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Noé didn't know why, but since he heard about this new curse bearer he had a strange feeling in his gut. It wasn't fear, as he didn't experience the symptoms that usually came along with it, like the uneasiness and paranoia that would leave him alert at all times. It also wasn't anticipation, he wasn't particularly hoping for something to happen. It was just- a feeling that told him something was going to happen. He didn't know what. He didn't need to. He just knew that it was going to happen and that it would change things, for better or worse, and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Which brought to mind the other thing he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. "Are you ready to leave or not?! 'Cause I'm going with or without you! Dante run me dry for all it's worth for the location of the curse bearer, and if when I get there he isn't where he's supposed to be, you're paying him the next time I need anything from him, you hear me?!" Vanitas screamed at him from the door of their hotel room. "Okay, I'm ready, we can leave now." Answered Noé as he put on his coat. A new series of murders had appeared throughout Paris, with the common thread that all of them had died from blood loss. This was an obvious tell that the culprit was a vampire, one affected with a malnomen at that, but there was a peculiar detail about all of them. Non of the victims showed any signs of struggle or self defense. This wouldn't have been an unusual thing if it were just a few of them, as most people don't have the speed nor the strength to try to fight off a vampire, but some of the victims had been bourreaus, and not even they had any injuries on them save for the bite mark on their neck. That was unusual. He didn't have the slightest idea on what the reason for that could be. It seemed Vanitas had an idea but he wasn't very eagger to share it with him.
After they got the information they needed from Dante, they returned to the hotel. Vanitas had been oddly quiet on the way there, as if he were lost in thought. In same measure curious and worried for his partner, he asked what was on his mind.
"It's none of your concern." Said Vanitas in a tone that clearly stated that he wasn't in the mood for conversation.
"It's about the attacks, isn't it?" Noé knew that he shouldn't press on a subject if the other person didn't want to talk about it, but this was Vanitas he was talking to, and if it indeed was about the attacks, then it was of his concern.
The responding silence was the only answer he needed.
"Do you know what malnomen It might be?" Inquired Noé.
After a moment in which no words were uttered, Vanitas responded, "I have a slight idea on what it might be, but I need to be there in person to say for sure. And if it is what I think it is," his expression darkened for a fraction of a second. "then we're gonna have a more difficult time dealing with it than I previously thought."
That conversation happened yesterday, and since then they hadn't said anything about it. Now, they were headed to the place where the curse bearer should be while Vanitas loudly complained about having to walk all the way there. •*"°"*• •*"°"*• •*"°"*• The first thing he noticed when they got there was how quiet everything was. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of their footsteps echoing through the streets, as if announcing their presence to anyone that would hear. That unknown feeling increased the deeper they ventured into the neighbourhood. After a while, Noé turned to face Vanitas and asked, "Hey, Vanitas? Aren't you getting a wierd feeling from this place?" "Pfft- Why? Don't tell me you're scared!" Said Vanitas, even though he too had an uneasy expression on his face. "No, it's just- don't you think that everything's a bit too quiet?" It almost seemed as if his words had augmented the volume of their steps. Vanitas stopped suddenly. "Noé, shut up." He stopped beside him. "You didn't have to say that so rudely, you kno-" "Shut up!" He whisper-shouted. Now that they had stopped walking, he could tell that it hadn't been that their steps seemed to be sounding louder, but that another pair of footsteps had joined the silence around them. When Noé looked around to look for the source of the noise, he found a man walking up to them. He was wearing a black suit with a matching hat, a silver watch that hung from his breast pocket and white gloves that contrasted the dark colour of the fabric. He couldn't see his face very well, but he could tell that his skin was awfully pale. The closer he got, the better he could see his features, and after a few moments he could tell that- His eyes were closed. Vanitas seemed distressed when he noticed this last detail. "Merde. Noé! That's the vampire we're looking for! I need you to keep him distracted for a bit, but whatever you do, don't look at him in the eyes!" He turned to look at him. "What do you mean keep him distracted?! Can't you just cure him?!" Said Noé with a bit of desperation in his voice. "I need to take his watch first! That's the main source of the malnomen, when I take it from him then I can cure him!" "Yeah, sure, because that makes a lot more sense!" "Just do what I'm telling you, damn it!" Demanded his annoying partner as he took the book of Vanitas and started flipping through the pages, searching for something. Noé turned again to try and distract the vampire, (even though the instructions given to him still didn't make any sense) only to find that the vampire- "Umm, Vanitas?" "What now?!" "He's gone." He started looking around searching for the vampire that had disapeared from the place he previously was at. "What do you mean he's gone?!" He looked on the rooftops. He wasn't there. "I mean that he's gone!" He looked to the alleyway to his left. He wasn't there either. "Then start looking for him!" He looked to the alleyway to his right, the one nearest to Vanitas. No trace of the vampire. "What do you think I'm doing-!" He looked behind him, and he was met directly with a pair of silver eyes that resembled clocks. They were hypnotizing, he felt as if he couldn't look away. He thinks he heard a faint voice calling his name, and then a gasp when those complex eyes left his to look at another person, but by that point it was already far too late, and then Noé knew no more.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Slow mornings are the best things in the world. Waking up little by little while being surrounded by the comfort of your blankets still pleasantly warm from your body heat is truly an amazing way of starting your day. When Noé was little, his body developed the unconscious habit of clenching and unclenching his fingers to wake himself up on mornings where he was allowed to sleep in, and that particular quirk of his never went away even as he grew up. Dominique used to always tease him about it, saying that it looked like he was making grabby hands at the air. He never minded those comments. It just was such a great feeling, and he would fight (verbally, of course) anyone who told him otherwise. He might have already done so with the girl previously mentioned. "Noé, I swear if you don't wake up within the next five seconds, you're going to experience how it feels to be woken up by being thrown out of a window!" Vanitas' screams were the first thing that greeted him upon regaining consciousness. He really missed those slow mornings. "Okay, okay, I'm up." In any other circumstance Noé would have protested a bit more at being woken up so suddenly, but he could tell that Vanitas was serious and he didn't want to experience defenestration first thing in the morning. It took him a few seconds to remember the events that had led up to this wonderful way of greeting the world: the new murders that had appeared in Paris, the information they bought from Dante, his conversation with Vanitas, going to the location of the vampire and finally- The moment he opened his eyes and looked around he could tell that they ("This was entirely your fault, you complete imbecile!") had messed up. He wasn't in his room at the Chou-Chou hotel, he wasn't even in the middle of the street where he had passed out, he was in a random hallway at his teacher's mansion. At the same time he could tell that it wasn't really his teacher's mansion. It lacked all the paintings that he remembered hung from the walls, the awful ceramics that he hated because they didn't match with anything and the flames that lit up the chandeliers didn't give off any actual heat. "What happened, Vanitas?" Asked Noé, confusion lacing his every word. "What happened is that you did what I explicitly told you not to do, and looked at the damn vampire in the eyes!" Vanitas had a weird mix of anger and desperation on his face. If he didn't know him any better, he would even say that underneath all of that a layer of panic could be seen. "But what does that have to do with anything?! And why are we at my teacher's mansion?!" It was in times like this that Noé thought that he would get more information talking to a rock than talking to his partner. Vanitas looked like he wanted to strangle him. "I'll just tell you when we find everyone so that I don't have to say the same thing over and over again." "What do you mean 'find everyone'?! Hey, wait a minute!" Vanitas had already gotten up and had started walking away from him. It was pretty clear that he was looking for something in the other rooms in the hallway, and that he had no intention of waiting for him to catch up. 'Well,' thought Noé. 'I might as well join him.' And so, he got up and started looking for whoever it was they were looking for, trying to keep up with his partner's pace. •*"°"*• •*"°"*• •*"°"*• Today's morning had started as a fairly normal one. She had gotten up, brushed her teeth, eaten breakfast, gotten dressed and continued a book that had recently peaked her interest. Nothing truly remarkable. Dominique's mornings were actually very repetitive and boring. She didn't do much nowadays. Since Noé started working with that human that called himself Vanitas she didn't have anyone to bother anymore, so she had started occasionally reading the books that had been gathering dust on the shelves for years and taking a stroll here and there. The rest of the time she spent doing the tasks being a De Sade required of her. She looked out of the window and noticed the beautiful sky outside. It was mostly clear, with only a few clouds decorating it here and there. It was common knowledge that the sky of Altus Paris mirrored that of the human world's Paris, which meant that the skyes of the former reflected those of the latter every minute of every day with no exceptions. It was such a curious thing that Dominique had such a small amount of information on. Maybe she should read a book about that topic next time. The youngest De Sade then thought it might be a good idea to go on a walk to spend the time. She was starting to grow bored of the book anyway and maybe she could even surprise Noé and pay him a visit. With her mind made up, she changed into more suitable clothing for going outside and headed towards Paris. Her first stop was a park she knew was close to the hotel where Noé was staying at. When she arrived there, she sat down on one of the benches covered with a bit of shade from one of the trees behind it. There she let time fly a by, relaxing to the sound of the wind rustling the leaves, the background noise of couples' and friends' conversations and the joyful laughter of children playing with each other. It brought back memories of her, Louis and Noé playing in the forest when they were kids. More often than not Noé would end up lost somehow. Louis and her would find him an hour later crying under some tree saying that 'he was sorry' and that 'it will never happen again'. Then Louis would take them both to his room to play some more and let them sleep in his bed. Louis always was better at comforting Noé than she ever was- Dominique was brought out of her thoughts when a child fell and started crying because he scraped his knee. Looking at the sky once more, she surprised herself with the amount of time she had spent lost in thought. It was getting quite late if the setting sun was any indication. She had to leave now if she wanted to pay Noé a visit. It was a 15 minute walk from the park to the hotel. Once she arrived there she went to the receptionist. She thinks she recognizes her from the time she barged into count Orlok's study to take Noé with her to the masquerade. Her name was Amelia if her memory serves right. Ah, fun times. "Excuse me mademoiselle, would you happen to know if Noé Archiviste is currently in the hotel?" Recognition shone in her eyes. "Monsieur Noé? I'm sorry, he left with monsieur Vanitas about an hour ago. I'm really sorry, I don't know when they'll be back." If the woman was telling the truth, and she most likely was, she didn't have any reason to lie, then they probably were dealing with a curse bearer right now. Which meant they probably wouldn't be back for a while. She held back a disappointed sigh. "It's quite alright miss, I'll come back another time." She gave the lady a friendly smile and turned around to return to Altus. She passed out before she opened the door. •*"°"*• •*"°"*• •*"°"*• Jeanne had only started looking forward to the next morning since she became Master Luca's knight. Before that, she couldn't be bothered to be happy about waking up yet another day without having any reason to, except to serve Lord Ruthven's every order. But now that her job was to protect the young Master... she was still surprised she was happy to wake up and face the next morning, but she couldn't say she wasn't, well, happy about it. Ever since she was assigned this new position she had changed her routine: when before she would only wake up, get dressed, and immediately go to Lord Ruthven's side to assist him in anything he needed, she now would also make sure to wake up Master Luca, have breakfast with him and then accompany him in his duties. He reminded her of herself, in a way. At least when she was younger, like him. He was just a child, and he carried such a heavy weight on his shoulders. He did everything that was demanded of him, he worked so hard to live up to the role that was bestowed upon him from such a young age. Yet he still smiled and maintained his innocence. Her job was to keep alive those qualities, and to make sure they would last as much as they could. That his innocence wasn't lost to battle like hers. That his smile would never have to be one he had to practice in the mirror in the morning. And when one evening she found herself losing her consciousness at the same time as Master Luca, she couldn't help the panic that rose inside her, telling her in that single second between standing up and laying on the floor, that this could be the moment she failed at that very same job. •*"°"*• •*"°"*• •*"°"*• When she next woke up, she was greeted by the sight of a living room that definitely wasn't Lord Ruthven's, the unconscious form of Miss Dominique, another three other people that she vaguely remembered from somewhere and no Master Luca. ... ...Wait! "Master Luca! Master Luca, where are you?!" Jeanne shouted, hoping that he would respond. What had happened? Where even was she? Why had they all appeared inside this room? These were all questions she asked herself as she frantically got up and started looking around the room. "Who the hell is shouting this early in the morning?!" Exclaimed the ginger guy that was next to the other two people she didn't really know. Later, when she had calmed down, she would wonder how anyone could have had the energy to shout so loudly right after they had woken up. But right at that moment, she didn't pay him any mind. When searching around the room turned out to be useless, she opened the first door she found on sight to start searching there. It led to a long, wide hallway with a lot more other doors. She didn't waste any time and almost kicked down the first door on her right. A quick look inside revealed what looked to be an empty bedroom, with only a bed, a wardrobe and another door inside that most probably would reveal a bathroom if opened. No one was inside though. She opened the next door. There was no one inside. She opened the next door. The same result. She opened the next door. The room was empty. She opened the next door- There was a young boy on the bed, 'Master Luca' her mind supplied. It seemed all the noise had woken him up. He looked confused, maybe a bit scared, but he was physically unharmed. She almost instantly calmed down. "Master Luca, are you alright?" she asked him. Her tone was calm but if you looked closely you could see the leftover tenseness in her whole body. "I-I'm fine Jeanne, but- do you know where we are?" She didn't. But she couldn't just say that and hope he wouldn't panic at least a little. She then remembered that miss Dominique was also there, along with the other people. Maybe one of them knew where they were. She told Luca as such. "I don't actually know of our current location, young Master, but there are other people here as well that could do. They are just a few doors down the hall." He looked a bit skeptical. "Are you sure we can trust them?" "Miss Dominique is present, so I can say with certainty that we can trust at the very least one person in that room." She could tell that Master Luca wasn't completely satisfied with her response, but he seemed to relax at that answer. "In that case we should head there and ask a few questions." "Come with me, I'll show you the way." As they walked back to the place she had woken up at, there was a lingering silence between them. It was one formed from the restlessness and anxiety of suddenly appearing in an unknown place, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Now with the knowledge that Master Luca was safe and that she had him by her side gave Jeanne some peace of mind that made that silence a comforting one. And then the silence was broken by a series of screams coming from within the room. "Dante, control yourself for God's sake!" A male voice that, despite the tone that was being used, could only be described as sweet and soothing exclaimed. "I'm not stopping until I get out of here!" After another voice, Dante's she assumed, shouted that, a loud crash could be heard. "Maybe you should use that stupid brain of yours for once and use a door!" When they entered, they were greeted by the sight of the redheaded man running towards a window, a grey haired young man shouting at him, a light brown haired woman with glasses that looked done with life and miss Dominique failing miserably at trying to hold in her laughter. To say Jeanne was confused would be an understatement. "Um... is... everything alright?" Miss Dominique perked up at the sound of her voice. "Oh, Jeanne! You're here too?" She turned to her with a smile on her face. She didn't look worried at all despite their circumstances. "It's nice to see you miss Dominique, although I wish it were under better circumstances." Her expression sobered a bit at those words. "I- yes, this is not the best of occasions to catch up, is it? I was just on a walk to visit Noé when I passed out, and then I woke up... here." She turned to look around the space. Was that... recognition on her face? "Do you happen to know where we are?" It took her a moment to answer. "I think so? This looks like my grandfather's mansion, but it doesn't at the same time...?" The last sentence came out as a question. "What do you mean?" "It's just that- the layout is the exact same, most of the furniture is identical, but some of the finer details like the pottery and paintings are different or missing altogether." That was weird. "And- do you know if there's any way we could get back to-" The door that led to the hallway opened suddenly with a very loud thump, making everyone turn to it, some of them on high alert, only to reveal a very satisfied looking Vanitas and an exhausted looking Noé behind it. "Well," said Vanitas, "it looks like we found everyone." A collective thought ran through the minds of everyone present in the room. 'Whatever's going on right now, this is absolutely his fault!'