Splash!
With his pipe clenched between his teeth, Van stood in the alley beside the entrance to the Last Drop, turned on the tap, hooked up a crude rubber hose, and brazenly washed the blood off his axe.
The blood rinsed away with the water, slipping through the cracks in the paving stones and down into the sewer beside the tavern. The smell of blood spread through the air, though it still couldn't overpower the usual stink of metal and smog that hung over Zaun.
"Van, you went out fighting again?"
Meira, the old madam, was out on one of her usual walks and happened to catch him first thing in the morning, calmly cleaning his murder weapon.
"Morning, Meira."
"Just don't come back covered in wounds again."
Van was still shirtless. Compared to the scrappy Zaun brat he'd been a little over a month ago, his body now carried a good few more ugly scars.
His muscles were sharply defined, his skin glistening with sweat in the morning light like something carved by hand. The scars crisscrossing his body didn't ruin the look at all. If anything, they only made him seem wilder.
"Don't worry. I was just dealing with a few pests."
Van tossed the hose aside, picked up a steel brush from the ground, and got back to work, scrubbing hard at the still-red axe head.
Cast iron really was a pain to clean.
"Don't you think you've been going a little too far lately?"
Meira's short little legs carried her over to his side.
"I've heard people talking. They say you've been dumping bodies into the fissures every day. Some people are already thinking about making a move against you."
Meira ran a brothel. Gathering information was second nature to her.
"I don't have much choice. The Lanes are in this state as it is. If I don't cut off the hands reaching in, there'll only be more trouble. Don't worry, Meira. If something happens, I'll carry it."
Van dropped the brush, tapped the ash from his pipe against the axe handle, then shouted into the tavern.
"Zeri! Bring me some tobacco!"
"Coming, boss!"
A small figure with dark green hair came tearing out of the tavern like a bolt of lightning and hurried over, holding the tobacco out in both hands.
"Here you go, boss!"
Zeri rubbed two fingers together, and a spark snapped to life at her fingertips, lighting the tobacco for him.
"That really is handy, Zeri."
"Hehe..."
Zeri grinned stupidly to herself, rubbing her hands together so fast she looked like a fly cleaning its legs while little arcs of electricity crackled between her palms.
"Uh, boss... can I touch the muscles there?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
Van looked at the electricity dancing in her hands. Whether for reasons of decency or for reasons of not wanting to be cremated on the spot, he had no interest in letting those hands anywhere near his chest.
"Come on! They're awesome! Especially that tattoo!"
"Uh..."
What Zeri meant was the "eye" on Van's left chest, the mark left by the crystal fragments embedded in him. Because it lay so perfectly fused with his flesh, it really did look like a striking tattoo.
"Boss! When am I gonna get built like you?"
"Well..."
Van looked at little Zeri's bright, innocent face and simply could not picture it on top of some hulking bodybuilder frame.
"I think you're pretty cute already."
"But that's not cool at all!"
Zeri threw a flurry of sloppy little punches at the air, then struck a fierce-looking pose that only made her seem more ridiculous.
"I wanna beat up bad guys in three punches just like you. Like this... hey! Hah!"
"If I look that stupid when I fight, I'm never going outside again."
Van knocked her lightly on the head with his pipe, stopping the performance before it could get any worse.
"Go find something else to do. Or go bother Ekko. I'm busy."
"Oh..."
Zeri might have been hyper, but she listened to Van. So she scampered right back into the tavern.
"Hey, Ekko! I came up with two new moves! Tell me what you think! Like... hey! Hah!"
Watching the green blur run off, Van couldn't help smiling to himself. That would keep Ekko occupied for a while.
"She's... a lively one."
"Yeah. But for all that, she's a good kid."
Van kept his pipe in his mouth and went back to scrubbing.
"She was already jumping in to defend people at that age... Later I found out she was an orphan, so I brought her back with me."
"Oh, I wasn't saying she was a bad child. She just... reminded me of the past."
Meira let out a slow sigh, her eyes going distant.
"When Vander first built up the Lanes, a lot of kids came running to him too. The place was full of life back then... Of course, Vander was older than you are now. He'd already spent years working the mines, and he had a whole crowd of old workmates around him."
"Hah. Compared to that, I've definitely got it rougher."
Van laughed it off. Most of the Lanes' younger men had already gone off looking for a future elsewhere, and Vander's old crowd were all auntie-and-uncle age now. Van had no desire to drag them into bloodshed beside him.
So the Lanes were badly short on people now. Most things still required Van to lead the way himself if he wanted to be sure they got done right.
Luckily, he figured he could handle it.
"People always called me a beast. And now the beast is stronger."
Van raised the heavy axe with one hand and gave it a few testing swings. It cut through the air with a sharp howl, flinging off every last bead of water clinging to it.
"By the way, Meira... any news?"
"No... none. If I had anything, you'd be the first to hear it."
Meira sighed as she answered. Van never said it outright, but she knew exactly what he was asking about.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Meira. I'll be ready for it..."
Van let out a quiet breath. There wasn't much disappointment left in him anymore.
He touched the bluebird pendant at his chest and silently offered up the last little hope he still held inside.
"Ahem."
A light cough cut through the moment. The instant Meira saw who it was, her face fell. She glanced at Van, then quietly turned and walked away.
"Been busy lately?"
"Busy enough, I guess. Still not nearly as busy as you."
Van tossed the cleaned axe aside and used the hose to wash the grime off his hands.
"What? Have my recent little outings caused problems for you people?"
"Don't say 'you people.' I've got no idea why Silco wants to see you."
Sevika took a drag from her cigarette, then pulled out another and held it toward him.
"Forget it. I handle this better."
Van lifted the pipe in his hand instead of taking the cigarette.
"So Silco's second-in-command handles courier work now? You should come work at my tavern. I'll feed you."
"Hmph... other people aren't worth the trip."
Van smiled, set his pipe down on the little table by the door—Ekko would spot it and put it away later—and nodded.
"Let's go."
[End of chapter]