Arc 6. A seemingly endless loss
Road to a Hero:
Three Chances in Another World
Chapter 25. The love-lit river is drained
As the night grows to its maximum, the air becomes filled increasingly with life. The long dresses, animal masks, and multi-colored lights illuminating the streets are wondrous. Gray and Rosemary quickly move through the streets, buying drinks and grandiose food from the vendors. Rosemary quickly eats the tasty candy apples while Gray takes a few shots of whiskey.
Rosemary: “You drink?”
Gray: “You didn’t know? I drink with Jong all the time.”
Gray gives Rosemary a shot but sips a bit of it first so she doesn't drink the entire thing, even though it’s a fairly small amount of alcohol. She drinks it, and Gray laughs as her face coils back from the bitter taste.
Rosemary: “Blew…you drink that?”
Gray: “It tastes better with each one.”
Gray thinks to himself for a second, about how where he’s from the drinking age is twenty-one, but here it’s sixteen. This leads him to think if he should be drinking since he’s only eighteen. But once he’s flashed by a group of dancers giving him a fruit bowl, he and Rosemary then begin to eat it.
Rosemary: “Do you think Edward and the others are around?”
Gray: “I dunno, but let’s just have fun, forget about them for an evening. It’s…what day is it?”
Rosemary: “I think it’s…November eighteen?”
Gray: “Yeah, and we’re here until New Year's, so we can have a bit of fun until then.”
Rosemary: “I guess so, OH!”
Gray is frightened by Rosemary’s sudden burst of excitement, so he quickly turns around to see what caused her scream.
Gray: “Oh, we can do that.”
A gondola swaying back and forth in the long river that stretches through the center of Constal. An older man with a pig mask waves over to them, so they begin walking over. Gray steps onto it while holding Rosemary’s hand, causing it to dip into the water, leading to him falling into the gondola. When he does this Rosemary tumbles down along with him, falling on top of him. They all laugh, and the older man begins pushing the gondola with the paddle. They sit down, watching everything pass by.
Gray: “Hey gondola guy, what’s with the festival? Just for fun?”
Gondola Guy: “Oh, you’re in for a history lesson. Over the four hundred years Constal has existed, we’ve had a festival to honor the spirits, including the spirit beats. It’s to keep them happy, at bay, to think of them as protecting us from invaders, and for not attacking us, but we’ve changed it from once a year, to once a month, to every week, and now it’s every Friday and Saturday.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Rosemary: “That's amazing, to think that the city has so many resources to hold these great events so often.”
The moon shines brightly through the permanently cloudy sky, causing everything to stand out more. Waving torches, lanterns, or any other source of light, dancing, chanting, singing, anything to grant fun. Artists painting families and couples, other gonadals traveling through the river, and even more, fabulous foods and drinks, pure bliss. Rosemary snuggles up to Gray, closing her eyes, and listening to the loud chatter going on everywhere. Stangly for Gray, without Rosemary speaking, it's almost too quiet, it’s as if all the noise is drowning itself out. His vision begins to narrow to a single individual standing at one of the various bridges connecting each side of the river. A hooded black robe and a white mask, a sight that sends a chill down Gray’s spine.
Gray {The…the…Sect!?}
Gray tries to maintain a cool head, but when the cloaked figure looks at him, he panics. He’s about to act, but once the figure begins talking to another person, a person who isn’t dressed in similar clothes to the Sect, he relaxes. But unknown to him, in the distance, standing on top of a building, is the same female thief that had robbed them in Meir, watching him. Her eyes look at him in a way that it’s as if she doesn't want to, not that he’s repulsive, but she’s bored. She doesn't want to watch him, but she continues. After a little more time is spent going down the stream, Gray vision is drawn once more. Rupert Montgomery, standing on a bride, knocks on the railing. He takes his cigar out of his mouth, and at the same second, the older man pushing the gondola stops such a gondola. The sudden stop shakes the gondola, causing Rosemary to jolt up.
Rupert: “Gray, we need to talk. Sorry honey, but this is a one-on-one conversation, so you can run on home. Sorry to ruin your date night.”
Rosemary gets up, about to stand her ground, but Gray puts his hand out, stopping her.
Gray: “We can talk, but don’t call her honey.”
Rupert: “Good, and sorry about that Rose.”
Gray glares at Rupert, but he gets off the gondola anyway. He then helps an aggravated Rosemary off the gondola.
Rosemary: “I’ll go, but be back as fast as possible, Don’t do anything stupid, and don’t get hurt.”
Gray: “Come on, you know me.”
Rosemary flicks Gray’s nose, causing Rupert to chuckle.
Rosemary: “I do know you, that’s why I said it.”
Rosemary then kisses Gray’s cheek and slowly walks off into the crowd, quickly disappearing. Gray, still watching Rosemary, feels Rupert's sweaty, thick hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around.
Rupert pats his beer gut while he begins leading Gray away.
Gray: “Where are we going, and what do you want, I’m on vacation.”
Rupert: “Too many people, so I’ll take you to my club.”
Gray: “You got a club here?”
Rupert: “I have bars and shops everywhere, but here is where I got my special place. My gentlemen's club.”
Gray: “What’s it called?”
Rupert: “The Pit.”
Gray: “Makes sense.”
Rupert silently leads Gray through the streets, puffing on his cigar over and over. They walk for about a while until they get near the city’s wall, and then they step down off the main road to a sidewalk right beside the river. The party is distant, a ways away from this quieter area. Then, a random iron door is attached to the brick wall that holds up the street above. Rupert knocks four times on different sections of the door, one on the top, two at the bottom, and one right on the metal slip. Such knocking notifies the doorman that someone’s there. A metal slip opens up, allowing Gray to see a Demi-Human man's eyes peering through.
Demi-Human: “Oh boss, come on in.”
The door opens up, and the Demi-human man leads them inside. But once the door closes it’s pitch black, and the only thing that Gray can feel is the rumbling of the hallway. Rupert leads him down the long hall and opens another door, and once he does, Gray is given the chance to look at another wondrous sight. Tables, where various criminals sit and eat. It reminds Gray of mobster hangouts from the movies he’s watched. On stage, a small band plays something similar to jazz, it’s just a nice club, with waiters and waitresses as well as everything else a normal restaurant would have. White columns, red and black tiled floors, paintings of women on the walls, and beer everywhere. Rupert leads Gray to a room sitting above the restaurant, which has a smaller area to eat at. A small booth, a restroom, and a door that leads directly to the kitchen, but that’s not the confusing part. What is confusing is who’s in the red booth.
Then, sitting by a booth in the corner, are four people. A fish Demi-human, wearing a large black trench coat, black circular sunglasses, long brown boots, black pants, and brown gloves covering his long hands. His skin is dark blue, and his hair is slightly darker. Other than that, the only other thing that stands out on his body is the yellow slits on his neck that lead up to his cheeks, assumedly gills. Beside him is a middle-aged woman wearing a suit, and to the fish man's right is a heavier man also wearing a suit. With his greasy brown hair being combed back, it’s a little funny due to how far back his hairline is though. But the most eye-drawing thing about him is his left eye, and how he’s blind in it. The slash going down the eye, and how faint it is easily explains it. But the most eye-drawing one is a tall lanky man wearing a long black coat with various black belts being placed on it. It’s like a straitjacket mixed with a jumpsuit. With his hood up it’s difficult to see his masked face, but once Gray gets closer he sees the design. A black mask with the left side possessing a darkish red flame consuming it. And once he gets even closer, he sees the crest on the left side of his chest, it’s small but noticeable. It’s the crest of the Sect of Anarchy. Gray gets a chill down his spine, but he pushes through, letting Rupert guide him to the booth. He’s sat down between the Anarchists and the man with the missing eye, right across from Rupert.
Rupert: “Alright, now let’s begin.”
End of Chapter Twenty-five