"The occult really is remarkable — a door that looks completely different from either side depending on which way you're facing it."
Ais muttered while gathering the fallen clothes. She folded them away, then applied the disguise and walked toward the Brave Men's Bar in the Bridgeway District.
The bar after nightfall was its usual uproar — and Ais's arrival pushed the volume to a peak.
"Tell me your name, big beautiful lady~~"
"Hey sweetheart, care to dance up on the stage? I'll cover the whole night's tab."
"Can't you lot act with some civilization? The proper form of address is: beautiful la-dy~"
Whistles and catcalls came from every corner, sparking waves of shameless laughter. Ais hadn't expected to still provoke this reaction after several days away.
Not that the surprise slowed her down. She took one look around the bar, planted her hands on her hips, and raised her voice:
"Anyone brave enough to come say that to my face?"
Whether because the night was still young and there were few drunks, or because the Brave Men's Bar maintained a reasonable baseline of order — no one actually stepped forward to face this woman whose expression gave nothing away. The bar fell briefly quiet. Still, Ais could hear someone murmuring:
"With a voice that lovely, she could at least sing instead of fight."
You three — I'm filing those faces away for when I run into you outside. Having mentally noted the few voices she'd pinpointed in the crowd, Ais walked straight toward the bar. People quietly made way.
The barkeeper looked at Ais and the commotion in her wake, set down the glass he was polishing, and offered a greeting:
"Evening, ma'am. You've been good for business these past few days, I'll give you that."
"Then shouldn't you be cutting me in on some of that?" Ais pulled out a chair and sat:
"If you're not sharing, I don't feel like drinking tonight. Is 'Old Man' here?"
The barkeeper, realizing too late that he'd opened a door he couldn't close, quickly changed direction:
"Two. Back room behind the billiard room."
Surely Ian isn't being harassed too. Ais stood and headed toward the back, puzzled by the barkeeper's lowered voice.
She turned a corner, cutting off the line of sight, and knocked on the firmly-closed door of Room 2. No response after some time. She confirmed only one person inside, then knocked again:
"It's me. Little brother."
The door opened shortly. Ian's red eyes carried a note of resigned frustration:
"Ma'am, could you just come through the back door from now on? I'd appreciate it. That should present no difficulty for you, I imagine."
"Has a lot of people been asking about you because of me?"
"I think you underestimate the directness of the people who live around here, ma'am. They don't need much of a reason."
Ais came in and closed the door. She found that the billiard table had only a few cards on one side, with a scattered layout of played cards in the middle.
How does one play cards alone? She settled into a chair near the table and shrugged:
"That one's on you for not telling me in advance."
Ian rolled his eyes, sat down, and said:
"Ma'am, I have news on the light-drawing dust. But the seller only deals in person."
Finally, a proper invisibility spell. Ais, who had been resting her chin on her hand uncomfortably, switched to propping up her cheek instead, and nodded:
"Where's the meeting?"
"Tomorrow evening, there's a gathering of Extraordinaries nearby — he's a participant." Ian said half of it and then smiled and fell silent.
Seeing him play coy, Ais didn't play along:
"Is one sou enough, little brother?"
Ian gritted his teeth: "2 pounds."
Ais shrugged again: "So why not just say that outright? Fine, I'll give you 2 pounds tomorrow. Anything interesting happening lately that might be worth money?"
"Things that show up once in a few days — you'd never catch them in time even if you knew, ma'am." Ian said.
Ais had only asked on a whim. She stood and said:
"All right, that's settled. Show me the back door."
Ian promptly led her out through the bar's back exit, then made a point of telling the person watching the door to bring Ais straight to him next time.
After seeing Ais off, Ian went back to Room 2 and sat down. Shortly after, an extra figure appeared opposite him in the chair — a slightly unkempt brown-haired man in a white shirt and black waistcoat, with a face that was rather pale.
Ian, accustomed to this by now, took a small breath and asked:
"That gentleman — shall we continue?"
The man gave a small nod. Simultaneously, a set of cards appeared floating beside the table — and the card game, interrupted by Ais's arrival, resumed.
Halfway through, the man suddenly spoke in a measured tone:
"She was carrying four mirrors. Is that normal?"
Ian thought about it and ultimately shook his head with resignation: "I'm not a woman — I wouldn't know."
On the other side, Ais — now out of the bar — was turning over whether to slip directly into Callum Grant's house to investigate, or to go home first and collect her clothes while checking on Big One.
She ultimately decided she was more worried about the clothes stashed outside and the puppy at home. Home first.
After retrieving the clothes from their hiding spot, Ais walked openly back to Burlingford Street.
"Miss Fal, back from your walk? You might want to check on your dog — she was barking for a while not long ago. Something might have happened."
A young man she'd greeted before but whose name she'd never caught spoke up again.
"Something wrong with the little one?" Ais's eyebrows drew together. She dropped a quick thank you and jogged home.
The moment she opened the door, she sensed something was wrong. Someone has been in my house. But then Big One, hearing the door, came trotting out in perfect health to greet her — which let Ais exhale.
Has there been a break-in? Ais held Big One close to settle her while making a quick sweep of the house.
The sweep confirmed nothing was missing. What stopped Ais in her tracks was a slip of paper on the bedroom floor, which hadn't been there before.
It read:
"My darling — you really do smell wonderful. Just lying on your bed and breathing in the scent that's uniquely yours — I nearly faint with happiness. I can only imagine how blissful I would be if you were lying beside me right now.
Don't worry — I haven't taken anything. How could I risk upsetting a lady as beautiful as you? Don't be too frightened either — I haven't done any damage. How could I possibly make a woman as captivating as you cry? I only wanted to be a little closer to you — to leave the smallest trace of myself in your life. That's enough for me."
I appear to have acquired an extremely unhinged admirer. Ais looked at the note with an expression she couldn't quite categorize. She looked over at her now-disheveled bed — and noted that beyond the rumpled covers, some undergarments that had been neatly put away in the wardrobe were now on top of the bedding.
Ais's brow furrowed. She produced a mirror immediately and began a divination:
"The man who entered my house tonight."
After the seventh repetition, a scene formed in the mirror: a male figure — blurred to the point of barely being identifiable, only the general height discernible — stepping out of her room.
"And he has the ability to interfere with divination."
Ais looked at the considerably indistinct result and made the assessment.
"Who could it be?"
Author's Note (this chapter):After seeing Ais off, Ian went back to Room 2 and sat down. Shortly after, an extra figure appeared in the chair opposite — a slightly unkempt brown-haired man in a white shirt and black waistcoat.
In the cycle, Maric didn't reach Sequence 3 because his condition wasn't stable.