Theo 2 – Part 2

After Theo returned to the guild from his appointment with Roguetooth, he wished he could have conjured more hours into the day, possibly with the help of that Sphene dust. He informed Skinner of the bounty Roguetooth had in her cargo hold, to which he was excited to learn. Apparently, he had sent many members of the guild out in search for Sphene dust, but to no avail. The substance was closely guarded within the Empire and only Imperial officials were able to handle the substance; Theo considered just how dire the situation was out east to trust a barrel of Sphene dust in a trader like Roguetooth. Roguetooth also mentioned she wasn’t the only captain transporting the substance, unfortunately for them, the Empire was stupid enough to trust local traders with Sphene dust, but they weren’t stupid enough to trust the traders with much; an odd barrel here and there.

The mission to retrieve the Sphene dust from Roguetooth became such the forefront of the guilds next move, that Skinner decided to lead the mission himself. Theo thought after his recent time out in the field Skinner might have returned tamer, less ambitious but on the contrary, it seemed to spur him to get even more involved; and he displayed the absence of his left arm proudly as if it signified his pound of flesh to the Mother.

The mission was not going to involve a demon this time around (everyone hoped) and hopefully turn out to be a simple pick-up job. When the two moons rose high in the night sky; A rowboat would drift silently from the sewers, bearing the weight of Skinner and a few guildsmen. With the lack of soldiers patrolling the docks, it would be almost easy to paddle up next to Roguetooth’s hull undetected. From there the barrel of Sphene dust would be lowered using the ship's ropes, and a reward of one-hundred Golden Marks would be paid the following day if Skinner considered the product to be ‘adequate’.

A simple job that Theo himself was not ordered to participate in. He suspected Skinner thought he might now be a bad omen and prefer to keep him as far away from him as possible, at least on missions. However, this provided Theo with a unique opportunity, an opportunity he needed to take full advantage off.

He still had to speak to Sabrina today, and he didn’t know how that was going to go, but when Skinner and the men were busy retrieving the Sphene dust, he decided he would visit Arthur Downs, the young wizard, and see just what this guild was up too regarding him.

*

Theo marched into the feasting hall later that evening when the sun was falling and was happy to find it mostly barren of life. Brock stood as faithfully as ever behind his bar, slicing potatoes and adding them to a cauldron; he looked almost domestic until Theo remembered his unflinching courage down in that sewer when he was being attacked, and the murderous look in his eyes when he approached Theo—axe in hand. Recalling that event sent hot wires to tangle his stomach and Thana…who knew just what she was up too in all this. First, she tried to use him for a snack, then she saved his life against the demon. It made Theo’s head spin.

Sabrina Black was there too, unsurprisingly eating. Brock was right: she ate as greedily as a forest troll, with nothing to show for it either. He sneaked up behind her and poked her in the back as she ate, but the girl seemed to not be surprised as if she knew he was sneaking up on her the whole time. She did however turn and look up at him, flaunting her dark eyes that twinkled slightly with the colour of amethyst, and Theo was reminded of the Sphene dust again.

“You wanna have that chat now?” he asked. Sabrina looked as anxious as a child accepting a beating but rose to her feet (which were still bare).

“It’s almost dusk” he added.

“Why should that matter?” Sabrina asked.

“You’ll see,” Theo said and tried to conceal his sympathy for the girl. She had no idea just what she was or what was happening to her. Theo had questions first and if the girl wanted, she could find solace here within the guild, a new home maybe. He had already covered her admittance into the Webbed Children if she desired as much.

The two of them walked side-by-side down one of the many tunnels leading from the feasting hall, and Theo led them south of the city, towards the coffeehouse he enjoyed so much. He had learned to read the symbols on the mossy walls that mapped out the sewer system and found the code not at all hard to decipher: One dash meant you were heading north, two dashes meant you were heading south, and the lines were east and west, depending on which side of the dash they resided on. It was simple and at the same time crucial. Down in the sewers, it was easy to lose yourself amongst its labyrinth and become tangled in your own threads of despair, and If you were unlucky, perhaps within the grips of a certain vampire.

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There were other symbols too and Theo figured they labelled the many districts in the city, each one was as vague as the last: a circle with an invisible line cut through its centre, a triangle surrounding an ‘X’.

“This is the one” Theo said, gesturing a ladder that ascended upwards about twenty feet. Beside the ladder lay inscribed a: double dash, line, and the image of a tree.

Theo lifted the grate and peered around the empty street of Leeside; when he felt safe, he athletically bounced out and helped Sabrina up. She shielded her eyes from the slight glow of the setting sun and Theo grimaced wearily, her skin was rapidly losing its complexion.

When they entered the coffeehouse the bell above signalled their arrival, and the city streets outside glowed warmly under a sea of lantern light. The coffeehouse itself seemed to swim in that same translucent comfort, and it somehow reminded Theo of times when he would be cosily inside on a rainy day.

They ordered their coffee and Sabrina looked to be struggling beneath the bright lantern light that flooded the coffeehouse.

“First things first,” Theo said. “You’ll need to learn to get used to that light. It won’t be as uncomfortable as natural sunlight I can assure you.”

Sabrina lowered her hand that roofed her brow with fierce determination as the barrister presented their coffee.

“Thank you,” Theo said, handing the barrister two Silver Mark’s and as soon as he was out of earshot Sabrina asked:

“Why does the light hurt my eyes, Theo?”

Theo looked around the mostly empty coffee house and leaned in close.

“I promise to answer that, but first I need you to answer a question for me?” Theo gave the girl a warm smile. “I know you were an orphan, but do you have any idea who your parents were?”

Sabrina looked up as if offended.

“I’ve grown up in that orphanage since I was a baby,” she said flatly before giving rise to her voice. “Now tell me why the lights suddenly hurt my eyes, tell me why I passed out in the street the other day, tell me why you were following me, and tell me why we couldn’t talk about this in--” Theo had to silence her with a hiss. Some of the other patrons looked up but returned to their coffee when Sabrina looked at them. They could sense her darkness as if it perfumed around her, Theo sensed it too.

“We are safer here,” Theo said calmly, stroking the rim of his tankard; it was golden, and steam rose from it like fog on a chilly day. “But please keep your voice down and allow me to explain,” he finished, then he said after a lengthy pause:

“You’re an Arachne”

The words might as well have been foreign Theo thought, as Sabrina gave no response and only continued to look through him. Eventually, Theo added:

“Me and Thana were looking into it and well, Thana, she’s…wise,” Theo chose his words carefully but felt a bead of sweat form on his temple. He was not sure how Sabrina was going to react, but she deserved to know the truth, what little truth Theo had for her. “She checked you over and found…evidence to support it.”

Sabrina continued to look at him, her eyes a pair of marble Sphene dust.

“What’s an Arachne, exactly,” She said hazily, the same way someone might ask after hearing they had some terminal decease.

“It’s a cross between,” Theo began softly. “a human and a—” the words would not come out.

“Spider” Sabrina finished.

Theo paused to let the matter sit there for a while, digesting the fact himself now it had been said out loud. The bell to the coffeehouse gave a gentle ‘cling’ and neither Theo nor Sabrina looked up to inspect the visitor.

“Many people that…discovered they were…Arachne, said it developed after they underwent puberty,” Theo said. “After much of the human puberty was done, the Arachne puberty started and they got headaches, their senses got overloaded, and their tonsils secreted spider silk”

Sabrina stood abruptly, her wooden chair slid backwards across the planked floor with a screech, and Theo found he mimicked her. The coffeehouse somehow grew more silent as if it held its breath for them. Then the pitter-patter of rain began hitting the coffeehouse’s window in waves, Theo stood there with Sabrina in muted sympathy, the flowing rain rushed to drown out the dense silence as it struck the glass windows.

Sabrina hesitated, then ran for the door, and before Theo could catch her, she was out and running into the darkened streets. Theo chased her, not considering the patrons he passed and by the time he took four strides after Sabrina, his body was soaked from the onslaught of rain. His hair stuck to his face and ahead he could see Sabrina running—barefoot, throughout the street, her pearly white hair stuck to her back from its wetness and a moment later she fell.

Theo halted when he saw her kneel in the street, coughing violently into the cobbled-stone ground. He saw the silk run from her mouth as fluid as the rain running down her hair.

“I’m sorry Sabrina,” was the only thing he thought to shout. “But I can help you”

Sabrina tucked her arms tightly around herself and it looked to Theo she was hugging herself. She probably thought it was magic that gave her the ‘gifts’, not this, and Theo felt another wave of remorse flow over him. He approached her and sat beside her, giving her a couple of feet of space. He crossed his legs and endured the pounding rain that had struck the sky so suddenly, perhaps it was the weeping of a God. Unlikely.

“I got you in the guild,” he said through the thundering rain; Sabrina still held herself tightly, looking down into her thighs and rocking slightly. “you’ll be safe there, I’ll protect you”

“Protect me from who” Sabrina demanded, and Theo heard the choked gasps from someone who had been crying.

“Someone who wanted me to keep an eye on you, someone not in the guild,” he said.

“Who,” Sabrina asked and looked up at him, her eyes a dark mark on his soul.

Theo paused and then opened his mouth to answer.

The rain fell, and fell, and fell, and from the shadows of the coffeehouse, Cedrick Broome watched on.