The ringing of the telephone echoed throughout the room; a hand with soft, pale skin reached out and picked up the receiver before bringing the microphone close to her lips. "Hello, this is Mother speaking," she said. Moments later, a man's voice came through the speaker.
"Mother, it's me, Robin—have you seen Alice? She's not at home," came a rather deep male voice; the green-haired woman glanced towards the living room, where a girl was standing, scribbling on a blackboard.
Her hand clutched the chalk tightly as she continued to draw lines and various other shapes—the girl with long blonde hair and a blue ribbon tied at the back was hatching a plan.
"Yes, she's here," said the woman before bending her knees, her left hand reaching for the chips on the table. "What a coincidence, could you come round? Bring Romeo along too" she said, chewing.
"Got it—I fancy having a bit of a go at her too."
"Don't be too harsh, hahaha."
Mother put the phone down again, before glancing at the girl who was still drawing. "Alice, have you prepared your apology yet?" she said with a little laugh, taking another French fry from the plate.
"Not yet, but I'm sure he won't be that angry," I said before stepping back to look at all the plans I'd sketched out on the rough blackboard. "Besides, he won't have time to give me a proper telling-off once he sees this plan"
The sound of approaching footsteps, and a figure behind me looked at all the plans I'd written and drawn—all that information and those explanations were conveyed clearly and were easy to understand. "Have you ever considered becoming a teacher?" she asked; I could sense the admiration in her voice.
I gave a little laugh. "I can't even remember what my old dreams were," I replied before turning round and sitting down on that dark green sofa—no wonder she was in awe; Red was just as surprised when she first saw me making plans; even she, who dislikes complicated things, could understand the plans I'd drawn up.
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door; Mother immediately rose from her chair and walked towards the door. Her hand reached for the handle before she pulled it open; on the other side of the door stood a man with ginger hair, wearing a green leather jacket—something he didn't usually wear.
Beside him stood a man with tanned skin; his dark brown hair was slightly curly—he was wearing a black shirt with a denim waistcoat, paired with trousers made from the same material as the waistcoat.
"Oh, Double R! I've been waiting for you lot," Mother greeted them, stepping aside to let them in. Hearing that nickname immediately made Robin look for me everywhere.
"Double R? Seriously?" Robin muttered, spotting me lying on the sofa, a Rubik's cube in my hand. Robin took off both his shoes, followed by Romeo behind him, before placing them on the shelf.
"That's your new nickname as a duo," I said, not moving a muscle to greet them; it didn't take long for my hands to solve the cube. "I know you're angry with me—I'm sorry about that, but now I've prepared a present as an apology."
They walked over to the blackboard and slowly began to read the plan; after quite some time, they simultaneously turned towards me with expressions of astonishment, as if they couldn't believe what they'd just read. "Even though you're sometimes like a little terror, you're still a genius, aren't you?" Robin muttered.
"Take that back," I said, pulling out my card and making the man raise both his hands. "By the way, Romeo, do you know Juliet's number?"
Romeo, upon hearing that, looked flustered for a moment and avoided eye contact, before nodding slowly. That made the corners of my mouth curl upwards—I had a hunch that Juliet liked Romeo, because when we flew to Mother's house, she always asked about him, even though I'd only met him myself quite recently.
"Good. Could I ask you to pass this on to her, please?" I pulled out a letter and handed it to Romeo; he glanced at the card for a moment before reaching out to take it. "And don't make it seem as if it's from you—you can act, can't you?"
"Of course! I'm not sure about the acting bit, but I'll do my best!" He clenched his fist and his eyes sparkled with optimism.
If I gave this directly to Juliet, she'd definitely check whether it was a trap or not—and in all likelihood, she wouldn't even accept it at all. But if Romeo were the one to give it to her, she'd be more likely to let her guard down.
I heard the telephone handset being put down; I turned my head and saw Mother, her hand still on the handset—I'd been so focused on the two of them that I'd forgotten my surroundings. "What is it, Mother?" My voice made her snap her head round immediately.
"Nothing... One of the Fables I've sent on a mission is in trouble—it's the same person who was supposed to be helping you and Felix," Mother said, popping the last chip into her mouth. "I've already asked Felix to go and pick him up and help her."
I was still curious about that mysterious man; I'd only just heard his name mentioned by Mother. "By the way, may I ask who Felix is? Is he a Fable too?" Because when he helped me, he didn't seem to be using any Everafter.
"Oh? You don't know yet?" Her green eyes flicked towards Robin and Romeo.
"All we know is that he's a beastkin."
"Huh?"
"He's also friends with Ciel."
"Huh?!"
"Still friends—but it's clear the two of them have feelings for one another."
"HUH?!?!"
So much information had suddenly been thrown at me without mercy; I shook my head and tried to organise it neatly on the shelves of my memory. "Slow down! Try to explain it to me slowly," Mother then walked over and sat down beside me.
"All right, let's start the story session—where shall we begin…" She pondered, sitting gracefully; that energetic demeanour was gone for now—replaced by the maturity she usually showed us at her old body.
Back when Red and I were still very new to working with Mother, an inmate named Felix Purrington was released; his offences were theft and fraud. After spending two years in prison and finally being released, he planned to carry on doing exactly what he had been doing before his arrest.
That was what was on his mind, but more than a week after his release from prison, there were no reports of any criminal activity on his part. Upon investigation, it turned out that Felix was spending his days gambling and drinking whilst constantly pursuing a woman who was, in fact, the police captain who had arrested him.
The woman's name was Ciel Morgan. A woman whose hatred for the Fables ran deep in her blood—the two of them continued to chat every day, even though at first Ciel had refused his advances because the fact that Felix was an ex-convict still weighed heavily on her heart.
However, as a woman who had never experienced love and who had met a man so determined in his approach, her heart melted like ice cream left out in the summer heat.
Yet there was one thing neither of them knew—Felix possessed immense potential to become a Fable, and Mother, aware of this, immediately sought an opportunity to introduce herself to him.
They got to know each other until the day when roots burst forth from the earth, wreaking havoc on the houses; at that moment, Felix was helping Ciel evacuate the frightened and panicked residents. But just as they were too focused on that, the ground shook beneath us—Ciel had only just finished evacuating the residents to safety.
Realising what was happening, Felix tried to rush to her rescue—but even if he ran as fast as he could, he would still not have been in time to save her. Just as all hope seemed lost, a group of small figures leapt forward and pushed her out of the way—roots burst through the pavement and towering green vines reached up to scrape the sky.
Felix stood still, breathing heavily as he tried to process what was happening. "W-We got you!" a girl's voice called from atop a roof. Felix looked up and saw a girl with low-set twin tails of ash-grey hair, a sweet smile playing on her lips.
Her fingers seemed to be tapping an invisible keyboard; from behind the green roots, a woman with navy blue hair appeared—Felix's feet moved of their own accord and approached her; both his hands immediately rested on her shoulders and he looked her up and down.
"Are you alright?" he asked, and she replied with a nod. Felix's eyes fell upon a doll-like figure with a white beard; then his eyes flickered and he noticed another similar figure—the only difference being the colour of their nightcaps.
Felix's green eyes met those of the mysterious girl, whose blue eyes immediately looked away, and her snow-white cheeks flushed crimson—the girl plucked up the courage to try and look at Felix once more before her trembling hand waved.
"U-um... Nice to meet you.... my name is S-Snow White."