Debts To Be Settled

43

Returning to Madeleine's boutique is a little like coming back home. It's a surreal feeling since Tommy has never really had a home before. He now has people to consider a home and a shop for himself that acts like a sanctuary. Still, this boutique is probably the closest thing he had to a home before he left it, and now that he's coming back (even temporarily to get a suit tailored for him) he feels nostalgic for a past that he doesn't want to go back to. As kind as Madeleine has been to him, he loves the life he's somehow found for himself— one that only came to be because he decided to heal Phantasm in an alleyway and took a bullet for Wilbur in a convenience store. Those decisions led him away from this holding zone and to a proper home full of connections, but Tommy can't deny that he misses Madeleine sometimes. She took him in, after all. She saw potential in him when no one else cared enough to even look at him without scowling in disgust.

The air is cold as Tommy steps inside. He shivers involuntarily. His eyes swing around to find Madeleine. She is usually at the front of the shop, but she doesn't seem to be anywhere in the main room. Tommy frowns until he feels her heartbeat in the distance. Well, he feels two heartbeats, and they emanate from the room in the distance. Tommy lets the door close behind with a jingling bell as he heads toward Madeleine's office. While she assured him the shop would be empty while she gave him his tuxedo fitting (because he will be going to the party Jester is throwing for him later in the week), there must have been a meeting she didn't account for. Or an important client showed up out of nowhere. Or she brought over a friend to help her make Tommy's suit. He doesn't know for certain, and he could ask whenever she steps outside her office.

Strangely, the door is open. Tommy frowns, narrowing his eyes. Madeleine never leaves her office door open. It doesn't matter who's inside or outside it, the door remains closed. Tommy shivers again. His teeth chatter and his breath is the color of ashes as it leaves his lips. Tommy wraps his arms around himself as he turns the corner to peer into Madeleine's office. A smile plays on his lips, trying to show a friendly expression to the woman who seemed most similar to an estranged aunt to him, but horror expands across his face as he registers what's happening inside the room.

Madeleine's eyes widen as she meets his eyes. Her lips part wordlessly. She never speaks again as she seizes with pain. A tear slides down her cheek. It freezes, cutting a thin line across her jawline. Blood drips onto the ground. The light leaves her eyes, and she falls forward. She puts all of her weight on Wraith's shoulder. The villainess tilts her head over her shoulder. Her piercing eyes meet Tommy's gaze unflinchingly as she pulls her arm out of Madeleine's chest. The tailor falls to the ground, causing a small explosion of snow. As the snow lands, Wraith flexes her bloodied fingers. She flickers her hand to the ground, letting glops of blood stain the white snow and purple ice. She turns around completely to look at Tommy.

The blonde collapses onto his knees. Tears fill his eyes, and he starts shaking from both the temperature and unmet sobs. He should heal Madeleine, but her heartbeat has grown still. He can't heal someone who's already dead. He can only grieve for them. And, he supposes as he manages to find his trembling voice, ask the important question, "W-why?"

Wraith doesn't answer him immediately. She steps closer to him. He doesn't meet her eyes, so she kneels on one knee. She grabs his chin. Ice spreads across his jawline, and her thumb leaves a bloody fingerprint when she presses it into his skin. "He was right. Golem is a traitor, and you are exactly where you're supposed to be."

She sounds equally surprised and impressed, a strange feat for someone who is usually so reserved and emotionless. She moves Tommy's face from side to side. He has no strength to deny her, only to realize that she's scrutinizing his appearance. "You look like her. Not the eyes. I don't know who you got those from, but... the rest of you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tommy demands, torn between anger and sorrow. As a result, his voice is too unsteady to project either emotion properly. He just sounds frazzled. That isn't wrong, per se, only he doesn't want Wraith to hear the strain.

Not as if she would care. She barely gives Madeleine a second glance as she answers his original question. "I was given explicit orders. I was to find the blonde-haired tailor for the villains. She had information about you. Since she refused to give the information, she was killed. It seems she wanted to protect you. Strange how mortals frequently fall into folly. You are right here, after all. She could have given you up and stayed alive. It wouldn't have made a difference. Archillager wants you. He shall have you."

Wraith puts a hand over Tommy's eyes. It freezes his tears. They dig into his flesh like tiny knives. He tries fighting against her, but she pushes him flat on his back. "Don't worry. When you awaken, you will have forgotten about all of this. Your painful past will be little more than a hollow echo in your nightmares. You will have a bright future to aspire to, and you will become a beacon of justice for the people of this island. Is that not the most desirable outcome?"

It's not by a long shot, but he's unconscious before he can argue with her.