I am certainly not awake enough to deal with this fresh drama.

There was so much going on and I had so little time to process any of it. Right. So to start with, this woman who has history with Alverd broke into this home and held this young man at knifepoint and is now demanding we talk. Under normal circumstances, I would be encasing her in an ice block up to her neck, but the hostage does complicate things.

In the doorway, ahead of me, the crude mercenary who had brought us here was grinding her teeth hard enough to chew through a leather belt. She made no move to attack, however. The gleam of the knife in the light coming through the open door was plain to see, and Monaco was making sure we knew she had the leverage. She’s clever. But the problem with being clever is that it’s like trying to outrun an arrow in flight. The first slip up is usually the last.

I was the last person to enter, and slowly I reached behind me and slid the door closed, never taking my eyes off Monaco. As soon as the door was shut, Lou drew her weapon and pointed it at the wolf beastwoman, thumbing the hammer back with a loud click. Her aim was shaky though, and we could all see her wrist struggling to keep the weapon steady.

The weapon was a pepperbox, a technological achievement made possible by Margloom’s advances in the sciences rather than magic. A curved wooden handle met several metal tubes filled with shot and powder, which would propel a metal projectile at intense speed at its intended target once the trigger was pulled. Many mages scoffed when the first pepperboxes and their longer barreled cousins first appeared, but behind closed doors those same mages spoke in hushed tones of uncertain futures.

The pepperbox and musket were a way for those without magic to become dangerous, and with only a fraction of the instruction that a mage required. Every member of Margloom’s Forgeborn Army carried them, and under the right conditions a skilled marksman could shoot the rider off a horse long before said rider could close the distance. In the halls of the Ivory Palace, the Magisters had debated whether formal action would be needed to curtail Margloom’s martial prowess, but I had put a stop to that every time.

Watching Lou’s twitching arm made me understand a new side of the Magisters’ fear, though. She’s more likely to hit her brother in this state. She knows it, and so does everyone else in this room. We need to de-escalate the situation. Twirling my fingers behind my back, I gathered the cool night air around Lou’s hand towards the top of her pepperbox, creating a small layer of ice on the small hammer that would create the spark necessary to ignite the weapon and fire it.

“You get away from him, now!” There was fear in Lou’s voice, making it sound more like pleading than a demand. “I won’t tell you again!” She couldn’t even keep the gun aimed straight anymore. A bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. Alverd, without moving, spoke.

“Lou, please. Put it down.” In front of me, Kuro and Alicia were motionless, not willing to risk spooking the poor girl.

Monaco smirked. “Think you need to put that attitude of yours on ice, sweetness. I only came here to talk. Specifically, to some old associates of mine.” When Lou didn’t immediately react, the wolf woman rolled her eyes. “Kuro, do me a favor. Tell her that she’s not shooting that gun anytime soon.”

Lou bent her hand to look at the gun, seeing the coating of ice now jamming the hammer upright and coating the spark plate. Frantically, she tried to scrape at it with her fingernails, but before she could succeed in removing it Kuro reached over and pried the weapon out of her hands. “Stop that. If she wanted anybody dead she’d have done it by now. Stand down.” He growled.

The young woman took in a deep breath, letting it hiss out from between clenched teeth. She took a step back, raising her hands to show she wouldn’t try anything else. “And the big girl, too. That spike stick of yours is making me nervous.” Snarling, Yuzuruha threw her club off to the side, the weapon landing with a heavy thud off in a corner.

“If you’re intending to act in good faith you’re off to a very poor start, Monaco.” I couldn’t see his face but I recognized Alverd’s tone. That’s the same voice I heard when Mingsheng strong-armed us into this whole mess. Alverd said he hated being blackmailed, and now he’s in that position again where he has to play by some ne-erdowell’s rules.

Monaco evidently knew she was treading on thin ice because she paused to consider Alverd’s tone and words before slowly moving her dagger away from her hostage and then holding up her hand. When she did so, I saw the weapon slide back down into her sleeve on the end of a mechanical device. She has a spring knife in her sleeve. I’ve read about those in some of my adventure books. Thieves and villains always seem to have them. As if I needed another reason to distrust this woman.

“Alright. I admit it wasn’t the best move I could’ve made. But with so many unknowns, I had to have at least some kind of bargaining chip.” She pushed the young man away from her, and he limped away and into Yuzuruha’s arms. She was a few inches taller and had broader shoulders, so when she pulled him into a hug it looked like she was going to crush him. She growled audibly at Monaco the way a mother wolf would at someone threatening her cubs.

Kuro was the first to take a step forward, using his staff to light the lamp in the room so that we wouldn’t be standing in the dark. “Speaking of unknowns, why are you here? Don’t tell me you followed us.” She scoffed indignantly.

“Kuro, please. I have a whole team of people with me. Some of them are here in Blossom City and the rest are in Standing Stone. I keep in regular contact with them. I did get lucky on a few counts, though.”

She crossed her legs idly and pointed at Roland. “Some of my little busybodies in Standing Stone found out you’d been arrested. They ‘persuaded’ a few guards to pass along some information about you and that’s how I learned about your mercenary friend here. After that, I did a little checking on my own here in Blossom City and found the address she has on her guild registry, and when I told this charming lad I was a friend of hers he let me right in.” She winked at Yuzuruha, prompting the woman’s growling to intensify.

“I don’t know why you were arrested. ‘Drunk and disorderly conduct’ is the official reason. But you don’t need guards that answer directly to the Steadfast to bring in people for that. All I know is that you left Standing Stone with a Noble Wolf, and I figured if I waited at that Wolf’s home I’d get to ask her about your business here, then track you down myself. Loverboy there was just supposed to be my insurance in case she decided to start a row with me, but I wasn’t expecting her to bring you straight to me.”

She sighed in exasperation. “When you got here, my guys at the front gate sent me word you were coming. But you followed the woman all the way to her home. I actually only had a few moments to drag him out to the couch and position myself to welcome you. You know me, I adore pageantry in my work.” She smirked at Yuzuruha again. “He was a very good boy while we waited for you. Except for all the things he said about what you would do to me. He made quite a few threats, you know.”

Yuzuruha dragged Roland back behind us, her angry gaze never leaving the intruder on her couch. “He knows I don’t make threats. I make promises.”

She got a facetious response from the thief. “Rawr, somebody woke up and chose violence today.” Leaning on the arm of the couch, she patted the cushion next to her. “Why don’t you come sit next to me, Alverd? We can keep things civil. Plus I think you’d prefer putting yourself in harm’s way over an innocent, right?”

Ohhhh, this woman! Utterly infuriating! The nerve of her thinking she can play him like that. Then to my surprise, Alverd crossed the room and sat down on the couch next to her, scowling. “Fine. No funny business from you. Why did you seek us out, and why go to such lengths to do so?”

Without skipping a beat, Monaco rotated herself so that her legs draped over Alverd’s lap, lying back to prop herself against the armrest. A spike of anger flared in my mind, so white hot that words failed me. There are no words. No words for this audacity. This brazen homewrecker is so smug and irritating that there are just simply no words. I started chewing on my lip, so close to drawing blood because of how angry I was.

“Oh, because, Alverd. You and Kuro may not have seen through my entire plan the last time we crossed paths, but that was because you had so many unknowns to deal with at the last second that it’s a wonder Kuro managed to figure out what my real goal was at all. Not to mention that your skill as a fighter meant you were a match for my entire crew in a fair fight. I’ll admit, I was very impressed with the both of you.”

She gave him a sly wink and smile. “I’ll be frank. I want you on my crew for this one. I could really use your talents. Between Kuro’s intuition, your combat skills and my ingenuity the job would be a walk in the park.”

Beside me, Alicia threw in her two gold pieces, her voice as full of anger as mine would’ve been. “Why should he cooperate with you?”

Monaco clucked her tongue and waggled her finger at Alicia scoldingly. “Ah ah ah. I wasn’t talking to you. Be a good girl and stay out of this conversation.” Before Alicia could respond, Alverd interjected.

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“Show some respect, Monaco. Even if I was considering your proposal, it would be a non-starter if you didn’t include Alicia and Sheena. And you still haven’t even told me what this job of yours is.”

The wolf woman sighed, her chest bobbing as she squirmed on the couch so she could cross her legs on Alverd’s lap. “Alright, alright. I was hired to ‘acquire’ something from inside the Repository. I was given a description of the item, but so far my attempts to case the Repository haven’t borne much fruit. The entire tower is fortified from the ground up. My crew doesn’t have any way to get into the tower, so for now I’m sunk.”

“Sounds like you’re mad that you can’t take the easy way out.” The words were out my mouth before I could realize I’d thought them. My voice was dripping with disdain. The wolf woman looked at me with casual disinterest, frowning. “Being good at my job means I do whatever I need to in order to get it done. Ruling out whether there’s an easy way to do it or not is just common sense. If I have to work a little harder to get it right, well I don’t get paid for sloppy work. I get paid to deliver, and that’s what I’ll do, in whatever method I deem best.”

She picked at her fingernails, which were trimmed and immaculate, not long and sharp like many beastmen tended to have them. “A smart person weighs all their options before making a decision. I knew Alverd and Kuro were here in Kierhai so I decided to see if they would help me. A long shot, true. But there’s no harm in asking.”

Alicia spoke up. “Who hired you anyway? And what are you trying to steal?”

Monaco clucked her tongue again. “Oh no no no. First rule in my profession, we don’t hand out client information. Discretion is the mark of a professional, and we are nothing if not professional. My client wanted the best the guild had to offer, and that’s me. I don’t kiss and tell.” Her eyes flicked over to Alverd. “At least, when it comes to my job.”

Oh this little bitch. I didn’t want to resort to such language but it’s really the only way to convey how much I want her to disappear into thin air.

Kuro had leaned against the wall of the living room, but had positioned himself close to one of the two windows in the room. “Long shot is putting it mildly. You know he’s a knight. He’d never willingly break the law. End of the day, you can call yourself a retrieval specialist but that still translates to thief. What’s stopping us from turning you in for the bounty?”

Something picked at the hairs on the back of my neck. I had an immensely bad feeling, like I was about to turn a blind corner and get hit by a speeding wagon. She walked in here thinking she was going to get Yuzuruha alone. If things went sideways she would’ve had a way to deal with her. Which means even if the number of people has changed, Monaco still has a contingency plan in case things go wrong.

My eyes darted around the room. Did she plant something in the room? Are her goons outside? There was only one door, and all of us were more or less blocking her path to it. My brain sprang into action trying to run every possible escape attempt through my head, but I couldn’t figure out how short of magic that she could get past us.

“Well this has been kind of a waste of time. Very disappointing, but I didn’t have high hopes you’d agree to my terms anyway. I think I should take my leave now.” She tried to sit up but Alverd wrapped his hand around her wrist. “You’re not going anywhere.” He said in a terse voice.

Whether on purpose or accidental, a blush rose in her cheeks as she grinned. “Oh, if only the circumstances were different those words could’ve been so much more magical. I guess chivalry truly is dead. Don’t take this personally, Alverd.”

Suddenly she leaned back and whipped her legs up, wrapping one around the back of Alverd’s neck and wrenching him forward, causing him to tilt forward off the couch and hit the floor head first. Even as he tried to roll out of the sudden attack, Monaco sprang off the couch and swung her left arm, discharging a cloud of thick smoke from her sleeve that billowed through the room.

I heard Alicia give a short shriek followed by the sound of her body hitting the ground. Yuzuruha grabbed the nearby Lou and lunged off to the left, carrying both Roland and his sister to the opposite side of the room from Kuro. I lost sight of the young mage as the smoke filled my vision, and then I was coughing. The smoke itself wasn’t poisonous but it stung my eyes and throat, making breathing difficult.

Kuro let out a battle cry but it was cut short. The next noise was the sound of ripping parchment, then a thump outside. Did she go through the window? Is that why Kuro was standing in front of one? He yelped as things continued just outside the house. “Let go of me! Stop that! Agh my arm okay okay, I get it, just stop twisting so hard!”

Inwardly I rolled my eyes. So she just took another hostage. One who apparently can’t fight back. Alicia scrambled back to her feet and leapt through the now open window onto the street outside. I used the door like a civilized person, knowing that leaving it open would help vent some of the smoke faster.

It didn’t take long to figure out where Monaco was. She was moving away from the housing block as quickly as possible, her arm wrapped around Kuro’s neck. His discarded staff lay on the ground outside. Alverd will have to pick that up later. I can’t touch the blasted thing. Besides, annoying or not, saving his best friend is more important. By the time Alverd stumbled out the front door, Monaco had rounded the nearby street corner and vanished from view.

“She’s over there! She can’t get far, dragging Kuro along like that. If we hurry we might catch her.” Suddenly Alicia’s eyes widened as they focused on something behind and above me. “Look out!” She cried as she barreled into me. I felt the impact of her small yet muscular body against my torso, propelling me back just before something exploded where I’d been standing.

There was no heat from the explosion, but instead a bunch of soap-like foam that expanded outward rapidly. Yuzuruha came out the front door of her house, her club at the ready. “Alright, which one of y’all sons of bitches is gonna die first?” She took one step off the porch when a similar explosion went off next to her.

She was coated across her left side, the foam billowing out and forming all along her leg, arm, and upper body. As the clumps of beige foam ballooned in size, they hardened, and then she suddenly lurched to her left and fell over as the strange substance weighed her down. She let out a truly atrocious stream of unladylike words as she thrashed her free arm wildly, trying to pull herself off the ground.

More alchemical trickery. No thief would ever be a match in a fair fight against someone like Alverd or Yuzuruha, which is exactly why they decided not to fight fair. Being wrenched upward made me remember that I still wasn’t safe myself. Alverd raised his shield just in time to have a blast impact it, and he had to drop the shield as it became too heavy to hold. To my great surprise, Alicia hefted me up and over her shoulder. “We’ve gotta get out of the open, we’re too exposed!”

No sooner had she said that when two shots hit her back and leg. She threw me away from her, and I landed nearby as the bloom nearly encompassed her whole body. It was a stroke of luck that it didn't cover her face and stop her from breathing. As she screamed in fury, two figures on a nearby rooftop awning raised their hands, and I could see they had vials of the substance ready to throw at me.

Behind me, there was a loud boom, and the leg of one of the men buckled out from under him in a spray of crimson. He screamed as he dropped his vial, which cracked open at his feet. The resulting bloom covered him and part of his ally, who dropped his own vial. When it blossomed, the roof was no longer able to support the massive increase in weight and snapped as the awning came crashing down to street level twenty feet below, covering the two thieves in a shower of debris. Their moans of pain told me they were still alive, although they probably wished they weren’t given how they were carrying on.

Looking back to the house, I saw Roland standing in the doorway, holding a three and a half foot long metal tube aimed out past me, hazy white wisps wafting out of the end. I could see his green eye through the aperture of a miniature spyglass installed on the top of the weapon, just past the trigger. He pulled a metal rod protruding from the side of the weapon, and a piece of still smoking brass shot out the other side, clattering on the ground.

“Not on my watch. I may not always be at my girl’s side but I’ve always got her back.”

Lou peeked out from behind him, and when she saw the coast was clear she came out on the porch and knelt down next to Yuzuruha. “I’m fine, go check on the others.” She said, still trying to free herself of the gunk. “Stay still, I’ll dissolve it.” Lou said as she pulled a small vial out of her bag, uncorking it and sprinkling it over the hardened substance. Almost immediately it curled in on itself and fragmented, and Yuzuruha was free.

The young medic came to each of us, using a few droplets of the foul smelling liquid in the bottle to remove the gunk. “Eww. Thank you for that. What even is this stuff?” Alicia asked as she wiped the now dust-like junk from her clothes.

Lou put the cork back on her bottle as she answered. “It’s a Margloomian alchemical treatment we use to seal wounds that bleed heavily, and in some cases save hemophiliacs. It’s a stopgap measure meant to simulate blood coagulation until proper treatment can be administered. It’s also sterile to prevent risk of infection.” She scowled as she helped Alicia brush off the last of it. “Apparently this woman’s crew found a way to turn it into a nonlethal weapon to subdue people. Of course someone took a great idea and found a way to weaponize it.” There was hate in her tone when she said that, and a haunted look in her eye. I didn’t press the matter further.

By the time Lou was able to remove the foam from Alverd, Monaco was long gone. Alicia moved over to the two thieves, of which only one was conscious. The other had landed face first and been knocked out, but the other had only landed on his shoulder. Judging by his whimpering, he’d either broken a bone or was just whining. She put her hands together and cracked her knuckles loudly, smiling sinisterly. “I can make them talk. Just give me a chance.”

Roland came over and put his hand on Alicia’s shoulder. “What? You got a problem with me putting the hurt on them?” At first I thought that was exactly what he was going to say, but then his face turned grim. “Not out here. Bring them back to the house. You get one, I get the other.” When she looked surprised, he frowned. “No witnesses that way.” Her expression turned to understanding, then a predatory smirk.

That’s distasteful. Torture shouldn’t be the first option in a case like this. No one was hurt, so it seems a bit much to start with the threat of physical harm. I watched as Lou helped Alverd crack the last of the hardened foam off his arm, and I felt my fingers twitch. Then again, Monaco lost control of the situation and decided to play dirty. If we try to play this game like we’re better than her, she’ll get the better of us again.

As Roland tried to drag one of the men, I came up and assisted him. Then Alverd joined us. “I want to say right now I don’t condone torture. So let’s consider that a last resort. I’m just as worried about Kuro as the rest of you, but we shouldn’t do anything drastic just yet.” Roland scoffed. “Your friend was just kidnapped. You aren’t willing to do anything it takes to help someone you care about?”

Alverd fired back heatedly. “Not so much that I’ll do wrong to make a right. I don’t think Monaco will hurt him. If she bothered to take him alive then she must see some use for him, and as long as he’s useful he’ll stay alive. And since Kuro is smarter than me, that means he knows that too. So he’ll stall as long as he can and have faith we can get him in time.”

When we got to the porch, Yuzuruha took the man from us and threw him bodily into the home without even looking to see if he would land safely. “Y’all sure about that? Seems ta me we’re makin’ some assumptions here.”

Alverd looked her in the eye. “We have to. I have to. I need to believe that Monaco isn’t so much of a monster that she’d kill a hostage, and have faith that Kuro will take care of himself for the time being.”

Roland shook his head in exasperation. “That sounds like a lot of wishful thinking.”

Alverd passed him and entered the house without giving him a second glance. “That’s the thing about crossing lines. Once you start, it gets easier and easier to keep doing it. Some are lucky enough to regret it in time to catch themselves. Others realize too late how second nature it’s become to compromise who they used to be.”

He sat down on the couch, glaring at the now terrified thief still bound by his own alchemical foam. “Then there are the ones who embrace who they’re becoming. And I adamantly refuse to become one of those people. So if I have to lie to myself to do it, it’s a small price to pay. Kuro has his rules, and I have mine.” He reached down and grabbed the thief by his collar, hoisting him up to eye level.

“But as Kuro has told me before,” he growled with uncharacteristic anger, “rules are made to be broken.” The man gulped audibly. Alverd shook him once, gently before setting him back down, propped upright by the foam.

“So. What shall we talk about first?”