64

Éponine wandered deeper into the city than she ever had before, but she couldn't find Joly. She even chanced asking some strangers if they had seen him; although one man thought he had seen someone matching Joly's description, he couldn't be found where the man had said he would be.

She returned back to her home feeling dejected, almost as if she hadn't done enough, but she knew that if she was alive her feet would be aching from how much walking she had done. The sky had begun to darken outside, pale oranges giving way to blood reds, by the time she had returned home.

It was there, curled up in a pool of reddish light, that Éponine found Inès, crying so loud it almost sounded like screaming.

Éponine was so startled that she didn't even think to shut the door behind her. She just crouched beside Inès. "Inès!" she cried. "What's the matter?"

Inès tipped her head upwards, twisted and bright red, slime dribbling from her nose. Her hair was all over the place, sticking up in every direction, pulled out of the little knot she'd had it in this morning when she had left the house. There was dust on her hands, and the collar of her dress was torn, and there were even some tears on the skirt as well. There were odd little gouges on her cheeks, colourless dents that reminded Éponine of the ones Éponine had had on her hand when Gavroche had proved his point about physical pain being impossible in death, just days after they had died. The marks had disappeared after a few days and had not hurt, but the sight of them on Inès' bright red, tearstained cheeks made anger jolt fiercely in Éponine's chest.

"Who hurt you?" she demanded, placing her hands on Inès' shoulders.

"I – I ran into my sister," Inès said, breathless from her sobs.

"Gabrielle?" Éponine guessed. She knew there was another sister, but she wasn't sure they'd really interacted since they had arrived. She had first hand experience of Gabrielle, however.

Inès nodded, miserable.

At that moment, Gavroche burst through the still open door, Hyacinthe perched on his shoulder, shadowed closely by Bahorel and Prouvaire, no longer wearing just a bedsheet.

"What's wrong?" Gavroche demanded. Hyacinthe jumped from his shoulder with a meow, padding towards Inès with a curious expression on her face.

"Inès has got into a fight with her sister," Éponine murmured, stroking her hand down Inès' arm.

Bahorel crouched down in front of her. "Did you argue?" he asked.

"What do you think?" Inès snarled through her tears. "It – it wasn't my fault, I swear, she just..."

"No one is angry at you," Éponine said, trying to keep her voice soothing, brushing her hand down Inès' arm. "Bahorel – Prouvaire – could you please get me some water and a cloth? Inès, do you have a dress you would like to change into?"

Inès listed instructions to Gavroche on what specific dress she wanted, and he dashed off to fetch it from her room. As he did that, Éponine used the bowl of water and cloth that Prouvaire had conjured for her to wipe the dirt from Inès' hands and the tearstains from her face. She combed her fingers through Inès' yellow hair, and passed the cloth over it to get some of the dust from her curls.

"Please tell me you manage to get some hits in," Bahorel murmured in a low voice as Éponine cleared away the bowl. It was quite pretty for something conjured on the spur of the moment, painted black with threads of red and blue wending their way over its surface. She found a home for it in one of the cupboards and left the cloth on the side, returning to crouch in front of Inès.

Inès was no longer crying, but her breaths were juddering. "I did slap her," she admitted. "A couple of times. Maybe four."

"Good," Bahorel said, his grin broad and proud.

Éponine hid a smile and then helped Inès to her feet. "Let's get you changed," she said, taking her into Fantine's study.

When Inès was wearing her new dress, Éponine sat her down on one of the purple chairs and said, "What did you sister want? Apart from to hit you, obviously."

Inès looked down at her lap. "The same," she muttered. "She was angry with me because I ignored our mother."

"That's no surprise," Éponine said. "Your mother is someone who you want to ignore."

"I wish I wasn't related to them," Inès said, her voice small but fierce. "Does that sound horrible?"

"Not at all." Éponine brushed her hand over Inès' hair. "Now, I'm sure that Bahorel and Prouvaire will stop for supper with you and Gavroche, but I'm going to be going out."

It was a snap decision, the plan still forming slowly in her mind, but she was already set on it.

Inès frowned. "What –?"

Éponine opened the door to the study. "Prouvaire, Bahorel, you can stay for supper if you like. I'm just going to pop out for a while."

"With Courfeyrac?" Bahorel said, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline.

"No, actually," Éponine said. She felt Inès hovering at her shoulder. "I just wanted to have a word with somebody." She was still wearing the shawl she had put on when she left earlier today, knotted over her chest, so it was just a matter of walking out of the door.

She heard Inès say something, but she ignored her and kept on walking, until she reached the Guardian's building.

Éléonore happened to be in the lobby, deep in conversation with a man with a long braid down his back. Éponine waited patiently until they stopped talking, and then she stepped forwards.

"Éponine," Éléonore said. Today she wore green, the lace climbing like a vine of roses up her throat. "What a surprise. How can I help you?"

"I need to ask a favour," Éponine said. "Inès had a fight with one of her sisters again today. Her sister actually managed to do some damage, this time, and I'd like to have a word with her."

Éléonore's brow furrowed. "Is that wise?"

"I would like them to leave Inès alone, so yes, I think I do need to speak to her," Éponine replied.

"The last time you met her sister, you ended up fighting with her yourself, did you not?" Éléonore pointed out, clasping her hands together.

"She attacked me, yes."

Éléonore sighed. "I would personally recommend that you do not do this, but...I don't understand why you're here."

"I don't know where they live," Éponine said.

"I'm not really supposed to disclose details such as that," Éléonore said.

"I really wouldn't ask if I didn't think I really should talk to her," Éponine said. "Inès was very shaken. She actually managed to scratch her skin –"

"I'll tell you, but on one condition," Éléonore interrupted, "I come with you."

"I don't know what you think is going to happen," Éponine said.

"It's probably best you have someone else there," Éléonore said. "To make sure you don't do something...stupid."

"All right," Éponine said. "You come with me."

XXX

Ines' family did not live far from the river, in the basement apartment of a larger house. There was a short flight of stairs leading down to the bright red front door.

Éponine had barrelled down them faster than Éléonore, and banged on the door.

"Éponine –" Éléonore said, coming down the stairs, but the door opened.

It was the other sister who stood in the doorway, looking confused. She looked so much like Inès in that moment that Éponine almost felt startled, but then she remembered her original purpose and shoved past her into the flat.

She heard Éléonore making apologies behind her. In the room she had just entered sat Arnaud, Inès' other brothers, and Gabrielle. Gabrielle saw Éponine and jumped out of her seat.

"What are you doing here?" Gabrielle demanded.

"I came to speak to you," Éponine said.

"Oh, did Inès come crying to you?" Gabrielle sneered, planting her hands on her hips.

Éponine moved fast across the room. She saw Inès' mother emerge from another room, but ignored her, instead placing her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders and shoving her backwards until she was forced back down into the chair she had just been sat on. Éponine climbed onto the arm of the chair, pinning Gabrielle into the seat with her hand on Gabrielle's bejewelled throat. The necklace bit into the skin on Éponine's hand.

"You need to stay away from Inès," Éponine said.

Gabrielle tried to move, and Éponine pressed down harder on her neck. "Get –" Gabrielle began to splutter.

"I'm still talking," Éponine said. "You need to stay away from her. All of you. Don't hurt her. Don't speak to her. Don't even look at her. If you see her, turn away. Is that understood?"

"Éponine," Éléonore breathed from behind them.

"What are you going to do if I don't?" Gabrielle said.

"I'm glad you asked." Éponine curled her fingers into the necklace that Gabrielle wore, and narrowed her eyes. "You see, I'm unusual. I have some abilities, the same ones that brought you to this place, and one of the things I can do is open up actual portals to the world of the living. I can visit that world, and I can take other people there. This is a rare power. Not many people can do it. Do you know what this means?"

Gabrielle didn't speak.

"I can send you there," Éponine said, quietly. "I can trap you there. I've done it before, to someone who wouldn't leave me alone, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Do you want to be trapped there? Without your family?"

Gabrielle gave the tiniest shake of her head.

"Then leave Inès alone," Éponine said. She tightened her grip on the necklace in her hand, pulling on it, then gave a hard yank so that the metal broke and the gems scattered. She released Gabrielle and jumped away. "The same goes for the rest of you," she said, staring around at Inès' family.

"Éponine." Éléonore's voice was fierce now, a clear warning. She took Éponine by the arm.

By the door, Inès' mother was staring at Éponine with an unreadable expression on her face. She opened her mouth, as if to say something, but then Éléonore was pulling her from the room and up the stairs onto the street above.

A/N: I wanted to update this sooner. I got back from Germany this time last week, but my grandfather had an accident the following day and died this Sunday, so I haven't particularly felt like writing, and when I did I didn't have the time. I've found it kind of therapeutic to write, in a way, so I'll hopefully get more things written soon.