When morning came, the two men were already up, and preparing to leave. Francesca had barely caught them on their way out. "Where are you two off to?" She asked, her worried tone of voice practically begged them to stay.
"We're going to talk with some people who might help us," Gabe answered.
"Should I stay here, or come with you…?" Francesca wondered, a little uneasy about being left alone.
"It is probably best you stay here, ma'am. We will be back before nightfall. Stay indoors," Tycho said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Yeah, Don't worry. I don't think that thing could get in the house, so you'll be fine for the day," Gabe assured.
"Please hasten. I'm afraid of what it will do now that others know…" She led them to the front door.
"We'll be quick as possible," Gabe said. Tycho nodded to the woman, and she gave an almost reluctant wave as the two take the winding path back to the gate. A man at the gate opens it for them, and Francesca watched the two men until they disappeared from sight. After she retreated back into her spacious mansion, she locked the door, and hoped the two men would keep their word.
Now on a deserted dirt path, the two men trekked towards the direction of the city. "Are you sure she'll be okay? I mean you saw what that thing did last night…" Gabe said.
"Sadly, Gabriel- I am not sure. But that means we must get to The Bewitching Rune, before something happens to her… or even us," Tycho answered, his eyes still concentrated on the long, dusty path ahead.
"So what makes you think that Sonja will know what this thing is if you don't, considering you're the one who went to college for shit like this?"
"Maybe she'll be able to jog my memory with some potion or shit. I don't know." Tycho then turns to look at Gabe. "But, I don't know about you- I really fucking wanted to get away from that house."
"Yeah, I don't blame you. Between what we saw in the woods, and that rude fucking cat-"
"Rude cat?"
"Yeah! I tried to be nice to it, but it just went off, and ignored me like some asshole."
"Gabriel, it was a cat. Cats ARE assholes."
"Well, I've met nicer cats," Gabriel argued.
"Kemper is not just any cat, Gabriel." Tycho stared at the other. "He is a sophisticated feline with a fine taste." He stopped suddenly to gaze into the distance. "He's just a person... In a cat's body..." Tycho's thoughts seem to trail off to somewhere else after speaking, and lets out an almost longing sigh. A place deep in the academic's mind where no one wanted to trek.
Gabe give him a quizzical, slightly disgusted look. " No, he's not. People can't be in cat bodies." Tycho stares intently at Gabe.
"You don't know… You don't…" He speaks in a hushed whisper.
An awkward silence consumes the two, as Tycho continues to stare at him "Oh! Hey, looks like we're almost back to New Arcadia. We should be able to get a ride to the area that Sonja and Chrissy work." Gabe exclaims, thankful for the distraction. Tycho is broken from his… Fond thoughts.
"AHEM. Yes. Yes. You're right. We need to catch a cab." He pauses for a moment. "Not it."
With a frustrated sigh, Gabe mutters "Dammit."
The streets in the city are busy, and filled with traffic. There are plenty of cabs around, but no one wants to stop for the hairy bear-man that is Gabe. "What do I have to do to make one of these fuckers stop?" Gabe yelled, exasperated.
"Why not show them some leg? Works with the ladies," Tycho sniggered. He gives Tycho a disapproving look, but it's really his only choice left. He inches toward the street, and quickly glances around, to make sure no one is paying direct attention to him, and proceeds to pull up his pant leg, revealing a shin that was covered in what could only be identified as fur at this point.
Tycho only stared in disbelief, not expecting him to even consider his idea. "I can't believe you actually did that."
"Well, some people slowed down, right?"
"Yeah, it's a surprise no one had a wreck," Tycho said, standing up from his place on the bench. Gabe shot him a poisonous glare. Tycho ignores it. "Well, it seems we've caught Arcadia during rush hour. We might have to hoof it from here."
"That's fine by me. Which way do we have to go?"
"Well, the shortest route is through Hobo Alley."
"Oh. Wonderful," Gabe replied, crinkling his nose in disgust.
"The longer way is around the piers." Gabe's expression does not improve. "It just depends how desperate we are to get there quickly."
"Let's go through Hobo Alley. At least there aren't any mimes."
"Agreed. Hobo Alley it is." He begins to walk, but then stops, turning to Gabe. "And please, don't look any of them in the eyes."
"But-" Tycho gives him a stern look.
"No." Gabe, who wasn't in the mood to argue, grumbled angrily, and followed after Tycho.
They arrived at Hobo Alley, which was still not the most inviting of places. The buildings were in shambles, and feral hobos wandered aimlessly down the street, past the cardboard abodes of the fellow homeless. Gabe covered his nose, and attempted to keep from gagging. "I really, really hate how everything smells like pee." Tycho is doing the same thing, except also holding onto his bag for dear life.
"That's the life of a hobo," He said. Meanwhile, they seemed to have attracted the attention of a stray hobo, who followed closely behind them. Gabe was aware of the hobo's presence, but due to his earlier promise, he was unable to turn around and confront the smelly homeless man like he wished to.
Ignoring the hobo, Tycho's pace quickened, while he tried simultaneously not to vomit. Another two hobos joined the first, making the odor that followed them even more rank .
"I'd hate to tell you this, but I don't think we're going to avoid a fight," Gabe noticed.
"The fuck we are. I am not going to lose any of my shit fighting these guys."
"Well, then we should probably run like crazy." One of the hobos belched loudly, and around that time was when Tycho decided it would be best to take off, with Gabe following close behind. Their attempt to flee to sanitary grounds instead leads them to a metal fence, just tall enough to be climbed over with a boost from someone else.
"Fuckfuckfuck," Tycho muttered under his breath. He turned to see the mob of hobos getting closer. "YOU. OVER. NOW." He tossed his bag over the fence and crouched to give Gabe a boost. He climbed over the fence, and looked at Tycho from the other side.
"What about you?" Gabe asked.
"I'll improvise. Just keep up with the bag. It has our stuff in it. Our important stuff," Tycho said, as the drunken hobos still stumbled towards him.
Gabe nodded, and hesitantly ran off, hoping his companion would be alright.
After he got a few blocks down the street to a more hygienic part of town, he stood at the corner, to wait for Tycho. About an hour passed, and there was still no sign of him. Just as Gabe was contemplating whether to go on without him, or to wait a little longer, the man in question appeared at the far end of the street, stumbling and mumbling, while occasionally staggering. Gabe approaches him, somewhat surprised he's even alive. "What happened in there?" He asked.
"Hobo's happened," Tycho said in a distant, somewhat detached voice. "Question- Do I smell?" Gabriel leaned forward, taking a cautious sniff, and his expression contorted to reflect his disgust.
"Um- Yeah. Really bad. Like- I don't know what that is."
"Okay."Tycho continued to shuffle his feet across the ground. "Let's Continue."
At the Bewitching Rune, Chrissy and Sonja were hard at work. Sonja brushed a few strands of her strawberry blonde hair from her face, putting the large wooden stick she had been using to stir the bubbling vat of potion to the side. "Chrissy!" Her apprentice looked up from her work station, pushing her large rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose.
"Yeah?" She answered.
"Where is that new bottle of Essence of Frog?"
"Oh, it's here on the shelf, I'll get it." She pulled out the stepladder, and used it to get to the higher shelfs. "Let's see, Essence of Frog, Essence of Frog- Ah, got it!" She grabbed the vial, and hopped off of the stepladder, bringing it to Sonja.
"Thank you." She accepted the bottle and poured some of its contents into the cauldron, causing a large puff of green smoke to billow upwards.
"No problem. So what're we making again?"
"Right now? This is a hexing potion for that woman who wanted revenge on her ex-husband," Sonja explained as she dropped in a few unidentifiable leaves in the mix. "How's that other potion coming along?"
"I'm still working on it. We're a little short on lamb's blood, but Apon should be back with some any time now…" She answered.
"Good." Sonja stirred the potion a little more. A loud knock is heard at the door.
"I've got it," Chrissy volunteers, walking to the storefront. She cracks the door open a little, surprised to see both Gabe and Tycho. "Oh! Hello!" She crinkled her nose at the vile smell emanating from Tycho. "What is that?"
"Odeur de Hobo," Tycho Replied.
"Chrissy, who is it?" Sonja shouts, unable to see over the piles of books.
"It's Tycho and Gabe!"
"Really? Let them in!" Sonja instructed, as she put in the final ingredients, then wiped her hands clean.
"Greeting ladies," Tycho smiles. Chrissy stepped out of the way, letting the two men in.
"It's been awhile, huh?" Chrissy asked.
"Yeah, it has."
"It has been quite some time- but we aren't here for leisure," Tycho explained, as he steps into the cluttered room.
"Then what business do you have?" Sonja inquired.
"Well, there's this thing that we think you might know what it is." Gabe answers.
"Well, what is it? A demon, a ghost, what?" Sonja asked.
"I have no idea. It's scary as hell though. It has no face."
"And it is definitely malevolent. It attacked us," Tycho informed as he walked around the room, inspecting the various jars full of liquids and body parts.
"Where did you guys run into this thing?" Chrissy wondered.
"In the woods," Gabe replied.
"Hmm, no face…" Sonja said, thinking for a moment. "Where have I heard that before…" She pondered, while pacing around.
"Yes, the woods. It blended in with the trees," Tycho said, adding on to Gabe's previous statement.
"Chrissy, where is that volume of Oder Der Schwarzwald?"
"Um, it's in the back room. Do you want me to go get it?" Chrissy replied.
"No, I'll get it," Sonja declined, as she began to walk off. "Entertain our guests if you will," She added before disappearing into another room.
"Oder der Schwarzwald? The Black Forest..." Tycho said. The cauldron that Sonja had been stirring earlier continued to bubble, and on occasion it would make a loud 'pop'. Startled, Tycho jumped a bit at the noise. "What in-" He muttered as he leaned over to look.
"Um, I'd be careful, you really don't want to get that on you…" Chrissy warned.
"What is it? It smells foul," Tycho asked.
"Well, it's a hexing potion. It's really hard to explain what it does, but the best way Sonja put it was something along the lines of 'snakedick'…"
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad. It's happened to me once or twice-" Before Tycho could elaborate on the subject, Sonja returned, a large book in tow.
"Found it!" She exclaimed, stumbling a little.
"Are you sure you don't need help with that…?" Chrissy offered.
"Nope, I've got it." She wobbled a little from the weight, and puts it on the table. "Okay, you said faceless, right Gabriella- I mean Gabe?" Gabe ignored the slip-up, instead he looked at the ancient book.
"Yeah, and it was really white."
"I think I might know what you two encountered, then," She said as she flipped through the book.
"Really?" Tycho asked, leaning over to read the book with her.
"Oh, good someone finally knows what's going on," Gabe said.
"So, what's going on, anyways? What were you doing running around in a forest?" Chrissy inquired.
"A woman showed up at our office asking for help. Said she was being stalked by a tall creature in a suit and tie," Tycho explained. Chrissy's face seemed to get a little pale at the mention of its attire, and visibly shuddered.
Sonja continued flipping through, and at one point stopped to read a few paragraphs. But after that she continued on, until a picture caught her eye. "Like this?" She asked. The picture was an illustration of a tall, bony, and many-limbed creature, impaling what seemed to be a human man, but was very short compared to it, with one of the many appendages. Gabe and Chris had joined in looking at the book.
"That's definitely it," Gabe declared.
"Der Ritter… I remember now! We studied this in Apocalyptics, when we were going over Germany… Many people over there had mistaken this thing for the actual God of Death," Tycho exclaimed. Gabe squinted at the name, while trying to pronounce it.
"De- Der Rifter? Der Ridder?" He attempted.
"Ritter," Sonja corrected, as she turned a page. "Der Ritter is a creature of German descent- it's treated like an angel of death."
"Right! They're usually native to Germany. The first solid evidence of these beings were found in woodcuts by a man named Hans Freckenberg, which depicted a many-limbed, skeletal creature. Most people considered it odd, because it was a huge contrast compared to his more realistic woodcuts. Also, I believe 'Der Ritter' actually translates to 'The Knight'..."
"Yes, it does. Because at first. when he was seen, it was during battles when death was heavy in the air," Sonja answered. She kept flipping through the pages, the pictures depicting the creature changing ever so slightly.
"If we really encountered Der Ritter, I have a question," Tycho said.
"What would that be?" Chris replied.
"What is it doing here?" Chris thinks for a moment, unable to come up with anything.
"Sonja? You know more about this than me. What would this thing be doing here?"
"That's a good question… Considering it has a habit of stalking its victims, it could have followed one of them over here. But… Gabe, you said it attacked you?" Sonja asked.
"Yeah, it did."
"Usually Der Ritter aren't hostile unless..." Sonja paused for a moment. "One second, I'll be right back." Once again, Sonja left to the back room.
"Usually aren't? From what we were told before hand, it had killed the woman's pet," Tycho informed. Sonja returned with another book.
"They aren't. Der Ritter usually just feeds off of anguished souls, and drives whoever it's stalking to insanity. They are known to kill, but only for food, not just to kill." She set down the new book, which was even older and dustier than the previous. "And they don't eat animals. But there is another creature that does-"She flipped through a few more pages.
"Like what?" Gabe asked. Sonja stops on another page.
"Kubwa Popo," Tycho reads off. Chris grimaced at the mentioning of the name.
"A what?" Gabe asked.
"A Kubwa Popo is a demon of African origins, although it isn't uncommon for them to pop up other places. They're very territorial, especially around other demons," Tycho explained.
"So if these two have picked the same territory, or even worse, the same victim, that would without a doubt make Der Ritter become agitated and aggressive enough to actually start attacking people," Sonja added, closing the book.
"Okay, now that we know what these things are, we just need to know how to kill them. Mainly that 'Der Ritter' thing," Gabe said, looking a little more optimistic about the situation.
"There's the issue…" Sonja said. Gabe gave her a quizzical look, tilting his head to the side a bit. Chrissy let out a little sigh before speaking.
"You don't."