"Hermione are you okay?" Hermione heard her father ask her.
Hermione blinked as she found herself surrounded by people who were looking at her in worry. She slowly got to her feet, when she noticed that she'd gone back to her normal height.
"I'm fi-" Hermione felt dizzy as she got to her feet. She stumbled and nearly fell over again, when someone grabbed her arm.
"You don't look so well," the person who caught her said in a heavy French accent. They placed a hand on her forehead, "C'est terrible! the young mademoiselle has a fever."
"He's right," Hermione's mother said as she walked towards Hermione and placed her hand on Hermione's forehead, "You're burning up Hermione!"
"There's a clinic near here," the person said, "It's just a few blocks away from the tower."
"Thank you," Hermione's father said, "What's the name of the clinic?"
"AH Paris General," the person said, "It's a large building, so you can't miss it."
"Alright then, hold on Hermione," Her father said as he scooped her up in his arms, he then turned to her mother, "Alright let's go."
…
"W-well then…" The tour guide said as they cleared their throat, "Shall we continue the tour?"
The tourists who had watched the family leave nodded, the sudden collapse of the witch had put everyone on edge, but now they were starting to relax.
"Okay then, my name is Pierre," Pierre introduced himself, "And I'll be your guide today, would you all follow me?"
The group followed Pierre as he led them to the stairs, before stopping as he began to speak about the history of the tower.
"In the early 1500's the bell tower was erected as part of the Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie Church," Pierre said, "Can anyone tell me why the 1500's is so important?"
Pierre scanned the crowd of tourists, until he spotted a man wearing a black hood. Pierre thought it was a bit strange that someone would wear something like a hood given that it was so hot outside, but he decided against questioning it.
"It was the Renaissance, right?" the man said.
"Correct!" Pierre shouted, "Though the tower has kept its gothic architecture, the tower is a product of the Renaissance."
"In addition, the tower also-"
"Uh, excuse me!"
Pierre stopped talking and looked at the man in the hood who had raised his hand up, "Is there a bathroom close by?"
"Yes, it's down the hall and to your right," Pierre said, "You should hurry though, we have a set schedule."
"Don't worry, it won't take me that long." The man in the hood said as he walked away from the group, "I'll be back before you know it."
"Oh, and before I forget, the western corridor is off limits, so please don't do anything you'll regret." Pierre said, "We wouldn't want you to lose your money for doing something so irresponsible."
"Thanks for the information, but I make sure to live my life without regrets," The man in the hood said. "I'd never get anything done if I thought about 'what-if's'!"
…
Nicholas was bored out of his mind. When he accepted the job to guard the western corridor, he thought he'd make a killing. For some reason, the officials were worried about this tower, though they weren't worried about the Eiffel Tower. He thought it was a bit odd that they'd prioritize a run-down tower like this over the Eiffel Tower, but who was he to complain? He was making good money watching the paint dry on the walls, money he could use to finally go to college and get a better job than the one he had now.
"Hey Nicholas, how has it been on your end?" a voice said through the transceiver Nicholas held in his hand. "It's been really quiet back here."
"Nothing noteworthy has happened Jacque," Nicholas said, "I doubt that anything will even happen."
"Well you never know," Jacque said, "Maybe something dangerous could happen."
"Like what?"
"I don't know, maybe-"
"Maybe what?" Nicholas asked, "What could possibly happen?"
"Hey you!" Nicholas heard Jacque shout, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Is someone there Jacque?" Nicholas asked, before he heard the sounds of gunshots. "Jacque?!"
Nicholas pulled out his own gun as his heart hammered in his chest. He hadn't expected for something to happen, and now that something had he wasn't sure what he should do. He swallowed heavily, and ran in the direction he had heard the gunshots. Eventually, he reached the other side of the corridor, where he saw a group of guards holding their guns out. On the ground, Nicholas could see that Jacque had been stabbed through the chest, the look that was frozen on his face was one of pure desperation. Jacque's gun was on the ground next to a man in a black hood who held the murder weapon in his hands.
The blade was long, and fresh blood coated the tip of the sword, the murderer idly rubbed the sword on his hood, paying little attention to Nicholas and the rest of the guards.
"Put down the weapon!" The guard captain shouted, "And raise your hands into the air, now!"
"Let's see there are one, two, three…" The hooded man counted the guards who held their guns out towards him, he took a step forward causing Nicholas and the guards to switch the safety off their guns.
"Don't take another step!" The guard captain shouted, "If you do we will be forced to open fire!"
The hooded man tilted his head, "Oh, it looks like there are ten of you in total." the hooded man smiled as he rushed at the guards, "This'll be fun then!"
"Open fire!"
Nicholas and the rest of the guards opened fire, sending a hail of bullets towards the hooded man. The man smirked as he ducked and weaved past the bullets, occasionally using his sword to outright block them.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
"How is he doing that?!"
"Keep firing men!" The guard captain shouted as some of the guards began to panic, "Don't-"
It happened so fast. One minute, the guard captain was standing there with his gun pointed at the hooded man, the next….
"Gwahhh!"
The hooded man sliced through the captain's neck, sending his head flying into the air. The captain's body stood for a second, as though it was unsure of what to do now that the head was missing. The captain's body pitch forward and fell onto the ground, blood gushed out from the captain's neck as his body twitched.
"Captain!" one of the guards shouted.
"You'll pay for that you bastard!"
Enraged, the rest of the guards continued to shoot at the hooded man, while Nicholas backed away in fright. Like before, the hooded man dodged the bullets and jabbed his sword at the guard that was closest to him, impaling the guard in the stomach. The man wrenched his sword out of the guard's body before whirling around and slicing off the arm of another guard.
One of the guards grabbed the hooded man from behind, but the hooded man swung his head back, breaking the guards nose.
The hooded man's eyes met Nicholas's own, and Nicholas felt his heart stop as the hooded man rushed towards him. Nicholas shut his eyes as he waited for his swift and painful demise, when a gunshot rang out. Nicholas opened his eyes to see that a bullet had passed through the hooded man's skull. The hooded man dropped to his knees before collapsing on his stomach.
"H-ha!" One of the guards shouted as he lowered his smoking gun, "Serves you right you bastard!"
Nicholas sighed in relief. One of the guards approached the body and kicked it, cracking one of the ribs.
"Hope you enjoy your time in hell," the guard said, "I hope you say 'hello' to the guy downstairs for me."
"Why don't you tell him yourself?"
Suddenly the 'dead' man stood up, and stabbed his sword into the guard's throat.
"Now then," The hooded man popped his neck, "Let's continue."
