Walking through the hallway, Norbert felt déjà vu, people passing on either side of them, going about their day. No guide to show either of them which way to go. Norbert turns to Count von Count, asking, "Any idea?"
"Nope." Count von Count replied.
Norbert sighed in frustration, turning to Obsius. "Any idea?"
The bird gives a single solitude chirp, agreeing with Count von Count having no idea. Norbert sighed again, looking up at the ceiling. "Guess there's nothing else to do." Norbert said as he walked to the first door.
"Hello, are you after me?" Norbert asked; the man inside wearing a bib, eating a sandwich mid-bite, a pickle falling out the back covered in sauce, hitting his bib before falling flat on the ground with a plop.
Raising his hand in forgiveness, Norbert slowly closed the door before going to the next one. "Hello, are you after me?" Norbert asked again.
He heard a scream come from the other side of the door, quickly closing it as he heard something bang against the door, shattering in the process. Looking on the ground, something leak out from under the doorway, stepping back, Norbert tracked the liquid further down the hall.
Learning his lesson from the last one, Norbert walked up to the next door, looking down at the handle, gaging the distance. Norbert nodded, moving his foot up, kicking it into the door, feeling the vibrations reverberate up his leg, giving him pins and needles.
Lowering his foot, Norbert looked around; the entire hallway was completely quiet as everyone stared at him, the kick echoing down the hallway. Someone is walking up to him, tugging on his backpack. Turning around, Norbert looked down, seeing a dwarf of a man staring up.
As Norbert stared longer at him, a thought came to mind: "That’s a dwarf."
Norbert closed his mouth again, not wanting to be rude in this situation. "Yes …" Norbert asked the man far down.
"Is there anything that I may assist you, sir?" He asked Norbert.
Looking back to Count von Count, who raised his shoulders in a shrug, Norbert turned down to the little man, crouching down as he spoke eye to eye. "Well, actually, if you could, we just came from an interrogation room and were told to enter the portal, lining us up in this hallway, and now we don't know where to go," Norbert responded.
The little man nods. "Ah yes, quite annoying when that happens, the management of this place sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. Do you have your card on you so we can start the process of leading you in the right direction?" The little man asked.
Norbert nodded in agreement. "Just give me a moment." Norbert replied, turning his backpack around as he ruffled through items.
Looking for the card with his identity, looking all over three times, he finally found it, brandishing it up for the world to see.
The little man, staring up at the card, far out of his reach, only left his hand open before him. Norbert slowly lowered the card to the helpful little man. Taking it, the helpful little man looked at it on both sides before taking out a device and scanning the card.
Looking at the screen displaying to the man, he nodded as he held the card out for Norbert. Walking down the hallway while talking, "Don't know what you did to earn the privilege of meeting the Commander, but judging from your looks, nothing good."
Norbert nodded along as he heard the name. "By Commander, do you mean Sally?" Norbert asked.
Only receiving a puff of air in response, Norbert was surprised about the attitude change of the helpful little man, thankful that he was at least still being helpful to the group. The three heading along, Obsius now on Norbert's head as she looked down on the crowd, parting its way like the red sea.
Continuing down the hallway, passing doors one after the other, the wooden doors looking the same as the other, some people walking, entering and leaving, slowly getting less and less busy the further they went down.
The little man stopped at one of the doors, looking the same as any other doors continuing down the hallway. Nodding to Norbert, the little man left the three of them there.
Wondering what to do, Norbert raised his fist, about to strike it; as he rapped his hand, the door slowly opened, a loud creak falling into the hallway. Walking through, Norbert looked around the new room, wondering what Sally would decorate her room with.
At the desk sat the commander in charge, the throne-looking chair made entirely of white metal, clashing with the mahogany desk she was looking at. On the other side of the desk sat three wooden chairs with no cushions or armrests, just simple chairs you would expect to come flat-packed.
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Walking further inside the row of books on her library shelf, Norbert quickly looked at it; the entire shelf was wholly packed with books, not an inch spare except for one spot on the right-hand side, a black cavern in the paper forest.
Heading towards the chair, Norbert took a seat in the centre, Count von Count taking it on his right-hand side. Obsius hopped off his head and landed on the table, staring at what Sally was looking at.
Looking up, she nodded at the three of them, moving a finger out to pet the bird's head, Obsius shaking her feathers in response and chirping out of pleasure. Looking down at her notes, she continued to pet the bird.
Norbert just waiting, not wanting to interrupt as Sally continued her musings. Finishing up, she placed the pen down, leaning back as she picked up the paper and read the contents. Placing it down, she looked at the door. Norbert heard it slowly creak again.
Turning around to see who the third guest was, he was shocked at seeing the woman come through, wearing the leathers he remembered before, the hood covering most of her orange hair visible behind the hood.
Closing the door, she hopped over to the free chair, landing in it with a thud, leaning back as she placed her feet on the table. Sally, leaning forward, flicked the feet off her desk—a thud echoed around the room as they smashed into the ground.
Picking one up, Lily rubbed the heel of her shoe, turning to Norbert. "Can you believe what she did to me?"
Norbert leaned backwards on his chair, also putting his feet up on the desk. He received the same punishment a moment later, causing his feet to fall off. Turning, he replied, "Yeah, I can."
Lily just nodded as she began whistling, Norbert joining in with Obsius, the three making a complete racket and not in harmony at all, somehow able to produce four tunes between them.
Sally just shook her head. "Don't you want to know about the tournament?" She asked Norbert.
Instantly, the whistling stopped. Norbert sat up straight as he looked intently at the commander, waiting for a response.
Sally nodded. "Well, it's just a tournament between the countries of Masanu; the top winners get a prize donated from all countries," Sally responded.
Norbert just nodded, waiting for her to continue. "And for that, I would like you to join. But to do that, a scout scrub just can't be one of the top hundred people in the country; no, we must have our tournament."
Lilly interrupted Sally, "Yeah, you want Mr Purple man here to run for it, for whatever reason, cause you know him from over there. But why are you telling this with a VAMPIRE in the room!" She said, the last part pointing her finger at the vampire, leaning back to get around Norbert.
"Lily, it doesn't matter; he already tried to poach Norbert for the Grimm continent; either he will be fighting with them or us in this, no two ways about it," Sally responded, sighing as she came to terms with what she said.
"But why is he here with us, in this room? Don't tell me he …" Lily asked the room, letting the question hang in the air.
Count von Count leaning forward, looking past Norbert and to Lily, "That's exactly what I did, and worked out to a T, I would say."
Norbert looked between the two. "What did you do?" He asked.
"Hitched a ride with you when I knew about your association with the commander; that way, I can stick to you wherever you go. But with the tournament coming up, they won't want to throw away a key piece to hide info from me, or they will lose you to another country." Count von Count said to Norbert, his voice becoming increasingly pompous as he talked.
"I should smack you for this," Norbert told Count von Count.
Grinning, the vampire responded, "But you won't cause you l-o-v-e me", the last word just leaving his mouth as Norbert slapped him across the face, the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoing around the room, the chair rocking to the side from the force, the vampire saving it before it toppled over.
"You two can do your little bromance later; times are ticking, and this is the only time I can relax," Sally said, spinning around in the chair, looking at the bottom of the bookshelf as she opened a drawer, taking out several wrapped objects.
Turning around, Norbert saw the item: several chocolate bars. Sally slid them to each of the three on the other side, Count von Count shrugging his shoulders as he unwrapped it, Norbert reading the package, trying to remember the last time he had the plane chocolate. On the other hand, Lily ripped the packaging open and began devouring it, chewing with her mouth open.
As Sally savoured every bite in her mouth, Norbert ate it as she talked, "So, was there anything you didn't add to the report or didn't tell me earlier about your jungle adventure?" Sally asked Norbert.
Thinking about what he said to the clerk earlier, he shook his head before remembering the details. "Other than the similarities to the other tomb I got the purple lights from," Norbert said as he shone his hand, letting his veins glow momentarily before fading to normal.
"Similar how?" Lily asked as she licked her fingers, not missing a single bit of chocolate.
Norbert remembers the difference, the slight rigidity of this one compared to the flowing nature of the previous. "Well, this one looked more lived in than the other, and the script used was more blockish, not flowing as much," Norbert said, nodding his head and remembering all the details.
Sally nodded, picking up the wrappers as she placed them back in the draw behind, nodding as she looked at Norbert. "Oh, there is also a tournament within the Frontier to decide who will go, so you're going to need to get through that first," Sally said.
Count von Count whispered to Norbert, "If you sided with Grimm, you wouldn't need to do no extra tournament, just straight to representing the country."
Norbert, dismissing Count von Count, stared at Sally. "So, what must I do to be eligible for the pre-tournament?" Norbert asked.
"You already are. It's a vote between the leaders of each expedition who would be the best fit to represent that group, and you were chosen, so congrats," Sally responded, adding joy to the end of her speech.
Norbert looks between Sally and Lily, voicing his next train of thought, "So, what do I do now?" Norbert asked the room.
The silence was deafening; Norbert could almost hear the cicadas outside like in the springtime. He stared around the room without windows, knowing he was imagining things.
Lily stood up and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Time to call me instructor again." She said Norbert, gulping, remembering the last time she was an instructor, the grip on his neck showing it wouldn't be the same treatment.