Following that conversation, Albion was in a much better headspace. He felt that instead of cowering in fear, it was better to focus on his immediate surroundings.

No matter how many times he saw it, he always felt amazed when in the city.

Albion walked past figures from across all ages: some clad in archaic robes, others in suits of armor, and some in fancy suits. It was strange for him, being from the 21st century, to find himself in a city still stuck in the early stages of the Industrial Revolution. Torn posters littered the streets, bearing messages like 'Join the revolution,' 'Murder prohibition,' and 'Ball of beasts,' alongside numerous wanted posters.

The sky rumbled, as the impossibly high monoliths crackled with energy, casting a shield over the city. In one corner, a group of loan sharks beat a man on the ground while bystanders chose not to intervene.

Mothers tightened their grips on their children, and the elderly could only hunch lower. Albion quickly mumbled apologies as he hurried through the bustling streets, keeping his head low. However, like everyone else, he strained to escape the poor man's desperate pleading.

It felt wrong, but there was nothing he could do. He and the others all had their own destinations to reach and couldn't afford to stop, or so Albion told himself.

The Inbetween was a place where terrible things were always unfolding, and he couldn't blame them; everyone was simply biding their time in eternity.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 '𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯' 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱...

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘒𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘹 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢...

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥.

𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘯𝘨?

***

After a few hours of walking, Albion had finally stopped and was left stunned by the sight before him. The brothers now stood in front of a wooden two-story building called the 'Sea Dogs Tavern'.

At that moment, a bear of a man approached them. He soon stopped in front of the brothers with his arms crossed.

“May I lead you inside?”

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤... Albion commented inwardly.

“No, we're heading to the fourth floor of this building,” Caligos stated coldly.

His tone seemed to have caught the bouncer off guard, causing the man to change his attitude.

“... Yes, this way please. I'll guide you there immediately.”

As the bouncer led them inside, they passed its boisterous patrons. Albion stole a glance at his brother, whose facial expression remained neutral as if he'd done this many times before. He naturally wanted to ask questions, but decided that now wasn't the time for that.

They were led upstairs to a door at the end, which the man opened but did not enter. Now alone and unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Albion turned to Caligos, who appeared to be standing by a row of coat hangers.

“Hey Cal? How do you know so much about this place? And what's with that strange phrase?”

There was a brief silence before he heard a response.

“To answer your first question, I go out more,” Caligos answered calmly as he grabbed one of the hooks. “This is just one of the many places where illegal activities occur in Stygia. As for your second question, the code of going to the fourth floor in a two-story building signifies, it's located down below, not above...”

He turned the hook, causing a loud grinding sound as the wall slid away, revealing a dark area illuminated by flickering torches.

Albion whispered the last part of the sentence as realization dawned on him.

“The basement...”

“Correct, Brother. Now, ladies first~”

After rolling his eyes, he entered the hidden space, followed by Caligos, who quickly overtook him. As they ventured deeper into the endless dark stairs, he took a moment to reassess his brother.

Caligos had always outshone him. He was a skilled fighter, a cunning planner and naturally charismatic. His brother could easily become a junior spirit warden or an apprentice on a leviathan hunter ship. Though safety was clearly not his strong suit, his recklessness had kept them both alive. Above all else, Caligos was endlessly kind, especially to himself.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

A recent memory from a week ago appeared in his mind. He had saved up to buy a professionally made (as professional as you could in a slum) mystery wrap. He had kindly offered some to Caligos, who devoured most of it before leaving.

Afterward, Albion did some routine housework, then took a short nap from hunger. He awoke to a tantalizing scent and locked eyes with an even bigger, higher-quality wrap.

𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥: '𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦:) 𝘗.𝘚. 𝘐𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦—𝘊𝘢𝘭'.

Reading the note repeatedly, Albion then turned to the wrap blankly. Taking a bite, he discovered its delightful taste was far superior to his cheap one.

He couldn't even imagine how much this had cost.

Despite this—or perhaps because of it—Albion couldn't shake off the jealousy he felt towards Caligos, who embodied everything he feared due to base fear and apathy. Albion cared deeply for his brother, but the embers of jealousy always smoldered in his mind.

This was exacerbated by the fear that Caligos might one day leave him. He recalled that, Hevel, a city nestled in a distant mountain range, was on a long list of places Caligos wanted to visit one day.

His brother had all these plans while he had none. Albion, of course, wanted to leave the Inbetween and return to Earth but had no idea how or even if it was possible.

𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥—

“We're here! It's best if you stay close and let me do the talking.”

Following his brother's instructions, he remained calm and kept silent until they reached a table near the back. Albion's eyes couldn't help but widen when he saw the person who sat in the main chair.

𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴? 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴? 𝘑𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘳𝘺?

𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳!? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧...

𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺!

As the brothers stood before the table, Gerard motioned towards two empty seats. Caligos sat on the right chair beside Albion, all while being watched by two guards.

“I hope the journey here wasn't too much trouble,” Gerard questioned as he watched the brothers intently.

He seemed to have been living in relative comfort. Despite his still frail appearance, he still looked well for a man his age. In spite of this sudden transformation, his eyes still shone with unmasked greed.

When Albion finished his assessment of Gerard, he turned his attention to his guards. The first was a tall, muscular woman who looked like she broke kneecaps for a living and was covered in scars. The other was a middle-aged man with a grave-like disposition who was quietly muttering to himself.

𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺.

He wondered if Caligos was familiar with such people.

It was his brother who went out the most to find work to earn money. He could only imagine the small motley crew Caligos could have been part of, especially with the stories his brother would tell.

“Why are we here?” Caligos asked, completely ignoring Gerard's original question.

The indifferent guards' expressions hardened instantly, while Gerard merely laughed. Meanwhile, Albion stared at his brother in shock.

It was surprising to hear his brother give such a harsh response. Caligos usually possessed highly enviable conversational skills and knew how to direct a discussion. Consequently, hearing such a reply in this situation was quite astonishing!

As Albion turned his gaze towards the front, he noticed the amusement on the old wolf's face. Just then, Gerard cleared his throat before speaking.

“Ah, straight to business I see. Very well, I'm sure you both remember that you owe me a favor, correct?”

“How could we forget?” Albion glanced at his brother to confirm he hadn't misspoken.

Caligos shot him an approving smirk before returning to his deadpan expression.

“Excellent. I need you to assist me in acquiring a very special item for my employer. Help me with this, and we'll call it even. I'll even pay you both handsomely!”

“So, you want us to help you steal something?”

“Stealing is such an unattractive term; I prefer to think of it as 'borrowing' permanently.”

𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳... Albion couldn't help but frown as a feeling of discomfort crept in.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺?

It could be argued that there was a marginal difference in the identity of the culprit. However, both thieves and so called 'permanent' borrowers are one in the same - bastards!

Sadly, they were left with very little choice.

Caligos nodded calmly.

“Could you tell us a bit more?”

Gerard responded with a gentlemanly smile, revealing a few gold teeth.

“Gladly. It's called the Oneironaut, a miraculous device. It is said to grant the weilder mysterious powers and, supposedly, its related to the galvanist himself.”

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘒𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴?

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦 '𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯' 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

Albion discreetly looked away and rolled his eyes. He didn't believe such a thing existed, but if it did, it would raise even more questions than answers. However, he was willing to try his best to steal it as whoever wanted it must be very influential.

It had dawned on him that Gerard was not as powerful as he had initially assumed. With the absence of any hounds, he deduced that they must not have been sent by him, but rather, his unknown employer.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

Creak!

A loud sound beside him interrupted his thoughts. Caligos was leaning back in deep contemplation before turning to him. It was a decision that required them both.

His gaze was soft but resigned as he spoke quietly, “What do you think? It will be dangerous. I totally understand if you want to stay here while I—”

“Are you kidding me! I'm going with you, and that's final. Didn't you say I should go out more?”

As he spoke, he suppressed his older brother with a piercing stare daring him to argue. Caligos turned away, but a small smile crept its way to his lips. Then, he turned to face Gerard with his answer.

“The two of us are in.”

“Excellent! Glad to have you both on board,” Gerard spoke with a broad smile. "Here's a key to a room down the hall. It's best to move there, so we can discuss the details.”

“Thank you, I hope we can get along well together.”

Caligos took the key and handed it to Albion as he pushed back his chair and stood up.

𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴... Albion stood up and followed his brother with a bit of unease.

After a short walk, he looked up and saw Caligos already at the door. He shook his head anddecided to push that thought aside.

𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...