Kapitel 7: Chapter 5: Ventrosi, Merely a Small Stop
1
Genevieve spent her first day within Ventrosi to understand the city. Its people, fashion, and workings. She won't say it out loud, but she enjoyed her time in Piagrado much more than Ventrosi.
For now, Genevieve need to think about a way to retrieve Eve and the Wayfinder. At least, after finding out where they are. In the first place, she wondered if there was something she could've done to have prevented this.
While Genevieve's mind was falling into a spiral of 'what-ifs', she was walking along the streets of Ventrosi. It was inaccurate to say that the whole city was covered in pitch-black, it was washed by the shade of onyx.
The buildings, the streets, and even the velocipedes that she saw were all within the spectrum of white, gray, and black. Even the clothes that they wore were gray or black with some splotches of white. The more she walked around the more dread she felt being surrounded by such things. There was even a part of her that sympathizes with the rumored rebels.
Her mind wandered to what they might do to Eve. Obviously, losing the Wayfinder is detrimental to her journey. Without it, she won't be able to continue her journey. However her mind was not on it.
All that mattered to her was Eve. All that matter to her was to rip her from their grasp, no matter the cost. She had decided so when she decided to play along, which meant she should try to keep her notoriety low. It would've been easier to force her way in, but that would be much too troublesome in the long run.
Genevieve stared at herself within the mirror and she frowned. It wasn't the usual dresses she would wear. It wasn't even a dress at all. It was similar to her outfit when she descended the mines, except this one lack any such color. Nothing about this outfit even felt like her. Yet, it was necessary.
She walked out of the clothes store wearing a tight gray jacket, looking like something her brother would wear. Tight pants that somehow felt both constricting and flexible, thigh high boots, and a scarf she draped over her head. Even passing by a window of a shop, she looked into her reflection and cringed for a moment.
"Any means necessary, Gen." She muttered to herself. "All for Eve."
She walked towards the Guardian building, passing it as if she had no business there. She couldn't see their reactions, but she realized when she first came, the Guardians all stared at her from far away. It might've been because she was being guided by a Guardian or because her outfit was different. Whichever the case, they weren't staring at her right now – though she doesn't know if they recognized her.
She pulled the scarf to cover her golden hair as she walked around the building. She thought herself to be blended with crowd and used it to her advantage. She walked along the building's sides, making mental notes of each side as if her life depended on it.
A poster, a small crack, a discolored brick, even a wet spot. Each thing that was considered abnormal, she burned into her mind. After rounding the building, she walked away towards a window on the other side of the building and used it to observe the Guardians.
They weren't lax. They stood guard as if hawks observing their prey. She even thought that they might've noticed her standing there, looking at them. She tried to push the thought away and walked towards a different building.
Genevieve had noticed an apartment building next to the Guardian's building. She saw it had an alleyway out of view so she walked in there and observed the building. It had pipes running on the side of the building from the very top to the very bottom.
She still had her rings that attaches to Eve which meant she could use its threads. The way the threads works were like any threads except they were much stronger but much more limited. It can't be used to tie things together, it couldn't be used to tie knots, and they exist only when the user was using them.
After learning how to create, use, and manipulate the threads, she understood why there were not many Wizards in Modrata. In a city where automation was prized highly, the manual nature of Magicks was seen as obsolete.
Even as Genevieve was focusing on the threads to be able to manipulate their properties, she wondered why Magicks even exist if they were so archaic. Nevertheless, she wasn't delusional enough to not admit it has been useful at times.
She held out one hand towards the piping above her and the small light-like thread escaped her rings. They flew towards the pipes and bore into it, making no marks. With a tug of her hand, she felt that the threads were not moving.
Placing one foot on the wall, she started to climb it with the threads suspending her as if some rock-climber. When she reached the pipe she needed to focus her other hand and release threads unto the next pipes. Then again, and again, and again.
While the feat didn't look like anything too hard on the account of Genevieve's smile, but it was truly strenuous. Using Magicks required instinct and focus, it was the equivalent of playing two people's worth of sonata without learning its composition. Genevieve shut the rest of the world away and focused solely on this.
Once she got to the roof of the building, she let out a sigh and even fell to one knee. "My…this is…unbecoming…of me…" She muttered with bated breaths. She took the moment to praise the Wizard that taught her how to use Magick as he seemed to make it look easy.
Genevieve crouched to edge of the rooftop and watched the building intently. There didn't seem to be any way to come up to this roof and most of her body was well-hidden. With that in mind, she decided to watch the building for the rest of the night.
She watched the Guardian standing in their posts. She watched the masses, coming and going inside, outside, and around the building. She was watching the building and everything around it, waiting for anything.
As the day kept going, the sun drowned beyond the horizon, making way for the moon to rise. As the amount of people walking to and fro decreased, it was easier to keep tabs of the building and the Guardians.
Then, Genevieve noticed something. There was another, one who was keeping an eye towards the building as she was. And like her, they were keeping a low profile.
Genevieve's focus changed to them instead, wondering if there was some way for her to use them. When the concerto of footsteps slowly died down, the ones she kept an eye on slowly disappeared into the shadow of a building.
She didn't have many things with her, but for the moment, she had thought of making something like a telescope. A mask would be useful too, she thought to herself. For now, she watched the Guardians some more.
The Guardians who were oblivious to the ones watching them, kept their posts, switching only within intervals of six hours. Genevieve would look at her watch to see what time it was to formulate her plan.
When fatigue was finally taking hold of her, Genevieve climbed down the building slowly. It was much harder to get down than it was to get up. Before she even got to the ground, she lost her focus and slammed against the ground – hard – She even did an audible yelp.
With pain coursing through her body, Genevieve pushed herself off of the ground and looked down at herself. "Lucky that it's dry as a bone." She muttered while dusting herself off. Her focus then turned to every which way to make sure no one saw the unsightly display. "Right, safe." She smiled to herself before making her way back to the hotel.
2
Genevieve woke up near noon, when she looked at her watch, she saw the needles pointing eleven-thirty. She gave a small groan and said, "Dearest sister, I do not feel like waking up today." Though not frequent, this type of days happened to her.
However, as if she was expecting some kind of answer from the doll, she raised her head and looked around the room. "Oh yeah, they have my dearest sister." She seethed as if her absent answer was abnormal.
Genevieve wore her usual clothes; a dress, a shoulder cape, and a skirt, all colored white and blue, and made her way to the Guardian building. She walked inside and approached the man behind the counter. "Excuse me, I would like to know when I may be allowed to have my dearest sister please." She asked without any preceding questions.
The man looked at her for a moment then gave a nod. "Certainly, I would ask for you to take a seat first as I call in the commander." With an acknowledging answer, Genevieve did as he asked.
She waited around ten minutes before the man from yesterday, Lorenzo, approached her. "Miss Laurent." He said warmly. "Is there something else I can help you with?"
"Oh, I was wondering, good sir, when can I have my dearest sister back?" She asked politely.
"Ah, yes, the doll." Genevieve's polite smile disappeared when he said those words.
Without waiting for him to continue, Genevieve spoke, "I assure you, good sir, my dearest sister is much more than a simple doll. Now, may I take her back?" She tried her hardest not to start a fight but it was getting annoying for her.
Lorenzo stared back at the girl as if dealing with a child's tantrum. "Forgive me, but we need to keep her longer."
"How much longer?"
"Far too long it seems." His veiled insult at her temper did not go unnoticed. "Forgive me, but if you wish to take her early, well… I simply don't see how that could be possible." He didn't seem to gain any enjoyment out of this, but it was clear he refused to return Eve or the Wayfinder – at least, not in the state Genevieve left them. "If you would like, you may stay in this city as long as you'd like and perhaps we might return her to you. Next month at the earliest."
This interaction with him was all the proof she needed. It was proof that she won't be returning to this city once she left. Before then, she needed the Wayfinder and Eve. "I understand." She kept her voice and tone neutral, not showing any kind of expression.
"Then, I shall leave this city tomorrow, I suppose. Thank you for your help." With that, Genevieve left the building.
She had little to no time thanks to the earlier declaration, which she regretted a bit, but she had an idea of what to do. For now, she needs to buy a velocipede. Luckily, she was able to find an advertisement for a store, plastered within the alleyways yesterday.
It wasn't a big shop even by the stretch of the imagination, it will suffice however. Genevieve saw a myriad of ready-made velocipedes, some of them piquing her interests while others were too boring.
"Excuse me, which one would you recommend for two passengers?" She asked the clerk behind the counter.
She was a young lady, perhaps older than she was, but definitely did not have the wrinkles of age. "Ah, a two-seater? Or are you looking for a tandem? A cart? Is there some kind of specifics that you need?"
Her enthusiasm for her job surprised Genevieve. Much more so when she saw the state she was in. She wore the same gray clothes and coat that everyone and their mothers seem to sport, but there was something about her that stood out.
The girl's hair was messy and unkempt, something that would cause Genevieve's mother to retch. However, it wasn't the same as when a person neglect or chooses to keep them that way. In fact, her skin, her nails, all of it made Genevieve think not of neglect, but something worse. If she had to guess, it was like multitudes of health issues.
However, the one thing that surprised Genevieve the most was her eyes. She hasn't talk or interact with much citizens of Ventrosi, but there are things that she noticed – their eyes for one. In this city, either their eyes seemed to hide some kind of deep fire inside or they looked vacant, as if their lights had been taken.
This girl had those same vacant, dead, and empty eyes. The bags under her eyes making the darkness seeming to pop out to Genevieve. Yet, when Genevieve asked about the velocipedes, those eyes were shining. The same way her sister dearest, Melody, would look at her when she showed off her experimental opuses.
It was at this moment when Genevieve realized how empty this shop was. Not just that even within the streets, she had seen velocipedes, yes, but they are rare. No, not rare, selective. Rewinding the images within her mind, she realized that the ones who uses velocipedes were Guardians.
"I see." She muttered, causing the girl to tilt her head slightly. "Never mind, good madam. What is your name if I may ask?"
The girl, surprised by the sudden question, tried to fix up her messy short hair. "Yes, forgive me. I am unseemly." The way she said made it felt like the girl had a hint of self-hatred within her voice. "Hello, my name is Lana. It's nice to meet you, miss!" She gave an awkward curtsy.
A part of Genevieve found her lack of communication skill to be adorable. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lana dear. My name is Genevieve Laurent, I hope we can get along going forward." She gave her usual curtsy. "Though, I will be leaving the city tomorrow so perhaps we won't have enough time to get along." She added with a slight chuckle.
Lana stared at her as if she was bewitched by her grace. "Y-yes, it's a pleasshure-" She stopped her words and cleared her throat. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Laurent."
"Gen is fine, Lana dear. Forgive me for asking, but who are your usual patrons?" Lana's eyes opened wide, at least the one that was visible, when given the question. "Is that a company secret?"
"Oh no, Gen, most people would know that Guardians and their friends and family are the one who buys velocipedes." Listening to her answer, Genevieve wondered if she gets into trouble often because of how candid she was.
"Is it impossible to buy without a Guardian's salary? How about Artisans and Forgers?" Hearing her question, Lana froze, showing hesitation to answer. "Never mind then. Turning the question around, would you get into trouble if you bought one without having a Guardian's backing?"
Lana's face contorted complicatedly. "Well…" She looked up at Genevieve with fear in her eyes.
Genevieve leaned closer to her slowly, as if approaching a scared animal and placed her hand on her chin. Then she got close to Lana's ear and whispered, "I'm not from around here. I promise you will not get into trouble. Just tell me what you want to." She knew what she was doing, but she can't help but pretend as if it wasn't some kind of seduction.
She pulled her face away from Lana and saw her red cheeks. When it was clear she was about to be flustered, Genevieve placed her finger on her nose like it was a button to stop her. "Can you do that for me?" She asked sweetly.
This was the first time she had done something like this, but her mother had told her stories when she did such acts. Of course, she prefaced the story by telling her not to tell Melody.
Seeing Lana's red face turned to a cute restrained smile as she nodded vigorously made her think she shouldn't do this haphazardly. Still, she can't deny that the girl was being absolutely adorable.
"Uh…well Gen…" Lana stopped to swallow a lump in her throat. "…okay…I'm fine… The Guardians in this city, they're the leaders."
"Not the government?"
"They are the government." Lana stopped to look behind Genevieve's shoulder. "Well, anything they say goes. This caused reforms after reforms until now."
"Any reason for this?"
Lana looked towards the ceiling to recall the information. "If I remember correctly…money issues? I'm sorry I don't quite know what the catalyst was…" She looked down, frowning from the bottom of her heart.
Genevieve silently vowed to never try to use seduction unless absolutely necessary. "It's fine, can you explain what the reformations are?"
Lana tilted her head. "Let's see…Forgers need to work in factories that are heavily guarded. I don't know much but there are rumors that they're worked like a slave, but I could be wrong. Artisans can't make anything, they need approval, I think. And Wizards-" She immediately closed her mouth with her hands.
That gesture explained everything. Genevieve's eye twitched. Whatever it was, it must be something as cruel or stupid as the first two. How dare Lorenzo pulled her dearest sister into this. "I understand, you don't need to continue." She patted the girl almost as lovingly as she would Melody. The more she talked with Lana, the more she missed Melody.
"I'm sorry, but that's all I could say." She looked genuinely sad. However, she was loving the headpat as she kept leaning into Genevieve's hand. Genevieve wondered if she was a victim of child neglect.
"Does that mean I can't leave the city or buy a velocipede?" Lana didn't answer, reveling in Genevieve's hand instead. "Lana, dear?" She pulled her hand away from her.
Coming back to her senses, her face turned as red as a tomato before she looked down at her feet. "N-no, y-you don't have- have a Ventrosi identificashion. J-just show it to the Guardians by the gate and they'll let you pass."
Genevieve placed her hand on Lana's head once more and patted her. "Thank you, Lana dear." She then started thinking about her experience on the train. "Unless I have something that they outlaw, huh?" She muttered to herself.
"Pardon?"
"Nothing, dear." She kept patting her, more aggressively this time, causing Lana to make some kind of noise. "My, you're adorable, dear. Now, let's pick a velocipede."
Genevieve brought back a velocipede which was a two-seater with a tandem, packs on either side of the back, and an extra compartment below the seating. The extra compartment was something she had never seen before, but everything else was normal. It was a standard velocipede without any other customization. Most of the velocipedes were, only having a few changes here and there.
There was a place near the hotel building to place the velocipede. Multiple velocipedes were lined there and each one looking similar to the previous. As she walked away from hers, she had to admit that she was scared of losing it amongst the crowd. Luckily each wind key is unique and won't start another person's velocipede.
She went to her room and prepared what she needed. She switched to the black and grey jacket before preparing her luggage. She placed her clothes, parts, and whatever else she can fit into the case and prepared her clothes for tomorrow morning.
The sun had set and the moon had risen, it was time for her to blend into the sea of gray. Slipping from the hotel quickly, she made her way back to the Guardian's building. Then she made her way to an alley where she last saw the (presumed) rebels.
Unluckily, the alley was not empty. Whether they were guarding the building or not didn't matter. What she needed was information on these people, once she has that, she can finally move things along.
She kept walking around the building, following the other citizens, making sure none of them was able to spot her from the crowd. She was starting to hate her hair color but she knew it was circumstantial hate.
With no other way she could see, she went to an adjacent building. The alleyway was empty and there were more pipes. She didn't want to risk by going slowly, but she was afraid to fall. Nevertheless, she tried anyway.
Using the threads like they were whips, she attached them to the pipes and pulled as hard as she could. She felt like her arm was getting ripped from its sockets, but this opened a new possibility albeit a dangerous one.
She kept pulling, launching herself upwards with each pull, but her concentration would waver. Then, she would attach the thread in panic and took deep, heavy breaths. Then, she tried again and again, making her way to the building feeling like she had lost years of her life.
Genevieve crawled across the flat roof to get a view of the other building. It also had a flat roof that she could get on top of. Unlike the other rooftops, it had a door that led inside the building.
She prepared her threads once more, it was just bare close enough for her threads to reach. With a deep breath and a smile, she ran off the building and pulled as hard as she could. Not prepared for the momentum, she landed on the roof on her side, sliding across the hard stones, and muffling her groans.
Genevieve got up unsteadily, walking towards the door. It was locked but Genevieve knew how to unlock most locks from the outside thanks to her mother. This one wasn't anything hard and she was able to unlock it quickly.
The building was quiet, at least on this floor. Her footsteps would echo loudly if she stepped too hard so she was taking her time. There were noises, voices downstairs and she hoped that it was what she was looking for.
She got close to the stairs and heard the voices. The particulars of the conversation was not something she cared for but the context of who they are was important. The way they spoke, the caution in their voice, and the anonymity in the way they carried themselves. This was what she was looking for.
Genevieve doesn't have many chances, she doesn't want to leave Eve alone any longer. Tomorrow she needs to start her plan. She'll get her back and continue on her journey. By any means necessary.
3
Genevieve woke up late once again. She was busy working on an opus late into the night yesterday even though she knew that she had to leave today. Considering the situation, she decided not to take a long bath. And while she was lacking the indulgent pleasure of bathing, the fact that Eve was not there to do her hair pissed her off more than not.
She looked at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath. "Still yourself, Gen. We mustn't show our unsightly selves, even alone." Her words were meant to remind herself of what her mother told her.
Genevieve went to the front desk and checked out of the hotel, she then placed her luggage within the tandem car of her velocipede. When she pulled out the wind key, a couple of Guardians walked up to her, with Lorenzo leading them. She didn't show it, but her smile had a certain edge to it.
She sat on the velocipede and said, "Lorenzo good sir, to what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Miss Laurent, since you had said you were leaving today, I wanted to have the privilege to escort you to our gates." He smiled.
"I didn't tell you what time I was leaving though… Did you wait all morning for me to leave the hotel?" Genevieve prodded.
"Yes, since it's such a rare occasion, we set aside the whole day to escort you. It's a shame, the place we were waiting – that restaurant – it's a wonderful place. I'm guessing you did not have the time to enjoy the place whilst you were staying?"
"Sadly no. I tend to not have a good palate so the hotel breakfast is enough for me."
"That was truly a shame. We went to the hotel early and informed the receptionist to invite you for breakfast. But he said that he sees you leaving within the afternoons only."
"Yes, I'm not really good with mornings…or night either…" Lorenzo nodded at her words, which meant she doesn't suspect her lurking within the dark of night.
"Well, would you want to head for lunch before leaving?"
"No, I must really leave now. Forgive me." She lowered her head.
"No need to apologize, I should be the one to apologize for imposing on you. Now, shall we head off?"
Genevieve stared at his eyes, there was no suspicion in them, simply caution. For now, she was still in the clear which would work wonderfully for her. "Yes, let's."
With the three Guardians escorting her, Genevieve made her way to the gates of the city. The wandering eyes that pierced into her seem to tell that this was not a common occurrence. Of course, she didn't care. That was something that she didn't need to worry about since there was something much more important to focus on.
The Guardians by the gate gave their salute and the group stopped. "Thank you for your escort, I should be fine from this point onward, Lorenzo good sir."
"Of course, I am not able to escort you from this point onward either." He chuckled. "I wish you luck on your journey."
She didn't particularly enjoy the man's niceties. She can feel it was genuine but the fact that he took Eve away was something unforgiveable. "Thank you, is there anything I should be worried about? While I'm on the road I mean."
He looked at one of the Guardian and took a step forward. "If you find some…Wizards on the road, do be vigilant. They claim to want to help but those words….deception, nothing less."
Genevieve smiled. "I see… How about Ielot?" She asked innocently.
The city's name was enough for the Guardian to show the slightest bit of expression. Even without his expression the other Guardians' body language was enough to show their aggression. However, she pretended to not notice, waiting for his answer with an innocent smile.
"Ielotians…they're much worse… They are an insult and heresy to what we believe in."
"And what belief is that?"
He raised an eyebrow, "A belief in the one true god, The Steadfast Scales."
Genevieve was considerably far away from the city now. Even from this distance, the buildings were still visible. She even hazard a guess that it would probably still be visible from the next town over.
She went to the nearest tree for shade and opened her luggage. She had bought a sheet of cloth that was big enough to place whatever she was carrying. With the parts leftover within her luggage, she went to work.
The first thing was to finish an opus that she had made the night earlier. It was a masquerade covering her eyes with lenses within them. It had multiple lenses that she could set to act as spyglass. The scarf she was currently wearing could hide her lips and hair but she had to be careful as it could fall off at any time.
She then grabbed some leftover parts and started to get working on some small opuses. She didn't want to spend too much time with this but she did have to wait for the sun to set. After working for a while, she had to take a break by eating a sandwich that she bought from the hotel.
Looking at her watch, it was three-thirty in the afternoon slowly turning to evening. She still had time so she decided to do something she hasn't done before. With her little knowledge of Magicks, she's going to experiment. She just hoped that it won't fail her when she needed it.
When it was almost five, Genevieve had switched her dress and made her way to the city. There wasn't much ways inside of the city which meant that the gates were the easiest one to use. However, since the gates were the only one people would realistically use, no one would expect anyone to scale the walls.
There weren't any pipes on the side of the building, but Genevieve doesn't need a foothold any more. She used her threads and pulled as hard as she could, launching herself upwards. Her focus was infallible now, it was an all or nothing moment where her focus was only on Eve.
She made her way down the wall that protected the city, looking around her more frantically thanks to her limited field of vision. After making sure it was safe, she went to the nearest alleyway.
Genevieve joined the sea of people and made her way to the Guardian building. The small opuses that she made was something that she came up with thanks to her adventures within the mines. It was dangerous, but effective.
She walked around the Guardian's building, remembering a part of the wall that had cracks on them. She walked up to it and crouched down, petting a cat who was sitting there. She then placed her opus next to the cat, covering it with a torn up poster or advertisement. "You should leave this area." She whispered to the cat.
Genevieve then walked around the building more as she did, she wondered if wearing the masquerade now was more suspicious or less suspicious. Whichever the case was, most people didn't even notice her – her being shorter than the average person here also helped.
She placed three opuses on the Guardian's building. Then, she placed one on the building of the rebels. Knowing the size of the opus, it shouldn't do too much damage, but she honestly didn't know if adding Magicks would impact that.
Genevieve prepared a letter ahead of time, she walked to the rebels' building, making sure they saw her, and slid the letter under the door before knocking loudly. She then walked away and disappeared into the crowd.
As for the Guardians, she only had to give them a tip off. The problem is that they might recognize her and she did not have anything to put that suspicion away. Whether she wanted to or not, she had one thing to do.
Making her way to the same building where she bought her velocipede, she saw Lana daydreaming within the building. She reminded Genevieve of Melody when she would wait for her at home. Even when she opened the door and walked in, she didn't react to her.
Genevieve walked up to the desk, staring at Lana with a smile on her face. Her eyes were looking somewhere really far away right now, and the dumb look on her face made her want to pinch her cheeks.
Thinking about what she should be doing, she took of her scarf and masquerade. Even so, Lana still didn't break from her daydream. Genevieve snapped her fingers in front of her eyes, finally dragging her back to reality.
"Yes! Good afternoon…Gen…?"
Reacting to her name, Genevieve raised her finger in front of her lips. "Forgive me, Lana dear, but don't say my name aloud."
She narrowed her eyes, "Why? Are you in danger?"
"Yes, that's why I left the town today."
Lana nodded. "I see…if you're being targeted that means leaving the city would be safe…wait, why not asking the Guardians for help?"
She shook her head, "They said if they see me even go to the Guardian's building, they'd start hurting people."
Lana looked visibly worried, so much so that Genevieve would liken her to a terrified cat. "Doesn't that mean you're in trouble by being here?"
She nodded. "Yes. That's why I need your help." She placed a piece of paper on the table. "I found out where they're hiding. I need you to tell the Guardians discreetly. Just hand them this piece of paper and make sure they know that you're not lying, okay?"
Lana's eyes were filled with even more worry and fear. "W-why couldn't you do it?"
"It's too risky and dangerous. If you say my name, it might even cause trouble for the Guardians." Her voice was soft and kind. "Can you do this for me, Lana dear?" She looked into the girl's eyes deeply, knowing full well how cruel she was being.
It was a moment of hesitation, but when Lana saw Genevieve's blue eyes, her mind was made up. "O-okay! I'll do it, I'll help you." Genevieve thought it was cute for her to show her blatant motives like that.
"I trust you, Lana dear… I need to leave now, thank you."
As she made her way to the door, Lana stared at her with anxiety in her eyes. Her outline slowly growing smaller made her tremble in a way she hasn't felt before. "Gen…" She said almost like a whisper.
In this empty store where noise was absent, her small whisper reached her ears. She stopped and turned around towards Lana, her eyes and hair seeming to glow in the dark of the room. "Yes, Lana dear?" Her voice fleeting like a passing dream.
Lana froze. Her body felt constricted and cold. "W-will I see you again?" She didn't know why she asked that but she was afraid of the answer.
Genevieve gave a kind smile, the type that a mother would give to her child. "I hope that we do. For now, we must part, Lana dear." She raised her scarf and wore her masquerade, leaving the store.
Genevieve was atop a building that was neither the Guardian's nor the rebels. It was a building where she was able to observe the two without anyone noticing her. It would also serve for her to notice when Lana made her way here.
The letter she gave the rebels detailed that the Guardian's knew about their hideout. How they will come to investigate, possibly tomorrow when they could get more evidence. If they don't believe it outright, it would at least cause them to be alarmed.
As for the Guardian's, it wasn't something so surprising. The letter said that there have been complaints about the building of the rebels. They'll probably go and check the building, knock on the door, and asked some questions. Certainly, it wasn't anything dangerous, but just that is enough for them to panic.
Then, the cream on top of the cake was the opuses. She'll go and cause chaos here and there and it should be enough to create an opening for her. Sure, there were different ways of dealing with this, but this was the one that she decided was the fastest – also, she was a bit annoyed at Lorenzo.
Genevieve spot Lana walking towards a Guardian and gave the letter. In hindsight, it might've been better to not tell her a lie like she was targeted. After all, Lana was a bundle of nerves right now. Then again, she found Lana's believing her every word to be admirable and cute.
Once she gave the letter, the Guardian opened it and read it. They showed the letter to their coworker who seemed to be indifferent to it. Even with their helmets covering their faces, Genevieve was surprised at how expressive they were. By the way, all of this was visible thanks to her own spyglass on her masquerade.
Seeming to do their work solely on obligation, the Guardian walked towards the building. They knocked on the door and there was no answer. They knocked again and the ones who were obviously aligned with the rebels there started to gather nearby. Then they knocked again, seeming to be louder.
"Well…I suppose now is as good a time as any." Genevieve watched over the street one last time. There were still a lot of people walking about but she didn't particularly care. The chaos they'd cause is what she needed.
The Guardians seemed to be slamming on the door now, impressing Genevieve with how heavy-handed their rule was. Then, Genevieve used her Magicks. It wasn't capable of anything else than just activating it, but that was enough.
One explosion within the Guardian's building, causing confusion. The second caused panic. The rebels then jumped the Guardian in front of their hideout. The panic and chaos spreads further. The people within the streets were scrambling for cover. Then it was time for the third and fourth explosion.
"This is going wonderfully!" Genevieve said to herself before jumping down to the streets. "Wait for me, dearest sister!" She said to no one in particular.
4
The chaos, the screaming, and the shouting drowned out whatever noise Genevieve made. She glided through the streets, between the panicking masses, and into the Guardian's building. There were three explosions she had done to the building which meant that it had four openings.
She went through the hole within the north, the one with the least amount of people. When she was inside, she scrambled through the building, trying to figure out where they were keeping Eve. She didn't have long. The structural integrity was quickly falling apart and she didn't account for it when she made her plans.
Rubbles here and destruction there, Genevieve weaved through the pandemonium, trying to find a way down. Because of what she did, the Guardians all scrambled around. Even within the building, heavy footsteps were plenty.
Since it was the dead of night and the explosions disturbed the flow of energy within the building, it was almost pitch black. She can still see within the darkness but just barely. Genevieve had to rely on her other senses to know when a Guardian was approaching.
A minute passed, then two, then three and Genevieve was starting to get annoyed. She couldn't find the stairs that she used when she first came here and she also remembered it didn't head down.
Her mind was going as fast as it could trying to figure out where Eve would be. When she was within the higher floors, it didn't seem like they would place important objects such as her opus.
She questioned and questioned the layout of the building, realizing she wasn't fully prepare. Even so, she didn't want to waste a single second, not anymore.
With nothing else but faith inside of her, she kept going through the dark, fumbling through and trying to find a single piece of clue. Then, after what felt like ages, she found it. She found stairs leading downwards. There was no time for hesitation, she ran as quickly as she could.
Once she hit the lower floor, which was around three levels from the ground, she saw a double door. Unlike the other doors within the building and even the floor, it was made of steel with a heavy padlock.
Locked doors had never deterred her before and she wasn't about to let this do. She pulled out the picks within her pocket. She started her work. It was almost like the world had fallen away, all that exists was her and the lock in front of her.
When she unlocked it, her heart felt lighter. There was no doubt that she would open it, but there was a part of her that felt heavy. Heavy because her dearest sister was not next to her, heavy because she was alone – not anymore.
The door opened and the first thing she saw enraged her. On a table, behind metal bars, and alongside other confiscated items, were pieces of Eve – of her dearest sister. Her eyes opened wide in relief, disgust, happiness, and anger. She was there, but she was defiled.
Genevieve hurried to the lock of the metal bars, pulling out her pick locks and forced the door open. She walked in and approached her sister that is until, "Hey! Who's there?"
From behind her came a voice. It wasn't a heavy or gruff voice. If anything, it was a voice unlike any other Guardians she had seen or knew. So, Genevieve slowly turned to see its owner.
He wasn't wearing the same helmet as the other Guardians. He didn't seem as strong or even imposing as any of the other Guardians. If Genevieve had to say, he felt out of place without being out of place.
"Who are you!?" He asked loudly.
Genevieve approached him slowly and he took a step back. Then she got closer again but he held his ground this time. When Genevieve was not even a meter away, their eyes locked against one another. Genevieve's blue and the man's green, almost like they were stabbing daggers with their looks alone.
"Who. Are. You?" The man asked slowly, unsure if it was fear or determination that caused him to say it such a way.
With an annoyed sigh Genevieve answered, "I wouldn't suppose you'd let me leave with what I want, would you?" Her tone polite, as if she hadn't just put a hole on the side of the building.
The man raised his arms and entered a stance. It was obvious from the way he held himself up that he was not a fighter. Considering he's a staff within the building, Genevieve guessed that he must've had some semblance of training. Yet it was quite clear that it wasn't enough.
She sighed, "Unfortunately not." Before the words had fully escaped her mouth, she rushed the man. Genevieve was not trained in martial arts, at least not professionally so. In her attempts to make Eve perfect, she had her mimic martial arts movement. In the loosest of sense, Genevieve knew how to fight.
With the man unprepared, Genevieve placed both her hands on his chest and arm. She was only slightly shorter than she was and she could tell the man had more muscles. With all of her body weight, she pulled the man down.
When he felt his feet left the ground, he placed intent within his hands. With the last of his strength he grabbed her arms like a vice. Genevieve wasn't a strong girl, so she herself got hurled to the ground along with him.
The two of them weren't near each other and Genevieve recovered quicker. A part of her felt unladylike that she was getting used to rough treatments. Then, a different part of her realized something. She was not strong enough to win this bout.
She got up and looked around the small room, there wasn't much stuff. However, she noticed a cane on a table, right next to her dearest sister.
She broke into a sprint, almost slipping a few times in her attempt. She then vowed to buy shoes with more grip on its sole.
Genevieve could hear the man got up and was straining to chase her down. She made her way to the cane but the man tackled her to the ground. As she was falling to the ground, she was reminded how graceful and strong Eve was when she was fighting those monsters. This is none of that, this was a mess of a bout.
She forced the man away from her by repeatedly kicking him in the chest. She had thought a single one was enough but he was tenacious, taking around five good kicks to the chest before he fell backside.
Genevieve scrambled on her feet, slamming her hands against the desk, trying to find the cane by touch alone. She felt a long stick-like object between her fingers, grabbing it like a vise and swung it towards the man as hard as she could.
Luckily, that was enough to knock the man out before she looked at the cane within her hand. She raised her hand and saw a stick where not even halfway up was snapped in half. Looking at the cane as a whole, she was reminded of a Wizard's staff.
In her mind, since the staff was here already, that had meant the owner was not capable of retrieving it. Therefore, she didn't need to feel guilty about breaking it. Still, there was a twang of guilt in her conscience.
She placed the broken staff on the desk once more and let out a curtsy, "Thank you for your staff, Wizard whose name I know not." Before turning her attention to Eve.
Genevieve was elated. She was happy, excited, and glad to be able to see her dearest sister even if the circumstances were a bit rough. With deft movements, she assembled her opus, making her look like she was not even taken apart in the first place.
However, she noticed that the Magicks she was imbued with had disappeared. So, she would need to remake them. She also understood that there was not enough time to take it slow, opting to just making Eve able to move at best.
Using the magical threads, she manipulated Eve to stand in front of her. Her eyes stared at the doll up and down, scrutinizing every single bit of the opus. Then with a wide smile, she opened her arms wide and placed Eve under her embrace. "Welcome back, dearest sister." For anyone to see this they would simply think her mad. If Melody were to see this, she'd certainly would've hated her.
Nevertheless, her objective now fulfilled, Genevieve immediately ran to the corridor she came from. She had to get out of there as soon as possible, making sure no one had seen her. For a moment, she had contemplated on blowing the area to the skies with the man inside, but she was not a murderer.
After moving the man out of the room, she had one last opus to cause the explosion. "You'll like this, dearest sister." She said happily as she tossed the opus inside and ordering Eve to close the door.
The sound of the explosion shook the building, but at this point, there was enough racket within the streets that no one would realize it. This was the opportune time to disappear, she could not delay longer. With that thought in mind, she made Eve carried her out of the building as quick as she could towards the hole where she first came in.
Genevieve's focus was only that of escaping. That is why she did not notice the man being on the edge of his consciousness and seeing her running away with the doll.
Once she made it out of the building, she spared no time nor effort to command Eve to get her out of there. There wasn't a lot of places people like her would be able to hide and not to mention, she forgot to bring a disguise for her. So, she went with the next best move.
Pushing Eve's limbs to its limits, she soar through the sky as she did in Piagrado. The control was harder as attaching Magicks to the doll was a rush job. Luckily, most buildings were taller than where she stood, making it easier to brace for landing.
And so, Eve hoped from one building to another with Genevieve within her embrace. All the while, Genevieve watched the visage of her beloved and dearest sister against the moonlight. Forgetting and ignoring the chaos she had wreaked upon this city.
Once they were outside of the city's walls, Genevieve got off of Eve. "Well, dearest sister, I think we are in the clear now. Though, forgive me but I placed the velocipede quite far from here so it is a considerable trek." She asked, hoping for a voice to forgive her.
When no response came to her, her deluded mind filled in the blanks. "Thank you dearest sister, I truly am sorry for my incompetence." She hugged the doll as tightly as she could, tighter than she would her own flesh and blood. "To make it up for it, I'll even be the one operating the velocipede. Until we get to Larghist that is…" She thought about finding a stop for the train, but leaving the velocipede seemed a waste.
With that, her little detour within the city of Ventrosi was finally over. Underneath the stars, reunited with her dearest sister, she walked until she couldn't anymore towards the Velocipede. Then, within that dark night, she would operate it towards the Larghist.
As she made her mind up with a clear objective, she had forgotten about havoc she wreaked within Ventrosi. If anything, she never even considered the hurt and pain she caused. She will. In the future, when all of her actions will come back as the cycle of karma, she will face her consequences.
However, as it stands, Genevieve was on her way to Larghist. Leaving destruction and sorrow in her wake.
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