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[Lord of the Mysteries] For the Ones We Left Behind 4/15 (3166 words)
Title: For the Ones We Left Behind 4/15
Fandom: Lord of the Mysteries
Character/Pairing(s): Audrey Hall, Leonard Mitchell, Melissa Moretti, Benson Moretti, Klein Moretti, Xio Derecha, Fors Wall
Rating: PG-13
Warning: none?
Summary: MI9 catches Benson Moretti, and end up with more than they expect.
If the cacophony of sirens and panicking people weren’t enough, Fors Wall felt her head ring as she listened to Xio shouting loudly at an MI9 officer who towered a whole head and a half over her. It certainly wasn’t the first time that something like this happened, as Fors realised that Xio often got treated like a child merely because of her height.
Perhaps it was a physiological thing, she thought through the mild headache, that if a man had to tilt his head down too much to speak to someone, he might use language that he would use for a child and not listen to the other person at all.
Of course, of all people, it was Xio Derecha who knew how to use that trick to her advantage the best. She often wore platformed boots in order to appear taller while undercover, but other times she utilised her height in a way that would make grown men cower away from her.
Like at this moment.
“And how dare you not allow people shelter in times like this!” Xio was yelling loudly, enough to be heard clearly over the crowd. Despite the many who were pushing their way toward the churches, some stopped to listen to her, finding logic in her words. “This building is sturdy enough to stop the bombs! If you let us in, you could save lives!”
“Madam,” the officer attempted to naysay her, “I am not allowed—”
“To help?” Xio demanded, staring up at him from where she was standing, far too close to be appropriate for a woman to stand next to a man. “Look at these people! Look at this building! What if a bomb drops right here, right before anyone could take shelter? Let us in!”
“Yes!” Fors added, allowing a hint of panic to bleed into her words. She wrung her hands together and heightened her voice to be heard as well, “The churches might already be full! What if they kick us out by the time we get there? Where would we go?”
“We’d be thrown to the streets!” Xio agreed, picking up where Fors left off.
By now, there were a handful of people who stopped, blocking the path for others. The streets weren’t anywhere near crowded, but there were still dozens of stragglers out looking for shelter from the bombs.
“I-is this true?” A young mother asked from several paces away, holding onto the hand of her child. Fors felt a pang of guilt for tricking them, for inciting them to stop on their journey to safety. “Are the churches full already?”
Fors wasn’t sure, but knew it happened before. On at least two other occasions, there were several churches that had to turn away people simply because they could not fit any more bodies inside without potentially crushing everyone.
“The churches are full?” A man carrying a large suitcase exclaimed, attracting the attention of five others. “Where else can we go, then? Young man! That building behind you! Why are you guarding it?”
“Look at how tall and sturdy it is! It wouldn’t fall even if it were attacked directly!” Xio called out without turning her attention away from the MI9 stationed at the door of their headquarters. She knew they wouldn’t get much time, as the man must have already called for backup. She pulled her cap down low over her brow, and once again raised her voice, “Why won’t you let us in? We would not be trespassing upon a home, this is the wrong side of town for that!”
“This must be an office building, isn’t it?” Fors called out, already knowing the answer. “Let us in just for the while!”
“Yes!” Another person called from behind them. “Let us in, let us in!”
A clamouring of voices started, at first weak but quickly gathering in number.
Within moments, a dozen people were crowded at the entrance of the building, shouting to be allowed in and pushing forward. The harried man grimaced and pushed back against the crowd, arms spread out wide to prevent anyone from getting to the door.
“Stand down!” He roared at them. “Stand down, you animals! This is an official government building, and you are not allowed within it!”
“The government should be providing shelter for us!” A woman hollered back, and Fors exchanged a glance with Xio as their plan worked.
Within moments, the door opened and another officer came out, looking startled for a moment before joining his comrade’s side.
Before the door could close again, Xio ducked down small and Fors opened the book of Leymano’s Travels in her palm, the pages flipping until it fell onto a spell added by Miss Justice: psychological invisibility, charged at the level of a demigod.
She activated the spell, grabbed onto Xio’s hand, and the two of them slipped right past the two MI9 agents and through the door before it could fully shut, even if it caught slightly on Fors’s ankle as she passed.
Within the darkened lobby of MI9 headquarters, everything looked large and daunting, the noise falling to near silence once the door shut behind them, blocking out all sounds of the panic outside.
“How long will that ability last?” Xio whispered to her.
Fors shook her head. It wasn’t the first time she made use of that ability, but she never tried to use it to cover two people before.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back. “Let’s just look around and get out before it wears off.”
They snuck through the lobby with a wide atrium, sticking close to the walls and shadows, ducking behind furniture when they heard footsteps coming just a little too close. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone noticeable there, as most seem to have either gone home for the day or were further into the building due to either work or the air raid.
The atrium was large with tall, coffered ceilings of polished wood, the crossbeams making the height of the room look deep and mysterious. The paneling and furniture of the room reflected that deep taste, with even the floors polished to a dark shine and with so much wood Fors was scared that a board would creak under them and give them again.
Fors’s heart was pounding as she followed Xio, the two of them holding hands. She once hoped that their days of danger would be behind them, but how was it that things felt more dangerous than before? This was just a request from Miss Audrey, in the same manner they used to investigate other criminals before, and so there was a feeling of nostalgia as they snuck down the hall toward a series of signs and stairs.
Fors never heard of the name Benson Moretti before, but if that person was important enough to Miss Audrey for her to request information on him, and for MI9 to arrest him? Perhaps there was a blind spot in her knowledge, or he was secretly someone many powerful people were paying attention to.
She shuddered at the thought, a burst of excitement lighting up her thoughts. Perhaps he was a secret agent! A cultist! After having successfully hidden himself for many years, he was caught due to a careless accident— or because he let down his guard and trusted the wrong person—
“It looks like there are several Verdicts set in place within this building,” Xio said with a frown, her eyes glinting as she examined the space around them. “...we’ll have to be careful. Invisibility might be prohibited if we go further.”
“That makes sense,” Fors whispered back nervously. “Most of MI9 are of the Arbiter pathway, right?”
She was already surprised they managed to get in so easily. MI9 must be very confident that no one could spy on them, or that enemies would face dire consequences.
“We’re not here to make enemies,” Xio whispered. “Just find out about Benson Moretti.”
Fors nodded, and they continued on, sticking to shadows when they could. The deeper they went, the more lamps were lit, and the more people walked in and out of rooms.
We’re not here to make enemies, Fors repeated to herself nervously. We’re just here to find someone, and if we can’t, find out if he’s confined here or not. That’s not very illegal, is it?
Besides the breaking into a government building part, that was. That was definitely very illegal.
At that moment, Xio stiffened slightly and stopped.
“What is it?” Fors whispered.
The blonde woman waited a moment, and then shook slightly to end her trance.
“A message from Miss Justice,” Xio whispered back. “She says that she and Mr. Star are also on their way here. This must be very important indeed!”
Fors hesitated for a moment and weighed her fear of being here against the excitement of finding someone important who could potentially be a future ally.
“Then maybe we can give them good news by the time they arrive.” She whispered.
—
Leonard originally planned on investigating MI9 through the use of several spirits at his command, even if he knew they would not be able to infiltrate the building directly. Any standard Beyonder organisation would have traps in place for enemies that tried to steal information from them. MI9 was known to be especially paranoid, as the churches tended to be quite lax because of the amount of civilians they openly invited in during the day.
Only places like Chanis Gate needed to be guarded, and the Nighthawks would have a separate property where they could operate freely. Most people would have no reason to infiltrate the churches or go against the official Beyonders, but there were always those with reason to go against MI9.
From what he could glean from rumours and hearsay when other Nighthawks joked about the government, MI9 was plenty prepared for any of the churches to suddenly turn against them. They even had a list of rules for it.
Complicated machinery and mechanical creatures were not allowed within MI9, spirits were not allowed within MI9, and many uses of Beyonder powers in general were not usually allowed within MI9 premises.
Abilities that were already activated could enter, but any unauthorised use of Beyonder powers within the building had to already be sanctioned ahead of time, or it might alert a demigod of an intruder.
He wished he could warn Miss Justice about that, except it was hard to speak of Beyonder powers while they kept Melissa safe between them.
If he had just a little more time… or perhaps the ability to convey messages without need of speech, then this would be easier!
As it was, Leonard attempted to somehow telepathically convey the warnings to Miss Justice, only to have her gaze back at him with amusement.
She probably understood what he meant to say… right?
The sirens had long since stopped, and the streets were now far emptier than before, most civilians having already found places to hide. No sane person would willingly leave those places until the all clear signal was given, and it would normally be a prime time for both him and Miss Justice to use whatever abilities they had to facilitate the search, but with Melissa there…
“It’s eerie,” the young woman said quietly as they made their way down the streets toward MI9. “Everything’s so quiet now.”
“They’re hiding,” Miss Justice explained. “Whether it makes a difference or not, even children will stay as quiet as possible while hiding.”
“Not that any airships could hear us no matter how loud anyone screamed,” Leonard tried to joke. “And they should be gone soon.”
Just another day in Backlund in the midst of war. Had this been a little earlier in the day, the vendors would soon return to hawk their wares, and pedestrians would line the streets again as if the air raid hadn’t even happened.
“There is one thing I want to know,” Melissa spoke up, a little more reassured in her volume now. She stole a suspicious glance toward Leonard. “How do you know where to go?”
Leonard nearly tripped over his own feet, prompting an undignified noise to escape his throat.
Miss Justice shot him a sympathetic look on Melissa’s other side.
“I, uh.”
Didn’t I say it before? Pellaz drawled in Leonard’s mind. You need to pay more attention to your own words and actions!
He was a little busy! How was he supposed to purposely meander and delay things when he was worried about Benson Moretti’s safety as well? Leonard felt he was being very unjustly scolded. Who knew what MI9 were up to? Certainly not him!
Your team will realise you’re missing very soon, the old man continued to chastise. I doubt you can convince them you skipped on purpose, with how diligent you’ve been the past several months.
Should he have pretended to be more of a slacker? There was no way he could have foreseen this!!
“With Mr. Mitchell’s affiliation to the church, he may have access to more information than we do.” Miss Justice interrupted smoothly, giving Leonard a reprieve. “Besides, there are—”
A bark interrupted her, and Audrey straight up joyfully.
“Susie!”
It was a large dog with a pouch strapped to its back that trotted up to them in an unhurried manner, giving Miss Justice time to bend and give it several affectionate pats.
Melissa startled, eyes darting between the blonde lady and the dog. “...I thought you left Susie at the Foundation?”
“Oh, she’s very good at finding me. We make a game out of it,” Miss Justice dismissed breezily. She gave one last loving pat to her dog, and turned to smile at Melissa. “I actually sent her off to search for a scent. Susie’s a hunting dog, and her coming back must mean she’s found a clue.”
“You let your dog out alone like this during an air raid?” Leonard asked, genuinely shocked.
“She’s a very smart dog,” Miss Justice defended. “And very sensible!”
She turned back to Susie and asked slowly, enunciating carefully as if speaking to a child, “Susie, where’s the location of the scent I gave you?”
In the meanwhile, her eyes darted in one direction purposefully, and then she looked down demurely and curled her lips up in a half-smile.
Whatever it was she was trying to convey without Melissa’s notice, her dog seemed to have picked up on it and barked once, wagging its tail before turning around and taking a few steps in a certain direction and then stopping and looking back, as if waiting for them to follow.
“Perhaps she found Benson for us,” Miss Hall suggested, as if this were a very normal thing to say. “She’s going in the same direction as us, why not check out this clue along the way?”
“Ah—?” Melissa drew back slightly in a bewildered manner, brows drawn in uncertainty. “Is that how it works?”
“Yes, a dog has a very keen nose,” Leonard used that momentum to let Miss Justice take the lead. He took a step forward as well, boots sinking in the thin layer of mud covering the cobblestones. Overhead, the last rays of light were slowly sinking over the horizon, alighting the sky orange from where bits would peek out around the thick clouds.
You must learn to lie better, Pallez complained. Look at Miss Hall next to you. If she weren’t so open with you, I would never have noticed anything off with her words no matter how strange the context. But then again, that is something a Spectator pathway Beyonder would have to learn.
Leonard wasn’t going to question how Pallez connected Audrey Hall with a spectator based on the information he knew and Leonard’s strange reactions around her the previous few minutes, but perhaps that was just the wisdom of the very old.
The very old, Leonard wanted to grouse, even though Pallez couldn’t hear him.
“Let’s go, Melissa,” Miss Audrey said gently as she reached for the young woman’s arm and smiled sweetly. “I have a feeling we’ll find your brother very soon.”
—
The sound of the heavy door opening jolted Benson once more from his reverie.
This time, there were four people who slowly and carefully entered the room, and the door was propped open. He didn’t recognise any of the four, but he did see the man who questioned him earlier standing several steps beyond the threshold of the room, a lit cigar in his raised hand and deep blue eyes that glinted in the dark like a cat’s.
Benson shuddered.
The four men were each carrying the corner of what looked like a large table cloth or bedsheet, thin and white. It fluttered slightly with each movement.
“Did you know,” the blue-eyed gentleman started to say, voice just as gruff as before, “that when it comes to mysticism, the stronger the power, the stronger the impression it leaves? Perhaps this is why we’ve kept you this long.”
“Is this still about the necklace?” Benson dared to ask, because if he didn’t put on a brave face, he might fold under the uncertainty of what was going on.
The man took a long drawl from the cigar, the embers on the end lighting up his face for a moment before it faded and he was left back in shadow with his strangely glowing eyes.
“Do you smoke, Mr. Moretti? No? I suppose not; that was written on your file. The scent clings to you, and even after a long day, one can easily smell the brand of cigar lingering on your person. That’s how it is when someone is exposed to an extraordinary item for a long time: it clings. Normally, it would be easy for me to find the truth, even in a gentle interrogation.
“But for you… I’m afraid we can’t determine if what you say is the truth or not. It is the lingering anti-divination, you see. It clings to you, even when we take the pendant away. Strange, for something so weak. That’s what makes you so very interesting, as even now we have no accurate means to discern whether you are hiding something from us. But no matter.”
As the gentleman finished speaking, the four men inside the room stood two to each wall, bringing up the thin white sheet up like a screen close to Benson. He stood uneasily, pushing away from his seat and fully aware that there was nowhere for him to escape.
What were they doing?
The gentleman, whose appearance was blurred further through the sheet, took another long drag of the cigar, and exhaled in contentment.
“While not the gentlest of approaches, for any one matter that we cannot accomplish ourselves, there will always be a Sealed Artefact that can accomplish the task for us.”
Somehow, it felt like even the light was distorted through that strange white sheet.
Then the man spoke to the others.
“You may begin.”
A/N: So I think psychological invisibility works-- per person? As in, one person would be fooled, but not a crowd, but then again I'm taking some liberties, and this was captured on the level of a demi-god, so let's just say we can pass this off.
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Fandom: Lord of the Mysteries
Character/Pairing(s): Audrey Hall, Leonard Mitchell, Melissa Moretti, Benson Moretti, Klein Moretti, Xio Derecha, Fors Wall
Rating: PG-13
Warning: none?
Summary: MI9 catches Benson Moretti, and end up with more than they expect.
If the cacophony of sirens and panicking people weren’t enough, Fors Wall felt her head ring as she listened to Xio shouting loudly at an MI9 officer who towered a whole head and a half over her. It certainly wasn’t the first time that something like this happened, as Fors realised that Xio often got treated like a child merely because of her height.
Perhaps it was a physiological thing, she thought through the mild headache, that if a man had to tilt his head down too much to speak to someone, he might use language that he would use for a child and not listen to the other person at all.
Of course, of all people, it was Xio Derecha who knew how to use that trick to her advantage the best. She often wore platformed boots in order to appear taller while undercover, but other times she utilised her height in a way that would make grown men cower away from her.
Like at this moment.
“And how dare you not allow people shelter in times like this!” Xio was yelling loudly, enough to be heard clearly over the crowd. Despite the many who were pushing their way toward the churches, some stopped to listen to her, finding logic in her words. “This building is sturdy enough to stop the bombs! If you let us in, you could save lives!”
“Madam,” the officer attempted to naysay her, “I am not allowed—”
“To help?” Xio demanded, staring up at him from where she was standing, far too close to be appropriate for a woman to stand next to a man. “Look at these people! Look at this building! What if a bomb drops right here, right before anyone could take shelter? Let us in!”
“Yes!” Fors added, allowing a hint of panic to bleed into her words. She wrung her hands together and heightened her voice to be heard as well, “The churches might already be full! What if they kick us out by the time we get there? Where would we go?”
“We’d be thrown to the streets!” Xio agreed, picking up where Fors left off.
By now, there were a handful of people who stopped, blocking the path for others. The streets weren’t anywhere near crowded, but there were still dozens of stragglers out looking for shelter from the bombs.
“I-is this true?” A young mother asked from several paces away, holding onto the hand of her child. Fors felt a pang of guilt for tricking them, for inciting them to stop on their journey to safety. “Are the churches full already?”
Fors wasn’t sure, but knew it happened before. On at least two other occasions, there were several churches that had to turn away people simply because they could not fit any more bodies inside without potentially crushing everyone.
“The churches are full?” A man carrying a large suitcase exclaimed, attracting the attention of five others. “Where else can we go, then? Young man! That building behind you! Why are you guarding it?”
“Look at how tall and sturdy it is! It wouldn’t fall even if it were attacked directly!” Xio called out without turning her attention away from the MI9 stationed at the door of their headquarters. She knew they wouldn’t get much time, as the man must have already called for backup. She pulled her cap down low over her brow, and once again raised her voice, “Why won’t you let us in? We would not be trespassing upon a home, this is the wrong side of town for that!”
“This must be an office building, isn’t it?” Fors called out, already knowing the answer. “Let us in just for the while!”
“Yes!” Another person called from behind them. “Let us in, let us in!”
A clamouring of voices started, at first weak but quickly gathering in number.
Within moments, a dozen people were crowded at the entrance of the building, shouting to be allowed in and pushing forward. The harried man grimaced and pushed back against the crowd, arms spread out wide to prevent anyone from getting to the door.
“Stand down!” He roared at them. “Stand down, you animals! This is an official government building, and you are not allowed within it!”
“The government should be providing shelter for us!” A woman hollered back, and Fors exchanged a glance with Xio as their plan worked.
Within moments, the door opened and another officer came out, looking startled for a moment before joining his comrade’s side.
Before the door could close again, Xio ducked down small and Fors opened the book of Leymano’s Travels in her palm, the pages flipping until it fell onto a spell added by Miss Justice: psychological invisibility, charged at the level of a demigod.
She activated the spell, grabbed onto Xio’s hand, and the two of them slipped right past the two MI9 agents and through the door before it could fully shut, even if it caught slightly on Fors’s ankle as she passed.
Within the darkened lobby of MI9 headquarters, everything looked large and daunting, the noise falling to near silence once the door shut behind them, blocking out all sounds of the panic outside.
“How long will that ability last?” Xio whispered to her.
Fors shook her head. It wasn’t the first time she made use of that ability, but she never tried to use it to cover two people before.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back. “Let’s just look around and get out before it wears off.”
They snuck through the lobby with a wide atrium, sticking close to the walls and shadows, ducking behind furniture when they heard footsteps coming just a little too close. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone noticeable there, as most seem to have either gone home for the day or were further into the building due to either work or the air raid.
The atrium was large with tall, coffered ceilings of polished wood, the crossbeams making the height of the room look deep and mysterious. The paneling and furniture of the room reflected that deep taste, with even the floors polished to a dark shine and with so much wood Fors was scared that a board would creak under them and give them again.
Fors’s heart was pounding as she followed Xio, the two of them holding hands. She once hoped that their days of danger would be behind them, but how was it that things felt more dangerous than before? This was just a request from Miss Audrey, in the same manner they used to investigate other criminals before, and so there was a feeling of nostalgia as they snuck down the hall toward a series of signs and stairs.
Fors never heard of the name Benson Moretti before, but if that person was important enough to Miss Audrey for her to request information on him, and for MI9 to arrest him? Perhaps there was a blind spot in her knowledge, or he was secretly someone many powerful people were paying attention to.
She shuddered at the thought, a burst of excitement lighting up her thoughts. Perhaps he was a secret agent! A cultist! After having successfully hidden himself for many years, he was caught due to a careless accident— or because he let down his guard and trusted the wrong person—
“It looks like there are several Verdicts set in place within this building,” Xio said with a frown, her eyes glinting as she examined the space around them. “...we’ll have to be careful. Invisibility might be prohibited if we go further.”
“That makes sense,” Fors whispered back nervously. “Most of MI9 are of the Arbiter pathway, right?”
She was already surprised they managed to get in so easily. MI9 must be very confident that no one could spy on them, or that enemies would face dire consequences.
“We’re not here to make enemies,” Xio whispered. “Just find out about Benson Moretti.”
Fors nodded, and they continued on, sticking to shadows when they could. The deeper they went, the more lamps were lit, and the more people walked in and out of rooms.
We’re not here to make enemies, Fors repeated to herself nervously. We’re just here to find someone, and if we can’t, find out if he’s confined here or not. That’s not very illegal, is it?
Besides the breaking into a government building part, that was. That was definitely very illegal.
At that moment, Xio stiffened slightly and stopped.
“What is it?” Fors whispered.
The blonde woman waited a moment, and then shook slightly to end her trance.
“A message from Miss Justice,” Xio whispered back. “She says that she and Mr. Star are also on their way here. This must be very important indeed!”
Fors hesitated for a moment and weighed her fear of being here against the excitement of finding someone important who could potentially be a future ally.
“Then maybe we can give them good news by the time they arrive.” She whispered.
—
Leonard originally planned on investigating MI9 through the use of several spirits at his command, even if he knew they would not be able to infiltrate the building directly. Any standard Beyonder organisation would have traps in place for enemies that tried to steal information from them. MI9 was known to be especially paranoid, as the churches tended to be quite lax because of the amount of civilians they openly invited in during the day.
Only places like Chanis Gate needed to be guarded, and the Nighthawks would have a separate property where they could operate freely. Most people would have no reason to infiltrate the churches or go against the official Beyonders, but there were always those with reason to go against MI9.
From what he could glean from rumours and hearsay when other Nighthawks joked about the government, MI9 was plenty prepared for any of the churches to suddenly turn against them. They even had a list of rules for it.
Complicated machinery and mechanical creatures were not allowed within MI9, spirits were not allowed within MI9, and many uses of Beyonder powers in general were not usually allowed within MI9 premises.
Abilities that were already activated could enter, but any unauthorised use of Beyonder powers within the building had to already be sanctioned ahead of time, or it might alert a demigod of an intruder.
He wished he could warn Miss Justice about that, except it was hard to speak of Beyonder powers while they kept Melissa safe between them.
If he had just a little more time… or perhaps the ability to convey messages without need of speech, then this would be easier!
As it was, Leonard attempted to somehow telepathically convey the warnings to Miss Justice, only to have her gaze back at him with amusement.
She probably understood what he meant to say… right?
The sirens had long since stopped, and the streets were now far emptier than before, most civilians having already found places to hide. No sane person would willingly leave those places until the all clear signal was given, and it would normally be a prime time for both him and Miss Justice to use whatever abilities they had to facilitate the search, but with Melissa there…
“It’s eerie,” the young woman said quietly as they made their way down the streets toward MI9. “Everything’s so quiet now.”
“They’re hiding,” Miss Justice explained. “Whether it makes a difference or not, even children will stay as quiet as possible while hiding.”
“Not that any airships could hear us no matter how loud anyone screamed,” Leonard tried to joke. “And they should be gone soon.”
Just another day in Backlund in the midst of war. Had this been a little earlier in the day, the vendors would soon return to hawk their wares, and pedestrians would line the streets again as if the air raid hadn’t even happened.
“There is one thing I want to know,” Melissa spoke up, a little more reassured in her volume now. She stole a suspicious glance toward Leonard. “How do you know where to go?”
Leonard nearly tripped over his own feet, prompting an undignified noise to escape his throat.
Miss Justice shot him a sympathetic look on Melissa’s other side.
“I, uh.”
Didn’t I say it before? Pellaz drawled in Leonard’s mind. You need to pay more attention to your own words and actions!
He was a little busy! How was he supposed to purposely meander and delay things when he was worried about Benson Moretti’s safety as well? Leonard felt he was being very unjustly scolded. Who knew what MI9 were up to? Certainly not him!
Your team will realise you’re missing very soon, the old man continued to chastise. I doubt you can convince them you skipped on purpose, with how diligent you’ve been the past several months.
Should he have pretended to be more of a slacker? There was no way he could have foreseen this!!
“With Mr. Mitchell’s affiliation to the church, he may have access to more information than we do.” Miss Justice interrupted smoothly, giving Leonard a reprieve. “Besides, there are—”
A bark interrupted her, and Audrey straight up joyfully.
“Susie!”
It was a large dog with a pouch strapped to its back that trotted up to them in an unhurried manner, giving Miss Justice time to bend and give it several affectionate pats.
Melissa startled, eyes darting between the blonde lady and the dog. “...I thought you left Susie at the Foundation?”
“Oh, she’s very good at finding me. We make a game out of it,” Miss Justice dismissed breezily. She gave one last loving pat to her dog, and turned to smile at Melissa. “I actually sent her off to search for a scent. Susie’s a hunting dog, and her coming back must mean she’s found a clue.”
“You let your dog out alone like this during an air raid?” Leonard asked, genuinely shocked.
“She’s a very smart dog,” Miss Justice defended. “And very sensible!”
She turned back to Susie and asked slowly, enunciating carefully as if speaking to a child, “Susie, where’s the location of the scent I gave you?”
In the meanwhile, her eyes darted in one direction purposefully, and then she looked down demurely and curled her lips up in a half-smile.
Whatever it was she was trying to convey without Melissa’s notice, her dog seemed to have picked up on it and barked once, wagging its tail before turning around and taking a few steps in a certain direction and then stopping and looking back, as if waiting for them to follow.
“Perhaps she found Benson for us,” Miss Hall suggested, as if this were a very normal thing to say. “She’s going in the same direction as us, why not check out this clue along the way?”
“Ah—?” Melissa drew back slightly in a bewildered manner, brows drawn in uncertainty. “Is that how it works?”
“Yes, a dog has a very keen nose,” Leonard used that momentum to let Miss Justice take the lead. He took a step forward as well, boots sinking in the thin layer of mud covering the cobblestones. Overhead, the last rays of light were slowly sinking over the horizon, alighting the sky orange from where bits would peek out around the thick clouds.
You must learn to lie better, Pallez complained. Look at Miss Hall next to you. If she weren’t so open with you, I would never have noticed anything off with her words no matter how strange the context. But then again, that is something a Spectator pathway Beyonder would have to learn.
Leonard wasn’t going to question how Pallez connected Audrey Hall with a spectator based on the information he knew and Leonard’s strange reactions around her the previous few minutes, but perhaps that was just the wisdom of the very old.
The very old, Leonard wanted to grouse, even though Pallez couldn’t hear him.
“Let’s go, Melissa,” Miss Audrey said gently as she reached for the young woman’s arm and smiled sweetly. “I have a feeling we’ll find your brother very soon.”
—
The sound of the heavy door opening jolted Benson once more from his reverie.
This time, there were four people who slowly and carefully entered the room, and the door was propped open. He didn’t recognise any of the four, but he did see the man who questioned him earlier standing several steps beyond the threshold of the room, a lit cigar in his raised hand and deep blue eyes that glinted in the dark like a cat’s.
Benson shuddered.
The four men were each carrying the corner of what looked like a large table cloth or bedsheet, thin and white. It fluttered slightly with each movement.
“Did you know,” the blue-eyed gentleman started to say, voice just as gruff as before, “that when it comes to mysticism, the stronger the power, the stronger the impression it leaves? Perhaps this is why we’ve kept you this long.”
“Is this still about the necklace?” Benson dared to ask, because if he didn’t put on a brave face, he might fold under the uncertainty of what was going on.
The man took a long drawl from the cigar, the embers on the end lighting up his face for a moment before it faded and he was left back in shadow with his strangely glowing eyes.
“Do you smoke, Mr. Moretti? No? I suppose not; that was written on your file. The scent clings to you, and even after a long day, one can easily smell the brand of cigar lingering on your person. That’s how it is when someone is exposed to an extraordinary item for a long time: it clings. Normally, it would be easy for me to find the truth, even in a gentle interrogation.
“But for you… I’m afraid we can’t determine if what you say is the truth or not. It is the lingering anti-divination, you see. It clings to you, even when we take the pendant away. Strange, for something so weak. That’s what makes you so very interesting, as even now we have no accurate means to discern whether you are hiding something from us. But no matter.”
As the gentleman finished speaking, the four men inside the room stood two to each wall, bringing up the thin white sheet up like a screen close to Benson. He stood uneasily, pushing away from his seat and fully aware that there was nowhere for him to escape.
What were they doing?
The gentleman, whose appearance was blurred further through the sheet, took another long drag of the cigar, and exhaled in contentment.
“While not the gentlest of approaches, for any one matter that we cannot accomplish ourselves, there will always be a Sealed Artefact that can accomplish the task for us.”
Somehow, it felt like even the light was distorted through that strange white sheet.
Then the man spoke to the others.
“You may begin.”
A/N: So I think psychological invisibility works-- per person? As in, one person would be fooled, but not a crowd, but then again I'm taking some liberties, and this was captured on the level of a demi-god, so let's just say we can pass this off.