“Once again I’m Rosy and it’s nice to meet you two.” Said Rosy to her two roommates.

“Ave.”

“Tasha.”

The three of them grasped hands.

“Do either of you want to take the bed?” Rosy asked.

“No it’s fine.” Said Ave.

Tasha shrugged.

“Okay.” Rosy didn’t wait any further and threw her travel bag onto the bed. “That’s me unpacked. Did either of you want to put your things away?”

Tasha looked down at her bag. “This is only my travel cosmetics case. It can go anywhere. All of my clothes are in my carriage at the repair shop. Which is probably closed by now.”

“How about you?” Rosy looked at Ave.

“Oh no. I don’t have any luggage. It’s also in Tasha’s carriage.” said Ave.

“What about that?” Rosy pointed at the briefcase in Ave’s hand.

Ave held the briefcase in front of her. “This is… nothing.” Ave kept her face neutral.

Tasha blinked.

Rosy blinked.

Ave refused to blink.

“Okay.” Rosy stated casually.

“And what about you Rosy? Did you want to take off your weapon?” Tasha gestured at the blade strapped to Rosy’s chest.

Rosy gave them a bright smile. “Oh no. I don’t take it off. This isn’t a weapon.” She patted the scabbard.

Tasha blinked.

Ave blinked.

Rosy refused to blink.

“Okay.” Tasha tried to say casually.

*Splish*Splash*

The sound of soap spray and sopping suds sounded from the center of the courtyard.

“That sounds like Luke and Ash. I need to go check on them.” said Ave.

“I’ll come too.” said Tasha.

“We’ll be back in a little bit Rosy.”

“Okay. Don’t take too long. We’ve got a big day at our new job tomorrow. You girls will need your sleep.” Rosy smiled and pulled the sheets off of the bed.

#

“Come on Eins. Stop squirming around so much.” Ash said.

There was a washbasin sitting in the middle of the courtyard. Ash and Luke were taking turns trying to scrub Eins clean. Soap bubbled over the edges.

“Ahh! I can’t help it. The bubbles are going up my nose!” Eins thrashed about in the tub.

“Eins did you fall in a sewer today?” Luke asked.

“I fell in a fountain and then, and then nothing else.” Eins barked.

“Either way. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Ash scrubbed harder.

Ave and Tasha walked into the courtyard.

“Are the two of you torturing Eins out here?” Ave asked.

“Torturing him? Hardly. After half a week on the road we’re pampering him.” Ash lifted a dripping wet Eins out of the washbasin. “Want to jump in and help?”

Eins thrashed around in mid air and shook dry. Tasha and Ave jumped back to avoid the water.

“Maybe later.” Ave said.

“Look at you two.” Tasha pulled a speck out of Luke’s hair. Eins is getting dirt and bugs all over you.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Actually that might be a moth fly I picked up on my own.” Luke said. “Some stuff happened after we left.”

Ave put her boot up on the edge of the chicken coop and rested her elbow on her knee. “Alright. It’s been a long day. Let’s check back in. Did everyone get settled in after I left?”

*Cluck*

*Cluck*

*Cluck*Cluck*

“Why am I only getting blank stares?” Ave asked.

“A lot of things happened after you left.” Ash said.

“We saw some old friends in town. We met our new landlady. And then we got kicked out of a Gambling Hall.” said Luke.

“We dropped out of the Gambling Hall.” objected Ash.

“Let’s say that we took the fastest way out that didn’t involve any doors.” said Luke.

Tasha used a towel to dry Eins off. “Well now my story doesn’t feel so out of place. Eins and I saw a Llama and then we fell in a fountain.”

“What’s so special about this Llama?” asked Ash.

“It was a real, Llama type of Llama. You would know it if you saw it. I’m not saying I want to see it again. It was… upsetting.” said Tasha.

“How about you Ave? Any magical animals or violent confrontations to report?” asked Ash.

Ave clicked her heels together. “Nope. Everything went entirety as planned. I even managed to acquire this.” She held up the briefcase.

“What is it?” asked Luke. He handed a towel to Ash and started drying off from the dog bath.

Ave held up a hand. “Before we go any further I need to warn Tasha. We’re going to be talking about that Demon Lord situation that I mentioned earlier. If you don’t want to get involved you should probably leave now.”

“Of course. I understand. I would hate to be accidentally involved in any sort of criminal activity. I’ll take my leave.” Tasha stood up and walked out of the courtyard.

Ave lifted up the metal briefcase and placed it in front of her on the fence around the chicken coop. “This is Councilor A’s personal attache case. It contains all of his secret files.”

Tasha’s head leaned back around the corner.

“How did you get it? Did you steal it?” asked Luke.

“No, I didn't steal it.” said Ave.

“So they let you take it?” asked Ash.

“Not exactly.”

“Nobody noticed you taking it?”

“I walk at an even pace and don’t make a lot of eye contact.” Ave’s hair fell in front of her face.

Ash smiled. “Ave, this is great news. At long last we have a break.” He slapped the case. “With this we can figure out what those dirty Councilors are up to and come up with a plan to stop them. We can finally save the Kingdom from the Demon Lord! Let’s open it up.”

“I can’t open it.” Ave stated.

“Ave, this is terrible news.” Ash dejectedly rolled over the fence into the chicken coop. A hen took the opportunity to peck at the bugs in his loose hair.

“So how do you open this?” Tasha ran her fingers over the edges of the case.

“No idea. It’s protected with a series of magical locks.” said Ave.

Tasha bit her lip playfully. “What kind of magical locks?”

“The case itself is made from Titan’s metal, virtually indestructible. The shell is made from two solid pieces. All hinges and locking mechanisms are housed on the inside.” said Ave.

“So there’s no way to force it open?” Tasha’s nails *Tip*Tap*Tipped* along the seam of the briefcase.

“Not without some obscenely powerful magic weapon, no.”

“I don’t see any keyholes or combinations. Nothing that could be picked. Is there some special way of opening it?”

“Those are the magical protections I mentioned.” Ave picked up a chicken. “The case is tied to the Councilor himself. Only he can open it. In order to unlock the case you need three things.”

She held up the Chicken’s wing. “The Councilor’s handprint pressed against the case.”

She turned the Chicken’s beak to face the case. “The Councilor’s face to identify that he’s the one opening it.”

She squeezed the Chicken gently. “Finally a password that only the Councilor knows.” *Ba-gawk*

Ave dropped the Chicken. “Only then will the magical locks disengage so that the case can be opened.”

“Fascinating.” Tasha said. “None of you seem worried about this.”

“It’s a bit hard to be intimidated by a briefcase.” Ash said.

“Good news everyone! We’re already one step complete on opening it.” shouted Luke.

“We are?” Ash sat up.

“Yes, obviously. Ave worked for the White Council.” Luke stated.

“You’re correct. I did.” Ave agreed.

“You were their personal aide in the Council chamber right?”

“That’s right. I was there for every secret meeting they had.”

“Did you ever hear the Councilor use his password to open this case?”

Ave crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course. Dozens of times. They never took any precautions around me. And every single time I wasn’t paying attention. Not once. I have absolutely no idea what the password could be.”’

“Candywaffles!” Luke put his head in his hands.

Plinth cracked open the kitchen door and leaned into the courtyard. “Does anyone want some before bedtime blueberry pie?”

#

Cophin finished sharpening his knives in the kitchen. He slid them cleanly into his knife block with a satisfied smile.

“You know you can use the magnetic one I got you.” Plinth said as he entered the kitchen.

“Wood works just as good.” said Cophin.

“I’m going to get some pie and then head to bed.” Plinth rummaged through the cold storage locker.

“So? What do ya think of them kids?” Cophin inspected a chip in his butcher block.

“They’re good kids. But they’re definitely trouble.” said Plinth.

“Causin’ it, or in it?”

“Both I think.”

“We should get rid of em.” Cophin folded up his apron.

Plinth pulled out a pie and placed it on the kitchen counter. He took one of the knives out of Cophin’s block. With a surgical precision he sliced the pie into six equal sections without creating a single crack in the crust.

“We could. But what fun would that be? Besides, when have we ever run away from trouble?”