Sunny wore his straightest face. He could hardly contain his would-be shit-eating grin.
"Satella—what an ominous name—"
The cats' expression went from mortified to furious in an instant.
Satella was petrified; frozen like a statue.
Sunny did not know why the cat was mortified, but he figured it did not appreciate having his words turned against him. He would've been very satisfied by the cats' reaction, had he not felt the temperature drop considerably.
Nor could he pin the reason why Satella was so shocked. All he did was repeat her name in a mocking manner. Sure—it was rude—but her cat did it first!
Sunny coughed, shivered, and then scratched his head.
"Uhhh sorry? Anyway lets go find that Insignia for you—
…You wouldn't happen to know where the slums are, would you?"
Satella simply shook her head.
'Right, she's a noble after all.'
Sunny walked past the silent pair and was ecstatic to finally get out of that fucking alleyway because jesus christ he was only in there for 30 minutes but it felt like hours.
Anyway. He took a look up and down the street; there were a lot of people around, and non-human people as well. Thinking for a moment, Sunny turned back to ask a question.
"Say, Satella—"
Satella flinched at the mention of…her own name? Matter of fact, Sunny felt many people flinch when they heard him say her name. Why? He couldn't understand, and it bothered him. He felt like he was missing something, but he also felt like that cat might actually kill him if he said something wrong.
'A pseudonym, maybe? Whatever, not my problem. Actually, I should've done the same.'
"—which way to the gate?"
"I don't know…I haven't been to the capital often."—Satella graced him with an answer this time.
'We're in the capital? Guess that makes sense. This street alone is quite large and the infrastructure is well maintained. At least, this part of the city is.'
He was beginning to wonder whether he should keep this damned insignia if he has to put all the work to find it. Sunny felt a chill run down his spine.
Discarding that thought, Sunny ended up bothering a few random people to probe information about the local slums. Having a general direction in mind, they headed downhill. The walk was uneventful, it seems that there was some newfound dissonance between Sunny, Satella, and the cat ever since she revealed her name.
It's not like Sunny trusted either of them, but he sees no other option than to stick together. He could try to flee, but he has nowhere else to go, no way out of this Nightmare.
After an hour, the trio were deep in the local slums. He could smell the poverty, it was…familiar.
'Back again.'
The road ahead of them opened into a sort of cul-de-sac with a scattering of dead trees and tumbleweeds. There were a number of buildings lining the sides of the area, but only one stood out; it was a house sized barn.
Conveniently, there seemed to be someone standing at the front door. A little girl with blonde hair wearing thief's attire.
'No way'
Sunny motioned for Satella to stop and held a finger to his lips before peaking around the corner.
"~~—~—~"
"~~—~—~"
"~~~—~—"
The door opened and Sunny could hardly make out a large figure opening the door. The girl raised her arms joyfully and skipped inside.
Unfortunately, he could not make out what the girl was saying. But that was plenty of information already; this is the place.
'The Loot House?'
'No. It's a barn not a house.'
He turns toward Satella and the cat, both wearing an inquisitive expression; and then he motioned for them to look and pointed.
"We found it, I just saw the thief walk into that Loot Barn."
"Loot Barn??"
They both asked in unison.
Ignoring them, he continued—
"It looks like there's at least one big strongman inside, and that girl is fast; if she gets away she's gonna go into hiding."
"You seem to know a lot about this, mister?"
The cat was clearly suspicious. Rightfully so.
Sunny raised his hands in mock appeasement.
"I'm from the slums, of course I know how to find a fence."
"A…fense?"
"A middle-man."
"—middel?-man??"
Sunny's eyebrow twitched. Ignoring them—again—he moved on.
"Do either of you have any way to see inside the building?"
They both shook their head.
"Alright, wait here a moment while I scout out the building. I'll be back in five minutes."
Satella attempted to protest, but the cat shushed her.
It nodded at him and he walked away. Sunny judged the surroundings, searching for any lookouts; he quietly approached the building from the side and pressed his ear against the wood. The sound was muffled, but he vaguely felt at least two presences inside through the vibrations in the wood. Sunny carefully traced the building with his eyes, looking for any windows or holes. But goddamnit, this barn was flawless! The windows were elevated and secure, its walls were practically brand new. Whoever owns this building has taken very good care of it.
He walked around the building, repeating this process on the three sides. He'd confirmed there are only two voices inside, however he can not tell if a third person was already inside and has simply remained quiet.
Hesitantly, he approaches the door to press his ear against—
"~Excuse me, who are you?"
Sunny froze. Every hair stood on end. He had goosebumps. He almost started sweating.
'Behind me? I didn't sense anything.'
Slowly, he turned to face the seductive voice. The woman appeared to be normal; if you ignored the fact that she was practically nude, and what little clothing she did have was mysteriously assassin coded, or the cold dead look in her eyes, not to mention her devilishly fake smile.
'~ Definitely ~ NOT a killer—'
"Hmm~ you don't have to be so afraid. I don't bite."
The woman leaned forward, mere feet away, staring deep into Sunny's eyes. He saw no life in her reflection, only slight amusement at his petrified state.
"Oh! Sunless—who is this woman?"
The voice of an angel interrupted the building tension. However, to Sunny, this only amplified the feeling of dread.
Both he and the woman turned to Satella, although Sunny made sure to keep the woman in sight; she didn't bother doing the same to him. He swore he saw a hint of recognition in the scary woman's eyes, which sent a shiver down his spine.
'It's barely been 5 minutes, why is she here!? And why did she approach the building? Seriously what the hell?? And where's that cat?'
"Oh my~ My name is Elsa. It seems we'll be having some guests tonight. How fun, please, let's get inside."
Sunny felt like a guillotine was hanging above his head. He was contemplating running away right now, but he didn't think he'd make it far. He figured he couldn't beat her in a straight-up fight. He didn't know how strong Satella and the cat were, but he figured they were Awakened at best, and this woman felt like a Master at worst—
"Who's out here making all that racket?"
The barn door swung open, and from within appeared a gruff old man. Or rather, an old giant. This man towered over Sunny and the rest, but mostly Sunny. He had an odd build; very muscular, short legs, long torso, and his arms draped past his knees. Although that could've been a result of his hunchback. The man also held a massive wooden club that was at least as big as Sunny.
"Damnation!"