Standing up, Vivienne looked to the brightening horizon before heading to the window's ledge. Turning around to Norbert, she asked, "Are you coming?" As she jumped down not waiting for a response from Norbert. Spinning mid-air, disappearing underneath the roof ledge. Norbert did not even see her grasp onto the roof's ledge to hold herself and ensure she didn't miss the window to his room below.
Looking back up at the night sky, Norbert saw that the peacefulness he had expected to experience at night had dashed away. Getting to his feet, he dusted himself off, looking to the ground as he kicked a stone away before heading to the side of the roof where the window was.
Seeing Vivienne sitting on the windowsill, heading inside the room as she saw Norbert come towards her. Stepping off the side, Norbert sees the people on the other rooftop point at him. He gave a little wave as he spun around, arm grasping out as he tried to reach for the windowsill.
CREAAAK
The windowsill slipped from his fingertips as he fell to the street, and a clatter as he hit something on the way down. A head popped out from the window above to see what the flying object and the commotion were below.
As Vivienne looked down, spotting Norbert sprawled on the ground, a slight chuckle came from her lips before her head disappeared inside the room.
Pulling himself together, Norbert walked around to the front door, opening it up as everyone once more looked at him. People spread themselves out inside the bar, and Norbert could not tell if they were more or less busy than before. The same bartender was there that he had seen during the day. The only indication of how Norbert got there was a single eyebrow raised as he looked up at the ceiling, roughly where Norbert's room was located.
Norbert walks through the crowd and climbs up the ladder, no longer wanting to impress; his ego is thoroughly beaten. Walking through the door to his room, Vivienne leaned against the window, looking back at Norbert.
"So, what is it that you want to find?" Norbert asked Vivienne.
She shook her head as she pushed herself off the windowsill with her foot, sat on the bed, and picked up Norbert's belt of daggers, taking one after the other to look at. "It doesn't work like that." She said as she pushed one point to her finger, seeing the sharpness. The pressure she put on it surprised Norbert, as her skin didn't bleed. Knowing the dagger tips were kept sharp to scratch someone if needed, allowing a spell caster to be more distracted.
"That's not how it works, at least not for you to help me," Vivienne said to Norbert, taking the next dagger out and testing it like the last one.
"Answer me this simple question: What god do you follow?" she questioned Norbert, leaning forward slightly as she did so, intrigued by the answer that he would give. Her clothes moved about her body in a flutter, the ruffles on her sleeves dancing around like wind blowing through clouds, dispersing and sending them on their way.
Norbert pulled a coin out of his bag, breathing on it before flicking it into the air; as it spun at the apex, a golden light appeared, moving it off to the side so it landed on the bed and not gently into his palm.
When he received the answer, Norbert smiled as he watched the single mote of golden light disappear. "Luck," Norbert said as he walked towards the coin, resting on the bed by its edge.
Picking it up, Norbert deposited it back into the pouch with the rest of his items on the bed. Vivienne just nodded her head as all the little pieces of the puzzle had come together.
"Precisely, since for whatever reason we have met, gods only know, literally, or Count von Count. You’re somehow meant to find what I need to help me out." Vivienne said, taking the next dagger out and throwing it into the air, letting it spin before catching it again, reminding Norbert of what he did with the coins, flicking them in the air, a habit after doing it for so long.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
"And why would I do that?" Norbert said to her, the hairs on his neck prickling up as he felt a snare tighten around his neck.
"Oh, calm down, big boy. I'm not going to do anything to you here. Just think about everything that has happened in the past, the trouble you have gotten into. Now, would you have changed any of your decisions?" Vivienne said, letting her voice hang as Norbert contemplated what she said.
Seeing where the conversation was going, Norbert sighed, sitting on the bed in defeat. "Ok, you win. What do you want me to do?" Norbert said to her.
"Go on a date," Vivienne said as she stood up, got off the bed, walked towards the window, and unfurled her dress from her shoulders.
Norbert instantly looked away as he heard the fabric fall to the ground, the ruffling of floorboards, and the wood hit against each other. As they rested on the ground with a clatter, several seconds of quiet as Norbert felt eyes watching him.
With a furl of a cape, Norbert looked up at Vivienne, seeing the dress she wore when working, which was on the ground in a heap. The woman bent over, picking it up as she unfurled it in front of her, getting any creases that might have appeared in the garment when it was unceremoniously dropped to the floor.
Walking towards Norbert, placing it on the bed next to the fox and the bird, Norbert finally saw what she was wearing. Somehow attached around her body and appendages were strips of leather, tightening around her and reminding him of some leather mummy, a cloak with a hood already covering her head. Her golden hair looked like an angel, and two dimples came out on her cheek as she smiled at Norbert.
As he continued to stare, her body rippled underneath him, flattening out. Only the face remained mostly the same, the eyes exactly as the same pink eyes looked back at him, Norbert only now able to see their colour.
"Well, are you coming on your date?" she asked him, holding her arm out and waiting for Norbert to take it. Shaking his head, knowing this would be a bad idea, he reached over to the chest, put on his clothes, and strapped the daggers to his legs and the sword to his waist.
Reaching for the mask to place on his head, Vivienne moved from her position, placing her hand over the mask and keeping it where it was, their hands interlocked.
"Leave that here; you won't need it tonight." She said as she held onto his hand, moving him away from it and towards the door. She opened it up, still pulling Norbert along as he found his feet. She spun him in front as she closed the door, waving her hand over the lock as Norbert heard it click shut. Feeling the key still under his clothes, the security he felt from the lock instantly faded away.
Before he could say something to Vivienne, she was once more leading him away to the ladder. Norbert needed to leap down after her as he clattered to the floor, one of his legs bending as he landed on the floor on his backside from being dragged down.
Vivienne stood perfectly still, not even the hood moving off her head. As Norbert came to his feet, everyone in the bar looked at him. As he was once more dragged forward out of the bar, Norbert heard a single comment with the agreement, drowning it out almost instantly from everyone inside: "Looks like Vivienne has her next victim."
The doors closed behind him, cutting off the rest of the noise from the bar and replacing the hustle and bustle of the street around him.
Looking around him, Norbert now noticed that everyone here was slightly different, some even more so than others. They needed to step out of the way as three creatures towered over him, their limbs thin and elongated. One was smiling at Norbert, and rows of razor-sharp teeth hidden behind flat lips were revealed.
Smiling and waving back at them, Vivienne dragged him away once more before she cut through a side road, no longer on the main pathway.
He stopped his head from wheeling around as he walked next to Vivienne, looking around at the sandstone buildings around him as they once more entered a main road. The people here once more from Grimm as she walked down it, some waving at her and giving slight snickers at Norbert as he continued to walk down the street.
Further ahead, Norbert could see tents lining the streets on either side, the slight glimmer of trinkets ahead of him catching his eyes and alluring them in. "What are we doing here?" Norbert asked Vivienne, stopping his feet from moving and digging them into the ground.
The woman came to a halt, turning to face Norbert as she pointed behind herself at the tents now behind her. "To visit the stalls, of course." She said, trying to tug him towards it.
Taking a step forward, Norbert asks, "But why?"
"Why? Because we are on a” leaning closer Vivienne poked Norbert on the nose “date." She said, unsticking Norbert from the ground as the sights and smells of the stalls surrounded them.