His heart thundered in his chest.

Broken and bloodied, the Old Man let out a gruff, manic chuckle, spitting out a loosed tooth.

"Feel better now, boy?" he intoned as he spat.

The boy's grip tightened around the hatchet he had brought.

"Well, what are you waiting for. Do it," the man taunted.

"DO IT, JULIAN!"


"Julian? JULIAN! Mister Cross!"

Gathered in a small, cluttered office, a group of city officials stood beforea pitifully drunk and unconscious man. Upon shouting, and slamming a fist on the desk, he awoke, attempting to stagger to his feet, but falling over. Clanking empty bottles thundered when his arse hit the floor. One of the men went to the single window, pulling the curtains open to let in the midday sun.

"Ugghh! What, for Godsakes, what?!" the man, Julian snapped as he used the edge of the desk to pull himself to his feet, and shielded his bloodshot amber eyes. He ruffled his already messy, shaggy mop of black hair, and attempted to gain his composure.

"Mr. Cross. I think you know why we're here. You're late on your lease. Now…you had promised payment within the month, but that never came. I've been more than reasonable-"

"That job fell through, Devin, but I have other things lined up, I promise," Julian interrupted whilste hastily shuffling through the stacks of parchment on his desk.

Adjusting his spectacles, the rather severe-looking, steely-eyed man let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't doubt that you're trying. I hate to kick anyone out on the street; however, I'm increasingly getting the inclination that I'm renting you a den just to support your…habits."

From the room at the back of the office, a red-haired girl, dressed in a bedsheet shuffled sleepily into the main room. "Jule? What's goin' on? I…oh…"
Without a word, she went back to the room, dressed in what appeared to be the attire of a bar wench at the Winking Mermaid. Blowing a kiss, and looking at Julian with concern, she quietly slipped out the door behind the officials.

"Hey now, I didn't pay her, lad. I would pay you before anyone else," Julian wise-cracked while pointing at Devin. "Don't I get any leeway here? Not even for having found your son?"

"For your work in that regard, I am eternally grateful," Devin sighed again, shaking his head. "Give yourself a hard look, though, Julian. You're washed up. You haven't had a case in months. You've talent elsewhere as well."
He gestured to the many half-finished sketches and paintings littering the office. "You could pay me if you put your mind to it. It pains me, but I can't shelter a vagrant any longer. I expect you out at dawn tomorrow."

~~~

His belongings packed haphazardly into a rucksack, Julian looked at the bare walls and dusty desk of his rental space emptily. He had sobered up by now, but his head still throbbed. He shaved away the stubble as he always had, leaving behind the characteristic soul patch below his lip.
Donning a long overcoat, and slinging the bag over his shoulder, he strode out onto the evening Adelunan streets, locking the door of the small office behind him, and leaving the key under the mat.

Julian didn't make it far before the weight of having lost his home and his hub of operation got to him. He sat down by the docks, looking out over the water. He withdrew a small pipe from his coat and packed it full of fragrant herbs, lighting it with a bit of flint. He inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes, but jumped when he felt something brush by his hand - a mouse. He stared at it as it also looked back at him, rearing onto its hind feet expectantly.
"You and I are equally peeled, wee thing," he mused thoughtfully. Rummaging through his pockets, he found a handful of peanuts from the bar, and offered the pile to the pitiable creature. It hesitated, but soon chattered and nibbled away happily at one of the legumes.


"Oy! Look 'ho it is!" a rough voice called out behind him.

Before Julian could turn fully and react, there was a fist….then blackness, as he was dragged away into the night.

"Solomon Grundy, born in Cresci, christened in Belli, married in Pluvi, ill in Turbedi, grew worse in Auti, died in Sati, buried in Meti. That was the end of Solomon Grundy~" A small figure with black hair cropped in a bob wearing a white smock hopped, skipped, and jumped on the cobblestones in the street. There was a small group of children gathered around, watching her bob up and down on one leg. One of the girls had an old piece of clothesline for a jumping rope, and another had a homemade doll made from burlap. "That's not how it goes!" A boy whose cap was askew said loudly. "Huh? Whaddya mean? Isn't that what happened to Mr. Grundy?" She rocked back and forth on her heeled slippers while the same boy shook his head. "Nuh-uh! You skipped some! You're supposed to start in Primum not Crescere!"

"Awww…" She slumped over looking dejected. That didn't last long, as she was all smiles again. "Ok, you win. These are for you guys, like I promised." Stuffing her hand in her pockets, she produced a pile of paper-wrapped candies and handed them out to the children one by one. "Don't let anybody see 'em, ok? It's our little secret." The boys and girls nodded, and hid them in their clothes just in time for one of the boys to hear his mother calling. "See you!" "Bye!" They then scattered, returning to their homes. Dusk was approaching, and the little arcanist was all tired out. "Whew, I haven't skipped rope since…since before I started school! Wow that's been a long time." 

Looking off in to the sunset, she pulled out a paper-wrapped caramel and popped it into her mouth. Chewing with an expression of thoughtful contemplation, she spat out the wrapper moments later, then resumed. As she was staring off into the distance eating the gooey, caramelized goodness she noticed some rascally looking people drag off a slightly less rascally looking man. He was certainly cleaner than they were, and he wasn't exactly willing to go along. Then he went limp. "Hmm…is that kidnapping? Or should I call it 'adult abducting'?" It looked very suspicious, and at once she decided to follow them. If there was one thing she was good at besides magic and explosions–it was sticking her nose where it didn't belong because she could.

Being somewhat vertically challenged, hiding was easy. Turning invisible and using levitation so there weren't any footsteps made trailing them easy as pie–or easier in this case. They pulled Mr. Sleepy all the way to an old shed off of the docks. It was pretty old, had peeling paint, and smelled like dust. It was pretty roomy too, probably used to be a place where they made boats or something. There were plenty of crates lying around, so she ducked behind some and listened in. With her back to the stack of heavy wooden boxes, she took out a hand mirror to show what was going on in the reflection. 

Mind's eye swimming with convergent, chaotic imagery, Julian stirred. His head hurt worse than he remembered. Had he drank again? Of course not. He didn't have any more money.

"Can't shelter a vagrant any longer…"

The word echoed in his brain.

"Look at 'im, boss. I think you hit the guy too hard."

"…washed up…."
Words from earlier that day mingled with the intimate moments he shared with Elena, the maid at the bar. Her giggling, her breath in his ear, the sounds she made, all muddled with the sounds of hoarse laughter. The image of raising a hatchet overhead flashed briefly.

It was then he realized that it was he who was laughing as he came to. He sat bound to a rickety wooden chair in a dank old shack, he surmised not far from where he had sat at the docks. He recognized the glaring faces before him, and he didn't stop laughing, even as they kicked his chest, sending the chair toppling backward.
"What's so damn funny, rat?!" the man who had struck him before demanded. He was a bear of a man, with the fur to boot. The entirety of his thick forearms displayed various nautical tattoos.

"Nothing…Just…This may as well be happening," Julian heaved between chuckles.

"Damn right, wanker. I spent a year in jail because of you. I'm still payin' off me fines, too. Word is, you don't have the protection of the council anymore either…and no place to hole up."

The smile had slowly faded from Julian's mug, but he still appeared to be in good, albeit jaded spirits. "Roughing me up's going to solve it, then, huh Hesse?" he shot sarcastically. "I did what I was hired to do. Not my fault you were smuggling."

"Ohhh no. This is purely for the pleasure of it," the large man, Hesse, retorted, cracking his knuckles. "Should have kept your nose out of it…stuck to your pencils and paintbrushes."

The chair that Julian was tied to cracked and splintered rather abruptly. As they had been talking, he had managed to surreptitiously work at it. He was not a titan of strength and finesse by any means, but the training that the detective chose to perform, a mysterious series of statics with lengths of rope and odd objects, gave him an unusual sort of raw, wiry strength. The strength could be exerted at strange angles as well, such as what the moment called for.

Rolling away from Hesse and his goons, Julian stood up awkwardly and worked at shirking off the now loosened ropes from his wrists while trying to fend them off.

This wasn't looking good. The not-so-much-of-a-rascal was free–from the chair at least. From the angling of her mirror she saw the whole thing, from their chitchat to the escape attempt. The way he was shuffling meant his hands were still tied, literally and figuratively. And, he was making them move around the place while they tried to clobber him. That was no good, no good at all. Myouga knew right away she had to distract them before she was discovered. She could blow things up, but that would probably make the guards come running. Not the best idea, though fun and tempting. There was only one thing left to do…

Steeling her resolve, she pulled out a stick of salt and sauce flavored dried squid. Desperate times called for desperate measures. With all the power vested in her little arms, she flung the squid stick at the incoming brawl and hurriedly took out a snow globe. It was time…to release the corgi! "Kuroguro, goooo!" With a shake, the magic of the snow globe released a creature that had been confined within its enchanted glass. Smoke began to billow as maniacal cackling filled the air, and a large dark shaggy dog with stubby legs emerged. The delicious smell of food caught its nose, and the squid stick hit one of the ruffians in the face. Before the man could let out a swear, a hideous snaggle-toothed canine was bounding towards the mob at full speed! Fully fixated on the food in the man's hand, the krampus corgi rammed and downed him like a bowling pin. 

The smoke trailing behind it was filling the air, reducing visibility as hyena-like chortles were briefly interrupted by chewing and slobber. The arcanist wasn't particularly worried about throwing her pet at the burly men. After all, krampus corgis weren't exactly cute or cuddly. And most people didn't want to tango with a cackling-mad canine sporting more teeth than a toothed gear. They were probably in more danger now that Kuroguro was loose. Peeking from her hiding spot, her eyes searched for the formerly tied man. She had a portal spell already in the works, but she needed to make sure she wasn't spotted before it was ready.