Grugg turned his head, as the sound of stagecoach wheels rolled across the road, before hitting dirt. They were arriving just in time, as he was about ten seconds away from pulping the heads of Gregor and Bart together. After the dust had settled the pair had gone back to their usual bickering, and with the day drawing on, the consequences of killing them off grew paler against his current discontent.

Two coaches pulled up just outside of the group of warehouses, horses snorting and shaking their heads as they came to a stop. As the doors swung open, the first figure to catch his eye was one with bright red curly hair. He grinned.

“Claudia!” He put his fists on his hips, proud of the job well done.

After the clothesmaker, the Investigator stepped out, putting on her wide-brimmed hat. She gave the guards some instructions and then walked over to the Detectives.

“Glad to see you are all in singular pieces.” She smiled and gestured to Claudia. “We had just finished our meetings for the day, so good timing.”

“You’ll probably want to read this,” Bart immediately handed over the journal he had been clutching onto.

“Brief overview of everything that has happened today? And then I’ll feed you all.”

Grugg licked his lips at the mere mention of food. “Nightshade had little village full of monster for stealing coaches in the area.”

“We captured the two responsible and destroyed the monster.” Bart rubbed at his beard. “I also may have murdered the son of one of the Nightshade bosses.”

Peony nodded her head slowly as a silence filled the group. “Ah.”

“Then ser Grugg found some undead on the road. We think they were activated once we destroyed the village. The corpses lead us here, where they were being stored.”

“I see. Even with seeing the amount of mushed bodies along the road, it is surprising that they were able to build all of this up relatively close to the city.” Peony drummed her fingers on the book.

Bart nodded. “That’s the thing. This isn’t the only issue. They were intending to levy five different maladies on the city at the same time to overwhelm the guard and support services.”

“To what end?”

He shrugged. “Other than sowing discord, the exact end goal isn’t clear.”

“Grugg thinks Nightshade wants to find relics.” The cyclops cupped his chin and narrowed his singular eye.

“Perhaps just a large decoy, then?” Claudia offered. “We’ve long thought that the relics might be outside of the city perimeter. If they can cause a lot of internal issues - it would keep any eyes looking for them focused in Galeden.”

Peony grunted and nodded her head, consideration rolling around in her mind still. “That’s a reasonable theory. Still, it’s been a long day already. Let’s head back to the city and we’ll talk more there.”

“Food,” Grugg reminded them.

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The return journey was somewhat comforting. Although they had much to worry about now with the looming plots of the Nightshade, knowing that they were at least going home had been enough to soften the moods of the Detectives. Even Bart and Gregor stopped bickering for a while.

Grugg looked out through the window of the stagecoach. The mist was still clearing, slowly revealing the forest. He wasn’t sure what kind of magic or foul presence had been causing it, or what they had done exactly to cause it to recede, but he was happy enough to see a clear visual indicator that they had done something good here.

He wasn’t even sure where the time had gone. Pulping the undead had certainly taken the energy out of him. Now all he could think about was their warm house and an even warmer meal. The cyclops closed his eye and thought about it.

Maybe if he kept focusing on it, he’d be there in no time at all.

“I’d like to lead questioning tomorrow, if that’s okay?”

The voice of the wizard drew him from the daydream. His eye opened to regard the man lazily. “Okay.”

Gregor didn’t seem too enthused, sitting with his arms crossed, but his eyes were also closed. “Is that because you have a rapport with the woman, ser Hat?”

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Bart grunted. “Grant does. I think out of us all, she would be more receptive to him.”

The ratman exhaled through his nose and twitched his whiskers. “Even now that Lady Criminal knows he isn’t real?”

“He’s as real as I am.” The shapeshifter opened his mouth to continue, but then thought better of it, instead turning his attention to the window.

Grugg furrowed his brow. Peony had instructed him to keep an eye on the wizard. Changing shapes seemed fun at first, but when he started to feel that he was that other person, then it could affect his normal self as well. Not that the cyclops had any clue how to address the wizard’s waning sense of self, or could relate to it at all. Bart had been as dependable as Thud throughout the time they had spent together.

Maybe it was like how they used to be psychically joined. He glared out at the empty woods as they rolled past. That had been a lot of fun, but they had both felt a slight melding of personalities as time went on. Grugg had—allegedly—become smarter, and Bart was not as uptight and proper. As much as that union had painted the majority of their adventures, it was good they were now separate.

But the wizard couldn’t get rid of the shapes he knew.

He made the mental note to talk to the Investigator about it when they returned. The woman had chosen to travel in the other coach. They said it was for room and weight distribution, but he felt that them being covered in grime and zombie mush might have something to do with it.

“Grugg can’t wait for bath,” he grumbled.

“On this occasion, I agree with you, ser Grugg,” Gregor replied, sinking into the stagecoach bench seat further.

The Detective scratched at his chin. Moving back to the point on questioning… he was fine with the wizard doing it. Maybe for both of the captured criminals. Either it was the lack of food, or he just didn’t have the appetite for digging further into this Nightshade mulch than they needed to.

He closed his eye again. A little rest might help.

----------------------------------------

Grugg opened his eye and smiled. A little rest had helped his mood.

Now sitting in the large wooden bath in their back garden, he was both warm and clean. A table beside him had been labored with freshly cooked meat and vegetables. While the others rested inside, he was content and peaceful. The times he was required to use his rage were few and far between, but a hot bath was the best way to wash away the empty feeling it always left him with.

They had built him the sizable bath specifically for this purpose. Despite having to wear trunks when using it, he found it preferable to using the smaller indoor one. It tickled some nostalgia in the back of his mind. Reminded him of living in the mountains.

His family didn’t cross his thoughts so much these days. While he previously had the desire to prove to them that he could make it out on his own, and he could be more than an angry cyclops, now he… didn’t need their approval. Every day when he woke up and put on his hat or affixed his Detective badge, he knew that he was doing well.

He’d built up his own family of odd but dependable characters and had saved the world at least three times. Even managed to do all that without building much of an ego.

His eye went over to the back door as it opened up and Claudia stepped out.

“All good?” she asked, a smile on her face. “You look a lot better than earlier.” Brushing the curly red hair from her face, she sat on one of the chairs they had out in the garden.

“Grugg learned important lesson in remembering backpack.” He gave her a sheepish grin in return.

“I suppose that’s usually my job, huh?” Claudia relaxed and looked up at the amber sky. “How did you find it, just being you three?”

The cyclops pulled a face as he considered the question. He couldn’t deny that field work went a lot smoother when either Claudia or Peony was there to guide their different plans to the right destination. That said, they had gotten out of there with all their limbs - and more success than they had bargained for.

“Was okay,” he said diplomatically.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t give me that. My day was boring, so many meetings. Maybe next time we could switch, then?”

“No chance.” Grugg grinned. Digging around underground at the roots of Nightshade wasn’t the most fun, but he wouldn’t be caught dead sitting around for five minutes in a boring meeting.

“Thought not. Peony said we’d have a group discussion once tomorrow is done with. Discuss our next steps.”

The cyclops narrowed his eye. “Claudia know something Grugg doesn’t?”

“Probably many things.” She stood up and stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t take too long. Gregor is going to make coffee soon and we’ll start the fire up.”

“Okay.” He sunk down into the bath as he watched her leave. It was possible he might want to stay in the bath out here forever. Although, after dusk, the insects came out, and the water would soon lose any warmth it still held. He didn’t even like coffee. Falling asleep near the fire sounded nice, though.

With a sigh, he removed himself from the bath. Streams of water ran from his body as he took two sluggish steps out onto the paved area of their garden. A towel was nearby, which he grabbed and used to dry himself. Something about the day still felt off, as though a shadow loomed in the background, following him.

His singular blue eye gazed around the wide space behind the house, but there was nothing untoward there that he could see. Seemed wasteful to try to use the Moonchaser Orb to be sure - and Thud was having a well-earned rest indoors, anyway.

He was sure there was nothing really to worry about.

----------------------------------------

Gregor gnashed his sharp teeth, shaking the Message stone in his hand. Three days and no response. He held it up to the light of the lantern as if he would be able to see any defects with it visually.

No.

He exhaled and returned it to the draw where he kept it hidden, under layers of clothes. Either the magic had dulled, or something had happened to the receiver. This put a delay on things, when he was already too far behind on the Plan.

The ratman waved his tail back and forth in annoyance before closing the draw.

He’d just have to play house a little longer. Go make everyone some coffee and enjoy their company. Plenty of time to take action once all the lanterns went out, and the night was his.

With a coy smile, he turned and left the room, locking his bedroom door behind him.