Egan winced at her words. He could vividly remember this drunken mother and how he suffered at her hands. Perhaps Nasmira was right. If selling your child was considered a mother's love then he didn't understand. Noticing his discomfort, Isabelle reached over and gave his hand a squeeze.
"Clearly you're still not above manipulating children for your own personal gain," spat Albus.
Nasmira ignored his insults and cut right to the chase. "Your father is dead."
Albus' eyes widened. He wasn't sure how to react to that. He was never particularly close to his father and they had interacted a total of three times over the course of his life, none of those interactions being within the last five years. He felt Astrid slip her hand into his. He turned to her, a worried expression was plastered on her face.
"That lady said she was selling all of her husband's stuff since she had no money," declared Egan.
Albus' head snapped towards her. The rage he felt as he looked at her made his blood boil. Before he knew it, his body was cold and grey, turning to stone as his eyes flashed eerily. Without so much as a word, he lunged forward, his hand wrapping itself around Nasmira's throat.
"You would dare steal from a man that loved you even in death?"
His jaw clenched painfully as he spoke. A strained gasp of a laugh was shook from Nasmira. Egan and Isabelle watched on behind Astrid, surprised that she could smile, much less laugh in such a situation.
"Don't you...want to know how...he died."
Albus squeezed his fingers even tighter around her neck. Only the sound of Astrid calling to him forced him to let go. Nasmira gasped for air, clutching her throat as she tumbled back.
"Assassination... " said Nasmira, trying to catch her breath. "Apparently...he had written a will long ago...and left some of his things to you."
"So you were stealing papa's stuff!" Exclaimed Isabelle.
"No. I hadn't seen you years. Nobody knew where you were or where you were going. It didn't like I could I afford to chase after you either. After a period of time they were going to leave it to your next of kin, in other words, me. I didn't think I'd see you again so I just sold most of it to pay for my travels so that could go in search of you."
Albus kissed his teeth. He knew that the last thing she wanted was to search for him. "Your selfishness never fails to disgust me. You've told me what you needed to. Now leave before I make good on that threat."
"I've already used up most of the money, you're saying you'd let your own mother live on the streets?"
"You don't deserve to be called a mother, " he spat.
"No matter what you think of me, I still brought you into this world!" Nasmira turned her attention to Astrid. "You look like a sweet girl. I'm sure you could find it in your heart to help an old woman out?"
Astrid scowled. "You need to leave. If you choose not to, I will deem you as a hostile intruder and remove you forcibly."
Nasmira's face twisted with rage. "Is that how you'd treat your husband's mother? Your family wouldn't exist if it weren't for me! You owe your happiness to me!"
Astrid had just about heard enough. She calmly walked up to Nasmira, who reared her hand back to slap her. Astrid caught her hand before it could make contact with her face and twisted it harshly. The unmistakable sound of bones snapping could be heard as Nasmira's hand was forcibly bent, hanging unnaturally at her side. For a moment, she was silent, like she wasn't quite able to process what had just happened. Then all too abruptly, her expression which was previously seething with rage, contorted into a look of utter pain as she cried out in horror.
"Hostile intruder it is then," said Astrid as she walked around the wailing woman to bind her hands.
"ALBUS! HOW CAN YOU STAND TO WATCH HER TREAT ME LIKE THIS! HOW CAN YOU WATCH YOUR OWN MOTHER GET HURT WITHOUT EVEN BLINKING AN EYE?"
Astrid began yanking her down the path. "It seems you're mistaken. You're the one that decided to come here unannounced and cause such a seen." Her eyes drifted towards Isabelle, who was peeking out from behind Egan's shoulder. "In front of children no less," said Astrid bitterly.
Astrid pushed Nasmira down the stairs and into the waiting arms of Luke and Seibel, who had heard the screams and had come to investigate. "Escort this woman out. If she is seen again on palace grounds, imprison her for trespassing."
Luke and Seibel bowed in acknowledgment and dragged Nasmira away kicking and screaming. Astrid made her way back over to Albus, who had calmed down quite a bit, regaining his more human features.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I'll explain everything...but before I do...who's that?"
Albus pointed to Egan. Isabelle and Astrid looked at each other and then back at the boys.
"Oh right!"
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Tobi and Yukimi found themselves scouring the village for tools that Tobi swore up and down he had but neither one could find.
"You brought the list right?" Asked Yukimi.
"Yup." Tobi pulled out a small, folded piece of paper from his pocket. "We don't need a lot so this shouldn't take long."
The pair ventured into the evening streets, oblivious to the shifty gaze that followed them. A little ways away, Ri-is stood cloaked, peering at them from behind a shop sign. It wasn't weird that they were friends, he just never saw them interact much before. It confused him, for reasons he didn't quite understand himself. Either way, he felt he could no longer sit around and brood about it. He wanted answers, so he would go and get them.
"Um...sir...do you plan to buy anything? If not, I'm afraid I have to ask you to move. You're glaring is scaring the other customers."
Ri-is looked around to find the unnerved glances of those around him. Suddenly it dawned on him how suspicious he looked to everyone else. Muttering out an apology to the shop owner, he left, hoping to catch up with Tobi and Yukimi. As he watched the pair laugh and chat as they shopped around, he began getting impatient. He wanted to know what they were talking about, but lacked the courage to go up to them. So he continues to trail behind them.
He was just far enough to see them stop and start talking to someone at the flower shop. Ri-is took the opportunity to sneak closer. When he was close enough, he could just barely make out when the shop owner handed Tobi a bouquet of white bleeding hearts, cheerfully adding, "Here, for your girlfriend!"
Tobi and Yukimi glanced at each other. Yukimi declined the bouquet trying to explain the misunderstanding. Ultimately choosing to leave before she could get more flustered.
Ri-is didn't hear that part though, his mind was busy doing backflips. "Girlfriend? Girlfriend! Wait...what! When...how...I didn't even notice...she was...huh?"
His mumbling seem to alert the pair to his presence as they were walking away. Yukimi was the first to spot him.
"Ri-is?" She asked in confusion.
Ri-is' head snapped up to meet her gaze. Tobi, now aware of his presence smiled awkwardly, hoping he didn't overhear the little misunderstanding earlier.
"Hey man! Nice to see you out and about."
Ri-is shifted awkwardly, hoping he didn't seem too suspicious. "...yeah...hey! Fancy meeting you two here!"
But he did.98Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrUKuz4jQ9
