Fynn, Lysera, and Vynella strolled through the bustling streets of the Capital, taking in the sights and sounds of the vibrant city. They had decided to spend the day exploring, free from the burdens of their past and the incidents of the orphanage.
As they walked, Fynn couldn't help but sneak glances at Vynella, who was laughing and chatting with Lysera. He had grown quite fond of her, she was the closest thing he had to family. For now, he was content with simply be near her.
"Vyny, look! A tinker's shop!" Lysera exclaimed, tugging Vynella toward a small store filled with intricate mechanical devices.
Vynella's eyes widened as she entered the shop. "Wow, this is amazing! I've never seen so many gears and gizmos in one place."
Fynn followed, his gaze drifting to Vynella's fascinated expression. He smiled, feeling a warmth in his chest.
The shopkeeper, an eccentric old man with wild gray hair, greeted them. "Welcome, young friends! I see you have an eye for the finer things in life. Perhaps I can show you something truly remarkable?"
Lysera, ever the sass, raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm sure you can. But make it quick, old man. We don't have all day."
The shopkeeper chuckled. "Ah, a feisty one, I see. Very well, let me show you something that will astound you."
He led them to a corner of the shop, where a beautiful mechanical bird perched on a pedestal. The bird's feathers were made of delicate copper filigree, and its eyes shone like polished gemstones.
Vynella gasped. "It's gorgeous! Does it fly?"
The shopkeeper smiled. "Watch closely."
With a gentle touch, the shopkeeper activated the bird's mechanism. It spread its wings, and to the trio's amazement, it took to the air, flying around the shop in a graceful arc.
Fynn, Lysera, and Vynella applauded, delighted by the whimsical display.
As they left the shop, Lysera turned to Fynn and whispered, "You're staring at Vyny again. Be careful, or she'll notice."
Fynn's face flushed, but he couldn't help himself. He glanced at Vynella, who was smiling at something ahead.
Their wanderings took them to a bustling market square, where performers and vendors vied for attention. They watched a juggling act, a fire-breather, and a musician playing a lively tune on a strange, stringed instrument.
Vynella clapped along, her eyes sparkling. "This is the most fun I've had in ages!"
Fynn grinned, feeling carefree for the first time in weeks. "I'm glad we decided to do this. We needed a break from...everything."
Lysera nodded, her expression softening. "Yeah, we did. And who knows, maybe we'll find some answers here in the Capital."
As the sun was setting the trio settled down at a street-side café, sipping sweet tea and sharing stories.
Fynn stole another glance at Vynella, who was laughing at something Lysera said. He felt a pang in his chest, hoping it would go away.
For now, though, he was content to simply be with her, enjoying the whimsy and wonder of the Capital.
......................
Kael wandered into the city, on his own little adventure. He had been having so much fun he didn't realise when the sky got dim. There were lights at every corner, ones from flames and wicks, few from what the locals would call 'bulbs', round glass flasks that contained some sort of glowing power.
He tried to retrace his steps back to the castle when he met a man as he passed through a lonely alleyway. The man was fat and huge and seemed to be headed the same direction Kael was coming from. Kael immediately recognised him but the man didn't. The huge man wasn't walking straight. He was already drunk.
Just as soon as he went past him, Kael turned around, grabbing a stiletto from a sheath clasped behind the man's belt. Kael didn't give the man any chance to react. He reached out, climbing up to the man's neck.
"What are you....what...you doing?..." The man asked, struggling to remove the fourteen year old who hung tightly to his neck.
"She's an eight year old you bastard!"
Kael screamed at him as he fiercely dug the little dagger into the man's neck. Kael was furious. He kept stabbing the man repeatedly as he cried a little. Kael failed to realise the man was already dead as he was still standing. He then gave him a little nudge and he fell to the ground.
"Now I know where the rest of you are....I won't stop till all of you are dead" Kael said, as he was standing over the corpse of the man he just killed.
He then ripped out some cloth from his victim's trousers and wiped off the blood from his face with it. He came out of the alleyway and went searching for some herbs. Next, he walked down a street and into a bar full of adult men and strippers.
The bars in the Capital were so different from any he'd ever seen. It was more colorful, full with rich people and the stench of burning tobacco in the air.
"Thank you" He said as he took a shot of alcohol from a waitresses tray.
"Ugghhh...how do adults even drink this" He said in disgust after chugging down the shot. He went around, sitting with different men and he would later leave them , asleep.
He then walked up and sat next to a man in a hat at the counter.
"Got into a fight or something boy?" Xirius asked, seeing the blood stains on Kael's shirt.
"Could say the fight of my life....surviving a vampire is no small feat"
"Vampire..." He chuckled. "What would a boy like you be looking for in a place like this?"
"I seem interested in to kinds of ladies..." Kael answered, pointing to a dancer in barely transparent clothes.
"Don't try to grow up too fast boy...you need to take life slow"
"Y'know, it's funny Xirius..." Kael continued "seeing you acting so genuinely concerned about any other person but yourself"
Xirius was taken aback. He was a little shocked, but it's not always surprising meeting people who truly knew who he was.
He leaned in closer to Kael's ear, still smiling with an anger in his heart.
"Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize your most 'valuable possession'..." Kael looked at him smiling.
It was then Xirius recognized him, his eyes wide open. Kael was his brutal smile, gave Xirius a cut on his lap with the stiletto he stole.
"You little..."
"Don't bother calling for backup..." Kael said, pointing to the tables of the men he previously sat with "your men are all dead"
"How..."
"Crystophane bush leaves...and iron snow flowers, beautiful for cooking separately but deadly when put in the same pot. Used my saliva as catalyst..."
"You evil..."
"You didn't think it was evil sending vampires to kill me...I lost some good friends back there" Kael chipped in. "I will never forgive what you did to me and so many others.... especially that child"
As Kael stood up to leave Xirius tried to follow him, but soon immediately noticed his vision and balance has gone fuzzy. He started bleeding from his nose. It was then he realized the stiletto he was cut with was also laced. He fell down, cursing under his breath as Kael walked out of the bar. Xirius fell down flat and into an eternal slumber he was sure he would never wake up from.
......................
"Leave us"
Dean calmly motioned to his housekeeper from his end of the refectory table, as he wanted to speak to his old friend.
She was a slim young lady, dark skinned and a little into her twenties.
Dean and Mark sat in silence, each at his own end of the table.
Dean was eating slowly and quietly. Mark just kept staring at Dean as he ate. The silence in the room was loud.
" 'aven't touched your food at all....is this a part of a holy fast or something...."
Mark did not respond. He didn't feel like he needed to. Strangely, there wasn't too much excitement in his heart to have found a longtime friend but he was happy for him at least, since he was doing well.
Happiness was an expression that became very hard for Mark to show. He kept his stoic mask on at all times.
"How many years has it been...twelve...no fourteen years since we last saw each other. Not the kind of reaction I was expecting"
"A lot can change in all that time..."
"Hmmm..." Dean continued, looking at his food.
"It's not poisoned..." He said, referring the food on Mark's plate. "You're awfully cautious these days..."
"People change Dean..."
"....How...how did you even come in contact with so many children from the orphanage?" Dean sharply chipped in.
"Screechers"
"Right. So you...you killed those screechers..."
"Yes"
All this time Mark kept answering with a straight face with arms folded, yet to touch the food set before him.
"You're awfully forgetful as well..." Dean gave a little chuckle, seemingly trying to remind Mark of something he was missing.
"I just didn't feel like it was the right time to ask..." Mark replied.
"That so?..."
"Where's June?"
Dean looked straight into Mark's eyes hoping to strike a nerve in his soul. He gave a short pause...
"She's dead" Dean answered.
"Died a little while after you left....not like you kept in touch"
Mark didn't want to hear what Dean said a second time. He quietly picked up the fork on the left side of his plate and slowly started eating.
"So now you eat...hmmm...she sent so many letters, you didn't reply to any of them"
"You can't normally reply to letters you don't receive" Mark sternly replied him.
"When did it happen?"
Dean took a short pause.
"About four years after your...'exit'. She got horribly ill. She was taken by a nice lady and she died in her home"
"Were you with her?" Mark's voice tuned down.
"No...sadly I wasn't".
Another heartwrenching silence engulfed the room. They had gone out of words to say, but their hearts were speaking.
"Is your assistant staying the night?"
"Ferdinand isn't my assistant..."
"So associate then?" Dean asked as he got up from his chair motioning to his housekeeper to clean up the table.
"She can show you to the guest rooms, along with the friends you brought along"
Dean then whispered in the housekeeper's ear
"Come to my room after you're done"
"I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about tomorrow...get some rest. Goodnight Mark" He said as he was leaving. Mark didn't reply.
Shortly after, Fynn, Lysera and Vynella walked back into the house after having their days fun.
The housekeeper led Mark a room upstairs, not too far from the dining hall.
Mark walked into his room and closed the door behind him. He slid down on the door with his back with a feeling of utter devastation. He dug his face in-between his knees and sobbed quietly. It was his little way of offering requiem to death of a friend he felt he could have saved if he was around.
......................
He left the bar, right after he had raked up nine bodies. Kael was worried for their safety but thanks to Xirius' memories he knew where to find them. His only problem now, was eliminating all the guards keeping the children hostage.
"Ewww...this place reeks!" Kael noted as he jumped into a sewer.
"Didn't know they had sewage paths"
The tunnels in the sewers were connected to nearly every house in the Capital, and the Capital was a big place.
"This is gonna be a long walk"
He kept walking and walking as he went through the images from Xirius' mind. Soon, Kael would realize he had been walking for about three hours past midnight and it was going to be morning soon.
"Fuck!"
He yelled as he stumbled upon a barred passageway.
"Whose there?!"
A voice from the tunnel behind the bars screamed. It was a deep voice, like that of a man.
Kael immediately began hurrying back, trying to make his footsteps as quiet as he could possibly make them.
Soon, a light from a lantern shone from the dark end of the tunnel. Two men were approaching the barred passageway as Kael carefully in the shadows of a turning point.
"Coulda sworn I heard a voice..." One of them said, as he looked through the bars to see if anyone was there.
"Do you think it was the boss?"
"Couldn't have been...he woulda followed the path in the iron worker's alley"
Kael's heart was pounding, but he was thankful for having gotten that information, afterall, seers can't use their abilities most times when they were stressed.
But now there was another problem....
"Which iron worker's alley do I follow?" He thought. The Capital wasn't called Tinker's Island for nothing.
He quickly had to retrace his steps, calm his nerves and look through whatever information he got from Xirius. He soon popped out of the hole which he had entered in order to find the sewer path in the iron worker's alley. He sat and rested at a corner, as he waited for the break of dawn.