face flushed a deep red as she hastily took a half-step backwards and fixed the robe before turning halfway away and clearing her throat.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, trying to keep her words as clear and even as she could despite her racing heart.

"It's done."

"What does that mean?" She asked, her tone growing harder as she looked at him far more seriously.

"The girl. It's done. She shouldn't need your services for sleeping any longer."

"... I hope for your sake that means you helped her." She said in a low, authoritative tone.

He nodded.

"You'll understand if I ask what your definition of "help" was?" She asked, more as a disguised command.

"I guided her to a place where she could find some answers. She's not that bright though, so I had to spell it out for her afterwards anyway. Long story short, she's ten Gold richer and knows I have no intention of coming after her."

Linde stared at him for a long, long moment. The stick in her hair tying her bun slipped out causing her hair to cascade out behind her with the tips nearly touching the floor. She paid it no mind, however. She only continue to stare at him.

"Is she safe?" She asked in a low, but much softer tone.

"For now."

"Why "for now?""

"Selev worked for Te'i Sai. And when she killed Geilam, she got too close. Once they learn who all of Selev's associates were, her name is going to come up. They'll kill everyone on that list, just to be safe. So it's a matter of how far down the list her name is. Even if she's got a thousand aliases, they have ways of finding her."

"How do you know that's what they'll do?"

"Because that was my job, once. Remember?"

Linde began to open her mouth, but froze. Slowly casting her eyes to the floor and resting her arms beneath her breasts, one supporting the other in something of a self hug, she nodded.

"I remember." She replied quietly.

Shadow took a breath and stood up straight from the wall. And as he began to leave, Linde looked up at him. "What are her chances?" She asked.

Shadow paused and turned halfway around to look at her.

"On her own... Zero."

Linde felt a lump build in her throat as she thought about Whimsey. She was still just a girl. Barely a full grown woman by the standards of the day. She was athletic, sure. But she was malnourished, still recovering from nightmares and hallucinations, and now she was without a purpose or a definitive goal. Not to mention Te'i Sai would be after her soon. Linde's hands gripping her arms tightened their grip as she looked pleadingly up at him.

"And if she's not alone?"

"... Not good. But not zero."

Linde's pleading gaze hardened.

"That's good enough for me, then."

Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"You know what I want you to do, don't you?"

"Yes. And the answer is-"

"You owe that girl, Shadow. More than you realize."

His eyes narrowed, the glow flared brightly, and he turned fully to face her with a deep scowl.

"And how do you figure that, exactly?"

Linde walked forward calmly, and put a hand on his chest.

"Because I know you. Probably better than I should." Her hand gently moved up and down against and between his pectoral muscles and the very top of his deeply cut abs, feeling the hills and valleys of his musculature with the faintest pink flush in her cheeks. "Like I said before, Whimsey is you. If you'd been raised by a monster outside of Te'i Sai's walls, she's what you would have become. An assassin at the beck and call of monsters seeking to use you for their own purposes. And getting caught up in situations that weren't your fault, and that you had nothing to do with before being sent in."

Her eyes trailed up to meet his.

"You told me once that you didn't want anyone else to end up like you... Well for Whimsey, it's too late. She's already there. All she lacks is the demon, and your rather abrasive personality." She couldn't help but smile. "But at least she seems to be able to hold a normal conversation."

The intensity of the glow in Shadow's eyes faded slightly as he took a deep breath. Linde's hand on his chest felt the breath. Felt his heart beat. And the blush in her cheeks deepened as she looked into those beautiful glowing rubies for eyes he was so famous for.

"I'm going to hate every second of this."

Linde's lips curled into a beautiful white-toothed smile and entered a small giggle fit while her hand gripped his shirt. Once she'd composed herself, she gazed into his eyes and gave him another big smile.

"I know." She said in a soft, creamy voice while giving him a wink.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek, gave his chest a quick pat, and turned around to move towards the bathroom. She paused in the doorway to look back at Shadow, but he was already gone. She couldn't help but smile and marvel at how silent he was for a man his size. At six foot two and around two hundred pounds of solid, lean muscle, one would think his footsteps would be as audible as a cannon. But no. They were soft. Silent. And lethal. And if she was being honest with herself... She admired him for it.

"Our lives are diametrically opposed, and yet somehow you found a way to make me gush over you." Even though he wasn't here, she felt her face flush even more as the heat from her cheeks reached her ears. "One of these days I'm going to get you back for that, Shadow. Just you wait." She said confidently.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

"Ugh... Finally..." It took a bit of time to track one down, but Whimsey eventually found an out of the way bathhouse in a decently nice part of the city. She didn't love having to put her belongings in a room where others would be coming to and fro in, but it was under lock and key. Her bag itself was old and tattered, so it didn't look like anything worth stealing. Once she was in the water, she laid back and was immediately filled with bliss to be in such a comfortable situation. The scalding hot water not only immediately got rid of the soreness in her body, and made her headache feel at least a bit better. With how much she had done in the day, the headache was far from bothersome anymore. Once she had tracked a man through the slums for quite some time having to fight with the pain, it became a lot more bearable.

While she didn't look the sort to be a veteran fighter, her body did have its fair number of scars and marks from her time. Not every target went perfectly, to say for sure, and there was always a possibility of a target fighting back. Not to mention that a handful of her scars came from Ernest himself; he got violent when he was agitated about this or that. It wasn't like she could have fought back against him, either, in her situation. He was her source of income, and the only thing between her and an execution.

She finally decided to take care of her hair, letting it all fall under the water and working the dirt and dust out of it. There was quite a lot of it, and it generally reached down to around the small of her back or so. She cut it often, when she needed to change her appearance as much as she could to avoid being followed or recognized. Though, even when she did that, her hair would grow back pretty quick. Some would call her lucky for such a trait, but it bothered her more than anything, just because cutting her hair and making it look decent on her lonesome was annoying.

Once she had soaked away her stress for a little while, she finally got up and got out of the bathhouse, happy to see her stuff all right where she left it. A good meal from a local tavern later, and she was feeling league's better than she had before. A hand stretched up and ran through her much more happy hair. "Huh... Maybe I'll take care of this tonight." Tugging at it a bit, she shrugged and made her way to an Inn. Once she was in a room, she shed her cloak and shirt, tossing them over onto her bed before taking a seat and grabbing a knife from her belt. She was lucky the room had a mirror in it, so she could make easy work of cutting it.

It took her quite a while for her to be satisfied, but she eventually put her knife down and simply stared at herself in the mirror. The long black hair she had worn just a bit ago was gone, and the short bit of hair she had left with herself was now more akin to a pixie cut. Her eyes simply stared at herself for a moment, before a long sigh escaped her. "God... What am I doing?" Standing up, she continued to look at herself, a frown on her face. The scars all over her stomach and arms reminded her of a ton of different memories, none of them pleasant... They were things she'd be stuck with for her whole life, most likely. "...Still just like mom." She hated having her hair long, since it made her look just like her mother did. The shorter and more different it was, the more contrasted she was from the woman who set her on this path, the better.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Again, finding her hadn't been easy.

"You know how to cover your tracks. I'll give you that." Shadow mumbled silently.

He had found the inn she was staying at. And despite the change in hairstyle, he recognized her from her frame and the outfit and tools she kept with her. It was getting very late, and the ever-thickening crescent moon rose higher into the night sky as Shadow contemplated his next move. Should he approach now? Or later?

Te'i Sai won't be able to make a thorough list on Selev's associates for at least a couple weeks. So she should be fine for now. Still... He thought.

Shadow had been the one to tell her not to become someone who denies the existence of the truth. And if he were to continue hiding the truth from her by letting her relax until it was perhaps too late, would he not be in violation of that statement and request himself? His mind swirled as he sat on the rooftop across from her room at the inn. He kept away from the ledge so as not to be seen, and made sure to turn his back to the inn so his eyes didn't give him away to her or any other patrons or passersby in the streets below. He sat cross-legged, arms crossed in front of his chest, and closed his eyes.

She didn't seem to fear Te'i Sai all that much, considering her reaction to everything I said earlier today... Then again. If she was so paranoid of me from just my reputation, maybe she has a similar fear of Te'i Sai? She's an assassin, no doubt. And she knows how to cover her tracks and make it hard to find her. Especially if she made it hard on even me. Still... She should know sooner than later. He thought.

Shadow opened his eyes, stood up, and turned to face the inn. Her room didn't have an outer balcony, but the windowsill did stick out just far enough to perch on it. Shadow backed up a few steps, and then leapt across the way and landed surprisingly softly with the balls of his feet on the windowsill, grabbing the top of the window frame with both hands as he shifted his weight to the side so he could swing the window open. With a little bit of a swing of his legs, he threw his body through the window and landed on both feet in a crouch not far from where Whimsey sat. Though, by this time, she was already aware of his presence due to the window opening. Nobody could miss that unless they were braindead.

"You really do know how to make it hard to find you." He stated flatly as he stood up to full height in a relaxed posture.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

Whimsey eventually sat back down, removing her belt of knives and letting it fall to the ground besides her, before digging around in her bag for the book she kept, filled with pages after pages of details of her victims. All people she had killed, and taken from their families... Sure, some of them were probably scum of the earth, same as Ernest, but she knew a handful of them were completely innocent, especially her earlier targets she had killed back home. "Dammit..." Shaking her head after a while of paging through it, she stood up and let out a short yawn. Nothing sounded better than sleep, at the moment.

She had walked back over to her bedside, rummaging through her bag and looking for the sleeping meds Linde had given her. Before she could actually get her hand on the bottle, she heard someone opening her window. A gesture that would have made her freak out, scream, and grab a knife just yesterday. But now, she simply sighed, and continued to rummage around in the bag, finally finding what she was looking for, and setting it on the small table next to the bed. Standing back up, she stretched her arms out above her head for a moment, before grabbing her shirt off of her bed and setting to get it buttoned back up again.

As she was working on that, she turned her head back towards Shadow, seeming surprised to see him so soon. "...Hard? I just picked an Inn, I dunno. You didn't seem to have much trouble. Can't I get some privacy?" She narrowed her eyes as she finished buttoning up her shirt, rolling her eyes as she finally turned around. She sat on the edge of her bed and looked towards Shadow with a blank expression. "...What is it now?" For some reason, him being back so soon only made her nervous. It was unlikely he was coming and bearing any good news.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow's eyes narrowed.

"You're too close." He said in a low, fairly soft tone compared to his normal speech.

"The moment Ernest had you kill a target of Te'i Sai, you put yourself in their sights. It won't be more than a few weeks before they put together a list of Selev's known associates, including whatever name or alias you gave him. When they do, they'll kill everyone on that list just to be safe."

His eyes flashed briefly, thereafter returning to their normal intensity.

"It used to be my job to hunt those kinds of people down. So believe me when I say they have ways of finding you no matter how many steps you take to hide yourself."

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

As Shadow finished speaking, she couldn’t help but simply roll her eyes and let out a sigh. Great. More awful news. As if she wasn’t screwed enough already, now she had Te’i Sai after her? “...Guess I’ll just enjoy the little time I have left then.” She shrugged and let herself fall backwards into her bed.

“Any other godawful news you want to give me, then?” Her voice had stayed mostly calm, but was now starting to grow a bit hopeless yet again.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow sighed through his nose.

"You wanted a new life where killing wasn't the focus, right?" He asked.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

The question caught her off guard. The Red-Eyed Demon was oddly sentimental when he chose to be. “...Yeah. Don’t see why that matters to you. You just told me I’m a dead woman.” Sitting up from her laying position in the bed, she met eyes with Shadow before shaking her head.

“Always wanted somewhere I could call home. I’m so... Tired of living from inn to inn. Used to think I’d have a nice happy family someday, be a mom, all that sappy stuff...” She trailed off and eyed her belt of knives on the ground. “But nope. Maybe Doctor Almna told you, but my mom raised me to be a killer. Must’ve killed more than a dozen folks in my hometown for her, before she dropped off the face of the planet.” Standing up, she brought a hand up to rub at her neck, already finding a bare neck far more comfortable than having to deal with her long hair.

“Sorry. You probably don’t care about my life story.” Rolling her eyes at her own prattling, she turned her attention back to Shadow. “What’s your point, then? Why come see me again?”

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow was silent during her recollection of her past, and he took another breath through his nose.

She is you, Shadow.

He subtly nodded, though more to Linde's words in his head than anything Whimsey was saying.

"I said they would come after you. I never said that made you a dead woman." The faintest smirk crossed the corner of his lips. "You really need to start paying more attention to the words I use. It's getting annoying."

The smirk faded, but his tone remained the same.

"When they come after you, which will be soon, you are a dead woman if you're alone. But if you stay close to Linde and I, your chances will increase dramatically. Te'i Sai only pursues targets for a set period of time before they either give up due to time constraints, or they finish the job. So if you want to make sure the reason they stop coming after you is because they take too long and move on, I would recommend you ask Linde for a job at the clinic. From what I hear they're a bit understaffed. And they're also struggling due to the shortage of herbs for remedies. If you've any kind of silver tongue on you, then you might be able to help her with acquiring more herbs from traders and merchants who pass through the city before they get sucked up by the rest of the commonwealth."

The sound of a dog barking caught his attention, and he moved towards the window to peek out.

"I'm not sure if you've seen Linde's body, but she's quite the warrior in her own right. She's taken down Te'i Sai operatives before when she traveled with me. So she can keep you safe. In the meantime, I'll be hunting Te'i Sai my own way, and for my own reasons. So maybe that'll also help keep them off you for a while even if they get that list together."

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

“You certainly ain’t optimistic. When you tell me that one of the largest criminal organizations known to man wants me dead, it isn’t exactly gonna be hopeful about my future.” Rolling her eyes, she picked up the vial sitting next to her and started to simply pass it back and forth in her hands. Half of her wanted to just take it now and pass out with Shadow here, but she knew he wouldn’t appreciate that.

A small snicker escaped her as Shadow brought up Linde. “See? You are close. You call her Linde.” A smile followed her words as she thought of just how odd a pairing they made. A famous doctor and an infamous killer working together...? It sounded straight out of a stageplay.

His next suggestion made her pause and contemplate the possibility for a long moment. Go and work with Linde...? Sure, maybe she could act like a pretty face and just be a receptionist, but she didn’t know the first thing about anything past basic first aid. “That’s a lot to ask me, y’know...” Whimsey crossed her arms, vial still gripped in her off hand. Shadow’s business with Te’i Sai intrigued her as well, but it wasn’t something she wanted to press at now. “But I suppose I owe Doctor Almna a visit either way.”

After a short moment of silence, Whimsey started to laugh quietly, trying to keep it to herself. “Yeesh, Shadow, you’re something else... Killed my contractor, and now you’re sticking your neck out for me? Come on, this has gotta be more than just Linde begging you to. Maybe the famous Red-Eyed Demon just has a bigger heart than I ever could have dreamed of. What’s this all about?”

GojiBean



​

 

[GojiBean]

Shadow's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Am I supposed to call her something other than her name?" He grumbled.

He then turned and went to the window, preparing to leave the way he'd come. But he paused and glanced back.

"... Though they happened under different circumstances, the paths we were led to walk are virtually identical... And I have a hatred for Te'i Sai, and anyone like them, that burns hotter than the fires of the furthest reaches of Hell."

With that, Shadow leaped from the window and was gone.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

“Most people call her Doctor Almna to be polite.” A small giggle followed her words as she watched Shadow move to the window again. Though, his next words made her pause and look down at her lap. She didn’t know enough about Shadow’s background and life story, but he did feel very... Familiar.

“Stay safe.” Was all she said to the man as he left. She supposed another visit to Linde would have to fit into her plans tomorrow... For the time being, she knocked some of the medicine back and let it knock her out, even if she was pretty sure she would have managed without it.

———

She saw no harm in keeping her bag and belongings in the Inn, already having planned to stay the next few nights in the same one. Though, with Shadow’s warning, she would likely cut it a bit shorter, to stay on the move. So, she left in her regular street clothes, not bothering to bring even her cloak, hoping it would make her seem more like a normal citizen.

While she wasn’t certain the clinic would even be open, she beelined immediately for Linde’s clinic, stepping inside the lobby slowly, as if worried she’d be intruding or too early.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Cheyanne, seated at the desk in the lobby, looked up and smiled.

"Welcome to the Almna Apothecary and Clinic! How may I help you?" She asked cheerfully.

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

It amazed her just how often this same receptionist was here. Maybe it was just luck, or she was the only receptionist, but every visit she had been here thus far, Cheyanne had been the one sitting behind that counter. She was nice enough, at least, with a cute face that was sure to soothe a lot of customers.

“Sorry for dropping in some early. Doctor Almna in? Was hoping to speak with her again.” She shut the door behind her and walked up to be near the counter and Cheyanne.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

Cheyanne looked somewhat puzzled when Whimsey said "again." But she smiled nonetheless.

"Doctor Almna is currently in a consultation with another customer. She has another opening in about an hour though if you'd care to come back then? Would you like me to pen your name in miss...?"

Mothman

 

[Mothman]

“An hour works.” Whimsey nodded and brought a hand to her neck as she did quite often, having nearly forgotten about how she chopped so much of her hair off. It was a change she was already enjoying, and in truth, wondered if Linde would approve of as well. “Whimsey Mausinia. I believe she’s expecting me.” With that, she gave a polite bow of her head before turning and walking out.

While hadn’t planned on it, she decided to go and walk the marketplace for a while to kill time. As she decided to finish her walk and make her way back to the clinic, she noticed a man following after her. Her first hunch was that it was someone from Te’i Sai, but all she had on her was the knife in her boot...

“Hey there, hottie!” The man said a hand on her shoulder and walked past her, turning to face her with a smile on her face. “Not many ladies rocking such a gentle face and nice body these days. What’s your name, cutie?”

The man had been talking for all of two seconds and she already wanted to gag. “...Claire.” Not wanting to humor him with her real name or a last name in the off chance this was some weird Te’i Sai agent trying to woo her before killing her, she muttered the fake name under her breath and tried to keep walking past him.

“Aw, c’mon, don’t leave me with just that. You’ll break my heart!” He continued to block her way, giving her an exaggerated pouting face.

“Keep getting in my way, and I’ll break something else.” Shaking her head, she shoved the man out of the way before continuing to walk. Normally, she would have probably just tried to talk her way out of the situation, back when she was trying her best to keep up a nice and gentle persona. Now that she was past that, though, she had no qualms with getting forceful with a man like him.

A man besides him reigned him in and got him to relax, scolding him for a minute before shouting after Whimsey. “Sorry about him! Bit too much to drink!” Whimsey didn’t so much as look back at the man, and simply continued her walk. No fake giggles and apologies, and no fake promises of spending a night together. She didn’t realize it would feel so wonderful to drop those acts.

Once she was back at the clinic, she walked in and didn’t so much as glance in Cheyenne’s direction. “I’m early, I know.” Taking a seat, she pulled one of her boots a bit tighter before leaning forward and staring down at the ground, getting lost in her own thoughts as she waited.

GojiBean​

 

[GojiBean]

The door to Linde's office opened, and Linde saw out the consult client before Whimsey with a smile and a pat on the shoulder. A man in his early 30's suffering from a chronic injury to his left knee caused by permanent damage to the joint and the cartilage. A bit of medication and some rehabilitation was all that could be done. But an occasional consult to check progress was never out of order.

Linde spotted Whimsey as she glanced about the faces in the lobby and offered her a calm smile, but walked back into the office by herself and closed the door. Cheyanne noticed this, and told Whimsey it would be just another minute or two. Chances are Linde had to rearrange furniture before Whimsey's slot due to rehab practices with the other patient. About two minutes later Linde opened the door and waved Whimsey in.

Sitting in her chair, she rested her elbows on the table and interlaced her fingers.

"You're looking better than the last time I saw you, Whimsey. What brings you here today?" She asked.

Mothman