Chapter Three – A Long Night

Nash did not sleep well that afternoon. He had barely been dozing for five minutes when he heard scratching at his window. He groggily sat up, and peered at the red bird flying outside his window.

"Dominguez Junior!" he called, and hurried over to the window to let the bird in. The bird landed on his shoulder and squawked loudly in his ear.

"Keep it down, you great stupid pigeon!"

Dominguez Junior was his pet bird that he used to send messages to bishop Sasarai in Harmonia. He let Dominguez fly around to do whatever he wanted, but the bird always came when he called him.

"I guess it's time to feed you," Nash sighed, digging through his belongings to find some seeds and table scraps he'd been saving for him. He held up a handful of food and the bird pecked greedily at its contents.

Just then Nash saw a shadow outside under the crack of his door. Bird still on his shoulder, he crossed the room and flung his door open.

It was Kidd again.

Nash groaned. "Please tell me you haven't been standing outside my door all this time."

"What is that on your shoulder?" Kidd asked, as though he hadn't heard.

"What do you think it is? It's a bird," Nash replied wearily.

"Yes, but what is it doing on your shoulder inside the castle?"

"It happens to be my pet."

Kidd appeared to jot this information into his notebook. "Right. What's its name?"

"Brutus the Boy-Detective Mangler."

The red bird on Nash's shoulder cocked its head to the side, and cooed curiously. Nash made a mental note that next time he needed a bird messenger, he would get a vicious-looking hawk instead of an overgrown pigeon.

Kidd raised his eyebrow, suspicious, but clearly not taking the hint. "I heard you call him something else just before. Dummy-wiz Junior, or something."

Nash knew he was going to lose his cool with him any minute. "It's Dominguez Junior! Now for the last time, go away." Nash tried to close the door as he said this.

Kidd pushed against the door, apparently not wanting to be shut out yet. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Get out!" Nash said, pushing harder against his door.

"Not until I get all the facts!"

Dominguez started squawking and flapping his wings.

"Get! Out!"

"No!"

There was an intense scuffle as Nash and Kidd struggled against their side of the door, pushing. The bird continued to clutch to Nash's shoulder, squawking and flapping his wings, feathers flying everywhere.

Kidd suddenly gave up, and the abrupt absence of his weight caused Nash to slam the door shut.

...With Dominguez Junior's wing in it.

"Dominguez!"

The bird let out a great screech of pain in Nash's ear, and the Harmonian wretched the door open hastily to release his pet's mangled wing. Cradling the bird in his arms, he caught sight of Kidd's heel before it sprinted around the corner of the hallway and disappeared.

"I'm going to kill that damn kid!"

"Yes, the wing is definitely broken," Tuta said, examining Dominguez Junior on a table. "How did you say this happened?"

Nash had not yet said how, and in his haste to get his bird down to the Infirmary, he hadn't thought of what to tell Tuta. Somehow he doubted that "I slammed a door on his wing" would make him sound like a caring owner. He wanted these people to like him, after all.

However, he barely paused for a second before launching into an explanation. "I'm not sure how he did it, to be honest. He usually comes to me in the early evenings to be fed, and when he didn't come I went out to find him and he was by the lake, unable to take flight and holding his wing oddly. I knew something must be wrong."

Tuta nodded vaguely, but he was more focused on the bird, as he gently examined its wing. "Well, I'm not exactly qualified to heal animals, but I'll see what I can do," he said finally.

"Thank you, Tuta. I really appreciate it."

Nash exited the Infirmary and crossed the hall to the tavern. It wasn't until he sat down with a drink that he realized Dominguez's injury had caused yet another grievous quandary to his plans. If he heard something important from Sierra tonight, how was he going to tell bishop Sasarai about it? It would be quite a while before Dominguez could fly again, and he was late getting news to the bishop as it was.

He was just going to have to go to Sasarai himself.

Nash stared out the window, somberly watching the sunset as though awaiting his execution. It would take days to get to Harmonia and back. He wanted to leave now, but he had to wait for Sierra to see if she'd found out anything important. And the last thing he wanted to do right now was to talk to that old hag again.

Nadir's voice called from the stage. "All actors in "Neclord's End", we're getting set up now!"

Check that, Nash thought. The last thing he wanted to do was act in this bloody play.

It was worse than Nash had anticipated. To Nash's horror, quite a crowd had shown up to witness the atrocity that was Nadir's play. Thomas was stuttering worse than ever now that he was in front of an audience, and it took him so long to stumble through his part that Joe and Ace had lapsed into a bored daze and forgot to say their lines. Geddoe had now shorten the narration to simply cueing the actor's characters, which Nash was actually grateful for as it spared him from listening to atrocious description of Sierra's 'smile of an angel'.

"Time to give up, you can't escape," Sergeant Joe stated blandly to Jacques, who stared blankly back at him in silence.

"Splendid," Nadir whispered excitedly to Nash. Apparently, the masked man was of the opinion that if the audience wasn't throwing rotten vegetables at the actors, then they must be enjoying it. "This is it!"

"Yeah," Nash muttered under his breath. "My big acting debut as a cocky hag of a vampire."

"...Sierra..." Announced Geddoe dully.

Nadir gave Nash a slight push and with a small sigh, Nash strode onto stage. Time to get this thing over with.

"It's been a while, eh Neclord," he said to Jacques, who turned to him with the same vacant expression he'd been wearing since the start of the play.

An uncomfortable silence fell as Jacques continued to stare at him in silence.

Nash vaguely wondered why Nadir would give Jacques such a big part. Surely even a lobotomized man could act better than him. Then again, as Nash continued to stare back at him, he wasn't so sure that Jacques hadn't had a lobotomy. Nash made a mental note to ask him later.

He chanced a glance out at the audience. They were, to put it plainly, bored out of their skulls. A few looked up at the stage with mixed looks of disbelief and disgust. The rest looked like they were nodding off, and Nash was even sure he could actually hear someone snoring from somewhere near the back of the tavern.

And then he spotted her.

Sierra stood among the shadows at the very back of the tavern, quite unnoticed by the castle's other tenants. Her red eyes met his, and although her decidedly spiteful-looking smile was anything but angelic, he could tell she had some valuable information for him.

He could also tell that she was enjoying his humiliation on stage far too much. Chris' warning to be cooperative and helpful in her absence was forgotten as he turned back to Jacques on stage.

"It's me, 'Old Hag Sierra' – I'm arrogant, I never keep promises, and I suck on people's blood at any chance," he stated loudly.

This actually elicited the raise of an eyebrow from Jacques, who otherwise, did not respond. A couple people in the audience who were still awake murmured. A strangled gasp was audible from backstage, which Nash guessed was Nadir.

"What's the matter, Necky? Surely you remember me by the bags under my bloodshot eyes and the gray mop of tweedy hair?"

Nash could now see Nadir at the side of the stage, still unseen by the audience. He was jumping up and down waving his hands around, jabbing his finger at the script in his hand. Nash wondered why his deviation from the script was any more significant than anyone else's. Regardless, it was funny to watch, the masked man's flailing limbs making him look like an overgrown marionette.

More amusing was Sierra's reaction. She was glaring daggers at him. She looked so incensed that it was a wonder she was keeping as quiet and as still as she was. He knew he was going to really get it after the performance, but he was having far too much fun to stop now.

"Your silence leads me to believe that you have become paralyzed at the sight of my hideousness. Which brings me to my reason for being here. The Moon Rune listens only to me, because I'm the oldest and ugliest. You'll find that my evil, deceitful presence will block the powers of the rune. Riou, dispose of this creature, who is almost as vile as me!"

Thomas, as well as Sergeant Joe and Ace, looked surprised but amused. Even Geddoe was smirking slightly from the front of the stage.

Jacques spoke for the first time all day. "I like that better than what's in the script."

There was a definite snicker from the audience. After a minute of wondering who had the next line, Thomas remembered it was him and they bumbled through the rest of the play. It ended with Geddoe announcing that he would never narrate again. Some people actually applauded.

Backstage, Nadir was sitting limply in a chair. For a minute Nash was afraid he actually died of shame. But then the man covered his masked face with his hands and moaned loudly.

"I didn't think he'd take it that bad," Nash said to Ace as they walked past him.

Ace grinned. "I guess he doesn't care how bad one's acting is as long as they aren't mocking the play. Looks like you crossed the line, my friend."

Nash returned the smirk. "Well, it is my experience that if you do a job really poorly, you won't be asked to do it again."

"That's a good philosophy," Ace replied with a laugh.

"Yeah, I just hope Chris doesn't find out..."

The tavern quickly cleared out after the play, but Nash could not see Sierra amidst it all. For a fleeting moment, he was afraid that he really had crossed the line and that she had left without telling him her information as punishment. But he knew she wouldn't do that. That wasn't her style of punishment.

Just then, he was grabbed around the neck and pulled backwards through a doorway into the kitchen. The room was dark and quiet, which told him that he and the ambusher were the only two there.

He felt what was distinctively two long fangs brushing against his neck.

"You know Sierra," Nash stated calmly, "I think you've actually gotten more vicious in the last fifteen years."

"Give me one reason I shouldn't rid you of every last drop of blood," she hissed.

"Because you'd be justifying my words when I said you suck people's blood at every chance. You want me to be wrong more than you want me to die."

"You really think you can talk your way out of everything, don't you?"

"It's a method that hasn't failed me yet."

"I hope I'm there the day it does," she spat as she pushed him roughly away from her.

Nash caught his balance, and straightened up. "There now, lets converse in a civilized manner. I know it's probably been a few centuries since you've done that, but you can at least try.

"Don't push it," she growled.

"Alright. What information have you got for me?"

"Why should I even bother telling you?"

"Because that was our agreement."

"I never agreed to tell you, I agreed to investigate."

"I don't really have time for games, Sierra. If there's trouble with the true runes, I have to know. I can contact Sasarai, and he's one of the few who can actually do something about this mess. Now I'm asking nicely Sierra. Please."

Sierra glared at him for a full minute before replying. "I got there before the Zexen knights did. I followed a masked Harmonian bishop down the underground road by the Great Hollow. He was with a witch, a tactician and a tall man in black. They found the entrance to the ruins of Cyndar. There is a true rune within. They were trying to get it... It seems he's... collecting the true runes for himself."

"I knew there was something about the masked bishop..." Nash said thoughtfully. "So he's using his power in Harmonia to obtain the true runes for his own purposes. But why?"

Sierra shook her head. "I don't know. But there's something else."

"What is it?"

"The masked bishop... I'm sure I've seen him before. He reminds me of someone who used to be in the Dunan Army."

"You don't know his name?"

"No, I was a part of the army, but I stayed in the graveyard and didn't know many of the castle's tenants."

Nash smirked and was about to comment about her ghoulish habits, but Sierra's glare told him he had taunted her enough for one evening.

"What about Chris?" he asked instead.

"The Zexen Knights? They got there shortly after another man."

"Another man?"

She nodded. "Yes, he was also following them, it seems. He foolishly confronted them and was disposed of."

"What was his name?"

"Wyatt Lightfellow. He used to bear the True Water rune. I recognize him. He was involved with the Fire Bringer fifty years ago."

"Wyatt Lightfellow? Chris' father?!"

Sierra shrugged. "I knew him as Wyatt but he may have changed his name. There were a lot of people after him."

"...It was Jimba," said Nash, remembering Chris telling him about how one of Lucia's men had gone missing. "And he's dead you say?"

She nodded once.

Nash felt a genuine wave of empathy for Chris. What a time to find and lose a father. She was so determined to find him... Nash only hoped that she had gotten the true rune before the masked bishop did.

"Do you know who got the rune?"

"No. I left right as the knights reached the entrance to the ruins."

Nash nodded. The knights had made good time. Hopefully they would triumph over the bishop and bring back the true rune by late tomorrow.

"Well Sierra, I just want to say-"

"For the last time, don't thank me!"

"-Say that you really are a miserable old hag for trying to bite me earlier."

Sierra bristled.

"Now don't you think a 'thank you' would be nicer to hear?" Nash grinned.

Just then there was a loud clatter as a pile of dishes fell off a table onto the floor. Nash grabbed Sierra and ducked down behind the counter. They weren't alone.

"Don't you dare touch me, you conniving, ungrateful-"

"Shh! Someone is in here!" Nash hissed.

"I don't care!"

"I do!" he whispered hoarsely. "I have a reputation to er... destroy. I don't want these people to have any more reasons to think I'm untrustworthy. Conversing with a vampire in a kitchen in the middle of the night is not exactly ordinary."

A shadow fell over them. They'd been found. How was he going to explain this? Slowly looking up, he wondered if Sierra was about to get her wish of being present when Nash failed to talk his way out of a tight situation.

A/N: This chapter was originally a lot longer, but I figured it'd be better to end this here and put the rest in the next chapter. Sorry if you've been waiting for the update, I just had a bit of writer's block for a while. Hope you enjoyed! As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated!