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JULES
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“You poor, poor thing. Getting trapped in the middle of,” the painter waved his arms all around the plaza, “all this.” His gaze hovered over Katarina's ear for a fraction of a second longer than anywhere else, but he moved on and continued down her face. Eventually, he was satisfied and returned the chair at his easel.
> « Calm »
The adrenaline of combat and imprisonment faded away from Jules, and memories of happier times filled him. Ah, I could lay in the sand right about now. I bet Rukia'd love to play some ball.
> [New Quest Available: Go Long!]
>
> [New Reward Available for Go Long!: Rukia's undying affection.]
>
> [Go Long! — Quest Objective ADDED: Play ball with Rukia.]
The painter slashed his easel some more.
> « Move »
Jules released his hostage and sheathed his blade. What was I even doing? The Guards lowered their weapons and shuffled around.
> « Attention »
Everyone moved away from Jules and company, and looked at the banners near the Pastor. Oh yeah, that painter, he changed the images of me and Cy. What a nice guy.
> « Reveal »
The black sphere surrounding them dissipated. The world around them came into focus again. Jules smiled at the birds flying by in the sky, like an idiot.
> « Conceal »
Jules looked around. He didn’t notice anything different, just the crowd before him. He thought he heard Cyrus grunt, but he felt too good to let this moment escape him.
> « Memory »
That's—that's illegal! One of the most illegal…
Wait, what's illegal again?
Jules blinked. The sun blinded him, and he smelled something burning, but couldn't figure out what it was. Burnt hair? What just happened? Last I remember, they were—
He gripped Cyrus’ arm. They both stared at the banner. That’s, that’s not us… Did Kat set us up? No—She looks just as confused.
“They haven’t… They’ve never shown these before,” she whispered.
“Did you set us up?” Jules snapped.
“No! No, I promise…” Whiskers waddled back over to them.
“Ah, excuse me, citizens.” The Pastor’s voice boomed again. “I felt like I had seen these two boys somewhere before, but I was mistaken. Be on the lookout for these two, and this wolf, and come to us with any information you have. We will be by the…”
Jules tuned him out. His heart pounded. Someone set us up. Does the Shinsorai ghost know who? Where'd he go? He panned the dispersing audience for the ghost. Jules' eyes stopped on the painter's. Haven't I seen him before?
“Hey, Ruke, where’d he go?” Jules asked his backpack.
“Where’d who go?” Cyrus asked.
Rukia didn’t respond, so Jules ripped his pack off. It was empty.
“Cy—I lost Rukia. Do you see her?” Whiskers rubbed his mouth and a fang across Jules’ legs. He pawed the air toward a tree. The ghost scratched Rukia underneath it. One hind leg kept reflexively hitting herself in the face. “Subtle. Good kitty.”
The painter stumbled past Jules. “Ah, well. It appears not even the greatest painter alive can make this scenery appealing.” He gestured back to the stage. “Probably because the subject matter is absolutely repulsive.” He strolled straight through their group with downcast eyes and a wry smile. A scrap of white paper flapped out of his art kit when he walked by.
"Hey, watch it!" Katarina sidestepped their collision course. “Rude! What a moron."
“Who are you talking about?” Cyrus asked. He’d been crowd watching. “And you know what? We shouldn’t even be talking to you anymore!”
Curious, Whiskers sniffed the fallen scrap paper.
Back to Rukia. She sat underneath the tree, close to the banner, alone. Jules checked its images again before he joined her. Still a wolf and two kids I’ve never seen before. Jules picked her up by the nape of her neck and placed her gently in his bag. That certainly drew some odd looks.
Jules and Cyrus fled the plaza—and Katarina and Whiskers. She followed them and pleaded with them. Rukia mumbled for Jules’ attention through the backpack.
“Please, I didn’t know! They’ve never shown banners of anyone before!”
“Why should I believe you?” Cyrus demanded. “I knew it was too easy to get you to come here, after all your talk last night about leaving town."
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Envy stammered and Rukia thrashed about.
“Will someone please let the fox speak?” Whiskers asked.
Jules stopped in a vacant alleyway. He popped open the cover. A dazed Rukia, on the verge of possible heat stroke, panted. “Ahhh! I can finally breathe again."
That's all you wanted!?
“Alright, you’re going back in—”
“No, no—Jules, Jules, Jules—Master Kaizen said, he said to look inside your shirt.” So that was Kaizen.
Jules reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded note. “Did you put this in my clothes last night?” he asked Whiskers and Katarina.
“No," Rukia said. "That strange powerful guy did, least that's what Kaizen said. Open it."
Jules opened the note. All five of them read the single Rune inscribed on it. The dry ink liquified and bled down the paper. The Rune activated, and gold light blinded them all.
> « Memory »
Memories of the plaza debacle flooded into Jules' mind all at once. Overwhelmed, he almost lost his balance. Flashbacks occurred all at once. He assembled the memories as best he could into chronological order. Fear. Confusion. Relief. Safety. Curiosity.
"Did anyone else…" Jules began.
"Yeah," Cyrus said.
"That man…" Katarina covered her left ear.
Whiskers hacked up a hairball. Rukia belched.
“So, Rukia, that man, the ghost that came up to me—that's Kaizen?”
“That was the one, the only, Master Kaizen!”
"That painter was a ghost," Cyrus asked.
“No, not him. Kaizen said that someone had set a trap for us. He must have meant the painter.”
“Well, that man—that magic.” You’d think Cy was the one who saw a ghost.
“Who is he?” Katarina's face flushed. “He studied me a lot… And then he tried to walk into me on purpose.”
“To get a second glance,” Whiskers said. “And to leave a curious cat a message. I believe I know where to find him.” The kitten unwound its two tailed and dropped down the flyer the man had dropped.
“I don’t know if we should find him after that,” Jules said. “That was similar to what happened in Coralhaven.”
“I don’t like to be gawked at,” Katarina said.
“No, but I’m sure you’d love to be fawned over.” Whiskers rubbed against Jules’ legs again. “In all my wisdom and nine lives, I have no idea who that man is.”
“I do.” Everyone turned to Cyrus.
“How? Who?” Jules asked.
“That man is an Alter.”
> [New Quest Available: Paint It Black]
>
> [New Reward Available for Paint It Black: ???]
>
> [Paint It Black — Quest Objective ADDED: Investigate the painter.]
>
> [Paint It Black — Quest Objective ADDED: Discover if he is a secret Alter or not.]
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CYRUS
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Dammit Jules, Whiskers—we’ve passed this bar already, and that one, and that one. We're wasting precious time here.
Cy inspected his Quests Notifications again, which he'd received over the course of the past few days.
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective FAILED: Join the Scholars Guild.]
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — QUEST FAILED]
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective ADDED: Find an alternative path to become an Alter.]
>
> [ERROR: The Boy Who Would Be Alter — QUEST INCOMPLETED]
>
> [The Boy Who Would Be Alter — Quest Objective ADDED: Investigate the painter.]
I can't believe I got a second chance.
“Cat,” Cy said, “are you sure we’re going the right way? We’ve passed that whorehouse twice already.” Envy rolled her eyes.
“I may not be an alley cat, by any stretch of your narrow imagination," Whiskers said, "but I certainly know these streets. We are getting closer.” The kitten walked between Jules’ stride. Bet that’s driving him crazy. And I bet it’s making Kat jealous. Both of them seem on edge. "And don't call me Cat. It is confusing to my other half."
Cy swallowed his frustration and impatience. I just want to meet this Alter already. I wonder what he knows, who he actually is. There are only seven known Alters, and I’ve never heard of him before. His thoughts drifted off into the world, aloud. “Davy Jones and the Cat of Ninetales. Kazuma, Musashi, The Nomad. And The Dreamer and Clementine." Whose whereabouts are still unknown...
A drunk leaned against a crude dumpster with even cruder graffiti. Cy stomped to a halt.
“Alright, stop. We’ve walked past this guy at least five times. It’s an hour 'til midnight.”
Whiskers ignored Cy and whispered something to Jules. They continued a few paces to an intersection of three dim roads.
“Sure, what?” Jules asked the cat.
Cy looked at Envy. Cy himself became jealous of Jules' new friends. Kat, Rukia. This damn kitten leading us on a wild goose egg hunt. “Whiskers, you may like to chase your tail like a dog, but I sure don’t,” he said.
“That man, over there,” Whiskers said to Jules. “He looks like he frequents this illustrious part of town. Ask him if he knows where the art supply store is. Be vague about the name.”
Cy groaned. “Is your pet always this annoying?” Cy asked Envy. She bit her lip.
Jules returned and shook his head. “Said I had no idea what I’m talking about, though he was a bit more colorful than that. I’m sure Rukia could fill in the blanks for you.” The others laughed softly. Not the time for jokes. I need to learn from this Alter.
“Come on. Just admit it, Oh Wise One. You have no idea where this place is." Why is everyone staring? "What? Why do you two look so confused? And you, don’t look at me so smugly.”
Whiskers purred. His little fangs flashed through his grin.
“Am I missing something here?”
“Cy…” Jules pointed at the drunk he'd just spoken to. “The art store—It’s right there.”
Am I the butt of some joke here? “No, that’s a bar. A shitty bar—”
Oh. Wait a second.
"We've passed it several times, Cy," Jules said. "We've been testing to see if you can see it. If you're, uh, allowed to, I guess."
“Kat, we should leave now,” Whiskers warned. “It seems he’s masking his presence from anyone but Arcanics—Oh my word!” The black cat leapt so high into the night air his silhouette covered the full moon. He cowered behind Jules. Cy perked up. They all look horrified.
“What?” he shouted.
“We have to help him,” Envy said.
“No, it’s too dangerous,” Whiskers said. "Likely a trap."
“What the hell is going on!?”
“That man’s on fire,” Jules said.
No, he’s standing laughing at us, waving a bottle. Whiskers dashed toward the man.
“Watch out,” Cy shouted. “He’s got a broken bottle!”
Whiskers leapt clear through the man.
This is definitely the power of an…
“Alter.” Cy joined Whiskers at the door to the abandoned bar. “Is this the real door?”
“It is.” Whiskers studied Cy. "And if it is, what stupid idea are you—"
Without thinking, Cy opened the door and stepped into a dark and musty room. Broken glass littered the floor next to looted cracked barrels. The ceiling caved in. Cy beckoned Jules, Rukia, Envy, and Whiskers to follow him inside. But they remained outside the threshold. They look ready to fight. Even Rukia's out of Jules' backpack…
“What the hell, guys? Just come inside—”
“Cy, get out of there now,” Jules said. Both animals’ hackles raised, and they bared their fangs.
Cy felt his heart beat reverberate throughout his entire body. Light and color flashed before him, and the room transformed from a pigsty bar into a cluttered art studio, with works-in-progress scattered about. Buckets of paint littered the floor in place of the shattered glass. Canvases, both empty and painted with images and Scripts, lined every inch of the walls and were stacked against every piece of furniture. A lone bookshelf hosted an assortment of books, with a sign above them that read Clearance. Beside the bookshelf, a unique row of fresh paintings hung on the wall.
Each one was a portrait of him and his friends. Cy shifted his gaze left—and saw a sword’s blade running horizontal, just under his chin.
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