7 in 3

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Jet 

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When we make it to the manor we immediately try to find the siblings. Checking in their usual hangouts, the library and each of their rooms, to no success, we start looking elsewhere. We eventually start to wander outside, and end up in the smaller, by noble standards, garden. That’s when a small girl in a frilly blue dress runs into my legs. She bounces off them, but manages to stay upright.

I look down, my face lighting up with a genuine smile at the child. “Hello there! Who are you?” I say with my least threatening voice. The pale skinned girl looks up at me, with their mouth wide open.

“Tara!” She squeaks out. She seems to regain some confidence once she gets out her name. “Who are you, knight?” She points at my face. I snort at her directness, she reminds me of the Count.

The bushes rustle at the end of the path we’re on, and Lady Scarlet’s head pops out. Is… Is she taller than before? “Where’d you go Tara?” She calls out, looking around. She quickly spots the girl standing in front of me and hurries over. Seeing me as she makes her way to us, she asks. “Captain Jet, why’re you in the garden?” The Lady seems curious why I let myself into the garden, instead of angry, she’s an odd noble. 

“I was looking for Lord Coil, we need his assistance for something, but I see he’s unavailable.” I gesture to the girl standing in front of me, whose small frame lacks all traces of fear she had not long ago, now that Lady Scarlet has shown up. “Who is this by the way, Lady Scarlet?” 

She averts her gaze for a moment before turning bright red. She forces herself to meet my eyes again before speaking. “This is my daughter, Tara.” 

I can’t help it, my mouth drops open. She had a kid? With who? How? She wasn’t ever pregnant as far as I know! I look at the girl, who obviously has the Lady’s facial features, and look back at the Lady. “I-I see that now, my lady.” 

The small girl puts her hands on her hips. “Don’t mess with Mom! She’ll kill you right away!” The hyperactive kid keeps nodding to herself, which makes me chuckle. 

Lady Scarlet cuts off any more discussion between the kid and I, with a nervous look. “Captain Jet, you said you needed Coil’s help?” I nod at the Lady. She taps her fingers together in a short rhythm. “Tell me what you need and he might be able to help.” 

That’s a surprise, he can do things while dormant? “We need help finding any unused teleport spell circles in the alleyways of the commercial district, we’ve been chasing the cause of the disappearances.”

Lady Scarlet makes a strange face for a few seconds until hundreds of small black dots shoot from her shadow into every direction. She looks up at me with a smile. “He said one of his people will find you the moment they discover any.” I give her a nod of thanks and quickly withdraw from the garden with a bow. Once out of sight of the Lady, I start rushing to the exit of the manor.  The large building always makes me uncomfortable. 

With nothing else to do, I end up walking towards the nearest source of food, the mess hall. On the way to one of the knight cafeterias, Nobody taps my shoulder. “Jet.”

I look back at him. “Yeah? What is it?” 

The mimic looks somewhat confused. “That child, with Lady Scarlet, was the dragon from the night of the dungeon break.” 

That can’t be right, Hack’s been around for months now, that kid just showed up. After the dungeon break. I stop in place as something clicks into place. “Dragons… can look human, can’t they.” 

Nobody nods at my question. “If my knowledge is accurate, yes.” 

I slap my forehead with a sigh. “Great.”

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

Nobody and I made it part way through our meal when a person grew from the floor. After quickly calming the other knights, we headed out into the town, led by the shadow creature. 

Our new friend, the large, lumpy blob of ink is in the vague shape of a human being, and gives off an eerie feeling. The being moves silently, their legs just sliding over the ground as they walk. The only reason we even knew this thing was Coil’s was because it came out of Nobody’s shadow. 

Eventually we arrive, in a random alley, and the shadow person just points to a sack of grain laying against a wall. I pick up the bag and throw it out of the way. Underneath the sack is a chalk circle ground into the uneven stone of the alley. Nobody crouches down next to me, hovering his hand over the runic shapes. 

After a few minutes of intense ‘holding hands above chalk’ action the circle reacts. The circle glows a bright silver before burning to dust, destroying the intricate patterns it was made of. I look at Nobody with a hopeful smile. 

“I know where this leads.” He says with a sly grin. 

I nod at his good news, my own smile widening. “Let’s inform the Count.”

 

】〓〓〓〓【

Tara

】〓〓〓〓【

 

The last few days feel like a dream. So many happy and special things happened! I grab the pillow on my bed and squeeze it while I squirm around joyfully. My vines creak inside me, wound up in excitement. But… I’m a little afraid I’ll wake up, in the dirt of the garden, still a small lizard. Fear fills my heart when I think about that possibility. 

I got my own room! Just mine! And it's near Mom’s. Grandpa even had it painted the color of my hair. I love him so much!

I feel a strange jolt inside my head, as my mind clears and my thoughts get faster.

I’m not used to that yet. I think the feeling is my mind getting closer to my real age, and sometimes it drifts to the age of my body. The shift isn’t very pleasant, and feels incredibly strange. Like suddenly running when you were walking a moment ago. I try to ignore when it speeds up and just act my age the best I can.

I hop out of bed to look out at the moon. I haven’t figured out how to sleep like Mom’s talked about, but I’m sure I’ll get it eventually. Right now I want to look at the night sky though. Stars twinkle faintly far above, somewhat hidden by the light of the townheart. The same stars I saw in my garden, the same moon. Clouds are beginning to gather so I close the terrace door.

I go back inside and sit down. A jolt passes through my body, and I know Mom is gone again. She explained to me that she and her siblings can’t be around at the same time, so they have to share their time. I don’t really like that, I want Mom to always be around. I kick my pillow as I smell Mom’s scent fade to almost nothing. I wonder which aunt or uncle woke up. 

 

】〓〓〓〓【

Luna

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I’m doing something extremely exciting. Equally stupid? For sure. But very exciting all the same. I’m standing in the corner behind the door to Father’s study, on the inside of course. I tailed the monster guy and Jet in here. They had some serious expressions when they passed me on the way here, so I got curious. 

Jet has been informing Father of his investigation, mostly boring gruntwork. Boring that is, until he started mentioning teleport circles hidden around the town. Monster Mash is sitting next to the Captain and is pointing a place out on a map of Wornsbirth.

Father gives them both a serious stare. “So you’re one hundred percent sure you can trust… Nobody, Jet?” Father’s question is referring to the living corpse sitting next to Jet. I guess someone named him.

“Yes sir, He’s the only reason we were able to track down this location. Well besides Lord Coil’s assistance.” Jet clears his throat. “He’s trustworthy enough to believe him on this, at least.”

Father gives the captain a curt nod. “Alright, the building Nobody pointed out is on the outer rim of the commercial district, the second tier” Father lets out a heavy sigh. “Captain, do you have anyone you’re confident enough to send for reconnaissance?” The captain grabs his chin, thinking.

“Honestly, sir, I do. However after all of the strange occurrences the last few months I’d like to just go myself.” 

Father shakes his head. “No, you’d just end up in a fight with whoever is behind this mess. We need stealth right now, not a raid.” Father leans back on the couch, looking at the ceiling.

An idea worms through my head, forcing me to act. “Excuse me.” My whispery tone is all I can manage. The three men jump in their seats, looking around confused. Father is first to put it together, his brows twitching.

I cut off Father’s scolding before it can begin. “Father, I could go.” 

His face shifts from annoyance to outright anger. “Absolutely not Luna!” He looks at Jet for backup, but the knight captain just shrugs. Father lets out a long breath, closing his eyes in thought. For a few minutes, an awkward silence holds the room hostage.

Eventually though, he comes to a decision. “Jet, what’s the highest class of stealth in our knightage currently?” 

The muscular knight rubs his stubbly chin. “Currently we have two knights with different classes, but the same level. One is a master assassin, while the other is a master saboteur.”

Father chews over this information. After a few more minutes, he gives his answer. “Luna, you can go.” My heart beats faster, action! Finally some action! “But! You have to accompany the master assassin knight. You’re not to leave their side, no exceptions.” He glares at the space just above my head with great intensity. Not that tall, Dad.

I try to get out my thanks, but all that comes out is an excited giggle. The boogie man on the couch shivers at the sound. “Man, that's creepy as hell.” Jet gives him a smack to the back of the head. The two stand up and start heading for the door.

Just as the three of us are about to leave, Father yells something. “Jet! If my kids come back in a casket you’ll be getting buried too!” 

 

【〓〓〓〓】

 

Disappointing, really disappointing. After Jet introduced me to the barely visible master assassin, a knight named Sir Lenkin, we did not immediately leave. Instead we are heading into a preparatory meeting for the operation. In other words, planning. Disgusting. 

I try to listen to the information the Sargent, or maybe Private? I don’t know, some knightley guy. I try to listen to this knight drone on but it's so, so dry, listing street names and stores I don’t know. Eventually I give up and start tuning out. 

The emotional whiplash from earlier causes me to actually say something under my breath for once. “Boring.” 

“I agree.” Says a voice that’s way too close to my ear. I gasp at the sudden invasion of personal space, noticing a barely visible Sir Lenkin. How long has he been standing there?

“Your breathing and heartbeat are the only sounds covered by your ability it seems. I’m assuming it’s a blessing. Interesting, I thought maybe only speech could go through but I heard that gasp just now.” The lightly armored knight is shooting out words quietly, but rapidly. 

He randomly chuckles at something. “For missions like these, where we know almost nothing, these meetings tend to be a bit dry. Nothing of extreme value, But, it’s a good idea to learn the layout of the streets and entryways that could be used for escape.” He points at the detailed map in the middle of the room. “That’s saved my ass a few times, a small door I’d never have noticed if I didn’t know it was there.” Is he mentoring me? Why? 

I look at the knight over again, closer this time. Unlike me, he isn’t actually invisible. Instead it’s like his body loses focus, but not just visually. Well, he does visually look blurry, but it's more than that. It’s like my mind just wants to skim over him. 

He’s average height, graying hair, black bandanna over his lower face. His armor is much lighter than any other knight I’ve met. It has no metal platings, nothing to make clicking sounds. Instead it’s made of what looks like insect chitin. Even then those plates are limited to the vital areas, like joints or his hands. He has startling green eyes that stand out against his dark skin. The hood that stretches out from under his armor covers his hair except the little bit in the front. 

“So, excited to go on a mission?” His eyes are smiling. I nod before remembering he can’t see me. Why do I even have these habits?

“Yes, very.” I hope he can hear my whispers over the noise of the meeting, because I can’t get my voice any louder. Apparently he can, because he nods.

“First missions are exciting. Let’s hope this goes smoother than mine.” He chuckles darkly. I stare at him in frustration. You can’t just say something like that and not elaborate.

“What happened?” I ask, pulled out of my shell by curiosity. 

The man turns his head towards the meeting with a snort. “I’ll tell you when we get back.” His eyes are smiling again, but with a mischievous twinkle this time. Jerk.

“And that’s everything, I hope everyone knows what they need to do. Let's go!” Captain Jet’s voice is strange when he talks to his subordinates. His smile is also much less friendly than what I’ve seen up until now. After the group of knights leaves the room he searches for the two of us. His eyes pass over both of us a few times before he finally sees the grayed man.

“Lenkin!” He walks to us, clearing the distance in way too few steps. I envy his height. “You and your protege ready to go? You’re the stars tonight.” The older knight nods. After a few moments of silence the corners of Jet’s smile drop a few hairs. “You two sure are a pair, I bet I speak more in a day than you two do in a month, together.” He snorts at his own joke. “I’m going to head into position, you guys go on in whenever you’re ready.” 

I glance at the assassin, watching for his que. “Alright, young one, try to beat me there!” And with that the man blurs even more and vanishes. I groan in irritation before  walking over to the table, to check where I’m going. 

I swear I hear him laughing.