Malcolm Tent
patreon
Wish upon the Stars chapter 668
🕑 Added 2024-07-12 20:43:03 +0000 UTCThe inside of the lodge was surprisingly homey. I’d been expecting it to be some big towering hall, but the first room wasn’t a colossal chamber. It was just a lobby. The wooden ceiling was only about a hundred feet up, and the walls were decorated with pictures and memorabilia. There was a marble fireplace set near two of the walls, with a little nook area surrounded by couches.
At the front desk, a clean cut, lanky man with grey hair and a red bellhop jacket greeted us warmly, and after checking us in, showed us to our rooms.
“So.” Said my best friend as we walked. “I’ve got a big night planned in a day or two. We’re going to see an E-rank grudge match between a hero and a villain that have been feuding for years, then we’re heading up into the aurora to catch light sprites, which are supposed to be good luck, and to finish it off, all of us are going to share a dragon steak, from an actual draconic bloodline monster, that weighs fifty pounds.”
I blinked at him in shock. “Jessie is going to be putting together something for Callie and the girls on the same night. But as your best man I naturally needed to give you a good sending off, while acknowledging that your fiancee can read your mind.”
“She can’t read my mind.” I said with a laugh. “But that does sound like a lot of fun. How the hell did you track down a fifty pound dragon steak?”
He snorted derisively. “Out in the universe you may be a super bigshot, but don’t forget this is my home turf. My dad owns the biggest mining interest on Callus, and he’s still got fingers in pies. Combined with my own strength I can get anything I need to here.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I said with an eye roll. “You’re Mr. Connections. I bow before your superior procuring talents.”
“Damn right.” He said proudly. Then his teasing tone softened. “Shane…this is a big fucking deal, man. I’m kind of blown away. I mean I knew it was coming, you proposed like ten months ago, but being here, back home. It really drives it home. I’m happy for you. And I’m proud you picked me to be your best man.”
I chuckled. “As if there was anyone else I’d pick. Does that mean you’re willing to help with all the arrangements? I have to go help Callie pick out a cake tomorrow, double check the venue, get my tux fitted, and about a dozen other things. I could use some backup.”
“Can’t you split your brain into like…a hundred different parallels?” He asked suspiciously.
Snorting, I waved off his question. “If I want my soul to collapse maybe.I’ve been doing some research on that Skill for a new form, actually, but it’s not ready. Regardless, don’t be a dick. As the best man it's your job to help. You and Celine can go with Jessie to check on the flowers. Callie wants black calla lillies as the center of the arrangements. “
He groaned good naturedly, but relented, and we chatted about how nice it was to be home before we got to our rooms, which were pretty close to each other. Before we could go in though, a familiar face appeared. “Alden!’ I said with a wide grin. “Good to see you, man, how have you been?”
I clasped the older man’s wrist, patting him on the shoulder, but I realized quickly that he looked a bit out of sorts. “You as well, lad. Congratulations on the impending nuptials. Listen, have you seen Cicero? He came with me, but he hasn’t checked into his room. I can’t seem to find him anywhere.”
“Is someone missing?” Callie asked as she and the others came up the hall behind us.
I turned and nodded, shooting a look at Abel, who was frowning. “Yeah Cicero isn’t in his room and Alden hasn’t seen him. I’m sure it’s nothing, but we can help him look around.”
Abel snorted. “Knowing my brother, I’m sure he snuck off into the city to try to find some E-ranker willing to invest in the circus. He’s always been good at that kind of thing. He’s probably fine.” Despite his relaxed tone though, I could see some worry in his eyes.
“Well if he’s not here we can just keep an eye out.” I said firmly. “But there’s no harm in getting the lay of the land, and we can look for him as we do.”
Alden let out a relieved sigh. None of us really LIKED Abel’s brother except Abel, but Alden had basically raised Abel, Mel, and Cicero. The red bearded man was the closest thing Abel and his brother had to a dad.
We got the room number from Alden. It wasn’t far, so we all headed over to check it out. To my surprise, I noticed Bethy looking unsettled. I hung back to check in with her. “Hey, everything alright?”
She nodded absently. “It’s nothing.” She said faintly, clearly trying to reassure herself. “I’m sure it is. But I feel…I feel like we’re being watched. I’ve been feeling it since we got here. Like there’s a predator looking at me. I get twitchy sometimes, I’m sure there isn’t anything wrong. But with someone missing…”
I straightened my back, coming alert for the first time since we’d arrived on the planet. Being home didn’t mean no danger. Callie felt the shift and glanced at me worriedly. My mom and Zeke had gone off to help get Amelia settled, but I wouldn’t have consulted them anyway.
This was Callus. Our home. We didn’t need high rank protection here. Zeke couldn’t interfere with anything given we were at the highest possible rank, and my mom getting involved could be dicey. My grandmother was apparently trying to mediate things with Black Sorrow, but until then, keeping her out of the limelight was for the best, especially when we were RIGHT on the edge of Black Sorrow Cult territory.
“Alden, when was the last time you saw Cicero?” I asked. If it was just an hour or two there was no reason to be worried. Even if I was getting a bad feeling.
He grunted. “Been about five hours. We separated when we showed up, I was taking in the sights and stopped for a meal. By the time I got finished I realized he wasn’t around, so I went looking. His room doesn’t look disturbed or anything. But him being missing is odd.”
When we reached the right door, Abel slipped past us and knocked. “Cicero!” He called. No one answered. “Cy, open your damned door or I’ll break it down. And neither of us wants you to have to pay for that.” After another minute with no response he pulled back his fist, ready to make good on his threat.
I stepped up in front of him. “Woah there.” I said with a laugh. “Why don’t you let me take care of it.” Focusing on the door, I triggered Double Trouble, appearing behind it. I let the illusion of me fade as I opened the door from the inside. “Come on in.”
After I let everyone inside, I turned to take in the room. It was nice. Like shockingly nice. Plush carpet, big central fireplace with a sort of stone bench surrounding it, a huge bed, a dresser, and a door leading out onto a full sized patio with a hot tub. I was beginning to regret getting sidetracked before entering my own room.
“I don’t see him.” Said Abel worriedly. “I thought he might be sleeping. He sleeps like the dead. Can you do your…” He made a bunch of weird random gestures near his face and the opened and closed his hands near his eyes like flashing lights.
We all stared at him. Finally I rolled my eyes. “Yes, fine. I can try Eye of Revelation.” I triggered the Skill, scanning the room for anything that might be hidden, my crown activating as I did to improve the power of my eyes. I didn’t pick up much. I wasn’t sure what exactly I was looking for. My gaze was trailing the length of the room for the third time when I noticed something.
Walking over to the dresser, I knelt down, reaching underneath to fish out an item I’d overlooked the first few passes because it was so innocuous. When I pulled back my hand, I was holding a shiny brass button with a lion engraved on the front.
Abel walked over to take it from me. “That’s one of his coat buttons.” He said flatly. “He’s obsessed with that damned coat. You’d have to pry a button out of his cold dead fingers if it came off. He’d have reattached it right away.” his eyes flicked around. “Does anyone see any evidence of a struggle anywhere?”
We started searching the room again, this time looking for anything out of place. Before we got too far though, the door opened. We all spun, and I had my staff out and ready to attack before I even finished moving.
A familiar man in a top hat and a red coat froze as he entered. “Oh.” He said slowly. “Hello? Is there a reason you’re in my room?” He was standing extremely still, like he was worried we’d eat him if he made any sudden movements, and I felt kind of bad for randomly showing up in his space unannounced like this.
“Where the hell have you been?” Demanded Abel. “Alden says he hasn’t seen you in hours.” His voice was tense, but he was clearly relieved. I was kind of relieved too, honestly. I’d been winding myself up for some kind of disappearance mystery. It would be par for the course for my ridiculous life.
Cicero shrugged. “I was just out for a walk. I went out into town hoping to make a few friends. See if they might be interested in a circus coming through once in a while. These people are very influential, you know. I didn’t even know Wintervale existed until I got this invitation.” He tipped his hat to Callie and me. “Thank you again for inviting me, by the way. It’s an honor.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything else. Cicero wasn’t my favorite person. Aside from Abel, I’d mostly invited him because he partially owned the land our Pavilion was on, and Alden worked for him. The red bearded man had helped us out quite a bit when we first got to G-district, so inviting his skeevy manipulative ward was the least we could do.
Besides, Cicero couldn’t do shit to us at our rank. I could literally go to sleep in front of him and not worry about what would happen. Inviting him posed no threat to anyone and it made Abel and Alden happy, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Abel and Cicero bickered for a few minutes, and the man with the top hat apologized to our group for causing them worry. We all headed back to our rooms, and he headed to bed, tired from the day’s activities, whatever those might have been.
As the door closed though, I caught his reflection in the knob across the hall. He was staring at me with a cold expression on his face, and despite my earlier thoughts about how he wasn’t a threat, I got an unsettled feeling in my gut. Then it was shut, and I felt silly. I met Bethy’s eyes, and she looked as embarrassed as I felt.
We’d both blown things way out of proportions. Clearly being out in the universe for so long had made us paranoid. Not everything was an insidious plot to kill us. I followed Callie back to our room, I played with the little metal object I was still holding. I pocketed the little brass lump, but as I did, I mentally recounted the meeting with Cicero. His coat hadn’t been missing a button.
Comments
JJB4345_80_815
Thank you for the chappy! Quote: Not everything was an insidious plot to kill us. Let me guess: the next chapter is the start of an insidious plot to kill them, right?
CringeWorthyStudios
Gods damn it man, can’t they have a break for even a few minutes? I do hope that Cicero is still alive though. Maybe the replacement trick needs him alive for it to work? I don’t particularly like him as a person but him dying would definitely ruin the wedding… Thanks for the chapter!
Kevin McGuire
If ever there was a wedding to not fuck with, it's this one. I'm hoping Shane can finally put the pieces together before everything blows up, like how he did in the first book.
Melody Haren Anderson
I figure Abel is waiting for the replacement to get feeling like they're safe before jumping them.
thaughton2
So.... Cicero got replaced. I wonder if Abel knows and is just playing it cool.
