A series of confusing events

The wings part 1

Chapter 4~ The wings pt. 1

"What is that supposed to mean?" Violet asked pondering the message and the sender.

"VFD is famous for their masked balls. They were very popular before the schism." Commented Fernald.

"Violet" Klaus started. "Lemony sent you those dragonfly wings, our mother was wearing them in that video from that party. All of the guests at that party had masks on. It was a masked ball. We are supposed to attend the masked ball. In 2 days." He finished with a sigh.

"Who is J.S?" Sunny asked. The Baudelaires couldn't help but have déjà vu about that question.

"Justice Strauss?" said Violet.

"Jacquelyn Scieszka?" Commented Fiona.

"Jerome Squalor?" Stated Sunny.

"Jacques Snicket," said Klaus in a shaky voice. Just another murder that was at the hands of the Baudelaires.

"Well, I suppose it does not matter, I mean, we know where and what we need to do. We should go shopping, we are relatively close to shore anyway, and we want to look inconspicuous for this event." Stated Fiona.

"Our lives are a conundrum of esoterica," said Klaus. "Can't we ever just get something straightforward, without code, hardship, or sacrifice."

"I think that ship sailed on Briny Beach a long time ago Klaus," said Violet, looking forlorn. There were so many people the Baudelaires hurt, people who wanted to help them. Uncle Monty, Aunt Josephine, Jaques, Olivia, Dewey, anyone who was in the Hotel Denouement fire who did not survive, Kit, and possibly the Quagmire triplets. The last one hurt the most. Violet was 17, she was supposed to have a boyfriend, break some rules, and have fun. Not be in charge of her 3 siblings, and protecting them from multiple villains that would not just leave her fortune alone.

"You're not alone, Vi," Klaus said, looking at her, almost reading her mind. Violet, strong Violet, let a tear slip from her face at that moment, but that is securely off record.

"We are a little off the shore of Briny Beach, I will telegram the address of this 'J.S' to tell them that we will be docking at BB in 1 hour." Informed Fiona.

"Wait, Fiona, what is the sending address from the telegram?" Asked Klaus.

"I don't recognize it. It says MMM."

"Mulctuary Money Management," said Violet.

"Jacquelyn!" Sunny said excitedly.

---- 1 hour later

At this time, Violet, Klaus, and Fiona are stepping out of the Queequeg. Sunny, Beatrice, Fernald, and Phil, are still in the submarine.

"A cab," said Violet, emotionless. She wasn't exactly sure what to think. They were back on Briney Beach.

"Well, the third time's a charm, right?" said Klaus.

"Let's hope so." Answered Violet. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the fog, it was (not) Mr. Poe! This third time was looking better by the second.

"Hello J.S.," Fiona said.

"The world is quiet here." she quickly responded. " Baudelaires, Fiona, I am so glad to see you. But I'm afraid we'll have to make this quick. I will take you to my secret basement at MMM, and we will find you suitable outfits there."

"Won't Mr. Poe recognize us?" asked Violet.

"He was shot with a harpoon gun 3 months ago," Jacquelyn stated, dryly, remind me to circle back to that later. "Oh, and don't let me forget Violet, we owe you a fortune, since Mr. Poe was shot, we got a new head of orphan affairs, who has ties to VFD, so they lowered the Fortune receiving age to 16, so you are already older than the age."

"Wow, does that mean that after this meeting, we can live on land," questioned Violet?

"Yes, If that is what you please to do. But before we get excited, we have to get you ready for this ball."

"We know this ball is on Thursday, and the WWHBNB will be there, but why are we needed?" Klaus inquired.

"You are bait. Am I correct Jacquelyn?" Stated Fiona. They all got in the cab and Jacquelyn started driving, though not as viciously as Kit had in the past.

"Exactly Miss. Windershams. Violet, I trust you found the wings?" Violet nodded her head. "Good. We have a person on the inside of the WWHBNB's operation, we had them tell her you would be at this ball, and she will be there to kill you." The Baudelaires looked shocked. "Oh, don't worry, you won't die. Our inside guy, Thursday, will sneak her into the ball, the rest of us will act as though we do not see her, and we assume she will go after you two." She took a breath. "We will have the noble side of VFD apprehend her if she makes it this far, but I doubt it, we will just be waiting till we can take her out, without making a scene, as to alert possible traitors from our side." She looked in the mirror, so she could see Violet and Klaus who was sitting in the back. "Does this make sense Baudelaires?"

"Yes, but what is the purpose of the dragonfly wings?" Violet asked. Jacquelyn looked down, not wanting to think of the need for the wings.

"If the WWHBNB gets past us, we assume she will go for you, seeing you possess the fortune, you will jump off the building, and you will be able to jump to a secret spot that we will have for you to hide. We will have a scout inconspicuously following you, and if they see the WWHBNB getting close to you, they will yell your name, but nothing else." Violet shuddered, but she understood the plan and would engineer the dragonfly wings to fit her perfectly that night.

"What will I do?" pondered Klaus. At this point, Jacquelyn had parked the car in the city, and they were taking a secret tunnel to what the children assumed was the 'underground office'.

"Fiona will bring you into the ball, but then she will go over and help with another mission. We will send over another volunteer, and you two will dance, laugh, and be a convincing couple so that you will not be noticed for the rest of the evening. You will get a note from Violet's scout if she had to jump, and a note from Violet, to say she is safe. You are only allowed to leave the ballroom when you get the note from Violet, not when you get the note from the scout. If you get no note, that means nothing has gone wrong, and we have apprehended the WWHBNB.

"Ok," Klaus said, understanding the plan, not wanting to mess with it seeing it sounded like a plan well-read people would devise, and he was correct. At this point, they reached a door that was VFD.

"A VFD door. What's the code, Jacquelyn?" Fiona asked.

"I'm not sure, I have been on the run for some months now, and It has gotten changed since then. Let's go through the questions." The woman answered.

"What is the full name of the first poet to use 'couplets'" read Fiona. The Baudelaires visibly shook at that question, though they knew the answer.

"F-Frederic Ogden Nash. Though he is more commonly known as just Ogden Nash." Klaus answered shakily. Klaus at that time was thinking of a beautiful female poet, who happened to use the same poems. The next question was easy, How many pages is Anna Karenina, it's 864 by the way.

"The last question is 'the most popular anagram for Count Olaf.'" said Fiona.

"Al Funcoot," Violet said sorrowfully. Thinking of the time the count tried to marry her. The door opened, and it showed three outfits. A long, silver dress, with long sleeves, presumably for Violet. A Plain, Dark black suit and red tie for Klaus. And Fiona had a floor-length pink dress, with short sleeves and a design. Violet's went well with the wings, apparently, and it won't have her stand out too much. Fiona just had a dress, it went well with her glasses, according to Klaus. And Klaus's suit was normal the red pinstripe tie was how the female volunteer was supposed to find him.