"Why the hell are you crying!?" Linnie whispered.
"This place... it's," she choked up. "It's really dusty. My eyes are itchy."
She turned to look him in the face, revealing her extremely irritated eyes.
"Wha—what the hell!?"
"I'm allergic to dust. The tears help wash it out, see?"
Linnie shook his head, in disbelief that he almost thought that she was touched by the artwork or something.
"Let's get out of here. We've been staring at it for long enough."
"Wait, I wanna talk to the drawer!"
"It's called an arti—why do you even want to talk to him? He's probably some lame old man."
"I wanna see if he can make a painting of me. Wouldn't that be cool?"
'That's never happening.'
The two of them quickly snuck beneath the boundary and walked towards the scaffolding.
"Hey, you kids! You can't be there!" someone shouted.
"No, it's fine! We're helping the drawer!" Liora responded with a smile.
"Oh, okay."
'Just like that? Dammit, being a girl is too easy...!'
The two of them started to scale the scaffolding like a pair of monkeys. It really was very tall, since the last part of the fresco to be finished was the top, rightmost corner.
"Hello? Are you the drawer?" Liora asked once they reached the top.
It was a young-ish man. He wore white, draping clothing. It was too feminine in Linnie's opinion. The artist's hair was dark and curly, and his eyes were greenish brown.
He was nothing special.
"Huh? Yeah, yeah... I'm the artist," he said, giving little attention.
Brushstroke... and brushstroke. He was focused on his craft.
"This drawing is really pretty."
"Yeah, yeah... I know."
"It must've taken a lot of effort."
"Yeah, yeah... it did."
Linnie interrupted, not willing to wait as this charade of a conversation continued. He grabbed the brush, which caused the painter to finally look at the two children in outrage.
"What are you—huh? What are two children doing up here?"
"Sorry, Mr. Drawer, but I had a question."
"So you climb up my scaffold and interrupt my work?"
"Yes!"
"...Okay, then. Go on. What is your question?"
Linnie payed little attention to the conversation, instead opting to look down at the crowd from the scaffold. The ceiling of the cathedral was very high, and so the scaffolding was almost like the peak of a mountain.
"Paint you? Okay, okay, okay... how much are you paying?"
"Paying? I mean... I have a few stubs I'm willing to give up."
"Stubs? 'A few stubs'?" The artist burst into maniacal laughter. "I suppose you're a decent subject... yes, a little rough around the edges, but definitely not bad. But it'll cost more than a few stubs, little girl."
"Why? Don't you need things to paint? Shouldn't you should pay me?"
"P-p-pay you?" He burst into laughter again. "I work for the greatest families in the city, the Sedicis, the Penicis, the Lenicis, the Drowsens—"
"What was that second one!? Nevermind, I don't want you to paint me anymore. Goodbye."
"Wait—wait! I suppose it would be a shame to end it like this. Listen, come to my shop and we can sort out the details, alright? I do have a southern-inspired collection to finish..."
"I don't know..."
"You could always paint me," Linnie said, looking back to the two of them.
"...No, I think I'm good. Then again, I do have the unusual femininity collection to finish—"
"What the hell is that!?"
"It's an experimental hypothetical art experiment displaying feminine—"
"Shut the hell up! I'm a man!"
Linnie stormed to the edge of the scaffolding and started to angrily scale down back to the floor. Liora gave a friendly wave goodbye to the artist—though, not before he forced a small paper business card into her hands.
Once on the ground, Liora ran over to Linnie, holding it in the air.
"Look! He gave me a card with an address on it and told me to visit him tomorrow. I think he wants to paint my portrait!"
"Suspicious. Suspicious man. Forget about him, I'll paint your portrait if you want."
"Wait, really? You know how to paint!?"
"No..."
****
"Oho... a barrier, is it? Quite complex, too... is this really Malachai's people? I find that hard to believe."
Alwyn, in broad daylight, was executing a raid. This raid was a little curious, though, and much different from his usual assignments.
He had no idea who he was raiding, for one. Secondly, this type of thing was usually best done at night, without prying eyes. There wasn't time for that, though. Alwyn had been planning to cast a veil around the area, but he was in luck, since it seemed that another wizard had already done it.
Which wasn't lucky at all. The last thing he wanted right now was to fight another wizard. Or possibly multiple.
"Knock-knock! Oh? No answer? Well, don't mind me, I'll just let myself in."
His fingers grabbed ahold of the invisible barrier, pulling it to the side like a thin film. He stepped inside, letting the barrier close itself behind him.
The building looked exactly the same as it had moments before. The only difference was, now Alwyn could sense a lot more. It had seemed like there was not a single soul, but it was now bustling with energy. He not-so-sneakily walked around the large warehouse, looking for any good entry that wasn't the front door.
'The roof?'
Indeed, the roof had a series of slanted glass windows that most likely opened. He let his staff pull him into the air, choosing to dangle from it like a monkey on a branch and only letting go when he was positioned over the roof.
"Hmmmm. Looks like I have to break in, after all."
Alwyn snapped his fingers, and an invisible dome of noise-cancellation magic surrounded him. He smashed the window in with his staff, satisfied with the fact that there was no sound.
Once inside, he was standing on a small upper level that ran around the top of the interior wall. There was a small railing, but it was clear that people weren't really supposed to be wandering up there.
'That's good. I won't accidentally run into anyone.'
Hearing a large amount of movement and action, he peered over the railing.
'Ah, shit.'