Dreaming.
That's what the two girls thought was the farthest they could do, until they found themselves in the gnarly old streets of Ketterdam.
With book characters coming to life and illicit secrets at deadly stakes, Jan Van Eck is back, stronger t...
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︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
"Do you trust them?" Matthias asked Nina, chewing on a toffee and reading the newspaper the next morning.
"I strangely do. Its been about a month, yet being with them feels safe." she said, taking off the paint on her nails.
They were about to go to Hellgate tonight. The sudden thought hit Matthias, the time Nina came to rescue him with Kaz. The times he had spent, dreaming and yearning for her.
If Van Eck had never come up with the proposal, he would probably still be rotting there. What a strange thing fate is, bought by the strangest of people. A small thing would be different, and the whole would fip upside down.
"What's got you thinking?" Nina asked, sitting down on the bed "Is it about-"
"I'm thankful you put me there, and you took me out too." he said, the slight hint of a smile on his lips.
Nina gave Matthias a quick peck on his cheek, and walked out for breakfast. Matthias lazily got up to take a shower.
Lynn was awoken by a huge crash in the bathroom.
"Everything okay?" she jumped up, knocking the door.
"Yes indeed, Cain clogged the bathroom and it smells." It was Zephyr with his monotonous tone.
"Where's Inej?" "Taking a walk probably."
Lynn walked outside of the room, looking for Nina, walking into a jostling Matthias covered in nothing but a towel
"Where's Ni- damn."
"DRUSJE!" he yelled, rushing back to the bathroom only to fall and bang his head from the slippery floor as Lynn pretended the wall behind her was very interesting.
"What just happened?" Jesper huffed, still in his pajamas. "Also, someone clogged the bathroom in a room. The sight was interesting to say the least."
They all sat down on the breakfast table, Vivienne and Wylan walking in just in time. Nina had already placed the order and now they were all eagerly waiting, the smell of waffles and cream making them all hungrier than they already were.
"Viv" Lynn nudged, gesturing at the empty seat beside her as Vivienne plopped down, giving Lynn a quick hug.
Zephyr glared at Cain in not a very obvious manner
"What?" he smized "The snacks they gave along with the rum, were well indigestable to say the least-"
"Stop." said Zephyr, almost gagging on his water.
Kaz and Inej walked in, as Nina and Vivienne proceeded to hoot before Kaz raised his cane and they looked down at their food.
"Where is Daphne?" Zephyr asked, as he popped a grape in his mouth.
"I thought he was with you all." Inej said, giving a look to Kaz as he nodded, sitting down.
"So, its like 8 in the morning right now. When do we leave?" Vivienne asked, about to reach out for a cup of tea when Jesper stopped her.
"Lady, you blacked out yesterday. Take some of this instead." He said something incoherent to the waiter, and he came with a thick mushy drink at which everyone, even Kaz grimaced.
"No way I am having that."
"Drink it or you'll be unfit for our mission" Jesper said, as he pushed the mug in front of Vivi, who scrunched her face and pinched her nose and swallowed the drink in one go. The taste was even more horrible then what she had expected.
"The mission." Kaz muttered. "Jes go to the market and get two pairs of leather gloves, ropes, needles, and daggers. Zephyr I need you to arrange some Peyote cactus powder and Monkshood juice. Inej, go outside the Hellgate borders and look out for the official timings for when the security guards leave. Matthias go to the clothing store and get two big trenchcoats. Lynn, go find Daphne-"
"What-"
"We will need him for this. Vivienne and Cain, there is an apothecary nearby where healers and renders reside. Ask for mollitiem potion. This will be quite a tough job. The grishas were hunted by Fjerdans before Zoya, Nina and Matthias made them a place to reside. You must earn their trust and even try to get the necessary information for Hellgate, more specifically, Jan Van Eck."
Wylan clenched his jaw at the mention of his father's name. Calling him a term as paternal and warmly as father felt like an insult.
"Are you all ready?" said Kaz, looking intently at each one of them.
This time, the girls felt as if they were about ready, if not enough. It felt as if something had been awoken in them, as if everything that had happened so for was not a coincidence, but the fates itself.
"Along with the mollitiem, I will perhaps need some digestive powder too" Cain sighed, holding onto his grumbling stomach.
"We better do" huffed Vivi as they walked outside the residence "Don't want you shitting in the middle of it all."
"How do you even think gremlin would find Daphne. That fellow appears and leaves like a literal illusion."
"I have no idea. Been to Fjerda before?" Vivienne asked blowing out air and was still fascinated like when she was a child when she could see her foggy breath.
"Nope." Cain said shaking his head, walking leisurely, holding onto Vivienne's arm. Both of their ways of showing affection was physical, and Vivienne adored to find someone similar to her.
"I think my father probably thrashed my piano by now." Cain hummed nonchalantly.
"Your father?" Vivienne asked, not sure if she was supposed to be bringing up Cain's personal life.
"Yes, Vivienne. A father. I do have one, you know." Cain said as he looked at a few fjerdans men talking to each other merrily in the streets.
"I didn't mean it like that." Vivienne said softly, immediately regretting asking him about it.
"Gheezens, lils. I was just playing." Cain said, as he tugged on Vivienne's arms bringing her more close.
"Lils?" Vivienne smiled and looked up at him to find him already staring at her.
Cain raised his brows in question, and then looked embarrassed when he realized. Vivienne was amused as to how Cain was embarrassed.
"You know, because of your hair. It's lilac and um yea, so lils in short." Cain said, a hint of pink on his cheeks but Vivi thought it was because of the cold.
Vivienne hummed, still looking up at him and smiling.
"What?" Cain said narrowing her eyes at her playfully, as Vivienne shook her head smiling still.
"There." Vivienne said protruding her head to a few yards away, there were small tents set up and small figures of people talking and moving in a hushed and secretive manner. The grishas of fjerda.
