Watch Me Fall

Chapter III

"I'm scared they won't like me, so I become another."

Aesop Carl - The Embalmer

        He was barely able to hear his device ringing out for the survivors to gather up in the main hall. The poor embalmer was concentrating on sewing up his attire since the Queen sort of went crazy on slashing at both him and the seer during the earlier game. She apologised afterwards so it was all good.

        The attire was not even halfway done in being sewed, he decided to go with his current outfit which was just like the other except its colour is lighter than his usual grey. He quickly went ahead and picked up his makeup box to head for the main hall. He would not want to keep the others waiting even though many people would be late for it, for example the magician or the thief. Even the doctor sometimes.

        As usual, he closed the door behind him gently after he left his room. The corridor was empty, the newcomer's door was still locked. It was not like the host had asked them for a match just yet, he does not need to intervene.

       "There you are." Aesop was confused for a moment as a voice suddenly called out from behind him, he turned around only to see the seer with his owl on his shoulder. The staring contest has begun although with the confused seer at the scene.

The embalmer soon broke eye contact with the owl, paying attention to the seer who was still puzzled by the fact that the owl and Aesop were having some sort of stare-off. The owl simply hooted. Typical.

He soon noticed that Aesop was glancing over at him with his dull grey eyes. "Ms. Behamfil was wondering if you could get the newcomer, he might be in the game for tonight."

The embalmer simply shrugged, "I don't think so," he paused for a moment to look at his communication device, "It seems like it is the priestess, mechanic, forward and the coordinator." He read as he lifted his device up for the seer to have a look as well. The seer gave a nod.

"Alright then." He once again gave the grey-haired embalmer a friendly smile before heading out of the corridor. "Hope you have a good night, Mr. Carl." The seer added afterwards.

        Aesop and Eli have been getting quite close with each other, and it took around four months for them to open up to each other. As of now, they are simply just close friends along with the mercenary, forward and prospector. Although Aesop was not fond of the prospector's presence, mostly because of his unnecessary remarks on things.

        His attention was soon shifted back towards the newcomer's doorstep. It remained locked but the shadow beneath it signalled that the newcomer was nearing the door. Though even after a solid thirty seconds of staring, the figure made no movement. The embalmer let out another sigh, and went ahead to leave the corridor after the seer.

•••••••

        It was the last match of the day, and it took around an hour for them all to return. As far as he knew, the mechanic was the first to be sent back. She was quickly surrounded by the Mind's Eye and the mercenary. The second to return was the forward. It was a tie, the priestess and coordinator managed to escape through one of the gates in the Arms Factory. Hell Ember must not be in his game mood today.

Aesop was in the kitchen right after the four returned from the match, he was feeling a little hungry and went ahead to raid the refrigerator in the kitchen. He simply grabbed a small box of sliced cake among the six, there was already a fork taped on the surface of the box. He could see himself drooling.

        Most of the residents were most likely to be asleep, they were exhausted from the matches today. He did encountered the doctor in the main hall as she was taking care of the forward's wounds as well as the priestess'. The doctor simply wished him a good night before turning her attention back to the forward.

        He gave a small nod before hurrying upstairs. Since he was on the first floor, there is a slim chance of him encountering any more survivors other than the bartender who stays in the room right at the end of the hall or the newcomer staying in the room on the left of his own. He took notice of the lights being switched off just as he was walking passed the newly occupied room, coincidence? Perhaps.

The bartender was right outside of her room, her relaxed back leaned against her doorframe. Chattering with the magician as if they were both bad-mouthing each other jokingly. Aesop did not want to interrupt so he just went ahead into his room and shut the door like there's no tomorrow.

Finally, some peace and quiet. Despite the ruined look of the manor, the rooms are quite absorbent of noises which works in his favour. He went ahead and placed the cake down right on the table. His normal attire was still laying there, not fixed just yet. That could wait. He felt like a glutton, perhaps that is how the mercenary feel when he needed calories for his body? Most likely.

        He slipped his mask off, revealing stitched sides of his mouth similar to the mercenary's although with thinner lines. One of the reasons why he wore a mask.

        Without any more delay from his incoming sugar rush, he dug the fork into the cake. As if the atmosphere around him just went from total misery to all flowers and sparkles. Cakes are the best desserts ever and no one could change his mind.

•••••••

        A couple of hours soon passed by, by the time he was done with fixing his attire up— it was already midnight 01:00. Well, there goes his sleep, welcome back, sleep deprivation. With a yawn, he went ahead and switched off the lights in his room.

        He simply slipped his jacket off, wearing a simple plain t-shirt with comfortable sweat pants for the night. He untied his hair, letting them all fall to touch his shoulders. He did not need the mirror to tell him that he looked like shit.

        Just then, the light from the newcomer's room widen. Followed by a pair of footsteps echoing down the corridor.