You Only Live Twice

V

The loud noises and bright lights quickly resumed as soon as the trio stepped out of the hotel and back into the chaos. Olivia started to feel sick again, her head already starting to ache, she clutched onto Estelles skirt with a tight grip and held it close to her face.

Ophelia looked around excitedly, pointing at everything at moved and begging to be brought over. As the little blonde dragged the group around to stall to stall, Olivia took this as an opportunity to also observe her surroundings, seemingly looking for a rare quiet place to escape too.

Everywhere she looked places were packed with people, restaurants and stores had people lining up outside and some even rounded around the corner!

All the colorful streets, were busy and crowded, Olivia was starting to lose hope.

They'd been walking for a few hours now, stopping at some stalls to buy sovereigns or watch a show before continuing further down the line. Olivia was desperate by now, anywhere would be better then here right now, her head was pounding and the constant movement and yells from every direction made her feel dizzy.

She was already worn out from the trip in the carriage and now she had to walk around in this festive town, and the loud screams that came from her sisters mouth whenever something caught her attention was doing the least in helping her current condition.

Estelle had tried to offer to take a break a few times but Ophelia couldn't sit still for 15 minutes without having a tantrum so, Olivia had no choice but to persevere. It was almost sundown and they'd be able to go back soon, Olivia just had to wait a little longer.

As they walked further into the chaos, they started to make their way to the outskirts of town, Olivia was thankful it had calmed down a little bit but it wasn't much different from before. Just less crowds and performers, but much to Olivia's dismay only about a quarter of the crowds were gone from earlier.

While looking around at the numerous attractions, a certain alleyway had caught her eye. It was narrow, squished in between two stores, the street in front of it was clear just enough to see through to the other side.

The street was deserted, the buildings were wore down but didn't look abandoned, vines were scattered around on the stone walls, but the front of the stores looked tidy and the windows wiped clean.

Olivia almost jumped with joy, immediately forgetting about her prior pain and sickness. She quickly snatched up Estelle's skirt of her maid uniform and tugged on it.

"Estelle, Estelle!" Olivia called up to Estelle trying to get her voice louder then all the noise that surrounds them, "Estelle, over there," She points over to her saving grace— the alleyway. "I want to go over there." Estelle looked down at Olivia and followed where her arm was pointed. "Those stalls My Lady?"

"No, no, the street over. Through that alley." She looked up at her with puppy dog eyes, continuing to tug on her skirt.

"There's no attractions over there though? Do you wish to take stop for a rest My Lady?" Estelle offered with a weird smile, she looked concerned? "No, no I can go by myself. I won't go far. I'll be careful, there's barely any people over there I'll be fine! Please, please, please, please!" Olivia pleaded, putting on her best innocent child act.

Estelle looked reluctant, her lady hadn't asked for anything the whole day even though she was obviously feeling ill. Before Estelle could refuse, a childish voice interrupted her, " 'Telle! 'Telle! Over there! Wanna go there next!" Ophelia cut in with an excited voice her big, light blue eyes shining brightly while her finger pointed to some stalls giving out candy and showing off magic tricks.

"I wouldn't want to spoil Lia's fun! Look, there- there's-" Olivia stumbled with her words as she looked behind her, back into the alley for an excuse to wonder off on her own, her eyes wondered the few signs she could see through the narrow space when her eyes landed on a bookstore. Her face visibly lit up, "There! There's a bookstore, I'll be right there." Olivia smiled up at Estelle who gave her a hesitant look, "Yeah! Yeah! Don't 'poil Lia fun!" Ophelia pumped her arms in the air.

"Well... I don't know... I-I guess as long as you don't go too far..." Estelle took pauses between her words, almost looking like she regretted them as soon as she agreed. "Just.. Don't travel too far away from the store. I'll be back in an hour." Estelle gave her a stern look, though it didn't look too serious.

Olivia exclaimed in joy, she quickly let go of Estelle's dress skirt quickly and rushed off to the alleyway. Estelle had yelled after her, saying something along the lines of 'be careful', Olivia wasn't quite sure, too caught up in her own excitement to be fully aware of her surroundings.

When Olivia got to the other side, she could swear she saw the pearly gates of heaven. A cool, refreshing breeze hit her face, she could finally,  finally breathe.

Panting heavily, she looks around at her surroundings. She could get a much better look at the street now that she wasn't looking at it through two squished buildings. The road wasn't completely empty, there was, though scarce, a few people walking around and shopping in the stores. They're in the outskirts of Noria, so it wasn't to be surprised.

It wasn't the most eye catching part of town, the colors were dull and faded, weeds and pebbles littered the streets, wines scattered along the walls of all the stores, the only thing making the stores stand out from each other were their variety of signs. Every store had a different color, shape, and font for their franchise. It seemed to Olivia that the people who lived here only took pride in their stores and didn't care much for anything else.

Wheezing and rubbing her temples to help ease the headache that's starting to resurface at full force, Olivia starts making her way further into the street looking back and forth from her left and right, looking for somewhere to relax.

She turns her head back to the left of her, when a large white sign with gold cursive writing caught her eye,

'Ange Baiser Café'

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Ange Baiser Café
(ahn-g bay-zer cafe)

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