After a long trek through shoveled streets, they had finally come up to the familiar apartment building where Alma's sister lived. Naturally, Alma still carried her spare key to enter whenever she wanted. Up several flights of stairs and down a beautifully carpeted hallway with walls adorned with old oil paintings of different religious rites and figures. It was clear this building was only occupied by the clergy. As they reached Zulema’s door, labeled with an ancient numeral on the front, a lanky figure slowly emerged from the door before it. It was one of Zula's neighbors, an awkwardly tall priestess in her mid-twenties. Her long face and sunken cheeks were ones that Alma was moderately acquainted with.
“Alma,” called the priestess, noticing the ex-soldier’s arrival. She quickly peered over Alma’s shoulder, eying her two companions. “You must be here to pick up your sister’s things. I’m terribly sorry about your loss. I hope you know Sister Zulema has been in my nighttime prayers since that awful day it was announced she wouldn’t be returning home.”
“Ah… Sister Valeria. That’s very considerate of you. It's always good to get in those prayers before bed. I’m sure you’ve been sleeping soundly now, what with not having to come to our door every night to tell us to keep it down anymore.” Alma flashed an insincere smile. “Actually, no. I’m just here to make a quick stop-in. I won’t be here very long.”
“Yes, I’m so very going to miss your maudlin rendezvouses. These walls aren’t paper-thin, you know. I—” Valeria stammered mid-sentence, stopping herself from getting too worked up. Her face returned to a knowing smirk. “Do be sure to pick up your sister’s things soon. Her home is set to be evicted in the coming weeks. I would hate to see all that precious scripture thrown out onto the street. I’d much rather see them confiscated, but they don’t seem too keen on the idea…”
“Excuse me? Evicted?”
“Oh, boy,” mumbled Hwalín.
“Were you not informed?” The priestess's smug aura threatened to envelop the hallway. “When a Sister… passes on, all obligations from the church to the deceased are relinquished upon her burial. I believe your family already received the compensation from her life insurance. You know the Scarlet Church pays handsomely for that sort of thing. You should consider yourselves lucky. Now you just need to do your part and clean up what remains.”
“You fucking bi—”
“Alma,” called the eldritch woman, who up until then had been observing quietly. “We do not have time for this. Let us do what we came here to do and begone.”
Valeria raised an eyebrow. “Interesting company you keep. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Zulema did always claim you were a little strange.”
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The sound of Alma's teeth grinding was now almost unmistakably audible.
“I must be off to Vespers now,” she continued. “I expect not to see you again when I get back. This building is meant to house only clergy and I take it your friends here aren't exactly from around here. Do be sure to call some movers soon.”
“I'll be sure to do that,” stated Alma, watching as the priestess's figure disappeared into the lift at the end of the hall.
“You should've punched her, mate.” Hwalín wore a half-smirk across her face. Her eyes staring in the same direction as Alma's. “Won't catch some thin bitch yapping at me that way.”
“That's always been the dream,” said the ex-soldier with an expression of defeat. “But it feels like all the energy's been drained away from me. It wouldn't have hit as hard as I wanted.”
“Shame. I bet we could've still caught up to her down there in the street.”
“Alma, not to belabor the point but, ever since I have arrived in this country, I have noticed you seem to share a very volatile history with just about everyone we meet. I must admit sometimes you seem even more contentious than Hwalín in that regard. It is almost impressive.”
“It's not my fault I have such an explosive personality! I blame Heli. She always thought it was cool when I stood up for myself.” Alma unlocked the door to her sister's place. “Speaking of that menace, I think it's about time for a drink. Don't you?”
But Alma’s smile quickly changed into a look of horror as she looked into her sister’s home—and saw what a mess had been made inside.
“What on Sarracas…?” Alma stared in disbelief. Various things had been knocked over, trash had been scattered everywhere, and furniture had been shredded. Did a natural disaster decide to crash here while her sister was out?
“I told ya we should’ve punched her when we had the chance,” said Hwalín.
“No, Valeria didn't do this… I would hope. This was an inside job.” The ex-soldier stepped into her sister's room at the back of the apartment. On Zula's bed, a small yet hefty ball of golden fur was sleeping soundly. Alma then tiptoed over, bent down and gently picked up the sleeping gatin. “Here is the culprit, caught red-pawed. What did Zula call you again? Brawny? I guess I'm not the only one wanting to break things around here.”
“Alma?” A ghostly pale face peeked from beyond the door. “You say you found the one responsible for this disarray? Oh. It is that small creature. You know, I do not believe I have ever asked you what manner of creature this is.”
“This little guy?” Alma gently scratched his head. “This here is a gatin. A domesticated animal we call a pet. Y'know, looking at him a bit closer, he reminds me of Hwalín.”
“A pet, yes. I understand the concept. I have had my fair share of them in my past. I am just always so mesmerized when I encounter any type of foreign specimen, and I must say… this one is quite lovely.” Qu-l-Nia brushed a finger along the grooves of its face.
“What’d you say, Alm? This thing looks nothing like me!” Hwalín looked straight into the gatin’s face. It wore a seemingly smug expression as it purred low while staring back into her eyes.
“Sorry, little guy.” Alma cradled the gatin in her arms. “In all the commotion of the last few days I forgot all about you. You miss Zula too, huh?”
Brawny cooed softly in response. The vibrations coming from its two primary tentacles rubbed against Alma’s arm in a friendly fashion.
“Hang around for a bit,” she continued. “We’re gonna clean up, then I’ll see if there’s anything around here for you to eat.”