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Down by the south river, there was a boat that served as a bar for sailors, or at least that’s what most people thought. It was actually a bar where supernatural creatures could be themselves, without having to worry about any human seeing them. Although, it wasn’t outright banning humans either. Humans just stayed away because most thought it was for sailors who wanted to start fights. Because of this, anyone with half a brain stayed away.
Scott, however, had done the opposite, not because he was an idiot, but because he knew that the bar was a hive for underworld supernatural business. Everything from drug smugglers to slavers would use this place for meetings, because no one cared as long as you paid up. If anyone knew about the Changeling or Sir Micheal, they would be here.
The ship had three levels: upper deck, lower deck, and cargo hold. The bar was located on the lower deck, but the upper deck was filled with drunks and criminals who didn’t mind making someone they didn’t like disappear when they happened to wander onto the ship. It just so happened that none of them liked Scott, who was both a drunk and on the verge of being a criminal.
Of course, they also knew what he was capable of, drunk or not, so they let him pass for the most part…
“Hey, you, Mr. Agent, are you here to kill us?” A drunk troll yelled out to Scott, as if to taunt him. Trolls were usually large and stout, with long beards. This one, on the other hand, had mutton chops that extended out several centimeters. He also happened to be short and stout, rather than tall and stout like most Trolls.
“No, I don’t have any business concerning any of you,” Scott replied as he continued towards the door to the lower deck. Though, the Troll continued taunting him.
“So we are not good enough for you, Langston. We know you were a street rat before you stole that name. The name that instilled fear in every creature throughout London, until you took it over. What would your bitch of a wife think if she saw you now? A lowly dru—”
Scott’s body disappeared in a flash, as if it fazed out of existence for a moment, appearing in front of the drunk troll. Startled by Scott’s sudden reappearance, the troll began to fall back, before Scott grabbed him by the throat. The Troll screamed in pain as the silver within Scott’s gloves burned his neck. “You can insult me all you want, but never insult my wife. You got that?!” The troll nodded fearfully, so Scott released the grip he had on his throat. It left a burn mark in the shape of a hand for all to see, but Scott didn’t care. The troll scrambled to get up and run away, but was unable to go more than a meter before falling on his face.
Scott continued on as if nothing happened, and those around him parted away from him. He felt like he was going to throw up. Using the runes on his body while under the influence of alcohol, as he learned in the past, can lead to nausea and dizziness. Neither was ideal for a boat, but he couldn’t help but lose his temper.
Upon entering the bar, no one even bothered to look at him. They were mostly too busy with their drinks or private conversations to care. It was much different than the atmosphere upstairs. Thus, no one noticed his somewhat drained face, nor did they notice that he was an agent. Scott strut past several tables over to the bar, and took a seat.
The barkeep, Bonaparte, was human from a noble family, but his face had been deformed at birth to the point that his family labeled him as a monster, and eventually kicked him out. He had found a place in London, though, as a friend to all supernatural beings, because they never judged him by his looks, and took him in. “What can I get for you, Scott?” he asked.
“Information,” Scott replied.
“What kind?” Bonaparte asked, as he picked up a glass and began wiping it clean.
“A changeling or perhaps a masked man with long hair. Have you heard anything about them?” Bonaparte kept wiping out the cup as he thought, eventually remembering something.
“There were a few changelings here as a pack several months ago, but two of them disappeared. Although, it’s strange for you to ever see more than one changeling in the same spot. They like to keep to themselves.”
“Has the Changeling been here since?” Scott asked, as he tried to reach over the counter for a bottle. Bonaparte slapped his hand away, before setting the glass he was wiping down in front of Scott, then pouring him some of the bottle he was reaching for with a sigh.
“Yes, after the two disappeared, it came here often, before a robed man wearing a mask came in and made a deal with him.”
“A robed man?” Scott repeated curiously.
“Yes, he was wearing a mask as you mentioned before, but he was wearing a long robe with a hood covering all but the mask.”
“And what kind of deal did they make?” Scott asked, before raising the glass as if to say thanks and taking a sip.
“I’m not entirely sure, but the Changeling was very excited about the deal, as if it only benefited him.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he was smiling from ear to ear the whole time,” Bonaparte replied with a callous smile.
“So I guess the Changeling wasn’t entirely lying. It isn’t being forced to do it, but it still made a deal with a masked man,” Scott said to himself as he stood up. He quickly downed the contents of the drink and set down his payment for the information as well as the drink. “Thanks, Bonaparte.”
“Anytime, Scott,” Bonaparte said with a nod.
***
From above the streets of London, familiars similar to birds watched the night streets while the people slept. Invisible to the naked eye, they mobilized at the behest of Elysif, and Iscariot. Many of which focused their sight upon Hanbury Street. During the day, Scott, myself, and many of Mama Louise’s underlings watched the busy London streets. Although we had people all over, we made sure to keep a low profile by being inconsistent with our routines, but also by acting as naturally as possible.
It was only with the help of Iscariot that Elysif was able to create enough familiars in order to cover the cityscape of Whitechapel from above. However, doing so gave her a tremendous headache after a while. Thus, Mama Louise’s people watched the area anytime that we weren’t able to. Scott and I worked in shifts to go around the area. Scott was still worried that this was a ruse, so, on top of our new duties, we also scouted other areas.
So far, it was going well. After switching out with Scott, I ended up going to bed quite early, to deal with the amount of patrolling that I had been doing the past week. Not only were my feet sore, but I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion. It wasn’t long before I was asleep, then I started to see the stars all around me. For some reason, I was in the “Realm of Stars”, as I had dubbed it.
Turning around, I saw the genderless child-like being known as Sela sitting behind me. Like last time, Sela was dressed in a short-cut ancient Greek chiton hanging from a single shoulder with long flowing hair draped down behind, and plastered on the being’s face was a slightly amused smile. I was a little shocked, not because I was afraid, but because I was starting to get used to this. “Do you have to be so dramatic that I arrive facing away from you?” I asked.
“Well, you’re no fun,” Sela scoffed with a mocking scowl.
“So, why have you summoned me? I thought I was giving you a pretty good story, with the whole murder mystery that I am working to solve,” I asked with a barely sarcastic tone.
“Technically, you have solved it. The Changeling is the murderer. However, I summoned you here to help in a way,” Sela stated, as if the being had already been so willing to help before this.
“And how do you plan on doing that? I can’t travel to any time that I already exist, so I can’t stop the first murder, and I can’t travel forward because I don’t know when they're going to attack. To add to that, I can’t time travel at all yet, because I haven’t figured out how,” I voiced my complaints with a tad bit of annoyance. Ever since we had met Rubin, I had been trying to learn how to time travel. It had yet to work.
“Seems like you’re a little mad about this,” Sela scoffed in amusement.
“Maybe. I am a bit angry because you will not give me any straight answers,” I continued to say, in the same sarcastic tone that seemed to humour Sela.
“Well, I don’t have to help you,” Sela said with a sassy pop of the being's lips.
“I know… but you want to,” I said, calling out the child-like being's bluff.
“True,” Sela agreed.
“So, what can you do?” I asked, unconvinced that Sela would actually help me without some kind of catch.
“I can show you the date that the Changeling is going to attack, and where,” Sela casually said. I was surprised that they were willing to help me this easily. What made it so shocking was that they were so willing to help that they offered to do so out of their own free will.
“Really?” I asked in surprised.
“Of course, but it’s up to you on how to deal with it."
“Okay, when and where do they attack?”
“The Changeling didn’t lie to you about where it would take place. As for the date, well… the 8th of September,” Sela answered as if trying to remember what it was.
“But that’s today! Why would you tell me at the last minute?” I asked angrily.
“The suspense,” Sela said with an amused but sadistic smile. With a snap of the chiton-clad being's fingers, I was falling again.
I slammed into my bed with a painful amount of force, similar to the way that your body jerks awake mid-sleep. Despite this, I threw on my clothes and rushed out the door. As I was heading out the door, I checked my watch which read 5:27 AM. Hoping that I wasn’t too late, I ran out the door.
When I finally reached Hanbury, my watch read 6:14 AM. Scott was standing with Elysif near the stairway to a backyard on 29 Hanbury Street. When I ran up beside them, I saw why they were standing there. The corpse of a woman, who was more mutilated than the last, lay in front. Her organs were lying on her right shoulder, while her flesh was lying to the left of her corpse. She also had two cuts to the throat, just like the other one. A note lay beside her, written in blood, it said, "Why didn’t you stop me?"
Elysif said nothing out of respect, but I was feeling too sick from seeing such a sight to say anything. Scott just turned away and started walking. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“To find the nearest officer. They’ll want to report it,” Scott answered with a heavy sigh.
Elysif turned back to face me, but I had already wandered off. I had teetered towards the end of the alley, where I began releasing every form of matter built up in my stomach out of my mouth. I couldn’t look at it. This was my fault. I couldn’t stop it, even though I knew it was going to happen. “This is my fault,” I said with a shaken tone.
“What? How is this your fault?” Elysif asked, confused.
“I could have taken the Changeling in when I saw him, and I knew the murder would happen today but I couldn’t stop it,” I said as I began to pity myself.
“How did you know it would happen today?”
“The one who gave me the ability to travel through time…” My lips quivered as I tried to speak. Forcing myself to calm down, I finished my sentence, “... told me while I slept,” I answered, as I leaned against the closest building.
“Rubin?” she asked with an even more bewildered look.
“No… no, the one who gave every one of us so-called Time Lords the ability to time travel, Sela,” I corrected her.
“Sela? Really?” Elysif mocked, not amused by that name.
“Well, that’s the name it gave me,” I said, a little bothered that she could still be amused by anything, even after what we just looked at.
“Alright, but why tell you now and not a while ago?” she asked logically.
“'The suspense,' or so Sela said,” I answered, shrugging.
“Then, this is on this Sela thing, not you. You don’t need to take the blame for it.” As she said this, Elysif placed her hand on my shoulder to comfort me. It didn’t help at all, as all I could feel was to be angry at myself.
“But I do! I didn’t capture the Changeling when I met it before, I didn’t get here in time, and I can’t save anyone with this useless power,” I snapped, before punching the brick wall of the alley. My knuckles bled slightly from the impact, but I was too angry to care. Elysif just stood there, without saying a word.
“Just leave me alone for a while,” I said, stumbling away. Elysif began to go after me, but stopped herself, and instead, just leaned against the building. She knew there wasn’t anything that she could say to change my mind. She knew, because she was the same.
ns 18.68.41.179da2
