Riverside National Theatre.
A very famous theatre in London. Unlike me, Alice often came here and frequently invited me to watch plays with her. The trip here should have been fun, but behind us, we heard dozens of footsteps approaching.
"I still don't understand why the authorities are chasing us." Rapunzel asked, and we both fell silent, unable to answer.
Alice looked at me, gestured for me to give Rapunzel a plausible explanation, but I just turned my face away because I couldn't think of anything to say. "Blame Red, she forgot to pay her taxes." Alice immediately answered Rapunzel's question.
I was stunned.
"Oh? Is that so? You must have been very busy to forget your obligations like that." Said Rapunzel, which only made me annoyed.
Alice wanted to use Everafter, but she didn't want the image of Fables to get worse in this town. If our opponents weren't the authorities, Alice would have already trapped them in the thorny root prison by now.
Suddenly, Alice asked an unexpected question. "Red, do you remember how funny the Chaplin film we watched last night was?"
"Pft—"
Comedy is my favourite genre, and I always use the money I earn from completing missions given by Mother to buy DVDs of comedy films I haven't seen yet. "Eh? So you like comedy films? I thought you preferred serious stories." Rapunzel said, looking as if the thought had never crossed her mind.
"Rae! Don't ruin the mood," Alice ran towards me. "Do you remember this scene..." She whispered about a scene from last night's film.
I turned around and immediately took out my shotgun. I shot everyone who was chasing us, but the shots didn't kill them; they just knocked them back. One person fired, but I only had to turn my head before shooting back at that person. Before I knew it, they were lying on the ground in pain.
I turned around and continued running towards the theatre building, while Rapunzel was shocked and confused. "You just shot at the authorities?! They'll be even angrier, won't they...?"
Then she paused for a moment before asking, "Wait, this is the first time I've seen it in person… but from what I've heard, that shotgun is really… uh, what do they call it? Oh! Deadly."
"But... I didn't see a drop of blood," Rapunzel wondered, not realising we had already entered the building.
Alice grinned before approaching her and answering her question. "You probably won't believe me, but last night Red was laughing her head off and that scene put her in a good mood now."
"Really?!" Rapunzel seemed incredulous, her eyes sparkling now. "Wait, but what does that have to do with anything?"
We had already bought tickets to see a play called 'Together We Go', a dramatic and romantic story adapted from a novel that has been very popular of late.
We sat in our seats; Alice and Rapunzel wore hats to hide their faces from the authorities, whilst I only needed to wear my red hood.
"How does it feel to be at the theatre for the first time?" Alice asked Rapunzel, who was sitting next to her; she seemed very happy and was admiring the interior design of the building.
I leaned back in my seat to enjoy the peace and quiet for a moment. The theatre curtains slowly began to open, as did the doors to the auditorium.
Alice sighed, glancing behind her; they were bound to disrupt the theatre's atmosphere. "Rae! I'm off to the toilet, alright?
"Ah, go ahead," Rapunzel nodded, watching Alice walk past the seated audience. "Red, are you—"
When Rapunzel turned to look at me, she saw only an empty seat. "Has she gone to the toilet too?" she muttered innocently.
Her attention returned to the front, ready to watch the play about to begin. Meanwhile, the two of us were facing the authorities in the corridor.
"Hands up! Don't resist!" shouted one of the men, pointing his weapon at us.
"Hey, you can't come in without a ticket, you know," Alice remarked sarcastically with a chuckle; she pulled her card out of thin air and was ready to strike at any moment.
"Tch, Fables, eh…? You guys really do like causing trouble, don't you?" the man with the rough face shouted at us.
I didn't really mind being insulted like that, but it was different for the girl beside me—she'd heard those insults countless times before, yet she still found it hard to take them in her stride.
"When this city was nearly destroyed by those giant roots, where were you, bastards?" Alice muttered, her hands clenching into fists as her face contorted with hatred and frustration.
She glared at each of the authorities standing before us in turn before flashing a cruel smile; and though I have no mind-reading powers… I knew she was plotting something dreadful.
"Red, let's teach them a lesson."
"Can I just be a janitor, Teach?"