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JULES
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“I’m not surprised why Kat hasn’t,” Cyrus said, “but I’m sure Whiskers is in the red light district a lot.” Whiskers’ ears tucked back.
“Did he just settle down here?” Pop asked. Jules and Cyrus looked at each other.
“No,” Katarina said. “Cy mentioned something about a house ordinary people can’t see last night. What did you mean by that?”
“Jules, the floor is yours.”
“Evelyn—my mother—saw it sixteen years ago when she passed through here with my dad, except he didn’t see it. It was a publishing house that printed a book, The Inked Arts, that our teacher Isolda gave us. It was the main lead that brought us here, to Aquilantis. Cy?”
“Yeah, I figured he was the author because of his tattoos. They’re all Runes, for one, which made me think he’s an Alter, and second, they weren’t real tattoos. He painted them on his skin.” Paint? “Then he said he’d evolved his style or whatever from print to painting, but only after I’d called him out on it.”
“Very humble of you,” Pop said. Jules suppressed a smile. “So why could your mother see it, but not your father?” Both boys shrugged. “Could your mother be Arcanic as well?”
Jules doubled over, laughing. “Salvos, no. She hates—Ah, well, it’s safe to assume no.”
“And that still wouldn’t explain why I couldn’t see it before today,” Katarina added. "So the point of that was…?"
“I have a working theory.” Whiskers rubbed against Jules’ legs again.
“Love to hear it,” Cyrus said.
“I’ll withhold it for now. For Katarina's benefit.”
“Ye’ll have eight lives soon, cat,” Pop said. Whiskers responded with a string of meows. Probably cursing him in cat-speak. “Next question. Who is Isolda, and how does she fit in all of this?”
“He said she was a student of his,” Jules said. “That explains how everyone froze in Coralhaven.”
“Hey—do you think we’ll learn how to do that?” Cyrus asked. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t look at me like that. I’m focused. But then, does that mean Isolda is an Alter, too? That’s a lot of Ryoku.”
“She had that bag of Crystals—Hey, Kat, where are those Crystals?”
“Hm?”
Jules leveled his gaze at her. “The ones you stole from us.”
"Steal? I don't remember taking anything of yours that you owned." She chewed another handful of popcorn. “No idea what you’re talking about."
“She’s probably involved with Davy Jones, judging by that Maiden eunuch of a Pastor you mentioned,” Pop said. “You all sure are in the thick of it.”
“She has ties to two Alters, and may even be one herself. And she was right in front of me. Sorry, I’m back. I’m back.”
“She suspected I was Arcanic, and led me straight to a madman…looking for Arcanics. And I’m positive he set that trap for us, even Kaizen—” Kaizen!
“Another name into the fold,” Pop said. “Who’s this bastard, then?”
“He’s my past reincarnation. Of Wrath, I guess. A ghost I met at the plaza. I need to go back and see him with Rukia.”
“Focus, Jules. If I have to, so do you. That’s a hot spot right now.” Cyrus sat down on a crate. “You know, there’s one other thing that’s bothering me—”
“Really, just one?”
Cyrus scatted at the cat, and it scurried away. “He called me Cyrus.”
“An excellent deduction,” Whiskers muttered, both tails between his legs.
“No one calls me that, including any of you I just met. But he said that once he heard you all say my name, he added my name into the Script to see the building. I even saw the Rune for my name painted on one of his canvases. I’d never seen it before—I didn’t even know names had Runes until he confirmed it—but I instantly knew it was mine.”
“I think you might be reaching there,” Jules said.
“I don’t know my name, Jules." Ohh. "My last name, Hell, I don’t even know if Cyrus is my birth name. Patricia didn’t know who dropped me off, and they may have given me a new name.” No one really knew how to respond. Not even Whiskers had a quip. “Anyway, it just doesn’t sit right with me, and we should take note of it. This is all turning into such a mess.”
“Third question,” Pop said. “Why are you willing to walk into the jaws of a predator who can freeze you, change memories, and persuade you at will?”
“Because he can do all three of those,” Katarina said with a mouthful of food. “If we could just get out from under his thumb—well, that’s a pretty big if.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
"Well, it's not like it's mind control. What?" Everyone looked at Rukia. "I've mastered telepathy countless times. I'd know." She wiggled her butt with pride.
“Kat, my Kat. How do you feel about all this?”
Katarina stopped chewing.
“Oh, I'm terrified. I don’t know who to trust besides you and Whiskers, and he’s already jumped ship to these two morons.” Whiskers purred beside Jules. “I wish I could trade places with you.”
Pop looked away and pretended to remove something from his eye.
“I have a few questions still,” Jules said. “That Memory Rune that changed our faces on the banner—Do you think that will last? Will it change everywhere those banners are?”
“And what if someone from your hometown sees them and points out the inaccuracies?” Pop asked. “Any Script changing memories, and even the Memory Rune itself, are banned with death penalties.”
“Well, it’s probably safe for you two—three, sorry, Whiskers—to check on it every so often and make sure that it’s safe for us to come back outside.”
“I wouldn’t bother,” Cyrus said. “Our first task is a Hydromages tryout. The Hydromages. That the two of us—three, sorry Rukia—just waged war with. Come on, he’s flexing on us. We can ask him after we pass.”
Jules rolled his eyes. “I’ve got one more question.” He looked away. “But I want it to be the last one. And let’s come to a decision first.”
Cyrus shook his head, implying he had no more questions. Shocker.
“I’m out of questions, besides my first one," Pop said. "So, Kat?”
The way she’s looking at me, she already knows what I'm gonna ask. “I’ll let you know my decision after I hear your question.” I should have kept my mouth shut. But I wanted to help her, ease her pain. Stupid. “Ask it,” she pressed. In too deep now, I can’t let her see me fold.
“In…” Jules had to gulp. “In the spirit of honesty, when I was born…I know I caused a scene. I once overheard from Evelyn that I—caused a massacre, but it wasn’t me, exactly. At the plaza, that Preacher, he said something happened here, and I just, I want to make it easier. For everyone. And I want to know what happened to me back home—in Coralhaven, I mean—and, just…” Shit. Jules looked at Katarina, at Envy. “What happened that night?”
Cyrus took a cautious step away from Jules.
Whiskers left Jules for Katarina.
Rukia laid her head on Jules’ lap again.
Katarina’s father left the basement.
Jules saw a shift in Katarina’s emerald green eyes. No, these are Envy’s eyes, now.
She turned for the staircase and said over her shoulder, “You’ll get my answer in the morning. Go to bed and get some sleep. If you dare.”
“Dude…” Cyrus just shook his head.
Rukia nuzzled her head deep into Jules’ lap. At least you understand where I was coming from.
> [New Quest Available: Kat's Out of the Bag]
>
> [New Reward Available for Kat's Out of the Bag: ???]
>
> [Kat's Out of the Bag — Quest Objective ADDED: Get Pop or Whiskers to tell you more about Katarina's birth.]
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There's no way in Hell that I'm sleeping tonight. Time for a little field trip.
> « Muffle » [₹9,500 // ₹10,000]
Jules tiptoed across the shared bedroom. His Ryoku trickled away each time his Script deadened the inn's squeaky floorboards.
Unlike Jules, Cyrus had no issue falling asleep—he was dead asleep to the world. In fact, he'd moved around so much he was now upside down in his bed, head at the floorboard and feet on his pillow. He clung to his sheets tightly and muttered utter nonsense.
Rukia’s four legs stretched out towards the ceiling. Is she snoring, or snarling? The fox's back curved in a U-shape. Her head hung off Jules' bed, and her long pink-and-black tongue dangled from her mouth and touched the floor. Every so often, she’d make a gargling sound.
From the opposite side, Jules shut their bedroom door but paused to look at his bed. Man, wasted an hour trying to fall asleep. Way too much to think about. The Maidens, Isolda and those pirates, Dad and Evelyn. The painter…
Jules looked over towards Katarina and Whiskers’ room. Not to mention how I left things with you. You'd probably give me nightmares, anyway. He opened the inn’s doors and stepped out into the cool night air. Confident he’d awoken no one, Jules looked around for a bit before heading off. Hm, the mist is starting to set in. How fortunate—
Oh. That blind beggar is back. Hasn’t been here since we first arrived. Pretty interesting what he said about paint yesterday, given the circumstances. Jules crept over to the man, who huddled inside the warmth of a bunch of ragged blankets. Jules crouched down in front of the offering tray and silently placed a coin on it. No response. Wonder if he’s really asleep? He placed another coin on the tray, this time a little more loudly, in an attempt to rouse the old man. Jules sighed and got up. Not omniscient after all. He walked away and flicked a third coin over his shoulder and into the offering tray.
“Toss a coin to your beggar in these isles o’ plenty?” The blind beggar sat up but didn’t bother to take the blankets off his head. Blindness and all.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. Just some line from an old game I used to play as a boy." The blind beggar grumbled. “Care for another fortune? I see you didn’t take heed of my last warning.”
I’ll bite. “Oh, you did, did you?”
“Aye, I heard the scene all the way down here! That Innkeep is a loud, loud brute. You know what they say, Lose your sight, gain your hearing.”
I wonder how much better it becomes.
“Don’t lollygag, son,” the blind beggar said. “Get on with it. I was dreaming about a hot date, and you interrupted it. D'ya want yer fortune or not?”
Jules chuckled. “Are they all random, or can I ask a direct question?”
“See, here’s a man who gets to the point. Ask what you will.” The blind beggar pulled his covers off of him and revealed his weathered and hollowed face. That rotted blindfold of his covered half of it, and his beard took up most of the remainider.
“Am I doing the right thing?” Going back to the Fountain?
“Ugh, I spoke too soon. Could you be more specific? Or I could give a generic answer to a generic question.”
Jules stared at the blindfold and felt they both looked at each other through it. “Forget it. I’ll find out for myself.”
“Behold!” The blind beggar sat up tailor-style. “Now there’s true wisdom, better than any foresight.”
He might be a beggar, but I better remember that statement as a lesson. “Am I doing the right thing, right now, tonight? That specific enough for you?”
“You should have saved those coins, tonight, boy.” The blind beggar yawned and stretched out his arms.
“That doesn’t help me at all.” Jules rolled his eyes and walked away.
“Instead of getting a lousy fortune, you could have tossed them for a wish in that Fountain.” Jules whipped back around, but the blind beggar pulled his covers over his head and laughed himself to sleep. The Fountain, huh? Again, this blind man sees my future. It seems as if Aquilantis was the best place for us to go…
Jules walked off into the hazy mist alone.
…If not the most dangerous.
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