Elle's shop was not far from Barnabus's workshop. The doorbell's shrill tone erupted from above Edgar's head as he entered. Off to the left behind the counter, a red-haired woman looked up from scribbling in a ledger. She put down her pen, staring at him with steely emerald eyes.
"What does Barnabus need, Ed?" Her tone reeked with sarcasm. He couldn't blame her though, honestly. Usually when he visited her in her shop, it was with something regarding their partnership. And he was a hard fellow to work with at times.
"Nothing. He sent me with this, whatever it is." Edgar placed the vial on the counter. Elle's generally chilly demeanor warmed right up at the sight of the vial. She wrapped her slender fingers around the vial and uncorked it, giving it a good sniff.
"Yes, this will do nicely." A small smile graced her lips for but a moment, before her poker face settled neatly back into place. "Is there anything else he needs?"
"No. But I was wondering if you happened to have any advice for getting an essence of betrayal from a broken heart. Any bright ideas?" Edgar figured she'd be the only person to give him a serious answer.
She gave her his coldest stair for a long moment. Honestly, he thought she was going to tell him to get the hell out, or maybe she was going to throw something at him. He braced himself for whatever she was going to say next.
Surprisingly, she ushered forth an exasperated sigh. "The easiest way is to simply get some dumb fairy to fall for your nonexistence charms." Elle shook her head, turning away to stow the delivered vial away in the many cabinets behind the counter. "They're so naïve and innocent," she continued, "they'll never see you coming with the hammer to shatter their heart... Or maybe try to snag an angel." She turned back to Edgar, leaning on the counter. "They're harder to seduce, but the idea of corrupting one is an amusing thought."
Edgar was surprised by her answer, but he kept his expression neutral.
"I think a fairy would be much better," he told her. "Less chance of getting my throat slit if the lady finds out that I'm a halfling."
"Mm, true." Elle glanced down at her ledger. "Well, Edgar. I've work to do, and I'm sure Barnabus has you up to other things. Maybe I can help you find some poor, innocent woman to break later, if you like."
He figured he could probably use the help. "Thanks, Elle. I'll catch you later then." He turned to leave. His next stop was the Tipsy Boglet.
The crowd from earlier had dispersed, but Edgar swore he saw a small puddle of blood on the way in. Foul odors and obnoxious voices assaulted his senses as he stepped in. He felt dirty just from existing in the same room as most of these people here.
He gave a quick glance around the room. Musicians were setting up the stage, the tables were crowded with likely criminals, and the stuffed Boglet stood guard over all. At the bar in the very back of the room, a ghostly bartender was serving up drinks.
Edgar approached him. "I need two bottles of Daredevil." Edgar placed a twenty on the counter. While the spectral figure floated off into the back room, Edgar turned away from the counter to face the crowd. Out of curiosity, he decided to read a few auras while he was here. It was a little game he usually liked to play, called "Spot the Oddest."
He squinted his eyes and strained them for a few moments. Colors began seeping out of the various patrons. Many of them disguised themselves as Humans, but Edgar could see right past their clever disguise. All he had to do was focus on the colors emanating from the breasts of the patrons. Commonly, the colors from that region dictated what they actually were. Most of them exuded a bright violet, suggesting they were merely witches. But Edgar could spot some other types. A few vampires sat at a table beneath the stairs going to the upper tier, a broody werewolf in the corner. He even spotted the reddish-orange aura of a demon.
Even though the charm on his wrist hid his half-demon aura, Edgar still felt his blood run cold at the sight of her. Blinking away his aura-sight, he stared at the demon in disguise. She seemed fairly average in appearance. Brown hair, peachy skin. There were note remotely distinguishable features about her. Edgar knew why demons chose those types of appearances. They wanted to blend in more than anyone.
She glanced back, meeting Edgar's gaze for but a moment. He quickly turned around, praying to God she wouldn't approach him. Staring at strangers in a place like the Tipsy Boglet was just asking to end up dead in a ditch somewhere. And Edgar certainly had better places to be than dead in a ditch.
Thankfully, the two bottles of Daredevil arrived. The ghostly bartender slid them to Edgar, and offered him the change. Pocketing the change and grabbing the two bottles by the neck, he made a dash for the exit. Even though he mentally forbade himself from doing it, his eyes darted towards the she-demon sitting alone. She was still watching him. Edgar prayed and prayed to God that she did not have even an inkling of who or what he was. That was a battle he did not want to fight.
Once he was outside, he released a gush of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "God... Is there even peace for me?" He already knew that answer wasn't in his favor, but there was little he could do to help it.
Edgar returned to Barnabus's shop. On the counter was a decently sized box. It was roughly a two by two foot cube. It had no markings, other than the initials "E.R." It wasn't sealed, so Edgar naturally placed the two bottles of Daredevil on the counter and peered inside.
The inside had been magically expanded so that more could be stored within. Inside was a black crossbow, along with plenty of bolts, silvery throwing knives, and what looked to be folded leather. He wasn't going to mess with it to see what the leather actually was. Edgar concluded that it was an order.
To confirm his assumption, Barnabus lumbered in. "'Ey! Glad ya back. Need ya to deliver that to some club. S'called Zona, or somethin' like that. Real weird name... Ya heard of it?" Barnabus took up one of the Daredevil bottles, pulling the cork off between his teeth.
"Yeah, I know of it."
"Good. Customer said she'll be waitin' behind it. So git goin'."
"Aye-aye, Captain!" Edgar gave a mock salute, before he leaned over to counter to grab the packaging tape.
When the package was ready, he bid Barnabus farewell and left. He passed by the Tipsy Boglet once more on his ascent from the Underworld. He was much more comfortable among the streets of New York. At least here, among the Humans, he could briefly pretend he was an average man just trying to make a life for himself.
Edgar ended up catching a cab to the supposed Club Zona. As Barnabus instructed, Edgar slinked towards the back of the club, which happened to be in a raunchy alleyway.
He observed the area. He couldn't see anyone. Was he too early? Yet Barnabus never told him a time. He was just about to pull his phone out and call Barnabus, when the back door to the building opened. A woman stepped out in a baggy t-shirt and jeans, and her blond hair was pulled back in a messy bun. Edgar caught himself admiring her lithe form.
"Are you the delivery boy?"
Edgar squinted, switching over to his aura-sight. He was startled to find the medium-grey color emanating from her chest. She was merely a Human.
"Are you E. R.?"
"Yep." She moved over to snatch the box from him. She immediately began pulling off the tape, peering inside when she was done. After her brief inspection, she cursed under her breath, turning her attention to Edgar.
"You. Get your boss on the phone. You have his number, right?"
"Er. Yeah. Is something wrong?" Edgar reached into his pocket where he thought his phone was, only to grasp at empty pocket lining. Good thing he had memorized Barnabus's number.
"Duh. Now do it."
"Shit... I actually don't have my phone. Do you have yours? I know the number."
She muttered something he couldn't quite make out under her breath, reaching into her pocket. She produced a phone with a pink bunny case. Edgar actually thought it was kind of cute, but he could also tell she was getting a bit embarrassed as she handed the phone to him. She turned away from him as a rosy hue crept up her cheeks. Edgar supposed having a pink bunny case didn't fit the vibe she was trying to give off while making a black market deal.
"I won't judge," he told her as he dialed the number. She didn't seem too relieved though... Oh well.
"Who is this?" Barnabus's chipper tone has vanished, replaced with a much more wary one.
"Hey, Edgar here. The customer wanted to talk with you, and I don't have my phone."
"Put 'er on then, boy."
Edgar held the phone out to her. She snatched it, turning away from him.
"You said the whole order would be ready today!" The woman planted a hand on her hip. Edgar could faintly hear Barnabus's baritone voice over the speaker. But Edgar couldn't make out what was being said.
"Are you kidding me? I need that gear tonight!" There was another pause as Barnabus spoke again.
"Fine. You're only getting paid for what's here for now." There was Barnabus's faint response, before she ended the call.
"Tell him I've transferred the ten-thousand to the account he provided me." As she said this, she was tapping on her phone.
"Alrighty," Edgar glanced down at the box. "Good luck with whatever you plan to do with that stuff." He assumed she would certainly need it.650Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlBdSyFV6XG
"Yep, thanks." She picked up the box and headed back inside.
Edgar figured his apartment was close enough to walk to, so he went back there instead. He delivered the woman's message to Barnabus. Then, Edgar heated up some leftover spaghetti from last night. Now that he had a free moment to think, he needed to think of a solution to his real problem; he had to collect an essence of betrayal in six months.
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