Hazel furrowed her brow as she felt herself being shaken awake. She groaned before sitting herself up and gently rubbing one of the two bloodshot eyes that she got last night due to all her crying. Looking to her right she saw Gabriel there with a soft look on his face.
“You shouldn’t rub your eyes, Amore.” Gabriel said as he gently pulled her hand away from her eye, “It’ll damage your cornea if you don’t.”
Hazel grumbled a bit before yawning, “Where’s Phoenix?”
Gabriel chuckled before nodding to his bed where the red fox was curled up into a ball, “I wasn’t really planning on using the bed after your nightmare so I let him use it.”
“Was it that bad?” Hazel asked.
“Hazel you were sweating and crying in your sleep, it’s the first time your nightmares ever did that to you.” Gabriel said eyes furrowing a bit before he cupped Hazel’s cheek, “I was worried about you.”
“I’m sorry that I worried you,” Hazel said quietly, blushing at the contact.
“Hazel I’m always here.” Gabriel said almost in a loving manner, “You don’t need or have to hide the fact that the life we have is hard.”
At these words, Hazel’s blush grew a few shades darker as a small smile tugged on the corners of her mouth. Chuckling softly, she gave the boy beside her a small nod in which he returned before she let out a quiet laugh.
“There’s that laugh.” Gabriel said smiling before letting go of her face, walked over to the desk in the room, and gave her a plastic container and a flask, “You better eat up. We’re docking in a couple of minutes.”
“Are we going to meet up with the twins?” Hazel asked as she opened the container and picked up a piece of toast, “Because I think I heard your Claist last night.”
“Yeah, we are meeting up with the twins,” Gabriel said fixing up their room.
“You think they’re already there?” Hazel asked before taking a bite of her food.
“I wouldn’t put it against those two,” Gabriel said.
Hazel smiled at that before she began eating while Gabriel started reading a book that he brought along with him.
∞
“It’s beautiful,” Hazel whispered as they stepped foot on the main deck and saw the sunrise with Phoenix close behind.
“Agreed.” Gabriel said before his eyes landed on Hazel’s sun-kissed features, “Definitely a hundred percent…”
“Mornin’ sprogs!” The captain greeted as he walked up to them, “We’ll be docking in a couple of minutes.”
“Okay.” Hazel said before she saw Charles pass by, “Morning Mr. Charles!”
“And a good morning to you Hazel.” Charles said before he saw Gabriel, “Salutations Mr. Pasi.”
“Good morning?” Gabriel responded in a questioning tone, ‘What happened to him? He’s been acting weird ever since last night.’
“Is he okay?” Hazel asked whispering after Charles was far away from hearing her, “He seems a bit off.”
“Let’s investigate that later Amore.” Gabriel said deciding to put it off for later, “You want to go to the Forecastle deck? We could get a glance of Warcester from there.”
“Really!?” Hazel exclaimed excitedly before she turned to the captain, “Can we!?”
“Go right ahead, lass.” The captain said smiling.
Hazel gave a small squeal of excitement before she grabbed Gabriel’s hand and led Gabriel and Phoenix to the Forecastle deck. The two brunettes laughed before they arrived at the deck with Phoenix following shortly. As Hazel let go of Gabriel’s hand she leaned slightly over the deck’s railing. Gabriel smiled at the sight before he heard an all too familiar voice in his mind.
“Josh!” Gabriel exclaimed happily as he saw his raven atop the mast of the ship while also catching Hazel and Phoenix’s attention.
‘Salutation’s master.’ Josh said as he flew down to meet them.
“Morning Josh.” Hazel greeted smiling at the big black bird, “Are the twins here?”
‘And a good morning to you Ms. Abernathy.’ Josh said, ‘The twins have received your message thought there is a major complication. Personally, and professionally.’
‘Should I tell Hazel?’ Gabriel asked.
‘It’s your brother.’ Josh replied, ‘He’s here.’
“Gab are you okay?” Hazel asked worried as she saw Gabriel’s eyes widen.
“Y-yeah,” Gabriel said stuttering slightly.
“Are you sure?” Hazel asked worriedly.
Gabriel smiled at her worried state before gently patting her head, “I’m fine Amore, I promise.”
“If you say so,” Hazel said, her voice laced with uncertainty.
“I’m just going to take a walk,” Gabriel said trying to keep his voice steady.
“Okay but don’t be gone for too long.” Hazel said smiling at him, “I want to look around.”
‘Of course, you do.’ Gabriel thought before forcing a smile, “Alright then.”
Once Gabriel started to walk away from Hazel a dark and intimidating look appeared on his face, ‘Tell me everything that happened last night.’
And that was how Josh began recounting the events of the previous night to his master as he walked to the cargo hold. Once Gabriel was sure no one followed him he locked the door before he sat on one of the crates with Josh perching on a nearby barrel.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
‘It seems that Rachel has some relation to my brother,’ Gabriel said thoughtfully, ‘and not a healthy one at that.’
‘Yes Master, it did look like Ms. Oliviero was afraid of him.’ Josh said.
“He’s probably here to get drunk again.” Gabriel said before sighing, “Hopefully he’ll be too busy being drunk he won’t even notice my scent.”
‘Master, wouldn’t it be better if you informed them of your lineage?’ Josh asked.
Gabriel sighed before burying his face into his hands, “Seems like that’s the only advice anyone can give me.”
‘Then maybe you should take it.’ Josh suggested, ‘Before you end up regretting it.’
Gabriel groaned at this before standing up, “Hazel’s going to kill me for not telling her and the twins will probably assassinate me for being related to Ambrose.”
Josh gave a reassuring croak before he flew to Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Thanks, Josh.” Gabriel said gratefully as he gently stroked the bird’s black feathers, “I appreciate the effort.”
Once Gabriel opened the door he was immediately met with Charles’ frown and stern look.
“Can I help you with anything?” Gabriel asked sternly as he folded his arms and gave an even scarier look than the one, he gave yesterday, “Cause I have places to be.”
‘Calm down Charles.’ The older man thought in a successful attempt to calm his nerves, “We need to have a serious talk.”
“Then it can wait.” Gabriel said rather rudely as he walked past him, “Hazel and I got to meet with the twins.”
“You called for the twins!?” Charles exclaimed in shock.
“So, what if I did?” Gabriel asked turning to him, “They’re part of this fight just as much as Hazel and I are.”
Charles groaned at this as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Gabriel rolled his eyes at this before he walked away.
‘I mean no disrespect Master but wasn’t that a bit rude?’ Josh asked, ‘He might’ve wanted to discuss something important.’
“It can wait Josh.” Gabriel said before stepping back onto the front deck, “Hazel!”
“Over here Gab!” Hazel called back from behind the steering wheel.
Gabriel smiled at this before he ran to her with Josh flying slightly above him. Hazel smiled as the boy reached her side before the two were greeted by the captain.
“That steering wheel treating ya right lass?” The captain asked smiling at Hazel.
“Yep,” Hazel said smiling at him.
The captain chuckled at this before he took over so they could dock. Once the captain was behind the wheel, Hazel and Gabriel walked back to the deck. They talked for a short moment before Gabriel saw that the dock was close enough to jump safely across. The boy smiled at this before he grabbed Hazel’s hand and ran towards the direction of the docks before jumping onto them with their animal companions following not long after. The two smiled at each other before Josh gave a loud croak, catching their attention.
Gabriel, already knowing the reason for his bird’s sudden croak only smiled and said, “Lead the way, Josh.”
Josh only croaked again before flying in the direction of the town. The two brunettes smiled at each other again before they and the red fox ran after the raven, laughing. They were running for a few moments before they stopped in front of a quaint little inn. The two looked at each other before Josh perched on Gabriel’s shoulder and gave what Hazel thought looked like a reassuring nod. Gabriel took a deep breath before he pushed the door open. Almost immediately Hazel’s ears were filled with joyous music, laughter, the clinking of bottles, and all sorts of merry-making. Almost as if on instinct she grabbed Gabriel’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. The boy smiled at this before mirroring the girl’s action. Once they entered the lobby, the two quickly began scanning the area for their friends.
“Hazel, Gabriel over here!” A familiar voice exclaimed.
Looking around Hazel had finally spotted the twins waving at them from their booth, beside the window, just a few feet away from them. Hazel smiled before she led Gabriel, Josh, and Phoenix to them. Once they were beside the booth Rachel had wasted no time in engulfing them into one of her bone-crunching hugs in which Josh had quickly flown off and perched himself on Ace’s shoulder to escape. It took some time into getting the younger Oliviero twin to release them but as soon as she did Hazel and Gabriel were both gasping for air. As Rachel apologized to them the three were sitting down with Ace and his sister on one side, Hazel, Gabriel, and Josh – who soon after perched once again on his master’s shoulder – on the other, and Phoenix under the table.
“So why did you want to see us so urgently?” Ace asked worried, “You said it was going to be a dangerous situation if we didn’t act fast and why couldn’t we bring Carla or Eliza? I get why we couldn’t bring Ms. Cassidy but, Carla and Eliza?”
“It’s a long story.” Hazel said before she sighed, “How long do we have until the boat leaves?”
“We have until dusk.” Gabriel answered, “So we’ve got time.”
“Well?” Ace asked urging them to start recalling what had happened after they had split up.
Gabriel sighed before he and Hazel started to recount the past events of the last few hours.
(A/N: I say few when in reality, they’ve been gone for nearly an entire day -_-)
“Gods that’s horrible.” Ace said as Rachel gasped.
“Hazel, are you going to be, okay?” Rachel asked gently holding said girl’s hand.
“I-I’ll be okay.” Hazel said smiling slightly, “Still trying to take it all in but I’ll be okay.”
Gabriel gave her a soft smile before a familiar scent filled his nostrils. Eyes widening, he quickly stood up, catching the attention of his friends. The twins and Hazel gave him confused and worried looks as he quickly looked around with a hard stare clear on his face.
“Gabriel, are you alright?” Hazel asked worriedly.
“Hazel be quiet,” Gabriel said sternly.
The twins’ eyes along with Hazel’s widened at this as they all stared at him in shock.
‘He-he never talked to me like that.’ Hazel thought in surprise before she furrowed her brows, ‘He isn’t telling me something. I can feel it.’
Hazel caught the twins’ eyes before she made a hushing motion.
“We need to get the girls out of here.” Gabriel said his eyes narrowing dangerously as he quickly grabbed Hazel’s hand, “Right now.”
“Why?” Ace asked as he and Rachel quickly gathered their bags.
“He’ll catch our scent any minute now.” Gabriel said as Ace placed a couple of copper coins on the table, “You’re going to have to spray that.”
“What are you talking about?” Hazel asked confused before Gabriel took out a small spray bottle and shook it vigorously, “And what are you doing?”
“Covering up our tracks,” Gabriel said before spraying the coins then the girls, and finally himself.
“Gabriel, what is going on?” Hazel asked anxiously as he led her, the twins, and Phoenix out of the inn.
They were out of the small inn when Hazel finally had enough of Gabriel’s silence. Gritting her teeth, she harshly yanked her arm away and glared at the boy, with the twins and Phoenix by her side.
“Just answer me!” Hazel exclaimed almost angrily, “What is going on with you!?”
“Hazel we can’t talk about this here.” Gabriel said in a hushed voice, “Right now we need to get you and Rachel out of here. Rachel most importantly.”
“Why?” Hazel demanded.
“So, he can’t smell or hear any of us,” Gabriel said almost panicking.
“Who’s he!?” Ace demanded also getting irritated now.
“That would be me, Little Ace.” A familiar voice rang in Gabriel’s and the twins’ ears.
Hazel gave a confused look before Rachel gave a high-pitched scream. The girl turned to the right before she found herself coming face to face with a red-haired boy with swollen green eyes and olive skin wearing a tattered old jacket, a brown unkempt shirt, and badly ripped jeans.
“A-ambrose.” Rachel stuttered in a terrified tone.
“Nice to see you again babe.” Ambrose said hoarsely before turning to Gabriel, “Long time no see, Lil’ bro.”