Luck was just as surprised, if not more, than Star to find Ennis standing on the other side of the door. Luck knew about her, of course. Despite being members of separate organizations Luck and Firo were still good friends, but still. Luck really hadn't had much contact with Ennis and if there was any sort of trouble she was more likely to look for help from someone in the Martillo family rather than come to the Gandors.
"Good morning," Ennis said to Luck, acknowledging his presence before turning to Star.
"Star I…" Ennis paused. Star had never come right out and said she was an alchemist and Ennis wasn't sure if she should broach the subject now, particularly with Luck here. "I… I need your help…"
Star looked a little puzzled.
"I don't mind helping you at all, but I'm not really that experienced with relationships…"
"Oh! No, not that," Ennis cut Star off suddenly. True, she had been seeking some advice from Star about Firo and the relationship Ennis shared with him, but that was not the reason she was here.
"Something… strange… has been happening at Firo's gambling hall," Ennis admitted.
"Is Firo alright?" Luck asked suddenly. If it had been anyone else in the Martillo family Luck would have left it alone, but if Firo was in trouble that was another story.
"Firo is fine it's just there have been a lot of… accidents…" Ennis replied.
"What sort of accidents?" Luck asked suspiciously. In the world of organized crime there were accidents and then there were 'accidents'.
Ennis looked uncomfortable as she fished around for an answer. It wasn't as though someone was trying to sabotage Firo's place, but Ennis knew that that many accidents in one building, in barely less than a week was definitely suspicious.
"Would it be easier to show me than to tell me?" Star asked, noticing Ennis's reluctance to speak up in front of Luck.
"Yes, it would," Ennis said quietly
"Alright then," Star said, standing up and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Lead the way."
She then turned to Luck and said: "Do you mind if I leave the rest of my things here for now?"
"No, not at all," Luck answered.
With that settled Luck and Star left the bar with Ennis and headed into Martillo family territory, to the gambling hall that Firo oversaw. At this time of the morning the gambling hall was closed, so Ennis lead them down an alley to the back door. As the three of them approached the back door they noticed two other people coming from the opposite end of the alley. It was Firo and Maiza.
"Ennis, what are you doing here?" Firo asked, surprised. While Ennis was very well aware of what Firo did for a living, she didn't take part in it. The only place Ennis frequented was the Alveare since most of the other members of the Martillo family gathered there as well.
"I thought I might be able to help," Ennis said before turning to Maiza. "Maiza, why are you here?"
Being the bookkeeper for the Martillo family Maiza rarely had any reason to visit the family's multiple establishments. Usually the ledgers were brought to him.
"Firo was telling me about his predicament and I decided to tag along and see what was happening," Maiza said, good-natured as always.
"It's not that big of a deal, Maiza," Firo said to Maiza before turning back to Ennis. "You don't need to get involved. Besides… it's Martillo family business."
The last part was directed as Luck and Star who were standing behind Ennis. Firo didn't mind Luck dropping by every once and a while, but he didn't want a complete stranger like Star getting caught up with the family's business.
"Why not let me take a look around, if it's nothing then it's nothing and you go about as usual," Star suggested. She had a sneaking suspicion that whatever was happening in the gambling hall wasn't 'nothing'.
"Letting her look around won't hurt," Luck said as well. He was worried too, after what had just happened at the bar.
"Yeah, but Luck," Firo said, glancing at Star. "You know what kind of business we run…"
"Don't worry," Star responded. "I doubt I'll see anything that'll surprise me, I've watched the History Channel."
"You've watched what?" Firo asked confused.
"Anyway," Maiza said, stepping in quickly to cover Star's slip. "Let's just go inside. Customers will start showing up soon."
Firo cast one last suspicious look at Star before opening the door. The five of them entered the building together with Firo going over to his desk and Maiza, Luck and Ennis staying by the door. Star was the only one who acted strangely. The moment she entered the building her entire body became tense. She cautiously entered the room, her eyes scanning every corner. Star moved across the room like a cat looking for prey, gracefully yet carefully.
"Star…?" Maiza said, noticing her behavior first.
"Something's wrong here," Star said, her voice as tense as her body. "Something is definitely wrong!"
Immediately everyone's attention focused on Star. She carefully made her way across the back office and through the door that led to the rest of the building. The others followed her at a respectful distance. Even Firo who was now curious about what Star seemed to be sensing. They entered the gambling hall.
The room felt eerie in its dim silence. Spaces that were usually occupied by people normally felt this way when empty. Dust motes were dancing in the faint light that came from the office room. Firo pressed a light switch and the room was filled with a muted glow from low hanging glass lamps. While bringing the room into sharper focus the light did little to diminish the slightly spooky feeling that pervaded the silence of the usually rancorous room.
Without a word to anyone Star quietly tip-toed into the room, making her way around every table and chair, carefully examining it. The others looked around the room in curiosity too, seeing if they might be able to spot whatever it was that had made Star so anxious. This continued for a moment or two before the silence was broken by Maiza.
"Star!" Maiza called out, but he was a moment too late.
Star turned to look at Maiza the same moment she placed her right foot down, right on top of a billiards ball. What happened next appeared to move in slow motion despite the fact that the entire event played out in mere seconds. The ball slid out from under Star's foot, causing her to lose balance. She began to collapse backwards into a billiards table. Maiza, the first to notice the hazard, was also the first one to act. In one swift motion, betraying his excellent skills with a blade, Maiza launched himself forward and behind Star. It wasn't a moment too soon. Had Star continued to fall her head would have slammed into the wooden edging of the billiards table behind her.
All at once time returned to normal speed.
"Star!" Ennis and Luck cried out at the same time.
"I'm fine…" Star said, slightly dazed. She looked up at Maiza. "Thank you."
"No worried," Maiza said, slumped against the billiards table.
Star carefully got to her feet, picking up the stray billiards ball as she did so.
"Where did this come from?" Star mused, looking around.
Maiza was on his feet again as well.
After checking that his mentor was alright Firo turned to look at Star.
"I'm sorry about that…" he said to her. "Everything was clean and in place when I left yesterday. That shouldn't have been there."
Firo prided himself on smooth and efficient operation of the gambling hall.
"Looks like it came from over here," Luck said, examining the billiards table that Star had nearly fallen into.
On the table was a near perfect triangle of billiards balls, the only one missing was the eight ball which Star held in her hand. Star carefully replaced the ball before turning back around to survey the room once again.
"Someone is definitely messing with you," Star said, and began to examine the room once again, albeit more carefully than before.
Firo felt a quiet rage begin to stir in his chest. Someone was purposefully meddling in his affairs and the affairs of the Martillo family. And he, Firo Prochainezo, would make sure they learned how very, very stupid that was.
It had been nearly a full minute when Star stopped at a poker table in a corner by the door. She carefully walked around it, her right hand resting on the top as if stroking the table top as she made her round. After apparently not seeing anything suspicious on the top of the table she carefully got to her knees and crawled underneath. A few seconds later she emerged, still unsatisfied. From there Star took to examining the five chairs around the table, one for the dealer and four for the patrons. She would examine each chair, flip it over, and examine the bottom before returning the chair to its upright position. After examining the second patron chair she stopped and examined the table space right in front of it. It was nearly another minute before she spoke.
"Alright," Star said. "I have an answer, but I'd much rather discuss it outside. It's too dangerous in here."
In a few moments all five of them had gathered outside. The sun seemed oddly bright, and the noise from the street oddly loud after the eerie gloom of the gambling hall. Star turned to face the others, her face serious but her body slightly more relaxed than when she was inside.
"Someone is trying to put a death curse on your gambling hall," Star said.
Firo burst out laughing at this but the other three were silent. Luck and Maiza had learned there were other forces in the world to be reckoned with, and Ennis would rather wait to hear Star's explanation before judging her analysis.
"A curse? Really?" Firo said when he had stopped laughing. "And what else? Fairies sneaking in through the cracks too?"
Firo had been prepared to listen to what Star had to say, but this was the twentieth century! A death curse? All that was fairy tale nonsense.
Star still retained her serious demeanor, although now she appeared slightly annoyed.
"You're immortal," she said calmly, "you have no room to laugh."
The silence was palatable.
Maiza and Luck were familiar with Star's 'aura sensing' as she called it, but Ennis and Firo had regarded their immortality as a closely guarded secret. For Star to be laying her cards on the table like this, she must be very serious.
"H-how do you…?" Firo began.
"I'll explain later if you want an answer," Star said brusquely. "And also, don't laugh at a Fae, you'll regret if for a very, very long time."
After seeing that Firo wasn't about to say anything, Star continued.
"I said 'trying' which means at this point I can still reverse things. If someone had actually died then the curse would be set and at that point there would be almost nothing I could do. Anyway, clearing away the bad air is no problem; the real problem is catching the person who's trying to curse the place."
Now this was something Firo could understand. Right now he would save his questions for later. Someone, a very real person, was causing trouble for the Martillo family, and Firo would see to it that this man would regret it.