Una Extraña Aventura: A Zeppeli Tale [ON HIATUS}

Chapter Four: A New Friend

"How many crew members did you pierce with the flesh bud, Señora Phoebe?" Aporreado asked in English curiously, his hands clasped on the table before him.

"All of them, Aporreado," the shrouded woman, whose accent indicated an origin in the British Isles, spoke softly. "23 in all."

"Excellent," Aporreado flashed a white smile. "Our agreement has never faltered. You get what you desire, and so does El Pacto. But I must remind you that this task should've been completed yesterday. You kept Menudo waiting. Why was that?"

"I went out scouting again last night. For the kind of person I've been looking for for these last two years."

"A... practitioner of the Hamon?"

That elusive martial art she's mentioned again and again...

"Yes, indeed. And... after so much time searching, striving to find the one who may have the answer I need... I found one. Aporreado, I found one! I would like to pursue this person further, if you don't mind."

"I am happy for you, Señora," Aporreado spoke, not exactly enthused. "However, the partnership between you and our organization will go on for as long as possible, as we originally agreed to. You remember that, right?"

Phoebe's hidden eyes darted to the eyepatch on Aporreado's face, a result that she had something to do with.

"Of course, I do. It's my intention to uphold it for as long as I can, but you need to remember that I have my own interests at hand as well."

"Very well then, Señora," Aporreado nodded. "I can't tell you to not continue tracking this person down. You are a partner of El Pacto, the only one. You don't work under me. Feel free to enlist the services of Cerberus if they are not too preoccupied with their own tasks. But do remember that whatever you do must not interfere with the operations of El Pacto."

"I don't break promises, Aporreado. I may not be human anymore, but I still hold the values I've kept to since I was a girl."

She then spun around, causing her hood to fall off, revealing thick, black locks of hair that fell below her shoulders. As she left the dining hall, Aporreado shuddered.

"It seems Phoebe's partnership with us will break down soon," Aporreado held his head in his hands after the vampire had left his sight. "Now is the time to eliminate any and all threats towards El Pacto, if we hope to continue operating anywhere near our current capacity. I must inform Cerberus."

---

"Cafe Tacvba," Carmen read the sign overhanging a storefront as the noon sun neared. "The hotel employees recommended this place to me. I didn't know such a cute little cafe would be so close."

She was welcomed into the restaurant by the chimes of a door. The aromas of freshly-brewed coffee and warm pastries hit her hard immediately after. The walls of the interior were decorated in art inspired by the culture of the Guanches, the long-extinct native inhabitants of the Canary Islands. The tables and seats were occupied at a moderate capacity. Despite its location in the most frequented resort in Gran Canaria, the cafe had a home-y feel, and she felt like she could've stayed there all day. The line in front of her wasn't too long, and it seemed she would only have to wait a few minutes until she got to ordered. She took to reading the items listed on the menus above the counter. Spanish wasn't too dissimilar from the Italian she spoke, but it didn't hurt to try and learn some words of the local language.  And she could always resort to English, since this was an highly frequented tourist area.

The barista at the front had just finished taking a customer's order, preparing to use one of the drip machines behind her. Just then, a shape zipped past the counter, so fast that Carmen barely noticed it.

"Ladrón!"  thief, a patron cried as the figure dashed for the door, holding a pastry in his hand. By its shape and texture, it was definitely a leche frita.

As the thief neared her, a thought came to Carmen.

Damn showoff. What do you get out of robbing a nice little store like this? Bastard.

Carmen had worn a t-shirt, jean shorts, and a pair of Adidas Superstar shoes--no need to dress fancy to pick up a coffee and a snack. She yanked out a shoelace and held its two ends inside her fist, making a loop using the middle of the shoelace. She pulled the middle of the shoelace hard, charging it with Hamon for a few moments before letting it go like a slingshot. It glided in the air, straightening out and becoming as solid as a pencil the moment it left Carmen's hands. Just as the thief touched the door handle, the stiff shoelace stabbed him at the back of the head. The thief, a young man who was not local to the area, stumbled around, struggling to balance himself. He turned around, utterly confused, but still holding onto the sweet he had attempted to steal.

"Still holding onto it, huh?" Carmen crossed her arms. "Then let my fists take it back from you."

She was just about to approach him, when suddenly a bright flash of light appeared above her, just between the two of them. Carmen shielded her eyes, but it appeared that the light, too strong to be from any fixture inside the cafe, was directed at the would-be thief. The light beam seared the skin of the thief's bare arms, who despite everything, was unable to see what was hurting him. Finally with a shriek of pain, he let go of the leche frita, which fell right into Carmen's hands as she dove forward to catch it. Meanwhile, the thief had made his escape.

"Stronzo." Asshole, Carmen muttered under her breath.

"Oi," a voice spoke out in a friendly tone from behind. Carmen turned around to see that the barista from under whose eye the leche frita had been swept from had come to the back of the line to greet her. "That was amazing. Thank you so much, hermanita."

"Don't mention it. It would've been bad for business if he ran away with this, right?" Carmen shrugged off the compliment, attempting to hand back the pastry.

"Ah, well... you get to keep that. It's on us." the barista smiled. Her mostly brown hair was straight and fell behind her back halfway down, with the exception of two white bangs that framed her face. She wore an orange crop top and baggy green cargo pants below her black apron.

"Jeez," Carmen could feel her cheeks getting warm. "That's great. Thanks, erm..."

"The name's Rosalia," the barista introduced herself. "Rosalia Alfajores. You came here for a coffee, right? I'll help the people in front of you first, but you'll have to pay for that. Don't worry, I'll get you a discount for it."

"I- I'd really appreciate that, Rosalia. My name's Carmen Zeppeli. I'm staying at the hotel three blocks east, the one with the red roof."

That light, Carmen thought as a realization came to her. Did this girl have something to do with it? Now that I mention it, it was only she and I who really looked like they tried to stop that guy.

"Wait... your ability. You have some kind of ability, don't you?"

"Alfajores!" an adult male voice shouted from behind the counter. "You got the guests waiting! Get back behind the counter and serve them. Hazlo!" Get to it, he ordered.

"Yeah, and I'm curious to know about yours too," Rosalia said to Carmen. "But we can't talk now. I'll drop by the place you're staying at when my shift's over though, okay?"