After they have a quick lunch, Ringabel's wallet left hurting, they quickly head out to the shopping district. The crowds are, as usual, full of laughter and cheer, men and women, women and women, walking and chatting together. It's a little crowded for Tiz's liking, and he stays close to the others as Edea plows through the throng of people cheerfully.
Its… weird. Hanging back as he is, Tiz catches the looks on the faces of the people they pass. The laughter and cheer turns to shock and discomfort when they catch sight of the small child in Agnès's arms, and they remain staring at her even after they pass, watching them walk. He hears a few of them begin to whisper right before they get out of ear shot. It's rude to stare, he thinks, chewing on his lip. She's holding a baby, not a monster!
He breaks into a jog to catch with them once he realizes he's fallen behind in order to watch the crowd, after one particularly made up tart calls Agnès a word that makes his normally mild blood boil.
"Are we there yet?" He asks Edea, hovering behind Agnès's shoulder.
"Ah? Yeah, almost? They're a little out of the ways."
The shopping district is appropriately nicknamed the Ruby Rose. While there are stores in the main square, they are geared to the weary traveler; a quick stop after a trek through the Florem Fields, a square meal, reliable and useful items. Rose is more along the lines of extravagance. Tiz finds his head spinning with the sheer size of the it, slightly dizzy. He can't even see all of the buildings, row after row of stairs, stretching up and down hills and pathways. Canals run through and under the streets, coming from a giant fountain in the middle, nearly three times as big as the one in the entrance square.
Agnès could get so lost here, he thinks, and reaches for her hand. She clutches it tightly. She can feel the judgmental gazes on her, and cannot help but to withdraw into herself, tucking her chin down. Though they may not recognize her as the Vestal, she feels horribly scrutinized all the same,
Tiz falls into step on one side, and Ringabel quietly slips onto her other. Though he keeps his hands to himself, and Agnès is supporting the child's weight with her free hand and thus cannot touch his, their shoulders touch every now and then and it's appreciated. She feels protected, even more so when Edea slows down and hangs back, helping to keep her out of view
The store that the blonde finally stops at is … trendy, Tiz supposes. It's full of bright lights, lots of white space, mannequins here and there. There's a lot of girl's clothing; frilly dresses and blouses. He hangs back near the entrance with Ringabel while the girls walk toward the back where the counters and the clerks are. Agnès hovers quietly behind Edea. She's never gone shopping here before, and the Eternian is a lot better at conversing with people about clothing than she is. She'll defer to the other girls' expertise in this field.
"Hi!" Edea says cheerfully, recognizing one of the clerks. The clerk recognizes her too, and smiles.
"Hello, Miss… Lee? Are you here to empty our inventory again?"
Edea laughs nervously. "Unless there's a sale, we're just looking today." At noticing Agnès's blank stare, she corrects herself. "Oh, I mean! We're looking for some clues."
"Clues?'' The clerk glances at Agnès this time, who has somewhat blended into the surroundings, as plain as she is. The other woman's eyes then drop down to the baby nestled in his sling. "Oh…"
"Do you recognize him?" Edea asks, feeling a spark of hope.
The clerk is a professional, but is not quite unable to mask the discomfort on her face. "I… can't say that I do? Is he one of yours?"
"No." Both girls say in unison, and Edea digs out the onsie from her bag, flipping it inside out so she can display the tag and hold it out to the clerk. "This is one of your tags, isn't it? Don't you guys sell these?"
The clerk leans over to look, as though she were looking at a particularly interesting bug. "That's our tag, but we don't sell baby clothes. Our girl dresses start at age 3 and go up… Did you buy that here?" Her eyebrows raise.
"No…" Edea feels a little more unsure now. It's true, she's seen their tiny collection of small girl clothing, for the women who had brought their daughters with them with they immigrated. But she's never seen anything for infants. "Maybe a special order? You guys do that!"
The clerk shrugs. "I can look, but if you're not the purchaser, we can't give you any details on it. It's store policy, sorry… client confidentiality." Still, she heads back behind the counter and pulls out a book, tucking a strand of dyed hair behind her ears as she looks back a few pages.
Edea leans against the counter, sighing. "You'd think they would have girl clothes for all ages." She says to Agnès.
Still skimming through the book for the past few months worth of orders, the clerk hears her, and pipes up. "Baby clothes don't sell, you know? No one gives birth in Florem. You might find the odd traveler once or twice a year, on some romantic getaway with their spouse who gives birth unexpectedly, but there's tailors and specialty stops who'll make a few outfits for that. New parents eat it up."
"Can you give us their names?"
The woman finishes going through their inventory list and looks up at Edea. "I know a few but… you should be careful if you're going to poke around asking about baby clothes for a baby. People might get the wrong idea." Still, she writes down a few names and hands them over.
"And what idea is that?" Edea asks. She crosses her arms, frowning.
There's a pause before the other woman replies. "Women just don't give birth in Florem. And I don't see any special orders for any baby boy clothes here. You should go and take the child with you; we really don't have anything to offer. Sorry." She's trying to be polite, but Edea can detect the annoyance in her voice.
With a huff, Edea shakes her head and herds Agnès away from the counter and back toward the door. No use in arguing… she'll just get angry and as much as she hates this place right now, it's not the store's fault that Florem is weird. Upon catching sight of the two boys waiting for them, she stops. "Hey," she says. "Put that dress back, we're not buying anything from here." The last word is punctuated with a glance over her shoulder to where she knows the clerk is still within hearing range.
Unfortunately, the clerk doesn't rise to the bait and waves them away with a smile as they head off.
The next few shops aren't any help either. When asked about a special order for baby clothes, they dodge the question or deny any and all orders. Their best lead is an older tailor who says she hasn't made clothes for infants in months, not since a nice couple from Ancheim had twins on their honeymoon. That's cute, but not helpful.
"Mrgrgr!" Edea finally shouts at the last shop, slamming her hands palm down onto the tailor's counter. Ringabel reaches gently around her to wrap his hand around her wrist, smiling apologetically at the startled woman behind the counter. "So you've not made a single article of infant's clothes at all? How is that possible?!"
"There's no market for it." The tailor replies, eyeing her warily. "Who would make clothes for an infant boy?"
Ringabel's head aches horribly, but he asks the question he's been wondering for some time. "Where do you buy your material?"
"Huh?" The tailor and his companions look at him, confused.
"You may not have made his clothes, but someone did. Where. Do you buy your material?" Leon's clothes are nicely made, but they're a soft fabric that seems to be well-suited for infants or young children. It has to come from somewhere.
"Oh, um… " The tailor glances over toward her supervisor, who nods. Anything to get them out. "We import a lot of ours directly from the Caldis region, but there's some fabric stores around here that sell that… kind of fabric." She waves a hand dismissively.
"Any information you can provide would be wonderful, my dear. You're a great help." Ringabel winks at her and she smiles at him, which means he almost doesn't mind when Edea elbows him in the side and stalks away, leaving him to collect information from the tailor so they can leave.
"Ugh, how can you do things like that?" Edea asks him once he rejoins the group outside again..
"Hmm? Do you have a problem with my method of obtaining information? Jealous, perhaps?" He grins at her and she scowls.
"I have literally nothing to be jealous of. Did you actually obtain anything?"
He examines the piece of paper given to him. "Yes. They gave me the location of a fabric store that is the only one still selling fabric for children and young animals."
Edea takes it from him, and glances over to Tiz and Agnès, who have been quiet the past few hours. Tiz is shifting from foot to foot, glancing around the crowd around them, while Agnès has withdrawn, discouraged and discomforted by the looks she and the baby have been receiving.
Squaring her shoulders, Edea asks. "You guys wanna go now? Or we could head back for the evening?"
Agnès shakes her head. "Let us continue on. There's nothing to be gained from putting it off any further." She's been unnerved by the stare she's receiving, but that's all the more reason to find Leon's mother as soon as possible. When they can be reunited, Agnès can use it as proof that women do have children in Florem, and should receive all the help that they can get, instead of being treated as if they do not - or should not - exist.
"If you're sure… the next place isn't so far, so let's go."
The next place is more like a warehouse than an actual store, and the woman attending the counter greets them with a wave.
"Welcome, what can I do for you?" She asks.
"We're looking for baby fabric." Edea says, taking over again. Ringabel leans nearby, in case he's needed, and while Agnès stands behind Edea, shielding the child in her arms from view, Tiz catches sight of something and wanders off.
"Huh? You mean like, soft fabric for babies? There's not a lot of that here right now."
"But you do have some!" Edea asks, eyes widening.
"Well, yeah, sure. Like, it can be used for baby animals too, you know? Soft wools and cottons, all babies are the same. You lookin' for something?"
Ringabel catches Tiz pick up a bolt of fabric out of the corner of his eye and looks over. The Norende boy is fingering the fabric between his fingers, brow furrowed.
"We're looking for something like… this?" Edea asks, holding out the onsie. The clerk takes it in her hand, turning it over to examine for any tags or markings.
"I know we used to carry this blend, but we ran outta stock a few months ago, sorry." She smiles apologetically as she hands it back over and sighs. "You know, we got a lot of wool and woolen fabric from Norende. Ever since it just like, vanished, our supply's taken a hit. It really well, sucks."
They all go quiet at that, unable to look at Tiz. The shepherd however, pulls over the bolt of fabric as if he hadn't heard the comments.
"This is from Norende, isn't it, Miss?" He asks, as though he hasn't heard her previous comments.
"Ah, yeah! You gotta good eye. One of the last shipments we got." She smiles at him. "How much you want?"
Tiz flushes and looks away toward the others, who nods. "... two yards," He says after a moment.
"It's kinda expensive, supply and demand, you know. But if you're really sure…" They lean back and watch as spreads the fabric out on her table. It's a nice one, clean and pale and thick. Edea wonders if Tiz raised the sheep whose wool went into it.
"Did you have anyone ever come in and order a lot of baby fabric?" Edea asks as the woman measures the fabric out for Tiz.
"Mmm. Not any more than usual, I'd say. We get a lot of orders in spring and fall, when the animal caretakers need some for their upcoming babies."
"Did you ever have a woman come in and order for a child, though?" Ringabel tries to clarify.
She doesn't answer immediately, busy with cutting out the fabric and folding it.
"Uh, I usually don't ask people why they're ordering fabric, you know? Like who does that?" Unless it was fun patterns, there was no reason to know why a woman or group of women would be ordering lots of fleece and cotton blends. Right? "Why you askin' about baby stuff anyway? You know women don't give birth in Florem."
Edea grits her teeth. If she hears that phrase one more time… she stands aside, dragging Agnès forward. The Vestal stumbles, her hands wrapped around the baby held against her chest.
The clerk's eyebrows raise. "Oh, you looking for something for her?"
"H- he's a boy. His name is Leon," Agnès corrects her, flushing. "But no, we're not. We are seeking clues to his mother's identity." Behind her, Edea's eyes narrow as she watches.
"Boy baby! Huh. Why would you think his mother would shop here?"
"At this point," Ringabel interjects. "We have no other leads. She didn't leave any personal information aside from his name, and we have no idea where his belongings are from, aside from Florem. Can't you help us find this child's mother?"
The clerk looks at them, her eyes flicking between each of them in turn and the baby. "Wait, you mean this kid was abandoned or something?" She frowns. "I dunno how much I can help… why don't you take him to another city?"
"He was born here, I'm certain of it." Ringabel says. "Despite the insistence that children aren't born in Florem, surely it happens now and then. It has to."
She shrugs. "My sister left Florem and moved to Grandship with her beau. They had kids there, not here." She's quiet for a moment though, watching the baby. He's not asleep, but he's calm, eyes staring up into nothingness from where he's curled up in Agnès's arms. She sighs. "He reminds me of my nephew when he was that age. I can't believe his mom would just leave him."
They wait. Edea opens her mouth to say something but Ringabel shushes her quickly. Right now, all they have to do is wait for her maternal - familial - instincts to kick in and…
The clerk bends down to rummage under the giant counter. "I recognize the colour of that fabric in his baby blanket. It was a Limited Edition and we sold our only stock fairly quickly."
Finally, a lead! Agnès smiles for the first time that evening. "Do you still have the information on who ordered it?"
"Yeah, here!" The clerk pulls out her book and thumbs back until she finds what she's looking for. "Let's see…" She runs down the list of names. "Caretaker, caretaker, caretaker… here. There was one person who bought the fabric that wasn't an animal caretaker that I know of. Maybe… maybe she bought it for him?" She shrugs, smiling a little awkwardly, but writes down the name and address on the invoice and hands it to them along with the fold of fabric.
"Hope you find his mom!" She waves as they pay for Tiz's purchase and leave. "Good luck, you know?"
Ringabel can't help but blow a kiss to her, thrilled that they finally have some sort of solid information to go off of. The clerk giggles and returns it, flushing.
Edea drags him away. "Come on, come on! Let's go hunt down this mysterious woman. And no hitting on her," She warns him beforehand.
Now why would he do that? Discomfort churns in his stomach for a moment before he forces it away. "What does the note say?"
"Breanne." Edea reads off. "And her address is below." She hands the note over to Agnès, who looks at it briefly before shaking her head.
"I… am not very familiar with Florem's streets." She flushes. "And I wouldn't wish to get lost." They all have a chuckle at that, because Agnès leading them to where she thought the women lived would likely lead them right out of town. Agnès gives the note to Tiz, who immediately passes it over to Ringabel.
"Sorry, but I don't know anything about Florem." The shepherd explains. He'd explored a bit of the area surrounding the main square, on nights when he had problem sleeping, but hadn't gone too deep into the city.
Ringabel takes the note then. "I don't believe there's anything in my journal about this, you know." He jokes. But when he reads the note, something clicks in his head. "Ah… I believe I know where this is." He doesn't know exactly how. Perhaps he saw the street while out on one of his dates? But he knows where it is, somewhat. "It's …. a bit away."
Edea grabs his arm and drags him along. "Well, come on. Show us! Maybe we can reunite them tonight!"
His head beginning to ache badly, Ringabel stumbles before he pulls his arm out of her grip. "Excuse me, but shouldn't I be the leading the way?" He forces a smile and turns a different direction before she can say anything. Tiz and Agnès exchange a glance while Edea stands there in some shock before they all follow him.
Florem has never seemed so big, Edea thinks as they follow Ringabel into the city. They pass through a residential district, modest homes dotting the streets. They seem like communal homes, which makes sense, she supposes. When there's really no families, but loads and loads of women, they might as well live together. It would make things less lonely, like living in dorms. Edea hasn't done that since she was still a cadet, but the feeling of closeness had been nice.
Instead of stopping there or turning into one of the side streets, Ringabel walks straight through. The streets get smaller, the houses closer together. Everything gets darker. Trash litters the side of the streets, along with something that makes her stomach churn. There's no one else out on the streets but she can't help but shake the feeling that they're being watched. Tracked.
Feeling a chill run up her spine, she breaks into a jog to catch up with him. He's walking rather heavily, his back stiff, ignoring the rest of them as he leads them through the city streets. If she didn't know him so well, she'd say that this was creepy. As it was, it was just unnerving.
"Hey," she says, stepping in front of him, her hand at his arm. He stops, his eyes falling on her. For an instant she feels very small in front of him, aware of how much taller and bigger he is. She's never felt intimidated by him before. "You sure you're going the right way?"
"Yes." He says in a clipped tone. Then he sighs and his eyes slip shut for a moment while he rakes a hand through the back of his hair. "Yes, yes I'm sure. I'm not familiar with the address, but the street's nearby."
"But this is…"
"The slums? Yes."
"I… was not aware that Florem had slums," Agnès says timidly as she and Tiz catch up with them. She looks nervous, her arms tucking tightly around the baby. She knew Florem had changed, but changed to the extent that it had slums? What had happened?
His head is aching so badly, it feels like it's about to split open. Ringabel turns down into a dim alley, mostly so that he can lean against the wall. "They've been here a while," he explains, the words tumbling out of his mouth before even he registers them. "A while. Hidden from sight, a shameful secret. Much like the babies that born here." He laughs derisively, anything to stop the pain. With a low noise, he presses his fingers into his temples, sweat beading on his forehead.
Edea's hands are blessedly cool on his face when she appears in his vision, frowning as she leans in close to examine him. "Hey... you okay?" She asks. He's aware that Tiz and Agnès are crowding around him as well and feels a moment of panic, claustrophobia, and presses further into the wall.
"My head. It's… it's…" He closes his eyes right as his vision begins to swim, Edea multiplying and then fading as darkness overtakes him.
"Hey, Ringabel… hey!" Edea shouts in alarm as he slumps. She's just strong enough to support him as he loses consciousness, going limp in her arms. Tiz wraps his arms around the older boy's waist, and together they lower him safely to the dirty ground, Edea sitting so that they can place his head on her lap. As long as he stays out, it's fine, but she looks up at Tiz with wide eyes.
"Now what?"
