Chapter 29.
The
Flames
Among
Water;
Act I,
Part VI
"I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical
From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical . . .
I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical,
I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical,
About binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news . . .
With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse.
I'm very good at integral and differential calculus;
I know the scientific names of beings animalculous:
In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral,
I am the very model of a modern Major-General."
"Major-General's Song" – The Pirates of Penzance
~X~
Knock, knock, knock! . . . Knock, knock, knock!
". . . Hmm. Nothing's happening."
"Try the doorbell, Riley."
Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling! . . . Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling!
"Sheesh! You'd think everyone inside was asleep!"
"Maybe they're just hard at hearing?"
"Considering how our day's been going so far, I doubt it."
"Can you at least try and be a little more positive? . . . Man, what is taking so long?"
Knock, knock, knock!
". . . Oh, one- one moment, please! I'm coming!"
Thmp, thmp, thmp – Clk! Weeennnn . . .
The petite, dark-faced woman peered at them from behind the front door, her eyes and the hand resting on the wood petite and small. A bang the shape and color of the crescent moon hung neatly on her face in contrast of her hastiness.
Riley was the first person she saw, his arm returning to his side since ringing the bell or near pounding the door was no longer needed. Tuff stood next to him, straightening himself out from where he had been leaning on the small metal, railing rung with capsules holding well tended to flowerpots. Cassie positioned herself a step down from them, her hands tucked neatly at her front and her wavy and sunny day patterned tail raised patiently at her back.
At the sight of the woman, Tuff calmly cleared his throat and nodded at her cordially. "Good evening, ma'm. We're sorry for the inconvenient timing of our visit, but is this the house of Professor James Potter, PHD?"
The tiny woman looked him up and down briefly, pausing somewhat warily at the swords on his back and Riley's. She nodded slowly. "Yes, this is his residence. I work for the Professor. May I help you with something?"
"Well, actually, we were hoping maybe the Professor can help us." Riley reached into the satchel resting on his brother's hip and pulled out the package. "Y'see, we have this little thing here and we –"
The woman's eyes lit up at the object, comprehension clearing away her nervousness. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "You must be who the Professor was expecting!"
Riley looked at her. "I'm sorry?"
"Professor Potter!" The woman clarified now beaming with an excited smile. "He told me that he would be expecting some business company earlier on today, but he never specified which time. I'm sorry for not answering right away; I just thought you would've been here earlier this afternoon."
Riley immediately nodded at that, mentally sighing in relief. Okay, she wasn't suspicious; she thought they were someone else. Good. He swallowed the cringe that wanted to follow. Normally, Riley hated lying, especially if was to such a pretty girl like the one smiling so innocently at him. But if they were going to get answers, some sacrifices of morality just had to be made.
Nevertheless, Riley chuckled guiltily at her. "Oh, uh, yeah, we would've! We just, uh, kinda got held up." Tuff rolled his eyes at the poor bluff. Well, one little white lie never hurt anyone . . .
It took the woman a moment to realize that the Professor's "guests" were still waiting outside in the slowly chilling night air. Jumping in place, she almost threw the door wide open in fright. "Oh! Oh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't keep you waiting outside, please, please, come in! I'll announce you to the Professor." Needing no further invitation, they all stepped inside.
Now that he had a much more decent view of the little servant girl, Riley took the time to look her over. She was dark-skinned with a smooth caramel tone whereas Delha's was mulch brown, her irises were big and wide with anxiety but in more endearing way than worrying, their color a pale pink. He hummed in approval. That was interesting. Her hair was long, straight and shiny, bundled up and rolled into a soft bun on the back of her head, held up by a pair of glossy chopsticks and a lotus flower the same shade as her eyes. The shape of her mouth was cute, quirked awkwardly in her fluster, something that Riley wouldn't mind testing for softness later on if fortune favored him that day, er, night. Her build was slimmer than Cassie's, whereas more like glass figurine where Cassie was more like porcelain doll-shaped, her body covered in a simplistic but beautifully woven kimono that was dyed cherry red, trimmed with magenta and decorated with multi-sized pure white lotuses matching the real one in her hair. To complete the ensemble of elegance, she wore a deep red sash that went from the below of her chest to the start of her thighs and sturdy but comfortable wooden sandals on her feet.
Riley thought to himself. Cute. Yes. Date-worthy? To be determined. Girlfriend worthy? Questionable. Still, not bad.
His flirty wink did not go unnoticed; the young lady's face flushing pink as she bowed her head, bashfully murmuring to follow her please.
When he looked back and saw his brother giving him that oh-so familiar look of accustomed incredulity, he simply grinned and shrugged impishly, falling into step behind their guide. There was never a bad time to take notice, and take advantage, of the company of a pretty girl.
Cassie, at the back of the group, looked around and felt her ears fall. The décor of the house was . . . Intriguing, to put it mildly.
Where normal people would expect pictures of families and/or friends, maybe a painting or two or even a vase, to adorn the walls, this house instead was lavished with diagrams, pin-up collections, collages and even a few skeletal structures of, strangely enough, snakes.
A variety of different types of snakes, lethal and non-lethal, mile-wide or inch-wide, were displayed and categorized in one way or another around the small house. It was obvious to comprehend the field of study of which the Professor partook in, the amounts of work and detail each piece held for any trained eye. Some snakes featured looked as pleasant to look at as a small, stuffed garden snake in simple slink while others looked as downright terrifying to even peek at such as a giant black cobra poised and ready for attack, thankfully long dead and held in an elegant but sensible jar.
Oddly enough, the taxidermied serpents didn't bother her as much as the small, assorted sets of severed and meticulously preserved snake eyes that ranged to ones as big as her littlest fingernail to the size of a lighter. The eerie colors and frozen dark slits left her feeling a small chill running down her spine. She rubbed at her forearms uneasily.
Boy, if Faust were here, his feathers would stay ruffled for weeks, no months on end. Not that she would blame him –
"Professor? Professor, your guests have just arrived. They say they have something for you."
She came to an abrupt stop when her face found itself buried in the shoulder space between the hilts of Tuff's swords. Heeding the heavy scent of fish and paper for only a moment, trying desperately hard to shiver at the quick tension of his back muscles, Cassie pushed herself back and placed herself closer to Riley. She looked away from the small frown the more muscular Sharkman sent her, focusing more on the open room before them.
The den was just as cluttered with serpents memorabilia, still whole and body and otherwise, this time occupied by shelves coming dangerously close to being overstuffed with books, papers both thrown about in random fashion and serving as bookmarks. What furniture there was to be found under the mess was beautifully carved sofas stretched side by side that Cassie was sure was costly enough to feed a whole army, a chair of matching woodwork set aside and a desk overflowing with open books and papers covered all in writing. At least most of what could be seen around the short, portly man resting himself upon a chair that was perfectly similar to the other mentioned.
Professor James Potter was a man who was wizened enough to be edging close to his golden years gracefully, his slowly thinning snow white hair now residing on the back of his head curling into a wilt behind his large ears, the dome of his head bright and open. His face was cherry despite the lack of locks, his rounded cheeks a healthy shade of red even with the lacquered smoking pipe puffing sweet, eye-watering clouds into perched glasses protecting his tinted brown eyes. With the far expanse of the fine velvet robe covering his body, his body was as big and as solid looking as a bowling ball connected to a pair of squashes instead of legs. His hands, as full as the rest of him and covered in the expected blotches and wrinkles, stroked at what little hair also draped from his chin in a clean shaven beard as he turned in his creaking seat.
"Hmm? Guests?" His eyes scanned over the Riley, Cassie and Tuff in puzzlement until the information fully soaked into his brain. "OH, oh yes, guests! The gentlemen I've been expecting! Along with their unmentioned and very uniquely colored lady friend, unexpectedly . . ." He adjusted his glasses at Cassie curiously. ". . . But pleasantly welcomed!" Rising from his seat, he groaned at the crackled pops sounding from his spine. "Thank you, Hanna, now if you could just bring us some tea to freshen up. I'm feeling a bit drowsy and I need to take my medication soon."
"Hanna" nodded to attention. "I started a teapot already sir, the water should be ready for the tea leaves by now, I won't be too long."
"Ah, thank you, my dear." He smiled paternally at her as she swiftly ducked out of the room. To the others, he gestured towards them excitedly. "Come in, boys, miss, come in, come in; I hope you don't mind the mess but when as busy as I am, a scholar's work is just never done." As Riley, Cassie and Tuff stepped in, Tuff kept his eyes to the scattered papers just daring him to misstep onto them; some of the ink still not yet dried and could easily be stamped into a sandal-shaped footprint, a mess he didn't look forward to cleaning.
"I take pride in my efforts to research and study, even though it does take a bit of a physical toll on young Hanna." Professor Potter shook his head shamefully. "Poor dear, I really do put too much of the house chores on her shoulders but it's not like I can stop her, and God knows I've tried. And it's not like I expect dear Vanny to help her."
"Vanny?" A steady purr interrupted any more questioning. Everyone looked down.
There, happily rubbing up against the ankle of Riley's leg, a small, fluffy and very curly female cat purred sweetly as she tip-toed around his feet. Her tiny brown paws patted harmlessly against his sandals as she twisted her throw-pillow sized but sleek body around the Sharkman, her fur clean and shiny against the thin layer of dirt coating his pants. A small bell tinkled from her neck as she looked at him imploringly. "Murr . . ."
Cassie felt her lips curve up at the sight of the pretty creature. "Oh, what a beautiful cat!"
Professor Potter chuckled, his pipe bobbing up and down in tune. "Yes, she is, isn't she?" He smiled as Riley shrugged casually, picking up Vanny in his arms and gently petting her, the cat reclined against him with a mewl, loving every second of the treatment.
"The only tragedy about her is that I can never find out where she came from. I found the poor thing half-starved and wandering the streets not too long ago, no tag and collar and just barely standing on four legs. I decided to take her in until someone could come to claim her but so far, I've received no sort of signs from her owners. I would have thought her a stray but she seems like too classy of a thing to have been born in some alley."
"Vanny", satisfied from the wonderfully fishy-smelling human's scratches against her back, reluctantly uncurled herself from his warm chest and hopped out of his arms, onto the floor and expertly onto the Old Man's steady shoulders.
"Also because she's horrendously spoiled." He added playfully, curling a few fingers under her chin and hearing the appreciative hum in his ear. "She believes any company that comes calling intends to give her some special treat in one way or another. When are you going to learn that not everyone has a scotch of tuna for you?" He directed the last question at Vanny, who smacked a paw against his nose.
"Oh, don't be too hard on her, Prof, that's probably just shark she's smelling." Riley grinned cheekily, showcasing his sharp teeth for the astonished scholar to see. "Ladies can never resist these babies!"
Cassie humorously rolled her eyes at his "modesty". Men.
Tuff was too occupied with playing some bizarre in-home game of hopscotch to chastise his brother on the sight of beastly teeth towards the elderly. "Uh, right, well, thank you, Professor, for seeing us on such short notice. We realize that it's not very courteous to come over so early onto the evening, but some unforeseen –" He stumbled in his sentence mid-step, regaining his balance by slapping his palm into a table, displaying a snake skull opening up it's hinges for the death bite. He slowly removed his hand, watching it ominously. "– Circumstances sort of knocked us off-schedule."
Making no mind of Tuff's caginess, Professor Potter made a sound of agreement. "Ah, yes, I know that feeling all too well, my boy, happened to me a great many deal back in my formidable days, when I was just starting out in the field. I tell you, some things you feel like you can expect never happen, but for those that you can't, well, that just about knocks you right out of your skivvies!" He delivered a friendly whap to the younger man's back, almost knocking him off balance once more, much to the mirth of Riley who was quickly whapped in the shoulder by Cassie in spite of her grin. "Now, onto the matter at hand, I trust you brought the, ehm, item I spoke to your associate about?"
"Uh, item, Professor?" Tuff asked, rubbing his aching shoulder.
Professor Potter pulled out a wooden match and lit it, sticking the end into his pipe to re-ignite the slowly dying tobacco. "Oh, you know, son, what I had requested your services for, the egg."
"The egg?" Tuff repeated. "What kind of –"
"Got it." Riley held out the package to the Professor before Tuff said, or did anything else, that would've cost a quick call to the City Guard. Professor Potter's eyes lit up like sparklers, almost snatching the package away.
"Ah! Yes, wonderful! And still in one piece by the looks of it, thank you!" He wasted no time in unbinding the string and tearing off the paper. Unwrapped in almost seconds, everyone nearly gaped at his hands.
The beautifully intricate Faberge egg was as big as a Turneyball, needing to be held by both hands, and as heavy in the Professor's as it had been in Riley's. The surface was painted a deep jade color, almost midnight black, covered from top to bottom in floral carvings and latticework of sharp, stocky box-like snakes with mouths extended open as if to eat the obsidian jewels embedded in fours around the middle ring of the egg. At the top was placed a sliver of glass that was as thick as a telescope lens but showed nothing of the inside save the hollow dark. The piece was a true work of art, the old Faberge egg still glistening and shining as if it had been built only yesterday. "Magnificent . . ."
"It's beautiful." Cassie said in awe.
Tuff nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. I've never seen such craftsmanship. How old is this egg?"
The Professor turned the relic over carefully in his hands, humming before speaking. "If my research is accurate, I would say that this remarkable piece would date back to around thirty-eight years. Just two years short of the town's founding. And judging by the amount of tulips that I see gracing the shell, it's clear that its creator was no one else but Regan Charles II." Vanny, her cat eyes entranced by the sparkle of the gems, shook a paw at the egg in a feeble attempt to reach it. Professor Potter's pipe bobbed again as he laughed at her antics, moving the egg from her reach. "Oh no, dear, this is not a new toy for you."
"I guess you ain't the only fanatic, huh, Professor?" Riley pointed out with a grin. "This Regan guy looks just about as into flowers as you are into snakes."
Professor Potter stroked at his beard, the curl at the bottom realigning itself at each tug. "Ah, yes, I suppose I make it no secret of my interests, do I?" He stated honestly. "Yes, I do favor the study of the reptilian world, particularly those of our serpentine friends. Charles was just as fanatical about flowers back in his time. But there's a good reason behind all the tributes to tulips and snakes." He took off his glasses to wipe them off with a handkerchief pulled from his sleeve as he coughed. "You see, back before Opalliou was founded, this sector of Score Island was a ghastly place to behold. All the plants were shriveled into dust, animals were either half-starved or dead, and any human or otherwise that could stand on two feet were so sick they could nothing but simply wilt away and wait for the inevitable. One could almost consider it a near wasteland. The only beings that found survival were an old tribe of Were-Snakes, warriors so devious and ruthless that they saw any other being considered below them as either their pawns or as their food."
Riley swallowed the gag. "Gah, their food? Even people?"
"Makes sense, snakes can extend their jaws to swallow anything that's five times their mass ratio." Tuff said. "Depending on the snake's size and weight measurement, the biggest of them can eat anything from dogs to mid-sized jabberwockies." Riley shuddered at that thought.
The Professor nodded in agreement and placed the glasses back in place on his nose. "Quite. If left with the opportunity, I'm certain that these feral Were-Snakes would've surely become the dominant species of this island. Charles quickly rose in defiance of this, however, studying them and learning their secrets from afar, searching for a solution that would halt them in their tracks. Eventually he did. How this stopped them, no one knows for certain seeing as the journals detailing the events were lost long ago, but Charles found out that using the surviving Black Stone Tulips had a sort of adverse effect on the Were-Snakes. With the flowers in hand, he drove the beasts off the island, never to be seen again. From what was left of the decay and rot, Charles dedicated to use what was left of his life to rebuild Opalliou from the ground up, displaying the sigil of the tulip as a reminder to heal and nurture what was ill. Just two years before his untimely death, he decided to put his energy into one last object."
"The Faberge egg?" Tuff asked.
"Yes." Professor Potter looked back to the egg in admiration. "This egg was named as the last great work of Charles before he passed, like many others around Opalliou, a vital piece of history that tells of this town's near doom at the hands of true monsters."
CRASH!
Vanny half-yowled, arched up on all fours at the sound of smashed porcelain, each strand of fur on her back standing on end in fright.
Everyone looked. Hanna stood in the doorway, her pale face a cold mixture of shock and fright, her hands no longer holding the tray now at her feet, the teapot and teacups nearly all broken or shattered, a lake of brown slowly pooling on the floor and on her kimono.
Worried, the Professor took a step towards her. "Hanna, dear, are you alright?"
Hanna came back to life with a shake and a blink. Her pink eyes shot all over the den before she looked down and flushed dark red at the mess. "O-oh, I-I'm, I'm so sorry, P-Professor, I didn't mean to – I don't know what came over me, I –" She rambled, immediately kneeling and quickly setting the tray down, frantically reaching for the sharp broken pieces that resembled half a teacup. "I'll clean this up right away, sir, I apologize for the disruption."
The Professor gently reassured her that no harm was done, that it was quite all right, as Riley swiftly came over, being a gentleman and helping her pick up. Vanny padded over to them and lapped at the tea with a slight cringe, a cute and odd attempt to lend a paw. Hanna began to protest but seeing the kind smile on Riley's face put an end to her nerves. His hands were a lot tougher than hers, the bigger sharper points of ruined fine dining ware nothing for the callous of his palms, the mark of many years of handling the rough hilt of his massive sword. He did nearly cut his ring finger from gripping a knife-sharp when he saw the gold band on Hanna's own.
The sight of the engagement ring was like throwing water of the fire of his chances with her. So she was taken. Guess I'll need to cast out a line. Again. Surprise, surprise.
Cassie coughed softly, drawing attention away from Hanna and Riley, asking, "So, you wanted to collect this egg? As a relic from the founding time of Opalliou, it would obviously be a fine piece for a scholar such as yourself to have for both study and art."
Professor Potter made a sound of approval. "You're very observant, young lady. Yes, it is a fine addition to my research, the purpose and design of it sure to be riddled with facts and secrets. It also will look spectacular as a mantel over my fireplace, provided I can find room for it, of course." His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "I'm afraid I'm just awful at hoarding, once I have something, I just have to stick it somewhere or I'll be just miserable for weeks. And God knows we can't have that!" He took out his pipe to laugh at his own joke, his belly bouncing in rhythm as the egg was tucked against his chest. "All I lack is the knowledge to find the things I search for. Being as old as I am, I can't exactly go trouncing around all willy-nilly like I was in my forties' again. Which is why I'm all the more thankful Mister Hook directed me to your boys."
"Mister Hook?"
"Yes, your middleman, I suppose is what you call him, Darrell Hook. I contacted him about finding this marvelous egg and he said the best men to find it would be you lot. The best in the business of locating and recovery, along with a plethora of other things but I won't bore you with trying to recount all the details." Returning his pipe to his mouth, his teeth chewed on the mouthpiece as he spoke. "After all, you gentlemen could probably tell it much better than an old, wrinkly man like me can, correct?"
Cassie winced, very briefly exchanging a look with Tuff who mirrored her guilty face. "Well, I'm sure they would, sir, if they were really who you thought they were."
Professor Potter blinked, removing the pipe from his mouth. "I beg your pardon?"
Cassie bit her lip. She suddenly felt like she was three years old again and was caught trying to get a honeycomb from a beehive full of unhappy bees again. She and Vince had both gotten multiple bee stings and Faust had fixed them with a dark look that had caught their sad lie like a fishing reel and pulled the truth out with one hearty tug.
Come on now, Blue-bird, tell me the truth. There's only more trouble the further you go with a lie.
She sighed, pressing both palms flat together in hopes of what the Professor would see as a peaceful plea, looking at him straight on. "You see, sir, the truth to the matter is, we're not the ones who were supposed to deliver this egg to you. The real men who were supposed to were ambushed by bandits not too long ago. But during the attack, as Riley, Tuff and I were trying to get away; our bags got switched by pure accident." She gestured to the satchel on Tuff's side as he stepped forward.
"Once we realized, we thought that maybe if we came to this address, the original owners of this bag would come and, hopefully, give us my bag back. Because all our money was in that bag and without it, we have no chance of getting a place to stay and we won't be able to find a new heart crystal for our submarine." Tuff explained furthermore. "I promise we're not here to rob you blind or anything, we're not that kind of people."
"We were just trying to correct our, uhm, luggage mishap." Cassie intertwined her fingers nervously as her tail-fin, twisted vine and garden gate designed, curled around her like the gown of a dress. "We never meant to mislead you and we will gladly leave if that's what you want us to do next."
Professor Potter didn't instantly react with outrage, turning red and shouting at them that they were thieves and charlatans, but he didn't react with suspicion either. He looked at Cassie, then Tuff, then Riley who quietly balanced the tea tray as Hanna paused in mid-stacking broken cups, then back to Cassie again. His pipe had returned back into his mouth, small clouds puffing out like fire signals as he thought in silence. Most likely about the number of lawsuits he could file against them for fraud and false advertisement alone.
Cassie felt her nerves itch in worry, the feeling itching in the back of her throat felt similar to that of a bunny standing face to face with a fox who was debating whether or not to make it a feast. Despite herself, she could feel Tuff tense himself like he was ready to run, as she herself had done such many of time with Vince in the past. Vanny, almost sensing her distress, hurried over and purred against the Professor's leg placatingly.
He looked down at her quietly, took in her big, imploring brown eyes staring up at him. He looked to the egg in his hand, giving it a quick once-over, the egg turning clock-wise and counter-wise with a twist of his wrist. Finally, he looked back to them, examining them in silence once more before removing his pipe.
"Alright then."
Cassie felt her ears fly up in surprise, her tail popping with sparkler-like bursts of dark blue. "Alright?"
"Alright." The Professor repeated. His eyes were calm and his voice was gentile and mature as he thumbed at his pipe. "I believe you. I can quite understand the position you're in and I admire the amount of risk that you took to achieve your goal, although your plan didn't quite pan out as you had hoped." He shrugged nonchalantly with a shake of his head. "You've been nothing but polite, you haven't tried to sell me anything like some solicitor and you were honest with me. And honesty is something I value ontop of good company and good rum."
Cassie let out the breath she wasn't even aware that she had been holding, relief spilling in waves on her tail, and smiled gladly. "Oh, thank you, sir. That's wonderful to hear."
"And a hell of a change of pace!" Riley added happily. "Usually by now, Tuff and I would be scrambling like idiots to the nearest tree to hide out in until morning. Or until last call. When everyone's so snookered that they can't count to five, it's like we're two cats sneaking by a pack of steak-comatose dogs."
"Until they wake up and try to make steaks out of us." Tuff pointed out sourly.
"Which is why I thought of getting that dog repellant back at Rope Island. Granted, it takes five hours for it to go into effect, but after which it works like a charm. Hunting dogs can't stand the stuff, plus it's great with getting dirt stains out."
"And that's why I don't trust you with the laundry."
"I mix in my red seahorse shirt with your white sweaters one time! –"
"Gentlemen, gentlemen, please." Professor Potter interrupted politely. "Have you given any thought as to where you're going to stay?"
"Well, any place that has good beds with clean sheets would be nice." Tuff stated earnestly. "But like I said, we can't stay anywhere until we get our money back and there's no telling when or if that'll be."
Professor Potter puffed once, twice before grunting in understanding. "Yes, yes, I suppose that is a dilemma." A near second after, he almost dropped his pipe with a hoot. "Oh! Of course, I have an idea; I have an old friend over at the Dipping Tides Hotel who owes me a favor or two. Hanna, do you know where I put my address book?" He turned on his heel and immediately dove into the massive amounts of unstable paper towers around his desk. "As soon as I find it, I can send you all over there. He's a delightful man, just tell him to put the bill on my tab and you should have no trouble at all."
That offer was certainly surprising. Especially to Tuff who started. "The bill on your- Sir, you can't be serious!"
The Professor waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, quite serious, son. Money's no object, I've got plenty in my funds and all it does is just sit there when I'm not on holiday. I might as well invest it in something otherwise all of it will just get as old and wrinkly as I am. Plus it'll give me a much deserved break from my broker, who insists on nagging me on wellshares and whatnot."
"But sir, we can't just –"
Professor Potter broke him off with sound of victory at the small book in his hand. "Here it is! Buried right under my thesis of the Nocturnal Mating patterns for Serpents."
Riley's eyebrows shot up at that. "You document it when snakes get frisky? How do you manage that?"
"Very carefully." Professor Potter said, flipping through the little book. "Which is, at my age, just about all you can do before– Ah, here we are! The Dipping Tides Hotel. Let me just write this down, –" Hanna, right on cue, appeared next to him with a pen and paper. "Oh, thank you, my dear. Once I have this written up, you three should be well taken care of."
Tuff sighed irritably at the fact that this generous, yet possibly questionably sane, man as outright ignoring his every word. He felt sorely tempted to raise his voice but one look at Cassie immediately put a halt to that. One person still cross with him was bad enough. He tried to be patient, keeping his tone even and professional as he started once again, "Professor, I'm sure we all appreciate this gesture, but I have to insist that we –"
"– Take the address plus a little extra for your good valor and honesty." Professor Potter handed him a scrap of paper attached to another, neatly folded. "Before you make any plans to leave this Island, I want you to stop by this address and see a Mister Carl Yuko, who will provide you with what means I've enclosed in my note."
"Sir, we can't –"
"– All I ask in return is when you do meet with the real men I was supposed to meet, you send them over to me so I can pay them for their service." Tuff had yet to take the offered papers so the Professor happily took his hand and slapped them against his palm with no preservations. "It's not so much as a favor as it is a paid-for errand so there should be no problems, should there?"
Tuff's sea green eyes blinked owlishly. "Uh . . ."
To the Professor that confused drawl sufficed as an answer, graciously allowing himself to turn around on his heel and set the coveted egg on his desk. "Marvelous! Now that that's all settled, I have some work that needs to be done on the finer details of a experiment that I'm in the middle of progressing on so unless there's anything else of importance you need to mention, I hope all of you have a pleasant evening. Hanna, please show them out."
Hanna went right to action; taking away the tea tray from Riley with an appreciative nod, she deftly herded a silent Cassie and a completely bewildered Tuff out of the den with a strength and speed that would've surprised them had the circumstances been normal. Vanny mewed in farewell, shaking a paw after them as they disappeared one-by-one around the doorway.
As they were gently maneuvered through the eerily decorated hallway once again, Tuff, still dumbly clutching papers in his hand, finally managed to get all his thoughts together into three coherent words. ". . . What just happened?"
"We got corralled by an eccentric old snake-lover who hired us to find two guys so they get paid as well as we do right off the bat." Riley stated simply.
". . . Oh."
"Which means you can breathe now before you go and upset another ulcer."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny."
~X~
It really hadn't taken him too long to find them.
Where else would they go to but the old man's place?
He was almost glad those Half-Bloods weren't as oblivious as they looked. Almost.
He watched them as they came out the front door to the Professor's. The girl looked troubled, quiet as she was clearly trying to keep a step ahead from the Sharkmen. Or from what he could see, the older one, whose actions were caught between turning over the scraps in his hand to looking at the girl. The other brother, the younger, seemed much more lax, with his hands behind his head, more upbeat in spite of the clouds hanging around the latter.
He kept his distance from his place upon the roof, a task that was done much more covertly now that the sun was set, the height above his targets barring nothing of words drifting into his ears from their conversation.
" . . . What are you worrying about? That went a lot more smoothly than we thought."
"Doesn't it seem a little strange to you that someone is just okay with you lying to them about your occupation, gives you money as a reward and then sends you away with no questions asked?"
"Beats the hell out of getting thrown out by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks."
"There has to be a good reason for this. It just can't be as easy as all that."
"You're just being paranoid again. It wasn't like we swindled the old guy. We were honest and he gave us a room at a hotel called dipping tide. And I don't know about you, but I could do with some food and sleep and not worry about the bill in the morning for once, so let's go, if I don't eat something soon I might end up taking a nibble off of your girlfriend here."
"I'm/She's not his/my girlfriend!"
Dipping Tide? So they had gotten themselves a free room at the Dipping Tides Hotel.
The figure's eyes, brown in original color, melted into a bottomless black from where the shadows curtained his face.
He would catch up to him later. He would understand if he decided to have a . . . Little word with their newfound friends, right?
Right.
He vanished as quickly as he had come. With the Twins and their girly none the wiser.
~X~
Their younger brother had found them, looking a shade of pale that he had only seen on his lowliest brother's face when he had done something to truly aggravate the Sire. He had been so frantic that he had nearly sliced him on the spot just to shut up his mad sweating and panting.
He was glad he didn't.
"You're sure about this?"
Their younger brother was still out of breath, letting out a few sighs of tired air as his head shook up and down like a rattle. "Yes, I'm sure of it. One large with wild hair, carrying a strange sword and the other quick as lightning, wielding a weapon I hadn't known still existed. The stories we heard about them are true. If they're here, nothing good can be coming of it."
He nodded. What good could come indeed?
His more gruff, and in his personal opinion, more brain-challenged brother, growled at the air. "This will not bode well for our plans, if they find out . . ."
"Maybe they already have!" The Younger brother chirped, panicked. "Maybe that's why they're here!"
"We've kept our mouths shut about the operation! There's no way anyone could know about it!" The Gruffer brother suddenly whirled on their younger brother in a look of rage. "Unless that ratty sister of yours –!"
The youngling's voice was a mix of fright and insult. "I haven't even talked to her in months! She couldn't have told anyone, she doesn't know how far we are to the revival! For all we know it could've been our man on the inside!"
"Someone must've spilled it, otherwise they wouldn't be here!"
The calm one rubbed at his brow irritably. Oh, what I would give for a sewing needle to stitch that horrid voice shut . . .
Their Younger brother wanted to argue more, but bit back any more of the fight in him and turned to his more sensible brother. "Please, what should we do?"
His calm brother didn't answer. He thought to himself for a moment. What could they do?
They were on strict orders from the Sire to stay low and stay out of any more trouble. If their Master was to return, they needed all the cloaking they could get. They wouldn't get far if they went and got themselves noticed.
There was also the matter of the Offering to find. Given how utterly incompetent their brother was, the girl shouldn't be that hard to find but of course, "God loves irony" as the masses say. Pompous warm-bloods.
He doubted their source was to blame. He was paid to simply keep everyone, including himself, out of their business so they had more elbow room. That greedy fool's own problem was the amount of stretching he was putting into his neck that left him only a few inches shy of the gallows. He would never betray them.
Their foolish sister did need to be dealt with, though. Her leaving them in the first place assured him of her capability to actually keep her skeletons within her casket.
Which again brought up this new development. Honestly, he thought that they weren't any better than any goon you could pack into a suit and send out with spears and shields like children to school. All those stories were most likely exaggerated for the entertainment of children.
However, there would be hell to pay if any word of this were to reach their leader . . .
Almost like a heaven-sent solution, a thought entered his head.
What if there wasn't word to reach?
A slick smile grew on his face. Oh, the thrill of the idea . . .
"We do nothing . . . At least, not yet."
He turned back to his less-than-fortunate brothers, one looking confused and the other suspicious, tucking his hands behind his back as he grinned.
His brilliant ploy was already beginning to churn the lust of excitement inside his belly and he barely hid it within the smooth, ominous tone in his voice. "We continue on with our great leader's orders just as he said. With these newcomers, I see a future advantage to our plans."
"What . . ." The Young one blinked. "What do you mean?"
The calm fought the urge to slap him out of annoyance and stated his next words like he was speaking to a child. "Simple, younger brother, the Sire told us to keep our eyes and ears open for the Offering. But, as I'm sure you're aware he didn't say anything about having to catch her ourselves."
He glanced at his more physically imposing brother, he added. "With a little push and a little . . . Incentive, I'm sure those frightening fellows might just be more than happy to do our job for us. We'll simply collect our prize when the time is right."
His brother huffed in disapproval. "Hmph! And how do you suppose we do that?"
The sadistic look he received could've made a lethal assassin crumble from sheer fright. "I think we both know the answer to that, brother. A simple answer that's been spoken through the ages with blood." With a giddy hum, he twirled on his heel, he hissed in relish. "Trust me, when the time comes, you'll know."
ME: Uh, oh, I smell trouble! (Sniff, sniff) Yet somehow I smell chocolate, hmm . . .
So some good news, I got a new computer! Okay, admittedly it's my dad's old computer but since he hardly ever used it, and my old one was probably over ten years old, it was passed down to me as is all my sources of tech.
Even better, it had the latest version of Microsoft word so it'll make it much easier to post my stories on both accounts from now on! Which I pray means, faster updates! WHOOP, WHOOP! In honor of that, as you had just read, I decided to post two chapters as a treat because, to anyone who does take the time to read (Mostly read) and review, you guys really inspire me to keep writing, you're awesome!
I'll do my best to catch up in my writing, until then, enjoy!
'Til next time!
