Hours passed, and the librarian waited impatiently for the blonde to return. He glanced down as this pocket watch before turning to stare out the window again. Although Magnus had done as instructed, leaving the boxes right where the demon had left them, and pulling together a small group to help him with the shelves. All of them were skeptical, though who could blame them? Some mystery man comes out of nowhere in a large black SUV and unloads a bunch of books for the library? That obviously had to be a scam.
Still, there was the benefit of the doubt. The contents of the boxes did check out, after all. They were filled with books. New books, old books, and books about an array of different topics. Most of them were books on how to make things, build things, and fix things. There were cookbooks, art books, craft books, books on how to make furniture, jewelry, and all kinds of things. There were also fiction and history books, but the supernaturals that showed up to help seemed to be more interested in the prior. They were also deeply interested in the final box, which held blank books, journals, and packs of loose paper. Whoever the mystery man was, they knew what they wanted.
"I don't think he's coming back, Mags." Said one girl as she sat on top of the counter. Her eyes were narrow and had no pupils. They were a strange shade of pale green, same as her hair. The girl's legs dangled idly as she watched the impatient man. "What's it been? Like, two hours?"
"If he's done this much so far, who's to say he's gonna back out now?" asked Magnus as he continued to stare. "You shouldn't give up on people so easily, Akira."
"Yeah, yeah…" the girl whined. "It's pretty easy too, though. He sounds pretty unbelievable..."
"Do you think he's the same person who's been droppin' stuff off at the Glen?" asked a young man. He was a faun. Furry, goat-like legs peeked out from under a skirt that covered himself, most likely being unable to make their way through the legs of a pair of pants. Hooves clopped against the floor as he walked, and his long face turned toward Akira. "The boxes look the same, and there's a lot there… Where does he even get that stuff, anyway?"
"Who knows? He's a mystery man, after all." Said the girl, looking over to another who sat on the end of the counter, reading one of the books she pulled from a box. "Whatcha got, Tegs?"
The other girl sat, gold eyes fixated as she was seemingly absorbed in the book. She was obviously an elf, with pointed ears and dark tan skin that stood out against short, white, hair pined into place with bobby-pins. Her friend couldn't see her face through the one long lock of hair on the left side of her head that was carefully braided, leaving Akira to believe that she was being ignored.
"Tegs?" the first girl called again. "Tegs? Hey, Tegwen!"
"Huh?" the elf asked, finally looking up with a confused expression. "Is he back?"
"Damn, you weren't even listening in? What's got you so interested, huh? Did the mysterious blond Santa Claus bring something good?"
"It's about a murder." The elf known as "Tegwen" replied. "It's really good. The detective in it is really cool, and less of a jerk than the usual ones."
"Yeah… Why are most of them assholes, anyway?"
"I know, and why are they all men?"
"Everyone be quiet!" interrupted Magnus, listening intently. Everyone did as instructed and the library got deathly quiet. As they all collectively focused their hearing, however, they noticed something.
"An engine?" questioned the faun, his ears perking up.
"Are you serious?" asked Akira, hopping down from the counter. All of them made their way to join the librarian at the window, and couldn't believe what they saw.
A black SUV had pulled to a stop in front of the library, and out stepped two men clad in black. One of them was a tall gentleman with eyes of garnet and hair to match both the vehicle and his outfit. The second one was, just as described by Magnus, a younger man with pale blonde hair parted to the left, icy blue eyes and a cat-like face. His movements weren't as full of grace or purpose as his associate, but he still had an air of delicacy about him. Both men were otherworldly. They didn't fit in with the Glen, and were like no human they had seen in films. The pairs' prescence could be felt from within the library—a powerful supernatural force, making it difficult for the locals to want to walk outside to greet them.
It didn't matter, however. While the tall one walked around to open up the back of the SUV, the blonde walked up to the door and wrapped his fingers around the knob. Opening it, he peeked his head inside.
"I'm back~!" he chimed with a big grin, surprising the group. "Oh. Is this the help?"
"U-uh, yes." Magnus said with a nod. "This is Akira, Tegwen, and Clarence. What exactly did you have in mind?"
"Hmmm… I dunno if that's enough people, but I'm willing to try it! Nice to meet you!" Alois greeted. "I got some shelves from the store, but there weren't enough there that were big enough, so I also went out and bought some boards and some tools. All we have to do is put them together, and stock them. Think you're up to it?"
"I don't think most of us know how to build shelves, though…" began the faun, Clarence. His fears were negated.
"That's alright." Alois said. "The bought ones come with instructions, and Sebastian knows practically everything, so making the rest from scratch shouldn't be too difficult. It's best to get started, though, if we're gonna be done before the day's over."
Although the supernaturals were baffled by both the strange man in front of them and by what he was proposing, they couldn't seem to argue with him. Reluctantly, they followed him outside as the other demon unpacked things. The tall one, apparently known as "Sebastian", nodded at them with a smile once they stepped into his view.
"Hello." He greeted. "Assembly of the store-bought shelves should be easiest, so we should probably get them out of the way, first."
"Sounds like a plan, man." Answered the menace, turning to the others. "What say you?" he questioned, only to be greeted by a series of nods and mumblings in agreement.
First, the group started opening the large, rectangular boxes, peeling off tape and laying everything out on the street. They found each pack of instructions, screws, and pegs required to assemble the shelves, yet they still awaited for instruction. While they had everything they needed, they were still hesitant.
"You can get started whenever you want." Alois said, unfolding his pack of instructions. "When you need a tool, just ask. We've got plenty to share."
With that, everyone got to work, wordlessly splitting into teams of two to assemble each shelf. They took to it very well, and things went smoothly. The only part where things slowed down was the first time a tool was necessary, and the locals had to ask the demons, who were already halfway done.
"We need a hammer." Informed Tegwen, and much to her surprise, the blonde kept his word and handed her one. No one quite knew why they suspected that he wouldn't, but they did. The blonde was oddly straight-forward and honest for a stranger, especially given his apparent wealth and status.
Within under an hour, they were done with that set. Three shelves stood out on the street, waiting to be hauled inside and stacked with books. The locals were astounded by it. They, along with the blonde, were quite proud of themselves and had a good time accomplishing the task.
"What's next?" asked Tegwen, looking to the demon excitedly with a big grin. They were all eager for the next task, a little bit high off of the feeling of building something with their own hands. The plan was working. The goal was to get people excited about making and improving things, and Alois was doing his job well.
"Next comes the harder bit." The Macken began, pointing to the boards that sat in the back of the SUV. "Next, we have to assemble those into shelves, but I think we can definitely do it. Let's move the shelves we've got out of the way and make room so we can unload these, alright?"
Eagerly, the group did as instructed. They moved the lighter, store-bought shelves and placed them along the wall next to the stack of boxes filled with books. Then, they moved onto getting the boards out while the demons gathered the tools nessecary for the job.
"I think it will be wisest if we set things up into groups again." Proposed Sebastian. "Only this time, we'll be working as an assembly line. One group will measure and mark the boards, another will trim them, and another will start grouping the pieces together in order for us all to put them together. First, we have to go inside and see how big we need them to be." He turned to the librarian, snapping him to attention. "Mister…?"
"Jenkins. Magnus Jenkins." The old man answered, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"Ah, yes. Would you mind coming inside with me? We need to decide how things are going to be organised." Informed the butler. Once more, the librarian found himself being unable to say no. These men were absurdly charismatic. It was almost overwhelming.
"O-oh… Well, alright." Magnus answered, leading the older demon inside. Alois stayed with the others, still amazed by the job they did.
"This is fun!" said Clarence. "I didn't know you could actually make this stuff."
"Well, it has to be put together somehow." Alois answered. "If you're the one who has to do it, then so be it! I think it's a lot more exciting that way, anyhow."
"I just hope it's okay for us to be doing this out here." Spoke Akira, her voice getting lower. "What if we get in trouble with the rooks?"
"'The rooks'?" echoed the menace, arching an eyebrow.
"You really aren't from around here, are you?" questioned Tegwen. "The rooks are H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers. They rule this place with an iron fist… They say they're 'keeping the peace', but they don't really do that at all…"
"The opposite, actually." The other girl added. "If you do something they don't like at that one moment, they'll shoot you, dead!"
Alois' smile faded at that, adopting a more serious expression. While the information wasn't news to him, it was still horrifying to hear from the mouths of the people who lived here. It was amazing how they were able to speak so casually on the matter. Was it that common of an occurrence?
"Don't you worry about a thing." The menace stated, wearing a haughty smile. "They can't do anything, here. Nobody's gonna get shot, I promise."
"How do you know?" asked Akira. "They'll probably ask to inspect the books you brought, and if there's any banned stuff…"
"Shut up! I don't want to think about it!" the faun interrupted, covering his ears.
"She's right, though. How do you know this is a good idea?" Tegwen asked, looking to the blonde for answers. Her face was somewhat fearful, as were the others. "Maybe we should hide this stuff…"
"You don't have to worry. I'm not afraid of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G." the Macken boasted, puffing out his chest slightly as he crossed his arms. "As long as I'm here, they can't lay a finger on you."
"You're fuckin' crazy, mate."
"I prefer the term 'eccentric', thank you very much."
The others shook their heads as the two older men stepped out of the building, the librarian looking baffled. There was no doubt in Alois' mind that Sebastian had led the conversation and came up with everything himself. Still, it was best to make it seem as though they were cooperating, rather than leading.
"We have the measurements." Sebastian informed, walking up to the menace and showing him his memopad with numbers scrawled on it. "We should have plenty of wood to do this, as well as some left over."
"Perfect!" replied Alois with a grin. "Let's get to it!"
Though their morale had slightly fallen, the team was back to work. Clarence and the librarian were tasked with measuring the pieces of wood, while the two girls cut them. The pair were extremely intimidated by the saw, but soon, they were happily wearing down the boards. Finally, the demons put the pieces of wood into groups and started sanding them, removing any splinters that might be sticking out. When the faun and the old man were done with their task, they started sanding as well, and finally, they were just waiting on the girls, who were given the hardest task. Although Tegwen and Akira weren't done, the others started putting together what was complete.
Alois glued the pieces together while the others held them in place. Sebastian then nailed them sturdy, switching places with Alois for each piece. They had one shelf done and stood back to admire their work. The group wasted no time moving onto the next one- that is, until the locals were rendered frozen as one of them caught a glimpse of a green coat and red berret.
"Drop your tools!" barked Akira in a hushed tone, and everyone did, no matter what they were doing. Everyone, except for the demons.
As the soldiers approached, they were the only ones undisturbed by their presence, and even stepped out to greet them as they walked closer. The residents of the special zone looked on in horror as these two strangers casually walked up to the H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers, unfazed by their guns and keeping their heads high.
"What are you freaks doing?" demanded one of the men. "Who authorized this? Wait… is that a fucking saw-?!"
"Yes, it is." Interrupted the Macken in an authoritative tone. He didn't even bat an eyelash at the fact that the soldier reached for his gun and was about to point it at him. "As for who authorized this, I did, and I would highly recommend that you put your guns away and keep walking, or else your lives will become very, very difficult in the near future."
"Who the fuck are you?" spat the soldier, attempting to stare down the demon in vain. Wordlessly, the menace reached into his coat, and held up his badge.
"This is 'who the fuck' I am." He informed, causing the faces of the humans to turn pale as they read the name and rank. Alois smiled sweetly at the pair before continuing. "Now, is there anything else you would like to add?"
Both soldiers swallowed hard before looking to one another in silence. They had just threatened one of H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G.'s top-ranking officials, who was in closely affiliated with the Convention of Twelve and Sir Hellsing, herself. Abruptly, the men stood at attention and offered a salute to the blonde.
"No, sir! We're deeply sorry for our indiscretion, sir!" one of the soldiers said.
"Mmm, yeah… I'm not buying it." Alois answered, carefully putting his I.D. back in his coat. "I bet you do this sort of shit often, don't you? Do you get off on threatening people who have to power against you for trivial bullshit? It really looks like you do."
"Sir, no, sir!" said the other soldier without giving it a second thought.
"I dunno…" the blonde began, folding his arms. "I think you're just saying that to get out of trouble."
"Sir, no, sir!"
"So you're telling the truth?"
"Sir, Yes, sir!"
"Then why did you point your gun at me?"
Both soldiers fell silent. Minds began to formulate an excuse, and beads of sweat began to form against the humans' skin. Their pose even shifted as they nervously fidgeted. They couldn't come up with an answer.
"No response, huh?" questioned the Macken. "In that case, drop your guns and give me three-hundred pushups!"
"Th-three?!"
"I'm sorry, but I gave you an order, not an opportunity for debate. Surely you big, strong, tough, soldiers can handle a couple hundred pushups, right? Well? What are you waiting for? Get started!"
Just like that, the two humans' dropped from attention and carefully laid their weapons down on the concrete. Humiliated, they got down on the ground with them and followed orders. Supernaturals looked on in absolute awe as these powerful, ruthless men where made helpless by this mysterious blonde demon. When Alois turned to face them, the group nearly jumped, yet he still smiled in a friendly fashion.
"Sorry about that." He said. "Let's get started on the next one."
The man behaved as though nothing had happened, even while the two soldiers continued to do pushups behind him. Instead, he turned his attention to the project at hand. Picking up a board, he looked up to notice the bewildered faces of the group.
"I told you there was nothing to worry about." Spoke the Macken, being joined by the other demon in putting things in place. Alois seemed genuinely excited by this, and he was. It had been a long while since he got to build something. The last time was during his days at Warwick while building the haunted house for the school's Halloween festival. "This is gonna be so cool when we're done!"
Slowly, the others got back to their positions, their eyes glancing over at the soldiers every so often. H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers never yielded to a supernatural. Not ever. Yet here they were, being subjected to some arbitrary punishment by a demon. It was all too suspicious, but none of them were quite brave enough yet to say anything about it. Instead, they picked up their tools again, and continued to put the shelves together.
Tegwen and Akira got done cutting the pieces and soon began to join in assembly. Things went along smoothly and time slipped away unnoticed. Alois and Sebastian no longer had to swap places every other minute to cycle between gluing and hammering nails, as they had the others to support the shelf. Sebastian left the team to their devices altogether in order to slip away on other business. Alois didn't seem to mind, however, even after the SUV disappeared from his sight. He was busy working.
He did look up, however, when the soldiers finally dropped, unable to work anymore. Furrowing his brow, he put his hands on his hips and shook his head. Clicking his tongue, he spoke.
"That didn't look like three-hundred to me." he reproached. "Is that really all you can do? How did you get past basic training?"
"S-sorry, sir…" one of the humans panted, too tired to move. Humming, Alois looked to the others.
"What do you guys think?" he asked. "Think I should let them go?"
Quietly, the others shook their heads and mumbled small "yeses" still afraid of getting in trouble with the men if they kept them. They still weren't completely certain that they were safe with them there, and didn't want to face any future retribution from them by making them continue. With a slightly disappointed look, Alois sighed.
"Fine. Alright, boys, you're free to go." The Macken said. "Get out of my sight, and do it quick before I change my mind. I'm still not too happy about you pointing a gun at me. Maybe I'll complain to somebody about it."
With all of the remaining strength they had, the two soldiers hobbled to their feet, picking up their guns. Weakly, they offered one final salute before fleeing, uttering one small garbled "thank you, sir" before they left. It took them a long time to actually remove themselves from the menace's vision, but they followed orders while Alois continued to work.
"Useless goddamn flunkies…" griped Alois, berating the soldiers to himself. "Can't even do their job… What good are they?" The others couldn't help but overhear, causing their questions to burn even further. By the time Sebastian had gotten back, they were done with that task and finished applying the dark brown staining to the shelves and were merely waiting for it to dry.
"Let's take a break." The menace said as the car rolled up. He trotted straight up to the driver's side window, eager for what he had asked for.
"Can I at least get out of the car, first?" chuckled the butler as he opened the door. When he did, the smell of the vehicles' practically punched the supernaturals in the face. Sitting in the passenger seat was Alois' prize, and when the other man unlocked the door, he started handing out the bounty.
"Who's hungry?" he asked holding out a McDonald's bag. The others could hardly believe it. Some of them had never even seen a real one before, let alone eaten it. Eagerly, the locals received a meal each including a drink before sitting along the sidewalk and chowing down.
Tegwen was the first to finish, having nearly inhaled the contents of the bag, and was scanning for people who weren't going to finish their food, only to be sorely disappointed when her friends refused. Despite the fact that they were already full, they simply continued to eat for both the taste and Akira did partially out of spite. It was as though she felt that it was her duty to do so, simply to annoy her friend. Magnus was the only one who had to call it quits and surrender the remainder of his French fries to the elf before turning to the others.
"So, what's next?" he asked while the menace popped a chicken nugget in his mouth.
"First," Alois began while chewing. "We gotta clear some space in the shop. We gotta move out all of the books that are in the way of us getting the shelves in." Pausing to swallow, he took a sip of his drink before continuing. "Then, we need to put the shelves in, and put the books on them."
"Sounds easy enough." Replied Sebastian. "Would you like me to start?"
"Sure." Answered the fair-haired demon before turning to the old man. "Hey, mister Jenkins, do you got a carpet or something we can lay out on the sidewalk so the books don't get beat up?"
"I'm sure I can find somethin'." the sorcerer stated. "I can go look while the others are finishin' up."
"If you'd be so kind." Sebastian answered as he stood up. "I'll help out."
Once the two were back inside, the others were left alone again. It was awkward, but better, that the soldiers were gone. The question was, what exactly was going on, here? Alois was strange. He wasn't from the special zone, donated lots of things, helped build bookshelves, and bought them food, yet he somehow was able to make H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. soldiers obey him without a second thought. Did he have some kind of involvement with them? Come to think of it, they didn't even know his name. He never introduced himself. He's simply "the blonde young man with the cat-like face".
Once they were done eating, they all stood up and got back to work. Now came the not-so-fun part. Hauling large stacks of books outside was a tedious task, and could wear one down before too long. The carpet was spread out on the sidewalk, and they got started.
Before long, other residents got curious and came over to see what was happening. Another group of people, and another, and another started helping them as the situation was explained to them. Help was needed? Help came. The contents of most of the library were emptied out onto the sidewalk, and people even stepped in to dust cobwebs and sweep floors. Alois actually stepped back to watch the sight for a moment, as he could hardly believe it. This was the first time in his life that he had seen a community work together on a project, and he was genuinely blown away by it.
When the time came, he didn't even need to help haul in the shelves and set them in place. He just watched as Sebastian told them where they needed to be, and as the people nodded and headed instructions. As the sun was starting to set, the residents of the special supernatural zone were putting books back inside and placing them on the shelves by genre, by author, and by alphabetical order. Somehow Alois was able to sneak in and return what he had "borrowed" from the library: a copy of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein.
"That's the last one!" someone called, causing for the crowd to cheer. The library was looking spick and span. Not one single book sat on the floor, and people could walk around, sit, and read inside the library for the first time in ages. Sebastian had even installed a new door on the building, replacing the broken one that had irritated residents for goodness knows how long.
Alois loved it. There was something deeply moving about the way that the residents immediately stopped to help each other and the smiles on their faces as they were greeted with an almost brand-new library with a tons of brand-new books that none of them had read before. Perhaps the best part about it, though, was seeing the face of the old sorcerer who ran the place being reduced to tears of joy at the sight of the place.
"Thank you, sonny." Magnus said with all sincereity as he walked up to the menace. The old man took his hand in a firm handshake as he choked back tears, his face contorting as he tried his best to stay calm. "You really did it… I just… Wow… You really did it all before the day ended… You're really somethin', y'know that?"
"Nah, I didn't do much. I just showed up with stuff. You guys did most of the work." The Menace stated. He felt an overwhelming sense of pride over the event, and was merely pleased that was able to be a part of it. "You guys are really amazing. I've been around and seen a lot, but I've never seen people working like that. That is fuckin' incredible!"
Magnus nodded quickly, the tears finally streaming down his face again just when he finally managed to hold them in again. The group collectively praised him, telling him how thankful they were that he did this. Bashfully, the Macken tried his best to reply. It was difficult as he wasn't exactly used to receiving this much positive attention, but he somehow managed.
As the sun finally fell, the crowd sort of dissipated and went home as others who were nocturnal took their place on the streets. Magnus and the original trio saw the demons off, saying their farewells and repeating their thanks. Soon, however, the question that burned within them from the beginning had become too much and raged out of control, forcing them to beg the question:
"Sonny, you've done so much for us, and we more than appreciate that." The librarian said as Alois climbed into the car. "Just who are you, exactly? You don't seem like some random drifter…"
A long pause followed as Alois thought. He knew that he would have to explain eventually, and even if he didn't, the others would find out one way or another. Still, he didn't know how to put it. He didn't want to outright say that he was with H.E.L.L.S.I.N.G. and closely affiliated with their notorious boogeyman known as "the watchdog". On that note, he thought of an answer.
"Ever hear of 'The Watchdog'?" he asked, leaning his head out the window as he peered down at the others. They went pale at the question, but were confused since Alois obviously didn't fit the description of him that was passed around since the Phantomhive was first known to them. Alois didn't have the dark hair of blueish-black and the eyepatch, nor did he have the appearance of a surly man or a melancholic child.
"Y-yes?" answered Magnus.
"Well, I ain't him." Alois bluntly informed. "They call me 'The Lion'. I'll be by to help on occasion. You take care, alright?"
With a nod from the others and a series of smiles, he returned the gesture before sitting back in his seat and rolling up the window again, peering in the rear-view mirror as the group watched after him as he rode away. Funnily enough, there was another donation to the Wolf's Glen Café that night. It was some spare wooden boards, and a complete set of tools. For the first time, however, there was a note.
"Tell me what else you need next time, and I'll try to lend you a hand."
