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SHADE

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Shade hissed under his breath as he forced himself to calm down. He knew this man\'s voice, and surely, he\'d let him go if he actually introduced himself.

"A-Alcian... It\'s me..."

"Shade?"

A second later, the assassin let him go, Shade taking in a deep breath as he placed a hand on his bruised throat. Giving his supposed friend a pointed stare, he shook his head in mirth. "Really, Alcian?"

"What\'re you doing here?" Alcian growled out, his voice low enough to make sure that they weren\'t heard. "Are you spying on us?"

Taking the hint, Shade sighed as he lowered his voice to match him. "I\'ve heard that there are weapons of mass destruction being developed in Marquee. I\'m here to investigate that."

The sound of Carbuncle\'s conversation seemingly died down in the meantime, Shade\'s attention now focused solely on the man that caught him red-handed as his mind ran simulation after simulation on how he had to play his cards. Did he say that he was working for the Empire? The couple was no longer affiliated with Vestyge, after all. But then, they\'re still clearly sympathetic to the Vestygian cause, even if their current situation was them clearly betraying their homeland.

"Let\'s move somewhere discreet."

Alcian sighed as he gestured for him to follow him. Cautiously, Shade did as he was told, his one hand already on his rose in case something bad was going to happen. Silently, they found themselves hiding in some kind of closet, the small space almost making him claustrophobic especially since he was sharing that same space with a man that could easily kill him if he wanted to.

"Relax, Shade. I won\'t kill you," the former assassin scoffed. "And stop holding onto your [Manifest] like that. You\'re not as discreet as you think."

Clicking his tongue, Shade did as he was told, showing both of his hands to the man with raised eyebrows as if telling him that he had nothing to hide. Still, that didn\'t mean that he was feeling safe. He did cause this exact scenario in the first place because of his meddling, and he wouldn\'t put it past Alcian to take advantage of their current position to leverage and take some kind of revenge against him.

Shade watched as Alcian shook his head at him before he began to run his hands all over the small broom closet. Checking every nook and cranny he could find, he even ran his fingers through the seams of the door before he let out a small huff. "Okay, we won\'t be heard. At least not until someone comes here to check on us."

"I see," Shade cautiously nodded. "I\'m going to assume that you want to hear the full story about why I\'m here?"

"That, and why exactly you\'re spying on my wife." Alcian narrowed his eyes at him, "The last time you did such a thing, I saw you almost placing your dirty hands on her."

Shade blinked. He wanted to defend himself by saying that he was merely respecting the former spy\'s beauty, but he knew better than to antagonize the man right now. Instead, he relayed the rumors he had heard throughout his travels about Marquee\'s quest to develop a weapon strong enough to decimate cities in a single blow, of weapons so powerful that a single attack from it would make the other Nations kneel in fear of the City-State using it against them.

"So you\'re saying that the Intellects are planning on ending the war," Alcian summarized, his hand stroking his chin as he thought aloud. "I suppose it\'s a good thing Carbuncle isn\'t here to hear all of this."

Shade raised an eyebrow at that. "Why are you two here anyway?"

And just like that, Alcian\'s stare almost gave him a heart attack as he glared at him. "That\'s something for us to know and for you to promptly forget."

"P-Point taken," he conceded.

A tense beat passed within the broom closet, both men subtly sizing the other up for a potential conflict they both said would never happen. Still, Shade knew that the chance of him having to fight his way out of the warehouse had just skyrocketed tremendously. He didn\'t even know if he could beat Alcian. He could influence him, sure. But outright defeat him in a battle? There was no chance. The best he could hope for was to escape with his life intact and his [Manifest] still functioning properly.

"So these weapons... Are there any hints as to their existence?"

"There\'s that Project D I just overheard earlier," Shade sighed. He might as well share what he had gleaned from Carbuncle\'s conversation, seeing as Alcian would surely know them as well. "I have no clue as to how things work in this Nation, but that definitely didn\'t sound like something that would see the light of day from the way Carbuncle and that man discussed it."

...

...."What did you say?"

Shade blinked. "Huh?"

"Carbuncle hadn\'t told me anything about a Project D," Alcian\'s eyes narrowed dangerously at him. "And she hadn\'t told me anything about what they\'re discussing right now."

The former Vestygian almost wanted to do a double take. Really? Alcian didn\'t know what his wife was doing behind those closed doors? "What do you think you two are doing here then?"

"I know that we\'re here to discuss our asylum here in Centrax," Alcian glowered. "What I don\'t know is what exactly we\'re offering in exchange for that asylum."

"And you didn\'t think to ask your wife about it?"

"She\'s the skilled talker between the two of us," Alcian admitted, his annoyance still on his face as he spoke. "I\'m just here as her muscle. That, and Gem\'s with her right now, and our daughter will be more than enough of a deterrent for any kind of fool that would dare to harm them."

Okay then. This was big. Alcian didn\'t know why they were even here, but he was still trusting Carbuncle to talk her way into a suitable arrangement. Still, even if Gem was notoriously powerful [Somatic], did the Marqueans know that?

"Are you sure they\'ll be safe?" Shade cautiously asked, his hand subconsciously going to his [Rozen] in case things went south. "We can make sure that remains the case if we eavesdrop on them."

"I know what you\'re trying to do, Dryer," Alcian scoffed as he crossed his arms. "I trust my wife to know what she\'s doing. If she needs help, I\'ll know soon enough-"

[*THUD!*]

A tremor shook the entire ground, dust dripping off the ceiling as the room shuddered from the force of it. Beyond the door, some kind of explosion echoed loud enough for Shade to almost cover his ears. Still, the shaking continued on for about a full ten seconds before it finally stopped.

"Is it over?" Shade asked aloud.

"Carbuncle!"

Before he got Alcian\'s response, the assassin had already moved to open the door.

"Alcian, wait-"

"W-What happened?"

Shade stalled, his eyes blinking in disbelief as he caught a glimpse of what was outside their room. "N-No... There\'s no way..."

"This can\'t be..." Alcian whispered out in utter confusion. "Not unless... Gem?!"

Ignoring what had happened, Alcian left, sprinting out into the open as he left Shade in the relative safety of the broom closet. Meanwhile, Shade, being left behind, could only stare in horrified wonder at what became of the hallways they once walked through. Metal walls and lit-up ceilings were replaced with a childish shade of pink, the very floor itself turning into what amounted to some kind of rubbery material that was almost sticky to the touch. All the while, the very air smelled as sweet as candy, the type that only Vestygians could ever stomach.

"This is... [Wonderland]?"

As if the gravity of the situation finally sank in, Shade bolted out of the room, his shoes threatening to sink into the sticky floor as he made his way back to the room where Alcian had caught him eavesdropping.

As soon as he got there, Shade immediately knew that something was wrong. The door had turned bright pink, a large gooey hole now in the middle of it as the room\'s occupants clearly held themselves in a defensive stance. He saw Alcian with his fists up, while Carbuncle hid Gem behind her in defense.

Avoiding valor, Shade held himself close to the rubbery walls, hoping that he wouldn\'t sink into the gooey sweet ground as he kept himself hidden.

"The deal\'s off, Marquean," he heard Alcian growl. "You don\'t threaten my family without suffering the consequences."

"Do you have any idea what this means?!" the man cried out, his tone clearly exuding a tone of a non-combatant. "Going back on the deal would have you three executed for-"

"Dear," Alcian growled out, probably addressing Carbuncle at the moment. "Hold Gem for me."

"W-Wha-What\'re you-"

[*SPLAT!*]

Shade winced as the sickening sound of meat being squelched echoed across the hallway. Keeping himself hidden, he already knew that what happened in this warehouse was the worst thing that could happen right now. And with him being witness to this, he had already tied his group in with this loud and obvious crime.

There was no going back now. They were now on a timer.

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